On Death Row, Wayne Contrell sits in his cell and plays his saxophone and looks at a photo of his dead wife, Linda Lake.
Joe Kline does a new piece on how the government refuses to grant Wayne a pardon for his scheduled execution of Linda. Barry is in the lab and watches Joe's newscast. Julio and Garfield come in and Garfield complains that Julio has been wasting his time looking into Wayne's case. Garfield tells Julio that Wayne strangled Linda and tried to make it look like an automobile accident. Julio doesn't believe it, and insists that Linda's killer is walking free. Unimpressed, Garfield tells him to get back to work and leave. Barry comes over and says that he's worried about Julio. Julio says that his oldest friend is going to die in an hour and there's nothing he can do about it.
Julio storms out and the phone rings. Barry answers it and the caller--Dave Buell-- won't talk to anyone but Julio. He asks Barry to tell him that he called, and Barry says that he's been a big fan of him and his music. Dave says that he has a tape proving that Wayne didn't kill anyone, and he just stole the tape and Julio should meet him at the Take Five Club. Someone grabs Dave and strangles him, and Barry speeds off.
Flash arrives at the phone booth Dave was calling from and finds Dave's hat on the floor and the tape nearby. A truck drives by and smashes the tape, and Flash picks up the pieces. When the pedestrians come over, the hero speeds off and Barry returns to the phone booth and gets the hat. Julio picks up the phone at the police lab, and Barry responds, claiming that he went to another line to check it out. He passes on Dave's message and tells Julio to meet him at the Take Five.
Barry goes into the club, and finds Joe interviewing Wayne's brother Elliott. Elliott insists that Wayne never killed anyone, and says that he'll be at Wayne's side. Barry sees Dave's sax case on a chair and picks it up, while a bouncer, Whispers, grabs Julio as he comes in. Elliott goes over and tells Whisper that Julio is with him, and Barry joins them. Barry has been a regular at the club since Linda's debut, and he asks if the rumors about Linda's unreleased tracks are truth. Elliott says that it would be too painful to go through the tapes and he isn't interested in the money. When Barry mentions Dave, Elliott says that he's still in Chicago. As Barry and Julio leave, Elliott goes over to talk to Whisper.
Outside, Julio tells Barry that Elliott will release the tapes as soon as Wayne is executed. Barry tells his friend that Dave's horn case was on the chair and shows him the tape. Julio goes to the morgue to get Linda's personal effects when she died, and Barry pages Tina at a performance of Swan Lake and then takes her to STAR Labs. He explains about saving Wayne's life and asks if she can rebuild the tape. Tina agrees but warns that it's a long shot and they only have just over 40 minutes.
At the prison, Father Michael meets with Wayne who refuses to confess because he insists he didn't kill his wife. Once the priest leaves, Flash comes in and Wayne wonders why he's there. Flash says that he's there to help Wayne and some people think that he's innocent, and asks for Wayne's side of the story. Wayne insists that he loved Linda. They fought the night that Linda was killed, but it was just the way they were and he worshipped her. Later he left the club with another woman, Suzie Storm, because he was feeling sorry for himself. They went to Suzie's place but just talked about how much Wayne loved Linda. The next day, Linda was dead and Suzie had disappeared. Linda was heading to LA because she cut her first album with Elliott but wanted to get out from under his shadow so she was heading to LA. Wayne insists that Linda was coming back to him, and Suzie was after him. He says that she had custom-made earrings of golden saxes, and she was in and out of town under different aliases. Flash tells Wayne that he believes him, and Wayne says that he doesn't want to live without Linda.
Whisper tells Elliott that the tape wasn't on Dave's body or at his place. Elliott wants a personal guarantee that tape doesn't get out, and tells Whisper to make a call on Julio.
Julio arrives at the morgue, and Whisper arrives and goes in after him.
At STAR Labs, Tina reconstructs the sound from the tape. Barry arrives and Tina plays back the reconstruction. Linda's voice is on the tape but it's not from her first and only published album.
At the morgue, Julio gets a file and Whisper prepares to shoot him dead. Two morgue attendants come by with Dave's body, and one of them tells Julio that he was strangled... like Linda. Julio goes with them and Whisper follows.
Barry hears Dave playing his new arrangement on the tape, and tells Linda that he caught Linda's last act as the club. Julio arrives and Tina buzzes him in, and Whisper slips in behind him. When he gets to the lab, Julio tells Barry and Tina that Dave is dead. They tell Julio that it's Linda's voice but the music is new, and Tina confirms that it's Linda's voice on the new tape. Elliott's voice is on the tape and Barry points out that all they had to identify Linda in the car wreck were dental x-rays that could have been switched. He finds the earrings that Wayne mentioned and figures that Suzie was murdered and put in the car. Linda is alive and someone framed Wayne, and Julio figures that Elliott set it up. Barry tells Julio to call the governor, but Julio insists on going with Barry to the club while Tina makes the call. Whisper has heard the whole thing and moves in on an unwitting Tina.
Barry suggests that Julio go to contact the governor, but Julio wants a piece of Elliott and Whisper.
The governor's secretary hangs up on Tina rather than give her his phone number, and the power goes out.
Julio tells Barry that Wayne was like a brother to him. When Julio refused to join a gang, Wayne helped him out to attack the gang. The head ganger--Whisper--became a singer run by the mob, and they ended up cutting his throat and severing his vocal chords.
Whisper enters the lab and Tina grabs a taser and aims it at him. She shoots it but the batteries are dead and he knocks her to the floor and chuckles. Tina hides, and Whisper smashes the digital reconstruction. Once he leaves, Tina comes out and sees the destruction.
A Death Row prisoner yells at Wayne to stop playing, and he says that he's going to form a band in Heaven.
Barry and Julio arrive at the club, and they discover that Elliott's upstairs apartment is boarded up. Julio goes on into the club, and Flash speeds up the fire escape to the apartment. Elliott is inside recording Linda singing. Once she's done, Linda tells Elliott that she can't remember anything. Elliott says that she had a shock to her mind after the accident, and says that singing is going to help her get her memory back. When she asks about the rest of her life, Elliott takes the recording disk and leaves.
Flash breaks into the apartment while Elliott prepares a hypodermic. Whisper arrives and shows him the reconstruction of the tape that he stole from STAR Labs. They go down to the basement, where Julio is hiding, and Whisper says that he'll be glad to kill Julio and Barry. He warns that they have to kill Linda as well. Elliott insists that Linda's voice built the club, and Whisper points out that she was going to leave Elliott and record under a new label. Whisper stopped Elliott from beating Linda to death, and reminds Elliott that he killed Suzie while Elliott set up Wayne. Now they have enough of Linda's new tapes to release them for a long time. Elliott gives in and tells Whisper to kill Linda far away from the club and make sure the body is unrecognizable. Once Elliott leaves for the prison, Julio follows Whisper into his apartment.
Flash tells Linda that she has to come with him. She panics and refuses, and Whisper hears them talking and shoves Flash out the third-story window. Whisper gives Linda her "medicine", reinforcing her amnesia, and tells her that they're going to take a ride.
The guards and Father Michael come to take Wayne to the electric chair.
Whisper takes Linda out, and Julio steps out and puts Whisper under arrest. Whisper scoffs at him and easily slams him to the sidewalk. Julio tries to attack him and Whisper throws him around, while Linda slips away.
Flash wakes up as water drips on his face.
Linda goes into the club and hears the music. She goes to the stage and starts singing, and everyone realizes who she is.
As Whisper garrotes Julio, Flash arrives and easily subdues Whisper. He switches to Barry and helps Julio up, and they hear Linda singing and go into the club.
Elliott arrives at the prison and takes a seat in the viewing gallery. Wayne asks to speak to him, and apologizes for not treating him right all of the time and putting him down. He asks Elliott to forgive him, and Elliott assures Wayne that he knows his brother doesn't kill Linda. The guards strap Wayne into the chair as Elliott watches.
Barry and Julio run into the club and say that they have to take her to the prison. Julio tells Barry to get to a phone, and Whisper comes in. He tosses Julio aside, and Flash easily evades Whisper's blows and takes him out with a pair of cymbals from the band. Flash picks up Linda and takes her to the prison.
With seconds left, the warden gives the signal to the executioner. Flash speeds in and removes Wayne from the chair, and everyone stares at Linda in shock. Linda goes to Wayne, and Elliott grabs a gun from a security guard and tries to escape. Flash grabs him and says that he's going to be around for a long time.
Later at the club, Linda sings and Wayne accompanies her on the saxophone. Once they're done, they join Barry and Julio at a table. The club is packed, and Linda assures the two detectives that they'll all be a table for them. A waiter brings over "Flash" buffalo wings in honor of the man who saved him.
Written by Gadfly on Feb 10, 2019