- An environmental lawyer is poisoned with a radioactive isotope and has only one week left to help the CSI team find her murderer.
- Junkie and small thief Carl Aspen's corps is found on the street, beside a syringe but not killed by an OD. During the autopsy, Horatio has to strike the alarm on account of an extremely fast-spreading hand-wound which he realizes must stem from nuclear radiation. Luckily even Delko, who spend most time exposed while examining the cash loot, is all right. The unsuspecting robbery victim however is terminally contaminated. It's environmental lawsuits specialist Belle King. Her numerous enemies include George Risher's isotopes firm, but things are more complicated then they seem.—KGF Vissers
- Opening the episode at night has a junkie chasing down a person to score cash for his next fix. Detective Bernstein and Horatio find a man dead face down on the pavement, a man with a criminal record, not dead from an overdose. Alexx says the cause of death was a cervical fracture, somebody snapped his neck. The dead man is Carl Aspen, identified by Bernstein. Horatio adds, the dead man picked the wrong person to rob.
Alexx processes the dead man, inadvertently he mistook a radioactive 10cc syringe for an extra-large drug fix, exposing himself to radiation so severe as to eat through his skin. Although not apparent on the pavement, it shows in the examiner's lab, the radiation has eaten away his skin, exposing his hand bones. Delko exposes himself to the radiation handling a gnawed pencil and the currency he found under the dead man; he is provided a detector device from the police radiation team member for any further radiation exposure testing. His exposure is deemed negligible.
Horatio lifted a name off the pencil during processing, it is from an attorney practicing environmental law. The team calls on attorney Belle King, and after introductions, Delko's detector begins to react coming from Belle, readings are ten times the exposure found at the lab. Belle is escorted in protective wrapping out of her office building into an awaiting vehicle. Horatio alerts his CSI's Belle has one week to live, she is considered a murder victim; she is not contagious. Each CSI is tasked to determine the source of the poison, ultimately to find the killer. Horatio visits and tells Belle she has about a week to live, based on the amount of iodine isotope-131 she ingested. Four cancer patients six-month's dosage is found in her.
Visiting her home, Horatio asks Belle about her enemies, as he notices a hateful letter written by a Sam Carver. Belle explains it is Sam's reaction to a multi-family-settlement, and she considered it the best she could obtain for all the victims. Belle mentions Mrs. Carver drops off fresh orange juice every few days to celebrate the new clean water; leaving the containers just outside her backdoor. A search of Belle's kitchen reveals radioactive-iodine-131 in her orange juice, tested by Calleigh in view of Belle and Horatio; they take the spiked juice with them to the CSI lab.
Calleigh and Horatio agree the Carver's are innocent, despite the hard feelings left with the husband of a deceased son. Horatio, Calleigh prove the orange juice container from Belle's kitchen had a hole in it, injected from a syringe. Horatio comments we need to find someone who knows their way around a syringe; that person is not a Carver. Delko examines the cash found at the crime scene, finding a credit card number pressed into the currency, he calls the company to identify the card holder. Belle is still at CSI HQ telling Horatio there is a $128 million suit brought against Risher Pharmaceuticals she initiated for contaminating the ground water effecting one-thousand home-owners. Risher manufactures the same iodine-isotope-131 used for cancer patients.
Horatio, Bernstein, Delko, Calleigh all are at Risher. Delko, Calleigh begin to process the lab, Delko noticing a lock into the lab has been changed, Calleigh is looking at the footprint left in the lab and they both see the iodine stored in the same refrigerator as the employee beverages. Horatio, Bernstein notice a lock has been changed located right near the receptionist desk while waiting for the Risher CEO. Bernstein adds with all the trouble Risher is in, he probably did not want to report the locks to police. Horatio, Bernstein interview George Risher, identifying the iodine-131 stolen, that he failed to report, a twenty-dollar bill with Risher's credit card impression on it with a dead mugger. Risher sarcastically thanks Horatio for finding the thief. Horatio promises to make it his mission to get him, if he finds involvement; Risher is hostile during the conversation, claiming Belle does not have the evidence she claims.
Lab results show the substance found on the Risher lab floor was chicken manure, likely coming from Belle's yard, since she raised a few chickens. Speed shows Calleigh, Delko the pictures he developed taken from the rolls in Belle's office cabinet. They think Belle was there, Horatio thinks otherwise; something is not right, we are missing something, according to Horatio.
Belle is speaking to Horatio from her bed at her home, obviously very sick. He takes her sneakers for processing. She says she cannot win her cases with illegally obtained items, breaking into that bastard's lab would be against the law. He asks her about the pictures of Risher's lab found in her office. She tells Horatio she has sources she will not divulge; the same way he would not give up his sources. She says she cannot give up this person, they are helping get the bad guys. Horatio determines Belle's shoes were no match to the footprints found in the lab; furthermore, Belle was never in the Risher lab. Speed looked for any sign the photographer might have left, Horatio notes the lock is the original dead bolt, indicating there is an insider, who maybe did all the photography and stealing.
Horatio confronts Belle on her patio, saying she had a source inside the company. She says the source would not hurt her. Horatio says he believes Risher poisoned her. Inspection of Belle's camera has no fingerprints, but the existing focus setting belongs to a farsighted-person taking the Risher photos; Belle is nearsighted. Scraping the fingernails of the corpse, DNA is obtained belonging to Parker Boyd, the front desk employee, who deleted files, i.e. Belle King photos, from his work PC as CSI came to arrest him.
Horatio grills Parker, finding he loved Belle, doing favors for her inside Risher, only to learn Belle only cared about sick people. Parker spiked her orange juice to get even with her, loved her enough to love her to death. Horatio tells Parker he will have time in prison to work on forgetting about Belle. Horatio sits at Belle's bedside, stating she was right, Risher was dirty, and now he has the evidence to go get him, proof to be used in court, as he was dumping waste.
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