CSI:New York

Season 3 - Episode 21 - Past Imperfect

Written By Wendy Battles
Directed By Oz Scott
Guest Starring: Robert Joy as “Dr. Sid Hammerback”; AJ Buckley as “Adam Ross”; Carmen Argenziano as “Deputy Inspector Gerrard”
Also Guest Starring: Joey Lawrence as Alleged Serial Killer “Clay Dobson”

A female body is found dumped and wrapped in a blanket, a small padlock with a chain around her neck and her face concealed by layers of clear packing tape. Autopsy reveals a series of grisly discoveries: COD was strangulation, the vic was raped, and bruising on her wrists and ankles suggest she was restrained in leg and wrist irons. CSI begin to track the vic’s final hours: the lock and key around her neck suggests the she may have been involved in the world of “key parties” where consenting adults “swing” with each other. But the case takes a gruesome turn when Sid Hammberback discovers the vic’s eyelids have been cut off. Pre-mortem. Mac recalls a rape murder from five years ago where the victim’s eyelids had been cut off. The killer was supposed to be put away for life, but CSI quickly discovers that that perp’s conviction was overturned three months ago and he was released from prison-- because his arresting officer was Det. Dean Truby, who Mac helped convict of murder and narcotics trafficking (Ep. #308, “Consequences”). Deputy Inspector Gerrard informs Mac that our suspect is suing the city for “unjust” imprisonment, so they better have ironclad evidence to go at him again. The case turns when soil trace under the victim’s nails along with unusual mold found on the vic’s feet point the CSIs to a particular area of Queens, where Mac and the team discover the killer had a “dungeon” in the basement of an old friend. As CSI descend into the basement to find the killer, they find another young girl, missing for three days, and are able to both save her and catch the killer.

A man staggering into the Crime Lab launches CSI on a most unusual case: the man, who is very much alive, claims to be the victim of an assassination. It’s a rush to the ER where a doctor confirms his white blood cell count is through the roof and early stages of organ failure have set in. He’ll be lucky if he survives another forty-eight hours. The doctor hands Mac a microscopic pellet, the size of a pinhead retrieved from the man’s thigh. After analyzing the pellet back at the lab, we find trace amounts of Thalium; a rare and lethal drug with a macabre history of being a favored method of death by professional assassins. Tracing the man’s steps backwards leads our investigation into the bizarre realm of Side Show performers and on a nostalgic ride through the most famous boardwalk in the world: CONEY ISLAND, where the vic’s family has lived for generations and where he believes he was attacked. Evidence reveals our soon-to-be victim may be the casualty of a development war between Coney’s oldest residents and an encroaching development firm. The case presents a bizarre twist when closer examination of the evidence sets our team on the tracks of the least likely of suspects.