Hodges requests Wendy's assistance in what he's calling a "thought experiment," in which he presents scenarios of various CSI lab rats getting offed in the lab by a fellow technician. Soon, the rest of the "rats" want to join in the murder game. Later, Hodges reveals the true point of his exercise to Wendy: he's developing a board game, and he's looking for creative situations to make the game more realistic. Wendy is into the game, until she discovers the prototype character he created in her image: a buxom, yet clumsy tech.

Meanwhile, each member of the CSI team approaches Grissom in an attempt to comfort him in Sara's absence. He reveals he has spoken to her a few times, and currently she's in San Francisco visiting her mother. Although no one is able to emotionally break through to Grissom, Hodges involves him in one of his "scenarios." Always one to enjoy a good puzzle, Grissom joins in by solving the last of Hodges' set-ups.