7. Folie a Deux

Complete story — includes the ending

After dining in a hotel restaurant the couple, Andre ( Luke Kirby ) and Calista Haslum ( Piper Perabo ) announce that their 18 month old daughter Emma has mysteriously disappeared from their rooms during a robbery. Detectives Goren and Eames investigate, and although glass fragments and a stolen key-card lead them to the robber, Mark Carston ( Eric Anderson ), he does not have the child. They learn that Andre, a philandering English teacher and plagiarist poet, is being financially supported by his rich but childless aunt Emily Huntford ( Lynn Redgrave ) who is dying of a heart condition. The aunt receives a ransom call, however the detectives discover that the perpetrators are her secretary George Buckley ( Steve Witting ) and his boyfriend, but they do not have the child. Eventually, the detectives uncover that there never was a child at the hotel and Goren suspects a Folie à Deux where the parents are maintaining the illusion that their dead child is still alive. Calista admits that Emily died when she left her in the car on a hot day while she searched hotels for her cheating husband. Andre then exploited Calista's distraught condition to continue receiving financial support for the child from his unsuspecting aunt.