Rizzoli & Isles – 65 Hours

By: Kelly Kearney

The episode begins in a flashback from two years earlier where a couple was brutally murdered in their home. Flash forward to present day with Korsak (Bruce McGill) and Jane (Angie Harmon) going through the murder case’s file to ensure the suspect gets convicted. The key piece of evidence, a kitchen cutting board, has turned up missing and nobody at the evidence warehouse has a clue how it disappeared. Without that cutting board, the defense lawyer will file a motion to dismiss the case. Korsak and Jane need to find that cutting board before the hearing begins and they have 65 hours to do so or this double murderer will walk free.

The Clock is Ticking

The missing cutting board was the only piece of physical evidence linking Steve Banyan (Travis Johns) to the double homicide. During the murder, he struggled with the female victim and bled on it. Without that DNA evidence a conviction is unlikely or as Jane calls it, “a hail Mary.” Jane and Vince head to court without the evidence and the judge gives the Boston Police Department until Monday, exactly 65 hours, to find the evidence or the case will be dismissed.

At the warehouse, Frankie (Jordan Bridges) and Nina (Idara Victor) are heading off a team to go through every shelf and box that might have the misplaced cutting board. So far, they’ve come up empty and they move on to looking through security footage to see if there were any unauthorized visitors. There’s nothing out of the ordinary with the footage and the building itself is next to impossible to break into, even for an expert thief like Banyan.

What The Duck Kent?

Down at the morgue, Maura and Korsak run into Kent (Adam Sinclair) and his new pet project, emphasis on “pet.” On his way into work, the Scottish assistant found a sick duck by the pond near his house. Korsak, who’s quite the animal lover himself, suggests the duck has botulism due to the dirty water. It’s obvious these two guys share a love for animals and Maura mentions the similarities between the lieutenant and her assistant. Because Maura is “awkwardness personified,” she makes the interaction weird and Korsak leaves before Kent can claim him as his new bestie.

Upstairs, Frankie’s honing his magician skills to impress Nina while simultaneously digging into prison visitor logs looking for any possible accomplice to Banyan. It seems the only person to visit the suspected murderer was his 80-something year old mother who’s more than likely not their suspect. Kent lets Jane and the team know that he found traces of formaldehyde foam on the box the cutting board was taken from. This particular chemical is usually found in commercial insulation which makes sense since the warehouse recently installed a new climate system to control the evidence room’s humidity. To install such a system means cutting through walls and if the trace chemicals were on the box their suspect transferred those chemicals while taking the evidence. Whoever this thief is they’re good because they snuck in through the new ventilation system, entered the security code, took the cutting board and left without being noticed. Korsak assumes whoever Banyan’s accomplice is they most likely worked on the climate system crew.

Tying the Pieces Together

While Kent and Angela (Lorraine Bracco) debate the ethics of feeding his new pet Duck a l’ Orange, Frankie and Nina are in the brig making progress with the case. When the murder took place, the only thing missing from the house was a rare precious gem. Through Nina’s digging, she ties reported stolen gems in numerous cities to Banyan and comes up with the name of a woman who worked for the installation company. The woman was injured so it couldn’t be her, but she did have a younger sister with a criminal record. Frankie thinks maybe this young woman, Donna Marks, posed as her sister to help Banyan. It seems like a stretch, but when Frankie comes to question her she takes off running – not before he finds the cutting board, burnt to a crisp.

Jane interrogates Donna, but she’s not talking and it’s unclear why she would even destroy evidence in a case in which she doesn’t know the suspect. The team knows Donna stole the cutting board thanks to her DNA found at the scene, but who is she working for? Banyan couldn’t have hired her since Donna just moved to Boston and Banyan’s been in jail for years so whoever hired Donna is the person they need to find. Now that the DNA on the cutting board has been destroyed, the team’s only hope in sealing a conviction is to find Banyan’s accomplice. Before Donna is booked on destruction of evidence charges, Jane notices a rare gem stone ring on her finger. This gem winds up being a big break when they link it with other reported stolen gems. If they can’t nail Banyan with the DNA evidence, maybe they can convince Donna’s boss to testify against him. There’s no doubt in Korsak’s mind that Banyan’s accomplice and the person who hired Donna are one in the same.

Cracking The Case

After a few time killing scenes with Kent and his duck named Rhianna and Frankie and Jane bonding over his magical skills, the team finally cracks the case. There were eight reported jewel thefts and two of them resulted in a murder. It was the same types of gems, same wealthy style families that were targeted and the all of them lacked a clear way in or out for a murdering thief. With the 65-hour clock ticking and no time to waste, the team goes back to the home where the murders took place. After Jane finds a wet mark on the carpet above the living room skylight, Kent removes it and finds blood on the corner of the frame. Removing the skylight is certainly a two-man job, which means Banyan had a partner, something the defense team has no idea about. Korsak then tells Jane that all the homes that were robbed had sky lights which ties Banyan to those burglary and murders, too. With an hour until court, Kent rushes off to test the blood sample. If it’s Banyan, then they don’t need the cutting board for a conviction. If the blood belongs to his unknown accomplice, he’ll will walk out of court a free man.

At the courthouse, the judge has no choice but to drop the case since Jane couldn’t get the blood sample back in time… or did she? Yup, Jane Rizzoli is once again playing fast and loose with the law when she lets Banyan think he’s free only so he can flush out his accomplice. Jane’s got enough evidence to link them both to a slew of burglaries and at least four murders and if he helps, maybe he can get parole in a few decades.

Banyan sets up a meeting with the mystery man and Jane and the team arrest him. The case is closed, the murderers are off to jail and Maura and Kent are in the morgue drinking wine and flirting. Say what? Yes, the two M.E.’s are enjoying a glass of wine while Maura explains the metaphor for the Scot’s duck. For Kent, Rhianna the male mallard is a manifestation of Maura. He cared for the duck in its time of need just like he did for his boss during her brain injury. Maura, speaking for the duck, apologizes for not saying thank you sooner. The duck is Maura and Maura is the duck!

The episode ends with Rizzoli and friends at the Dirty Robber spying on Frankie and Nina. The two are getting serious according to the nosey Mama Rizzoli and from the looks of it, everybody approves – especially after Nina gives Frankie front row tickets to a Bruins game just like his father use to do. Frankie shows his gratitude with a hug and a quarter he pulls from his girlfriend’s ear. That’s right, no thanks to Jane’s mocking, Frankie finally perfected his magic skills and entertains Nina while his sister throws sibling shade from across the bar. Frankie is finally getting serious about his life and Jane seems to be restless as the weeks go on. With Maura and Kent getting closer and Vince’s impending retirement, where will that leave Jane? There’s only a few episodes left so stay tuned and find out!