Stella Bonasera quotes from CSI: NY

Sid

(about their vic) There are 206 bones in the human body. Richard Caldrone broke 204 of them.

Stella

Well, jumping off a bridge has a tendency to do that.

Stella

(entering with a mug in her hands) I just finished my third cup of coffee. Figured you could probably use one.

Lindsay

Oh, thanks, Stella. Thought we weren't supposed to drink in the lab?

Stella

We aren't, but at some point, the human body either requires sleep or massive quantities of caffeine.

Lindsay

God bless you.

Mac

(about the picture of Eckhart and his wife) So what are we looking at?

Hawkes

Manhattanhenge.

Stella

Manhattan- what?

Hawkes

It's a biannual phenomenon in which the rising or setting sun aligns perfectly with the east-west grid of Manhattan's streets. Sort of a Stonehenge-meets-concrete-and-hot-dog-carts kind of thing.

Mac

Eckhart was supposed to meet his wife at Lincoln Center after work.

Stella

But when he was running late, he told her to go to the surveyor's office instead.

Mac

Figured if they were going to miss the show, they might as well be together.

Danny

So, he blamed himself as much as everyone else.

Lindsay

Maybe more.

Hawkes

Each man is the architect of his own fate.

Stella

And sometimes the fate of others.

Mac

(toasting during dinner) Here's to a great team and to getting Hollis Eckhart off the streets.

Stella

Yes. And to reminding us that life is fleeting and we should hold on to the people we love while we can.

Mac

Sam Harding was an inventor. This room, maybe this entire penthouse was his greatest creation.

Okay. Knowing that, how do we find Richard Lawson?

Mac

We play Sam Harding's game.

Stella

Things just got a lot more difficult.

Mac

(ominous) And a lot more dangerous.

Sid

Did you know that between 400 and 1400 A.D. there was a common belief that mummia was a potent medicine with curative powers? People used to grind up mummy parts and put them on their bodies to get well when they were sick.

Stella

(musing) Mmm, take two milligrams of mummy and call me in the morning.

Sid

(chuckles) Something like that.

Mac

Sid, I thought you had hobbies outside of work.

Sid

I take it my interest in the history of my profession and the fascinating world of the post-mortem does not strike you as an enjoyable pastime?

Mac

(to Stella) Let's take him to a Jets game this weekend

Mac

(about Richard Lawson) If this guy's a successful real-estate agent, what's he doing breaking into Sam Harding's penthouse?

Stella

Well, before he died, Harding set up a trust to take care of his home, keep it empty after his death. Nobody was allowed to go inside, not even the building's super or maintenance man.

Mac

He wanted to hide the fact that he murdered Walter Jones and left him there to rot.

Stella

His secret and Jones' body would've remained undiscovered, except this week the rule against perpetuities went into effect.

Mac

That stops dead people from owning property forever.

Stella

Right, which means the penthouse was just about to be put up for auction by the state.

Stella

(helping Mac carry a Christmas tree) So you had to pick the biggest one, huh?

Mac

It's a Taylor family tradition. Every Christmas we visit all the tree lots looking for that one. And then the day after New Year's, when everybody puts their trees out by the curb, my dad would drive us around the neighbourhood to see if we could find a bigger one than ours.

Stella

And?

Mac

17 Taylor Christmases, never once did we find a tree that beat us.

Mac

That's the victim, but who's the other guy?

Stella

They're both James Manning. The moment I saw him, I knew there was something familiar about him. And then when I saw that scar on his hand... I ran him through CARS for past collars and came up with this booking photo.

Mac

It's hard to believe they're the same person.

Stella

Put some meat on his bones and a shave and he looks like a completely different guy.

Mac

It's never a good thing when you look better in the autopsy photo than you do when you're alive.

Stella

(as he looks on at the interigations) Sam, you were next.

Sam Baker

What?

Stella

Your life was insured for over $5 million dollars. In order to become a legitimate beneficiary, Debbie called herself your fiance in all of the paperwork.

Sam Baker

I can't believe this is happening. I was living on the streets. She helped me get a place.

Stella

This was all part of the plan. Debbie and Grace waited two years, enough time for the policies to mature and pay out at maximum benefits, no matter what the manner of death. Most likely, Sam, in a week, you'd have been dead.

Mac

I'm going to go get Grace Chandler. Stella, you go get Sam Baker, get him out of lockup, and bring him down to Interrogation. You two pick up Debbie Fallon, get her over to the precinct.

Stella

What's going on?

Mac

We got ourselves a triangle. Except it doesn't involve love. It involves murder.

Stella

When I was a little girl, there was a sign hanging above the desk where I did my homework. And it said that "Temptation will lean on the doorbell, but opportunity may knock only once."

Sam Baker

As ironic as it might seem, Debbie provided me with a second chance, and I plan to make the most of it.

Stella

Good.

Stella

Hey, Danny, I'm waiting for your 'boom'.

Danny

Ah, no more 'booms'. Lindsay made me promise. She's afraid it's gonna be Lucy's first word.(keeps checking the car) Boom! This is our car.

Stella

I've been guilty of it myself. Put a couple of coins or a dollar in a cup and move on. Never looking at them in the eyes, never thinking you can do more to help.

Sam Baker

Those couple of coins in the cup, that's more than most.