1st to Die

Lindsay and Chris go to the morgue to speak to highly respected medical examiner Claire Washburn, who is notably better at her job than her boss, Chief Medical Examiner Anthony Righetti. Claire and Lindsay are good friends.

Claire notes that David died from a stab wound to the heart and that he was so frightened that he lost control of his bladder. Melanie was fatally stabbed twice in the chest. Melanie was also sexually assaulted with a fist or blunt object. Most importantly, the tuxedo jacket found at the scene did not belong to David.

Cindy learns from her editor, Sidney Glass, that veteran crime reporters want to take over the Brandt murder story. However, Sidney promises to stick with Cindy as long as she can continue to get good information.

Lindsay believes the tuxedo jacket proves the killer was at the Brandt wedding, but Chris balks at the idea of treating all the wedding guests as suspects because they are prominent people. Lindsay is growing concerned that they are looking at a budding serial killer.

Phillip is in his office thinking about the murders. He pulls a box of index cards from a drawer and reads through the names of future brides and grooms.

Lindsay returns a call from Cindy but refuses to give Cindy any new information. Cindy tells Lindsay a rumor about a business deal David’s father was involved in that might have caused some Russian businesspeople to become upset.

Lindsay walks again through the room where David and Melanie were murdered. As she does, she realizes that she missed an important detail: The killer took David and Melanie’s wedding rings.

Lindsay meets with her hematologist, Dr. Medved, who tells her she must begin treatment immediately. She will receive “biweekly transfusions of packed red blood cells” (72) for at least three months. However, if this treatment does not show results, she could need a bone marrow transplant.

Lindsay meets with Gerald Brandt, David’s father, and learns that the rumor about angry Russian businesspeople is not true. Back at the office, Lindsay calls Claire to check on the wedding rings and learns that they were not on the bodies when they arrived at the morgue. Lindsay makes a lunch date with Claire on Sunday so she can tell her about her diagnosis. When Lindsay hangs up the phone, Chris arrives with a copy of the Brandt wedding guest list.

Lindsay, Warren, and Chris split the guest list between them. The conversation turns personal. Chris tells Lindsay about his divorce and his two sons, and she tells him about her own divorce.

Rebecca ‘Becky’ Passeneau tries on her wedding dress with her mother. Phillip watches from a distance, awed by her beauty.

Warren reports to Lindsay that he has found a couple of people who recently purchased the brand of champagne found at the Brandt crime scene, but neither fits the suspect profile. He also has not identified the store that sold the tuxedo jacket as it is a design that was popular several years ago. Warren suspects their perpetrator might be a serial killer.

At the end of the week, Lindsay is frustrated that they have not made much progress on the Brandt case. She feels tired and worries this is a symptom of her aplastic anemia.