By Jennifer Larson

Tonight’s cold case turns from an attempted murder to a murder, when the victim of a 1989 shooting dies, after being in a coma since her attack. It turns out this wasn’t a very nice lady, which makes it much harder for the crack cold case squad to close the case. A grifter who steals, lies and cheats is a hard woman to feel sorry for. But Lilly (Kathryn Morris) and her team don’t have to like their victim to want to see justice done. Besides a trail of used up marks, the woman also had a male partner that may have decided he no longer wanted to share the spoils of all their hard work. Of course it’s never the first suspect who turns out to be the doer, so that may be a little too easy. However, that doesn’t mean he isn’t involved in some way.

That’s the beauty of this show; just when you think you know who did it, the case flips on its head and leads you – and the detectives – down another path. And sometimes that path leads them right back to where they started. So, the viewers get taken on a ride throughout the history of the victim and all the people in their lives. It’s kind of like a soap opera and cop show all in one, what can be better than that? All that doesn’t mean the show doesn’t tackle some very serious and relevant issues, which just makes it all the more intriquing to watch. Personally, I like the episodes that go further back in time than just two years, so tonight’s  installment was a treat, especially the music. Come on, everybody loves music from the 80s … right? But really, it’s just a backdrop that evokes even more emotion and empathy for the unfortunate woman who became the flashpoint for tonight’s investigation.

Regardless of what she did, almost nobody deserves to die without a name or identification. But that’s just what happened with tonight’s victim, so if nothing else, the cold case squad can give her back her name. The strange thing is that she died of a gun shot to the head, but it took 18 years to kill her. That’s gotta suck; I mean what’s the point in surviving the intitial attack if you’re not going to be awake to enjoy the little time you have left? It’s a cruel, cruel way to go, but perhaps that’s karma for you. After all, the victim did take advantage of some pretty powerful people. You would think all that money would bring a little happiness, and yet, the rich seem to be the easiest people to take advantage of because they are so unhappy … what a waste! But with all that money comes a lot of protection, so the detectives have to tread lightly where some of these people are concerned. But that doesn’t mean they’ll go away that easily, and the first person they decide to talk to is the victim’s former partner. They lure him out of hiding by printing the victim’s obituary, and sure enough, they catch their man.


According to the partner, he lost his taste for the game and parted ways with the victim before she was shot. Well, that means one suspects down … or does it? After locating the angry brother of one of their victims, the detectives discover the grifting partners aren’t boyfriend and girlfriend, they’re mother and son. Apparently, this disgruntled man put a bug in their hotel room and found out their next big plan involved life insurance fraud. This must have been where parent and child parted ways, because mommy dearest wanted to kill her son’s latest squeeze and say it was her, in order to collect the insurance. Wow, no wonder he wanted nothing more to do with her. The question is did it push him far enough to want to kill his own mother? As it turns out,  it did.

Mommy taught her boy well, because he turned her con on her, or at least he intened to with the help of his trailer park girlfriend. It seems the poor kid was always being led by women, and twisted women at that. When he couldn’t carry through with the plan, his girlfriend took the shot for him. And so it seems the case ends as so many do, with a shot in the night aimed at the heart of those who hurt us.