The TranceEpisode 313(047) - Jan 21 1998 A period of tension has existed between the Cascade police force and the Little Havana community ever since an up and coming young Cuban law student named Jorge Mendola, who was well loved for fighting for the rights of the Cuban people, was murdered after making accusations of police corruption. While a religious ritual takes place a building in the Cuban sector, a pair of police detectives are arguing on the roof above. One admits that he can't do it any more and a scuffle breaks out between he and his partner, who throws him through a glass window and into the ongoing ceremony below. As he lies there critically wounded, the people scatter and his partner approaches him and delivers the final shot. The priestess of the ceremony, left behind in the rush and still lost in a trance state, comes upon the killer, who flees. Jim and Blair attend the officer down call and Simon informs them that the victim is Patrick Donaghue of the Vice Squad and they are trying to locate his partner, Dennis Murphy. Simon informs them that the 9mm found at the scene has been wiped clean and has the serial number filed down. Blair recognizes the paraphernalia from the religious ritual as being from a Santeria ceremony, an Afro-Cuban religion.Outside the building, Jim smells a sweet, perfume odor, and follows it to a gold scarf dumped in the alley which Blair also identifies as probably belonging to a priestess of Oshun, the African goddess of love and beauty. The scarf bears the tag of a shop called Botanica which Blair recognizes as a religious supply store that may house ceremonies of this kind. On the assumption that the scarf was owned by either the killer or a witness, they head off for Botanica. The priestess of the ceremony, Karina Santiago, turns up at Botanica to ask her friend what happened. All she can remember is awaking from a trance to find a dead man with a bullet hole in his chest. She remembers nothing of the murderer. Her friend Iya explains that a man fell through the roof and that everyone panicked and ran. Karina is distraught, and as she is also a respected Community Affairs officer, she feels it is her duty to go to the police. Iya tries to convince her that the police will not take kindly to a story about trances and ancient religions. When Jim and Blair arrive, Karina ducks out the back to hide. Iya identifies the scarf as a very common item in the Cuban community and says she knows nothing of the murder. Jim notices the scent again, and Iya responds that it is verbena, which Blair remarks is part of the "Bembe" ceremony. Iya is surprised by Blair's ready knowledge and goes on to implicate herself as having some information when she insists that the murder did not happen at the Bembe. Just then Jim hears something out the back and races into the alley, but finds nothing. Later, Jim tells Simon that he believes Iya is sitting on some information and also asks for permission to question Roberto Cortez, a corrupt Cuban official suspected of many crimes in Little Havana. Simon is insistent that although Cortez is a thug, he's also an important figure in the tension-rife Cuban community, and sends Jim after Murphy instead in the hopes that information on what they were working on will lead to the killer. Murphy pleads no knowledge of the crime, insisting that it is obviously payback for the Mendola murder. He even makes a show of wounded anger, criticizing Blair for not understanding what it's like to be a cop. Jim assures Murphy that Donaghue was one of their own and they'll catch the killer. Jim and Blair intend to head for Little Havana to question Cortez. Murphy also goes to see Cortez to complain that the cops are on his tail. Cortez ridicules him for panicking, until Murphy reveals that there was a witness, and Cortez tells Murphy to "take care of business". When Jim questions Cortez, he remains very cool and claims to know nothing about the killings. Outside Cortez's restaurant, Jim smells the verbena again. Just then Cassie calls to say that they have identified the serial number on the gun and come up with the current owner, Bobby Tome. When they track him down at a pool hall and question him, he reveals that he was picked up on a possession charge and the gun was confiscated by the arresting officer - Patrick Donaghue. Back in Simon's office, Simon says that it points the finger at police corruption and reveals that IA has been investigating cops that may have been in Cortez's pocket, and Donaghue's name was on the list. Simon also mentions that Cortez has filed harassment charges against the Cascade PD, and Jim and Blair are ordered to work with a community affairs liaison. They are introduced to Karina Santiago. Karina reaffirms her suspicions of police-corruption and urges Simon to practice restraint in his investigations. Jim immediately jumps in to aim the suspicion of corruption at Cortez, but Karina refuses to believe it, pointing out the free clinic, youth center and meal program provided by Cortez. After she leaves, Jim mentions that her perfume is the same he smelled at the murder scene and follows her into the stairwell where he plies her for more answers, revealing that they have a witness who dropped her shawl at the murder scene and reminding her of the risks of obstructing a police investigation. Karina runs off and Murphy overhears the whole encounter. Cortez sends Murphy to finish the job. Blair decides to go back to the Botanica, planning to follow Iya. She goes to a bar where Blair sees her meeting with Karina, and he reports his discovery to Jim. But as Blair watches, a drive-by hit is made on the bar and Iya is killed. Distraught, Karina reveals the truth about the Bembe ceremony, and the trance state she was in which prevents her from identifying the killer. She admits sadly that she lives in two worlds. Jim agrees, "a lot of us live in two worlds... sometimes we don't know which world we're in." Blair takes Karina to the loft and they are placed under police protection while Jim and Simon nut out the evidence back at the station. Jim makes several suppositions. If Mendola's claims of police corruption were true and Murphy and Donaghue were the arresting officers on the Mendola case, it stands to reason that they could have been involved. Donaghue may have had a change of heart about the murder, and was killed - lured to the roof of that building by someone he trusted - like a partner. In the meantime, he says Blair is working on jogging Karina's memory. At the loft, Blair encourages Karina to re-enter the trance state and "give Oshun a voice" to identify the murderer. She agrees and they go to Botanica where he assists her in a ceremony that lasts until dawn. Records reveal that Murphy was on duty the night of Donaghue's murder so Jim goes in search of Cortez's thug, Rico, and threatens that cop killings in Little Havana are commonplace, making it easy for him to simply kill Rico. At gunpoint, Rico admits that Donaghue and Murphy killed Mendola and Murphy killed Donaghue, all under Cortez's orders. He reveals that Cortez and Murphy went to Botanica and Jim races over there, informing Simon that he can't reach Blair. Cortez's men take out the police guard and Blair races out the back with Karina, who is now deep in her trance, and they disappear into a crowded festival in the streets with Cortez, Murphy and Cortez's henchman on their tails. Jim arrives and finds the injured officers, and takes off in pursuit of Blair and Karina. Jim tracks down Blair with his hearing, but in the meantime Cortez finds Karina and instructs Murphy to kill her, but Murphy hesitates. Blair encourages Jim to try and track Karina's scent in the crowd, and Simon and Jim are then able to find Cortez and Murphy and stop them just in time. But Cortez escapes and grabs a hostage in the crowd. Jim is able to then use the crowd against Cortez, to prove the kind of man he really is, and in their anger they close in and wrestle him to the ground, bringing to an end an era of corruption in little Havanna. Credits:
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