CSI: CRIME scene investigation

Season 3 - Episode 11 - Recipe for Murder

Written by Anthony E. Zuiker & Ann Donahue
Directed by J. Miller Tobin

Grissom and Catherine arrive at a meat processing plant to investigate a gruesome murder – the mangled body of the victim has been discovered in the grinder. Through fingerprinting, they are able to establish that the dead man was the head chef of a five-star, well-regarded restaurant.

When they arrive at Do Breff Restaurant, the cast of characters rivals any good murder mystery. The sous chef, the owner, a waitress and even the hostess all seem suspicious, and there is enough blood spatter in the kitchen to keep the CSIs guessing – and processing -- for days. When the sous chef tries to explain why his blood is where it shouldn’t be, by chalking it up to a misunderstanding between himself and the head chef, the team doesn’t believe him. As Catherine says: “Don’t take it personally, we’re trained to believe evidence, not people.” Soon the team has more evidence than they wanted – blood, semen and cocaine are all found in the kitchen, where it seems their suspects did everything but cook.

Meanwhile, Sara and Warrick investigate the apparent suicide of Jill Damon, but they soon discover that the body has been moved and repositioned so it would look as though she killed herself. The young woman’s parents point them in the direction of the boyfriend, a gambler who they felt was leading their daughter astray. But her boyfriend has a strange explanation for why her blood was found all over his clothes, and when Sara and Warrick find out that Jill Damon’s behavior before her death was becoming increasingly violent, they start to wonder if the no-good boyfriend may be telling the truth about how she died.