When a womanizing finance executive is found stabbed to death after a night at the opera, Elsbeth suspects an obsessed opera lover was driven to murder because of a ringing cell phone. Meanwhile, Elsbeth, Captain Wagner and Kaya must adjust to changes in the precinct as the consequences of Noonan's wrongdoing continue to loom.

Elsbeth is thrown into the world of television after the showrunner of a long-running police procedural is brutally murdered in his office, and although it appears to be the act of a disgruntled fan, she begins to suspect the show's longtime star Regina Coburn, who yearns for artistic fulfillment. Meanwhile, Judge Crawford continues to be a thorn in Elsbeth's side.