Testimony under fire: Ray had to give his first testimony in a murder trial. At first, the case seemed straightforward. Victim Amber was a stripper who’d apparently been killed by Congressman Griffin, with whom she’d been having an affair. But just as Ray was giving his testimony, the congressman’s right-hand man, Dominic Humphreys, shot himself outside the courtroom. A bloody note in Humphreys’ pocket contained a murder confession. The gun, which belonged to the congressman, was used in both the murder and the suicide.
Loyal friend: Humphreys, who Nick astutely referred to as the congressman’s “bitch,” would have done anything for him. But murder didn’t seem likely, since Humphreys had an alibi. However, it turned out that Humphreys was no fan of Amber. The night before her murder, he’d put rat poison in her energy-drink mix. She was killed before it had a chance to take effect. Unfortunately, Amber’s daughter Matty drank the substance and got boric acid poisoning, which began to shut her liver down. Luckily, Ray noticed the symptoms and got her to the hospital in time to save her.
The show must go on: The trial went on throughout the team’s reinvestigation, and eventually the jury found the congressman guilty of Amber’s murder. But Ray had noticed one loose end. When they exhumed the body to test Amber’s hair for boric acid poisoning, Ray saw a bruise in the shape of a shoe print. The shoe was too small to belong to the congressman. And the print, along with fibers found on the murder weapon, led the CSIs to Congressman Griffin’s wife.
A would-be mother's anguish: The CSIs knew that Mrs. Griffin had suffered a miscarriage; they also knew that both Amber and the congressman had chlamydia. Turned out Mrs. Griffin had learned that she also had chlamydia, and that it was likely she would lose the baby. She got so angry that she killed Amber. “I’m 40 years old. … It was my last chance. My last chance to be a mom,” she said. “I would have killed him, not her,” Catherine replied.
Forensics lesson of the night: Did you know that you can’t find the bullet in a shot-through-the-head suicide, you should check the clotted brain matter and blood for it? Well, now you do.
Riley’s past revealed? Riley was awfully cold when it came to Humphreys’ suicide. “If he really loved her, he wouldn’t have killed himself,” she said as they examined the body. Later, she told Humphreys’ widow that she understood what she was going through, adding, “Your husband’s note, whatever it says, it’s not going to take away your doubts or questions. Some people just can’t be saved.” So who couldn’t be saved in Riley’s life?