Original air date: February 5, 2000

Written by: Juan Carlos Coto

Directed by: Fred K. Keller

Jarod investigates the suspicious suicide of an FBI agent who saved his life years earlier, while Miss Parker arranges an unexpected reunion between Sydney and an old student.

Jarod’s Discoveries: Cup of Soup

Jarod’s Occupations: Secret Service Agent, Naval Officer

Jarod’s Aliases: Jarod Wilkes

Behind the scenes insights and the Creator’s Take

Official Synopsis

Jarod investigates the suspicious suicide of a Secret Service agent who saved Jarod’s life years before.

A disturbing television news report about the body of secret service agent, Todd Baxter, being pulled out of the Potomac River in Washington D.C. jars Jarod into action.  The report alleges that Todd may have jumped into the Potomac after a night of drugs and depression.  Years earlier, Todd saved a fleeing Jarod from the clutches of Centre Sweepers.  A deep, lasting friendship of trust and admiration developed between the two young men.

Posing as a psychologist specializing in counseling secret service agents, Jarod arrives in the lobby of a Washington D.C hotel, the scene of Todd’s alleged suicide.  Special Agents Halder and Talbot greet Jarod.  According to Halder, Todd checked into the hotel and met an old girl friend in the bar downstairs.  The couple returned to the hotel room, where they had sex and got high on heroin.  Talbot tells Jarod that the FBI is floating another theory: homicide.  Talbot wants Jarod to end the “embarrassing speculation” and convince the FBI that Todd’s troubled mind drove him to suicide.  Bailey Malone, of the Violent Crimes Task Force, abruptly appears and Talbot  brushes by him.

Later that day, at the FBI Criminal Sciences Division, Halder and Jarod pour over Todd’s evidence file.  The FBI profiler, Rachel Burke, joins them, and the immediate chemistry between Jarod and Rachel is unmistakable.  Rachel reports that the autopsy revealed that Todd did not die from a fall but from strangulation with piano wire.  Both of Todd’s wrists showed ligature marks and evidence indicates he had been drugged.  Rachel theorizes either that Todd was into kinky sex or that the killer violently bound Todd’s wrist to the arms of a chair.  Jarod and Halder leave to question Emily Sadler, the girl Todd saw the evening of his death.  Emily tells Jarod and Halder that while Todd was a nice guy, personal demons plagued him.  On the night of Todd’s death, Todd was especially troubled.  When Todd produced drugs and alcohol, they fought, and Emily left.  Jarod doesn’t believe Emily’s version of events.

Agent Talbot takes Jarod to meet Gerald Linden, a representative from the Office of Communications.  Ironically, Linden hates to share information.  However, Linden shows Halder and Jarod  a criminal report showing that Todd was arrested in college for heroin possession.  Linden suggests destroying the report in his paper shredder.  Later that night, Jarod arrives at Emily’s apartment just as a black-masked killer pulls out piano wire.  Jarod rushes the killer, but he escapes, swiping Jarod’s arm with a knife.  After the police and paramedics leave, Jarod demands the truth from Emily.  She reluctantly gives Jarod a new version of events about the night Todd died.  Todd met Emily for dinner at the hotel to help her with a problem concerning her work as a lobbyist.  Todd told Emily that he was meeting a man later that night.  Indicating that he had incriminating information in his briefcase, Todd said, “I am gonna be in the papers soon.”  Emily never heard from Todd again.  However, Emily received an ominous call from an unidentified man threatening her father’s life unless she manufactured a story about the night she saw Todd in the hotel.  Emily also maintains that the college drug possession charges against Todd were bogus.

As Talbot, Halder, Rachel and Jarod read through files, Halder and Rachel note the “coincidence” of Bill Radcliffe, a newspaper correspondent who covers the Secret Service, dying in a mysterious car crash only a few days after Todd’s death.  Jarod surmises that Todd had discovered something that the killer wanted.

Back at the Centre, as Sydney relaxes in his oasis of plants, banzai trees and classical music, he happens upon a woman’s watch.  The watch belonged to a young French woman named Claudia Moreau.  Years before, Claudia was a young student of Sydney’s.  They developed a special platonic relationship.  Sydney gave Claudia the watch.  She supposedly died in a car accident with Sydney at the wheel.  Sydney’s driving did not cause the accident, but Sydney still feels deep remorse.  After a despondent Sydney flees the Centre and disappears for hours, Miss Parker confronts her father about the mystery of Sydney’s disappearance.  Miss Parker squeezes the truth from her father.  Claudia, he reveals, never died.  Mr. Parker had hired Claudia, a psychologist, to monitor Sydney when he developed severe conflicted reservations about the Centre’s treatment and use of young Jarod.  After finding Sydney sitting in his car at the base of the tree, Miss Parker and her father set up an unexpected reunion.  Sydney meets the now middle-aged, and very much alive, Claudia Moreau, and he can now put his dark memory of guilt to rest.

Agent Bailey contacts Jarod and tells him the college drug charges against Todd are fake.  Bailey’s report confirms Jarod’s suspicions that whoever killed Todd is trying to smear his past.  Subsequently, Jarod talks with Agent Talbot and Linden.  Linden unwittingly exposes himself when he tells Jarod that he tracked down the cop who arrested Todd for drugs in college.  Jarod follows Linden’s trail.  He sneaks into his office and rebuilds shredded pages taken from Todd’s personal effects.  Rachel helps Jarod analyze the incriminating pages against Linden.

Jarod takes the pages to the unsuspecting Agent Talbot.  The pages reveal that Todd had connected Linden to several major illegal operations and cover-ups.  Linden had had six Washington jobs in the last seven years.  However, Rachel feels that murder is not in Linden’s profile.  Linden would plan the murder, but not execute it.  Evidence leads the trio to the last missing piece: Agent Halder.

Jarod lures Linden to Todd’s hotel suite at night.  Jarod pulls out a syringe, drugs Linden and ties his hands with piano wire, simulating a similar scene of Todd’s death.  Jarod demands Linden reveal his employers and drags Linden to the window sill.  Linden names Agent Halder as the killer.  Rachel tape records the confession with a hidden video camera.  With Linden and Halder exposed, Jarod hesitantly says good-bye to Rachel, wishing circumstances were different.  Rachel and Jarod share a smile, then Jarod disappears.

st year’s