Table Stakes

CSI EPISODE
Table Stakes
Season	1
Number	15
Writer	Anthony E. Zuiker, Elizabeth Devine, Carol Mendelsohn
Director	Danny Cannon
Original Airdate	February 22, 2001

Table Stakes is the fifteenth episode of the first season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Summary

During a fundraiser at the home of Portia Richmond - a legendary showgirl - a dead woman is found floating in the pool. When Portia later disappears, suspicion falls on a young couple who 'house-sat' for her. The Sheriff puts pressure on Grissom as well, as Portia's case affects his election. Warrick looks into a mob hit in a glass elevator.

Plot

Patrick and Amanda Haynes hold a charity fundraising party at the home of Portia Richmond, a retired Las Vegas showgirl; the CSIs are called in when Lacey Duvall is found dead, floating in the backyard pool. Catherine processes the pool and finds a bright red fingernail, while Warrick finds a cufflink with the initials “CM”. In autopsy, Doc Robbins notes that Lacey was strangled.

While checking Portia Richmond's collections for fingerprints, Grissom and Willows hear noises coming from upstairs. They discover the source of the noise from Portia's bedroom, awkwardly catching the Haynes couple in the middle of an sexual encounter. Afterwards, Brass questions the Haynes and learns that although Portia is on vacation, the couple was hosting the party on her behalf. During the interview, Amanda sips water through a straw, and Grissom asks for it, claiming he collects straws as a hobby; Amanda willingly hands it over. Grissom and Catherine then search Portia’s bedroom and find no evidence that she packed anything for a trip. However, they do find a human tooth in the fireplace, and DNA confirms that it belonged to Portia.

Greg tests the DNA from Lacey’s rape kit and matches it to an old rape case in Texas, where the suspect's name was Chad Matthews. Sara discovers that Patrick’s Social Security number is fake, and she and Nick realize that Patrick and Chad are the same person. They quickly learn that Chad had several other aliases that he used to scam rich widows for cash and commit sexual assault around the country. However, they cannot understand why he would kill Lacey.

Grissom returns to the morgue and sees that one of the finger marks on Lacey’s neck is less vivid than the others, implying that the strangler had a broken fingernail. Greg processes the fingernail collected at the house for DNA, and learns that the owner of the fingernail is related to Chad; he matches the DNA to the DNA from Amanda’s straw, suspecting the murderers are first-degree relatives.

During questioning, Chad/Patrick admits to having a relationship with Lacey. Grissom then confronts him with the evidence that his wife Amanda is also his sister, and informs him that Amanda killed Lacey because Patrick told Lacey the truth about their identities. Grissom also tells Chad that the piranhas in Portia’s gardenside pool show evidence of having eaten a person due to the high cholesterol within them; Chad confesses to killing Portia and feeding her to the fish.

Warrick is sent downtown, where Walter Mitty lies dead in an elevator with a quarter wedged in the bullet wound in his head. Warrick concludes that this was a mob hit and wearily dusts the elevator for prints in the name of protocol, aware that he will turn up thousands of fingerprints that are unrelated to his case.

Warrick searches Walter’s wallet and finds casino markers, which he then returns to the casino. As he stands in the center of the casino floor, Warrick finally realizes that he has a gambling problem.

Main Cast

(Credit order)

• William Petersen as Gil Grissom
• Marg Helgenberger as Catherine Willows
• Gary Dourdan as Warrick Brown
• George Eads as Nick Stokes
• Jorja Fox as Sara Sidle
• Paul Guilfoyle as Jim Brass

Recurring Roles

• Eric Szmanda as Greg Sanders
• Glenn Morshower as Sheriff Brian Mobley
• Robert David Hall as Dr. Al Robbins
• Sheeri Rappaport as Mandy Webster
• John Churchill as Shibley

Guest Star

• Shawn Christian as Patrick Haynes / Chad Matthews
• Elizabeth Lackey as Amanda Haynes
• Colette O'Connell as Detective Conroy
• Allison Dunbar as Rachel Carson
• Joann Richter as Lacey Duvall
• Nichole Hiltz as Dancer (credited as Nichole M. Hiltz)
• Jack Wallace as Tony Mumms
• Trey Alexander as Vincent Morgan
• Lorraine Hunt as Mrs. Burton
• Robert Sutton as Stage Manager
• C.C. Carr as Guest
• William Johnson as Tyson Green, Dead Guy (credited as William Patrick Johnson)
• Lloyd Kino as Gardner
• Robert Iaquinto as Hit Man
• Nick Trasente as Pit Boss
• Nicole Brunner as Show Girl
• Zeen Jones as Police Officer (uncredited)
• Lindsey Labrum as Jenifer (uncredited)
• William Wantland as Extra (uncredited)

See Also

• List of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episodes
• CSI:Crime Scene Investigation Season 1
• Category:Images from Table Stakes