CSI began this week with a flashback to scenes with the Gig Harbor Killer and the viewers finding out Finlay’s gentleman friend has something to do with the case.
We then see a young woman being held captive by Jared Briscoe and it turns out to be Maya. He begins trying to hit her with a crowbar as she tries to run, but when she gets to do door, his brother is standing there. But then we see it’s a dream when she wakes up in bed. Later, she is seen talking to her dad telling him she wants to go back to Seattle. He finally relents since she will be safe with her family, but as they discuss her leaving that night, we saw Daniel is listening in on the conversation from his vehicle.
Jared receives a visit from Paul after he has apparently been exonerated of the charges since he isn’t tied to the murders in a forensic capacity. He tells Jared they can work together and if his plan works, Jared will have something he has always wanted. On the news, we see Paul talking to reporters about his brother being free and making those who put him in prison pay while Sara, Cooper, and Finlay watch. They discuss the case and Sara mentions that Hodges is working on the strings.
Crawford comes in to let Cooper know what time they are picking Maya up. Finlay is surprised when she realizes Maya had been used as bait when she previously thought she was only visiting, but Crawford said they had been watching her.
Meanwhile, Morgan walks down the hall and hears awful violin music. Hodges is playing really badly and he is apparently trying to replicate how the Gig Harbor Killer made the strings. She is glad he isn’t using real human tissue and teases about not knowing where Henry is. He tells her that you have to be an expert in making strings and he found one match, to the woman, named Rebecca Lowell, who Finlay shot while defending Greg.
Hodges and Morgan go to the woman’s house where she begins to clear the house while Hodges finds a wall of newspaper clippings about the Gig Harbor case. Morgan finds a dead body in one of the rooms while Hodges noticed someone had been living in the home. As they are talking, Morgan sees ants all over the floor and inside the cooler in the room are body parts.
At Maya’s house, the officers get a report of a shooting nearby so they take the call. Detective Shaw goes to the house and tells Maya he’s picking her up instead of Crawford and she recognizes him since he worked with her dad.
Julie goes into the morgue where David is examining the woman’s body. While there is no ID on her, the body parts they found belonged to Emily Bartson and Pamela Kramer, who had been missing from Las Vegas. Morgan comes in and tells Finlay the news that Daniel Shaw’s fingerprints were all over Lowell’s house and he is the partner.
In the car, Maya is talking to Shaw as she notes that her dad never talked about him. When she sees that he passes the exit for the airport, she realizes they aren’t going to the airport.
Cooper is on the phone with Ecklie to let him know his house is a crime scene as he heads out of the office as Finlay comes in. He takes her to a room where Crawford and the other cops are listening to a monitor, where Maya has apparently agreed to wear a wire to put an end to what’s happening. There are units following Shaw’s car, along with Nick and Greg.
Julie doesn’t feel right about the evidence and goes to Rebecca Lowell’s house as everyone else keeps working on their respective jobs. Down in the lab, Morgan works on fly larvae she found on the body parts as David tells her the dead woman is Lowell’s sister. Morgan tells him that the two species of insects she found are natural enemies, so she feels the body parts were moved around, so she will try to track the killer’s movements based on habitat.
Nick and Greg are not sure where Shaw is driving and when he goes down an alley, we see him get out of the car to make a phone call. While he’s on the phone, Maya talks to her father, telling him she’s thinking of what he would do and tells him she loves him. Shaw gets back in the car and Maya tells him she deserves to know what is going on.
Julie arrives at the house and as she looks around, she hears the floorboard creak. She sees Hodges, who had been collecting evidence in the dark. She is still suspicious about what is going on since Shaw’s fingerprints were not found on the clippings, table, or freezer. She looks down to see scratch marks under the table leg. They move the table and Julie finds a box of money and a flash drive beneath the floorboard.
Julie tells Hodges that Rebecca worked for an escort service and all of the victims worked for her. They find a list of clients and prominent men who paid hush money. Paul Winthrop and Daniel Shaw’s names are listed.
In the car, Maya is still trying to talk to Shaw, but her tactics aren’t working. Cooper and Crawford see they appear to be going back to the airport and they all figure out that Paul and Jared have landed in Las Vegas, so they must be meeting.
The car goes into an industrial building that’s owned by Winthrop, but there’s only one way in or out so Nick and Greg can’t drive in. Meanwhile, Shaw stops the car and turns on the radio as he begins talking about a girl at a recital. But when Maya stops answering, Cooper realizes something’s wrong. Nick and Greg run to the car, only to see they aren’t there and there’s only a recording device.
Nick tells Crawford that Shaw got rid of Maya’s wire and got out while they didn’t notice. Greg finds what appears to be an escape route and they go down a hall that leads them outside. Nick finds a wedding band on the ground and deduces Maya would have left it behind for them to follow. Greg looks around for more clues from Maya as Nick notices tire treads near the ring. There’s also flecks of red paint, meaning Maya most likely chipped the car to leave them clues.
Julie goes to talk to Crawford as Cooper is sitting despondent. Crawford tells Julie about what Shaw said in regards to a girl at the recital and this makes Julie leave in a hurry.
Meanwhile in the car, Maya is bravely driving as Shaw talks about having respect for her father. At the lab, Morgan sees Cooper when he comes in and she assures him they will get her back just like the lab rescued her when she was kidnapped. He tells her Greg found that the red paint belonged to a red Chevy Impala. Morgan was unable to pinpoint a location from the bowfly larvae, but she is checking for any infestations from the beetle. She gets a reply from land management that there was an infestation around Bighorne Ridge, so they might get a sighting from traffic cams.
Julie is processing the violin and she gets results that surprise her. She goes to Cooper, who is unwilling to listen until Julie tells him she got a familial match on the violin from the dead woman and Shaw. Shaw was apparently protecting the escort service and Lowell’s sister was an escort. They had a daughter named Amy who was born in 2001 and she thinks that Winthrop is using Amy as Shaw’s weakness. He is using Maya to trade for Amy.
In the car, Shaw tells Maya to get out of the car. For her part, Maya thinks he isn’t the type to be a killer. He leads her into a building where the room is set up with strings. Paul Winthrop appears and so does Jared Briscoe.
Shaw tells Paul he won’t hand over his gun until he has Amy. While this is happening, the team discovers the suspect’s vehicle near a warehouse. Paul brings Amy to Shaw, who hands over the gun as Amy runs to him.
As Paul talks about tying up loose ends, Shaw reveals another weapon and has the girls run as he shoots Paul and then is involved in a fight with Jared. He chokes Jared to death by pressing the crowbar against him. But as he stands up, Winthrop shoots him and reveals he had a bullet proof vest on. He is about to shoot Shaw when Maya stabs him with the crowbar and then runs to get help.
Nick and Greg run in with the cops after Maya tells them what happened. But even though they find Jared and Shaw, Winthrop is nowhere to be found. Outside, Maya and Cooper reunite.
Julie goes to see Shaw and tells him Amy is with protective services. Shaw tells her Amy has a grandmother and hopes Julie can keep out of the foster system, which Julie says she will do.
Sara tells Cooper that Nick and Greg are processing the scene and they followed the trail of blood that led to a wash, but Winthrop is gone. They are relieved Maya wasn’t one of the women on Cooper’s Gig Harbor board. Sara says Cooper does have control, but Cooper knows better that Paul is still a dangerous animal.
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