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Last Straw
Last Straw
Season 10
Number 14
Writer Michael McGrale
Director Bill Gierhart
Original Airdate February 19, 2012
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Previous Episode: Terminal Velocity
Next Episode: No Good Deed (Miami)

Last Straw is the fourteenth episode in Season Ten of CSI: Miami.

Synopsis[]

The CSIs investigate the murder of a woman who rode her horse at a local stable and was a former sorority queen in college. At first they suspect a sorority sister, but when she too is murdered, the team realizes the killer is sending a message. After the CSIs discover that the two murdered women kicked the stable owner's daughter out of the same sorority years ago, they suspect the woman finally got her revenge on her harassers.

Plot[]

A stray horse runs in front of a car. Ryan is at the scene and Calleigh arrives when Ryan is trying to calm the horse down. The saddle has blood on it. Calleigh asks Ryan for a mint to calm the horse down. The blood is all around the ropes and this leads Ryan to find a dead woman near the fence. Horatio arrives at the scene and they find that she was hung with a lunge line. Horatio knows she suffered and now the killer will also suffer.

Horatio and Natalia arrive at the ranch to see the owner, Joanna. The victim was Cassidy and she boarded her horse here. Joanna's daughter Elle takes care of the clients. Elle doesn't know her personally or so she says and Natalia finds the lunge line. Tom finds she was knocked out before she was hung and there are signs of sexual intercourse, as Eric finds a condom wrapper in the stable. Tom also finds a hair on her leg, when analyzed reveals Mickey Quint.

He and Cassidy met at the stables and she liked it rough he tells Natalia. He also has a conviction for statutory rape. Natalia tells him he's not here because of the 'kink' but because of the murder, he was the last one to see her alive.

Natalia and Calleigh run forensics and Calleigh wants to check the rope, Cassidy wore a sorority necklace for Phi Gamma Alpha. Samantha and Ryan return to the stables and Ryan finds a half eaten burger outside, while Samantha finds a bloody rock. Ryan warns her of a snake, which turns out to be the horse's crop. The crop has the initials 'RP' which belong to Rachel Petrella.

Walter and Calleigh check out the sorority house and find Rachel instructing girls on how to drink with a straw. She lost her crop and wasn't at the stable until later on, she's going through a divorce, her husband being Mickey. Mickey has an alibi but Horatio thinks he could have hired someone to kill her, as could have Rachel. She claims not to have liked Cassidy. They find Elle was also at the sorority ten years ago. Elle didn't look like the type to fit in there.

Elle used to be picked on, humiliated and ridiculed in front of the other girls. Cassidy was president and her best friend was Rachel. Elle admits to wishing Cassidy was dead, but only in her dreams. Rachel attends a spa and gets into a tanning chamber, where someone turns up the UV and cuts off her oxygen supply, locking her in. Ryan and Walter think she was cooked to death, but Tom corrects them, she died of lack of oxygen which is explained by her blue fingers. The machine had duct tape around it so no oxygen could enter it.

The owner, Liam Flynn has an arrest record and is more worried about losing business. He was arrested for locking the sorority girls in their dorm and setting off the fire alarm. He hated them since they forced Elle to break up with him and in a flashback the humiliation she underwent is seen. Elle came to him to apologize for breaking up with him, but he's not interested since he's moved on. He thinks her apology is because they had a ten year reunion recently.

Horatio and Walter return to the stable and Elle tells them about Liam but also she probably wanted to be part of the sorority even more. Walter notices duct tape and she also has a bicycle, but the lock is missing. Elle is arrested and her mother tells her she'll be okay. Her father Dan arrives in an Airport Van and he promises to help her.

Joanna tells Calleigh about being in the sorority. She was in the same one and thus she was a legacy. They talk about the necklace found on Cassidy and she wouldn't wear one out horse riding, It belongs to Elle. She explains how Elle was humiliated and made fun of every time the girls came to the stable. Calleigh suggests the horse would have been brushed and Natalia finds some DNA on the brush after Ryan and Sam retrieve it. This time Ryan works his magic on the horse feeding it a mint to calm it down, whilst Sam collects the evidence.

The DNA matches a male and Elle's father is questioned. He tells them his flight landed at noon but he arrived earlier. The Airport Van was for show and he confesses his anger at Elle's treatment, so he killed Cassidy and Rachel for her. Elle, having been released, calls Horatio to tell him she's nothing left to live for. Fortunately, Horatio manages to save Elle from hanging herself. Horatio suggests she should start over.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

  • Christian Clemenson as Tom Loman
  • Taylor Cole as Samantha Owens
  • Jill Flint as Elle Toring
  • Bo Derek as Joanna Toring
  • James Eckhouse as Dan Toring
  • Tiffany Dupont as Rachel Petrella
  • Candace Moon as Cassidy Weller
  • Travis Van Winkle as Mickey Quint
  • Michael Lombardi as Liam Flynn
  • Shayla Hale as Phi Galph Alum

Trivia[]

  • Tiffany Dupont (Rachel Petrella) has done the trifecta, playing Hayley Montgommery in Hide Sight and Cammie Brookston in Empty Eyes as well.

See Also[]

CSI:Miami Season 10
CountermeasuresStiffBlown AwayLook Who's TauntingKiller RegretsBy the BookSinner Takes AllDead Ringer (Miami)A Few Dead MenLong GoneCrownedFriendly FireTerminal VelocityLast StrawNo Good Deed (Miami)Rest In PiecesAt RiskLaw and DisorderHabeas Corpse


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