‘Miami’ Probes A College Murder In ‘Paint It Black’

A college student is murdered in a hot tub, and her roommate can’t remember what happened in the twentieth episode of CSI: Miami’s ninth season. (Major spoilers after the jump!)

According to CSI Files sources, “Paint It Black” opens with Monica Dow and Corinne Palmer relaxing in a hot tub. The college roommates are alone, and Corinne has promised to help Monica find a boyfriend. Monica isn’t confident unless she’s painting, but Corinne says she needs to spend less time with her art and more time with people. It all comes down to trust for Monica—she has never trusted people, but she does trust Corinne.

Monica tries to relax, but she hears a suspicious noise. There’s a party going on nearby, and the music is blaring, but this is something else. She feels like someone is watching them, but Corinne didn’t hear anything. Monica is still nervous, so she goes to get her cellphone so she can call campus security. Corinne tries to tell her she’s being paranoid, but Monica is already out of earshot.

Once Monica is gone, Corinne hears a strange noise too. Unperturbed, she relaxes in the hot tub. She doesn’t realize that someone is sneaking toward her. The person gets closer, and one hand is placed on Corinne’s head. Before Corinne can call for help, she is pushed under the water. She flails and tries to escape. She’s fighting hard, but the attacker has a weapon. A blade slashes down and cuts Corinne’s throat repeatedly, and she collapses back with her face toward the twinkling stars overhead.

Monica returns with her cellphone in hand. She calls out to Corinne, but there’s no answer. When she gets close enough, Monica sees the blood in the water and Corinne’s lifeless body. She starts to panic, feeling the crushing weight of grief before she pulls herself together. She calls 911, reporting Corinne’s death and waiting for the police to arrive.

The next morning, Horatio speaks to Monica, gently asking her about what happened. She and Corinne were best friends, and Corinne was trying to help her relax. She’d been stressed out about finishing her latest painting, so they went to the spa to unwind. She called campus security because she felt like she and Corinne were being watched—she couldn’t see anyone, but she had a bad feeling.

The wounds on Corinne’s neck were made by a blunt knife, and the weapon left behind a strange green trace. It turns out to be celadon paint, so Eric and Walter test student artwork until they find the exact same type of green paint. The trace from Corinne’s wounds matches a painting by one of Monica’s classmates, Perry. He gives them the palette knife he used to create the work, and it tests positive for blood. The team brings up a grant Perry and Corinne applied for—Corinne was going to receive the grant, which was worth $50,000 per year of college. Perry says he’s above jealousy, and he denies killing Corinne. Besides, he would have to be stupid to murder her with his own palette knife and then put it back into his work drawer.

The team asks Monica more questions when the timeline doesn’t add up. She claims she was away from the hot tub for 10 or 15 minutes before she discovered Corinne’s body, but Corinne was in the water for more than an hour. Monica takes a polygraph test, and it indicates that she is lying about being in the hot tub with Corinne—either she’s lying, or she doesn’t remember what happened that night.

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 of the episodes are liable to change before the episodes are shown.

“Paint It Black” is expected to air April 17 on CBS.