When next we see him, he's walking through the Labitrail while imploring the guy on the other end of his cell phone, "Sir, all I'm asking you for is the class roster...yes. Yes. Yes, I'm very aware of Butterfield Academy's privacy policy, but this is a homicide investigation. Sir, please, court orders take time. You could help me identify this boy tonight...okay...no, no, no. I understand your position. Thanks."

And then Nicky's night just gets better as he heads down for Autopsy Talk With Doc Robbins. The kid has first- and second-degree burns all over his body, he's got several hematomas along his arms, plus a nasty skull fracture. "I'm thinking child abuse," David the Dismal Coroner concludes. Nicky wants to know if the skull fracture's the COD, and David says with surprise, "No. Positional asphyxia. Check out his eyes -- heat damage. To all the respiratory mucosa as well. I'd say this kid was in a small, hot space for quite a while. A closet with a radiator, a boiler room --" "Shake and bake," Nicky says sadly. I would be sad if I were him too. Everyone else gets cases with some comic element and he's left dealing with a little boy.

As Nicky goes moping through the hall, Catherine calls his name and says, "I heard you were looking for the student directory of Butterfield Academy." Nicky asks, "How'd you get this? I talked to the headmaster. He wouldn't give me jack!" Catherine replies, "I pay tuition." This is news to Nicky. Catherine shrugs, "She was at a crossroads, and I needed to put her in a school with tighter reins. You know, when it comes to your kids, you find the money." Nicky's all, "Funny, I don't remember asking if cash was a little tight after your weekend at the So'Na Skin Clinic, but whatever." Catherine then turns the conversation back to the familiar, i.e. commenting on everyone else's libido: "You looking for a prom date?" Nicky chuckles off the intimation that he's a statutory rapist by explaining that he's hoping to ID a body.

And he has. Nicky figures out that the kid is Chase Ryan, and heads on over to the opulent Ryan McMansion. The door is opened by what appears to be Chase's older sister, a not-so-accomplished liar who claims that her truancy is due to a bout of illness and not, say, by a bout of drinking with her friends until Nicky rang the doorbell. Nicky plays bumpkin just long enough to lull the girl into complacency, then zings her by asking for her parents' work or cell numbers. "Okay, they're skiing in Vail. What are you going to do -- arrest me for having a kegger?" she snots. Nicky's all, "No. Not exactly." This conversation takes a turn for the more awkward when a bare-chested boy drapes himself on the girl and asks, "What's going on, babe?" Nicky blurts out, "How old's he?" The girl snots, "My father's a lawyer, so I probably shouldn't be talking to you." Nicky then steers the conversation around to Chase. Yes, he is the girl's brother. No, he isn't around. He told her he was spending the night with his friend Andy. Nicky asks for a picture of the boy. When the girl brings it over, we see that it is Chase, and he looks very young. Nicky gets very sober and says, "I'm going to need your parents' contact information in Vail, if you don't mind."