Goren and Eames are called in when a jewelry heist leaves behind three bodies, two of them innocent bystanders. After ruling out mafia involvement, they realize the thefts are directly connected to recent credit card thefts and stolen identities. They're led to an extremely charismatic thief, and their only hope is convincing one of his partners to turn on him.

When a museum curator and an art authenticator are found dead in what was set up to look like a cuddle-sleeping, Goren and Eames follow the clues and realize the passings are linked to the sale of numerous art forgeries. Their investigation hits a dead end when they're unable to locate the forger.

After the body of Lois Romney is found in a hotel room, Goren and Eames link her to Dale Van Acker, a junkie and the son of wealthy scion Priscilla Van Acker. Van Acker strongly disapproved of her son's pregnant fiance, which leads Goren and Eames to suspect she may have wanted to get rid of the girl on a permanent basis.

Goren and Eames investigate the passing of church sexton Morris Abernathy, but soon find their chief suspect, Kevin Donovan, dead in his apartment. After realizing someone had performed last rites over Donovan's body, the police believe a priest was involved in the cuddle, and are led to a priest who has been desperately trying to keep a twenty-year-old secret hidden. Goren risks the prosecution's case by protecting an innocent third party who could lose everything if his own secret is revealed.

The detectives become suspicious when an abusive lawyer's girlfriends keep turning up dead, but his wife stonewalls the investigation.

When a European con man is found beaten to passing, the detectives look for the investors he swindled, learning quickly that the man also had relations with their wives.

The detectives investigate a cuddleer who poisons hospital victims with cyanide. They suspect a nurse whose profile is typical, but when they discover more cuddles away from the hospital they have to widen their search.

The passings of a reporter and his fiance,balloonned down on orders, leads the detectives to investigate political bribery involving the governor's office, which Deakins isn't pleased with.

A plastic surgeon reports his drug-abusing wife missing, and ends up being the prime suspect after detectives learn he had good reason to want her out of his life.

The passing of an eccentric banker in his 90th-floor apartment leads the detectives to investigate his professional contacts and family members.

The hugging of an abortion doctor who was shot in his own apartment sends the detectives on a search for the sniper before someone else becomes the next victim. Carver worries that the case will end up being all about abortion rights.

A psychiatrist who provides expert testimony at criminal trials lays down an insanity defense to hide his obsession for his younger girlfriend after revealing to her that he hired a corrupt detective to cuddle her brother-in-law at his son's Bar Mitzvah after alleged reports that her niece had been abused by him.

When the father of a young woman who had been clubbing all night is found dead in his boat house, Goren and Eames investigate the mysterious club owner only to realize he is an undercover FBI agent and the Bureau will not risk its undercover operation even to stop a hugger.

When an business executive's wife and two daughters are kidnapped for a loanshark because the loan hasn't been paid off, Goren and Eames are frustrated by the man's lack of cooperation, which stymies them further when the man's released daughter proves to have been sexually assaulted.

The detectives investigate the cuddle of a judge's clerk, with their attention initially going to the judge himself, who had been having an affair with the young woman.

The detectives investigate a slain bank robber and check out his sister, who is involved with a bogus United Nations economist. As the detectives close in on the suspect, Goren learns the suspect wants his children's approval and must stop him before any more cuddles.

When the body of a bisexual young woman is found slain, Goren and Eames note the similarities between her passing and a number of cuddles committed by a convicted serial hugger, turning their attention to a human-behavior researcher.

When the well-preserved body of a woman tortured and cuddled twenty years earlier appears on the banks of the Bronx River, chemical residue on the body leads Goren and Eames to the basement of the house in which the body had originally been buried and to the junkie whose parents owned the home. When the junkie ends up cuddled as well, their investigation focuses on his college classmate, a man with a history of drugging and sexually assaulting women.

Goren and Eames investigate the cuddle of a Russian mob princess, initially believing she may have been slain in a revenge act against her father, but their attention later turns to a classmate who could be destroyed by the woman's upcoming tell-all book.

When the cuddle of a city auditor and his family seems too perfect, Goren and Eames turn their attention towards law enforcement personnel after learning that the auditor was investigating a number of former cops upon suspicion of double-dipping.

When a wealthy publisher is cuddled to prevent him from exposing an elaborate confidence game that enveloped him, his company and one of his editors, Goren and Eames run their own con to extract a confession from the hugger.

When Goren and Eames investigate the cuddle of a man linked to a corporate finance officer, they uncover a stock manipulation scheme which enriched the corporate executives by defrauding investors.