Chicago PD Season 12 takes things to a whole new level by introducing an intriguing storyline involving a child named Zoe that ultimately leads to a huge revelation.
The new season of NBC's One Chicago crime drama series has been giving the spotlight to the different members of Sergeant Voight's Intelligence Division under the umbrella of the Chicago Police Department.
Most recently, Patrick John Flueger's Adam Ruzek was at the center of one of the show's core mysteries, involving Zoe and the search for her true identity.
This particular vertical of the Chicago PD story piqued viewers' interest due to its disturbing nature and gripping conclusion.
Who Is Zoe in Chicago PD? Ruzek's Intriguing Case Explained
In Chicago PD Season 12, Episode 10, Zoe is introduced as a young victim who was the only one left alive after a series of murders happened inside a seemingly normal home.
Given that Adam Ruzek is the one who found her, he is hellbent on finding the killer's identity to protect Zoe if the suspect were to come back for the young girl.
After multiple interviews with her, Ruzek finds out that the man posing as Zoe's dad is the prime suspect, and his modus operandi involves killing single mothers and their children.
It turns out that Zoe is not the killer's kid, and he is only using her as a way to get close to the victims before ultimately killing them. The disturbing part about this case is the fact that Zoe gets to witness some of the murders.
While he leaves Zoe behind to lay low in Episode 10, Adam ends up finding her alone in the house, which begins the investigation.
The team goes all hands on deck to find and put an end to the suspect's reign of terror, and they end up linking the crimes to a man named Thomas Cronin.
While they are not able to arrest Cronin, Episode 10 ends with the team finding a pile of bodies in one of his hideouts, leaving fans with a major cliffhanger right before the three-part One Chicago crossover where Desk Sergeant Trudy almost died.
In the meantime, Ruzek leaves Zoe with a foster care home, and he promises to check in on her from time to time.
Zoe’s Storyline Ends With an Identity Change
Although the case takes a backseat for a while, Chicago PD revisits Zoe's storyline in Season 12, Episode 14.
The episode sees Ruzek diving deep into Thomas Cronin's file since he is driven to catch him before he hurts anyone else or, worse, Zoe.
Thomas Cronin suddenly reemerges to abduct Zoe from her new foster care home, prompting Ruzek and the Intelligence team in a hot pursuit against the suspect. While they end up finding and arresting Cronin, Zoe is still nowhere to be found.
After Sergeant Voight (read more about his Chicago PD future here) and Ruzek team up to persuade Cronin into giving up Zoe's location, the information he gave is revealed as a dead end.
It turns out that this is his way to distract the cops so that he can commit suicide while inside his hospital room. Thankfully, Zoe is a brilliant kid who leaves clues behind for Ruzek to find, leading the team to find her in an abandoned motel.
However, the job is far from finished since they have yet to find Zoe's real identity.
A grueling search then ensues, which involves searching every database, crime lab, and missing persons case to learn more about who Zoe really is. It is incredible to see how the team rallies with Ruzek to search for Zoe's parentage, which also happens to fall on a Sunday.
In the end, Ruzek ultimately finds Zoe's grandmother, Amy Pappas, through Heredity & Me's DNA database. As Ruzek orchestrates the reunion, Zoe's long-lost grandmother tells her granddaughter that her real name is Marie.
Zoe (or Marie) is no doubt a standout character in Chicago PD Season 12, and it is further cemented by the impressive portrayal of child actress Annabelle Toomey.
New episodes of Chicago PD air every Wednesday on NBC at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT and begin streaming on Peacock the next day.
