NewYorksAngels

[afrozenheart412]

Opening scene starts at night with a lot of rushing squad cars with their sirens flashing, cuts to a crosswalk light blinking No Walking. Then it pans back from a man lying face down in the usually crosswalk (it is shaped like footsteps) dead in a pool of his own blood. Mac, Stella, Sheldon, and Don approach the body while Don fills them in on the victim’s name and business. The man’s name is Martin Stafford, and he is CEO of Kensitron Software a company located on the Upper Eastside. Stella comments that the stains on the sidewalk are Martin’s blood and not part of the art, Mac agrees and says there is no appearance of an attack. Meanwhile Sheldon turns the body over and gets a good look at his face, he knew him. In Sheldon’s mind, Martin looks at him and says that he could have saved him. Sheldon jumps back and remembers where he saw Martin last, earlier in the day in Central park with a blond woman. He had a small nosebleed at the time. Mac is observing that he sees no lacerations, gunshot wounds, or any apparent cause of death. Sheldon notes that he has petechial hemorrhaging; no signs of strangulation, he bled out from his nose, mouth, and ears. Stella notes the splatter patterns made by Martin, indicate that he was stumbling, dizzy, staggering and then collapsed. Don asks if he could have been sick, hemophilia maybe, because there was no way this was natural causes. Sheldon raises the question that this could be due to internal injuries or viral infection. Mac says that there is only other murder weapon left…poison. Everyone then looks down at Martin. Sheldon looks a little harder and has a flashback to meeting him earlier in the park. Hours later during the day, Mac walking in the lab goes into his office and sees Sheldon sitting there on his couch. Asking Sheldon was is wrong; Sheldon looks at Mac and tells him that he made a mistake. Saying okay, that there could be a way to get through this, wonders what the mistake could be. That Sheldon could tell him anything. Sheldon tells him that he could be responsible for the death of Martin Stafford.

In the office, Sheldon shows Mac a map of Central Park of where he first encountered the victim. He was working with the Parks Medical Unit, and at 4:00pm, he was sent down on his bike by dispatch to Martin and the blond woman. The blond woman said that Martin complained of being nauseous and dizzy, and then he fell over a couple of times. Sheldon asks him when the last time he had eaten was, a couple of hours ago at lunch. The blond woman was the one who made the call to Medical dispatch, saying she had a friend who was complaining of a headache and nausea. Sheldon made the observation to Mac that it had been clear they were a little bit drunk. He flashes back to where he told Martin and the blond woman that a tummy ache and a nosebleed doesn’t need the help of a doctor, if he wanted help he should go to his mother. There were other seriously injured people in the park that needed his help. Then he rides off leaving the couple to another volunteer in the Parks Medical Unit. Mac asks were there any abdominal cramping or excessive perspiration? Sheldon didn’t see it, and didn’t look for it, didn’t ask. Mac, looking at the map points out where they found Martin and where Sheldon treated him in the park. He was out of place. Standing, Mac says that maybe they can try and track the blond woman’s cell and try and get a name, Sheldon tried but the call was made with Martin’s phone. Sheldon goes on to say that he doesn’t know why he didn’t mention this at the scene and that he has no answers to why he didn’t. Mac looks at him and Sheldon continues to say that he keeps thinking that if he had gotten Martin to a hospital, things would have turned out differently. Maybe, Mac says, but since we can’t prevent his death, we can solve his murder. Let’s find that woman. Agreeing silently, Sheldon walks off.

In autopsy, Sid is washing the body of the blood and finds scratches on his shoulder. In the wounds he finds traces, he then gently scrapes the evidence into a circular Petri dish and then proceeds washing the body. He also finds a linguine noodle underneath his boxers and on his inner thigh. Walking in Stella asks Sid if he needs gardening tips. He was looking at pictures of poisons that wouldn’t show up in a normal tox screen, and that were odorless and tasteless. Martin Stafford was in a healthy condition, there was no reason he would be expelling blood for no reason, which leads them back to Sid’s research. Whatever was in Martin’s system has already metabolized and is already out of his system. Leaving them back to no trace of his killer, Stella observes. Interrupting her, Sid quickly shows her the sparse trace he had found in the wound on his shoulder. And the linguine noodle. She tells him that Martin was a messy eater if it was found on his body, Sid says that it was found underneath is boxers and on his inner thigh. Disbelief fills her face and Sid proceeds to tell her that there was hardly anything in his stomach contents much less any more linguine. That is odd, she observes. Stella makes the connection that for it to have stuck to his skin, it must have been freshly cooked and around TOD. Sid comments that it is an unlikely cause in COD, but it is something to noodle on. :) Danny processing the noodle finds prints and a hair on it. He slowly picks the hair off of the noodle and notes that it has a skin tag on it. Sheldon at the park meeting with the volunteer who took over after he left Martin and the blond woman, asks her if she remember them. She does, and he then asks if she got the woman’s name. He flashes back to the scene, as he is packing up his equipment tells Martin that he should go home and rest, as the other female volunteer rides up. She asks what do they have, and he says nothing, it is a big waste of time and then rushes off as he is late for work. Back in the present, she tells him that it is the responsibility of the first doctor on the scene to get a name and information. He nods his head, yeah, and continues to ask her questions, that anything could be helpful. She remembers that it looked like they didn’t know each other well and it might have been a first date, because Martin asked the blond woman how far it was to her apartment and so on. But she didn’t bother to listen; Sheldon had told her that it was a big waste of her time. She then asks him what is wrong, he says nothing, thanks her and she rides off on her bike. He is left there looking after her.

Back at the lab, Lindsay looking at the minute trace in the Petri dish ponders how to process it. She would only get one chance to have it come out right. They can’t run it through the GCMS, because it has some blood trace on it and it could compromise the results, Stella says that when they run out of options it is time to try EDNA. EDNA is the sample trace library. Danny walking in Mac’s office with his cane tells Mac what he has found on Martin. He found prints and a hair on the noodle, they won’t know if it matches Martin’s until the ten-card from Sid comes back. And that he is running the hair through AFIS. Meanwhile he did some background on Stafford and found out that he is financial whiz kid, he started Kensitron Software when he was 23 years old, he put everything he had into the company and when the economy tanked, the company went with it. Martin was liquidating the company, and Danny asks if this could be a suicide because this must have hit him hard. Mac notes that nothing in his profile indicates suicide. Mac wants Danny to go to Martin’s apartment and process it, Danny replies that he will hobble his way over there. Mac smiles at the sarcasm. Don and Stella stepping off of the elevator, walk the halls discussing the case. Don observes what a healthy male with no priors not even a parking ticket, talked to his neighbors who said he was a great guy and no one has come forward to ask about the investigation, usually they get those calls. Stella says it is sad that there is no one close to him. Adam running up behind them catches them to inform them on the progress on the case. The prints and hairs on the noodle were all from different people, no match to Martin. Stella says that the hairs and prints come from two women and one man. Don comments that it is too many cooks in the kitchen to him. And it doesn’t explain how the noodle got on his inner thigh, says Stella. Adam, laughing, says that is sounds like sploshing to him. Sploshing, they ask. Adam then tells them that he was kinky with his food; people get together and experience food in a sensual way. This flashes to people in their underwear rubbing and sliding food on each others bodies. Don, in disbelief, asks that there are specific locations for these? Sploshing parties, says Stella. Adam tells them that there is a website where you could get an invitation to it. Both of them look at him and he stutters that this is just something that he heard, not that he has ever been to one.

Across town, chocolate sauce is seen being poured down a ripped male chest, a woman is eating a noodle sensuously, whip cream, honey and chocolate sauce is making the rounds to everyone’s bodies. There are different menus for different days. The manger of these sploshing parties tells them that yesterday was an Italian theme, today is dessert, and tomorrow is vegan. Don stunned, asks if this happens everyday at lunch. The manger of this says yes, and dinner parties are on Friday and Saturday nights. They could have an invitation if they want. There are membership applications; Don says thank you, but god no. Smirking Stella shows her the picture of Martin and asks if she knows him. The manager says no, he wasn’t a part of their membership; men have to be members to be invited to the parties. She is sure of it. Don sees a video camera and asks if they record the parties, she says yes, they post them on YouTube, 18,000 hits just last week, and then she leaves. Stella tells Don that while she is grabbing a sandwich over at the corner deli; this is what the corporate world does? Don nods, and looking out the window comments that this is how Danny found multiple hairs and prints on the noodle. Smiling Don says that he sees someone they know, as he walks closer to the window. Stella follows him and across the street we see Danny in Martin’s apartment. His phone rings, and Don tells Danny to look out the window and waves at him. Danny looking through the telescope in apartment sees the sploshing party and wonders what the heck is going on over there. Don says a sploshing party and asks if he is finding any linguine. Danny replies there is hardly anything here; the super said that the victim’s apartment has been foreclosed on. Don asks to be kept informed of anything weird. Danny says that he will keep him appraised and picks up a bootie with his cane. Martin had a bird’s eye view of the party but if he wasn’t at the party, how did he get the linguine on his thigh and how did he end up dead comments Stella.

Processing the apartment, Danny takes a sample of all of the liquids in the place. Back at the lab, Adam processes the orange juice, it bursts into flames. He quickly cuts the heat, as Stella runs in and asks him if he is alright. He is, and now to process the rest of it he wants to try the GCMS, but since that runs at a thousand degrees, it would cause a bigger mess than the one already there. He knows, and Stella tells him to try the liquid chromatography instead. Before she leaves she asks him if he is okay, he is not. Haylen has been rearranging things and it is upsetting him. She is only part-time and why can’t she leave the lab stuff alone. Finding this funny, Stella smiles and leaves. Sheldon walking the streets hears someone yelling at him. It is from a business man in a fancy red car, he tells Sheldon that he is late and tosses him the keys to his place. Sheldon tells his friend, Brian, that he appreciates this favor it means a lot to him. Brian says that it is alright, that he will bounce back he knows this. Brian then drives off in his fancy car leaving Sheldon in the street. Adam walks up to Lindsay in the lab, looking at an ant farm. He thinks it cool, but isn’t Lucy a little too young to have one of these? He didn’t get his first one until he was seven; she smiles and says this is crime solving science. She picks up a piece of chalk and draws a circle, opens the ant farm and scatters the ants into the circle. They are repelled from crossing over from inside the circle. Its ant chalk. It is an insecticide that the blond woman had left in Martin’s scratched wounds on his shoulders. It comes from the China, and if they can get a subpoena for the customer list, they might have a lead in finding the killer. Watching the video from the sploshing party, Danny smarts off that there are some perks in their profession to Sheldon. Not paying attention to Danny, Sheldon watches the video. Danny asks if he is alright, Sheldon says yes. This is a disgrace to Italian cuisine, but it is making him hungry Danny comments. Sheldon sees what could be the blond woman from the park, they freeze the video. She is standing with her back toward the camera and is at the window.

Back at the party loft, they dust the window for trace or prints. What they find is an arrow from where she has pasted the linguine on the window. Up on the roof, they find the sploshing party continued, trace of linguine on the ground and orange juice and vodka in the glasses. Also bodily fluids on the divan, moving the mattress Sheldon finds a charm of a high heel with the name Tracy on it. Back at the lab, Adam found the reason why the orange juice exploded. It contained Dimethlynitrosamine or DMN; it is used in cancer research, photo processing, and rocket fuel. When ingested it attacks the liver and interrupts blood clotting, it would explain the uncontrollable bleeding. If it could launch a rocket, imagine what it could do to your insides, they comment. They have now confirmed the source of the bleeding and cause of death. There was orange juice pulp in the glasses and flask from the rooftop, Martin’s prints were all over and the semen came from him as well. Recapping it, Martin spies Tracy at the sploshing party through the telescope, and she arranges to meet him on the roof and he brings the orange juice spiked vodka. While they are having sex, a strand of linguine transfers from her body to his. Walking Tracy home through Central Park, Martin begins to feel nauseous, and that is when Sheldon is called. Walking in, Lindsay says that she might have found Tracy from a list of customers from the ant chalk list. The name is Tracy Wallace; she lives on the Upper Westside. Stella makes the connection that the transfer of the ant chalk happened during the sex on the roof. Mac connects that there were two glasses of the poison on the roof. Rushing out of the office, Mac and Sheldon try and find Tracy.

At Tracy’s apartment, Don is heard knocking from the outside. The super unlocks the door and steps back so the detectives can clear the room. Tracy is found in her sunken living room floor in a pool of water and blood. Her bathtub overflowed when she died. Before the super can shut off the water, Mac stops him from stepping into the water because he can smell ozone. The water is electrified by being in the outlets. Don asks him where the circuit breaker is, they go out to shut off the power. Walking through the water now that it is safe, Sheldon touches her neck and determines that she is dead. She has blood coming from out of her eyes, and an electrocution mark on her hand. She was still wearing the clothes that she had on in the park; she has been in her apartment for a while. Mac observes that the thermal burn on her hand has no inflammation, so she was electrocuted after she had already died. Tracy turned on the tub and then passed out in her living room, she died from the poison. Sheldon has a flash of Tracy accusing him of killing them that he could have saved them. She is not the killer, she is another victim. The poisoned orange juice was in Stafford’s apartment, he was the intended victim. Back in the lab, Sid informs Danny that Tracy died from the same type of poison that Martin did, from the DMN. Though Tracy did have a lowered dose of the poison than Martin did, it still killed her. They comment on how there was no way Sheldon could have saved either Martin or Tracy; they were already dying from the poison. Danny says that the hard part is going to determine when the orange juice had been poisoned. Sid comes back at him and tells him why not check for lividity? Time of death can be determined by the collection of blood in the body. The heart stops pumping and the blood settles where gravity pulls it, distinct and visible discoloration of the skin occurs. It varies on temperature and condition, and if the body is moved lividity shifts but there is evidence of moment and you can still determine COD. The same theory can be applied to the orange juice; Danny interrupts and says that they have to look at the evidence on the glasses and pitcher. Giving them a timeline as to when the poisoned was added. Danny pours the remaining orange juice into a beaker, and Sid takes a look at the pitcher finding crystallization on the inside. Sid and Danny recreate the specific conditions to determine TOD.

After their experiment is done, they find that the TOD is two days ago, Saturday. Danny is told by Mac to go through his appointments to see if there is anything that pops on Saturday. Stella says that she will go to Martin’s doorman, to see if there were any people or deliveries that stand out. Danny interrupts and says that he doubts that Martin was entertaining; the apartment was empty except for a few boxes and packing tape. He did however find a disposable bootie on the floor; he just assumed that it was left behind by the movers. Stella sensing a lead connects the dots that Martin had an open house in his apartment. Stella and Lindsay, watching a video of a woman, Dawn Higgins, promoting her company Luxtours. A company that buys foreclosed apartments and resells them to people who are looking for luxury for fraction of the price. Martin was a customer who had ten people over on Saturday; everyone who took the tour had to wear the booties. Interviewing Dawn about her tours, Stella asks what time she was at Martin’s appointment, it was between 3:00pm to 3:15pm; it is a quick tour there is a lot of ground to cover these days. Stella also asks if there was anything strange or did anyone linger near the kitchen at all. Dawn then tells her that once they get inside the property the clients are on their own, signing in as they enter the apartment. Stella points behind her and asks if the people being printed and swabbed for DNA were all of the clients of that tour. She says yes and then hands the sign in sheet that is used for their mailing list, to Stella. Dawn is surprised when Stella points out that there are eleven people on the sheet because only ten people registered for the tour. She chalks it up to looky loos that sneak in without paying for the tour. The name Theloneous Cross is not familiar to Dawn and she tells Stella that the pen is kept with the book, since it clips on and so that way she won’t lose it. She then asks Stella when they will release the apartment since it is a fabulous property and she might have a buyer. Stella amazed by people just smiles and doesn’t comment. Fuming the pen, she finds multiple prints and will try florescent tagging, that will separate the prints. Mac then asks Stella if she has talked to Sheldon, she doesn’t know what to say. She guesses that her expectations are too high, Mac wonders what she means. Sheldon is a brilliant former surgeon; she knows that he couldn’t have tried to save Martin Stafford’s life even if he had tried. But what bugs her is that he didn’t know that more was wrong with him. Why he didn’t look for more, why he didn’t tell them everything at the crime scene. Mac agrees and says that he has been asking himself those questions. When Sheldon told him, he was angry but he resisted the urge to lecture, or place him on modified duty because he was Sheldon. All he kept thinking was this wasn’t like Sheldon; it wasn’t like him at all. We expect a lot out of each other, and Stella asks if that is bad. Mac says no and walks off. Sheldon sleeping is woken abruptly when the NYPD break down the door looking for Brian Hamilton, wanted for grand larceny. Sheldon half asleep, is looking at guns trying to explain that he works for the NYPD crime lab, he is a CSI. The cop asks him to keep his hands where he can see them; Brian is then marched out of the apartment yelling at the cops to get their hands off him and tells Sheldon that they got this all wrong.

In an interrogation room, Sheldon is explaining to Don that he had no idea that Brian was wanted for embezzlement they went to college together and just got reacquainted. Don says that he was sleeping on his couch. Sheldon then excuses it by saying that when he is done with his patrol of the park, he crashes at Brian’s place since he is too beat to make it home. Don knowing that he is lying asks him to help him out by telling him the truth. Sheldon still denying that anything is wrong, can’t believe that Don thinks that he may have been involved in what Brian was doing. Shaking his head in frustration, Don opens the door and tells Sheldon he is done. Sheldon walks out leaving Don in the interrogation room. Mac walking into the precinct spots Sheldon, and then waits for an explanation. Sheldon says that he is fine, Mac goes okay, and then Sheldon goes into his excuse. Mac stops him saying that it seems too rehearsed, this sounds like something that he practiced in the back of the squad car. Silently Sheldon looks at Mac as Mac pops out some questions. What will I tell my boss, the DA, that I was on a case, etc. Offended Sheldon, asks you think I am lying? Mac says he thinks that Sheldon is hiding something. That he would prefer to be treated like a friend and not just another authority figure looking for a reasonable explanation. You could tell me anything, I think you could trust that. Sheldon walks off without a word. In the lab, Stella catches up to Mac in the hallways, says that she has something. She found a compound on the pen and isolated a print on the pen. It belongs to John Simmons, a man who lives in Queens and works for Kensitron Software. A connection to Martin Stafford. The software company had military contracts so all of the employees had to be fingerprinted. There are no priors or even a parking ticket, he doesn’t seem the type to jump to murder. Stella hears that so she dug deeper, Simmon’s wife works in cancer research and has access to DMN. John Simmon’s is Theloneous Cross. Flashes to the Martin’s apartment and we see John slipping the poison into the orange juice. That puts him in Martin’s apartment.

In Queens, Mac and Sheldon are seen chasing John through alleyways and into a building. Sheldon is hot on his trail while Mac goes another way to cut him off. Don arrives in the squad car. John ducks into an apartment and out the window starts to run down the fire escape when he sees Sheldon above him chasing him, and Mac inside the window next to him. He then moves to the outside of the fire escape and threatens to jump. Below him, Don yells at him that what he is doing is very dangerous. Mac tells him you don’t want to hurt yourself or anyone else. John says he doesn’t care, Martin deserved what he got he lost their pensions; he invested it and lost it all. He had to pay for the hurt he caused. Mac wants to talk; John says that there is nothing left. What about your wife, your kids says Mac. Murdering Martin, he will never see them again, Mac should know that. It doesn’t matter, he let them down. Who would want a husband and father who couldn’t provide for his family? Sheldon tells him not to let this be his family’s last memory of him. John cries that after all of these years he has nothing, not a damn thing left. Mac says jumping is not a way to fix it, John laughs and says this is the part where you tell him you know how it feels? That he can’t understand how it feels to lose everything. Sheldon says I do. He understands because a month ago he lost everything as well. He trusted someone with his money just like John did. A money manager who scammed him, he is living with friends, begging for any overtime that he can get. But mostly he sits there wondering what the hell happened. The worse part of all this is how it has changed him, and he doesn’t like what he has become. The secrets he has kept, the pride that forced him to lie to his friends, and to treat people unkindly. It wasn’t supposed to happen, not me, not to me. But it did. Sheldon has to sell his house, spend all of his savings and retirement. I do understand, he tells John. He does. John says that he killed a man, Sheldon right next to him now asks for his hand. He doesn’t want to grab his hand, John lets go and falls. Mac and Sheldon lean over and they grab him, saving him while John is pleads for them to let him go.

Later that night back at the lab, Sheldon tells Stella that he was embarrassed to tell anyone because he was smart, educated and he was duped. Stella apologizes. This wasn’t the same situation as Martin Stafford and John Simmons, they trusted in the economy. Sheldon says he got greedy, he wanted to play with the big boys and he got burned. Stella tells him it wasn’t greed, it was optimism. He didn’t have to sell his condo; he could have gone to the department for an emergency loan. Sheldon tells her that he was living with more than he needed, he took the best offer while he had the chance, but it was before he had another place to live so he ended up staying with a friend. His biggest disappointment is that he may have to give up volunteering with the Parks Medical Unit. When Angell died and this money situation, volunteering was the one thing that was keeping him sane there for a while. Stella tells him that he shouldn’t dare quit, he enjoys it too much. There are other options. Mac walks up to them and throws Sheldon some keys, he has an extra room. That it is not up for discussion, and walks off. Sheldon and Stella smile and embrace after she gives him a kiss on the cheek.

I am sorry for presuming but I couldn't find this topic, so I started it.

[stellaluvr14]

Ooh, great job Dori!! I really liked this episode. It kept me hooked and we got some great moments.

Adam almost burned down the lab, sploshing, Stella kissed Hawkes, even though I'm a SMacked shipper, you got to admit that was cute. ;)

I really liked it but I felt bad that happened to Hawkes. That shouldn't have happened to a guy like him.