In the first story, an abandoned briefcase is found at the Stock Exchange. A robot is sent to check if it's a possible bomb and the X-ray shows traces of nitrates. There are 60 seconds in which to obtain prints from the case and then to disarm it. The briefcase is blown up in a controlled explosion. Mac (Gary Sinise) finds a message inside the case: "Incase something happens to me." Mac gets Danny (Carmine Giovinazzo) to run a DNA sample. He checks on CODIS and looks into the financial data. Adding he can work around a spreadsheet. He doesn't get a hit on AFIS, but gets a hit from the New York Mercantile Stock Exchange.
The print matched Luke Sutton (Steven Flynn) but he's missing. His apartment is trashed inside. Aiden (Vanessa Ferlito) thinks he could have been kidnapped. Mac: "Something happened and it wasn't good." Well that's obvious. Mac interjects that if a single man was kidnapped in a foreign country, a ransom would be demanded, but what would a kidnapping in NY be about. Isn't greed the same the world over, no matter where. If he was kidnapped then why did his briefcase end up at the Stock Exchange. More whys for this episode. Metal shavings are found and a degauser, a magnet was sued to erase electronic info. Mac finds documents on the harddrive of Luke's computer. Relating to the Supreme Court decision in Buck v Bell. 274 US 200. Aiden looks at the harddrive, if they knew what they were looking for, then why trash the apartment.
In the second story, Stella (Melina Kanakaredes) looks into the apparent suicide of a woman at a church. There's no GS wounds, or stabbing. Flack (Eddie Cahill) comments on suicide being a sin. Cue unnecessary definition from Stella from the Catholic Encyclopedia, does she really have to show off and be one up on everything, even when it's not needed. Flack's Catholic, sure he knows what suicide means! The DB was Katrina Roylston, known as Trina. She was counsellor at the church. She was found by a handyman on the roof. Cigarette stubs are found next to the DB. There's no note only a rosary. Stella: "Suicide's not just sin, it's a statement and I don't see one here." Well that's not always the case and not everyone leaves behind notes.
Danny finds traces of cocaine in the case. The trader was tracking the illegal trading practices of dealer Nick Lawson (Tom Bresnan). Lawson prearranged trading and sold at below market price. The note says: "I am aware of your illegal trading pattern - Charles has given me a week to deal with this." E-mails were sent between Luke and Charles. There are at least 89 people called Charles, working on the floor. Danny questions Lawson and he's aware Lawson is trading illegally. Danny wants a DNA sample from Lawson to match to the blood found on the case.
The priest, Father Murphy (Larry Clarke) tells Stella Trina didn't leave any suicide note and she wasn't married. Hawkes (Hill Harper) finds Trina was pregnant. She was found on her back so it's hard to explain why she had a broken tooth. She reached terminal velocity. If under the velocity then suicides give in to the fall, resulting in trauma to the frontal bones. Anyone who is pushed, fights gravity, resulting in vertical fractures to the tibia and fibula. Trina isn't any of these. To land horizontally means she was already dead or unconscious. COD is fracture to the left occipital condyle, an injury seen in car accidents, the base of the skull separated from the spinal column, she was murdered. Stella finds a candlestick holder under the seat with a fibre stuck to the base. There's a typed letter in a prayer book: "Hearts are not had as a gift but hearts are earned, or by those that are not entirely beautiful." Father Tim Murphy is the name inside.
In the first story, blood from the note and knife matches DNA from the secondary sample from Luke's apartment, therefore the DNA belongs to Luke. Mac: "Fear tends to trump logic." An abandoned car is found, registered to Luke. There's a burnt body inside. Accelerate was poured over the head, Hawkes finds, when he was still awake, there's no head trauma. An accelerate pattern is on the shoe. X-rays reveal the presence of a bullet on the left side of the skull, no vital organs were hit. Aiden finds the hard drive in the car. Danny finds the gun, the bullet hit where Hawkes said.
Aiden asks why he didn't shoot back if someone shot at him and Danny asks why only one bullet. At least these questions were answered unlike the previous episode. Stella asks Mac if he goes to church. Mentioning sermon being part of forgiveness. Mac: "Forgiveness isn't part of our job." No, not at first it wasn't, but later on, we will find Mac and the others feeling some sort of sympathy towards their Vics and in certain circumstances, the accused.
Stella prints the candlestick holder and the prayer book and they match Trina. Father Murphy's fingerprints were on there as he fixed the candlestick holder. The line was from a WB Yeats poem.
Aiden traces the serial number on the gun, which is registered to Emily Dent (Sarah Aldrich). Luke was her boyfriend, until a few months ago. He made her get the gun as Charles has people watching him.
Stella finds the cigarette stubs also has Trina's DNA and that from a male donor. The father of the baby is the smoker. Paul (Peter O'Meara) the handyman, was convicted two years ago. Stella tells him his DNA will be on file forever. He kissed Trina when he found her and he gets physically angry.
Mac goes over the case so far. Danny thinks it would make more sense if Charles is a dealer since he's not a lawyer. The Mercantile Department already has a case against Lawson. Danny and Aiden examine the trace and Mac goes over the harddrive. The accelerant poured over Luke was unleaded gasoline. petroleum distillates include toluene, which is found in paint, thinners, sealants etc. On the screen: "Three generations are enough" is repeated from the harddrive. An e-mail is found agreeing to deliver money and the parking ticket shows the location of the meet. Danny, Aiden and Mac all find money here. Mac: "I got the money."
Danny: "I got the money too."
Aiden: "I'm in." She also finds a half empty can, or as Mac says, "half full when we send it to DNA." Spent casings are also found as well as a gun reloader and gunpowder, which could explain the presence of nitrates outside the case. Mac: "With all the evidence we collected, you'd think we could find Charles." Well that's cos he doesn't exist.
Stella examines Paul's clothes to find Trina's hair, other prints match Paul, i.e two partial points of reference in common with Paul. Flack: "yeah, you could probably find two points of reference in common with my print too." Stella: "true." Paul is a schizophrenic. Mac and Stella are both paged by Jane (Sonya Walgar), cos we know what's coming next, the bits of an episode that I like, when two or more stories are linked and become one case. Jane finds a connection between the DNA sample which matches Paul. He hasn't been taking his meds. Mac: "Every case has a trinity: Vic, suspect, location." In the second story, Trina was the Vic, Paul was the suspect and the Church, St Martin's was the location. In the fist story: the Vic was Luke, the suspect was Charles and the location was Randall's Island Park. They connect Paul to Charles.
Mac looks in the files and finds the case reference: the opinion of Oliver Wendell-Holmes, affirming the mandatory sterilization of mentally challenged people..."three generations of imbeciles are enough." Paul was schizophrenic and so was Luke, Luke and Paul were brothers. Charles wasn't found as he doesn't exist, as I said. The partial print on the candlestick belonged to Luke. Luke was susceptible to delusions, he took Trina to the roof. Danny mentions the roof was repaired with product containing petroleum, thus the accelerant pattern on the bottom of his shoes. He threw her over the roof. Luke was a third generation schizophrenic and Trina was about to have the fourth. Paul getting Trina pregnant was an accident. He doesn't like Yeats but James Joyce. The letter wasn't his. He went back to the apartment and attempted to destroy everything. He thought of shooting himself, until Mac tells him the message changed. Paul left home at 18 but wasn't strong like Luke.
As I said I like the episodes where the two stories are connected and Pam Veasey and Zachery Reiter said those are especially hard for them to write. This is the first episode where this has taken place this first season. The episode title and the clue to solving the case turns up about a third of the way through the episode on the computer screen when Mac is in front of it. However anyone who knew the case of Buck v Bell would have this solved instantly,
Have to say, though perhaps I shouldn't, oh never mind, the funny scene where Paul turned the tables on Flack and Stella, though it had to be on Flack too, a pity, but that was coming. That's never happened before and didn't happen again, so we had to enjoy the moment while it lasted!
Lots about science and religion here and Stella asking Mac about church as we saw him at church in the first episode. Also numerous CSI episodes where two cases have become one, such as Spark of Life, Face Lift, Blood Lust. With reference to Mac alluding to the trinity of evidence here, in CSI season 3 episode Play with Fire, Gil Grissom (William Petersen) finds that a toe nail on the nail clipper places the suspect at the CS, his nail (the killer's); her DNA (the Vic's) and traces of these were found at both scenes (the location) and he calls these the "holy trinity" i.e. Killer, Vic, location.
CSI season 2 finale, The Hunger Artist also had a schizophrenic and in CSI episode Mea Culpa, Sara (Jorga Fox) shows Greg (Eric Szmanda) how to make the scratched serial number of a gun reappear. For anyone who is into law, or not, the case of Buck v Bell makes for interesting reading. By the way Eddie is also into James Joyce.
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