Synopsis  

Grissom investigates the murder of a man who was apparently killed while robbing a store; Catherine searches for a girl who was kidnapped 16 years earlier; Warrick and Sara probe the strange death of a woman who was reduced to ashes while sitting in her house.

Review  

Sara and Warrick get the case of a woman who burned to death while sitting in a chair – Sara thinks that it might be spontaneous human combustion, a theory which Warrick poo-poos as science fiction, while Sara claims to be open to the possibility. While Sara and Warrick are in the morgue, investigating the remains, David Phillips flirts with Sara – which she doesn’t seem to mind.

Warrick asks Sara to meet him behind CSI and to bring a cotton nightgown (she comments that she wears pajamas). Warrick dresses a pig in the nightgown, and Sara – with an uneasy look on her face – says that she hasn’t eaten meat since Grissom’s experiment with a pig. Warrick grabs a cigarette and Sara lights it for him, and he places it on the dressed pig. The two play chess as they recreate the experiment. Grissom informs them of the ‘wick’ theory (and moves one of Sara’s pieces on the chess board). Sara thanks Warrick for not mentioning her theory of spontaneous combustion – so she gets to clean up the mess.

Notes  

• Sara is quite aware that Assistant Coroner Phillips has a crush on her, and doesn’t really discourage his flirting.
• Sara doesn’t let go of a theory until it’s disproven by fact.
• Sara carries a Zippo lighter.
• Sara prefers pajamas.
• Sara hasn’t eaten meat since “Sex, Lies and Larvae”.

Quotes  

Sara: Interesting voice mail you left me.
Warrick: What’s that?
Sara: ‘Meet me behind CSI and bring a cotton nightgown.’ I’d wear it for you, but I prefer pajamas.
Warrick: Oh really, it’s actually for my girlfriend here. Miss Piggy.
Sara: We’re experimenting on a pig again?
Warrick: Yeah.
Sara: You know I, I haven’t eaten meat since Grissom used one to estimate postmortem insect growth.
Warrick: I tried for a human volunteer, but no takers.