CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

It is the night of an exibition of a 17th-century Samurai collection, presented by casino manager Ty Caulfield. A man is discovered lying face down in a pool, electrocuted by live wires. CSIs Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle arrive on the scene with Captain Jim Brass. They immediately observe that the body is still floating in the water when they actually expected for the body to be dead weight and sunk to the bottom of the pool. Sara notes that the body would not float until after its putrefaction. Grissom asks Sara to check for the source of the live wires. Sara finds a car battery in the bushes, which she detaches the cable from the battery to stop the electrocution. Grissom fishes out the body, but it appears to be a dummy dressed in a tuxedo to look like a party guest. Grissom says "This is not a crime scene." Not too long after, the alarm goes off in the exhibition room. They run into the exhibition to see a security guard bound and gagged in duct tape with a piece missing from a display case. Grissom says "THIS is a crime scene."

Grissom rips the tape from the guard while Brass sets up a perimeter around the exhibition room. Sara notices the missing piece is a Samurai sword. Grissom notices a blood smear on the desk, indicating that the guard was ambushed, hitting his head on it before being bound. Brass calls down paramedics to have him checked out. He talks about the missing sword with the head of security. The security head tells him the sword is the most expensive art piece in the collection. Sara finds a water puddle that smells sweet and collects a sample for greg to process. Grissom finds a roll of duct tape on the pedestal of the rope surrounding the entrance to the exhibition room.

Elsewhere, CSIs Catherine Willows and Warrick Brown are called to an abandoned house where they investigate the body of a young adult girl. Assistant Medical Examiner David Phillips is already on the scene. He finds bite marks on the victim's jugular, 32mm apart from each other. Phillips hypothesizes that she was bitten with human fangs and shows the CSIs her fangs. The victim bled out, but no blood was found on the scene. Warrick goes out to investigate the rest of the house. Catherine tells Phillips that if the victim was bit, then there's spit to be found and tells him to swab it. Warrick discovers an ankh painted red on the wooden floor. Catherine tests the substance and is negative for blood. They also find different colored candles in the room.

CSI Nick Stokes arrives at the hotel to assist in the investigation of the robbery. Brass orders the head of security to pull up a guest list from the party. Nick identifies the dummy as a CPR dummy, typically used by lifeguards and emergency personnel. Since the dummy has been in the water too long, no prints can be recovered.

Medical Examiner Al Robbins goes over his autopsy report on the bite victim with Warrick and Catherine. The decedent's name is Angela Sommerville, 20 years of age from Henderson, Nevada. Cause of death was exsanguination. He removes her acrylic fangs, revealing that Angela was still breaking into them. Catherine spots the same ankh from the crime scene on her left ankle. Warrick recognizes this from internet research as the Egyptian symbol for eternal life. It is also the universal insignia for vampires. Robbins sent a sample of Angela's blood to tox. They also note fresh cuts on her shoulder, which is the best source for blood. Catherine begins to wonder why Angela was bitten on the neck.

Grissom uncovers a print on the duct tape used to bind the guard. Sara joins him in the lab to tell him that the water substance found in the exhibition room is glucose syrup, or sugar water. Grissom is confused about why the thief decided to steal an antique from a casino when he could have just stolen cash. He asks Sara about her knowledge of ancient Japanese antiquities. Sara asks why. Grissom responds "To find the hunter, know the game."

Catherine and Warrick visit The Sommervilles about Angela. The Sommervilles claimed that Angela really loved to spend time with her parents, although she experimented a lot with her own personal life. Six months ago, Angela went Goth and would only go out at night. The parents only wanted to support her. Catherine finds a book titled "Black Veil: 13 Rules of Community." They were all on the same page that Angela believed that she was a vampire. Every time that Angela broke into something new, Mrs. Sommerville would take a crash course. Catherine finds Angela's HIV test results which were found to be negative. Warrick opens Angela's closet, which contains a shrine with a man's picture. The shrine contains an incubus statue, which is believed to drink women's blood when they sleep at night. Mrs. Sommerville kept the names of Angela's "court", a coven for vampires.

Grissom and Sara revisit the exhibition room, only to see that the casino staff has moved all of the art pieces to Caulfield's office vault. The head of security ensured to document each art piece carefully with an inventory list and polaroids from the hotel registrar, Vanessa Green, who is out on vacation. Grissom wanted to see an insurance policy, but according to the head of security, Mr. Yamamoto carried his own insurance. The hotel extended Mr. Yamamoto every courtesy, but would not hold itself responsible for his personal property.

Catherine interrogates Angela's court, starting with Alice ("Luminessa"). Alice told Catherine that Angela ("Daegonna") was with them the night of her murder. Angela accused her own court of being "gajas" (Vampire posers for the fashion) for not wanting to drink blood. They recounted that Angela has frequented a blood bar where she goes to drink blood. The court was trying to make a statement that they did not have to drink blood to prove their vampirism, but simply feeding off of each other's energies. The court decided to rule Angela "invisible", forcing her out of their court. That was the last time they saw Angela.

Sara goes over the collection documented. Grissom spots something amiss: a 17th century suit of armor. According to Grissom, the Japanese military was established after the 17th century. Sara checks a Japanese history book, which records that Emperor Meiji established the military in 1868, which is in the 19th century. Grissom realizes that the suit of armor is the only piece that does not fit in the art collection. Nick calls Grissom from CSI and tells him the print on the duct tape matched Brandon Miller, the security guard who was found bound and gagged. Grissom asks Sara for duct tape and experiments on himself. Recalling that he found the duct tape on the rope pedestal, Grissom deduces that Miller rigged the duct tape to bind himself so he could look like the victim when in fact, he is actually an accomplice in the hotel theft. After the experiment, Grissom notices a rattling sound coming from the ceiling. They take down the ceiling panels, revealing the missing Samurai sword.

Grissom and Sara notify the head of security of their findings and the sword while they march to Caulfield's office to give him the good news. The head of security leads them to Mr. Yuri Yamamoto's room instead, where he just arrived about his collection. Grissom explains to both Yamamoto and Caulfield that they will need to process the sword for further evidence in case Miller had accomplices. They begin to question Yamamoto about the suit of armor found in his collection. Yamamoto is confused about the armor, since he claims he does not own a suit of armor in his collection. Grissom remembers that Caulfield ordered for all of Yamamoto's pieces to be stored in Caulfield's office vault. Caulfield enters the vault code, which plays musical sounds and realizes that all of $10 million in emergency funds have now vanished from the vault. Grissom notices the money bands, which were still found to be intact and not torn. Caulfield springs into action and launches his own investigation into the stolen money. Grissom remarks "and the con goes on."

Grissom and Sara process Caulfield's personal office vault. Sara bags the money bands while Grissom examines the antiques further. He finds two medicine bags rigged together: one for the sugar water and one for urine, meaning the thief was hiding for a very long time to make his move. Grissom also finds a recorder. He plays it and recognizes the sounds from the vault code.

Back at CSI, Lab Technician Greg Sanders fashions a wooden stake and cross and gives them to Catherine and Warrick respectively. From Greg, Angela's tox report came up with a .14% Blood Alcohol Level. Tox reported traces of thujone, a psychoactive chemical found in absinthe. Absinthe was banned in the United States in 1912 due to the toxic byproducts it produces during the distilling process. They figure out that Angela could only get absinthe in underground clubs such as a blood bar.

Catherine and Warrick visit a blood bar to find answers. They recognize a man from the picture found in Angela's shrine. The man is Lazarus Kane, who does not recognize Angela Sommerville, but does recognize Daegonna's game. Referring to Daegonna as a "neonate", Lazarus claimed that drinking her blood was consensual because Daegonna offered herself to him. For three months, Daegonna belonged to him. Lazarus had absinthe with her last night before he "daggered" the relationship. When asked about Daegonna's death, Lazarus replied he had nothing to do with it, citing Black Veil's Principle #11: "You never mistreat your donors." He handles the pendant of blood ("psi") worn around his chain necklace, catching the CSIs' attention. Lazarus wanted to give it back to Daegonna, but she told him he could keep it. Warrick asks him to turn over his pendant so they can process it. Catherine collects DNA from Lazarus' mouth with a swab, noting his fangs.

Grissom, Nick, and Sara review the security footage of Caulfield's vault. The video recorded 3:15am when the thief strolled out of the vault with the money. Although the thief visibly had trouble walking (probably due to the money he stole), the thief knew about the cameras, making it difficult to ID. Outside of the casino, they recognize Brandon Miller as the getaway driver waiting for the thief to come back. Grissom assigns Nick to identify the thief.

Greg reports to Catherine and Warrick that although Lazarus drank Angela's blood through her shoulder, he did not kill her with the bite to the jugular, thanks to a negative match from his DNA to the DNA from the jugular. He also found a polyester base, which is normally found in prepackaged test tubes for HIV testing. Polyester base helps prepare blood for centrifugation by forming a barrier between the blood and the serum. The CSIs decide to visit the clinic Angela was tested at.

Nick uses the image software from the lab to take the one half of the face the camera was able to capture. Mirroring the image, he forms the face and begins looking for the eyes that match the skull shape along with the hair. He prints the image to pass around the casino.

Nick is joined by Sara and visits the lifeguard. He identifies the man in the picture as Nathan, one of his lifeguards. The lifeguard asks the CSIs to let him know when they do find him, Nathan's fired due to his absence from the pool for four days. He also remembers that a CPR dummy ("Macaulay") went missing, citing he had to cancel a Sunday class. Sara shows him the CPR dummy they recovered from the scene and the lifeguard recognizes it.

Grissom, Sara, and Nick process the sword. Nick tries to tapelift the print from the sword handle, but ends up ripping a piece of the handle. They notice that underneath the handle is a shiny red handle with a fresh lacquer finish, meaning that the sword is faked. The CSIs process the rest of the antiques back in the office vault and figure out the collection has been faked. When Caulfield hears about this, they decide to confront Yamamoto about it. The suite is emptied with no sign of Yamamoto. Grissom figures out that hotel registrar Vanessa Green, security officer Brandon Miller, lifeguard Nathan Pollard, and businessman Yuri Yamamoto all conspired to rip off the casino of $10 million in an elaborate plot. The head of security learns that Vanessa Green had actually made reservations for Yamamoto at the Kauai.

Clinic technician Bobby Jones finishes drawing blood from a patient as Catherine and Warrick question him about Angela Sommerville. They immediately grow suspicious of him when he withdrew more blood for her to store in the pendant gifted to Lazarus. Warrick shows Bobby the warrant to search the lab equipment and find a tupperware of blood. Catherine asks for Bobby's DNA, but he refuses to volunteer a sample. Warrick tells Catherine not to worry, realizing that Bobby has been drinking the blood, leaving DNA traces.

Grissom, Sara, and Nick review all the antiques. The antiques were made using common materials, making it impossible to trace the materials' sources. However, Sara saw that the sword's scabbard is fashioned from what appears to be ivory, when it fact it is actually emu bone. Nick and Sara was able to trace the sale along with the materials to Chen's Scenic Prop House, owned by Graeme Chen of 1 Engelfield Road in Las Vegas, Nevada. Grissom tells them to call Brass for a warrant.

The CSIs arrive at the prop house with Brass accompanying them. They find prototypes of swords and Chen's bed. Brass finds Chen's ID in his wallet on the bed, with the picture matching that of Mr. Yuri Yamamoto. Grissom figures that Chen was buying a reputation by gambling money on the baccarat tables. Also, headshots of the conspirators are found on a poster of The Mikado, a classic Japanese play. Grissom sings one of The Mikado's famous lines "Three little maids from school are we", which is what made the vault code. He begins to realize that Caulfield may have orchestrated his own robbery. Grissom assigns Sara to get the money bands she collect and assigns Nick to verify the amount stolen using the bands.

Warrick and Catherine interrogate Bobby Jones back at the station. They confirm that the blood belongs to Angela along with a lip print from the tupperware. Bobby claimed that Angela offered herself to him. He also claimed that Angela paid him $20 to withdraw an extra unit of blood. Catherine refutes this claim, citing that Angela's test date was 32 days old, whereas the lab confirmed that the blood found in the fridge is less than a week old. Bobby began stalking Angela and tracked her down to the abandoned house where Lazarus (which Bobby referred him to as a "Hollywood freak show") broke up with Angela before leaving. After the altercation, Bobby waited for her at the door and bit her neck, collecting the blood spraying out of her. He thinks that the CSIs cannot prove that he killed Angela. Catherine tells him that the DNA from the saliva on his container matches the DNA from Angela's jugular. Bobby exclaims that he released Angela from her body, that she is very much alive, and is a part of him now.

Grissom confronts Caulfield at his office with the money bands they collected. He points out that Nathan Pollard, the lifeguard and thief, measures out at 5' 6" and weighs 140 pounds. He also points out that $10 million weighs 220 pounds, which is difficult for a man of Nathan's stature to lift, let alone carry out. Grissom sarcastically asks Caulfield for $10,000 and brings out a paper stack which is similar to what $10,000 would feel like. He shows Caulfield that $10,000 is wrapped tightly with money bands to the point that they would not slip off easily and in the condition they were found. They would actually have to be torn, which Grissom did not find before. Caulfield thinks Grissom does not have enough evidence to charge him for staging his own robbery, quoting "Your notions, though many, are not worth a penny." Grissom thinks that Nathan or another one of his partners will come back someday to recount the tale. Until then, Grissom tells Caulfield he will hand over his findings to Caulfield's insurance company, ensuring he will not be paid for his stolen property.