Dead Ringer (CSI)

Infobox Television episode | Title = Dead Ringer
Series =
Season = 4
Episode = 20
Airdate = April 29, 2004
Writer = Elizabeth Devine
Director = Kenneth Fink
Prev = Bad Words
Next = Turn of the Screws

"Dead Ringer" is the twentieth episode from the of the popular American forensic crime drama "", which is set in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Plot summary

It is nighttime, and there is a marathon with police escorts to protect the runners. The race involves a relay, and the CSIs are participating. Grissom is driving a car next to Catherine as she runs, and she complains about the music he is broadcasting over his speakers, which includes "Chariots of Fire". Grissom suddenly veers off the road because he sees a flasher, which turns out to be connected to the dead body of a law enforcement officer from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Special Enforcement Squad (LASD SES). His corneas are glossy, which takes days to occur. However, he is wearing a number, which seems to indicate he was participating in the race. He has recent injuries on his knuckles. Grissom pulls a red fiber from the man's clothing bare-handed, saying "Collect it or lose it."

In the daytime, the CSIs are at the scene. Grissom finds a rock that appears to have blood on it. The man, Tim Coleman, had an ATM receipt in his pocket but no cash. Dr. Robbins says that the man was in excellent shape, with the exception of a large head wound. His liver indicated that he was dehydrated; this also explains the cloudy corneas. He had a high, but not lethal dose of blood pressure medication in his system. This drug could cause blurred vision, dizziness, and muscle weakness, which could have caused him to go off the course. However, it is not clear why the drug was in his system.

Greg finds that there was a withdrawal made from Coleman's account "after" he died. He and Nick find security video from the ATM, and they see the face of the man at the ATM.

Hodges identifies the red fiber as mercerized cotton, which is very strong. It is used for machine quilting and embroidery, which includes sports attire. Back at the race, Grissom notices that the members of the LAPD SWAT team, who won the race has red stitching on their jackets. One of the men in the jackets says that he has a black eye because he was trying to subdue Coleman at the race.

Nick interviews the man in the ATM video. He says he is innocent.

Meanwhile, Sara and Warrick investigate a death at a hotel. A dead woman on the floor has a Glock, a standard police issue gun, by her hand. There is also a dead man. By the presence of a condom, it seems that they had sex, and the case appears to be a murder-suicide. Both victims were cops.

Grissom tests Coleman's water bottle and finds traces of the blood pressure medication, so someone likely spiked his drink.

Catherine and Brass speak to the LA County team medic. He was in charge of keeping the team hydrated. He disliked Coleman but says he was not the killer.

After informing the male cop's, Manny Santana's, wife of his death, Sara and Warrick discuss their case. Hodges has analyzed the prints on the gun, and based on his findings, Sara suggests that someone else may have wiped down the gun and then planted the female cop's, Patricia Fielding's, prints on it. There was a third set of prints on the gun; they belong to another female cop.

Catherine finds that Coleman used creatine to bulk, and it caused dehydration. The combination of the creatine and the blood pressure medication caused an electrolyte imbalance and led to cardiac arrest. However, it does not seem that there was enough of the medication in the water to cause this.

Sara and Warrick investigate the home of the other female cop, Lydia Lopez, whose prints were at the scene. They find a ripped nightie, a man's wedding ring, and a woman's shoe. They interview Lydia at the station, and she says that she was having an affair with Manny, but she was surprised to hear that he was with Patricia. Lydia's husband, Archie, found Patricia and Manny, but Lydia says that her husband is not a murderer.

Greg and Nick discover that the time on the ATM video was incorrect and that a different man actually used Coleman's card. This man emptied the ATM. Nick goes to another bank where mysterious withdrawals were made. He fins a hidden camera that was used to spy on people's PINs so that he could steal money. Luckily, the culprit was in the vicinity and tried to speed away when he saw Nick, and he got into an accident and was apprehended.

Warrick interviews Archie, Lydia's husband. He says he wanted to surprise Lydia, but he arrived at her empty room and saw her nightie and knew it smelled like another man. Angry, he left. He claims he did not kill anyone.

Grissom and Catherine realize that the blood pressure medication was not in the water; it was in a protein bar. Traces of it got into the water by Coleman's backwash. Catherine tries to lift prints from the protein bar wrapper and matches it to one of Coleman's co-workers. He says he was not trying to kill Coleman; he was angry that Coleman took his spot in the race.

Warrick and Sara check Archie's effects for GSR; the results are negative. Warrick is puzzled because Archie was found with Manny's luggage tag, so Archie must have been in the room. Sara realizes that Archie, who was drunk, probably called the number on the luggage tag. Warrick looks at Archie's cell phone and confirms this; Archie called Manny's house 6 times, and the last call lasted 12 minutes. However, since Manny was not home, his wife must have picked up the phone. Sara and Warrick interview her again, and she says they can't prove that she was the killer. However, they obtained a warrant to search her house, and they found Patricia and Manny's blood in her purse. Sara informs her that she killed the wrong woman.

ee also

*

External links

*imdb title|id=0534676|title=Dead Ringer
*Tv.com episode|id=320446|title=Dead Ringer
*csiguide episode|id=150|title=Dead Ringer
* [http://www.csifiles.com/episodes/csi/season4/dead_ringer.shtml "Dead Ringer"] at CSI Files