You Only Die Once

You Only Die Once
Season	4
Number	3
Writer	Sam Humphrey
Director	Jonathan Glassner
Original Airdate	October 10, 2007
Navigation
Previous Episode: The Deep
Next Episode: Time's Up

You Only Die Once is the third episode in Season Four of CSI: NY.

Synopsis

A murder case, burglary, and cyber-theft are all tied to a high-tech "spy-mobile." Mac continues getting strange calls and messages, while Stella begins receiving gifts from a mystery person.

Plot

Don Flack is making out with his girlfriend Devon in her apartment when he hears a noise. He goes to investigate and is shocked to discover a man in the high-rise apartment, who escapes through the window via a rope. Flack seizes a taxi and gives chase but loses the man and his accomplice when the high tech car he's escaping in emits a blue liquid and lights it on fire, blocking Flack's pursuit. When the CSIs arrive to investigate the robbery, Flack gives a description of the man and also notes that the guy turned the apartment lights on rather than hiding in the dark. The case grows more puzzling when Flack is called to Bond Street and finds Mac standing over the corpse of the thief he saw in Devon's apartment just hours ago. Chief Brigham Sinclair, who was also a victim of the same thieves who robbed Devon, chides Flack for using the taxi and puts pressure on Mac to solve the case.

Dr. Hammerback discovers a tuxedo and long underwear under the jumpsuit of the dead robber, James Stanton. He shows Mac the clean cut where part of Stanton's skull has been removed, but notes that the wound is postmortem and that Stanton died of asphyxiation. Butterfly wing scales lead the CSIs to the Manhattan Conservatory, which hosted a benefit the night Devon was robbed. Randall Rodrigue, who was in charge of coordinating the event doesn't recall Stanton, but his assistant Maude does, and notes that Stanton was ejected from the party for fighting with another guest. Danny and Lindsay marvel over the car, which had state of the art tires and memory polymer siding, allowing the car to literally repair itself. Another robbery provides the CSIs with a serial number, which they trace to an Elliot Gano, who works at a car dealership. Gano tells the CSIs he loaned the car to James and then got into a fight with the man after James claimed the car was stolen—even though it was sitting right outside the benefit.

Mac confides in Flack about the harassing calls he's been receiving, playing a message the caller left clearly recorded on a flight on a 767 to JFK airport. Flack promises to investigate to see if he can find which flight the caller took. Hawkes sounds the alarm in the lab—the lab's firewall has been breached. Mac orders all the power shut down in the building, but one lab table continues to glow—beneath Stanton's tuxedo. The CSIs open it up and discover microtechnology in its lining. Stanton and his cohort weren't just stealing jewels—they were hacking into people's personal computers and electronics as well and committing identity theft. Hawkes recovers the stolen info, and shows Mac a damning email accusing Chief Sinclair of sexual harassment. Mac brings the email to Sinclair, who claims it's an extortion attempt and notes that if it got out, it could destroy him. Flack tells Mac that he learned that the caller was on the flight Mac himself took two weeks ago back from London to JFK.

Lindsay discovers the blue fluid from the car was a mix of ethanol and Gilmore 171, the alcohol brand that sponsored the conservatory party, leading the CSIs to suspect Rodrigue, the event coordinator. When he gives them an alibi, Stella and Flack decide to check out a big party for the mayor that evening that Rodrigue also had a hand in planning. Stella takes photographs looking for signs of "smart water," which the robber was sprayed with in the last apartment that was hit. Stella is surprised to discover it on Maude, Rodrigue's assistant. Maude tries to flee in the high tech car, but after eluding several police cars is stopped when Flack has a barricade pop up outside of City Hall—and the brakes on the car fail. Maude denies killing James. Danny and Lindsay pour over the car, discovering the airbag was rigged to kill and the brakes were sabotaged. A substance on the airbag leads the CSIs to Booth Royd, who worked with Elliot at the dealership. Royd was the lookout and got jealous that his cohorts used him and never let him in on the action, so he sabotaged the car to kill them. The case might be closed but Mac's troubles are far from over: someone has leaked the incriminating email, bringing Sinclair's ire down on Mac, and luggage Mac lost on his trip back from London appears in his office, with a bloody t-shirt inside.

Cast

Main Cast

• Gary Sinise as Mac Taylor
• Melina Kanakaredes as Stella Bonasera
• Carmine Giovinazzo as Danny Messer
• Anna Belknap as Lindsay Monroe
• Hill Harper as Sheldon Hawkes
• Eddie Cahill as Don Flack

Guest Cast

• Robert Joy as Sid Hammerback
• AJ Buckley as Adam Ross
• Rachelle Lefevre as Devon Maxford
• Mykelti Williamson as Brigham Sinclair
• Kevin Reid as James Stanton
• Corey Pearson as Randall Rodrigue
• KD Aubert as Maude Messervy
• Sydney Lauren as Kelly Brooks
• Christopher Stewart as Booth Royd
• Adam Kaufman as Elliot Gano
• Ward Roberts as Reporter #1
• Danielle Hartnett as Reporter #2

Trivia

• You Only Die Once may be a pun off the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice.

See Also

• List of CSI: NY episodes
• CSI:New York Season 4
• Category:Images from You Only Die Once