Match Made in Hell - Recap

Matthew Shaw, a twenty eight year old self made millionaire residing in south Miami, was heading toward his swimming pool in the well appointed back yard when his house phone rang. He sighed and answered it, finding the call of no great importance and hanging up. Matt turned toward the patio door once more, this time to be stopped by his ringing cell phone. It proved to be a wrong caller, but he took the phone with him as he stepped out onto the hot concrete surrounding the cool, beckoning pool. He laid the cell phone down at pool's side, shaking off the silky light robe that clung to his shoulders, flinging off his rubber thongs, and dipped one foot in the sparkling blue fluid. Just then, his cell rang once more and he grabbed it, distracted by the female caller who chattered in his ear as he walked gingerly down the concrete steps into the water, up to his knees. He did not see the disturbance in the water off to his left side as he talked to the woman, walking into the deeper part of the pool. What did catch his eye was something dark thrashing around near his feet, but by then, it was far too late. Bright red blood boiled up from the pool's bottom, blood that belonged to Matthew as the alligator beneath his feet grabbed one leg and began to eat that limb, ripping and tearing with its' sharp long teeth, then rolling and twisting, dragging its' helpless human victim to the now crimson depths of the pool. Matt's female caller asked him what was happening, could she help? Putting Matt on hold, the woman quickly dialed 911, asked for police and an ambulance, telling them the little she had heard on the phone and gave them Matt's street address. Frantically making a mighty effort to fight his way out of the alligator's deadly jaws, Matt screamed for help and then was dragged down for the last time to his death. Blood soon colored the once blue water red.


Horatio and his fellow officers rushed to the scene, guns drawn, finding pieces of Matthew floating in the pool, mingled with large bits of what looked like steak meat. Horatio and Delko followed a trail of blood leadiing out into the lush tropical under growth where they found more pieces of steak scattered about. Looking around, the officers heard a loud hiss followed by stamping feet and as they whirled around, a large alligator with a wide mouth full of sharp teeth met their eyes. Jumping out of the way, Horatio fired several shots into the angry animal as Delko pulled off a few shots of his own which brought the reptile to a flopping halt. Horatio finished it off with a can't-miss shot right into its' brain pan. The two men looked at one another and heaved sighs of relief. The alligator was taken into the lab for dissection and investigation.


The team made their usual measurements, assessments and investigations on the scene, one of them pulling a human forearm from the bloodied pool. The inside of the house was dusted for fingerprints, etc. A bed in the master bedroom had been disturbed and DNA samples were taken, indicated that a female had been there with Matthew overnight. Matt's laptop yielded files that indicated he had joined a very exclusive dating service catering especially to rich men and Matt was a very rich man, or so it appeared. Agent Natalia investigated Tandy King who ran the service and she was interrogated about Matt. She admitted that he had been a client of hers and that there were very strict rules dealing with its clients .Natalia watched Matt's dating video telling about himself and all appeared above board. A very expensive and large engagement ring had been found in the pocket of Matt's light robe that he'd shrugged off poolside, indicating that he had intended to give it that night to someone very dear to himself, but never had the chance.


Back at the lab, the fingerprints and DNA samples were compared with various females and contacted by phone, but they all denied having been with the victim overnight. The only exception was one Kate Pender who was missing. Horatio found her license on line and used the GPS in her vehicle to track her down. She was attending an exclusive party at the house of one Paul Nichols, peopled by extremely rich men looking for dates. Horatio and Delko crashed the party, asking for Nichols to bring Kate to the door. Horatio told her about Matt's death, how it happened. Kate said that she had been with Matt the night before, just to break it off with him, and one thing leading to another, they had ended up in bed, then she had left the house that night. She had not set him up to die. Paul demanded the agents let her get back to the party, so they left. Horatio said that there was something not right about that party and found out that Nichols hosted these parties quite frequently, which led Horatio to think that he might be keeping a house of ill repute.


At the lab, the left arm belonging to Matt had been found to have been burned quite badly on the palm, might have been held to something like a very hot pipe such as a motorcycle exhaust pipe. It was discovered that an expensive motorcycle at Nichols' house had burnt human skin on it and the DNA proved to have belonged to the deceased Matt. Horatio decided to send in Ryan, posing as a millionaire looking for a date, to find out more about Nichols. Horatio told Ryan to check in with him every thirty minutes, for his own safety. Ryan nervously walked up to the door of the mansion, finding himself frisked for weapons and having his cell phone taken, supposedly for security purposes. He was given a drink and asked to mingle with the beautiful ladies present, perhaps to find one to go out with. There were many lovely women and plenty of prospective men about. He milled around the ground floor, coming upon Kate, who had never seen his face before. He struck up a conversation with her, saying that she looked so sad, what was the reason? She just said that she had lost a good friend that day, but was still looking for fun. They ended up in an upstairs bedroom, Ryan nervous as Kate discussed the price. He said he'd never done this before and would feel better if he could go get a bottle of wine. She agreed and when he left the bedroom, Ryan headed down the hall to call Horatio. He went into what appeared to be a study or library and made the call, but was interrupted by the guard who had patted him down at the mansion's entrance. The guard gave Ryan a shot in his neck which nearly knocked him out. The burly guard dragged Ryan into the bathroom and began pushing his head into a basin full of water, demanding to know what he was doing there. Just then, Horatio and Delko burst into the room, killing the guard and pulling Ryan from the basin, saving his life. When Ryan had recovered, he mentioned that he'd seen something strange: he had stuck his hand beneath a bookcase and seen light on it; he thought there was a hidden room behind the case. The agents did find a counting room there, complete with a locked safe that contained a huge amount of money. Paul Nichols was arrested and taken into custody. He admitted to laundering money and running a house of ill repute. He denied killing Matt.


Who had killed Matt? Small bits of paper had been found floating in Matt's pool the day of his death. Enough of the paper had been pieced together to point the finger at Tandy King. She admitted to having been angry at Matt for owing her fifty thousand dollars, her commission for bringing him into the dating service. His financial manager had absconded with all his money, leaving him unable to pay Tandy. He had been sent two notices for insufficient funds on his account and Tandy had taken those with her the afternoon she had gone to Matt's house and confronted him about the matter. She had been so angry that she had set up the scene that had lured the hungry alligator into Matt's pool, resulting in his death. Tandy King was arrested and taken into custody.


Kate Pender was arrested for prostitution by Horatio and when she asked if she could possibly get out of it, he said she could turn state's evidence and possibly get only probation by the District Attorney if she confessed. She said she would do that. She also told Horatio that she and Matt had been in love and talked to Nichols about it, but Nichols had refused to let her go. Nichols knew that Kate was a huge draw for men and brought in a lot of money. Kate had a lot of dirt on Nichols and would tell what she knew. Kate hugged Horatio and thanked him for his compassion.



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