Along Came a Spider

Pittman calls Alex into his office after he returns from Florida. He is angry because the FBI are blaming Alex and the Washington, DC, police department for the failed ransom drop-off, and Thomas Dunne is following suit, blaming them for failing to save Maggie. Pittman tells Alex that he and John can work on the kidnapping case in the background, but otherwise reassigns them to the Turner and Sanders murders.

Alex wakes to reporters on his lawn two days later, and teases his children about the noise, accusing them of leaving the television on. He jokingly charges Damon with chasing the reporters away. Instead, he steps out and invites them to camp on his lawn while they fire questions at him. Later, Alex and John go to St. Anthony’s Church to serve lunch to the homeless, a practice that Alex’s late wife, Maria, encouraged. The people there call Alex “Peanut Butter Man” because the man who runs the kitchen believes in the healing power of peanut butter, so he serves a small cup of it with every meal. Suddenly, John calls Alex outside, as the reporters have found them. Alex yells at them to allow everyone to eat in peace, and the reporters back off.

Gary Murphy (Gary Soneji) is shoveling snow from his driveway, and his daughter, Roni, is playing in the front yard, when his brother-in-law, Marty, drives up. Marty is greeted affectionately by both Missy and Roni while Gary observes from the sidelines. The four of them go inside, but Marty quickly sends Roni out to his car to retrieve a gift so the adults can speak alone. Marty says Gary hasn’t made a sale all quarter. Missy expresses concern, but Gary brushes it off while thinking of balloon heads and how badly he wants to be somebody.

On January 10, Alex has his first day off since the Sanders murders. He lies in bed, feeling sorry for himself, missing Maria and her power to draw him out of his head during cases. He remembers the day she died, how he was called to the hospital and arrived too late to say goodbye. Maria’s cause of death was allegedly a drive-by shooting.

Damon comes upstairs and tells Alex that someone is at the door. Alex finds Jezzie waiting with both of his children. His children are shy, with Janelle hiding behind Damon. Jezzie wishes to apologize for the press, as she believes Alex was set up for failure.

Jezzie drives to the old farmhouse where Michael and Maggie were originally held, trying to figure out why Gary would choose this location. She has worked hard to get where she is in her career, and knows she will take the blame for the kidnapping case if she isn’t the one to locate Gary. She thinks about Gary’s signature—Son of Lindbergh. Jezzie then thinks about the infamous Lindberg kidnapping and tries to draw connections between it and Gary’s kidnapping. She cries at the thought.

Maggie is in a dark closet. She wishes someone would come, even the unpleasant woman who yelled at her. She cried so much that she can’t cry anymore. Maggie thinks she might be dead, but bit her finger and it bled. Suddenly, she hears voices outside. She wants to scream, but is afraid. Maggie then presses her ear against the closet door, but the voices disappear. She screams, and the door bursts open.

Gary Murphy is in his basement, considering the idea of killing Missy and Roni. He considers burning the house down with them in it, as he’s done so before. He has a headache and tries to soothe himself with thoughts of the Lindbergh kidnapping, but it doesn’t help. Gary leaves the house and heads to Washington, DC.

Gary knocks on the door of history teacher Ms. Vivian Kim and convinces her that he is from the local electric company, and someone called about a billing mistake. He pushes her to let him inside. When she does, he reveals that he is Gary Soneji, and he wants the fame he’s earned.

Alex and John arrive at Vivian Kim’s apartment to find her body mutilated in the same way the Turner and Sanders women were. On the floor is a pink athletic shoe that matches Maggie’s other shoe in the old barn in Maryland. This is proof that Gary is both Michael and Maggie’s kidnapper and the murderer of the Turner and Sanders families.

Alex and John spend their day off canvassing the neighborhood around Vivian Kim’s apartment. They have trouble getting people to talk, and those who do deny knowing anything. Early in the evening, they meet Mrs. Scott, who tells them that before the murder of the Turners, she saw a salesman in the neighborhood. Yesterday, before Vivian Kim was killed, she saw the same salesman. She tells Alex and John that this man worked for Atlantic Heating in Wilmington, Delaware.

Gary Murphy returns home after being at the office for a few hours and tells his wife that he has a couple of sales leads. Missy is busy setting up a party for Roni’s seventh birthday; guests begin arriving shortly after. The activity makes Gary nervous, so he fantasizes about killing everyone at the party.

Alex, John, and the rest of the hostage-rescue team gather outside Gary Murphy’s home in Wilmington, Delaware. They watch as a pizza boy delivers several pizzas. When he’s gone, they charge the house, FBI agents and police entering through different entry points. Alex and John enter the kitchen and find two women there. They ask where Gary is and are told he’s in the dining room. In the dining room, a father says Gary went upstairs while a child says he’s in the basement. John goes upstairs and Alex checks the basement, but Gary is nowhere to be found.

Gary Murphy saw the police while paying the pizza boy. He ran, following a plan he’d concocted long ago. He watched from a neighbor’s backyard as FBI agents and police entered his house. Gary heads to the metro train station to pick up an old VW he parked there long ago.

The FBI and police remain at the Murphy home late into the night to question Gary’s family and the partygoers. Missy tells them that Gary had a difficult childhood that left him unable to discipline Roni. She says Gary grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, not far from the location of the Lindbergh kidnapping, but that he no longer has family there because a house fire killed his father, stepmother, stepbrother, and stepsister. One of the FBI agents pulls Alex and John aside to show them a pair of socks they found in the basement that belong to Maggie.

The hostage-rescue team stays at the Du Pont Hotel in Wilmington. They meet at the bar and have too many drinks together. Afterward, they wander out in groups. Alex finds himself alone with Jezzie. They get off the elevator on the third floor, where they have rooms on opposite ends of the corridor. Jezzie confesses to being wired, and wonders what Alex does when he’s wired. He says he plays his piano, but there’s no piano at the hotel. Alex hugs Jezzie, and they share a kiss. They express concern about the complications of a romantic relationship, but go to Jezzie’s room.

Gary Murphy leaves a hotel in Virginia in a new disguise, then stops at a convenience store several hours later in another disguise. He considers killing the clerk at the convenience store but changes his mind. He feels unstoppable as he continues to Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, where he pulls off at a McDonald’s. Gary goes inside and buys two cups of coffee, all the while belittling customers in his head. He walks into a man and explodes when the man tells him to watch out. Gary pulls out a gun and announces who he is, telling everyone that he is in charge. He shoots a man in the head and declares this a hostage situation.

A couple of Pennsylvania state troopers are about to enter the McDonald’s when they hear gunfire. They decide to split up in order to cover both exits of the restaurant. The older cop, Officer Mick Fescoe, tells his partner not to enter the restaurant until he receives a signal. Fescoe goes around the building and hears the gunman call himself Gary Soneji. He enters the restaurant, but Gary immediately shoots him.

Alex and the hostage-rescue team hear of both Gary and the shooting at the McDonald’s. They arrive within 30 minutes to find the press have made it before them. The FBI and local police are there as well. Alex volunteers to take over for the local hostage negotiator. He calls out to Gary, introducing himself and warning Gary that if he doesn’t give up, he will be killed. He wants Gary alive so the hostage-rescue team can find Maggie. Gary tries to exit and is shot in the shoulder by FBI snipers. Alex catches him as he falls. Gary thanks him before promising to kill him one day.