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The Lady in the Lake Recap

Dottie, dressed as Peggy, enters a bank and draws a gun on the teller. The men with her draw guns and order everyone to put their hands up. Dottie woman tells the teller to give her the key to safety deposit box 143, well aware of the hidden alarm. They open the vault and one of Dottie's men goes inside... and Peggy knocks him out. She aims a shotgun at Dottie and informs her that she's under arrest, and the teller draws a gun on Dottie as well. In the main room, all of the "customers" and "employees" draw their guns and explain that they're the SSR.

Dottie kneels to put her gun on the floor, and then kicks the teller and ducks as Peggy fires. She then attacks Peggy and the two women fight in the vault. When Peggy tries to grab the discarded shotgun, Peggy hits her in the head with a bag of coin and handcuffs her.

Los Angeles - 1947

Daniel pulls up to Echo Park where a crowd has gathered. The detective in charge, Andrew Henry, introduces himself and explains that another murder has taken place where two women were killed two years ago. Andrew leads Daniel to the lake... where a large part is frozen over. On the shore is a large chunk of ice with a woman frozen inside.

At the New York City SSR headquarters, Jack Thompson and two of his agents watch through a one-way mirror as Peggy confronts Dottie in an interrogation room. Dottie isn't impressed, and Peggy removes her handcuffs and says that she isn't afraid of her. She shows Dottie a lapel pin that was the only thing in Box 143 and asks why the Russian agent wanted it, and Dottie tells her that they both know there are currencies stronger than money.

Daniel calls Jack and congratulates him on capturing Dottie. The new LA chief tells Jack about the dead woman and asks for additional staff. Jack looks at Peggy and sys that he has just the agent for him. He calls Peggy out and tells her that she's done with Dottie. Jack says that Daniel asked for Peggy and she's heading out on the next flight to LA. Peggy warns Jack not to let his insecurity undermine their investigation, and Jack irritably says that he'll interrogate Dottie.

Peggy soon arrives in LA and finds Jarvis waiting for her. Jarvis accompanied Howard to LA on business concerning a defense contract, and he explains that the flamingo in the car, Bernard Stark, is the newest addition to the manor menagerie. As they drive through LA, Jarvis explains that Howard is busy with his newest hobby: a motion picture studio. Jarvis is glad to ferry Peggy around and warns that LA isn't a civilized town. Desperate, Jarvis finally admits that he's been bored and would like the adventure of accompanying her.

They drive to the Auerbach Theatrical Agency where the SSR operator, Rose, is auditioning two dancers. When Peggy comes in, Rose dismisses the dancers and then takes Peggy into the file room. the cabinet slides away to reveal a secret passage, and Peggy goes to the main office. He's surprised to see her there and quickly covers. Peggy wonders why he didn't return her calls, and Daniel admits that sometimes the time difference felt like a lifetime. Andrew comes in with boxes of old case files, and figures that the press will soon be calling him and help find the killer. Peggy suggests that the frozen lake and the body are unrelated, and the trio heads out.

At the SSR morgue, the body is radiating extreme cold. The SSR lab tech, Henry Meltzer, says that he doesn't have an autopsy report because the corpse is frozen solid even with the heat lamps. Her stab wounds are consistent with the two women who were murdered two years ago, and her shoes are switched which matches the killer's MO. Meltzer doesn't know if the body caused the lake to freeze, and turns off the lights... and the corpse glows in the dark.

Once the team has chiseled runs into a scientist, open the body, the SSR lab tech Dr. Samberly examines it and says that whatever frozen substance is in the body isn't ice. He figures that the radiation is caused by uranium, meaning the victim was near a particle accelerator. Samberly informs them that there is one in Pasadena at Isodyne Energy. The trio goes there and the receptionist is less than helpful. Peggy asks to use the restroom and Daniel flirts with the receptionist while Peggy bumps into a scientist, pickpockets his badge, and slips into the secure area. She runs into a scientist, Jason Wilkes, who assumes that she works there and takes her to his lab. Jason distills a pink liquid and invites Peggy to taste it, explaining that it's ethanol. It tastes like wine, and Peggy realizes that Jason is a genius. She asks if Jason knows the victim and he says that she's Jane Scott, a particle physicist. Peggy convinces Jason to say that Jane had a close relationship with Isodyne's owner, Calvin Chadwick. The receptionist comes in and escorts them out. Jason gives Peggy his card and his personal number, and asks for her number. Peggy avoids giving it to him.

Back at the SSR, Daniel confirms that Calvin's office is stonewalling as well. Andrew has a sketch of a man seen near Echo Park two years ago and he looks nothing like Calvin. Peggy discovers that Calvin is going to be at the horse racetrack that afternoon at Santa Anita. Andrew insists that a wealthy industrialist who is running for Senator is no murderer, and suggests that they use the press to get the word out. Daniel tells him to have at it, and then privately tells Peggy to check out Calvin at the track.

Jarvis drives Peggy to the tracks and provides her with a covert outfit picked out by his wife Ava. The flamingo is walking on the lawn, and Jarvis apologizes for not being able to confine it. When they arrive at the Jarvis home, Ava hugs Peggy and insists on kissing Jarvis on the mouth for several seconds. Once Jarvis leaves, Peggy admits that she was expecting someone less outgoing. Ava provides her with an outfit and a combined garter-holster.

At the track, Calvin and his wife--actress Whitney Frost--are posing at the track with their winning horse. Peggy tells Jarvis to distract Whitney and he leads her off, claiming to be the head of Stark Productions. Meanwhile, Peggy says that she's one of Calvin's advocates and turns on the charm. She mentions that Jane is her friend and Calvin abruptly moves off. Peggy asks if he's aware that Jane is dead, and says that she's with the SSR. Meanwhile, Jarvis fumbles through an explanation of his new movie and wants to cast Whitney as a spy. Peggy asks for a complete list of employees at Isodyne Energy. He agrees... if Peggy gets proper clearance. He collects Whitney and Peggy leaves with Jarvis.

When Peggy returns to the SSR, Andrew catches up with her and Daniel as they go to the morgue once the autopsy is complete. They go to the morgue, and find Metzger frozen solid. He falls over and shatters into a million pieces.

Jack enters the interrogation room holding a stick, and Dottie asks where Peggy is. He tells her that Peggy has moved onto a new case, and Jack takes out a carrot and a stick. He explains that he and his boss had a routine, but Dottie's friends killed his boss. Jack then removes the handcuffs and says that he's not afraid of her, and Dottie pins him to the floor with a table. She tells him that he needs Peggy as the agent come in and subdue her.

Jarvis brings Jason to the SSR and Peggy shows him the team cleaning up Metzger. The scientist says that he can run tests to see what happened. Daniel talks to Peggy privately, while Andrew goes to a drinking fountain to get some water. The water freezes out of the spout just as Jason comes in to get some water.

Daniel tells Peggy that the official autopsy report shows that the woman died due to an unknown toxic substance. The killer stabbed Jane to make it look like she was another victim of the Lady of the Lake killer, when she actually died of the same thing that froze the lake. Only the police knew about the killer switching the shoes, and they go to find Andrew.

Jarvis is out polishing his car when Andrew leads Jason out at gunpoint. The detective punches Jarvis unconscious and tells Jason that he's going to fix him as he gets him into his car.

Jack questions Dottie about the pin, and she asks what Jack will give her in return for information. She wants deportation but settles for prison. FBI agent Vernon Masters comes in with two men and informs Jack that he'll be taking custody of Dottie. The other men take Dottie away and Vernon suggests that he and Jack have a drink.

Daniel and Peggy rive after Andrew, and Peggy tends to Jarvis' bruised jaw. They catch up to Andrew's car on the side of a bridge, and discover that the inside is frozen. Neither man is inside, and Peggy spots a card on the seat. She realizes that Jason left them a clue and gives Jarvis a gun with orders to wait for the police.

Andrew leads Jason under the bridge and insists that he didn't kill anyone. He explains that he takes money to clean up other people's messes. Andrew made it look like the Lady of the Lake killer was back to revive the case and get his resources back. Sirens sound in the distance, and the police open fire. Jason runs off and Peggy grabs him and drags him aside, and then radios to the police to stop firing so they can take Andrew alive.

A frost-covered Andrew catches up to Daniel and trains his gun on him. When the detective pulls the trigger, he discovers that the gun is frozen. Peggy arrives and says that they can help him, but Andrew warns that he won't last. A rookie arrives and shoots, claiming he didn't have his radio, and Andrew shatters into pieces.

At a bar in NYC, Vernon assures Jack that he still supports him. He got him the job at the SSR, and tells Jack to play the long game. With the war over, the SSR is becoming irrelevant. The government is restructuring the Department of War and Jack needs to consider where he's going to end up. Jack admits that he wants to continue working for the government, and Vernon explains that Dottie was stealing from some important men. Those men know Jack stopped Dottie, and Vernon promises that they'll reward Jack suitably for his help.

As the EMTs clean up Andrew's body, Peggy apologizes to Jason for endangering him. Jason figures that it requires exposure to contaminated blood, and promises to get a written report to Peggy of what Andrew told him. Before he goes, Jason invites Peggy to dinner and dancing in return for saving his life. She says that she doesn't associate with persons of interest in a case, and Jason is flattered that she finds him interesting.

The rookie who killed Andrew drives up to Calvin on the street and tells him that the job is done. Calvin hands him an envelope full of money and the rookie drives off. Whitney emerges from the shadows and they both figure that they've cleaned everything up once Calvin endangered everything with his affair.

Peggy and Daniel return to the SSR, and they figure that the case isn't closed. She suggests that they have a drink, and Daniel says that he can't but asks for a rain check. He goes to his car where a woman--Rose—is waiting for him. They kiss as Peggy watches from the window, and Jarvis pulls up and honks for Peggy.

At Isodyne, Jason goes to a secret lab and watches a black substance inside of a glass container that ebbs and flows in mid-air.

Written by Gadfly on Jan 20, 2016

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