Synopsis  

Grissom and his crew investigate when a young woman is strangled in her home, apparently the third victim of a serial killer. The crime scenes all have a common, mystifying element: this murderer really cleans them up, removing all traces of hair or fibers, and even plants misleading evidence. Just when things couldn’t get any worse, Grissom learns that the sheriff has called in the FBI to take over the investigation. Grissom thinks the feds have the wrong guy, but his convictions get him thrown off the case. Working on their own time, however, Grissom and his colleagues pore over the forensic evidence in their quest to bring the real killer to justice. The FBI rile Grissom even more when he hears that they plan to use Sara as a decoy.

Review  

This is very much a Sara episode, even though she’s only in part of it. A rape/homicide case, the third that’s occurred recently – Sara is more than a little pissed off when she sees the victim at the scene. The killer cleans up after himself, so little evidence is found and when the FBI arrives, Sara volunteers to be part of a decoy operation, to try and get the killer to grab her. Grissom protests strongly, but that doesn’t stop Sara from going ahead with the FBI operation, which turns up nothing. After Grissom is kicked off the case by the Sheriff, Sara is part of the team that meets in his apartment to go over the case and their findings.

Notes  

• Really big surprise, Sara gets more than just upset when the victim is female. She’s willing to stick her neck into great danger to catch the killer.
• Sara tries out introductory offers from gyms, though she doesn’t join any.

Quotes  

Sara: Look, this is my idea. I want to do something before another girl gets killed and-
Grissom: (interrupting) Listen to me, Sara. If we study his past, we can predict his future.
Sara: You’ve been saying that for weeks. It’s taking too long. Someone else is going to die and you’re still going to be figuring it out.
Grissom: (stares at Sidle)
Culpepper Okay, Sidle we’re good to go.
Sara: (to Grissom) Wish me luck.

Pickpocket Most women I know smoke unfiltered. Those long, skinny cigarettes.
Sara: Guess it depends on the woman.

Sara: The frequented locations report said none of the women belong to a gym where he could have spotted them.
Warrick: So … I went back to see if any of them had tried out introductory offers.
Sara: Which I do all the time. It’s a free workout, and you don’t have to sign up.