After a tough day at the work, Catherine invites Warrick and Nick to drink in a bar. She goes alone and meets Adam Novak, a stranger that fives his phone number in a matchbook. He offers to go to her car with her, they kiss each other and Adam turns brutal when she does not want to have sex with him. She hits her head on the door of the car and goes home. While sleeping, Catherine gets a call from Grissom and heads to the crime scene, where Alice Granger is found dead with a shot in her head. When Det. Vartann find her car nearby the bar where Catherine was, she goes with him to investigate. When she finds a matchbook in the belongings of Alice with a phone number, she heads home to find Adam's matchbook, but it has been thrown in the garbage. Their further investigation indicates that her ex-boyfriend, Jeff Simon, might be the killer, but he had a strong alibi. Catherine tries to tell to Grissom about her possible involvement in the case, but he does not give much attention to her. But when a second victim is found with the same M.O., they realize that the killer might be the same.

Catherine tries to link an accused killer to a second similar crime in a small town after he is found not guilty in the first trial, and Gil announces that he is going on sabbatical.