After reporter Marlene Lewis learns she in dying, she hires the guys to find out who infected her with an incurable disease. The guys accept the case and soon learn that Marlene had been working on a story with a man named Don Orley. However, Orley had died of a heart attack before she could discover more. Fortunately, the guys get a lead when Marlene receives a phone message from a man named Jeff Rockwell. Unfortunately, the guys arrive at Rockwell's house only to find that he has apparently hung himself. Searching Rockwell's house, the guys learn that Rockwell worked for the F.D.A. Since Orley, a food engineer working on APS (a food enhancer), would have needed F.D.A. approval, the guys realize the connection between the two dead men. Checking into records on APS, the guys discover that Robert Stockwood is the only member of the AP. research team that has not been killed. Therefore, the guys decide to protect Stockwood. Then, at Orley's funeral, Stockwood disappears after a nearby car explodes. Putting all the facts together, the guys realize that Stockwood is somehow involved in a cover up to hide the deficiencies of APS. The guys further theorize that Orley had been in on it but contacted Marlene when he became scared. From a transmitter that they had previously planted on Stockwood, the guys are able to trace the research scientist. Although they walk into a trap, the guys still manage to gain the upper hand and to capture Stockwood as well as Zeller, the man who actually committed the murders. The episode ends on a sad note for, despite attempts by Murray to find someone who can prepare a cure, Marlene dies.

Murray once again takes advantage of his intellect when he appears on The Brain Basher, a television game show. In fact, Murray does so well that he is asked to return for a final round. However, in the meantime, Boz receives a visit from Brenda Malloy, his former high school chemistry partner. Then, after Brenda is almost killed in a hit and run accident, she tells Murray that someone has been trying to kill her ever since she bought the rights to a solar car that does not even work. Murray then cheers her up by agreeing to try to make the car work. However, Nick and Cody, doubting Brenda's sincerity, investigate and discover that the company Brenda claimed to work for does not exist. Regardless, Murray tries to fix the car. Boz is then distressed when he is unsuccessful. Nick and Cody confront Brenda and, although she flees, they do manage to learn that she is actually a hairdresser. Afterwards, they visit Brenda's home and learn that she has been seeing Eddie Gerrard, one of Murray's more hostile former classmates. They also find evidence that Brenda and Eddie have been dealing with loan shark Vince Drayger. Meanwhile, Murray is kidnapped and brought to the loan shark. Thereby, the Boz realizes that since Eddie borrowed money from Drayger to buy the rights to the flawed car, Brenda befriended him in hopes that he would be able to resolve the design flaws. Fortunately, Nick and Cody soon arrive in the Mimi. Unfortunately, Drayger then threatens Brenda's life in order to get Boz to obtain the money that Eddie owes him. Murray then reappears on "Brain Basher", wins the grand prize, and leaves the studios with $100,000 in cash. The guys return to Drayger. After a car chase, Eddie and Drayger are caught, however, the money is destroyed when one of the cars explodes. Surprisingly enough, as the episode ends Brenda begins to fall in love with Murray for real. However, in a strange turn of events, Murray rejects her.

This episode opens in story book format as a narrator reads from a book about the adventures of the Riptide detectives. As the live action portion of the episode begins, the guys are attending a party on a nearby Pier 56 boat. After the party, the guys are then called into action when a number of the party attendees find out that their boats have been robbed. Returning to the Riptide, the guys are shocked to discover that the Roboz has also been stolen. The guys trace the Roboz to the house of a woman named Marian Flynn. However, Quinlan has beat the guys to the scene and is already removing numerous stolen items. Also at the house is a Mexican police officer named Fernandez who has been trying to catch a counterfeiter named Cordon. Fernandez then explains that he is investigating why Marian paid her rent with counterfeit money. Speaking with Marian, the foster mother of three children, the guys learn that she received all of the stolen items as gifts from a man named Robin Loxley. (Marian had been unaware that Robin Loxley was the "real name of Robin Hood.) Marian also provides the guys with a picture of Robin as well as the fact that he frequently brings the kids treats from Ice Cream City. Searching various Ice Cream City parlors, the guys locate Robin. Robin then explains that, like the legendary Robin Hood, he has been stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. The guys question Robin about where he might have come across the counterfeit money. Thereby, they learn that Robin stole the money from a boat owned by a man named Arnold Skullen. Unfortunately, the guys are soon attacked by some of Cordon's men (who are trying to recover some printing plates that Robin had taken). Although the guys escape, Robin disappears during the contusion. Later, the guys go to Marian's house and find the plates attached to the bottom of a robot that was built by one of the foster children. Afterwards, the guys decide to search Robin's apartment. They then receive a call from Robin and learn that Cordon has captured him as well as Marian. The guys are instructed to bring the plates to Cordon. Even though the plates had been damaged when they were attached to the robot, the guys agree to the meeting. Then, with some help from Quinlan, the guys capture the criminals and rescue Robin and Marian. Fortunately, the police decide to go easy on Robin if the former thief uses the reward money (from capturing Cordon) to pay back all the burglary victims.

Nick, who has never particularly enjoyed the holiday season, decides to accept an assignment from Colonel Ryan, his Army Reserve commander. Thereby, Captain Nick Ryder is assigned to transport the remains of Private Ricky Wilkenson, a soldier who died in a training accident. However, when he arrives in Wyoming, Nick learns from the funeral home that the body he transported is not Ricky. (Unlike Ricky who had permanently injured his foot when he was a kid, the corpse has a complete set of toes.) After Colonel Ryan denies there was a mistake and a Congressman tries to dismiss the concerns of Ben Wilkenson, Ricky's father, Cody and Murray decide to help their partner investigate the situation. Murray accesses the army's computer system and is surprised when he finds Ricky's records kept with Vietnam files. Once back in California, Nick joins Cody in an attempt to sneak onto the army base for more information. Unfortunately, Lieutenant Walker, one of Ryan's aids, catches the guys. Ryan then lets the guys go but only after revealing that their continued investigation is threatening national security. Based on Ben's continued concerns, the guys ignore the Colonel 's warning and continue to seek the truth. Murray soon discovers that the body mistakenly transported to Wyoming is Captain Vic Harper, another victim of a training accident. The guys then catch Walker eavesdropping on their conversation. Forced to cooperate, Walker takes the guys to the base. Faced with the detective's perseverance, the army reveals the true story: Both Ricky and Harper died on an unsuccessful mission to rescue MIA's from Vietnam. The guys also learn that a mistake had resulted in the two bodies being mixed up. However, since the exposure of the failed mission would endanger future rescue attempts, the army had tried to cover up the entire affair. Later, the army apologizes for the grief they caused Ben by performing a secret memorial service in Ricky's honor. [Note: Apparently Nick had been promoted from Lieutenant to Captain while in the Army Reserve.]

After Nick and Cody embarrass themselves while unsuccessfully trying to pick up an attractive woman at a grocery store, the Riptide Detective agency is hired by a man named Rob Edwards to stop a serial killer. (It seems that Rob had found a gun and a letter from a recent murder victim in his roommate Sandy 's purse.) Therefore, he has turned to the guys to find out if she is the killer. The guys accept the case and, realizing that they are dealing with an open police case, decide to pay a call on Quinlan's replacement at the King Harbor Police Department. To Wick and Cody's embarrassment, the guys discover that Lieutenant Joanna Parisi (new semi-regular June "V" Chadwick) is the same woman that the two detectives had tried to pick upt in the grocery store. However, despite her earlier experience with the guys, Parisi proves quite cooperative and agrees to allow the guys to work with her on the case. Therefore, the guys proceed with their investigation and go to Edwards' house. Once there, they find a wedding invitation from one of the victims to the mysterious Sandy. Unfortunately, when the guys make the next stop of their investigation (the job Sandy has not been to in six weeks) they do not turn up Sandy but rather another murder victim. Later, while Murray is staking out Edwards' house, he finds traces of blood in the garbage. A simple blood analysis soon proves that the "garbage" blood matches that of the restaurant victim. Murray then probes further into the mystery and discovers that all of the serial killer's victims were engaged to be married. Deciding to take another look inside Sandy 's room, the guys discover evidence that Sandy has not been home in over six weeks. Then, an analysis of the writing on one of the victim's letters turns up the fact that Rob is the killer. As a result of this new information, the guys postulate that Rob is killing brides because Sandy probably refused to marry him. The guys then realize that Rob is in all likelihood stalking Parisi as he was with the guys when they had previously learned that the police lieutenant is engaged to be married. While Cody digs in Edwards' basement and discovers Sandy's body, Nick and Murray head off in the Mimi to rescue Parisi. Fortunately, they arrive just in time to save the lieutenant. However, a mentally unstable Edwards dies when he goes off a cliff.

Cody returns from a visit to his mother only to discover that his car is gone (having been borrowed by Murray for a trip to San Diego) and his boat is in the shop being repaired thanks to an accident perpetrated by Nick. Unfortunately, Cody is unable to borrow Nick's car as the Corvette is supposedly also being repaired. However, before Cody can get too angry at his partner, Nick is contacted by an attorney and informed that he is one of the beneficiaries of a recently deceased man named Robert Gordon. (Nick had saved Gordon's son Barry in Vietnam and even though Barry did not survive the war, the elder Gordon was still grateful and had decided to leave Nick $333,333.33.) Later, at the reading of the will, Nick meets an insurance investigator named Pierce Fenner as well as Gordon's other beneficiaries: his brother Lewis Gordon, his daughter Helen (and her husband Brian), his nurse Darla Winters and his niece Beverly. After learning that Nick is a detective, Beverly shares her concerns that her uncle was murdered. Supporting Beverly's case is the fact that Robert Gordon, who had a phobia about fires, never would have gone into the "fire trap" shed where he supposedly "accidentally" burned to death. Deciding to investigate, the guys go to Fenner only to be warned to stay off the case. (Fenner also informs Nick that if it was murder, the policy would only pay 20%.) Regardless of the impact on Nick's inheritance, the guys continue to investigate only to run into some trouble when Fenner legally prevents the detectives from examining Parisi's files. Therefore, the guys sneak into Fenner's office to get the investigator's copies of the files. The guys soon learn that a security camera (that would have been in the right position to capture Gordon's death) had been removed; probably so no one would realize that the death was captured on video. They are then attacked while riding on the Ebbtide. (With both their cars unavailable, the guys have been forced to either travel by bus or by sea.) Although the Ebbtide is sunk, the guys manage to escape unharmed. Continuing their investigation, the guys discover that Lewis, who owed his brother $500,000, owns the company that provided security at Robert Gordon's house. Meanwhile, Cody sees Nick's car far sale on television and realizes that his partner must have put the Corvette up for sale in order to pay to repair the Riptide. Cody decides to buy the Corvette and then, out of revenge for the Riptide, he taunts Nick about the fact that he is the new owner. That night, the guys break into Lewis' office and locate the videotape of Robert Gordon's "murder". The guys view the tape and discover that Gordon died from a heart attack. The tape also shows Robert's uncaring relatives (with the exception of Beverly) starting the fire since a heart attack only pays $1,700. Unfortunately, Fenner and Lewis soon capture the guys and Beverly. Fortunately, they manage to escape when Nick starts a fire. As the episode ends, Nick recovers his car when he uses a commission payment from the insurance company to pay for the repairs to the Riptide and the Ebbtide. [Note: Thom "Murray" Bray only has a cameo appearance at the end of this episode.]