Along Came a Spider

Before dawn the next morning, Gary gets sick in his cell. He claims he’s been poisoned. The guard assigned to him calls for his supervisor, Robert Fishenauer. Robert decides to take Gary to the prison hospital himself even though the other guards believe Gary is lying. He takes Gary to the basement. As they approach a security door that leads to the employee parking lot, Robert gives Gary his gun. Robert tells the guards to open the door, or Gary will kill him. The two men take Robert’s car, and a mile away, they change cars and drive to the farmhouse, where Gary has promised Robert more money. Gary asks Robert to take his restraints off, but Robert insists they stay on until he has his money. He slips the chain of his handcuffs around Robert’s neck and strangles him.

Jezzie meets former Secret Service Agent Mike Devine at a hotel in Georgetown. She’s annoyed he rented a suite when it is possible someone is monitoring their finances. Devine expresses jealousy over Jezzie’s relationship with Alex, insisting she no longer needs to continue the relationship since the kidnapping investigation is over. Jezzie calms Devine by insisting she’s only in love with him.

Alex receives a call that Gary escaped prison. Robert’s body is found, but Gary appears to have disappeared. Alex goes to Jezzie’s apartment that night under the pretense of checking on her. He and Jezzie go for a ride on her motorcycle during which they discuss Gary. Then Alex asks Jezzie to go with him to Virgin Gorda again.

Maggie still misses her friends in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, but is grateful she is alive. She makes up stories in her head, including one in which she escapes, eventually finding a man in a distant town. However, she is still working in fields with other children and watched over by a man who appears to care about her.

Alex struggles around Jezzie as they fly to Virgin Gorda, feeling as though he’s lost touch with reality. They go through customs, and neither of their bags are searched. This was prearranged because Alex has a gun hidden in his. The pair go for a swim at the hotel, enjoy an afternoon in the sun, and then have dinner at the hotel restaurant. Over dinner, Jezzie confronts Alex, asking him why he brought her there. When he tells her that he wants to talk, she confesses that she loves him but is uncertain if their relationship can work in the long run. Later, as they walk on the beach, Jezzie asks Alex why he no longer talks to her about the kidnapping case. Alex brushes her off by saying his suspicions regarding Mike Devine and Charlie Chakely went nowhere.

Gary sneaks into the high-rise building where Mike Devine has an apartment unit. Dressed as a package-delivery man, Gary knocks on Devine’s door and sprays chloroform in his face. He places Devine in the bathtub and handcuffs his ankles to the facet handles. He demands Devine tell him where the ransom is. Afraid for his life, Devine does. Gary feels he’s solving the crime for the police.

The next morning, Alex and Jezzie are taken to their private island by a boatman who promises to retrieve them late in the afternoon. Alex briefly falls asleep because of his inability to sleep the night before. Jezzie takes off her top and tries to seduce Alex, but he pulls away and suggests a walk. As they walk along the shore, Alex tells Jezzie that he knows she took Maggie.

Jezzie tells Alex that after Secretary Goldberg was threatened by the Colombian cartel, she assigned Mike Devine and Charlie Chakely to Michael Goldberg, assuming it was an easy, unnecessary precaution. Devine was the first to notice Gary’s surveillance of the Goldberg and Dunne homes. Jezzie says they assumed Gary was a pedophile targeting Michael. They followed him to Washington Southeast once, but didn’t connect this movement to the Turner murders, as these murders were not headline news. Chakely also followed Gary to the farm but didn’t think much of it. It wasn’t until Gary took Michael and Maggie that they realized what was happening. Devine wanted to go to the farm and rescue the children right away, but Jezzie thought they could claim a ransom first. She hadn’t anticipated Michael dying.

Jezzie tells Alex that she initially sought him out because he is a skilled cop, and she had to know what he knew. She chose him to deliver the ransom because she knew he wouldn’t do anything that might put Maggie at risk. She claims she fell in love with him later. Alex admits he loves Jezzie, too. He asks about Maggie, but Jezzie refuses to speak. Overwhelmed, Jezzie runs back to where they left their things. Alex reveals that John and two FBI agents were in the bushes the whole time, recording Jezzie. He again asks what Jezzie did with Maggie, but she refuses to answer. John and the FBI arrest Jezzie, while Alex heads back to Washington, DC.

Alex and John accompany Thomas Dunne and Katherine Rose to Uyuni, Bolivia, to follow up on information from Jezzie and Charlie Chakely. They claim they gave Maggie to a family in this small mountain village. Maggie hesitates when the van pulls up, but when she sees her mother, she runs to her.

Gary stands outside Alex’s home and watches Nana Mama through a window. He plans to kill Nana Mama and kidnap Alex’s children to make him suffer.

Nana Mama wakes Alex and tells him someone is in the house. Alex leaves Nana Mama in his bedroom and goes to his children’s room. He tries to turn on a lamp, but there is no power. He knows the intruder must be Gary. Alex is hit on the head, but he turns and fights the intruder. Gary tells Alex that no one can be the star but Gary. Alex notices blood and realizes he’s been stabbed. Gary tries to stab him again, but only glances his shoulder. Nana Mama screams at Gary from the doorway, distracting him long enough for Alex to grab a pair of scissors. He cuts Gary across the cheek with the scissors. Gary screams and Alex swings again, hitting him in the neck. Gary runs out of the house. Alex grabs some clothes and follows.

Alex leaves the house and runs to the Metro station, assuming Gary would want to get away quickly. He doesn’t find him. Alex starts walking back to his house, then stops a driver making deliveries and catches a ride. At his house, the police have arrived, including John. Alex ignores pleas for him to be checked out by the medics and searches his house, determined to find Gary. John tells him that someone spotted Gary at Dupont Circle. Alex insists on going with John to search for Gary, but they can’t find him. He stops long enough for the medics to bandage his wounds and give him painkillers.

Alex knows Gary wants to make one more big play, so when the police receive a call that someone’s near the White House, Alex knows it must be Gary. They arrive to find Gary with an automatic weapon and two children as hostages. Alex calls out to him, and Gary insists Alex come out where he can be seen. Despite John’s attempt to stop him, Alex does as requested. Alex tells Gary that the cameras are on him, that Alex is the star now. Gary insists he is the star. Gary shifts his gun in Alex’s direction, and John shoots him. Alex runs to Gary, and Gary asks for help, claiming to be Gary Murphy again.

Alex reluctantly arrives at Lorton Federal Prison, ignoring protestors as he makes his way to the execution chamber. There are three observation windows—one for officials from the state, one for the press, and one for friends and family. Alex is alone at the family and friends’ window. He has been visiting both Gary and Jezzie. Gary appears to be struggling with reality, a fact that saves him from another trial. Jezzie told Alex that while she regrets her actions, she was willing to do anything for money. She waves at Alex as medications are administered to her. She is the last to die for Michael and Maggie’s kidnapping, as Chakely was put to death several weeks earlier. Alex returns to his car, where he finds a message on the windshield from Gary, proof that Gary is in touch with reality and has convinced another guard to help him. Undeterred, he goes home and plans to serve lunch at St. Anthony’s Church.