CSI: Miami

Season 2 - Episode 7 - Grand Prix

Teleplay by Michael Ostrowski & Steven Maeda
Directed by David Grossman

At the Miami Grand Prix, American Spirit team driver Jimmy Hutton pulls in for a pit stop – his crew leaping into action. Wrenches and hoses fly as fuel is pumped into the massive tanks, and worn rubber tires are swapped for new in just under ten seconds. As the car rockets out of the paddock, fuel man Chris Petrie looks down at his pristine white gloves, watching them slowly turn black with char. The rest of the crew’s attention is pulled back to the track - watching Jimmy’s engine billow smoke. None of them notice as invisible flames consume Petrie.

Horatio arrives late – ironically caught in traffic – as Alexx goes over the body. The track doctor has refused to declare the man dead at the track so they can keep their zero fatality record, but there is no arguing that the man is dead - cooked by the clear burning methanol fuel. As the paramedics haul the body away, Horatio checks the pit fire extinguisher hose, finding a wrench socket blocking its flow. As the doctor pops off with “accidents happen”, Horatio has one reply: “So does murder.”

Horatio splits up the team, assigning Speedle to break down the fire extinguisher hose, while Calleigh supervises the autopsy. Delko is given the task of finding Jimmy Hutton, who disappeared shortly after the race. They all know that they have two sides of the “fire triangle” – fuel and oxygen. Now they just have to find a spark. Horatio is pulled aside by Hayley Wilson, the owner of Team American Spirit, who asks him to hurry the investigation so they can have their pit ready for the race the next day. He informs her that it is now a crime scene, and unless he clears it her team is out of the running. She claims to not know where Hutton ran off to after the race, but Horatio can’t help but notice her callousness towards Petrie’s death.

Alexx goes over the body, immediately finding something is amiss with Petrie’s fire-resistant safety gloves. Particulate matter has been fused into the gloves – indicating the presence of an accelerant. Proof that this was no accident – it was sabotage.

Delko and Speedle interrogate Crew Chief Ron Elner whose team is already moving ahead, working out fiercely while sporting t-shirts stating “Win At All Costs.” A glance into the team’s workshop turns up a missing wrench socket that matches the one found in the hose – and an incriminating oil-slicked footprint found just inches away matches a driver’s boot. Just as suspicions mount, they receive a call that MDPD has picked up Jimmy Hutton.

Back at the station, Horatio grills Hutton about his contentious relationship with Chris Petrie, knowing full well that Hutton feels Petrie’s performance has cost him at least one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in contingency bonuses. Hutton maintains that he wanted Petrie off the team – not dead. Horatio demands that he turns over his driving boots for testing. Jimmy argues that you wouldn’t take away Michael Jordan’s sneakers before the big game.

But sports don’t matter to Horatio Caine, only justice: “Red flag, Jimmy. You may be sitting this one out.”