Eric examines his car which is parked at a motel parking lot. He opens his car door and takes a couple of coins. He then walks up to the vending machine and sees a woman gathering ice. Eric purchases a cup of coffee then returns to his room. Just before he enters his room, he sees a couple fighting then the man drops a bottle.

In his room Eric hears a gunshot. Another shot breaks his window and grazes him in the arm. He pulls out his gun, exits his room and scans the area. Eric sees a young man floating dead in the motel pool.

The police arrive and wrap up the body, who they identify as belonging to a young man named Seth. They see that Seth was wearing a blindfold. They check all of motel guests for gunshot residue. Horatio arrives and tells Eric that Seth was shot in the chest. Horatio asks Eric why he is there. Eric says that he is remodeling his condo. Horatio thinks that he is lying.

Tripp and Calleigh arrive at the victim's room. Tripp says that he believes that Seth tried to run, but fell into the pool. They find a couple of used matches on the floor. Calleigh says that the motel room is full of various DNA. Calleigh sees that someone broke the back window, then escaped. Calleigh finds a fabric sample in the broken glass.

Ryan tells Eric that there are two bullets accounted for. Eric says that he heard three gun shots. Ryan sees that Eric has a field explosives kit.

Back at the lab, Tara tells Horatio that Seth was killed by a shot to his aorta. Horatio sees that Seth was drunk when he died. They see that he was tortured and believe that he might have been into S&M. Tara finds a fraternity coin embedded in his chest. They believe that the kid was hazed.

The team discovers that Seth belonged to a fraternity led by a young man named Neil. They bring Neil to the station. Neil admits that he was hazing Seth. Horatio says that Seth was murdered. Seth says that in the room, Seth was forced to hold a bucket with his arms straight. Neil says that if Seth lowered his arms, he was forced to drink a beer. He remembers that he left the room for a second. Neil heard a gun shot, then saw Seth run and fall into the pool. After Neil heard Eric call to identify himself, Neil escaped through the back window.

After examining the bullet that killed Seth, Calleigh discovers that it went through the screen window. She believes that Neil was not the shooter. Later, Calleigh and Eric go back to the crime scene to try to figure out where the bullet came from. Calleigh gets angry at Eric for not telling her that he was living in a motel. They find a broken bottle around the area they believe might have been the source of the gunshot. Eric says that the couple who were fighting broke the bottle.