The Killing: Season 2

Now aware that her partner has forged the key piece of evidence that led to the arrest of mayoral candidate Darren Richmond, Det. Linden again delays her departure. Linden tells her boss and he gives her the okay to continue the investigation. She is beginning to see the possibility of a larger conspiracy. Richmond is seriously injured and in a coma. His staffers Jamie and Gwen are at the hospital waiting for news from the doctors and are desperately trying to get in touch with his next-of-kin, his sister. Holder seems lost and doesn't quite understand what is going on. The police have arrested the shooter, who is Stan's employee Belko. At home Stan is having problems not only with Rosie's death but also with the fact that Mitch has left. He's stunned when Linden tells him Richmond is innocent and the charges will be dropped. He asks Terry to stay with them. At the police station, Belko has a run-in with the police.

Stan is shocked when he finds that someone has left Rosie's backpack on his doorstep. He contacts Holder who takes possession of it and hesitantly agrees to provide some police protection. Oakes is quite specific about what he wants Holder to do with the backpack. Holder plans a little subterfuge of his own. Richmond awakens from his coma and learns that he is paralyzed from the waist down. Linden gets some key information from Gwen who also gives her a key to Richmond's apartment. There she finds information that begins to explain just what he was doing the night Rosie was killed. Holder is desperate to speak to Linden but she will have nothing to do with him. A frustrated Stan turns to Janek to get satisfaction.

Mitch is on the road but can't help seeing Rosie anywhere she looks. Linden continues to track Rosie's movements after she was last seen at the casino just after midnight. She's also trying to learn the identity of the man with the strange tattoo. She learns of Rosie's backpack from Stan and gets it from the now retired Lt. Oakes. She quickly realizes that Holder switched the backpacks. There's a fire at the shoe store where the Beausoleil escort service kept its computers. CCTV footage from the area around the store shows the man with the tattoo driving one of Stan's trucks. Darren Richmond is determined to continue his campaign. Gwen is thinking of leaving Seattle and taking a position in Washington. Stan is upset when Janek gives a gift to one of his boys as he doesn't want them to know about his past.

Linden and Holder continue their search for the man with the odd tattoo. They eventually identify him as Alexi Giffords, a young man with a long juvenile record who lived in foster care for 10 years. They also find that he lives 3 blocks from the Larsens. They're also keeping an eye on Stan Larsen and begin to wonder if he is back with the mob. Stan goes to pick-up Belko Royce's remains only to learn that Janek has already taken care of it. Holder tell Linden that he thought the incriminating photo of Richmond was legit and he just put his trust in the wrong people. Darren Richmond meanwhile begins his therapy and the Mayor pays him a visit, promising to support him in the next election. As if she doesn't have enough on her hands, Linden learns from her ex-husband's attorney that he will be seeking joint custody.

Holder and Linden learn that Alexi Giffords' father was killed by Stan Larsen when Stan was still doing muscle work for Janek. They arrest him but Lt. Carlson gives them only 8 hours to get a confession. Alexi denies any involvement in Rosie's death but the police realize Rosie was in trouble having found a voice mail message from her saying 'I saw him again'. Alexi says Rosie had also learned a family secret. Mitch has yet to contact anyone in the family and her parents are worried. They're also openly questioning whether Stan is fit to take care of the boys. Mitch gets to know the teenage girl from the motel and buys her lunch. Darren Richmond decides to drop out of the race for mayor, much to Jamie's consternation. At the end of a long day, Sarah gets back to the motel to find her ex-husband there waiting for her.

Stan tells Det. Linden he has no idea who Rosie's father is but knew before he married Mitch that the child was not his. She assures him that Alexi Giffords had nothing to do with Rosie's murder. Stan is keeping a watchful eye on him nevertheless. Terry has been seeing the married Michael Ames but he breaks up with her. Michael Ames becomes a suspect with Linden and Holder wondering if he might be Rosie's biological father. It turns out Rosie may have been blackmailing Ames by threatening to tell his wife about his affair with Terry. They re-question Michael Ames and learn who sent the blackmail threat. Darren Richmond meanwhile gives an interview and re-affirms his desire to run for mayor. Gwen has a change of heart and returns to Seattle hoping to rejoin the Richmond campaign. Mitch continues getting to know her new friend. Det. Linden and son Jack moves out of their hotel after it becomes apparent to her that someone had earlier broken into their room.

Linden and Holder return to the casino. While Holder tries to get information inside the casino, Linden explores the rest of the island. Linden learns that there are rooms where working girls can ply their trade. He also learns that there are new rooms under construction. The casino manager and the tribal police take a dim view of their investigation. Having been publicly branded a killer - and with the election only one week away - Gwen tells Darren Richmond that they need the Larsons to publicly exonerate him from anything to do with their daughter's death. Stan refuses but later has a change of heart. Stan learns about Terry's relationship with Jasper Ames and he throws her out of the house. Linden's personal problems continue when she's visited by two child protection officers who have received a complaint about Jack's welfare.

Linden has to fight Lt. Carlson to get the police out to search for Holder. He's not keen to go onto Indian tribal lands but Holder is found alive though severely injured. Linden pays a heavy price however. Linden keeps Holder's rendezvous with the young woman who found and returned Rosie's backpack. She tells Linden exactly what Rosie was doing at the casino that night. Richmond leaves the hospital with 5 days to go before the election. Gwen and Jamie tell him he's he's losing by 7 points and either has to tell the public where he was the night of Rosie's murder or make some type of grand gesture. After his television appeal, Stan Larsen receives a number of tips about his daughter's murder but Linden doesn't put any faith in the information he's received. Stan learns that Linden had good reason to be skeptical. Linden decides to send her son to live with his father.

Holder can't find any of the files related to Rosie's death and learns that the entire case has been transferred to the County. Holder follows up but is told by County that the files never arrived. He thinks he knows where they are however. With Rosie's key, Linden goes to the construction site at the casino. She's convinced Rosie saw something there that led to her death. Mitch Larsen visits her old boyfriend David, whom Rosie had visited with questions about her mother. Stan Larsen meanwhile has to deal with son Tommy who's gotten into trouble at school. Darren Richmond meets with Nicole Jackson about the possibility of an endorsement but isn't prepared to meet her terms, even if it costs him the election.

Linden wakes up in the hospital psychiatric ward after casino personnel told the hospital she tried to jump off the balcony and resisted their efforts to rescue her. Her dismissal of that claim and the fact that she is working on a high profile murder case fall on deaf ears as do Holder's attempts to convince them otherwise. He tries to enlist Reggie's help but in the end has to turn to someone else in Linden's life to get her released. Holder is still investigating the case and is simply ignoring his Lieutenant's orders to stay out of it. Holder learns from a patrolman that one of gangster Janek Kovarsky's men was caught trespassing on the waterfront construction site the night Rosie was killed. He was never charged after being vouched for by the construction manager. It all points to deeply rooted corruption in the Mayor's office.

Although she is now out of the psychiatric ward, Linden will not give up on the investigation. She asks Gwen to use her father's influence in Washington to get a federal warrant to search the casino. Gwen has a tense confrontation with her father but gets it in the end. The FBI raid the casino and apparently find nothing. Linden has in fact recovered the city hall key card she saw. It doesn't lead them to the Mayor's office as expected but to another office in the building. Stan meanwhile is ordered by mobster Janek Kovarski to eliminate Joseph Nowak. Stan refuses but Janek knows how to get what he wants. He's in for a bit of a surprise however. When Stan gets home, there is a surprise awaiting him. On the election trail, Richmond is facing the public disclosure of his attempted suicide.

Election day has arrived and the detectives have traced the City Hall key card to someone in councilor Richmond's office. Realizing they are about to be arrested, they make a deal with Mayor Adams: they will keep quiet about the doctored photo that led to Richmond's arrest if he will call off the police and let them finish their investigation. They soon have it down to two suspects, whom they've dubbed Donnie and Marie. Security camera recordings seem to give them the culprit. Meanwhile, Mitch is back home but having trouble re-adjusting to the environment. She learns about the house Stan bought just before their daughter's death. He sees the house the house as a new beginning; she sees moving from their current house as abandoning Rosie.

Linden and Holder finally find out who murdered Rosie Larsen.