It's a different kind of tableau.

According to CSI Files sources, "Art Imitates Life" opens on a Las Vegas sunrise. We're in a park that's more lush and green than would be expected in the desert. The park is in the middle of an affluent neighborhood. A track circles a small reservoir, and a group of cyclists are training. They fly around the track, making laps at high speed.

Joggers are on the track as well, staying close to the inside to avoid being run over by the cyclists. There's also a woman with a stroller. Nearby, another woman is leaning against a light pole with her back facing the track, her cell phone pressed to her ear. One young jogger is listening to his iPod and doesn't realize he's veering into the cyclists' path.

The lead cyclist blows a whistle, and the jogger lurches out of the way before they hit him. He stops for a rest and notices something in the bushes: a man's feet. One foot has a shoe but the other only has a sock. The jogger is nervous about looking closer--this guy looks dead, and he isn't sure he wants to see that. He leans closer and looks down at the body on the ground.

The jogger is startled when the person sits up. He's not dead after all. The homeless man staggers to his feet and runs away, heading toward the oncoming traffic of people on the track. He's high, he's got a hangover, and he's just feeling like crap. As he runs forward, he sees the woman pushing the stroller and, as he passes by, he grabs her purse.

The woman screams, and the jogger takes off after the homeless man. He yells for the man to stop, but he's not giving up the purse that easily. The cyclists have to part to move around the two men so they can avoid a collision. Just when the jogger is gaining on the homeless man, he twists his ankle and hits the track. The homeless man is able to get away.

The jogger stands up, angry and in pain. He hobbles back to the woman whose purse was stolen and tells her to call 9-1-1. Unfortunately, her phone was in her purse. He heads over to the woman leaning against the light pole and asks her to use her cell phone to call the police. She doesn't respond, and he gets a bit frustrated. When he moves around to look at her and repeat his request, he sees that she can't help him--she's dead.

The dead woman is one of three bodies that turn up in a similar situation. It's as if they're frozen in time, dead bodies mimicking living people. They question an artist named Jerzy Skaggs, a man who makes a lot of money painting pictures of models posing as dead bodies. Could the posed corpses be some new form of art for him? Meanwhile, Riley Adams (Lauren Lee Smith, originally Bryce Adams) joins the team, and a Peer Counselor named Patricia Martin comes to the lab to help Warrick's former colleagues deal with his death.

Please note that the above plot details have not been confirmed by CBS, Alliance Atlantis or Bruckheimer Films, and until such time you should treat this information as you would any other rumour. The above information comes from early script drafts and the details of the episodes are liable to change before the episodes are shown.

"Art Imitates Life" is expected to air in September or October on CBS.

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