Women's Murder Club: No Opportunity Necessary (Episode 8)

Today we have one and a half dead Spanish guys and a little lady. But no guest appearance by Tom Selleck. On day guys, one day.

So, one man, Xavier, was shot to death in his home. His father was also shot, but will survive. His little sister was in the home during the shooting and was found hiding in the attic scared mute.

Lindsay recognises the little girl’s tag on her backpack – she goes to the same school Heather (Tom’s fiancé) teaches at. Heather is actually her teacher. Lindsay begrudgingly calls her for some help. Heather comes in, along with the class pet rabbit for comfort purposes and tries to get the little girl to talk. Both Heather and Lindsay do an awesome job of talking to the kid and making her feel comfortable. It was actually really touching. Like seriously - I welled up. Shut up. I’m sleep deprived. Now, stop judging me.

Anyway, the little girl didn’t see anything. She only heard some intruders who spoke “funny Spanish” (i.e. not fluent), then her father hid her. Since father’s in the hospital and mom’s been dead for years, she’s placed with Child Protective Services.

AS for Tom, he also gets quite involved in the case. He actually goes out on the streets with Lindsay to hunt down some leads while Jacobi does his own thing. Lindsay does find it a little weird and repeatedly offers to drive back to the station to drop him off and pick up Jacobi. But Tom is really into it and desperately wants to tag along. Claire is not amused and mentions to him under her breath, “You don’t get to look at her like that anymore.” You tell him girlfriend! (Insert z-snap here.) *cough* Sorry, I don’t know where that came from.

So this is what they learn: Xavier is a superstitious good kid. He often visited a local “Bruja” (Spanish word for witch) to whom he told all his secrets. In return, she’d give him little charms and herb potions for protection. The Bruja also gave Lindsay and Tom some advice: she said a marriage would end (Lindsay thinks she’s referring to her and Tom’s defunct relationship, but who knows, she could have meant Tom and Heathers) and that she needs a charm to protect her heart. If by charm she means therapist, perhaps.

Meanwhile, an immigration officer is buzzing around Xavier’s father – the only member left in the little girl’s family. Well the buzzing may well have spooked the dad: the man disappears from his hospital bed. Following the trail of evidence, we find he has bought a gun and is out to avenge his son. Turns out, the murderers were strong armed robbers who target illegal immigrants who work at their construction site. They attacked him and his son on pay day and stole all their money, including a hefty amount of savings. But how did they know about the savings? The Witch did it! The father had previously gone to her for a charm to protect the money. She was in cahoots with the burglars/murderers. She found out family secrets and then directed the burglars to the best targets.

Lindsay and Jacobi make their way to the Bruja’s abode where the father is holding a gun to her head. Lindsay works her magic and takes the gun away.
Meanwhile, people are trying to work the immigration officer to avoid father and daughter deportation, even Denise has a go at it. But no cigar… until Jacobi lays his charm on her. The immigration officer backs off, and as a bonus agrees to have dinner with Jacobi. Woo! Jacobi’s gonna get some!

At the precinct, Lindsay notices through a close circuit TV that Tom and Heather are fighting in the interrogation room. They’re fighting because he had promised Heather he wouldn’t work the streets anymore. That’s why he had taken the lieutenant desk job - not so much to be closer to Lindsay as we might have suspected. Lindsay is able to predict everyone of Tom’s fighting tactics, at least until he admits to being wrong. Ouch.

What’s worst, throughout the case, Lindsay manages to make peace with Heather. It’s tough to like someone who is supposed to be your nemesis.

Finally, the girls have their usual powwow where Lindsay admits that Tom and Heather are good together. Their broken marriage wasn’t his fault; Tom is able to have a normal relationship. Lindsay was the problem. What’s with the being honest with yourself? I personally enjoy denial. It’s how I got through a many bad haircuts… just saying.

Cindy comforts Lindsay by saying, “If it makes you feel any better, I want to be just like you when I grow up.” I wanna be a superhero too Cindy, particularly a pretty one with big brown eyes, awesome hair, and spectacular taste in shoes.