When a prominent atheist leader is kidnapped, ransomed and murdered, Detectives Goren and Eames interview the victim's granddaughter (guest star Mara Hobel) who was also kidnapped but survived and the suspects include more family members, including the dead woman's son - now a reverend with a prison ministry. However, when two of the kidnappers turn up dead, the investigators look for a double-crossing mastermind who pulled the strings but left no trail to follow.
Detectives Goren and Eames track a mysterious young diamond "swallower" (guest star Grace Shu) who is being manipulated by Nicole Wallace (D'Abo) -- Goren's murderous and chameleon-like nemesis. As Goren closes in on Wallace, he discovers a horrifying secret that may allow him to finally close the book on his lethal adversary.
When three Hispanic men are gunned down on one night, Detectives Goren and Eames first suspect a hate crime involving an angry, off-center police officer until they discover that the clever culprit exploited the cop's sleepwalking problem as a cover for the slayings that involve a family fortune. During their probe, the investigators also home in on a mousy woman (as Beth, guest star TBA) who lived next to the officer -- and they believe that she is highly motivated by revenge against someone.
A shy, lonely man (guest star, Neil Patrick Harris) becomes the focus of a police investigation when a stripper is found murdered -- with part of her calf missing -- and Detectives Goren and Eames zero in when another woman escapes his clutches, leading them to believe the suspect wants a "mindless" female to keep him company. However, as the noose is tightened, a sympathetic Goren clashes with his superiors over how to prosecute the pathetic killer.
The investigation into the death of a woman searching for the whereabouts of her late mother's antique ring leads Goren and Eames to a physician serial killer (Kevin Tighe) who has cleverly concealed the murder of over two hundred of his patients. Inspired by Harold Shipman murders.
The murders of a government mob witness and an undercover police officer put Detectives Goran and Eames deep inside the ugly family tree of a dying Mafia don (as Mario, guest star Mark Margolis) whose last living son is being challenged by a ratty punk (as Rickie, guest star Leo Fitzpatrick) who's both smart -- and good with a knife. Their family feud is clouded by the possible involvement of cruel Russian mobsters but Goran keeps his focus on the young men who secretly call upon the bed-ridden don -- and the unlikely key could be a trail of juicy Sicilian black figs
After a neurologist is found poisoned in a pool, Detectives Goren and Eames learn that she was performing research on a woman who's been in a vegetative state for six years -- and evidence points to suspects who include the comatose woman's son, husband and the victim's young assistant. But the case assumes a new dimension when the investigators discover an embezzled trust fund -- plus the fact that the victim was experimenting with communicating with such vegetative patients.
Bad-breeding and brooding on a tony horse farm result in a bloody murder of an attractive veterinarian who began to question curious drug use surrounding her equine patients -- but Detectives Goren and Eames lay their ears back when they uncover a barn full of sexually active stable mates who appear to be smuggling illegal drugs in their animals. Goren, in particular, seizes on the jealousy and class rivalries between the rich owners and the married couple who work for them.
Detectives Goren and Eames delve into the murder of a young musician who was romantically linked to his married psychiatrist and they focus on her psychologist-husband -- but they discover the head-shrink couple are obsessed by playing dangerous mind games with each other. Knowing that acid was used on the victim's face further bolsters the Major Case squad's theory that the slaying was personal, and the key could be the pair's adult daughter who grew up as her parents' referee.
Detectives Goren and Eames probe the murder of an elderly woman who was poisoned by an anonymous package and set their sights on a crafty forger (guest star Stephen Colbert, "The Daily Show") whose expertise is needed by a local church to verify documents proving the sainthood of 19th-century healer named Brother Jerome. But the investigators uncover a trail of conflicting old letters that could complicate the church's expensive campaign to canonize Jerome -- and they ponder how official sainthood can require a small fortune and human lives.
When a solid citizen robs a bank and is killed by a bomb tied around his neck, Detectives Goren and Eames suspect that the victim had an accomplice who triggered the device, and they soon hone in on the murderer's (guest star Charles Rockot) next unwitting associate -- a bored New Jersey hausfrau (guest star Enid Graham). The investigators piece together the pair's bank-heist patterns, but they have to establish probable cause if they are to save the duped woman from a horrible death.
When a pharmaceutical executive is found cut in half in midtown, Detectives Goren and Eames discover a greater crime when they learn that the victim was part of a scheme to ship tainted blood medications to Thailand for huge profits -- and the case takes a new spin with the sexual proclivity of one of the dead man's associates (as Eric, guest star TBA). The police probe deeper and pull the lid off a Pandora's box of craven corporate corruption in the competitive field of high-profit pharmaceuticals.
When a promising high school basketball player disappears -- and the private investigator looking for him is murdered -- Detectives Goren and Bishop dribble around the local courts and find what could be a missing link -- unscrupulous gamblers and college recruiters. But the cops keep throwing up bricks until they discover that several other talented players have transferred to a high school with a championship tradition and they suspect a more personal connection might yield the winning clues.
After they receive an anonymous letter, Detectives Goren and Eames exhume the body of an elderly man whom they discover was poisoned. The posse of suspects includes his artistic and ambitious widow and Harvey, a snobbish charity fundraiser with shady mob connections. The detectives hope to discover how the celebrity-loving Harvey gained his seed money to attract New York's high society as well as his connection to the widow -- but the key may lie with his bitter and resentful mother.
When a wealthy father is found savagely beaten to death, Detective Goren and temporary partner Bishop find a family album of suspects, including the victim's soon-to-be ex-wife, a nanny who cared for the couple's adopted Romanian sons and a suspicious aunt and uncle. However, after Goren delves deeper into the family's past, his only hope of sorting out the jumble of possible killers is to call for a clan reunion -- in family court.
When a young and female computer-game employee is found strangled Detectives Goren are initially distracted by a related hacker until they link the victim's penchant for gaming to her former employers -- two intense and talented game creators who are under pressure to deliver their next hit following popular "DeathMatch." But the investigation takes a different turn when Goren finds a third partner who was kicked out and demanded financial satisfaction and the detective understands the link between the brainiacs.
When an Argentine immigrant is found slashed and beaten in the family's bathroom, Detectives Goren and Bishop believe the wounds were self-inflicted -- but her husband's (guest star Thomas G. Waites) history of violence makes the police think he could have been responsible for other racially motivated murders that were discovered by his wife. But since they cannot implicate the suspect in his wife's death, Goren explores the family's tragic history on both sides and struggles to find a link to the kneecap-murders of a string of Jewish men.
When someone spikes the punch -- leaving three dead in an isolated island church -- Detectives Goren and Bishop first believe the murders are related to parishioner politics, but then discover a sorrowful sexual lifestyle among the town's jaded youth that points to three teenage girls who might be connected to the drownings of three former lovers. The heady Goren uses his knowledge of "Siddhartha" to query one of the girls (guest star Shayna Levine) whose undying allegiance to a male classmate (guest star Billy Lush) is harrowing.
When a young man is knifed and murdered, Detectives Goren and Eames discover evidence that links the crime to practioners of a Santeria cult -- and their investigation soon narrows to two former convicts who dupe the mother (as Lyz Webster, guest star Anne Twomey) of the victim into believing that she has special clairvoyant powers. However, in order to make a better case against the couple and track their involvement in the slaying, crafty Goren must get inside the exploited woman's head to convince her that she truly has a psychic gift.
In search of a missing bookkeeper, Detectives Goren and a pregnant Eames stumble upon a ledger's worth of bodies, including the victim's hitman brother who botched a job and was whacked two years ago -- and the tortuous trail seems to lead to an imprisoned mobster who is due for parole. But when a key suspect linked to all the slayings turns up facedown in the river, the cops have to think outside the box to unravel the tangled we
When a promising young architecture student is found murdered with a screwdriver, Detectives Goren and Eames discover that the victim's bold design for a new and prestigious downtown building strongly resembles those of a celebrated architect (as Ben Laurette, guest star Olek Krupa) -- whose personal life is even more elaborate than his blueprints. By tracing a nexus of women, the detectives look for a connection between the slain man and the skyscraper designer in a byzantine case that would singe the pages of Architectural Digest.
The bizarre but lethal point-blank shootings of two contact lens salesmen and a plastic surgeon put Detectives Goren and Eames on the trail of a suspect who might harbor racist delusions about the damage caused by cosmetic beauty enhancements. Their search seems to dead-end with a drug-induced paranoid man (Barry Del Sherman) but when the police receive an anti-Semitic letter, Goren smells more than one possible slayer.