When the Dean of a deaf college dies in a suspicious car accident, our CSIs delve into the deaf community and uncover both an imposter and a killer. Grissom's mother is a professor at the deaf college and Sara happened to be at a scholarship event with her the night the Dean was murdered. Sara meets a professor, Julia Holden, at the event and finds that she is not only the prime murder suspect but a former girlfriend of Grissom's who her mother-in-law adores. Julia appears to have something to hide when she lies to our CSI team about her whereabouts when the car accident/bombing occurred. As Sara continues to investigate Julia, Nick and Langston follow the evidence trail the bomb, which killed the Dean, left behind. They discover parts from a smoke detector used in each room at the college and trace it back to the room of a disgruntled student. The student feels he was the one truly entitled to the scholarship fund but was edged out because Julia's "golden-boy", Sean Wyatt, was her favorite and pushed the Dean to give him the scholarship. Our team discovers Julia was actually a victim, being played by Sean and her personal interpreter, in order for them to cash in on the substantial scholarship prize money.