David Lenthall

When a mortician is found murdered in ritualistic fashion, Detectives Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Eames (Kathryn Erbe) first suspect cultists until they investigate a suspicious crematorium - and discover a graveyard of decomposing bodies in a nearby field that were never incinerated. More clues, including a passage in the Bible book of Exodus and DNA evidence, point to the business owner's (guest star Jim Gaffigan) odd association with an efficient mob hitman (guest star Jay O. Sanders). Jamey Sheridan and Courtney B. Vance also star.

Goren and Eames search abandoned subway tunnels for the killer of homeless men, whose bodies were sold to medical labs, then they learn that each victim had been issued a credit card just before his death.

A young man is found stabbed to death outside a pizza parlor, with no identification. Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) soon learn, however, that he is Andrew Hatcher, an NYU student. Hatcher's grieving parents claim they got a call from him on his cell phone hours after the estimated time of death, but it turns out someone else made the call. Tracing the cell phone, they find a drug dealer named Jimmy Gaines (Gregory Russell Cook), who has Andrew's watch too. But he insists that he found Andrew's possessions in a dumpster. The police then find a blue denim shirt with blood on it nearby, but there is no trace of Jimmy's DNA or prints on it, so he is in the clear. They did find bovine blood on the shirt though, and the M.E reports that Andrew was stabbed with a six inch butcher's knife. They deduce that the killer worked in the nearby meat packing district.

After bailing out of a fishing trip because of seasickness, Ben thinks the ensuing explosion that killed a judge friend was intended for him.

Ben fights to protect his reputation from a deliberate campaign to ruin his credibility as a witness in a robbery trial.