Similar mail is sent to the CSIs. Walter (Omar Miller) thinks it might be his seminar registration. Ryan (Jonathan Togo) asks how many nerd clubs Walter belongs to? Walter asks if he wants to be beaten up. A woman gets shot through her kitchen window. The envelopes contain transparencies cut into pieces and there's no postmark or return address. They join together to form the woman in the the window, through the cross-hairs of a rifle. Numbers are on the transparencies giving the woman's location. Horatio (David Caruso) comforts her daughter, Daria (Abby and Emma McCoy) she's okay now.
Calleigh (Emily Procter) thinks if they opened the mail sooner, they could have saved her. Jesse (Eddie Cibrian) doesn't know if that's the case, since the message had already been sent to them. The shooter left the rifle in the plants outside and is found by Jesse and Walter. Jesse realizes the shooter wasn't here to actually shoot the woman, as the rifle was wifi enabled and controlled remotely. Her husband, Craig (JR Cacia) gets threats from the ex-spouses of his clients as he's a lawyer. Horatio asks what his wife, Janice (Justine Eyre) did at Dade University as she has pay cheques in her maiden name. Delko (Adam Rodriguez) asks why anyone would target the CSIs. Horatio picks up on hearing the word, "us" and asks if he wants to return full time.
Janice was working for a university psych project for a student, Melissa (Kristen Hager) studying the human brain. The Milgram Behavioural Study of Obedience. If questions are answered incorrectly then an electric shock is administered, which is what Janice did. Natalia (Eva La Rue) attempts to trace the trigger command to its origin and get an IP address. Calleigh doesn't find anything on the bullet in IBIS. The mail was left in Chris Potter's mailbox, for the CSIs. Ryan notices this envelope is postmarked and also has an augmented reality tag marking, a barcode, websites put 3D graphics on the computer screen and can be accessed via the barcode. (As did Lindsay all the way back in 2008 episode of CSI:NY, entitled Dead Inside.) A photo of a pool comes up and Natalia thinks it could be from anywhere. Sometimes she's so defeatist, that's why the photo was sent to them so they use their nouse and work it out, not just give up. A man dives into the pool and is killed when the pool cover closes over him. Drowning him.
The pool is located at the university and is used by faculty members. Horatio walks through the press furore and asks them to let him do his job. ME Tom (Christian Clemenson) attributes COD to drowning. With bruises and contusions to the scalp and the Vic has torn and bloody fingernails. Also finds a trace of blue fabric. Delko concludes the Vic was fighting the pool cover. Horatio posits Janice volunteered in the Vic's, Dr Brusatti's (Jim Vickers) department. A Fleur de lys on fire is painted onto the pool cover. That was their next clue. They believe Melissa killed Janice and Dr Brusatti; as Janice saw Melissa doctoring her results and was going to report her. Melissa manipulated the data to fit her theory and was thrown off the course.
Horatio calls Melissa to ask for her help, she tries to be clever. Horatio comments Melissa cheated and didn't get her PHD. He asks if she killed them? That's Horatio's theory. Melissa replies there's no evidence to accuse her and she says Horatio is the one cheating. Horatio says he'll find her. Professor Madsen (Esai Morales) and Bob (Roger Bart) are placed under MDPD protection. Bob was Melissa's adviser but none of them recognize the significance of the Fleur de lys symbol. Bob is adamant he doesn't need their protection. As he would be since he was my suspect as soon as I saw him and not cos he was in Desperate Housewives, where he actually was a killer either. He knew Melissa was cheating but he covered it up, as he later tells her, the trick when doctoring your thesis is not to get caught. What sort of advice is that to give to your student, that's why he was shifty.
Madsen gets Natalia as his protection and she was so flirting with him, even to first name basis! Madsen gets burned after taking a shower and using the cologne. How did he miss the symbol on the aftershave bottle. The flowers he tells Natalia, beforehand, were from a departmental party he hosted. Tripp (Rex Linn) watches Bob. Walter locates the symbol on the cologne bottle. Delko conducts a flame test to determine the incendiary agent. The flame burns purple, indicating the presence of potassium, which combusts on contact with water. Ah flame tests, takes me back to school chemistry. Melissa was on the guest list and there's a message on the bottle. Natalia researches to find an article written by Bob.
Jesse shows Bob the article and Tripp acerbically comments he, "couldn't put it down." Jesse tells him of the quote left for them at the Madsen's home and they again believe Melissa is behind this. Bob admits he sees Melissa all the time. Jesse processes everything in Bob's office. Tripp audits his class, as he puts it. Melissa turns up at the lab. She gives Horatio her diary. Walter times how long the Fleur de lys took 46 minutes to dry after being painted by the killer on the pool cover. So he works out it was painted about 1.30pm.
Melissa was at her Pilate's class and brings in witness statements to that effect. Delko comments she wanted them to believe she was guilty. Oh come on it was so obvious they were being used by her for her new thesis! Based on first impressions; false perceptions. Delko again puts his foot in it by saying they followed actual evidence. (It was evidence she wanted them to find.) Melissa adds they followed the evidence to their detriment. Horatio tells her she's not an impartial observer if someone else dies.
Ryan, making judegements again, believes Melissa is guilty. Jesse looks over Bob's articles and Calleigh discovers his application for tenure was denied, two of the Vics were on the committee who rejected him. Calleigh: "What if the person we're protecting is actually our killer." Ryan finds the stamps used on their envelopes in his things. They'll have fingerprints on them as each sheet has a watermark to prevent counterfeiting. Jesse determines Bob sent them the letters and the marks match. They begin to cough and fall down in the lab.
Horatio arrests Bob at uni. He admits Janice made him look bad so she was the first target. Horatio asks why he sent them messages. Tripp hands Horatio a letter with the message, "They all fall down" written in it. As in the 'Ring-a-ring-a-roses rhyme. Only we don't use "ashes" in our version, we use "atissue," as in sneezing. (Since it dates back to the time of the plague/Black Death in medieval England. Delko arrives at the lab and rushes to Walter but leaves him in search of Calleigh, how nice. Notice the lab woman in the green top falls down in the middle of the floor, but when she's shown again, as Delko arrives, she's propped up against the wall.
Obviously none of the main cast will be affected by this storyline, except Jesse, as Eddie Cibrian isn't in season 9. Perhaps one of the regulars may suffer from some sort of lasting effects from the noxious substance. CSI:Miami does plenty of that in its storylines, having the cast suffer from the fall-out, such as Calleigh in the fire, twice, Natalia and her hearing from the bomb blast. Delko from when he was shot by a bullet first time round and then last season. Bob's articles also revolved around pandemics; so this was him testing his theory out on the entire lab.
It's not clear whether Bob had singled out MDPD beforehand since he already sent them those messages, or whether he decided he would test his theory on them later, since maybe he thought he'd get away with the murders. Also Jesse processed the things from his office, only after they saw him as their main suspect, when they found his article. Then again, letting Melissa get away with cheating, he could simply be doing the same, he was evil enough to murder, so he'd release the substance in the lab anyway. Just another way to prove his point. Melissa wasn't so squeaky clean either, surprised she got accepted to conduct another thesis at a new uni, clearly they didn't care about her antics at Dade Uni.
At least this cliff-hanger made a change to the more usual ones we have of chasing suspects, CSIs going missing or being shot at, like Delko in season 7.
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