High Potential

- It's good to see you again. - What took you so long?

Why don't you get ready? I'll take you back.

Okay, Dottie. I made sure to get you your favorite room.

Oh, thank you. I really needed this.

Get settled. I'll be back in a minute.

Thank you.

Finally.

Come on in, Kai.

I'm ready for you.

My calves could use your thumbs.

I wish you had more than two.

Okay.

Oh, why not? Just throw it on the floor. No problem.

There we go. Thank you. Oh!

Ta-da.

Mom, have you seen my controller?

Ah, you're gonna have to be a little more specific.

The one for my S75K drone with a three axis gimbal.

I don't know why I asked. That didn't help.

I looked everywhere.

Don't think you're supposed to be taking it to school.

-Good morning. -Hey, do you need any help?

Chloe, what's for breakfast?

Ooh, mashed bananas.

"Ooh, mashed bananas"? What's going on?

Do you have good news to share?

How do you do that? Was it that obvious?

I mean, I am your mom, but yes.

Well, I'm gonna need you to give me a ride Saturday mornings.

-Starting this Saturday. -No way!

-A ride where? -Oberlin Design Center.

I got into that art class that I applied for.

They said I beat out 60 other students for the spot.

Ava, I'm so proud of you.

Congratulations, Ava. That's a 1.67% acceptance rate.

-That's more competitive than some Ivies. -Not sure how you know that.

But thank you.

Good morning, Lieutenant. Do you have good news to share with me?

Hey, how's she doing?

Unconscious but stable. CT scan didn't reveal any brain damage.

Right now we just have to wait for her to wake up.

Her masseuse found her unconscious.

He did CPR. If he hadn't gotten there when he did...

And I doubt she saw whoever did this since they pinned her to the table.

- I didn't know they were close. - Yeah.

Dottie's been a mentor to Daphne since she joined the LAPD.

-Hey. -Daphne, listen,

if you don't feel comfortable being part of this investigation--

No, no. I'm good.

All right, I'm happy to hear that

because I want you running lead on this case.

I've never led an investigation and Dottie and I are close.

Which is why you have contexts that we don't.

I know you won't let any feelings that you have

interfere with your ability to find who did this.

-No, we will find them. -Good.

Karadec is already on his way to a suspicious overdose case on the east side.

I'll have Oz join him and then we can update them on Dottie later.

But for now, Morgan, I want you to stick with Daphne.

You got it.

She's gonna be okay.

That woman is as tough as it gets. She'll be all right.

I didn't realize you and Dottie were so close.

She was my field training officer.

We spent five years in a patrol car

seeing every kind of mess you can think of.

I made detective around the time

Dottie started teaching full-time, but we stayed close.

Dottie was like a surrogate mother to me.

And like most mother-daughter relationships...

It's complicated.

She wanted me to take the sergeant's exam.

-I thought that's what you wanted. -I did.

Okay, so what happened?

I've watched what Soto and Dottie have put up with for years,

the hoops, double standards.

I just figured, what's the point?

And Dottie disagreed?

She said some things.

I said some things.

We haven't talked since.

I mean, Dottie comes in every Tuesday morning for the 60-minute deep tissue.

Well, it looks like this place does a lot more than massages.

Yeah, I mean, we offer IV drip treatments,

Botox injections, laser removal, chemical peels, stuff like that.

What's with the sensors on everybody's arm?

Uh, they're proprietary vital sensors.

They track hydration, temperature. We use them on all of our treatments.

That would explain the adhesive on Dottie's wrist.

Can you tell us exactly what happened after Dottie went into the massage room?

I got paged to the front desk.

This delivery person was trying to drop off some oils that I didn't order,

but was insistent that I pay for them anyway.

-How long were you gone, do you think? -About ten minutes or so.

I went back to the room. I knocked on the door.

When I didn't hear anything, I went inside and I found her unconscious.

No one heard Dottie's attack? I mean, she must have put up a fight.

The massage rooms are soundproof.

Mm-mmm. Mm-mmm.

Okay, thank you. If we have any more questions, I'll be in touch.

As if I needed another reason not to want a massage.

-Not how you like to unwind? -No.

Lay face down, try not to think about anything

for an hour, can't see who's touching me. No thank you.

Dottie used to say, "You can't pour from an empty cup."

Yeah, well, she might want to find a new happy place

because this spa is a perfect place to get attacked.

Yeah, and without her weapon she was relaxed and vulnerable, an easier mark.

Yeah, and that delivery sounded more like a distraction than a mistake, right?

So, who would know that she was getting a massage?

Well, like he said, her spa appointments were routine.

So, a whole lot of people at the LAPD. Her classroom is a place to start.

Dottie runs 51 continuing ed courses here at the police academy.

Forensics, interrogation, ethics.

She earned those weekly massages.

Do you know anyone who would have wanted her dead?

Dottie is very by the book.

Anytime she sees any misconduct, she would report it, and that...

Not everyone appreciated that.

They didn't like her doing her job?

Well, not everyone loves being told how to act.

-Especially by a woman. -And a woman of color.

This is her office.

Okay, Morgan, you want to start over there? I'll check out over here.

You got it.

-No way. -What?

Look at you two.

Oh, wow, she framed that.

That was from the day I made detective.

- That's cute. - Nothing seems out of place.

Yeah, might not look like it, but...

We'll always be the difference between...

When I took Dottie's class, everything was always in order.

Perfectly tidy stacks of things.

Papers clipped the same way, top left.

But those papers are clipped top right.

These binders are out of alphabetical order, and that tray is a mess.

You know what? For Dottie, this is a mess.

Okay, wait, you think someone went through her stuff

and then tried to clean it up after?

-What are these? -Let me see.

These are mandated reports. They just haven't been filed.

Anytime she sees any misconduct, she would file it.

Not everyone appreciates that.

I know who was here.

Right there, the red hair.

Not you. Him.

Give me your hand.

Did you just tackle your first suspect as a lead investigator?

You're not gonna say things like this the whole case, are you?

I probably am.

Any word on Dottie?

I just got off the phone with the hospital.

I'm still waiting for an update.

And now this guy's gonna be Daphne's first solo interrogation.

Yeah, we're not exactly easing her in, having her question a fellow officer.

Hmm, Daphne can handle it. Dottie wasn't her only mentor.

Time to see how she puts your training to use.

You mean our training.

By the way, I got an update on Arthur's attacker.

His name's Eric Hayworth. He's from New Jersey.

He's in a hospital across town after the beating Arthur gave him.

As soon as the doctors clear Hayworth, we'll bring him in for questioning.

There she is.

You know, when I woke up this morning,

I didn't expect to get a lesson in excessive force.

I didn't expect to have to give one.

Officer Hoff, we've detained you today

under suspicion for the attempted murder of Dorothy Reynolds.

Can you describe your connection to the victim?

What? Did you get that from a textbook?

How about you focus on my question?

How about you find me someone who doesn't need training wheels?

-Took you down, didn't I? -Well, luck finds everyone at least once.

Questioning a cop like me on an investigation like this?

You're out of your league. I can tell.

-Hey, should we-- -Mm-mmm.

Since you brought it up, um...

let's talk about what kind of cop, I mean, probationary cop,

loses his gun outside a Rams game.

Okay, one mistake and Reynolds writes me up, and all of a sudden I'm radioactive?

You know what something like this does to my career? My life?

It's not your life I'm worried about. It's Dottie's.

Okay, I heard that she might have not reported the files, so yeah, I panicked,

but do you have any idea what it feels like

to have everything you've worked for dangled off a cliff?

No, but I do know that you had motive,

means, and a history of losing your little temper with colleagues.

Hey! That's not true!

You know what I think?

I think fear makes people do stupid things.

And right now, you don't look angry to me.

You look scared.

Tell me, Officer Hoff,

where were you this morning?

I was at home with my girl.

I made the coffee...

No, no, wait.

She made the coffee. I made the toast. I burnt it again.

Nice work in there, playing the newbie to make him feel in control.