CSI: NY

We open up at a DJ Championship: DJ Banner against a French guy, DJ Francais. Banner and Francais compete, it seems has won until Banner plays a taping and riffs of a recording of DJ Francais's girlfriend. Next wee see Christopher Marcus' corpse (DJ Banner), Mac Flack and Aiden are on the scene. Mac finds out that Aiden is familiar with these DJ Championships. They find linear castoff and the final stab. The victim left bloody prints on the door, as he tried to get back inside. They find footsteps going in and out. The killer went back inside.

Next we see Danny and Stella investigating the death of fashion designer, Deborah Gayle. She was found dead by her swimming pool. Danny finds a broken fingernail and Stella finds a cell phone that doubles as a PDA in the pool. She fishes it out with a net. Stella interviews her last assistant who quit two weeks ago because of Ms. Gayle's odd sexual requests (fetching French tickler condoms and vibrators). The secretary states how she found her in the pool and attempted to save her.

Flack questions the host of the battle, MC Jayden Prince. Mac sprays with luminol and finds the bloody footprints. He questions Mr. Francais who states that after he lost he went outside, took a smoke, and then went back in after clearing his head. They ask to see the bottom of his shoes, and find, what do you know, blood.

Hawkes is examining Banner's body, Mac and him talk. There were two stab wounds in the left side of the chest, an inch apart. Entrance wounds are small and puncture like with hilt marks. Stab in the neck was the fatal wound and punctured an artery. They find bruising around the ankles. And Mac mentions primary suspect had no trace of blood on his clothes. Wounds like those there would have been.

Aiden is examining Banner's shirt and Mac comes in to question on her. They isolate a blood drop; it dropped from above, not from him. They re-examine the crime scene to include the fire escape. Aiden finds a cell phone and Mac finds some more blood evidence, on a strip of paper. There is still a lack of blood. The stabbing started up top and ended on the ground.

Stella and Hawkes in the morgue Cause of Ms, Gayle's death, asphyxiation by drowning. Then he found red trace (looks like paint) behind her teeth. Manner of death seems like drowning. Danny finds Stella at the lab, and she just found out she couldn't swim, not because of talent but because of blowfish poisoning.

Aiden is listening to a message on the phone, Mac is behind her. The message was three days before the murder, around the time of the bruises on the ankle. Most of it is phone static. But then they hear some vinyl scratching

Danny dries the drenched designer's cell phone in a toaster like contraption. The red substance is nail polish. But the polish had traces of blowfish poison on them. The cell phone dried while they talked and Danny finds her schedule. She had dinner that night at Fuqua Sushi.
Danny and Stella arrive there and it turns out to be one of those naked sushi bars where naked women are the tables. Danny seems intrigued. They interview the owner who claims no women were allowed then when learning it was Ms. Gayle he says she is a very special guest. She had blowfish but could not have died from it, he tests it. They take some anyway to test it for themselves.

We see Aiden with Disco Placid (from CSI episode Anonymous). Mac comes in. Aiden invited him to listen to the message. It was a code. The last sounds are three "stabs" Mac concludes this was more than a message, but a threat.

Mac and Aiden are at Kevin Vick's business. He signed DJ Banner up for a 2-year deal with him, 3 days before the competition. The message appears to have come from his business location. Mac questions him and Aiden brushes off his(Vick's) advances. Vick hung him upside down to get him to sign the contract.

Danny and Stella are dissecting the blowfish. They take out the inside and blend it up. There is no poison in them.

The QD tech is with Aiden. They are checking out the signatures. It corresponds with a "guided hand" signature.

Danny and Stella are reading out information about blowfish. Mr. Katsui (the owner of the sushi restaurant) was feeding them captive (non wild) blowfish that did not have poison in them, and getting 500 dollars for 25 dollar blowfish. So the two return to the crime scene and Danny checked out her computer. Someone logged on and accessed her spring line which had a last activity two hours after her death.

Hawkes is getting the blood off of DJ Banner's 11th rib (the one injured by a stab) so Mac can find out what tool was used. Mac then compares several instruments, and discovers: It was a file.

Mac and Aiden return and question MC Prince about the back crew. They inspect the tools and Mac finds a blood stained file. Flack questions George Thomas in interrogation, the owner of the toolbox with the bloody file. He has had a long list of violence. Thomas says that it wasn't him and anyone had access. Aiden comes in to take a picture of his palms. There is bruising on the edges but it doesn't match how it would have been with the file in his hand.

Mac and Aiden then examine the bloody paper, and the other strips of paper they found. They compare it to the contract to see if that's what it was from. Mac finds a corresponding piece. Banner had a copy of his contract on him that the night. And it was shredded at the scene. They go back to the crime scene.

Danny and Stella are checking out the line to see if there were any emails sent with the spring line. It was the assistant. She had checked out her spring line after she was dead and before the ambulance would get there. Danny asks her about the poison, she has no idea about it. She says she didn't kill her though she did steal the sketches. She leans back and says she isn't saying another word. Everything the assistant had access to however did not have poison. And the polish behind her mouth there was no poison. They conclude that it must have been the woman who was the table. They question her and notice she has socks on at the table. It was because she had poison on her nail polish and it hurt her feet. They find out she was a past assistant and was fired after she wouldn't have sex with Ms. Gayle. And the second she came to the sushi restaurant, Ms Gayle started going there for food and specially requesting her. They arrest her and they were looking for a murderer at the table, but it is the table.

Mac and Aiden are back at their crime scene. And he notices another strip hanging from a window. They enter with the landlord. And it's Jayden Prince's room. They search the bathroom. The toilet bowl water is pink. There is a bloody shirt in the tank.

They interview him. He killed Banner because they were supposed to be partners and he was upset Banner signed with Vick. Prince had no idea Banner had been forced to, Mac tells him, and now Prince realizes how stupid he was to believe his friend would betray him like that. Mac leaves him there to let the fact that Prince became the kind of person he tried to protect Banner from sink in.