K-Ville: Boulet in a China Shop (Episode 9)

This week's crime (or main crime, I should say, as there appears to be some arson later on) is a double homicide at the Mardis Gras World warehouse belonging to a Mr. Perl, one of the victims. The other dead man is Barnet -- apparently Perl's killer, though Cobb thinks the placement of the bodies and of the guns is suspect. Were they dead by each other's hand, or does the anonymous 911 caller who brought the SWAT team down to the warehouse in the first place have another shooter? A suspect, Owen Giles, is found hiding in one of the floats -- he's a NO native who hasn't been seen since the storm. Boulet recognizes him, though, as man he rescued from a rooftop after Katrina.

ADA Swan has no motive and no witness to identify Owen as the murderer, so she has to let him go. Cobb and Boulet do some more digging on Barnet who extorted money and merchandise from local business owners. The gig proved lucrative (as confirmed by his girlfriend and a garage full of loot), too lucrative to give back to its original holder, who disappeared after the storm: Owen Giles. Owen came back to town when his FEMA checks dried up, and of course gets his job back when Barnet turns up dead. Hello, motive! Still doesn't ID him as the triggerman, and the 911 caller, the praline purveyor across the street from the warehouse still won't talk. As long as he and the other merchants, like Angelo, who's been serving Boulet his pickle and peach ice cream since boyhood, won't rat out Owen and his gang on extortion either. Not even arson committed against a fellow merchant is enough to get them to testify. Even worse, Boulet's trick -- arresting the owners on obstruction -- yields no confessions, and gets him booted off the case by Embry. Cobb has to work the case without him.

Feeling desperate, Boulet grabs Owen in a raid and takes him to an abandoned house near the rooftop where they first met. During that rescue two years before, another man was on the roof with Owen when he was found. There was room enough in Boulet's boat for one, though, so he grabbed Owen first and promised to come back for the second gentleman. By the time he did return, mere minutes later, the man was dead -- apparently he had slipped and hit his head, drowning in the foul waters below.

Boulet's reintroduction to Owen and the revelation of his personality had him feeling awful -- learning that the second man, who had been praying and talking bout his family before Boulet found him and Owen, has Boulet angry. Convinced that his act of "playing God" has not only killed a man who didn't deserve to die, and unleashed a criminal, Boulet prepares to kill Owen, emptying his own gun all around Owen's head just as Cobb arrives. Cobb has good news -- the merchants decide to testify after ADA Swan offers them better protection. Previously, the NOPD budget could only allow for temporary relocation during trial, and this wouldn't protect Angelo and the others from recrimination from Owen's gang. Once it's discovered that the goods such as the stuff in Barnet's garage comes from out of state, federal money can be allocated for protection. Owen is arrested, charged, and convicted, now that the praline man has come forward to testify about his committing the double murder.

Boulet celebrates with some ice cream with the family, and later that night the entire SWAT team gets together for some well-earned karaoke.

Notes: A good episode, character-wise, though it still strikes me as a bit naive on Boulet's part that he could be so incredulous and disappointed to learn about Angelo paying protection money to Owen and his crew. Aren't all the crimes on this show about or at least heavily related to corruption at one level or another? Also disappearances and mistaken identity, which can only be expected in a show about law enforcement in present-day New Orleans. Also, no Charlie so this is clearly from early in the season, no?