Alan Ralston is shot to death and his wife Janet wounded inside their building parking garage. In hospital, Janet identifies the alleged attacker from a police photo. One witness questioned early in the investigation is Gil Himes, a business associate of Alan. Police eventually piece together that the crime was not a random act of violence by the identified attacker. Rather it was the intentional murder of Alan and equally intentional wounding of Janet. Stone tries to get one of the suspects to testify against the other.

The discovery of an unconscious man named Diamond in Central Park leads Greevey and Logan to Diamond's previous activity and locale—with an escort named Jolene in a hotel room. Greevey poses as a "john" looking for Jolene. When she stipulates her fees and services, Greevey arrests her for solicitation. When Diamond dies, the investigation leads to Jolene's superior, Jasmine, then to Jasmine's superior, Laura Winthrop. Winthrop claims that she runs a catering service, but when Jolene's blood tests HIV-positive, the case takes a sharp tack questioning the safety of the escort service industry.