CSI: Miami

Season 3 - Episode 17 - Money Plane

Written by Sunil Nayar & Steven Maeda
Directed by Scott Lautanen

Gorgeous partygoers dance to the funky beat of a South Florida pool party, when a Lear jet skims the roof of the posh estate, and an explosion leads the crowd to a nearby crash site in the ritzy residential neighborhood.

Horatio arrives on scene and scours the fuselage, discovering canvas bags full of checks scattered about. He locates the plane’s cockpit and gets pilot Mike Rydell away from the wreckage just as the front of the plane explodes. Rydell tells Horatio everything was fine at take off, then there was a green flash. Horatio suspects a laser.

Horatio spots a man crossing the yellow tape, attempting to collect the canvas bags. Turns out it is Sean Walsh, the plane’s owner. He tells Horatio he’s worried the checks won’t make it to the bank by deadline. Horatio threatens Walsh with evidence tampering. Walsh offers a bribe which Horatio, of course, declines. An angry Walsh leaves empty handed.

Delko and Tyler Jenson check out the jet’s flight plan. Tyler constructs an exact point of entry for the laser into the cockpit. He investigates the neighborhood surrounding the airport for suspects and comes up with a name -- Andrew Stamler. Stamler has a history of complaining about the airport and flight path.

Horatio and Salas pay Stamler a visit. He complains about flight patterns and airport noise. Horatio confronts Stamler about his recent threat to “bring down a plane,” and spots a laser pointer on the kitchen counter, confirming his suspicions. Horatio arrests Stamler.

Among the wreckage, Wolfe discovers the body of a pretty young girl dressed in party clothes. She is missing a blue contact lens. Wolfe and Calleigh realize she was dead long before the plane crashed. Alexx IDs her -- Caitlyn Townsend, 20, Bal Harbor society girl. Alexx’s examination comes to a halt when Caitlyn’s family orders an injunction against the autopsy. Horatio decides to visit Caitlyn’s mother to attempt to change her mind.

At the Townsend home – oddly -- preparations are underway for a huge party. Horatio is met by Heidi Dillon, Sophie Townsend’s assistant, who explains they are moving ahead with a fundraiser for a charity Caitlyn co-chaired -- Caitlyn’s Place. Sophie, Caitlyn’s mom, admits that her daughter was a recovering heroin addict, and she doesn’t want Caitlyn opened up since she’d already been through so much. As a compromise, Horatio asks Alexx to perform a “virtopsy” (MRI) on Caitlyn. The virtopsy reveals Caitlyn’s cause of death was drowning.

Delko questions the pilot, Mike Rydell, about Caitlyn’s body and Rydell denies knowing it was on the plane. At the crime scene, Calleigh expands the investigation and uncovers more bags in the bushes -- full of cash. With so much cash involved, Peter Elliott from the Treasury, who Calleigh has a flirtatious relationship with, joins the investigation. This ruffles Det. Hagen, a former beau of Calleigh’s, who has just returned from psychiatric leave. Elliott runs a trace on the money, but is also suspicious of the identical signatures on all the checks onboard.

Horatio and Wolfe show up at the fundraiser to confront Caitlyn’s business partner, Nick Marshall. Nick shows them the automatic check signing machine with Caitlyn’s signature embossed on the plate. He’s insulted that Caine would question his integrity, but Horatio notices lacerations on Nick’s hand. Wolfe and Delko lift a print of Heidi Dillon’s from one of the checks. Heidi denies stealing from Caitlyn, but Ryan suspects she knows who murdered Caitlyn, and is too scared to name the killer.

The morning after the charity function, Delko and Calleigh discover Caitlyn’s missing contact lens in the champagne bowl. They also find a boot print and some hair, which confirms Caitlyn was murdered there. Delko questions Walsh; he tells Delko that Nick Marshall ordered a last minute pick up. Walsh showed up for the pick up and Caitlyn was lying on the floor. Nick never said who killed her -- he just needed cleanup.

Horatio confronts Nick, and Nick pins the murder on Heidi. The hair samples turn out to be Heidi’s, who is pregnant with Nick’s baby, establishing motive.

Elliott and Calleigh discover Sophie Townsend was embezzling money from Caitlyn’s charity fund for her own struggling company. Sophie admits to the embezzling, but swears she didn’t kill her daughter. To clear her of murder, she submits Caitlyn’s body to autopsy, which reveals a human tooth in Caitlyn’s stomach. Remembering the scars on Nick’s hands, Horatio closes in on Nick. Matching the infected teeth marks on Nick’s hands with Caitlyn’s tooth, which she swallowed during a struggle with Nick, Horatio extracts a confession out of Nick. Heidi witnessed the whole thing, but was too frightened to turn Nick in, fearing for the life of her unborn child.