- A prostitute is found dead and a tourist is killed in a rental car.
- Colleagues making love during lunch find a naked female prostitute's corpse under the hotel room bed. Room and body were washed with cardamom-scented soap. A fingerprint points to known criminal Cole Judson, but Horatio finds it was fabricated by the real killer, using an epoxy-negative and oil, and searches who could have framed Cole and why she was killed. German tourist Werner Roebling's wife Greta Roebling claims he chased the carjacker of their rental on foot -suspiciously senseless- and got shot a bit further on the street. A video seems to confirm this, but Eric Delko digs deeper.—KGF Vissers
- Detective Christian Brunner, first on the scene, describes it to CSI personnel as rented bungalow . has one dead woman left under the bed, stabbed multiple times. Alexx examines the corpse on the floor, Speedle scans the tub, Horatio scans the wall finding blood evidence someone tried to wipe away; Horatio also photographed the thermostat at 75°, Alexx saying time of death, per victim liver temp, is between seven and nine last evening. The victim was stabbed repeatedly with a slim sharp instrument, washed with cardamom soap, aroma noticeable on the body, and a ring around the tub remained. At the forensic lab, Alexx examines the victim, telling Horatio she bled to death from close range puncture wounds, aorta bleeding into chest cavity, diminishing blood loss noticeable at crime scene, and for Horatio to propose the question "could the killer have known less external blood loss with puncture to the aorta?" There was no sexual penetration, there was adhesive tape residue on mouth, wrists and ankles, prompting Horatio to ask rhetorically, "sheer enjoyment just for the kill?" Speed examines the bed comforter finding mold from an unknown source. Horatio examines her personal effects, finding a finger print on her belt, and the print belongs to a man in the system with a prior, some twelve years hence. Horatio telling Speed we will question the prior. Det. Brunner and Horatio serve a warrant on suspect residence, cuff him and inform spouse of his future location as they search the house.
Det. Sevilla first on scene describes initial scene to CSI personnel. Gas station has car-jacking attempt of German couple, husband shot, perpetrator chased husband, leaving trail of blood drops, but why the chase if it was a jacking? Calleigh examined the vehicle, Delko examined the garage, found shot body with fatal head wound, spatter on back of truck in garage. Video tape shows husband shot at the gas pump, perforations on the glove match the pattern of the blood smear where the shooter lost his footing and slid, explaining the floor skid marks, husband left dead on the garage floor. Alexx explains spatter from bullet entry through mouth, making him spit blood running after the killer. Calleigh says he was hiding from his assailant, spitting blood at a truck tailgate, before he collapsed and died. Lab analysis of the cam footage from the station reveals the wife ducked, then her husband was shot, yet he got out to chase the shooter. The shooter left a smudge print on the rear-view-mirror.
Calleigh asks Delko what kind of murder requires an advanced meeting, Delko responds a hired hit. Who did the hiring, because Malcom was aiming at the wife, until she ducks before the shot. Arriving in Miami two days prior how does she employ the hired gun without him flipping on her. Answer is she knew him from before the killing. Malcom has a brother Brian who knew the wife from working in Europe, and Brian was offered ten-thousand cash and a plane ticket to kill the husband. Brian went to brother Malcolm for the job. Brian told Malcom to get a fresh strap, i.e. a different gun to the job, but Malcom failed to do just that. Sevilla said ballistics found the bullet recovered pointed back to a prior convenience store robbery where the adult is still serving time, but the juvenile, Malcolm Davidson, served only a few months and is at home with grandma. The print left on the mirror contained grandma's lipstick, Malcolm had wiped with the same glove holding the gun pictured on the security camera. Malcom was in the car prior to the murder, because the security cam shows the shot fired, but no Malcom entering the car. The lipstick came from Europe, where Brian met Greta, wife of dead husband. Calleigh and Delko search the home of garage suspect, finding glove washed, worn in holdup caught on camera, suspect arrested, bullet from gun identified from prior crime with suspect doing time. Delko finds the driving glove in Malcom's closet, analysis provides blood was from the husband, lipstick was from grandma, while Caleigh's find of lipstick smudge print on the mirror was grandma's lipstick, too. Ex-husband takes children out of house while spouse speaks with Det. Brunner about prior record of current husband. Wife claims husband was at sales meeting Wednesday night, detective finds the meeting a lie. Wife also did not know of the prior assault charge.
Horatio refers to a forensic scientist proving how you could frame someone using their own fingerprint. The belt-print is an oil(stick deodorant)-based fingerprint with victim-blood on top of it, making it look like a natural fingerprint, but it is not. Horatio believes the killer left the print behind intentionally, but he left the mold spore behind by mistake. There is a link between the mold and the host, common to bathroom shower curtains and bathroom surroundings.
When CSI originally entered hotel room it was 75°, flower petals from the room indicate someone played with the air-conditioning because the petals were adversely affected by the cold room. The bound and gagged victim did not change the thermostat, someone was in the room after nine PM and changed the thermostat to very cold, waiting in the room while the body cooled. Alexx states cooling the body made death appear earlier than it was. Speed states the power company confirms the spike in usage from nine to midnight. Speed and Horatio now know time of death was altered because killer turned the A/C lower to cool the room after the killing. Speed remarks the new time of death clears Cole Judson. Horatio then places the suspicion on the ex-husband.
The criminal record information of Cole is known to the ex-husband, not to Wendy Judson. Horatio asks Speed if the new suspect purchased that information on Cole. Purchase of information was granted to the owners of Cole's building, his landlord, and the criminal record appeared. There was no evidence of the background check coming from the ex-husband. Interviewing Mrs. Bastille with Det. Brunner, Horatio asks to use her bathroom, where he scrapes the bath grout for mold, noticing the cardamom soap on the tub. Horatio finds out the Mrs. Bastille takes cardamom soap baths with her husband, Lee Bastille. Mrs. Bastille says the marriage is lacking closeness over the years, rather mundane. She claims Lee brought the soap home Wednesday. Horatio tells her the woman murdered was bathed in the same soap. She tells Horatio they ate dinner the same time, seven, and Lee was called at nine to a tenant's place for repairs; but she never heard the phone ring. Horatio asks her to leave for her own protection. Horatio and Brunner are interrogating Lee at HQ. Cole helped Lee with plumbing repairs, when Cole's print was obtained from the plumber's putty impression, Lee made an epoxy mold of the print, transferring to the belt when he killed the woman. Horatio took the putty, the soap, and scrapings of mold when he was in their bathroom. He told Lee there was a transfer of mold from Lee's bathroom to the bed spread. Horatio tells Lee he left Susan McCreary bound and gagged, returning home to his wife to eat dinner at seven establishing an alibi. Later, after Lee killed her, he dropped the room temperature significantly in order to masque the actual time of death. Horatio continues telling Lee he might have been successful without the bloody print, but he went too far by bringing home the soap from the hotel. Lee describes his life as mundane until he experienced Susan's life slip through his hands, satisfying his curiosity.
Closing scene has Horatio giving Cole Judson a ride home, meeting Wendy and the kids in the front yard of their home, one landlord short.
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