Caine and Frank interview Mr. Molina, the restaurant owner. The entrepreneur explains that Raquel worked for dad, a.k.a. Warren Emerson. "She was with him so long that they were practically blood relatives," Molina says. He also suggests the team talk to Tonya Rush, the waitress. So Caine does. "If I talk to you, I'll never get my children back," she says. Huh? Tonya explains that her kids were taken by child services just a week prior and that she can't afford to "get involved in a police investigation." She then clams up.
Caine visits child services and discovers that the kids were taken due to neglect. They were found sitting alone in Rush's house at around midnight. The mother claimed to have hired a babysitter named Maria Lopez, but no one by that moniker could be located. "What if I could prove the mother is telling the truth about the nanny?" Caine growls. The case worker says he might reconsider.
Back at the lab, Kyle, Tara and Ryan examine Warren Emerson's body, including a severed foot. Kyle moves said foot -- and a grenade falls out of the pant leg! The grenade the hits the floor, dislodging the pin. Ryans' eyes widen ... in ... slow ... motion ... before ... BOOM! The explosion rocks the lab, sending our heroes scrambling. Once the smoke clears, Ryan makes sure Ryan and Tara are OK. They are both fine -- except that Tara is on her hands and knees, furiously scooping up pills that were scattered in the explosion. Uh oh.
Later, Ryan theorizes (with the help of a FLASHBACK) that two grenades were thrown in the initial attack, but only one detonated. "The force of the blast must have lodged the grenade into Warren's pants," he says. Ryan then asks about the pills. "Are you hooked?" Tara, immediately angry, explains that the pills are "for the pain." A likely story. "I'm fine," she insists. Lt. Sunglasses, in the meantime, has brought in Steve Emerson for questioning. "He set up the reservation and asked for a table by the window," Caine tells Calleigh. Mom, a.k.a. Deborah, is there too. Both bristle at the suggestion that Steve had something to do with setting up the attack. Deborah then recalls a flash of yellow. A car, perhaps?
No time for that now, however. Caine heads to Tonya's house to comfort the suddenly childless mother. She explains that "Maria Lopez" was a law student, but the school suddenly has no record of her existence. "I think she's using an alias," Caine growls. But why? "I don't now yet," he growls. Cut to Ryan and Eric, who are actually working on the case. They photograph yellow paint chips on a wall near the crime scene. "A getaway car," Ryan suggests. He theorizes that the yellow car spotted by Deborah got "hemmed in" before bashing into the wall and the valet stand. In fact, there appears to be an impression of a license plate on the stand! Eric works his magic -- using foil and a Taser -- to uncover three numerals: 190.
Sometime later, Frank approaches a yellow sports car with a license-plate number ending in 190. He is about to call it in when -- BANG! BANG! -- shots are fired! Frank dives for cover, then chases the shooter through a suburban back yard. The young man attempts to scale a fence, but is quickly corralled by our favorite bald-headed cop. "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to shoot cops?!" he demands. Apparently not. Soon after, Caine and Calleigh arrive on the scene. "No bomb-making materials," Calleigh says after searching the house. The trunk of the car, however, contains rolls of metallic paper. Calleigh suggests taking them back to the lab, where Eric explains that the material looks awfully similar to strips found on credit cars. "Ken Jarvik is making counterfeit credit cards," Calleigh observes. Thanks, Cal.
Later, Ken explains that he was just sitting in his car outside the restaurant when the dining room suddenly exploded. He might as well have told Frank and Eric that unicorns exist. "I didn't kill anyone!" Ken yells. Frank slams the lad's head down on the table before Eric intercedes. Ken, blubbering, admits to making fake credit cards. He says the operation is based out of a nearby abandoned factory. Isn't that always the case? Caine and Eric hustle over to the factory to discover none other than Steve Emerson loading boxes of faux plastic. Lil' Stevie quickly breaks down, explaining that restaurant-owner Molina sold real credit numbers to Steve and Ken for a cut of the profits. "So you pirated the wrong credit card and someone took issue," Caine growls. "Steve, you were the target of the restaurant explosion." Steve is crushed. He got dear ol' dad killed.
But not so crushed that he can't provide another valuable clue. Turns out that an anonymous someone sent Steve an email a few weeks ago. The missive contained a picture of Steve, Ken and Molina -- clearly a warning. Caine kindly requests a copy of said picture. Back at headquarters, Tonya arrives with a pair of cancelled checks she used to pay her mysterious babysitter. Both checks with cashed at the same place: a convenience store. Caine heads to the store, applies a little pressure and gets a name: Yvette Cervantes. "Thank you for your help," he growls at the frightened clerk.
Calleigh and Dave, meanwhile, examines Steve's photo. Dave explains that he can figure out what kind of camera produced the picture by examining the individual pixels. Or something like that. "It's like the DNA from the camera is being passed on to every single photo it takes," he explains. Whatever dude. The result: "This was the camera that was used to take pictures of us," Calleigh gasps. In other words, the photog is Cameron West, who loyal viewers might remember as having less-than-savory ties to the Russian mob.
West is soon in custody. Ryan explains that Steve and the gang unwittingly stole a credit card number from a Russian mobster. Eric notes that the triggering device in the first grenade was made from parts of a camera. "That's pretty creative for a photography nut," Eric quips. We would have to agree. West just smiles. He knows the CSIs don't have enough evidence to hold him. Eric warns West that the Russians will not take kindly to the photo/ bomber missing his intended targets. "You're making a mistake," Eric says. Something tell us that we havent seen the last of Mr. West ... or the Russians. So case closed, but not really.
Caine, in the meantime, has tracked down Yvette. The young woman starts to cry. She explains that she used to work at the bombed restaurant, but never reported her tips. But just two weeks ago, Molina called and threatened to report the former waitress to the IRS if she didn't watch Tonyas kids. Yvette stayed until child services arrived before sneaking out. "Jason is a bad man," Yvette says. "I'm afraid if I go back on this, he'll find me." Caine tells the woman not to worry. "Molina is in custody," he growls.
Cut to Molina's cell. In a FLASHBACK, we see Tonya refusing to help Molina in his credit card scam. "When she refused me like that, it put me in a compromising position," Molina says. "If she loses her kids, she's not about to jeopardize losing her job, too." So Molina arranged for the kids to have a babysitter who would call child services and then leave, resulting in the kids being taken from their mother. In retrospect, the plans seems needlessly complicated (but we digress). Growls Caine: "I've got a news flash for you: the insurance money from the restaurant is going to her." Molina is FURIOUS. Tonya, on the other hand, is overjoyed to be reunited with her kids. Caine pushes young Maggie on a swing in the park. He is a true hero -- sunglasses or no sunglasses.
