As Horatio walks to his car and passes a conveniently shadowy area, his Crimey Senses tingle, and we see the front of the head which opened the episode. It belongs to a Pete Wilton, whom Horatio put away six years ago for knocking off a chain of grocery stores and committing a manslaughter in the process. Naturally, Horatio has Javert-like recall and can immediately recite the pertinent details of the case. Anyway, Pete mentions that he's two years into his parole and he's got a problem. He reaches into his jacket for something, and Horatio says, "Pete, if you make that move, it's going to be your last." Pete replies sincerely, "Relax, Lieutenant, it's a photograph." Horatio instructs him to take it out slowly, and Pete does. He explains, "It's of my son, Jeff. He went to school three days ago and he never came back." Horatio asks if Pete went through the usual routes; Pete replies that he went to the cops, but they weren't exactly interested in a parolee's missing kid. Pete assures Horatio, "He's not the way I used to be. I know that something happened to him." Horatio tries to blow Pete off with, "Okay, I'm sure the detectives are on it. Let Me call..." Pete insists, "It has to be you. Look, I was guilty and you knew it. You came after me with everything you had. I saw that. I know you can find my boy." Horatio asks what kind of trouble this as-yet-nameless boy was in, and Pete assures him that the kid's a good egg. He appeals to Horatio's ego some more, and Horatio finally grants him help with, "Okay, Pete, listen to Me. If you're lying, I'm out. You understand?" Pete does, and thanks Horatio for his time.

The very next morning, Horatio walks into the detectives' main office as Detective Tripp (bald; we've seen him before, on the IAB case, I believe) is reiterating a suspect's testimony skeptically with, "Right. He backed into your knife nine times. Sit tight while I rustle up some booking slips." Horatio draws Tripp aside and asks for a minute. Tripp gives him thirty seconds. Horatio uses that time to refresh Tripp's memory about young Jeff Wilton; Tripp's of the opinion that Jeff took a road trip to the Keys. Or would that be a waterway trip? In any event, Tripp's not terribly concerned about the kid, and he justifies that with, "I've got twelve confirmed dead yanking my chain right now." Horatio gets a little huffy with, "So you're not interested in the kid unless he's dead?" Tripp protests that Horatio's putting words in his mouth, and Horatio makes nice with, "Why don't you let Me take this one off your hands?" Tripp points out, "There's no crime scene to investigate." Horatio counters, "Maybe not, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a crime."