Beyond the Gates just pushed Smitty’s investigation into far more dangerous territory, and Lia’s death suddenly looks less like the end of a mystery than the beginning of a much bigger one. Smitty cannot shake his suspicions about what happened to Lia, and his next move is especially revealing: he turns to Nicole for her professional expertise. That decision could finally give him a new way to challenge the story surrounding Lia’s death, but it could also bring him dangerously close to the person he has been trying to uncover.
Smitty’s doubts did not appear out of nowhere. Before Lia died, he had already made contact with her while digging deeper into the Red Market investigation. Smitty later explained that Lia did not give him the information he wanted. Instead, she appeared interested in getting information from him. That reversal matters because it suggests Lia understood that Smitty was getting close enough to become a problem. Once Lia died, everything about that final interaction became much more important.
The official conclusion surrounding Lia has not satisfied Smitty. Rather than accepting that she took her own life and moving on, his suspicions have continued to grow. Grayson’s doubts only add another layer to the mystery. When multiple people connected to the situation begin questioning whether the official explanation makes sense, Lia’s death stops functioning like closure. It becomes evidence that there may still be something hidden underneath the surface.
That is what makes Smitty’s decision to approach Nicole so intriguing. Nicole is a psychologist, and spoilers confirm that Smitty seeks out her expertise. The show has not yet revealed exactly what he wants Nicole to determine, leaving two particularly explosive possibilities on the table. He could want her assessment of Lia’s mental state before her death, or he could be asking Nicole to help construct a psychological profile of the person behind the Impaler operation.
The first possibility could completely change the direction of the Lia investigation. If Smitty can provide Nicole with enough information about Lia’s behavior, conversations, and actions before her death, Nicole could potentially identify inconsistencies between Lia’s apparent mindset and the conclusion that has been reached about what happened to her. That would not automatically prove someone else was responsible, but it could give Smitty a powerful reason to keep digging when everyone else expects the case to be finished.
The second possibility is even more dangerous. Instead of profiling Lia, Smitty could ask Nicole to profile the Impaler. A psychologist might examine patterns of manipulation, control, intimidation, victim selection, and the way people surrounding the operation behave. In that scenario, Lia becomes only one piece of a much larger puzzle. Smitty would no longer simply be asking what happened to Lia. He would be trying to understand the person controlling the entire game.
And that could put Smitty directly in Heather’s path.
Viewers are already worried that Smitty is becoming dangerously exposed. He has investigated the Red Market, made contact with Lia, questioned what happened after her death, and refused to walk away when the official explanation failed to convince him. Bringing Nicole into the investigation potentially adds another threat because Smitty would now have professional help interpreting behavior that previously looked confusing or disconnected.
There is also a frightening possibility that Nicole herself could become vulnerable. If her expertise helps Smitty recognize a pattern connected to Heather, Nicole would suddenly possess information someone might desperately want contained. Heather would not necessarily have to confront Smitty directly to stop him. Targeting someone close to him could send a far more devastating warning, especially when Nicole is not merely a consultant but part of Smitty and Martin’s family circle.
Martin could therefore become increasingly important as this storyline accelerates. Smitty has already shown that he is unwilling to simply abandon the investigation, even when Martin wants them to focus on their life together. That creates a natural collision between Smitty’s determination and Martin’s concern for his family. If Martin realizes that both Smitty and Nicole are getting pulled deeper into the Impaler mystery, his frustration could quickly become genuine fear.
That tension also connects directly with what some viewers have wanted from this storyline: more visible investigation and stronger consequences. Lia’s connection to Smitty carried enormous potential, but some fans were frustrated that important parts of their contact happened away from the screen. Smitty turning to Nicole creates an opportunity to change that. Instead of hearing afterward about what Smitty discovered, viewers could finally watch him assemble the pieces himself.
The biggest question now is not simply what Nicole knows. It is what Smitty will do once her expertise confirms that something about Lia does not add up. If he refuses to back down, the investigation could move from suspicion to confrontation very quickly.
Lia’s death was supposed to close a door. Instead, Smitty appears determined to force it back open. And if Nicole helps him see exactly what has been hiding behind it, Smitty could finally get closer to the truth he has been chasing — while also making himself impossible for Heather to ignore.
