The Equalizer Season 5 Episode 12, “Trust No One,” starts with a man running through the stairs of his apartment, running away from someone we can’t see. As he is trying to hide, someone walks into his apartment and shoots him dead.
The next morning, Aunt Vi (Lorraine Toussaint) and Delilah (Laya DeLeon Hayes) are having breakfast when Robyn (Queen Latifah) walks in. When she says she’s off to have breakfast with Dante (Tory Kittles), her aunt suggests she should bring him over for dinner. They both know him, so they wonder why he never invites him over. She suggests he also bring his sons.
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The Equalizer, “Trust No One”

The dead man’s daughter reaches out to Robyn because she believes someone killed him. Ariel mentions her father knew he was going to die because he sent her boxes full of his lifelong research with an enigmatic letter.
Harry (Adam Goldberg) and Mel (Liza Lapira) start looking into who the professor was and what was happening in his neighborhood. Robyn tells them this case feels personal because she knows what it’s like not to know who killed your father. Meanwhile, they discover the professor had sent the dean multiple emails asking for personal security.
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Mel and Harry decide to visit the dean, who mentions the professor might have found the hidden treasure from a famous pirate story. They show him the letter he sent Ariel, and he mentions certain references are specific to where the treasure is.
The dean believes the answers are in the professor’s journal, and that could be why he was murdered. If that’s the case, Ariel is in danger because she has the boxes with his belongings.
Mercenaries Involved
Dante and Robyn arrive at Ariel’s house to find someone has broken in. They see the same van that was outside the professor’s apartment the night he died. The men drive away from the house when they find Ariel passed out on the floor. Even though she knows about the journal, she can’t tell them what was written. However, she shows them a video that might have some clues.
Harry uses his technology to better look at the journal in Ariel’s video. There are more clues, and they discover that the references lead to Rockefeller’s chessboard. As they look into it, they find out the chessboard was loaned to the university. When they visit, they meet Luttrell, who worked with the professor.
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The professor asked her to request the chessboard so he could look at it. Harry and Mel recreate Franklin’s last move to get a message. Mel realizes it’s Morse code, and she can read it. It leads them to the library.
Dante and Robyn arrive at the library and see someone arrived before them. A man takes pictures of a book and sends them to someone else before stealing it. When Dante calls out, the man starts shooting at them. Luckily, Robyn gets a good shot and is able to kill him and steal the book back.
The two of them discover he is a mercenary. Harry can ID him and find out he recently got a big deposit.
A Manuscript With Clues

Harry discovers the almost stolen manuscript has a poem on the cover. When they show it to Ariel, she is able to read another encrypted message that leads to more clues. Between her knowledge and Harry’s, they are able to find the next clue to where the treasure might be hidden.
Dante and Robyn arrive on location and tell Harry everything they see so he can tell them if it’s a clue. As he is doing so, he discovers that Luttrell is the one who paid the mercenaries to go after the professor. That is when she arrives at Ariel’s house with the other mercenaries.
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Luttrell calls Robyn and tells her it’s the gold for Ariel’s life. Harry and Mel help Robyn and Dante find out where the key might work. Because it’s a gavel and not a key, Robyn uses it to break a hole in a pillar with the poem’s title. However, by the time she is done, she discovers there is no gold.
They decide to go after Luttrell, but the mercenaries immediately show up to get them. Robyn tells them there is no gold and offers them cash instead. That is when she and Dante take the mercenaries down and help Ariel.
Harry discovers one final clue in the professor’s letter to Ariel. While they thought “Truss no one” was a mistake he made while writing in fear, Harry says it actually means “Trust no. one.” Ariel then hits the first pillar with the gavel and discovers the gold. She decides to donate half of it to the museum and use the other half to start a scholarship in her parents’ name.
Robyn and Dante Face New Challenges on “Trust No One”
That morning, Robyn and Dante meet for breakfast. She mentions Aunt Vi’s idea to get the families together, but Dante quickly changes the subject.
Robyn brings it up again later, wondering why he lied to her. He says he didn’t lie, but the problem is that one of his sons believes that he is getting back together with his mother because he moved back to New York.
Once the case is closed, Robyn tells Dante she will help him as he navigates to tell his son the truth. She then tells Aunt Vi and Dee that only Dante will come for dinner.
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Dee Helps Someone Out

When Cam and Delilah meet, he mentions Tyrese, the friend who pulled a gun at them. He says Tyrese is looking to apologize to her, and Delilah agrees to meet him only if she can talk about her feelings, too.
When they meet up, Tyrese explains what is going on and apologizes. However, Dee is pretty hard on him because she remembers her friend Jason being killed in front of her. Before she can say anything else, his sister calls him to let him know the social worker is on her way to their apartment.
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Cam and Dee decide to go with Tyrese and help out with his sisters. When the social worker shows up, she asks Tyrese’s sisters about school and tells him his mother has to call her.
That night, Dee and Cam talk about Tyrese, and she mentions that she wishes there was more she could do to help. She offers to babysit Tyrese’s sister whenever he needs it.
The Equalizer airs on Sundays on CBS.
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