Join or Sign In
Sign in to customize your TV listings
By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.
Da Vinci's Inquest Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
13 Episodes 1998 - 1999
Episode 1
Little Sister: Part 1
47 mins
Dominic Da Vinci, a Vancouver city coroner, investigates the death of Roxanne Flowers, a woman fished out of Burrard Inlet. Her death matches that of many other recent deaths: she's aboriginal, she's a known low-rent prostitute, she had a high alcohol blood level on death, and she was found offshore. With the alcohol, Dr. Sunny Ramen, the pathologist on the case, finds that Roxanne's blood alcohol level was 0.9, three times higher than a lethal level. Dominic thinks it's time to bring in the Homicide Department to investigate. Dominic butts heads with his boss, Chief Coroner Jimmy Flynn, over his want to open up old case files to see if Roxanne's death is only one is a series of related homicides. The tension between the two rises as Jimmy is now dating Dominic's ex-wife, Patricia, who is a pathologist in the Coroner's Department. Det. Leo Shannon isn't too happy either as he was the lead investigator on many of those old cases ruled accidental. Deep into this case, another prostitute is found dead, this one matching the pattern, the only difference being this one was found in a hotel room. Newly minted Homicide detective, Mick Leary, is in charge of the investigation and he questions Charlie Josephs, the owner/cook of a restaurant where many of the prostitutes hung out. What Leary and the rest of the investigators don't yet know is that Josephs has a thing for aboriginal prostitutes. Leary is also lead investigator in the death of Alexander Colville, a 9-month old infant. Patricia, the pathologist on the case, finds that Alexander died of heroin poisoning. As such, Dominic will not release the body until he talks to the Colvilles and the Colville's immigrant nanny, who has disappeared. Both the Colvilles and the nanny are represented by the same lawyer who seems to be running interference for her clients. Eventually Leary gets a chance to speak with the nanny. Information from the nanny results in the police being able to get a search warrant for the Colville house. Mr. Colville provides the information and evidence they are looking for in Alexander's accidental death. On personal fronts, Dominic and Patricia deal with parenting issues of their teen-aged daughter, Gabriella. And Dominic admits to his AA group of demons that haunt him. Apparently these demons are getting the better of him as he goes out for a drink.
Episode 2
Little Sister: Part 2
47 mins
Charlie Josephs has disposed of his latest prostitute victim, Gloria, into the harbour, but unbeknownst to him she is still alive. This ends up being the first break in the case into the string of prostitute murders. However Gloria's memory of the situation is weak, and before Homicide can get any useful information from her, she disappears. The Coroner's Office decides to do some forensic testing on bodies associated with some old cases, including that of Roxanne Flowers, to see if there is any matching evidence beyond the known of extremely high blood alcohol levels. This testing is despite the objections of Regan at the Homicide Department who thinks it may uncover some wrongdoing on the police's part in the original investigations. Patricia's initial pathology findings indicates signs of necrophilia on the victims. Despite Jimmy's objections, Da Vinci passes this information to Homicide who passes it along to the girls on the street for their protection. Kosmo uncovers another old case that she thinks matches the pattern and that points to Charlie Josephs as a possible suspect. This act by Kosmo leads to two actions: Regan pulls Leo off the case he thinks because he was the investigator in that old case, and Homicide is thinking of picking up Charlie Josephs which leaves the Coroner's investigation out in the cold. Meanwhile, Roxanne's brother, Goose, comes to town and stops by Charlie's diner looking for her. He later finds out that she has died. And on the home front, tensions rise between Da Vinci and Patricia over an unsupervised night for Gabriella, who was only trying to protect her father from her mother finding out about Da Vinci's romantic tryst with lawyer, Michaela.
Episode 3
Little Sister: Part 3
47 mins
On the personal front, Da Vinci continues his romance with Michaela, but later finds out that she's married. Homicide is investigating what looks to be a suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning, the act with an unfortunate consequence of a second dead body, the suicide victim's son, within the vicinity. Meanwhile, Homicide and Da Vinci are closing in on Charlie Josephs as the prostitute murderer. Josephs himself has employed runaway Audrey at the diner, perhaps his next intended victim? The authorities lack concrete evidence that Josephs is the murderer and thus can't arrest him. Mick and Angela thwart Josephs' latest murder attempt, that on prostitute Norma, but they still have insufficient evidence for murder. On the forensic front, all Patricia knows is that two recent victims had fish and chips as their last meal, but she cannot say with any certainty that they came from Josephs' diner. To help their cause, Da Vinci, under his own initiative, goes undercover to the diner to get some fish and chips. Patricia eventually uncovers irrefutable evidence the fish and specifically the chips from all three samples are from the same source. Homicide also uncovers a cold missing girl's case from thirty years prior that involved Josephs' family that may provide some insight into the recent murders. Before the authorities can arrest Josephs for murder, Leo decides to take matters into his own hands. To right what he considers some past mistakes he made in investigations, Leo tells Goose Flowers that Josephs was Roxanne's murderer knowing what Goose's actions will be. Just as the police are ready to make the arrest, they fish Josephs' beaten dead body out of the harbor.
Episode 4
The Quality of Mercy
47 mins
Television reporter Hope Martin obtains and airs an exclusive story about a mercy killing of an AIDS patient, the killing apparently by suffocation with a plastic bag over the head. This report prompts the homicide department and a reluctant Da Vinci, who is not totally against euthanasia, to investigate. The problem is is that they don't have a body or a name of the deceased. As Hope will not divulge her source and states that she does not knows who the victim is, the investigators decide to go to inquest; Hope however would rather risk contempt by protecting her source than give up her constitutional rights as a reporter. Da Vinci doesn't want this inquest to come to a show-down with Hope as sending her to jail for contempt accomplishes, in his mind, nothing constructive. However, the source, a nurse in the palliative care unit, decides to come forward because of the guilt she feels about the way the victim ultimately met her end. She reveals the name of the victim, but not of the doctor who actually committed the act. However, in part by following the path of another AIDS patient, Mick finds the doctor and in the process prevents another mercy killing. Ultimately the doctor admits only to being with the victim when she died. In the end, this case hits home with Da Vinci, who is dealing with a father made invalid from a stroke. Meanwhile, Mick's drug-dealing drug-taking brother, Danny, comes to town, looking in part for help to kick the habit, and Leo and Angela investigate the shooting of a drug dealer.
Episode 5
Known to the Ministry
47 mins
Street dealers and junkies, Todd and Sioux, are providing refuge to fellow junkie Kelly Lewis and her 7-month old daughter Emily one stormy evening. The next morning, Kelly's lifeless body is found in a park, the death looking to be by a drug overdose. Kelly looks to be only one in a spate of overdoses on high purity heroin, or "hot dope". The Coroner's Office decides to issue a hot dope warning on the street and are anxious to find the source. Manny, one of Todd and Sioux' customers and one of Leo's snitches, identifies/names Kelly's body in the morgue and gives up Todd and Sioux to the police. This information may point to Kelly's death being a homicide. When Kelly's parents are notified, her father who happens to be a high powered politician, the authorities discover that Emily is missing. Todd and Sioux under interrogation ultimately offer both the fact that Emily is back at their apartment and the source of the hot dope. Leo knows that the source of the hot dope has something to do with a nation-wide undercover investigation and only offers this information to Da Vinci, who in turn tries to pull strings to get the dope off the street without interfering with the undercover work. Manny, back at Todd and Sioux' place, gets into a high stupor on some of the hot dope, finds Emily and staggers off with her in tow. When the authorities find Manny, who is close to death on the dope, he no longer has Emily. However, Emily ultimately turns up safe and sound. Meanwhile, Kosmo and Mick's brother, Danny, have a mutual attraction on their first meeting. Mick tells Angie to watch out about Danny, only saying that he is an entrepreneur who owns a few nightclubs, this fact an obvious front to the viewer of other activities. Mick does not tell her of Danny's drug use.
Episode 6
We All Fall Down
47 mins
Da Vinci, Homicide and the fire department investigate the aftermath of a fire at a seniors' care facility, the fire causing eleven deaths, ten of those being residents. All but one of the residents is accounted for among the dead bodies. There is evidence of forcible entry, which the investigators suspect is that of teenager who has broken in before and which indicates possible arson. They also find that some of resident victims were tied to their beds, which not only would have prevented them from possibly escaping but also indicates possible abuse. The investigators learn that the owners of the facility have a history of mismanagement and possible abuse, not only at this facility but at others they own. The police eventually find the teenager, dead behind the wheel of his truck but in the possession of stolen goods from the facility's residents. However, he was a victim of the fire himself as his death was from smoke inhalation. Ultimately the investigators determine the cause of the fire was a malfunctioning heater unit, and the reason for the dead teenager was the fact that the missing resident wandered off before the fire and locked the door behind him, trapping the teenager inside. The case is solved, but does not resolve the problem of the facility mismanagement and abuse. Meanwhile, Da Vinci tries to get an in-home care worker for his parents, despite the objections of his mother. He and Patricia finally convince his mother to allow Gabriella to come in a few times a week to help out. And Angie and Danny start dating, Angela still unaware of his shady life.
Episode 7
The Stranger Inside
47 mins
Tensions rise between Danny and his business partners, François and Leon. Mick and Sunny start dating. And the Homicide Department and Da Vinci investigate the death of Allison Cody, a male to female transsexual born Allan Cody and whose body was found in a parking lot. Initial marks on her body indicate systematic and what looks like ritualistic beatings. As Patricia does the autopsy to determine cause of death, Jimmy shows unusual interest in the case and asks Da Vinci to seize evidence, which irks the Homicide Department. In doing so, Da Vinci learns the nature of Jimmy's interest: Allison was business partners with Sylvia Partman aka Mistress Harriet in an S&M business - Mistress Harriet being a dominatrix and Allison being a submissive - and that some of their clients were prominent citizens whose lives could be ruined if such information was to come to public light. During the investigation, Homicide is further irked by the fact that Patricia rules the death to be undetermined - she knows the cause of death was blood clots but cannot be certain that any of the beatings were what caused the clots - and Da Vinci is certain that Mistress Harriet knows what happened when Allison died. While Homicide orders a second autopsy this time to be done by Sunny hopefully who will rule the death to be homicide, Da Vinci manages to convince Mistress Harriet to come clean about Allison's death. Da Vinci learns that a prominent citizen was present when Allison died, that person who will want to protect his identity from coming out publicly. After he admits to Da Vinci what happened - that Allison just keeled over after one of their S&M sessions - Sunny also rules the death to be undetermined. Although Homicide can no longer investigate a death that may not be homicide, the sensitivity of the client list being in somewhat public hands causes continued problems for Mistress Harriet and her business.
Episode 8
Gabriel
47 mins
Homicide and the Coroner's Office investigate the beating death of a teenaged male found amongst a lumber pile on the waterfront. Homicide finds the site of the actual beating, where a young runaway, Jesse, is squatting. Jesse did not witness the beating but witnessed two teenaged males at the scene, which matches the evidence indicating that the body was transported by two people. Da Vinci receives off the record information from the RCMP that the deceased was a drug informant to the police, which may or may not have contributed to the death. Eventually, Homicide tracks down a suspect, Nate Gillis. Homicide does not have enough evidence to charge Nate with murder and thus pleas bargains, Nate with the assistance of his high powered lawyer father. Da Vinci, pissed off about the plea bargaining, does some investigation of his own, and finds Nate's partner, William Turner, a kid from the wrong side of the tracks. William, who lives a tough life, admits that the two of them did do the beating, that the beating was because he was a snitch to the police, but that Nate was the one who dealt the fatal blow. Homicide, wanting to take a tough stance, wants Da Vinci to give up William regardless of if he dealt the fatal blow or not, but Da Vinci convinces them that justice is better served by listening to William's story without prejudice. At the end of the day, this case takes its toll on all involved, but especially on an alcoholic Da Vinci, who starts drinking again because of it since it mirrors the unsolved beating death of his own brother, Gabriel, when he was a teenager.
Episode 9
The Most Dangerous Time
47 mins
Da Vinci and Homicide investigate the death of 15-year old Jodie French at an unsupervised house party. The death was caused by a single gunshot wound to the heart, the gun in Jodie's lifeless hand. Although an initial look at the evidence indicates that it was a suicide, rumors float around Jody's school that a boy by the name of Peter Florick and Jody had an argument prior to her death. There are however conflicting stories of Peter's whereabouts when the death happened. On questioning, Peter admits that he and Jodie had a special and intimate friendship with most of their conversations, verbal or otherwise, in special code only known to the two of them. Information surfaces that their relationship was much like Romeo and Juliet, with each family disapproving of the relationship. Both the authorities and Jodie and Peter's classmates are on opposing sides, half of whom think Jodie killed herself, the other half who think Peter killed her. Of their classmates who think Peter killed her, they let him know that he is not welcome around them. To end the speculation, Peter decides to take matters into his own hands. This case takes its toll on Patricia and Dominic, who are starting to have problems with an increasingly secretive Gabriella, who is about the same age as Jodie. Meanwhile, Danny continues with his shady dealings in trying to open his new club, with Leon admitting that he killed a narcotics officer who has been pestering them for a cut of the deal.
Episode 10
The Bridge
47 mins
Kosmo and Danny reconnect, during which Danny continues his shady drug dealings with Leon. A decomposed body is found in a shallow grave below a bridge. Homicide quickly determines that the body is that of Lamont, an ex-con, with the primary suspect being Rocky, the then boyfriend of Lamont's ex-wife. Under questioning, Rocky admits he hated but didn't kill Lamont. Based on Lamont's injuries, Da Vinci believes that Lamont was hit by a driver on the bridge causing Lamont to go over the bridge railing. Rocky still denies he had anything to do with it. Reviewing old traffic accident reports, Da Vinci finds a case that may have something to do with Lamont's death. Meanwhile Zack investigates an as of yet non-fatal but serious hit and run of a homeless man. Da Vinci is concerned because he was drunk and in the vicinity of the accident at the time and he can't find his car, this circumstantial evidence pointing to that he may have been the hit and run driver. He isn't hiding anything he knows of the incident, but in his drunken state, he just can't remember anything. He is in possible deeper trouble as the hit and run victim is being represented pro bona by lawyer Linda Saltwyn, who has a personal vendetta against Da Vinci. Eventually Zack locates Da Vinci's car which is used as conclusive evidence in the case.
Episode 11
Final Chapter
47 mins
Patricia is asked to be a guest speaker at conference, and her presentation leads her to re-examining the case of the missing prostitutes. Sioux, who is now a police informant for Kosmo, implicates Danny in the drug trade. Kosmo is forced to examine her feelings for Danny.
Episode 12
The Hunt
47 mins
The dead body of a young woman by the name of Sandy Whelan is found in the park. At an international homicide conference in Seattle, Da Vinci learns that Sandy's death is strikingly similar to a number of other recent deaths: the victims are knocked out using the same commercially available barbiturate, they're sexually molested several times and they're ultimately bound and strangled. The lead investigator in this investigation is FBI agent Charlotte Turner, who helps Da Vinci and the Homicide Department with their investigation of Sandy's murder. Turner and Da Vinci's relationship becomes more than just professional. Through these old cases, they track the killer's movements, the killer moving north up the Pacific coast and into the BC interior. With Sandy, they know that she was picked up in a bar in the hotel in which she was staying. They also later learn that this is consistent with all the other women. They don't yet know that there is not one killer but two, namely Mona and Dean Resnick, who not only sexually molest and kill their victims but also videotape the process for their later viewing pleasure. Through old cases, Leary digs up Dean's name as a possible suspect, and they learn that he married a nurse, which circumstantially ties-in to the use of the barbiturate to which she could have access. But still looking for a man as the killer, the investigators don't initially piece together all the information as they are looking for a man as the killer, whereas it was Mona who actually picked up all the victims. And all the victims were last seen with a female friend, again the investigators not knowing that said friend was Mona. Meanwhile, Dean and Mona are onto their next intended victim, a young woman by the name of Joanna. They drug her and take her out to their farmhouse on the outskirts of the city. The difference between Joanna and the other victims is that Joanna manages to escape.
Episode 13
The Capture
47 mins
Conclusive DNA evidence points to Dean Resnick being the murderer/rapist, not only in the Sandy Whelan case, but also the cases up and down the Pacific coast, as well as possibly some cases in the United Kingdom. And information from a witness about Sandy's "friend" at the bar indicates that that friend could have been Mona. Because Joanna escaped, Dean and Mona feel they need to flee the country to Costa Rica. Needing to do some last minute business, Dean goes back to the house while Mona waits for him at a motel across the border in Blaine. Meanwhile, Joanna is able to provide some useful information on finding where she was being held captive. She, Leary and Shannon get to the house while Dean is there and the detectives manage to apprehend him. Dean and his lawyer try to negotiate a deal including "cash for bodies", non-extradition to the US and not giving up Mona. Against the wishes of Regan, Da Vinci negotiates the cash for bodies deal with funding from a private citizen whose daughter may be among the victims. Turner wants either Dean and/or Mona charged in the US. Homicide negotiates with an incarcerated Danny to find out from Dean Mona's whereabouts in exchange for Danny's unconditional release. Danny manages to do as they wish, but the fact that Mona is already in the US is not divulged to Turner. However, Turner manages to negotiate a deal of her own with Dean - give up Mona, there will be no extradition to the US, and he will only be charged with rape in Canada. Dean agrees and gives up Mona. But Da Vinci knows that Danny is not everything he appears to be and Da Vinci enlists him to retrieve Mona clandestinely from the US back to Canada before Turner can get her. Danny manages to do so, but in process, the truth of his identity is revealed to an angry Kosmo.
