A man out clubbing is later found dead in his apartment. His body is later processed at the CS by a man, with Mac (Gary Sinise) observing. He is Hector Vargas (Jsu Garcia) from the Barcelona Police Crime Lab supervisor. Jo (Sela Ward) has been to Barcelona in 2004 to help under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, when she was at the FBI. Mac lets him photograph the CS. The Vic's girlfriend, Natalia (Melina Lizette) found the body and the Vic's mother, Eva Martinez (Karina Lombard) is a diplomat. Hector notified the NYPD ten hours after the DB was found. Jo translates his Spanish when Hector promises to find whoever killed his nephew.
Mac asks him to leave his CS. The Vic's father was killed twelve years ago in an accident and Hector questions Mac if his relative was killed elsewhere, would he investigate. Mac wouldn't jeopardize the investigation. There's always a 'but' coming when Mac's asked one of these questions, or something moral or ethical.
Flack (Eddie Cahill) has twenty five of his men searching the alley for the murder weapon. A neighbour heard the Vic and his girlfriend fighting and she ran away. Hawkes (Hill Harper) finds a crystalline particle on the floor and bloody shoe prints matching the Vic. Natalia is at the Spanish Consulate. Mac asks Hector, "...anything else you're hiding from me." Well, yes there is but he's not to know just yet! Jo says they need to process and question Natalia. Mac tells him the crime was committed here so there's no question of jurisdiction. He knows they don't have a warrant. Mac doesn't want to leave as they'll have a chance to go over her alibi. Er, they could have already established an alibi by now. Jo also tells him the Treaty works both ways and they can refuse to cooperate with any info they discover. (That's why the Treaty is called 'Mutual'.)
Natalia apologizes and wishes to talk. She found the door open at the apartment and saw Miguel (Reynaldo Pacheco). In the flashback when she finds his body, the knife is still on the floor, so only she could have taken it. We don't think the murderer, if there was one, would have returned to steal the knife. So that was a clue. Miguel promoted a club last night. Hector calls her a witness and not a suspect. Natalia called his mother and told her as it was the right thing to do. Mac asks why she didn't call the police. His mother asked her to come here and she'd take care of everything. (Like she did with her husband.)
Sid (Robert Joy) examines the DB. The COD was three puncture wounds to the abdomen. Just as he practices his 'stabbing actions' with the knife, in walks Lindsay (Anna Belknap.) The first two wounds were made with the blade facing up and the fatal wound was made with the blade facing down. He had multiple abrasions on his back, like bedsores. Lindsay notices the burn marks on his shirt.
Mac examines the CS photos with Hector. He doesn't believe it's a homicide and at least doesn't want to call it that yet. Since there was no forced entry and no call for help. Earlier on, when Hawkes said there was no forced entry, Flack mentioned that didn't mean there wasn't anyone there and here Mac believes there was no other person there. Well, he could have known his would-be attacker and let them in. Miguel was alive after he was stabbed and was standing over the phone, bleeding out. Hector mentions his defensive wounds. The killer could have dropped the knife and picked it up. Mac comments the cast off from the blood is smeared, all the blood drops are gravitational and there's no signs of a struggle.
Hawkes examines the crystalline particle and Adam (AJ Buckley) the burn mark on the shirt. Adam asks Jo what the best way to tell someone who's never done anything wrong before, that he may have messed up. He found sulphuric acid and formaldehyde on the shirt, which is Marquis Reagent, used for drug testing. Mac walks in, getting Adam all flustered, since the messing up he was referring to, was meant to be done by Mac. Adam: "Act normal." So he pretends to finish the punchline for a joke. Jo tells him Adam wants to ask him something, ahh spoilt sport. Mac asks him why, without answering. He didn't spill any reagent there, but Jo says Adam has a point and in walks Lindsay again looking smug as per usual. Really that's all she did this entire episode. Adam so nervous about telling Mac he's messed up, but of course he hadn't since he doesn't get things like that wrong.
Tox results from Miguel revealed the presence of Clonazepam. There was no alcohol in his stomach contents and yet the reading was high. Lindsay says he inhaled it. He was at a club, which Flack and Danny (Carmine Giovinazzo) just had to check out! Danny remarks he saw this on an episode of The Jetsons once. Flack: "I'm not a doctor but that can't be good for you." The bouncer tells them Miguel had an argument with Leo (Kavan Reece). Leo sees them coming, cos Flack shouted NYPD too early and there's a shortish chase scene. Flack shouting "Excuse me" to the clubber when running! Flack says he has five seconds to let her go, when he holds a woman at gunpoint. Lots of counting down by Flack, this season.
Danny tells him the last time they did this, he had to fill out forms, call an ambulance and he got blood and brain tissue on him. Flack and Danny had to be at the club and get in a short chase scene too. It's almost expected now and is second nature to see them enter such a scene together. Flack asking Danny if he wants to go for a proper drink afterwards, cos he's not into any of these fads they've come across over the seasons. No, our Flack's down to earth and normal! But hey, Lindsay won't let Danny go for a drink, unless she tags along. Some witty banter from them and from Flack during the interrogation scene later.
Jo uses eye drops and says Leo could've set the club on fire. He's got sulphuric acid in his bottle, i.e. Marquis Reagent. She checked out his website where he sells drugs which he claims are better, but it's just a scam. Miguel had chemical burns on his clothes in a splash pattern which suggest there was a struggle. Miguel didn't want him dealing on his nights. Mac believes Leo. Hector says pill testing is supported in his country.
Hawkes finds the crystalline particle contained Indium and Gallium - glass used in solar panels, but there were none in Miguel's place. Hector's sister wants to take the DB now as she doesn't want anyone knowing what really happened. (She also looked down and away, indicating she's hiding something.) Hector convinces her to leave the body for now as she'll have to return him later anyway with an exhumation order. Sid points out the new evidence discovered after embalming: ligature marks around his neck, which are linear. He was strangled from behind. Mac says someone tried to kill him before.
Jo and Lindsay talk to Natalia about the marks and Lindsay is rather judgemental, when she remarks, snidely, Natalia didn't notice the marks around her boyfriend's neck. He had a name, Lindsay! Natalia was in Madrid at her sister's wedding and her alibi checks out. Flack tells Hawkes the knife was found in a dumpster twelve blocks away and the blood stain belongs to Miguel. Hawkes is later a bit dumbfounded in the lab as nothing make sense in this case; all the bloodstains belong to the Vic.
When along comes busybody Lindsay with her Spanish line about "small strokes fell great oaks." She's teaching Lucy, so Danny comments so they can talk about him without his knowing. Had to get a mention of Lucy in just incase we forget she's around. Adam finds a microscopic bloodstain on the glass, belonging to Vern Jackson (James C Victor) a homeless man. Danny: "Wow, even the homeless are going green." Actually, the homeless would be green already since they don't have much of anything!
Vern doesn't know Miguel. Danny tells him his DNA was found inside the apartment. Flack jokes Miguel invited him to share Paella. A food reference from Flack, since as Eddie said in an interview, "Flack loves his food." Hence several foody references from Flack over the seasons! Including this season's Do Not Pass Go episode; when he said his first words were "cake and cookie." Danny says he was looking for solar panels and Flack tells him he has too many priors, he followed him home and killed him. Vern was paid by Miguel to kill him. Another comment by Flack where he says Vern came up with that excuse so when they find money on him, he'll already have a reason for having it. He strangled him, not stabbed, but he couldn't go through with it after all. Another change of heart when it came to helping Miguel.
Hector admits to Mac that Miguel's father killed himself. He was found in the pool but the determination was inconclusive. Later it was ruled an accidental death by drowning. Mac thinks history could be repeating itself. They examine the CS again. Miguel stabbed himself and was walking around. He wanted to die but couldn't ask for help. The orientation of the wound indicates the knife fell to the floor. Only half gravitational blood spatter is found on the blade and his prints, suggesting Miguel dropped the knife and picked it up due to the Clonazepam. He was self-medicating for depression. The knife was moved.
His mother doesn't believe Miguel killed himself. Miguel told Natalia what to do. He thought if people knew the real Miguel, they would think him weak. Mac says he was hiding what he really felt inside. She staged the scene but returned and was too late. Just like Vern couldn't go through with killing him too. She took the knife, which is why it was still there in her flashback. Miguel discovered his father's body in the closet and his mother moved it. Mac doesn't believe there was any shame in what he and his father endured. Natalia couldn't force him to go on living when he didn't want to. Thus the title: Miguel's body was a prison from which he wanted release and this was the only way he knew how.
Mac tells her to "justify your actions however you need to" but she must remember she tried to stop him. His mother tells Jo about the same look Miguel had in his eyes just like his father and asks her what she would do if it was her son. Jo would hold him and never let go. Which she does to her daughter, Carmen (Andrea Ramirez). Jo's compassion showing again, always great to see in a CSI character.
Mac actually being understanding at the end when he reassured Natalia she did the right thing when she went back and tried to stop him. Hinting at 'assisted suicide' and possibly euthanasia - that had Miguel been ill he'd have been able to take his own life or had help in his attempt of doing so. Though it is still illegal in many countries to help people commit suicide for health reasons and otherwise. Again an episode where there were no killers, but they were Vics and plenty of them: those he left behind and Natalia was right - suicide is selfish.
A disturbing episode for something like his suffering to go unnoticed and his mother ignoring his symptoms and his cry for help, until it took Jo to wake her up to her own daughter, by saying she'd hug her son and never let him go. That's so typical of Jo. She really has her work life and personal life balanced, especially when it comes to being a mother.
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