- Shy college student Nasir Khan spends the night with a quirky, mysterious girl, and is horrified when he awakens to find she has been murdered.
- A straight-laced Pakistani-American student is off to a must-attend party on a Friday night. His only available transportation being his father's taxi cab, he sets off into Manhattan. But his party-going plans are quickly forgotten when a mysterious young woman jumps aboard in need of a ride. Charmed by her intense intrigue and good looks, the young man gets swept up by her pressures. After a mind-altering night of drugs and passion, the woman is dead, and the young man finds himself in the cross hairs of a gruesome murder investigation, panicked and shaken, but possibly with a trace of doubt as to his own innocence.—copperheadache
- Naz Khan (Riz Ahmed) is in a university physics class.
He watches others play basketball, in locker room the player he is tutoring and another invite him to a party downtown on Stanton Street. There will be 'mad' females there.
He gets out of a cab in Jackson Heights and goes into a family clothing store. The cab is his father's. At dinner Naz and his brother talk sports. His mom (Poorna Jagannathan) is not happy he is going to a party downtown. Outside the house he finds out his friend is bailing out, he has no ride. Anxious to go, he takes his father's taxi keys and drives off. It is 24 Oct 2014.
He drives through a tollbooth and is videoed. He asks another cab for directions, He has trouble finding the switch for the off-duty light. Stopping at an intersection two men jump in, he tells them to leave. A cop car notices, helps him get rid of the two, and gives him directions to Stanton St. Before he can drive off an attractive young woman (Sofia Black-D'Elia) gets in the cab. Once again he tries to get her to leave, but then agrees to take her to the "river" uptown.
She's thirsty and asks for a drink. He stops at a gas station and buys a beer and water. While Naz is inside a hearse driver fuelling up gets upset the girl tossed a cigarette from the cab. Naz is puzzled at the man's glare as he returns. The station video records the scene.
Sipping the beer the girl makes small talk. Naz explains it is father's cab and he was going to a party. Near a bridge they sit and watch the river and lights and chat. She offers him a pill, he refuses politely, she takes it with her beer. Depressed, she tells him she can't be alone tonight. Naz sighs and takes the pill offered. They drive to her house. Parking the car, two men make a racist comment as they pass them on the sidewalk. One of the men stares at them intently as Naz and the girl go inside the house.
Inside Naz notices a cat and needs to take a puff on an inhaler. She puts the cat out, then makes tequila and lime drinks. They down shooters, play with a kitchen knife stabbing the table between fingers and snort cocaine. He cuts her hand with the knife, the two start kissing and go upstairs to the bedroom.
Waking some time later in the kitchen, Naz gathers his senses, he goes upstairs to get dressed. Turning on the lights he notices the girl is dead from many stab wounds, blood is everywhere. Gasping in shock, He hurriedly tries to leave, runs to the taxi outside, realizes he left his jacket and car keys back in the house. The door is locked, he has to break the glass and unlock the door. He cuts his hand on the broken glass. A neighbor across the street watches him. He finds his keys and takes the knife they were playing with. He takes some red tickets off the windshield and drives off quickly, nearly causing an accident.
At a red light a motorcycle comes beside, the rider appears to notice the bloody knife on the dashboard. At 1:36am a police patrol car pulls him over for making an illegal left turn. The Officer Wiggins (Afton Williamson) suspects Naz was drinking and asks him to blow into a breathalyzer. The partner, Officer Maldonado, gets a call and says they have to go. Kaz puts a bloody handprint on the taxi. Wiggins refuses to let him go and takes Naz with them, leaving the taxi. The cops drive back to the street Naz just left and they park outside the house.
The neighbor tells the cops about the man leaving the house and taking a cab. The two cops slowly approach the house. A supervisor arrives with others and the five uniformed cops enter the house announcing their presence. Naz watches them nervously in the patrol car back seat. The neighbor/witness looks over at him. The sergeant comes out and Maldonado is puking, they call for full backup. Homicide Detective Sergeant Danny Box (Bill Camp) is called in by the Night Watch.
Naz watches a Crime Scene Unit arrive. Det. Box arrives and gets updated, he notices Naz sitting in the backseat, and orders the uniforms to take him to the station and release him. Naz is taken to the station by other cops.
The detectives photograph the dead body. At the station Naz is told to sit and watches the usual riff raff of a night shift come and go. He checks his phone, too nervous to call anyone. He also has the knife in a pocket of his jacket.
Det. Box hears from the CSU tech the murder weapon is a large knife, 1-1.5" blade. Outside, one of the men who confronted Naz is asking what happened.
The neigbor/witness is also brought in to the station and sits near Naz.
Naz's brother Hasan notices he is missing and wakes their father.
The sidewalk man talks to Det. Box and says the man with the girl was a muslim. Det. Box orders the man taken in also.
Naz's phone buzzes, Home is calling but he ignores it. Mr. Khan phones Naz's friend and asks about the party. Mrs. Khan wakes also.
Detective Box arrives at the station. The desk sergeant finally notices Naz, the police realize after two hours it is too late for a breathalyzer. Before letting him go Wiggins pats Naz down carefully. The cop finds the bloody knife. In a panic Naz tries to escape. The man from the sidewalk is just coming in and identifies Naz as the guy with the girl.
The cops watch him sit in an interrogation room. Det. Sgt. Box comes in to talk and is friendly and asks what happened. The girl's name was Andrea Cornish.
Naz is processed, has to take his clothes off and is photographed and fingerprinted. His back is scratched and they see his cut left palm.
The two witnesses are getting upset at having to wait.
Det. Box asks for permission and Naz allows the police to take mouth and penile swabs for DNA evidence.
Naz asks for a lawyer but the fingerprint guys say they can't do anything. In the station a shabby legal aid lawyer, John Stone, notices Naz in a holding cell. He thinks about it then returns. He hears two CSU guys argue with the Desk Sergeant about chain of custody, and tells the desk sergeant he is Naz's lawyer.
In the cell with Naz, Stone asks a few questions about Naz's background. He warns Naz not to talk to any police any more.
Det. Box gets a signed statement from the neighbor and lets him go.
At 6am Wiggins and Maldonado are finishing their reports and have done 5 hrs overtime. A detective says they can't leave and must come upstairs.
The sidewalk witness, Trevor, id's Naz from a group of photos for Det. Box.
John Stone still doesn't know exactly what Naz is suspected of doing. The Desk Sergeant reveals it is a murder case. Stone is stunned when he realizes Det. Box is involved.
Naz finally phones home and tells his father he is at a police station for murder. Mr. Khan runs outside and notices his taxi is missing.
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