See Also: 'Fare Game' Episode Guide

In the upcoming CSI: New York episode "Fair Game," the show will continue its trend of taking a real-life cult phenomenon and using it as the backdrop for murder.

CSI Files sources recently revealed the episode will open at Cypress Hills Cemetery, where a young man is kneeling besides the grave of one Samuel Cole. At first, the most bizarre thing about the scene seems to be Samuel Cole's gravestone, as it features an LCD screen from which the old Mr. Cole is delivering a sermon for the benefit of anyone who may be passing by. But then we find out Mr. Cole's pearls of wisdom won't be of much use for the young visitor next to his grave -- he's Kevin Vance, a young assistant district attorney from Manhattan, and he's wearing a shirt that's rapidly getting soaked by blood from the wound in his chest. Taking his last breath, Kevin Vance slumps over the grave of Samuel Cole.

When Mac and Stella arrive at the crime scene, Mac immediately recognises Vance from a few homicide cases on which they worked together. He knows Vance had been working on a long-term robbery investigation targeted a career criminal named William Trammel, who immediately becomes the CSIs' first suspect. Trammel certainly seems suspicious enough: he runs away when Flack comes to interrogate him, and his fingerprints are found on Vance's window and briefcase. Trammel seems willing to admit he was trying to break into Vance's home to obtain a witness list, but he denies ever having been to any cemetery -- and indeed there seems to be no evidence tying him to the murder, so the CSIs move on to a different angle.

Mac, Lindsay and Stella uncover evidence of some rather odd behavior by Vance. It turns out he was renting an office which he'd most recently set up to look as a casting office, but which he'd already redressed several times to look like other types of offices. When the CSIs examine the office, they not only find casting-related props such as a video camera and movie posters, but also some items they can't quite place -- popped balloons, and an envelope containing photos of several people, most of them with their faces crossed out. Only one of the photos doesn't yet feature a cross -- but it's showing the face of Jennifer Cole, the granddaughter of old Samuel Cole.

Flack goes to pick up Jennifer, and she acts just as guiltily as William Trammel did a little while earlier. She runs away from Flack, and keeps running even when he identifies himself as a police officer and orders her to stop. Flack crosses a corner, meeting up with a uniformed cop who heard Flack's radio call for back-up. They give chase, then see Jennifer hiding behind a mailbox -- and reaching into her jacket to grab something. Instinctively, the cop in uniform raises his gun. Jennifer is suddenly terrified and shouts out to not shoot, but it's too late. Luckily, the cop misses, and Jennifer surrenders, utterly frightened. As she's handcuffed by the uniformed officer, Flack reaches into her jacket to see what she was reaching for -- it's a water gun.

Once she's calmed down a little, Jennifer tells Flack she didn't think he was a real cop, but rather a fellow player in Water Gun Wars. It's a mock-up assassination game, clearly based on the real-life StreetWars event. About a hundred players sign up, who are all given a manilla envelope by a mysterious person known as the Supreme Commander. Inside the envelope are a water gun and a few balloons, and the name and photo of another player. If a player is able to "kill" his or her target, they move on to that person's target, until eventually there's just one player left standing -- who is rewarded with a prize of a hundred thousand dollars.

This sounds like motive to the CSIs. If Kevin Vance was the "assassin" out to spray Jennifer with a water gun, maybe she killed him so she could stay in the game and not her forfeit at the money? But Jennifer swears she had no idea she was Vance's target -- if the CSIs are so sure the killer is someone in the game, they'd be better of trying to find whoever has the assignment of hitting Kevin Vance. The only downside: Jennifer knows of no way to discover this besides playing the entire game through until the end...

While Mac, Stella, Lindsay and Flack get busy playing Water Gun Wars, Danny and Dr. Hawkes investigate a case that may have far-reaching consequences for CSI viewers' appetites. They are assigned to look into the death of Kathleen Bailey, a woman found with bizarre suction marks in her mouth -- and a stomach full of weird food such as water bugs, duck fetus and whale bacon. This leads Danny and Hawkes to the Waldorf Astoria, which is in the middle of an Exotic Cuisine festival. It's here that Danny displays some supreme dedication to the job: he ends up eating a live Peruvian Giant Yellow Leg Centipede. It's clear Danny is willing to go above and beyond the call of duty to solve his case -- but will he be able to find his killer before he has to move on to fried Tarantula or or stuffed iguana?

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 and the airing order of the episodes are liable to change before the episodes are shown.

"Fair Game" is expected to air next month on CBS.

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