EPISODE

6. Masquerade

A former beauty queen whose daughter, Amberleigh was found murdered on Halloween night 1992, is thrown back into the public eye when a pedophile in exile confesses to her murder. Detectives Goren and Eames aren't convinced it's that easy and re-question the mother, who was originally accused of the crime, as well as her informative, best-selling author neighbor, Nate Royce.

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THIS ENTRY’S STORY

The story

Spoilers ahead. Coverage follows the scope labeled below.

Plot summary

Detectives Goren and Eames travel to Vietnam to bring back a suspect, Simon Fife ( Matt McGrath ), for trial in to New York for the murder of a child beauty queen, Amberleigh Harner ( Kayla Vanderbilt ), fourteen years earlier. Fife has confessed to the long-unsolved murder, however Goren is suspicious of Fife's confession, even though it mentions facts only known to the police and the child's immediate family. The investigation reveals that the dead child's mother Beth ( Liza Minnelli ) and Jamie Royce ( Dashiell Eaves ), son of her next-door-neighbor Nate Royce ( Bill Irwin ) (who has been making money off the murder with several books), both have possible motives for the murder.

It is also revealed that the original investigation was botched by a rookie investigator and a new ADA Claudia Shankly ( Bridget Regan ) is pushing for a quick resolution to the cold case. Goren and Eames eventually uncover that, although Jamie rendered Amberleigh unconscious, it was his father Nate who killed her. Nate fed information to Fife, hoping that his conviction would prevent the truth about the murder from being revealed. Loosely based on the JonBenét Ramsey unsolved murder case made famous by media coverage.

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Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Law & Order: Criminal Intent season 6. HTML formatting and reference markers removed.

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