Gracepoint episode 2 finds the lead detectives played by David Tennant and Anna Gunn making big steps toward cracking the case – or will these pieces of evidence lead nowhere?

The big twist came at the end of Gracepoint season 1, episode 2 when we learned that Danny’s father’s fingerprints were found at a building where Danny’s blood was also discovered.

But before we get there, let’s start at the beginning.

Ellie visits the Solano home to get the fingerprints of the family members so they can rule out the family as suspects. The decision to fingerprint the family, coupled with being denied access to Danny’s body for a burial, upsets Marc. They do want to help crack the case, however, so the family presents Ellie with a list of people who they think may’ve done it. It’s a list of friends.

But maybe they should look themselves in a mirror. One of the forensics experts finds $500 in cash under Danny’s bed and a bag of cocaine in his sister Chloe’s room. Ellie confronts Chloe privately about this discovery, and the daughter reveals Gemma (the hotel keeper) was the person she was holding it for. She wouldn’t (or wasn’t able to) explain the money in Danny’s room.

Chloe talks to her boyfriend about the cocaine, and it’s clear now that the drug involved him in some way. As Chloe walks home she’s stopped by Reporter Rene who asks for a lighter, and the reporter starts asking questions. Rene gives her back the teddy bear and it builds a little trust between the two. Rene leaves her number in Chloe’s phone in case she ever needs “a friend” to talk to. Thank God Chloe had that lighter!

Desperate to get outside of the house after being trapped there for so long, Danny’s mother, Beth, heads to the supermarket to pick up some snacks. Unfortunately, everyone in the store stares at her. She spots Danny’s favorite cereal which makes her upset. This isn’t going well! When leaving she accidentally hits shopping carts with her vehicle and receives a shoulder to cry on from Pastor Paul. He becomes her emotional support – not only in this moment but later when Beth’s mother asks him to be there for her. Later when the preacher makes a statement on television about Danny, Marc runs to the scene of the interview and tells Paul to stop talking about their son. He throws Paul up against a wall.

The investigation

Ellie and Carver speak to Gemma about the drugs Chloe was holding for her. She explains that Chloe was picking up the drugs for a guest at the hotel.

The next day, Carver speaks to Sue, the woman with a dog who is in charge of cleaning a building up on the cliff where Danny supposedly fell. When she opens her closet to grab a key to said building, viewers can see that Danny’s skateboard is inside.

A telephone worker at the police station relays to Carver and Ellie a message he received from the great beyond. He says that this mystery involves water and Danny in a boat. They decide to question him on record, but Carver can’t believe they’re wasting their time with this guy. Ellie tries to at least question him.

But wait – his psychic powers appear to show some legitimacy when he’s walking out of the room and tells Carver, “she forgives you. About the pendant.” Carver gets worked up about this guy but won’t explain to Ellie what that pendant comment meant.

As Carver begins to head off to question Danny’s father, Ellie starts reading through the boy’s journal found on his computer. He spoke in the journal about his dad being mad at him and being tired of something.

Carver finally goes to Marc to question him about the security footage they’ve uncovered – remember, it depicts Danny’s father in a mysterious location. Marc claims he was out for drinks with a friend that night, but can’t remember the person’s name (riiiight). And at the house on the cliff, a bit of blood and small footprints are discovered. “Someone scrubbed it top to bottom,” an investigator at the house tells Ellie. Was it Sue the cleaner who wiped it all away?

The episode concludes with Ellie telling Carver over the phone, in front of Marc, that the prints found at the house on the cliff belong to Danny’s father. Uh oh!

Gracepoint episode 2 featured a battle of two powers – Ellie’s interest in taking care of the townspeople with offers like keeping secrets quiet, and Carver with his heartless attitude and a passion for treating everyone like they’re strangers and suspects.

Tempers soared in the office one night when they disagreed over how to emotionally handle the case. This is likely to be an ongoing debate as new clues and answers surface. Certainly Ellie will be feeling more understanding of Carver’s stance after what we learned about Marc today.

Speaking of Marc, he seems like a prime suspect right now, but there are still many other suspicious people afoot: Susan with Danny’s skateboard, Ellie’s own son deleting information off his computer, and of course creepy-old-man Jack who loves appearing all over town.

Elsewhere…

– Carver pays a visit to Jack because the latter has some new information to share: He was taking a walk a couple weeks ago when he saw Danny with a mystery man who looked like a hiker. Is he being truthful or lying?

– At the police station Ellie tries to convince Carver that this town doesn’t deal with drugs except for pot when Carver suddenly loses his focus and rushes to the bathroom to inject himself with some medicine.

– Renee pays a visit to the local paper to ask for a desk – and she’s granted the access, but not her own printer. She does receive one more favor: A personal tour of Gracepoint from Owen. She reveals to the young journalist that Carver screwed up a missing persons investigation in her town then ran off. They agree to help one another. Earlier in the episode, Rene tried to talk to Carver about why he ran away from the missing persons case.

After this week’s ‘Gracepoint,’ who do you think is guilty of murder?

We can’t wait to see if your answer to this question will change from week to week.