- The FBI asks the team to reopen a case involving the 2005 murder of longshoreman Mike Chulaski, whose death might be related to a Russian human-trafficking ring the FBI is trying to bring down.
- The team reopens the 2005 murder of longshoreman Mike Chulaski at the request of ADA Alexandra Thomas and the FBI, who believe solving the case can help bring down an international human trafficking ring still using the same MO, including foot burns. However it turns out the victims of the Russians didn't all just wait around either, one even tried her charms on Mike to seduce a potential savior, in vain.—KGF Vissers
- May 20, 2005: Several dock workers head home after their shift is finished. The foreman, Roy Gardocki, offers to buy them a round of drinks, but one of the workers, Mike Chulaski, wants to head home and work on his boat, saying he's taking it to Florida in the summer. Roy and the other workers scoff that Mike probably won't do it this summer, or even five summers from now. Mike just laughs them off and heads off.
Heading by a cargo container, Mike hears noises inside. He quickly unlocks the container and opens it. He's startled to find several young women inside. Mike notices one girl, whose name we will later learn is Lena, has a bad fever. Mike immediately picks her up and carries her away, while the other girls close the door behind him.
Sometime later, we see Mike on the floor of a motel room, dead. Someone has burned his feet with a cigarette as well. A detective stores Mike's case box away.
Cut to the present. ADA Alexandra Thomas tells Lilly, Scotty, and Stillman that the FBI have been building a case for years against an Eastern European crime boss known as "Nachalnik" (Russian for "boss"), the puppet master of a brutal human trafficking ring. Philly's port has been identified as a hub for importing girls for forced prostitution. Unfortunately, Nachalnik's "a phantom, never been ID'd." No one knows what he looks like. A new lead has come up recently, however. The body of a Jane Doe, who was believed to be one of Nachalnik's girls was found in the river. Her dental work was Eastern European and she had cigarette burns on her feet, Nachalnik's punishment of choice.
ADA Thomas asks if they have any cold cases like her, believing it might help the FBI's case. Stillman recalls Mike's case, finding a picture of Mike's burned feet. It may be the key to solving Mike's murder. "And catching a ghost."
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