In A Tree
Finlay tells Reacher that he has found a lead on the killer and asks if he can come over to his place for a chat. Reacher agrees and drives over to Finlay’s house. As they walk into the house, they see a man in the living room, holding a gun to Finlay’s head.
Finlay has learned that Hubble has been lying to Charlie; he hasn’t worked at the bank for a year. He’s also got a tip-off about a burnt car found out on the edge of a farm. It seems like someone was hiding it but the rain has washed away the little cover it had.
When they get there, Reacher checks out the vehicle and notices the burning was deliberate. Potentially it was done with an accelerant and a match. They can’t be 100% sure that this is Joe’s car but through some ingenuity, Reacher manages to find the VIN number.
Roscoe and Reacher head to the trunk of the car. There, Reacher confirms what really happened in the small village in Iraq. The kids there were being abused and after saving them from their horrific ordeal, he turned his attention to the adults. He offered them a choice but that didn’t turn out so well, eventually leaving them dead.
The Kliner family clearly used their resources to find out what happened to Reacher, but of course they spun it as him killing civilians. ..
Roscoe and Reacher work together to hide the bodies, getting a suite near the airport afterwards. Reacher pays in cash; that same wad of money he uncovered from the bodies earlier. Once they make it into the suite, Reacher sets to work making sure the room is completely prepped just incase they’re followed.
Molly Beth has tracked down numerous files but she’s flying in at 5am, so Roscoe suggests she get a train to Five Points station once she touches down. There are less cameras and given she’s handing over classified files, it’s in her best interest to keep a low profile. After the call, Roscoe and Reacher end up making love as they find solitude in one another’s pain. ..
The next day, Reacher and Roscoe head off to see Mrs. Jobling in Brookhaven. They’re there to see Pete, but he’s not home. It turns out that Pete is actually living in Brookhaven, which gives them their next lead. When they show up to see Judy, there’s no love lost between her and Pete. She actually doesn’t care that he’s dead. Given their lavish house, Judy admits that Pete was involved in some shady business. ..
He’s convinced that the two houses are connected to the fake cash for Kliner. He’s got a good reason to believe it - they both have air conditioners in them. But he can’t find any aircon units, so he’s sure that the two houses are connected.
The bills could be produced in South America and then shipped to Florida. This would then give Jobling incentive to drive down with the air con unit boxes as a cover story to then take the fake cash back to Kliner. That’s the theory anyway but it’s certainly plausible.
Finlay is back in town and quickly learns that word about his antics at Kliner’s office have spread. Teale is not happy and immediately calls him out, demanding he do a deep dive into a whole list of felons. If not, he’ll be dismissed from the case. For now, Finlay is forced to play ball. ..
Picard is called in to a meeting with Finlay, where they discuss a possible hit on Ron Hassey. Jack is aware of this and knows that it’s all connected to his brother.
Reacher and his brother, Jack, are on their way to meet with a contact in the business world when they are met with gunfire. They quickly realize that this is not a normal meeting - the contact is being held hostage and there are gunmen everywhere. They find themselves in a race against time as they try to free their contact before he’s killed or captured.
The pair run, but Reacher is the target here. With things looking grim, Roscoe eventually shows and saves the day. However, she’s not happy about Reacher’s obvious emotional reaction to protecting her.
When they head off together, Finlay rings with bad news. He believes that Stevenson may actually be one of the dirty cops. Even worse, he could have recognized Picard’s voice and name too, compromising the whole operation Could he be the one responsible for blindsiding them?
The trio meets in secret again and tries to decode Joe’s note. He never did anything by mistake and those numbers appear to be extra leads that could be linked to the animal feed, the note in the shoe, and a number for the Memphis Environmental Protective Agency. ..
Reacher calls on Frances Neagley, a recurring character in the books and someone he clearly trusts. He relays all the information and sets her to work finding out more. ..
Molly’s death leads the trio back to square one as they search for the files that were missing from her suitcase. They find them on the train tracks and Reacher is able to track down the person who left them there.
The Episode Review
The halfway point of Reacher starts to deepen the ties between the characters, and there is a nice undercurrent of humor, just small sprinklings, to help alleviate some of the darker drama we are wrestling with here. ..
It seems as though someone is trying to leak information to the press and it’s possible that it’s someone at the station or Kliner with his large cash reserves. The case is starting to take a more convoluted turn with this note.
The mystery of the disappearances in this series is slowly building, with a nice ebb and flow to it that balances out the action and drama.
