Hodges stages hypothetical murders in the lab in order to give his fellow lab techs a chance to play CSI, but unbeknownst to them he has other motives behind his actions. Meanwhile, after Sara's farewell, everyone tries to comfort Grissom.
[EXT. VARIOUS LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) -- EVENING] [INT. CSI - HALLWAY -- NIGHT] (Grissom and Brass walk through the hallway. Grissom has a file folder tucked under his arm.) Grissom: Ecklie's been on me to finish the monthly stats, so I need a list of all the lab call-outs from dispatch as soon as you can. Brass: You'll have it by the end of shift tomorrow. Grissom: Thanks. Brass: So, you've been pulling a lot of doubles this week. Grissom: Yeah, it's about all I do. Brass: Have you been in touch with Sara? Grissom: We've talked a little. Brass: So where's she at? Grissom: San Francisco, visiting her mother. Brass: No, I mean -- that's nice. No, but I meant where's she at emotionally? You know, with respect to the two of you. Grissom: I can't speak for her. Brass: So speak for yourself. Grissom: I can't talk, I'm really busy. (Grissom walks away from Brass. He continues through the hallway and around reception. He heads into his office. Archie walks by.) (We follow Archie through the hallway as he reads through a file. He has a camera over his shoulder.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - GARAGE - NIGHT - SCENARIO 1] (Archie enters the garage. He stops in front of a counter with stacks of cocaine in bundles. He puts the file folder down and removes the camera off his shoulders.) (He puts his goggles on and opens the case with more evidence - bundles of cocaine.) (Archie takes the top bundle out, places it on another bundle on the counter, picks up the digital camera and takes a photo of it.) (He puts the camera down and logs it on the clipboard.) (He reaches into the case and takes the same bundle out and puts it on another bundle on the counter. He picks up the camera, takes a photo, then logs it on the clipboard.) (He reaches for the next bundle in the case, lifts, and - BOOM! -- the case explodes in Archie's face. The force of the explosion throws Archie backward and shatters the glass in the doors to the garage.) (Fire alarms blare. People run out along the hallways.) (Hodges saunters into the smoking garage. He sees debris on the floor and poor Archie dead in white cocaine. His chest is bloodied from the explosion.) (Hodges laughs maniacally in evil glee.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM - NIGHT] (Hodges clasps his hands together in evil glee. He has file folders open in front of him along with his lunch as he talks with Wendy.) Wendy: So Archie's in the garage, he's documenting evidence from a drug bust, he picks up a thing of coke, and then it blows up in his face? Hodges: No. He picks up a cellophane and duct-tape-wrapped kilo of coke, and the third one from the top of the stack blows up in his face. Wendy: Oh. Hodges: It's important to be specific. Wendy: Okay, well, this game is not as much fun as I thought it was going to be [SCENE_BREAK] Hodges: It's not a game, it's a thought experiment. If you want to be a good criminalist -- Wendy: I am a good criminalist. Hodges: If you want to be a better criminalist, then you have to learn to train to -- Wendy: Learn to think like a criminal. I know. Hodges: Look, I'm sure Grissom's told you--well, maybe not you, but he's told me many times--that we speak for the dead. Think of this exercise as a way for the dead to speak for themselves. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - GARAGE - SCENARIO 1] (We PAN across the floor and come upon Archie's dead body covered with white cocaine powder. His chest is bloodied from the explosion.) Wendy: (V.O.) But that's not actually what this is-- Hodges: (V.O.) It's a chance for you to be a CSI. The only thing you need to do is answer two simple questions. ("Dead" Archie's eyes pop open and he looks DIRECTLY at the CAMERA.) Dead Archie: Whodunit and how? (His eyes close and head lolls back to the floor.) FADE TO END OF TEASER ROLL TITLE CREDITS [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - GARAGE - SCENARIO 1] (White powdered cocaine dusts the floor and shows various shoe print voids and a large Archie-sized body-shaped void.) (Archie's body is on the gurney being pushed out by Robbins and David Phillips, who are both wearing masks.) Hodges: (V.O.) After HazMat cleans up the scene ... the coroner does his thing ... (On his way out, David Phillips passes Nick and Warrick on their way in. Both Nick and Warrick are wearing masks along with matching blue FORENSICS coveralls.) David Phillips: No sign of sexual trauma. Wendy: (V.O.) What? Hodges: (V.O.) I believe he's legally required to check. (Nick and Warrick turn around and pull their masks down. They're both crying from the death of their friend.) Hodges: (V.O.) What the CSIs realize is -- Nick: (chokes) I can't believe Archie's gone. Warrick: (voice breaking) He was too good for this world. (Both Nick and Warrick sob loudly. Warrick covers his face with his hand.) CUT BACK TO: [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Wendy: What? They would be very upset. (Hodges stares at Wendy.) Hodges: Can we at least stipulate that they heroically contain their bereavement? Wendy: Yes, I suppose Archie could live with that ... so to speak. Hodges: Thank you. Wendy: Mm-hmm. [INT. CSI - GARAGE - SCENARIO 1] Hodges: (V.O.) What the CSIs realize is ... (On his way out, David Phillips passes Nick and Warrick on their way in. Both Nick and Warrick are wearing masks along with matching blue FORENSICS coveralls. Nick and Warrick turn around and pull their masks down.) Nick: It's gotta be the dealer. Warrick: Yeah, he booby-trapped the stash so if the cops got the drugs ... [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Wendy: (interrupts) Then they would get the boom along with it? Right? Am I right? Hodges: No, you're wrong. Just let me finish the setup, okay? Wendy: Sorry. [INT. CSI - GARAGE - SCENARIO 1] (The evidence in the garage is cleaned and sorted in various bins.) Hodges: (V.O.) What the CSIs finally realize is ... Wendy: (interrupts) They sorted everything already? That was quick. Hodges: (V.O.) Can you just let me finish! (Nick steps up and center. He reads through a file and records his notes on the micro-cassette recorder.) Nick: (to recorder) According to this, twenty bricks of coke were logged into evidence just past midnight. The explosion occurred about a half an hour later. But there are twenty-one wrappers here. And since no one entered or exited the lab during that time frame, it means the explosive was planted in the suitcase here. Which means ... [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Hodges: The killer is someone in the lab. Wendy: Well, if the killer is someone who works in the lab, then he could just tamper with the evidence. Which means that there's really no way for me to solve this thing, this a trick question. Hodges: No, no, no, that's not what I want ... (click) Hodges: My shoelace is untied. Excuse me. (Hodges bends down to attend to it under the table.) Wendy: Okay. Hodges: (muffled) Okay, um ... wouldn't, how about this. (Wendy reaches over and looks at papers in Hodges' file.) Since it would be pretty risky for the killer to tamper with evidence during a full-on investigation in the lab ... let's just say, for the purposes of this exercise, -- (Hodges sits up.) Hodges: -- that can't happen. Wendy: Okay. Now what? Hodges: That's up to you. You have the setup. You run the investigation from here. Simple Q & A. You ask, I answer. Wendy: Truthfully? Hodges: Absolutely. No lying-- call that a rule. Wendy: Well, what if I get close to actually figuring it out, you're not just gonna change who did it or something like that? Hodges: No revisionism-- also a rule. Wendy: For something that's not a game, it sure does have a lot of rules. Hodges: You want to do this or not? Wendy: All right. Okay. I guess the first thing that I would do would be to examine the actual bomb mechanism to see if there's any clue as to who might have built it. Hodges: Good idea. Because there are a lot of clues. [INT. CSI -- LAYOUT ROOM - SCENARIO 1] (Nick sets out the bomb parts on the layout table. He records his notes in his micro-cassette tape recorder.) Nick: (to tape recorder) Chemicals have been sent to Trace for ID, but the bomb appears to be a binary explosive. (Quick flashback to: The killer packs the cocaine bricks in the case.) Nick: (V.O.) Killer hides the loaded brick amongst the others ... CGI ZOOM to the mechanism between the cocaine bricks.) Nick: (V.O.) ... and pressure arms it ... (The pressure breaks the ampoule and the red liquid bubbles out.) Nick: (V.O.) Liquid "A" in ampoule mixes with solid "B", creating an unstable chemical explosive ... END CGI ZOOM (Flashback to: Archie reaches for the cocaine brick in the case.) Nick: (V.O.) All you need to do is move it. (He picks it up and triggers it.) BOOM! BACK TO SCENARIO (Nick turns the recorder off and looks at the bomb parts on the table.) (He's quiet as he waits.) (He leans in forward to look intently at the blasting cap on the table.) ( ... and he waits ... ) ( ... his eyes slide toward the CAMERA ... he looks DIRECTLY at the CAMERA ... and nudges his head toward the blasting cap on the table.) (CAMERA moves down to the blasting cap on the table ... then moves back up to NICK.) (What? Still don't get it?) (Nick picks up the blasting cap with two fingers and holds it up to the camera.) [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Wendy: Ooh, I have an idea. [INT. CSI -- LAYOUT ROOM - SCENARIO 1] (Finally!) Hodges: (V.O.) What? Wendy: (V.O.) What about the blasting caps? (Nick nods with approval.) (He goes back into position and looks intently at the blasting cap.) Hodges: (V.O.) Ah, well, what do you know? XCU: LEG WIRES Hodges: (V.O.) The leg wires are color coded. Wendy: (V.O.) Good, -- [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Wendy: -- 'cause the color coding is manufacturer specific. So now we can track down the source. Hodges: Indeed we could. (Archie - alive and breathing - walks in. He knocks on the door as he enters.) Archie: Hey, people. What's going on? (He walks over to the refrigerator.) Hodges: Nothing. Wendy: You look ... better. (Wendy turns and smiles at Hodges.) Hodges: Let's say you learn that LVPD recently seized one dozen commercial grade blasting caps in an arson-explosives raid, and that the lab was processing the case evidence. Wendy: Well, then, I know exactly where I'd go next ... [INT. CSI - BALLISTICS LAB - SCENARIO 1] (Bobby walks into the gun locker with Warrick and Nick.) Bobby Dawson: 'Course I know where those blasting caps are. They're right in here. (Bobby walks around the gun cage to the locked cabinet under it.) Wendy: (V.O.) No, no, no, no, no. (Warrick rushes to stop him.) Warrick: Not so fast, cowboy. Give me those keys. (Bobby gives the keys to Warrick. Warrick unlocks it.) (Nick motions for Bobby to step aside.) (Warrick checks the lock. Nick checks the cabinet for the blasting caps. Nick picks up the box and checks it. He finds one missing.) Nick: Looks like you're one blasting cap shy, Bob. Bobby Dawson: That's not possible. No. (He shakes his head. Nick looks intently at him.) Bobby Dawson: Wait ... Y'all don't think I had something to do with ... (He looks at both of them.) [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] (Archie drinks his coffee near the counter.) Archie: Are there any prints on the lock? Hodges: Excuse me, we're-- Archie: Playing a murder game. I know, I get it. I wanna play. (Archie sits down on the sofa.) Wendy: (confidentially) He says it's not a game. Archie: Well, I wanna play anyway. Hodges: No. Archie: Why not? Hodges: You're the dead guy. Archie: Oh. Well, then I'd have a vested interest in the outcome then, wouldn't I? Wendy: Oh, come on, I'll fill him in as we go along. Hodges: Fine. Archie: Yup. So. Are there any prints on the lock? [INT. CSI -- BALLISTICS - SCENARIO 1] (Warrick examines the lock.) Hodges: (V.O.) No, no prints. Just metal shavings. Warrick: Looks like this lock's been slipped. FLASH TO: Someone uses a knife to jimmy the lock. CGI ZOOM: Inside the lock. The knife slips the lock. END CGI [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Archie: So somebody stole the blasting cap from Ballistics to make it look like Bobby did it. Hodges: Nefarious, don't you think? Wendy: What about the chemicals that were used to make the explosive? Did we get anything back from Trace? (Hodges leans back.) Hodges: (smugly) You always get something from Trace. [INT. CSI - HALLWAY - SCENARIO 1] (As they walk through the hallway, Nick shares the findings with Warrick. They're both in their forensics overalls.) Nick: The explosive was liquid nitro-acetate and solid ammonium nitrate packed in baking soda. Warrick: To blend in with the rest of the cocaine bricks. Cute. Explosive liquids are generally pretty volatile. Did you ask Hodges if nitro-acetate has any special storage requirements? Hodges: (V.O.) It needs to be refrigerated. Nick: Yeah, he said it needed to be refrigerated. Warrick: Well, there's only so many refrigerators in the lab. Maybe "where" can get us to "who". [INT. REFIGERATOR 1] REVERSE VIEW (The door opens. Warrick and Nick look inside. There are various biohazard containers, test tubes on a rack, sample containers on a rack.) (They both shake their heads and close the door.) [INT. REFRIGERATOR 2] REVERSE VIEW (The door opens. There are various Erlenmeyer flasks and various brown bottles inside. Warrick pulls down a brown bottle and looks inside the fridge. Nick peers in over Warrick's shoulder.) (Warrick shakes his head, puts the brown bottle back on the shelf and closes the door.) [INT. REFRIGERATOR 3] REVERSE VIEW (The door opens. Nick kneels as he peers into the refrigerator with various food containers and ziplock bags of people's lunches. Warrick peers in over Nick's shoulders.) (Nothing there. The door closes.) [INT. CSI -- TOX - SCENARIO 1] (Nick opens the refrigerator door. Inside are brown bottles of SODIUM NITRATE and NITROGEN TETRA-HYDRIDE. Warrick talks with Henry.) Henry: What are you guys looking for? Warrick: I'm sorry, we can't tell you that, Henry. Nick: Nitrogen tetra-hydride ... Hodges: (V.O.) Sodium - [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Hodges: -- nitrate. Wendy: Wait, what happens when you mix those two compounds? [INT. CSI - TOX - SCENARIO 1] Nick: They produce nitro-acetate. Warrick: That's a high explosive binary, Henry. Henry: (nervously) Really? I didn't know that. (Nick picks up the open box of BRENNER'S BEST Baking Soda.) Henry: Look, just 'cause I have those compounds in my fridge doesn't mean I used them to make nitro-acetate. (Nick picks up the box of baking soda and walks over to Henry.) Henry: You can't prove that. Nick: Baking soda was used to conceal the explosive, smartass. Henry: (nods) It's also used to absorb odors. Nice smell is a priority of my life. Warrick: I think the baking soda was used to absorb a lot more than odors, Henry. (Quick flashback to: Henry nervously looks around, then opens his refrigerator. He puts an open beaker with a mixture on the shelf next to the baking soda. The masking tape note across the beaker reads: DO NOT TOUCH.) (Henry leaves.) CGI OF: The odors from the open beaker rise up and are absorbed by the baking soda. BACK TO SCENARIO [INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM - SCENARIO 1] (Henry looks nervously at Brass. Brass glares at Henry as he picks up the chair and turns it around excruciatingly slow. He puts it down firmly, deliberately. Brass' steely gaze penetrates straight into Henry's guilty soul as he ever so slowly straddles the seat.) (The pressure is too much for poor Henry.) Henry: (blurts) Okay, I confess! I did it! [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Archie: (huh?) Henry? Why would Henry kill me? Wendy: (confidentially) We're not supposed to care about the why. Archie: Whatever. (Archie gets up and walks out of the BREAKROOM.) [INT. CSI - HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS] (He passes Nick and Warrick headed in the opposite direction.) Archie: Hey, fellas. Warrick: Hey. Archie: (scoffs) Thanks for giving me justice at least. Nick: (no clue) Yeah, you're welcome. (We stay with NICK and WARRICK as they continue through the hallway.) Nick: Man, I don't know if I'm more tired or hungry right now. You wanna get something to eat? Warrick: Yeah. Actually, I felt like a little Pai Gow or some Blackjack. Let's hit the strip. Nick: After the shift we just pulled? Warrick: Yeah. I just drank one of those energy drinks. I probably won't sleep for another couple hours. Nick: (groans tiredly) I don't think so, man. Maybe another time, huh? Warrick: All right. (Warrick leaves.) Nick: I'll catch ya later. [INT. CSI - GRISSOM'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS] (Grissom is working at his desk when Nick walks in.) Nick: All right, Grissom. That's it for me. I'm out of here. Grissom: Have a nice day. (Nick lingers.) Nick: Yeah, I'm going over to Frank's to grab something to eat. I'll probably be there for at least an hour if you want to ... if you want to join me. (Nick nods and heads for the door. He turns around.) Nick: You know, we don't have to talk about anything in particular. Just two guys having breakfast. I just don't think it's good for people to be alone too much. (Nick backs out the door.) Nick: If you want to, cool. If not, cool. Whatever. (Nick leaves.) (Grissom goes back to work.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] (Mandy walks in and smiles at Wendy and Hodges.) Mandy: How are you. (Hodges moves the folders around to cover whatever it is he doesn't want her to see.) (Mandy plops down in the empty chair at the table and looks at them.) Mandy: Rack 'em up. Hodges: Excuse me? Mandy: Well, word on campus is, there's a murder game going on. Wendy: Oh, no, no, no, it's not a game. It's a thought experiment. Hodges: Sounds like the late Archie Johnson has a big mouth. Mandy: Come on, please, it's been really slow at Prints all day. (enthusiastically) Who we killin'? (Hodges and Wendy share a look.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. TOX - SCENARIO 2] (Mandy walks in while reading a file.) Mandy: Henry, I need the tox on that lady..um ... (In the background, we have a view of the freezer. Henry's face is plastered up against the window.) (Mandy turns, sees him and screams.) Mandy: Hen-ry! (Poor Henry's frozen cheek is stuck to the glass in the door.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - SCENARIO 2] (Poor frozen Henry with his flat face is on the table. David Phillips and Robbins stand over him.) David Phillips: No sign of sexual trauma. Robbins: Thank God for small favors. (David taps Henry's chest.) You know, David, our job is never easy, but this is a colleague. If your emotions are too raw and you feel you need to excuse yourself ... David Phillips: (interrupts) Look. (David taps Henry's chest. There's a crunchy sound.) David Phillips: He's crunchy. Robbins: Um ... (David cuts open Henry's lab coat.) David Phillips: Frozen sweat stains. Yuck. Robbins: He was trapped in a small space at minus ten degrees centigrade. So it's fair to assume he was exerting himself in a state of mind-numbing terror. David Phillips: How long do you think he was stuck in there? (Robbins taps Henry's frozen cheek. It cracks.) Robbins: Well, several hours at least. Time of exposure in extreme cold is difficult to gauge physiologically. Why don't you let me know when he softens up and we'll start cutting. (Robbins starts to leave.) David Phillips: So we're just going to wait for him to thaw? Robbins: What do you want me to do, stick him in a microwave? Sound: MICROWAVE BEEPING [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] (Mandy opens the microwave oven and pulls out her pop tart.) Mandy: Ooh ... Hot ... hot, hot, hot. (She takes her seat at the table.) Mandy: So, then, okay, Henry froze to death. Wendy: Well, maybe not. Because if the autopsy hasn't been performed yet, then we can't be sure that's COD. Hodges: Well played, Simms. So it takes a few turns for the autopsy results to get back. Mandy: Turns? Hodges: Hours. A few hours. So, while you're waiting for the autopsy results, what do you do in the meantime? Wendy: Well, the CSIs would process the freezer. Did they find anything? Hodges: A virtual cornucopia. FLASH TO: [INT. CSI - TOX FREEZER - SCENARIO 2] VARIOUS FLASHES OF labels for METHYL-ETHYL KETONE, CHLOROFORM. Broken glass is on the floor. (Evidence markers 5 & 6 mark glass and an empty test tube rack.) FLASH TO: (Catherine stands in the doorway and takes photos of the mess on the floor. She looks around.) Catherine: (to recorder) The condition of the interior could be the result of a struggle, or the simple, understandable panic of a man trapped inside a freezer. In any event, the emergency release handle appears to have been bent and rendered inoperative, and several chemical containers broken in the process possibly releasing chloroform and methyl ethyl ketone into the space. I'm sending samples to Trace to confirm. (Catherine turns the recorder off. She laughs with girlish appreciation.) Catherine: Trace. Is there anything you can't do? Wendy: (V.O.) Hodges. [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Hodges: Sorry. [INT. CSI - TOX FREEZER - SCENARIO 2] (Catherine closes the freezer door and checks the outside lock.) Catherine: (to recorder) This could be a case of lab geek humor gone wrong. (Quick flashback to: Henry carries the tray of test tubes into the freezer. Someone closes the door behind him.) (Inside the freezer, Henry glances behind him and puts the tray on the shelf. He heads for the door.) (Someone on the outside secures the pin in the door.) (Inside the freezer, Henry can't open the door.) Henry: Hello? (He tries the door. It still doesn't open.) Henry: Hello! (Henry knocks on the door.) Henry: Hello?! It's not funny! (He pulls the emergency release handle too hard. It slips from his grip and he knocks the chemical bottles off the shelf behind him. The bottles smash on the floor and combined gasses are released.) (Henry inhales the toxic fumes. The image of a skull rises in the green smoke. It's a deadly combination.) Henry: Oh, my God. (Henry looks at the release handle in his hand. It came off.) Henry: Oh, my God. (He turns to try to fix the door to get out.) Henry: Oh, my God, help! (It doesn't work. He panics, shouts and pounds on the door. Henry: Help me! (Henry presses his face to the frosted glass.) Henry: (muffled) Please help! FLASH TO: [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Mandy: So the merry prankster comes back later, sees the joke gone bad, then he just yanks the pin and scrams. (Hodges shrugs.) Wendy: You said that the emergency release plunger was bent. Hodges: Mm-hmm. Wendy: Well, that thing is made of solid steel. How could Henry do that? Mandy: Adrenaline kicks in when he finally realizes that he's dying. So, maybe in the moment of crisis, Henry has the strength of ten men. (beat) Ten small men. (Mandy chuckles.) Hodges: "Maybe." That word always looks so good on a case report. Wendy: Was there any evidence on the handle on the outside of the freezer? Hodges: Just a schmear. [INT. CSI - TOX - SCENARIO 2] (Catherine checks the pin and finds the schmear.) Hodges: (V.O.) Sugar, soy protein, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, roasted nuts. (Catherine straightens and drops the pin.) [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Wendy: Peanut butter? Mandy: (o.s.) Well, killer's got to eat, too. CU: PHOTOS - of a pair of gloves in a trashcan, of peanut butter on the gloves' fingertips and of the peanut-buttered latex fingertips. Wendy: (V.O.) So, CSIs would check every trashcan and every biohazard disposal unit in the whole lab. Hodges: (V.O.) Yes, they would, and they would find ... [INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM - SCENARIO 2] (Bobby Dawson sits at the table looking at the incriminating photos.) (Brass picks up the chair, turns it around and sets it down. He spreads his arms out wide at Bobby.) Brass: What, no jelly? We found the peanut butter from inside your glove. It matches the stuff we found on the freezer door handle. (Brass walks behind Bobby and puts his hands on his shoulders.) Brass: Chunky, right? Bobby Dawson: I didn't kill Henry. Brass: Well, not on purpose. Bobby Dawson: No, not even by accident. (Brass deliberately places his hands on Bobby's shoulders.) Bobby Dawson: I only had a couple of minutes for lunch, and I had a bunch of photo emulsion sheets that needed to be stored. And I store them in the freezer. Brass: You seem very tense. Bobby Dawson: You know, I don't really like being persecuted. Brass: Yeah. (Brass goes back to his chair and straddles it. He glares at Bobby.) (Brass mouths.) Hodges: (v.o., raspy) Get used to it, punk. [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Wendy: No, I don't know about that. Hodges: What? Wendy: Well, Bobby's a gun guy. Gun guys shoot people. Mandy: Gun guys don't shoot people. People shoot people. Hodges: Actually, bullets shoot people, shot from guns which are usually in the hands of gun guys. Wendy: Can we get the autopsy results? Hodges: Well, I guess Henry's had enough time to defrost. COD was not, in fact, due to hypothermia. Mandy: Ooh, wait, no, I can guess what they found in Tox. It was chloroform. Hodges: Nope. Wendy: Methyl ethyl ether? Hodges: PCP. Wendy: What? Hodges: Massive, overdose amounts of PCP. Commonly known as phencyclidine, or angel dust. CGI SHOT (ZOOM through the nerves and synapses with blue lights flashing.) Hodges: (V.O.) PCP blocks the brain's NMDA receptors, hypothalamus goes nuts, resulting in anxiety, confusion, and fever-like overheating. FLASH TO: FLASHBACK (Henry is in the freezer, shouting and moving erratically in place as he pulls on his hair.) (Henry runs to the freezer, opens the door and runs inside.) Mandy: (V.O.) So Henry goes into the cooler to cool off ... (In the freezer, Henry is all over the place. He pulls the emergency door handle off.) Wendy: And with the PCP stimulating his adrenal glands, he has the strength of the Incredible Hulk. (He turns, yells and knocks over the chemical bottles off the shelves.) Henry: (V.O.) A duster? [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] (Henry is in the doorway.) Henry: (offended) You made me a lousy duster? That is totally bogus! Okay, aside from the 10,000 other reasons why I'd be crazy to even try that junk, if I were a closet PCP freak, I wouldn't do it in the lab. Hodges: That's very professional. (Hodges moves the books stacked on the table.) Henry: Archie told me about your sick little thought experiment, and I want to play. But I still can't believe, even hypothetically, you'd do something like this to me. (Henry joins them at the table.) Mandy: Well, Henry, I hypothetically called your mother and I explained everything. (whispers) That woman is a crier. Wendy: Your autopsy didn't mention powder in his nasal passages or PCP damage in his lungs. Hodges: That's because it wasn't there. Mandy: So Henry didn't inhale it, or smoke it, or snort it? Hodges: No, he didn't. (Hodges takes a chip out of the bag.) Henry: Then how did the PCP get into my system? Hodges: You tell me. (Hodges pops the potato chip in his mouth and crunches. Everyone is quiet as they think about it.) Wendy: Oh! Crusty pits. (Henry glances down at his shirt.) Wendy: Sweat stains. You said that Henry's lab coat had big sweat stains on the collar and on the armpits. So that's it -- somebody dosed the coat. (Hodges nods.) [INT. CSI - LAB - SCENARIO 2] (Catherine takes a sample of Henry's lab coat and tests it for PCP. It comes out positive. Catherine: (to recording) Lab coat tests positive for PCP. Combined with body heat and sweat, the drug must've entered his system transdermally. (sighs) Like a nicotine patch from hell. [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Wendy: Well, Henry would've died of an overdose no matter what. So, all the trapping him in the freezer with the chemicals spilling, that was all completely incidental. Hodges: It was the logical outcome of the initial crime. Mandy: And it's quite funny. Henry: Hey. Hodges: Well, we're not done yet. Mandy: Who did the deed? Well, taking lab coats off the premises is against regulations. So the PCP would've had to have been applied in the lab, right under our noses. Henry: And that stuff reeks. I have to crank my fume hood up full whenever I work with it, I still go home with a headache. Mandy: Fume hoods. There's fume hoods in the garage, and DNA and Trace. [INT. CSI - LAB - SCENARIO 2] (Catherine swabs the sink.) Mandy: (V.O.) So we would have to test all the sinks for PCP. Hodges: (V.O.) Excellent. That's a good approach. (She cuts the swab and tests it for PCP.) Hodges: (V.O.) It's well considered, thorough and thoughtful, but you would find nothing. (The test is negative.) Wendy: (V.O.) Really? Hodges: (V.O.) Yeah, there's no trace of PCP in any of sinks. Squeaky clean. (Catherine looks at the negative result and thinks about it.) [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Wendy: Damn it. [INT. CSI - LAB - SCENARIO 2] (Catherine looks at the open tank with a plant growing inside.) [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] (Wendy thinks about it. Everyone is quiet as they think about it.) [INT. CSI - LAB - SCENARIO 2] (Catherine snaps her fingers in front of the open tank with the plant in it.) [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Wendy: Oh! Wait. (She smiles) I got it, check the plant. [INT. CSI - LAB - SCENARIO 2] (Catherine looks straight at the CAMERA: DUH!) Hodges: (V.O.) You got it. (Catherine rolls her eyes as she takes a sample of the plant.) FLASH TO: (The killer empties the mixture into the sink. The fumes from the sink rises up and are absorbed by the plant in the open tank.) Hodges: (V.O.) The killer cleaned up, but he left one witness. (The killer watches the mixture go down the drain. The killer faces the sink. CAMERA PULLS BACK TO REVEAL that the killer is WENDY.) [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Henry: (accusing) Wendy. Wendy: (meekly) Me? (Mandy's phone beeps. She checks her messages and groans.) Mandy: Oh, drat. (She closes her phone and gets up.) Mandy: Well, it's not a slow day for me after all. Ecklie wants me to pick up the backlog from swing. Somebody please tell me who dies next. And how. Thank you. (Mandy leaves.) (Wendy smiles and leans on the table toward Hodges.) Wendy: So ... you got time for one more? (Hodges leans on the table toward Wendy.) Hodges: Well, someone's having fun. Wendy: Maybe a little. Hodges: You're not bad at this. (Henry looks around the BREAKROOM awkwardly.) Wendy: Thanks. I've been thinking about taking the CSI field test. This is actually really good theory and practice for me. Hodges: The field test? Wendy: Yeah. (Hodges nods.) Wendy: What? Why? Hodges: Nothing. Wendy: Nothing? Hodges: That's right. A great big pile of nothing. From me, to you. (Wendy doesn't like the sound of that.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - HALLWAY] (Catherine finds Grissom in the hallway near the BREAKROOM.) Catherine: Oh, hey. How are you? (They walk away from the BREAKROOM.) Grissom: Why? Catherine: I can't ask how you're doing? Grissom: I'm sorry. I've just had a lot of ... uh ... I've been busy. Catherine: Oh. Well, maybe you should take a few days off, for once in your career. I mean, you've got enough stored up. Go after her. (Grissom looks at her.) Grissom: It's not what she wants. Catherine: What do you want? Grissom: I want her to be happy. (Grissom walks away.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Hodges: (teases) Field Agent Simms. Wendy: Stop it. Henry: Hey, I think it's got a nice ring to it. Wendy: Thank you. Hodges: Here she comes, flashing her badge, taking down perps. Wendy: (annoyed) Why is even potential advancement so threatening to you? Hodges: Hey, Sanders left the lab, he got his ass kicked. I'm just saying. Henry: All right, come on, let's do another one. Hodges: Okay. Fine. (smirks) Let's. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - EVIDENCE LOCKER - SCENARIO 3] (The corner of the table is stained with blood. We move slowly past the table and past the stepladder on wheels.) (On the floor is a black pump, evidence in bags are scattered all over the floor -- and Wendy dead in a pool of blood.) Wendy: (V.O.) Well, now, that's a little passive-aggressive, don't you think? [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - EVIDENCE LOCKER - SCENARIO 3] VARIOUS CAMERA FLASHES OF - Wendy's head, her bare foot, her open hand, the shoe on her other foot. (Wendy is on the table. David is standing over her when Greg ducks under the tape and walks in.) David Phillips: (whispers) No sign of sexual trauma. Greg: (scoffs) No kidding. (David leaves with the gurney and Wendy's body. Greg looks around the room.) Greg: It appears as though the vic struck the edge of the table. (He takes a photo of the blood on the table. He looks at the mess on the floor.) Greg: The evidence on the floor is ... well, evidence. Brown paper bindle must have opened when it fell. Looks like the contents of a woman's purse. And here's the vic's other shoe. (Greg picks up Wendy's shoe.) Wendy: (V.O.) ... Square toe, low heel, stylish but affordable. [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Wendy: Flirty, not whory. Henry: You will be missed. [INT. CSI - EVIDENCE LOCKER - SCENARIO 3] Greg: There's an oily residue on the sole. (Greg notices the sheen under the shoe. He also notices the oily residue on the ladder.) (Quick flashback to: Wendy steps up on the ladder to reach a box on the top shelf. She stretches over, pulls the box, slips and falls, hitting her head on the table. End flashback.) (Greg is busy erasing the OSHA sign: THIS DEPARTMENT HAS WORKED 1659 DAYS WITHOUT A LOST TIME ACCIDENT.) (He erases the 1659 and replaces it with: 0.) Greg: (V.O.) The evidence appears to lead to an inescapable conclusion. This tragedy might have just simply been the result of an accident in the workplace. Wendy: (V.O.) I fell off a ladder? (Greg caps the pen.) [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] (Hodges goes to get a cup of coffee.) Hodges: Well, you are kind of a little clumsy. Wendy: Since when? Henry: It's endearing. Hodges: Are you satisfied with the explanation? Wendy: Uh, no. What about the oily residue on the ladder? CU: THE LADDER (ZOOM IN to show bristles in the oil.) Hodges: (V.O.) There are bristles in the oil, -- Wendy: (V.O.) -- which means that somebody brushed it on. (Greg notices the bristles in the oil.) Henry: (V.O.) What exactly is the oily stuff? [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] (Hodges sits down.) Hodges: Well, thank God ... [INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM - SCENARIO 3] Brass: (wistfully) ... for trace analysis. Hmm. Hodges, who is a genius and tragically underpaid, used the powers of his brilliant mind and the scientific method to discover that the oil that was brushed on the ladder - CU: TRACE ANALYSIS RESULTS SHEET Brass: -- was a Teflon-based two-part oil-a gun lubricant. (Brass points his index finger at Bobby as if pointing a gun.) Bobby Dawson: So? Bobby: So you're the gun guy, Bobby. Bobby Dawson: Yeah, which is exactly why I would never use Teflon-based two-part oil. (Brass puts his hands on Bobby's shoulders.) Bobby Dawson: Real gun guys hate that stuff. If it separates in the can, it separates in the gun. (Bobby starts to rise, Brass keeps him down in his seat.) Brass: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa. You are tense. (Brass releases Bobby and moves away from him.) Brass: So, where do you think you're going? Bobby Dawson: Back to work. This is ridiculous. (Bobby starts to stand up again. Brass whirls around and opens his police BATON!) Brass: Oh. Sit down. (He taps Bobby firmly on the shoulder with his police BATON!) [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] (Hodges turns as if slapped.) Hodges: Ow! Wendy: No, no. Captain Brass is not the kind of cop who smacks a suspect around. Henry: Really? He scares me. (click!) (Hodges grabs a file folder off the table and drops it on the floor.) Hodges: Oh, well, look who's the clumsy one now. Excuse me. (Hodges quickly ducks under the table. Henry takes the opportunity and confers with Wendy on the case.) Henry: Okay, so we don't have nearly enough to hold Bobby, right? Wendy: No. (Hodges gathers the files and papers and slams them on the BREAKROOM table.) Hodges: All right. Who's up for an autopsy? (Wendy smiles and raises her hand.) [INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - SCENARIO 3] (Wendy is on the table. Robbins points to the slit in her throat as he explains his findings to Greg.) Robbins: The carotid-jugular complex was transected, -- (CAMERA starts to move downward toward dead Wendy's chest ... Robbins: -- and based on the placement and size of the wound, I'd say she had at ... Dead Wendy: (firmly) Hey! (CAMERA bounces back up to Wendy's neck.) Dead Wendy: It's a NECK WOUND !! (She glares at the camera.) (Wendy shuts her eyes again.) Robbins: Based on the placement and size of the neck wound, she was conscious 30 to 60 seconds before blood loss was fatal. Greg: That's a long time. No one reported her screaming or calling out for help. [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Henry: (interrupts) We have to get back to the case file. [INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - SCENARIO 3] (Greg looks at the camera.) Greg: (mouths silently) I know. (He reaches off screen and grabs the case file. He opens it and looks at the photo of Wendy's hand.) Greg: There was no blood on her hands at the scene. Unless she was unconscious, she would have at least tried to stop the bleeding. Robbins: Well, there was no blow to the head. Greg: Do you think it's possible she was dead before she hit the table? Robbins: You mean like a cardiac event? (Greg nods.) Robbins: Well, I can't rule that out, but a healthy, 36-year-old having a heart attack? Wendy: (V.O.) Thirty-five in October, thank you very much. (Greg again looks at the photos of Wendy's hands. He compares it to her hand.) Greg: She has an oval, perimortem burn on her wrist. [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Henry: (interrupts) Wait a second. That's familiar. [INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - SCENARIO 3] (Greg glares at the camera. He reaches off screen and grabs an evidence bag with the silver bracelet inside. He compares it to the markings on Wendy's wrist.) (Greg and Robbins share a look.) (Quick flashback to: Wendy reaches for the evidence box on the top shelf. She grunts as the bracelet on her wrist sizzles and burns right into her skin. The bracelet melts off and falls to the ground.) END FLASHBACK. [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] (Henry sighs regretfully.) Henry: Singed right off her barely 35-year-old wrist. (Wendy looks at her own wrist.) Wendy: That bracelet wasn't old evidence. I was wearing it. Hodges: Correct. Henry: So, what melts silver and stops your heart at the same time? Wendy: A bolt of lightning. Hodges: In the lab. Wendy: Electrocution. Henry: From what? Wendy: Something in the evidence locker. [INT. CSI - EVIDENCE LOCKER - SCENARIO 3] (Greg is back in the evidence locker. He's standing up on the ladder and looks at cut wiring from the nearby box. He follows the wiring to the vent.) (Inside the vent, he finds a battery.) Wendy: (V.O.) There was a motorcycle battery in the ventilation duct? (The cut wire is attached to the battery.) (Down below, Greg sees the wire attached to the evidence box.) Henry: (V.O.) Wired to the ladder and the evidence box? Hodges: (V.O.) Precisely. (Greg picks up the evidence box.) (Quick flash to: The electrical current sizzles as it passes from the battery to the handle of the evidence box.) POV - INSIDE THE EVIDENCE BOX (Wendy finds the box and grabs it by the handle hole. Her fingers grasp the foil plate. She's zapped by the electrical current and she's electrocuted.) FLASH TO: [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Hodges: Devilishly clever, wouldn't you say? Henry: No. Wendy: Well, who's the killer, Wile E. Coyote? Hodges: Well, what do you mean? Henry: It's ridiculous! Anyone could have walked in there. So, what, the victim's just random? Hodges: (lying) Uh, no. Wendy: How'd the killer get me up there in the first place? What did he do, pass me in the hall and say, "Hey, Wendy, go climb up that ladder and check out the case evidence you had absolutely nothing to do with?" Hodges: Not in those words exactly, but ... uh ... yeah. Wendy: That's completely unverifiable. Henry: This is so lame. (Hodges lowers his head to the table.) Hodges: (mutters) Scenario requires further revision. Wendy: (annoyed) Okay, what is that? Hodges: Nothing. (Wendy glances under the table. Hodges reaches for the tape recorder and rips it off the table it's taped to. He drops it in his case.) (uh-oh!) Wendy: Is that a tape recorder? Hodges: You are so paranoid. This thought experiment has now concluded. (Hodges shoves his things in his case.) Hodges: Thank you. (Henry stares at him, his mouth hanging open.) (Hodges quickly leaves the room.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - LOCKER ROOM] (Hodges shoves his things in his locker. The door opens and Wendy walks in.) Wendy: Why were you recording us? (He shoves his case in the locker.) Hodges: I wasn't recording you. Why would I record you? That makes no sense. (Wendy pushes the locker door open and a thin, long box falls out and open on the floor. Wendy kneels and picks up the cover. It's a board game.) Wendy: "Lab Rats." "The Game of Science and Murder." Hodges: (embarrassed) It's a prototype. Wendy: "Two to four players, ages eight and up." You're making a board game? (Hodges reaches down to pick up the game pieces off the floor.) Hodges: Well, it's not just a board game. Gets people to think. Wendy: Why were you recording us? Hodges: (sighs) I needed your help to flesh out scenarios, and I figured that if I hid the recorder, your answers would be candid and honest. Look, see. (He opens the board onto the bench in front of her to show her what he's made so far.) Hodges: It's like "Clue," only CSI-ier. Wendy: Hodges this is, uh ... this is kind of impressive. In a painfully sad, geek type of way. Hodges: Well, painfully sad geeks have a lot of spare time on their hands and loads of disposable income. "Lab Rats" could be a gold mine. (He reaches down to pick up the rest of the pieces. Wendy reaches for the velvet pull bag and opens it to look inside.) Wendy: Oh! (She pulls out the pieces and laughs.) Wendy: Little lab techs. Hodges: Mm-hmm. (She goes through the pieces. The names of the pieces are on the side and the detail is on the bottom of the piece.) Wendy: "Sandy Baxter, fingerprint fanatic." "Reggie Chang, eagled-eyed A/V expert." "Andrew Henries, top-notch tox tech." "Hodgkins." Hodgkins. Hodges: Mm-hmm. Wendy: You named yourself after cancer. (It never occurred to him. Wendy picks up the last piece. Hodges tries to stop her.) Hodges: Oh! (She pulls it away and reads it anyway.) Wendy: "Mindy Bimms, the clumsy yet buxom DNA tech." (she looks at the piece.) Clumsy yet buxom? Hodges: (shrugs) It's a redeeming feature. It's-it's a prototype. Wendy: (insulted) So, tell me, do you think that Mindy Bimms is clumsy because she's top-heavy? (She tosses the piece at Hodges. He flinches.) Wendy: Or do you just mean clumsy like this? (She knocks the board and the pieces off the bench and onto the floor.) Wendy: Oops. (Wendy gets up and heads for the door. She turns around.) Wendy: Okay, are you ... are you allergic to being honest with me? 'Cause the thing is, if you had actually asked me to help you with this game, I would have. But, no, you had to hide a tape recorder under a table and engage us all in this great big "thought experiment!" When in reality, it doesn't even matter, apparently, what I think because I'm just Mindy Big Boobs to you, and I ... You are the dumbest smart guy I know. Hodges: You think I'm smart? (Wendy rolls her eyes, turns and leaves the locker room.) (Hodges sighs heavily as he looks down at his game on the floor.) [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY] [INT. CSI -- HALLWAY - DAY] (Greg walks through the hallway. As he heads out, he passes Grissom.) Grissom: Night, Greg. Greg: (grunts) Yeah, whatever. (Grissom turns and looks back at Greg.) (Grissom continues walking.) Hodges: (o.s.) (high-pitched voice) Oh, Hodges, I'm so sorry. (Grissom does a double-take and sees Hodges in the breakroom looking forlornly at his board game set up on the table. He's playing with the pieces.) Hodges: It's just that I'm jealous of your intellect. (He maneuvers the Mindy Bimms game piece over a glass of water.) Hodges: (normal voice) But Wendy, you have so much to live for. Don't do it. You're too close to the edge. (He drops the Mindy Bimms game piece into the glass of water.) Hodges: (high-pitched voce) Oh, and now I'm drowning! Oh, God! Oh, God, help me. Help me. (Grissom stands in the doorway and stares at Hodges. What the hell--?) Grissom: What are you doing? (busted! Hodges looks up and finds Grissom there.) Hodges: Oh, uh ... (Hodges takes the Mindy Bimms game piece out of the water glass.) Hodges: (sighs) I was ... uh ... just trying to ... develop a board game - (Grissom walks into the BREAKROOM, his eyes on the board game on the table. He seems genuinely interested.) Hodges: -- based on this place, but not in any legally actionable sense. You get evidence, scenarios, analysis. Try to solve diabolical murders. (Hodges holds the Mindy Bimms game piece. Grissom takes it from him and looks at it. He looks at the board, the rooms, the pieces, the timer, the dice.) (Hodges waits.) Grissom: I like games. Hodges: Really? Grissom: Yeah. (Grissom sits down.) Hodges: Okay. Let's play. (Hodges picks up the board game cover and reads the blurb on the inside.) Hodges: What makes it hard to catch a killer? Is it the sheer destructive power of the murder itself that obliterates evidence - CAMERA SLIDES OVER TO: [INT. CSI - LAB] (Archie is in the lab documenting a case full of cocaine bricks.) Hodges: (V.O.) -- as it snuffs out life? (He looks at the case and pauses at the next brick. He reaches into the case and cautiously lifts the brick. There's no explosion.) (He lets out the breath he's been holding.) (He continues to work.) CAMERA SLIDES OVER TO: [INT. CSI -- TOX LAB] (Mandy walks into the lab.) Hodges: (V.O.) Or is it the chain of events the murder sets into motion which obscure the true crime? (She turns and sees Henry inside the freezer, his face plastered up against the glass. She rushes over to open the freezer. She grabs the handle and rattles it - (Henry moves. He's been faking it.) (Mandy gasps. He laughs and opens the freezer.) Henry: That was good. (Mandy whacks him on the arm.) CAMERA SLIDES OVER TO: [INT. CSI - EVIDENCE LOCKER] (Wendy is standing on the ladder. It moves and she gasps and grabs the ladder handle to keep from falling. She pauses a moment, spooked.) Hodges: (V.O.) Or is it a mechanism so complex and diabolical that it borders on the incredible? (She grabs the evidence box from the top shelf and climbs down.) CAMERA SLIDES OVER TO: [INT. CSI - A/V LAB - SCENARIO 4] ON MONITOR: HODGES talks directly to the monitor camera. Hodges: (from monitor) In truth, it is all these things, -- (PULL BACK to REVEAL: Hodges sits in front of the computer camera as he records himself.) Hodges: -- and all these things are the same. Because the only real way to catch a killer is to outsmart him ... and hope that he's not smarter than you. (Hodges smiles. He sits up straight.) BANG! (Hodges falls backward and rolls off the chair with a THUD!) ON CHAIR - empty and spinning round and round and round. ON HODGES - on the floor, dead - still wearing that grin and a bullet hole in his forehead. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] (Grissom looks at his notes.) Grissom: Your "speech" in front of your computer, and you take a bullet to the head. Hodges: No witnesses. Nobody heard the shot, and the killer is somebody in the lab. (not bad.) Grissom: Am I eligible? Hodges: In this scenario, no. Grissom: Okay. So during the basic process of the scene, what do I find? [INT. CSI - A/V LAB - SCENARIO 4] (Grissom kneels and looks at the bare floor where Hodges' body was. The chair in front of the computer is still spinning around and around and around.) Hodges: (V.O.) A single nine-millimeter casing at the doorway to Trace. (Grissom picks up the casing and looks at it. He looks around.) Grissom: Then my first blush theory is a walk-by. FLASH TO: (Someone walks past the lab, stops in front of the computer and shoot Hodges in the head. He drops the casing as Hodges falls to the floor with a thud. The killer leaves the lab and leaves the casing behind.) [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Grissom: I'm going to need the bullet. Hodges: Then I'm going to need an autopsy. [INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - SCENARIO 4] (Hodges is on the autopsy table. David Phillips and Robbins are standing around the table. David bounces on his feet with anticipation. Robbins sighs with annoyance. David wiggles his eyebrows at Robbins, waiting for his cue. He smiles and nudges his head, waiting impatiently for Robbins to give him the cue.) Robbins: (annoyed) Get it out of your system! David Phillips: (bursts) No sign of sexual trauma. Robbins: (barks) Out! (David grins at him.) Robbins: (shouts) Now! (David turns and leaves with his head down.) (The door closes behind him.) (Robbins gets to work. He puts a plastic rod in the bullet hole in Hodges' forehead. The rod sticks straight up.) Robbins: All right, trajectory of the shot was roughly 90 degrees from vertical, straight through his noble skull. Bullet didn't exit. Grissom: (V.O.) Is it intact? FLASH TO: LATER (Robbins holds Hodges' brain and pulls the bullet out. He looks at the bullet.) Robbins: More or less. [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Grissom: IBIS. [INT. CSI - BALLISTICS - SCENARIO 4] (Grissom studies the bullet under the scope.) Hodges: (V.O.) The bullet's nose is significantly deformed and the lead base is pitted. But there are sufficient striae to get a match for what little it's worth. (Grissom runs the bullet through the computer database. He finds a match. He puts the two bullets and compares the striae. The computer beeps. It's a 99.936% match.) (He pulls up information on the gun.) Hodges: (V.O.) The gun came through the lab about a week ago in a buyback program and was subsequently destroyed. XCU: MONITOR (Disposition shows "destroyed.") [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Grissom: So you were shot by a weapon that no longer exists. Hodges: Apparently. (Grissom nods.) Grissom: Okay, let's go over your snuff film, shall we? I want to see exactly what you did. CAMERA SLIDES OVER TO: [INT. CSI - A/V LAB - SCENARIO 4 (VERSION) ] (Hodges' recording plays on the monitor. Grissom's reflection is on the monitor glass.) Hodges: (from video) In truth, it is all of these things, and all of these things are the same. (PULL BACK to REVEAL - Grissom is not alone. Wendy, Archie, Mandy, David and Henry gather around him to watch the snuff film. Wendy even brought a large tub of popcorn.) Hodges: (from video) Because the only real way to catch a killer is to outsmart him and hope that he is not smarter than you. (On the monitor, Hodges smiles and sits up straight.) ON AUDIENCE BANG!! (Everyone bursts out laughing.) ON MONITOR - Hodges rolls off the chair and falls to the floor with a thud. Wendy: Do it again! ARCHIE: Do it again! DAVID PHILLIPS: One more time. One more time. (Grissom grins.) Hodges: (V.O.) Wait, wait, wait - [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Hodges: They all want to watch? Grissom: (deadpans) Professional curiosity. I guess. (Grissom's eyes sparkle as he looks at Hodges.) [INT. CSI - A/V LAB - SCENARIO 4] (Grissom sits ALONE in front of the monitor. The computer beeps as he replays the video.) Hodges: (from video) In truth, it is all these things, and all these things are the same. ON MONITOR (Hodges' recording plays on the monitor. Grissom's reflection is on the monitor glass.) Hodges: (from video) Because the only real way to catch a killer is to outsmart him and hope that he is not smarter than you. (Hodges smiles. He sits up straight.) BANG! (Hodges falls backward and rolls off the chair with a THUD!) (Grissom sees something. He rewinds the video.) ON MONITOR (Hodges smiles. He sits up straight.) BANG! (Hodges falls backward and rolls off the chair with a THUD!) Grissom: (V.O.) You took the shot straight into your head, -- (The computer chair IS STILL SPINNING round and round and round.) Grissom: (V.O.) -- but according to the video, you were not facing the hallway. REVEAL - Grissom stands in the doorway looking at the computer at where the shooter would have been. Grissom: (V.O.) Which means the bullet didn't come from there. (Grissom turns and looks behind him. There's a shelf.) Grissom: It must've come from here. (He points to the shelf behind him.) (Grissom checks the shelf -- Hodges: (V.O.) Yes, it did. -- and finds a barrel attached to a pager.) Grissom: A zip gun. Hodges: (V.O.) With an unrifled barrel. Grissom: And a remote trigger. What model year is the pager? Hodges: (V.O.) Pre-1990. Grissom: So no call-back numbers. Pre-1990 pagers didn't store them. Hodges: (V.O.) So, you're at a dead end? (Grissom looks DIRECTLY at the CAMERA.) Grissom: I'm just getting started. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - BALLISTICS LAB - SCENARIO 4] (Grissom swabs the zip gun barrel. The tip of the swab is black. He looks at the swab.) Grissom: Do I have to walk over to the GCMS or will you just tell me? Hodges: (V.O.) The barrel of the zip gun contains traces of black powder. (Grissom caps the swab.) (He turns and looks at the bullets on the computer.) Grissom: Okay, but the bullet was pitted on the base, which is the result of exposure to smokeless gunpowder. Which means that the bullet that killed you was fired twice. CUT TO: FLASHBACK (The killer fires the gun.) Grissom: (V.O.) The killer test-fires the gun, knowing it will be destroyed, and keeps the bullet and the casing. (The killer retrieves the bullet. The killer makes the zip gun.) Grissom: (V.O.) He puts the bullet in a metal tube on a wad of black powder. CGI ZOOM TO: The pager buzzes. The electrical pulses flash through the wiring and to the zip gun barrel.) Grissom: (V.O.) With a pager trigger, it's essentially a remote controlled musket. Call the number from any phone or through the Internet and ... CGI THROUGH GUN BARREL - The gunpowder ignites and fires the bullet.) END CGI. [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Hodges: Impressive. Can you tell me whodunit? Grissom: Well, Bobby Dawson is an early 19th Century firearm enthusiast. He ... uh ... loads and fires muskets for fun. Hodges: Oh, yeah. Big gun guy. [INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - HALLWAY - SCENARIO 4] (Brass leads Bobby Dawson through the hallway, his hand holding Bobby's arm.) Bobby Dawson: I didn't do it! I didn't do anything! I swear! (Bobby tears out of Brass's grip and runs down the hallway to get away.) (Officer Mitchell blocks Bobby's path.) Bobby Dawson: Hey! OFFICER MITCHELL: Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa. (Brass rolls his eyes.) (Bobby wrestles Officer Mitchell's gun away from him. Bobby has the gun now. He holds it pointed up at the ceiling.) Brass: (ho-hum) Gun. (Bobby looks at the gun in his hand.) (Brass takes his out and aims at Bobby.) BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG !!! THUD !!! (Whipping sound.) (Brass holds up his gun and blows lightly across the smoking barrel.) [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Grissom: What do you got against Bobby Dawson? Hodges: (shakes his head) Nothing. Running gag. So, -- (Hodges holds up the figurine.) Hodges: -- you think Bobby Dawson did it? Grissom: (confidently) No. Bobby was framed. You drew me a map. (Hodges puts the figurine down.) Grissom: The path of the bullet, if not stopped by your brain mass, would have continued straight through into Ballistics, where Bobby works. Now, Bobby's a real gun guy, and no gun guy would ever position himself down-range of a shot. You're more than a victim, Hodges. ON VIDEO (Hodges is on the monitor.) Grissom: (V.O.) According to your video, you straightened up just before the fatal shot was fired. (Hodges smiles and sits up straight.) CGI SHOT (Bullet is fired from the barrel.) BARREL POV (The bullet exits the barrel.) Grissom: (V.O.) You knew it was coming. (The bullet heads straight for Hodges.) Grissom: (V.O.) And you made sure that you were in the perfect position to catch it. THUD!! [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM] Hodges: I am a mere Padawan in the presence of the Jedi Master. (Hodges puts his hands flat together and bows to Grissom.) Grissom: True. (looks at watch) Let's play another. Hodges: Sure. (Hodges picks up the scenario cards and shuffles through them. He glances at Grissom.) Hodges: You weren't ready -- to leave -- this: the challenges, the puzzles, the job. Grissom: No. Hodges: But Sara was. Grissom: Yeah, she was. Hodges: You can't stand in the way of that. When it's time for someone to move on, you just gotta let them go. Grissom: Let's play the game, shall we? Hodges: Okay. Oh! (Hodges shows Grissom the tape recorder.) Hodges: Mind if I record this? (to recorder) Scenario 12, Hodges and Grissom. (He puts the recorder down as he starts the next scenario.) [SCENE_BREAK] Hodges: (V.O.) Okay, you walk into the AV Lab. You find Archie slumped over his computer with a knife in his head ...
You Kill Me