Alma Gutierrez (Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector)

**Alma Gutierrez** (Vanessa Aspillaga) is a hidden villainess from "Requiem," episode 1.07 of *Lincoln Rhyme:  Hunt for the Bone Collector* (airdate February 28, 2020).

## Introduction

Alma Gutierrez is the nanny for the wealthy Vaughn family, and she was first shown with Simon Vaughn, the only child of business owners Linda and Greg Vaughn, after one of their buildings was bombed, which resulted in four people being killed. Amelia Sachs tended to Simon and promised to protect him, with Alma asking her if she could make good on her promise. Amelia stated that children needed reassurance in their time of need, only for Alma to ask about everyone else, herself included.

The episode's investigation revealed that the bombing was committed by Arthur Massey, a safety inspector who developed a vendetta against the Vaughns. It was uncovered that there were safety violations in the Vaughns' buildings, which resulted in many of them catching fire. Massey lost his wife and son in a fire in one of the Vaughns' buildings, and another catastrophe occurred in Richmond Hill, despite Massey's warnings. Massey sued the Vaughns, who paid off the victims' families and countersued Massey, leading to his attack on the building and threats to destroy others if the couple didn't confess.

## Reveal

    Despite Greg's lack of willing to confess, Linda took center stage and admitted to everything, as Massey ordered. However, Massey refused to reveal where the other bombs were, and video footage showed that Massey wasn't in the building, leading to the conclusion that someone else planted the bomb for him. A search for possible suspects with connections to Vaughn property victims ended up revealing Alma as one, as well as a villainous conspirator.

As Felix revealed, Alma's 12-year-old son, Matthew, died in a fire inside a Vaughn-owned apartment building, and after meeting with Massey, Alma turned heel and participated in the bombings, as she blamed the Vaughns for her son's death. The vengeful villainess planted the bomb for Massey, using her position as the family's nanny to do so, and after her role was revealed, Alma was shown with Simon taking him to apparent safety, only to begin her on-screen heel turn and give an ominous glare at Simon, as she was planning to kill him in the same fashion as her son's death.

Just as Alma was taking out the bomb, she saw police arrive and rushed to the kitchen. The villainess was shown holding Simon hostage and threatening to kill herself and the young child, while lashing out at Amelia for her promises to Simon. In addition, the evil Alma blamed the Vaughns for Matthew's death, and even defended her plan to kill Simon by claiming that he would grow up thinking the world owes him everything, just like his parents (in her mind). Simon apologized to the villainous nanny, only for Amelia to state that Simon had nothing to be sorry about, while attempting to talk Alma down from her vendetta by informing her that Matthew wouldn't want her to commit such actions. Alma placed the remote down and tearfully apologized to her late son, after which Simon ran to Amelia, while Alma was placed under arrest.

## Trivia

* Vanessa Aspillaga also appeared as the evil Rosalie Morales on *Blue Bloods*.
* Due to the series' cancellation, Alma Gutierrez served as *Lincoln Rhyme*'s final villainess.

## Gallery

Alma's evil stare at SimonAlma carrying the bomb as part of her plot