Coincidence? No, Not Really.

New York City! In the morning! And that is one nice engagement ring. Oh, it’s one of those ten minute bridal gown sales that turn into Super Market Dash with no rules and claws. A rush of brides-to-be and their maids of honor storm the show, some with ridiculous headwear on. They fight over the gowns until the woman with the nice engagement ring discovers a dead body. 

Danny can’t believe the whole thing. They notice she is dressed like she was out for a run but Flack says teams dress up so they can identify each other in the melee. The dead bride was arguing over a dress, now covered in blood, with Nice Engagement Ring Girl. 

CREDITS! 

New York! Flack interviews Nice Engagement Ring Girl, named Marie according to her fiancé. Marie says that she struggled with the vic over the dress. The beading on the dress killed her, apparently. Victim is named Laurel Downs, according to her ID in her money-free wallet. Danny notes she has no engagement ring and Stella notes she wasn’t here for the sale. She found Laurel’s race number. 

Was that a shot of St. Patrick’s Cathedral? Mac and Lindsay meet Angell in a rectory converted to loft apartments. A woman is dead in her tube before a stunning stained glass window. Hawkes concludes she was raped, murdered and then put in the tub to wash away evidence. They go over the loft and Mac spots an empty guitar case. Lindsay spots a worm. 

Tub Girl is on Sid’s slab. He notes there is no DNA but proves she was a guitar player. Sid recognizes her as a subway musician whom he enjoyed. He found a glass shard in her head. He says official COD is suffocation, Hawkes recognizes the bruising on her neck. He flashes back to his residency to apparently a girlfriend who was attacked in the very same manner. Mac notes that putting a fist in the mouth to silence his victim’s mouth is the signature of the Gramercy Rapist. Hawkes and Mac fear the rapist is back after an eight year hiatus. 

New York! Danny looks over Laurel’s iPod while I bop to the soundtrack. He finds something in her running shoes and downloads something to the computer. Stella comes back to say that Sid’s ruling is accidental. Danny found Laurel’s workout plan and that she stopped outside of the bridal shop. He figures she knew Marie beforehand but don’t know how. They do know Laurel was a victim of the Gramercy Rapist but Mac rules Laurel’s and Eleanor’s (Tub Girl) deaths coincidences until proven otherwise. Lindsay lays on some coincidence true stories (like Thomas Jefferson and John Adams dying the same day—the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence). 

They work on their cases. Flack runs down Eleanor’s case and gets a lead. Meanwhile, Adam and Hawkes print a homemade guitar slide. Hawkes asks Adam to run DNA off sweat from Eleanor’s shirt. Mac brings in Flack’s lead—a tip line from when the Gramercy Rapist—apparently Hawkes burned up the line. The good doctor admits his ex-girlfriend was a victim. Mac pulls him off the case, surprising Hawkes. Umm, Sheldon, may I mention Lady Murder Sings the Blues?

 Sid goes up to Danny and notes that Laurel and Eleanor are connected. Laurel had Eleanor’s blood on her hands. He then says that Mark Twain was born the same day Haley’s comet appeared and died on the same day of it’s next appearance. Meanwhile, Lindsay notes the worms she found are from Brazil but doesn’t know how it got here. Mac encourages her to sequence it’s DNA. Adam tracks down the DNA to another subway musician.

 Oh, I really hope he’s a red herring. He’s too pretty to be the rapist! He guesses music types for Angell and Mac but they are more interested in what he knew about Eleanor. He says they were friends and he gave her his slide. But he didn’t kill her. At the lab, Danny and Stella realize Laurel wasn’t trying to get Marie’s necklace not the dress. Danny notes Laurel’s rape report says she was robbed of jewelry. It’s the fiancé! I knew he looked skivvy! 

New York! At night! Flack and Stella visit the nightclub owned by Marie and her skivvy fiancé. He says he bought the necklace from some guy in Union Square. Marie lets Stella take the necklace. Lindsay believes the worms come from the killer but they can’t get a warrant based on that. Meanwhile, Adam found Eleanor’s guitar at a pawn shop, pawned by Hot Subway Singer (Trey) and figures he picked her lock. 

Flack and Angell pursues Trey through the subway station until they catch him. He claims he is innocent and he just stole her guitar to buy “something to calm his nerves.” At the lab, Sheldon’s ex Kara comes in to tell her story to Stella. She remembers the rapist went through her stuff and took some jewelry. That includes a ring. Hmm, it is definitely Marie’s fiancé. Why show her Nice Engagement Ring if it isn’t? Kara cries that she tried to forget but she can’t. Stella is the perfect one to console her. 

The missing ring was supposed to be Sheldon’s engagement ring to Kara. He’s still torn up about her. Aww. I want to give him a hug. 

Stella goes through rape reports but none mention missing jewelry. But she figures it might be more cases like Kara who didn’t realize the jewelry was missing. Adam shows the DNA result came back matching Colin, Marie’s Skivvy Fiancé. However, it goes against protocol which leads to a verbal lashing from Mac. He can’t haul in Colin on that as it won’t hold up in court. Hawkes storms out and Stella tries to tell Mac that people can’t turn off their emotions in a lesser version of Sara’s “I wish I was you, Grissom, I wish I didn’t feel anything” line. 

By the way, Grissom leaves tomorrow. I’ll miss him but can’t wait to see what happens when Fishburne joins the cast. 

New York City! Marie’s Skivvy Fiancé’s club is booming. Sheldon watches the place but Mac stops him from going in. He nad Mac have a heart to heart about how bad Sheldon felt over Kara and how he handled the situation. Mac tells him they’ll find something else to get Marie’s Skivvy Fiancé.  So, everyone goes over the old cases. Colin lived in Gramercy Park until his mother died. He came into some money and took Marie to Europe. Lindsay comes back and says the worms found were from Brazil and Colin was in Brazil a month prior. They figure Marie would be their best way to get Marie’s Skivvy Fiancé. 

Stella talks to Marie, who hands over all her jewelry. It is all stolen, Stella knows. Colin comes in and struggles with Stella, who shoots him in a few non-fatal places. He says they can’t prove anything as the camera focuses on a worm in his blood. He’s toast. Sid invites Stella and Mac to visit what they want you to believe is Whitehall Station but take it from someone who has been in Whitehall, it isn’t. They listen to a subway musician, who turns out to be Sharon Little. And they pimp her CD after the show. 

Next week: A dead suspect doesn’t bode well for Flack. Not Flack! 

Quote of the Episode:

“Wow, you been hanging around Lindsay lately, Sid?”

“Hmm, what?” 

So, any stories of coincidence you’d like to share with Sid and Lindsay? I would but I’m more of a ghost story girl.