Grace Cusack (New Tricks)

Grace Cusack (Elizabeth Berrington) is the main villainess from "Blue Flower," the antepenultimate episode of New Tricks' ninth season (airdate 15 October 2012).
Grace Cusack was introduced in the early scenes of the episode, when she was encountered by DSI Sandra Pullman and Steve McAndrew during their investigation in the murder of Max Klein, which occurred in June 2007. Her backstory revealed that a year prior to Max's murder, her young son was struck and killed by a cab driven by Damon Rapley, and it was mentioned when Sandra and Steve saw the memorial for Grace's son, with Grace referring to Rapley as a murderer who avoided conviction. Grace added that she had met Max months prior to his death, as he was looking for his daughter Mia, who he hadn't seen since 1987--when Mia was a baby and both of them escaped from East Germany.
The investigation's progression revealed that Grace had mentioned her son's death at the hands of Rapley to Max at some point, and it was led to believe that Rapley was targeting Grace, as Brian Lane translated Max's notes in German as his quest to prevent Rapley from hurting Grace. After Rapley was interrogated as a suspect, which saw Rapley express his immense guilt and responsibility over the accident (despite Sandra revealing that Rapley was never held responsible for what happened), Brian realized that Max did not set out to stop Rapley from harming Grace--he was attempting to prevent Grace from harming Rapley, which eventually revealed Grace not only as a vengeful villainess, but as Max's killer.
After venting to Max regarding Rapley, Grace began turning heel by attempting to kill Rapley on the aforementioned day in question, which marked a year since her son's death. She went to the garages where Rapley worked his side job as a driver, while armed with a knife, and it was at that moment that Max attempted to stop Grace from carrying out her murderous vendetta. The struggle with the knife ended with Grace stabbing Max to death, with Max uttering his final words, "Blue flower," following Grace's heel turn. Grace stated in the episode's events that she had learned to live with what Rapley had done to her son, but as the episode's climax showed, it was a facade, as the evil Grace brutally stabbed Rapley in his cab following his interrogation.
Brian and Gerry Standing found Rapley in his cab, bloodied but still alive, while Sandra and Steve found Grace drugged up, as she took a vast amount of pills as part of a suicide attempt. The villainess' first words when she was revlved had her asking Sandra if Rapley was dead, with Sandra stating that Rapley was still alive. Afterwards, Grace confessed to killing Max, stating that he was trying to prevent her from going after Rapley before killing Max during a struggle for the knife. She added that Max was a good man and that she didn't want to hurt him, and after her confession, Grace was arrested (off-screen).
Category:2010s
Category:Attempted Murder
Category:Callous
Category:Hero's Friend
Category:Knife
Category:Live Action Villainess
Category:Mother
Category:Murder: Stabbing
Category:Murderer
Category:Psychotic
Category:Redhead
Category:Vengeful
Category:Villainous Reveal
Category:Fate: Arrested