Plot summary
Detectives Goren and Eames investigate the torture and murder of a young writer ( Shamika Cotton ), leading them to uncover a shocking conspiracy behind her shooting. When the detectives begin, they suspect the victim's boyfriend, a known drug dealer, may have had been involved in his late girlfriend's murder. They find him badly beaten when he comes to their attention, but then conclude that he and the other drug traffickers had nothing to do with the murder when his alibi checks out. Goren and Eames start to delve into the world of literature for more answers.
They question the bad-boy writer ( Pablo Schreiber ) and his mentor Mr. Shill ( Peter Coyote ), both of whom were part of the same writing circle as the victim. Questioning her sleazy agent ( Fisher Stevens ) again, they get a lead from him that leads them down a trail of plagiarism, deception, and manipulation along the way to solving the crime.
Credits
Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Law & Order: Criminal Intent season 7. HTML formatting and reference markers removed.