The CSI team is trying to make sense of Dr. Auerbach's murder and subsequent staging. Serena points out that Auerbach's position resembles "The Hangman" on tarot cards. The killer left the weapon murders from the Silver Ink case on a patio table. The killer is now targeting Max. Catherine returns early from an unsuccessful family healing trip to Hawaii. Auerbach's hanging suggests the killer had an accomplice. Penny convinces Beau that they should attempt to create a full fingerprint out of partials. The Silver Ink mastermind leaves a message for Max in the crypt. The DNA on Max's envelope leads to a 92-year-old Indian man. He rented out his house to a Mike Smith. The house's interior is covered with the same hieroglyphics used by the killer. Max flips a switch which causes sparks to fly and sets the house on fire. In the aftermath, Allie finds a card reading "Keep Your Secrets. Kill Maxine Roby." The prints that Penny and Beau cobbled together led to three men who had worked on a boat ramp at that property. Folsom determines that a boat hoist was used to lift Auerbach's body. Catherine pushes Beau to go back to the crime scene. Using liquid latex, Beau uncovers a snake symbol which reveals the killer's game plan. It's a game of Assassin. DNA from the hoist rope shows that the killer has a condition with two different colored eyes, just like Ted Hester, one of the men interrogated earlier. The team searches Hester's house for evidence. Allie and Folsom unearth the skeleton of Auerbach's grandmother in a thriving garden in Hester's backyard. Hester was one of Auerbach's patients. He killed Auerbach because she was working with the police. Hester has sent his best killer after all the members of the crime lab.