Synopsis  

Two cases, both surrounded by secrets and lies. Or at least flies.

Catherine runs with the main case, of a woman, Christina Adalian, found dead in front of her baby, Joey, by her sister. While the scene appears to be a suicide, there’s no blood spatter on Christina’s hand. Another catch is that she’s still a virgin and had the baby via Cesarean. Doc Robbins initially suspects frottage, but Sara digs up news that Christina was affiliated with Project Sunflower. Project Sunflower rescued leftover, or ‘abandoned’, embryos from in-vitro fertilization and match them up with willing parents, working on the belief that life begins at conception. Catherine disagrees with this, and the ‘Doctor’ of the Project complains about her.

The gun is a lost cause, as if belonged to a lawyer who gave it to his paralegal, who became an EMT and lost it in a poker game to a guy with a mole between his eyes. The suicide note is analyzed and determined to be written under duress, confirming the evidence. Christina’s will mandates that Joey be given to Dan and Kenli Johnson, who just happened to be the bio-parents of Joey. Dan is dead, and Kenli lives with her mother, Mrs. Walkey. GSR is found in their laundry, but it’s on a size 12 shirt that belongs to Mrs. Walkey. Under questioning, and after her purse produces a picture of her husband with a mole between his eyes, she confesses. She killed Christina so that Kenli could have ‘her’ child back.

Grissom, who is late with evaluations again, is pulled off the main case by Conrad Ecklie and the sheriff to help with a case gone to trial. It was the recent murder of the sheriff’s god-daughter, and the defense has brought in expert etymologist, Mark Thayer, to prove she died when the suspected killer was out of town. Perhaps more to spike Thayer than help Ecklie, Grissom agrees to work on the case. Thayer presents documentation and a surprise video of an experiment proving his point. Grissom is stymied for a long time, but manages to determine Thayer doctored his pig in the experiment, forcing the flies to grow at a slower rate. Thayer’s work is worthless and he is arrested.

Review  

Perhaps unexpectedly, Sara doesn’t have a lot of emotional investment in this cast, offering no opinion on in vitro fertilization or conception. She seems content to go with the status quo, even when Catherine flies off the handle a bit, sitting quietly while Catherine vents at the head of Project Sunflower. Sara also displays her research skills, digging up both information on Project Sunflower and the Johnsons. At the initial scene, Sara and Catherine quickly realize that it is not a suicide, but rather a murder. She compliments the tech in QD (Questionable Documents), an older, bearded man. Sara informs Catherine of the biological parents and the victim’s will, and together they visit the biological mother and her mother. Sara later finds blood on the biological grandmother’s blouse.

Notes  

• Sara does not express her opinions on abortion or in-vitro fertilization, and doesn’t comment on Catherine’s zealous questioning of the clinic manager.

Quotes  

Sara: Ducks. That’s a new decorating choice.

Sara: Hey, Professor – looking good.