TEXT: Zenith Motor Gallery, Marin County the owner: Mr. Norris, I'm gonna let one of my guys show you the Lamborghini. It's your new car. You just don't know it yet. a salesman: The McLaren looks good on you, Mr. Landau. buyer: Not tonight. another salesman: A lot of fellas out there- They've got to sell station wagons, minivans, This? I don't have to sell this This is the good life on wheels, stem to stern. Hell, the trunk's bigger than my first apartment. (He opens the trunk to show it off to a prospective buyer and finds a dead woman in the trunk.) Oh, my God. Liselle. CBI arrives. Lisbon: Agent Rigsby, what do we have? Rigsby: Hey, boss. Liselle Douglas, salesperson here, age 28. Blunt force trauma, numerous contusions, possible skull fracture. Cho: Her clothes are still intact. No obvious signs of sexual assault. Lisbon: What is it? Jane: I just love that new car smell. Lisbon: Anything on the time of death? Van Pelt: She was last seen working here late last night. Private security did a sweep at midnight, reported the alarm system hadn't been activated. Coroner thinks she was probably dead by then. Let's get the body out of here, see what we can find out. Rigsby yeah, you got it. Lisbon: That's expensive, huh? Cho: $300,000 retail. Probably get a discount now, though. Cho talks to salesmen. Cho: Hey, guys. One of you found the body? Brad: Yeah, James Kinsey. I believe he's in the John right now. Brad Elias. Cho: Any idea who could have done this, Mr. Elias? Brad: No. None. It was horrible. This is a tragedy. We're like a family here. Jane: Ha! Family. That's cute. Brad: Excuse me? Jane: You work on commission, right? Brad: Sure. Jane: Okay, then you're not a family at all. You're a
SUMMARY:
Jane and the CBI team investigate when Liselle Douglas, a young saleswoman, is found dead in the trunk of a Bentley at Zenith Motor Gallery, an elite car dealership. Jane and Lisbon meet the sales team, except for lead salesman James Kinsey who is away sick. Brad Elias, second lead salesman, claims they are like "family" but Jane counters it is a gladiator pit, confirmed by owner Oliver Westhoff - at the end of each sales drive, the most successful salesman wins a prize, the least successful is fired. Liselle was fairly successful as the rich male clients were attracted to her and gave her gifts. Jane riles Kinsey when he takes his packed lunch out of the Zenith fridge, and Kinsey admits he asked Liselle out - she refused - she had a boyfriend. In the office, Lisbon talks to no-longer-secret lovers Rigsby and Van Pelt, saying she is obliged to report them, at the end of the case, which means one of them will have to transfer. Sparhawk was Liselle's boyfriend: he is a poorly paid musician, has no alibi, and Liselle's job kept them afloat. They both hated her job and gave away client gifts except for one to fund their future wedding - a valuable picture from millionaire Walter Mashburn. He was Liselle's last appointment on the day she died. Lisbon and Jane meet Mashburn at a private club. He denies sleeping with Liselle and says the picture was a gift for finding him a rare car; he identifies Jane as being a charlatan psychic, and enjoys being a murder suspect. Cho reports that the night of the murder Westhoff called the police to report a Ferrari stolen from their service department but called back later to say never mind. The autopsy report shows Liselle was hit by a car - probably the Ferrari. Jane and Cho overhear Kinsey being angry with Westhoff - Kinsey risks losing the top salesman position due to absence with stomach problems, his drop in performance signalled by Westhoff now taking an account from him. Mr Landau, a client, might have taken Mrs Landau's Ferrari since the Landaus are mid-divorce. Jane goes through the fridge and finds Kinsey's lunch, beef barley soup - Kinsey put his name on it as somebody stole his lunch recently. Van Pelt chafes when Rigsby assumes he will be the one to stay on at the CBI as he has been there longer. Landau explains he and his wife are reconciling. But when he hears how Liselle died he implicates Sparhawk - Landau had left drugs in the glove box and paid Sparhawk to steal the car. The CBI team locates the Ferrari, which Sparhawk has crashed, and Lisbon talks him down from threatening everyone with a samurai sword; he confesses to the murder. Meanwhile Jane has been entertaining Mashburne and his friends at the private club but after a 'psychic' show in which Jane drives Mashburn's car blindfolded the car rolls off the cliff into the sea. Lisbon realizes that Sparhawk feels liable but did not kill Liselle. Jane and Cho visit Zenith with Mashburn for Jane to buy a replacement car for Mashburn. Jane chooses Elias over Kinsey as salesman for this sale, saying the second-best tries harder. Jane ensures Mashburn's interest in a particular car but Elias tries to interest him in another. Jane then explains that Elias is feeling squeamish because he used this car to run over Liselle: Elias had been poisoning Kinsey's lunch to drop his performance so that Elias would gain top position. Liselle had caught Elias tampering with Kinsey's lunch and ordered him to confess on pain of her reporting him, but Elias knew that if he did Westhoff would fire him and Kinsey would call the cops, so he murdered Liselle. Jane had suspected Elias because the second-best tries harder and no one steals a barley beef lunch. Lisbon tells Rigsby and Van Pelt she will ignore their relationship provided they show no sign of it at work.