Cardinal

As Cardinal struggles in the wake of his wife’s suicide, Delorme becomes lead detective on both a double murder and a seemingly unrelated string of muggings. In the aftermath of Catherine’s suicide, Cardinal outwardly accepts the evidence that she took her own life. But when he starts to receive taunting cards blaming him for her death he begins to question the suicide. Back on duty, Cardinal and Delorme are called to a bloody cottage crime scene where at least two people have died, but there are no bodies to be found. What they don’t yet realize is that there is a living witness - a young woman named Sam Duchene. She escaped the killer, but has personal reasons to avoid talking to the police. With resources stretched thin as Delorme also works a string of ATM robberies, a hunch of Cardinal’s leads them to the two bodies strapped to a boat at the bottom of the lake. They have their victims now, but who are they – and who killed them?

Cardinal and Delorme pursue the identities of the victims, unaware that a witness to the crime is being stalked by the murderer. Meanwhile Cardinal continues his covert investigation in to Catherine’s death. Cardinal and Delorme struggle to identify the two bodies – until two entrepreneurs are reported M.I.A. from the Sportsman’s Show. The lead brings the detectives to the trashed boat of Roman & Irena Barstow. Roman was a former gun industry exec who bought out Irena’s custom hunting-bow business and then married her – enraging her ex-partner – and husband. When the ex’s alibi checks out, the case turns to locating the Barstow’s missing rental car. The rigors of the investigation distract Cardinal, but he still has one eye on Catherine’s death. Taking the handful of cruel cards he’s received to her psychiatrist Dr.Bell, he gets help profiling the sender and makes a list of ex-cons who might want revenge. Meanwhile Dyson confronts an armed man in a laundromat, and he shoots himself in front of her. With Dyson faltering from trauma and Cardinal distracted, Delorme is frustrated by the lack of leads – until an anonymous tip from Sam gives the case new momentum. Meanwhile, Mama and her ‘family’ descend upon the remote lodge of Lloyd Kreeger. On the run for the murders, they need the lodge as a base for what’s yet to come...

As Mama and her family hold Lloyd captive, Cardinal and Delorme flush out an unexpected ally in their search for the killers. Cardinal confronts a man he believes may be connected to Catherine’s suicide. Mama and her family (Jack, Lemur, and Nikki) have commandeerd Lloyd Kreeger’s home, taken him prisoner, and killed his employee. The Barstow murders are in the news and the heat is on, but the family must find the guns they came for before leaving town. Meanwhile, Cardinal and Delorme pursue evidence that realtor Randall Wishart was in the house shortly before the murders. A lawyered-up Randall stonewalls, but they soon close in on his mistress, Sam. Meanwhile, Cardinal confronts an ex-con he thinks is behind the cruel card she’s been receiving. After making a scene at the suspect’s work place and realizing he’s mistaken, Cardinal starts to wonder if he’s losing his mind. Back at Lloyd’s, Mama punishes Lloyd for questioning her sanity, and Jack obsesses over Sam’s artwork, fixated on pulling her into his world.

Armed with new evidence, Cardinal and Delorme make a break in the case that could explain the motive behind the murders. Cardinal finally makes an arrest for the anonymous cards that have been haunting him since Catherine’s death. Cardinal and Delorme get a sketch of the Island Road killer from Sam, and with the department stretched thin, Command a volunteers to keep her and her mother safe. Cardinal and Delorme find evidence leading them to known gun dealer Misha Pulaski - last seen meeting with the Barstows at a local watering hole. He has an alibi, but admits he was buying guns from them – guns he has yet to receive. Unable to let go of tracing the anonymous cards, Cardinal makes a big connection when he traces a printer flaw to Roger Felt, a man he once put away for fraud. Cardinal hauls him in, enraged. Meanwhile, Delorme stakes out an ATM just as the robber strikes. Before she can catch the perpetrator, shots are fired and she finds the mugger dead. Delormere turns to the station and walks in on chaos as Cardinal bullies a confession from Roger Felt for writing the cards – but not for killing Catherine. Dyson grills Delorme, wondering if Cardinal is fit for duty.

Cardinal and Delorme uncover the identity of the Island Road killer and link the double homicide to the ATM robberies. Meanwhile Cardinal receives a gift from beyond the grave that sheds new light on Catherine’s death. Still embarrassed over arresting Roger Felt, Cardinal wakes to Kelly staggering in drunk. The two of them finally confront their grief over Catherine and Cardinal tries to move on - but in the morning he gets a message from someone with information about Catherine. Jack lies to Mama and Nikki, telling them Delorme killed Lemur, before vowing to find the guns and make things right. Little do they know that he also has plans to abduct Sam and bring her in to the family fold. Meanwhile Delorme has linked Lemur’s death to the Island Road murders and follows a lead that reveals Mama and Jack’s identities. Cardinal meets with a former patient of Dr.Bell, whom the doctor encouraged to write a suicide note - throwing doubt on the note Catherine left behind. Delorme and Cardinal make a new connection on the case that leads them to a very cold case file - Sharlene could actually be the missing daughter of a family believed murdered almost 30 years ago. The bodies were never found...

Cardinal manages to cast enough suspicion on Catherine’s suicide to bring Dyson onside, and she follows up on his leads as Cardinal and Delorme close in on Mama by using sonar technology to find the missing Scriver bodies, confirming the daughter is still alive. Sensing their approach, Mama’s composure begins to slip and she launches into survival mode, setting a deadly trap for Cardinal and Delorme. As our detectives struggle to shake the loyalty of Mama’s ‘children’ Nikki and Jack for the sake of their own survival, Dyson follows up on evidence found by Cardinal about what truly happened to Catherine – and who was behind her murder.