The deceased victims in the CSI coroner's office give voice to their own murder investigations for the first time: a drowning victim found in an elevator investigated by Catherine, a woman who fell off a cliff investigated by Warrick, Sophia and Greg, a soldier stabbed just after returning from Iraq investigated by Nick, and two victims of a chainsaw massacre investigated by Grissom and Sara.
CUE MUSIC: "Sleeper's Awake," J.S. Bach [INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY -- DAY] (Robbins sews up the final stitches after an autopsy. He snips the thread. The body he's working on is a woman; her scalp is exposed and folded over.) (The toe tag reads: BASSET, DONNA 5TH FLOOR ELEVATOR (Robbins folds the scalp back over her head. Finished, he heads to the door, flicks off the overhead light and leaves.) Grissom: (o.s.) Generally, autopsies are performed in the morning. [INT. CSI - HALLWAY OUTSIDE FORENSIC AUTOPSY - DAY - CONTINUOUS] (Grissom leads a group of students through the hallway just outside Forensic Autopsy.) Grissom: Hello, David. David Phillips: Hello, Grissom. (David comes out of one of the autopsy rooms pushing a body on a gurney.) Grissom: David Phillips, everyone, our excellent assistant coroner and baseball trivia expert. (David waves to them.) Male Student: (re: the body) And who's that? Grissom: I'll introduce you to her later. (They continue on.) Afternoons are usually for paperwork and court. (David pushes the gurney through the hallway. He stops and opens the door to the morgue.) [INT. MORGUE - DAY - CONTINUOUS] (David pushes in the gurney into the room. There's another body on a gurney already there. He leaves the two gurneys next to each other and leaves.) (The door closes behind him.) CU: DONNA BASSET (Her eyes open. She blinks several times. She sits up and looks around. The body on the gurney next to her sits up as well.) Rebecca McGill: Hi. I'm Rebecca. Donna Basset: Donna. (They shake hands.) I'm ... I was Donna. Rebecca McGill: But you know, I don't think that matters much anymore. (Donna looks around.) Donna Basset: So ... so we're ... ? Rebecca McGill: (sympathetically) Yeah. Donna Basset: Huh. Somehow ... it's not quite what I expected. Rebecca McGill: What were you expecting? White light, puffy clouds? Donna Basset: My mom. Rebecca McGill: So how'd you get here, anyway? Donna Basset: You know ... someone will figure it out. WHITE FADE OUT TO: [INT. HOTEL - 5TH FLOOR ELEVATOR - DAY] (Catherine looks at the body in the elevator floor. The body is wrapped in a towel.) (Brass stands in the hallway talking with the housekeeper, Gloria.) Brass: So you're the one who found the body? Gloria Torres (housekeeper): Yeah, I pushed the button, the doors open, I get this. Brass: Right. Do you recognize her? Gloria Torres (housekeeper): No. (Catherine snaps a couple of photos.) Brass: At any time did you step inside the elevator? Gloria Torres (housekeeper): Get closer to that? No, thanks. Brass: All right, thank you, Gloria. Thank you. (The officer escorts Gloria away. Brass turns his attention to the elevator. Catherine finds a white fiber in the elevator door tracks. She picks it up and looks at it.) Catherine: Some white cotton fibers. Probably from the towel. Could be she was dragged into the elevator. INSERT: FLASHBACK (Someone drags the body from the hallway into the elevator. The towel brushes against the door tracks and leaves cotton fibers behind.) BACK TO SCENE. (Catherine looks at the outer door track and shakes her head.) Catherine: From any floor except this one. Brass: How many floors we got? Catherine: Well, no 13th. (As she puts the fiber in a baggie, she glances at the button panel and stops.) No four and no 14. (nods) Yeah, unlucky numbers. Different countries, different superstitions. That was something Sam taught me. (She puts the baggie away.) Brass: Yeah. Catherine: (sighs) And we just eliminated the one we're on. Brass: You do the math. Catherine: Thirty-three floors. David Phillips: Hey, I'm sorry I'm late. Brass: The wedding planner. Hmm? David Phillips: Yeah. Twenty-one days and counting. Catherine: That's all right, David. Why don't you help me turn the body? Examine her for injuries. (David kneels to help Catherine, but she sees something.) Catherine: Wait a second. (A rose petal on the floor near the victim's head. She picks it up and looks at it.) Catherine: A rose petal. American Beauty. (They roll the body over.) Catherine: Oh! (Water pours out of the victim's mouth.) Catherine: I'm gonna take a wild stab and guess drowning. Brass: How do you drown in an elevator? (Catherine turns and looks at him.) SMASH CUT TO END OF TEASER ROLL TITLE CREDITS [SCENE_BREAK] [BLACK SCREEN, WHITE TEXT] CHAPTER I: AMERICAN BEAUTY [INT. HOTEL - ELEVATOR - DAY] (The elevator bell dings and the doors open. Catherine looks out at the basement hallway leading to the elevator. She kneels and checks out the elevator door tracks. She runs her hands on the grooves.) [CU: ELEVATOR PANEL] (She presses button #18.) [INT. HOTEL - ELEVATOR - DAY] (The elevator bell dings and the doors open. A housekeeper stands near her cart by the far SERVICE DOORS. She turns to look at Catherine.) (Catherine looks down at the elevator door tracks.) [CU: ELEVATOR PANEL] (She presses button #26.) [INT. HOTEL - ELEVATOR - DAY] (The elevator bell dings and the doors open. A service table on wheels with a setting for two is out in the hallway across from a janitor's mop and bucket. Catherine looks out.) [CU: ELEVATOR PANEL] (She presses button #29.) [INT. HOTEL - ELEVATOR - DAY] (The elevator bell dings and the doors open.) [CU: ELEVATOR PANEL] (She presses button PH.) [INT. HOTEL - ELEVATOR (PH FLOOR) - DAY] (The elevator bell dings and the doors open. Out in the hallway, Catherine sees several linen and laundry push carts. She looks down at the elevator door tracks and kneels to get a closer look. She finds another white cotton fiber. She's on the right floor.) (She steps out into the hallway and checks the laundry bags. It's empty. She checks the towels stacked on the push cart, then turns to check the other carts as well. In the second cart, she finds used white cotton towels. She reaches in and takes them out. Under that, she finds dark clothes. She takes that out. Under that, she finds a gun in a holster.) [SCENE_BREAK] (Brass and the hotel manager burst in through the double doors.) Brass: What do you got? (Catherine shows him the badge and ID.) Catherine: We got a dead cop. (Brass looks at the ID.) Brass: Donna Basset out of San Francisco. (MARTIN) HOTEL MANAGER: She's not a registered guest. Brass: San Francisco PD lets their guys moonlight. Do you know anyone on this floor needs private security? (MARTIN) HOTEL MANAGER: Mr. Hsing. Robert Hsing. He's an architect. A pretty big deal in Hong Kong. Brass: Which room? [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. HOTEL - PENTHOUSE - DAY -- CONTINUOUS] (Brass kicks the door open and bursts into the room, gun drawn. A couple of officers follow him inside.) (Brass checks the main room while the officers check the other rooms.) Officer: Clear! (Catherine and the hotel manager enter the penthouse.) Brass: Clear and empty. (Brass tucks his gun back in his holster. Catherine looks around the living room.) Brass: (sighs) We need to locate Mr. Hsing. Catherine: I know these suites. This furniture's been moved. (MARTIN) HOTEL MANAGER: Per Mr. Hsing's request. (Catherine looks at the room's furniture pattern.) Catherine: What is this is, an eight-sided pattern? Feng shui? (MARTIN) HOTEL MANAGER: (nods) He's exacting. The furniture we moved left impressions in the carpet. We vacuumed them out. Some numbers patterns make elements flow. Luck, energy, chi. Brass: So you believe in all this feng shui stuff? (Catherine turns and heads over to the next room.) (MARTIN) HOTEL MANAGER: When a guest gambles several million dollars per visit, it doesn't matter what I believe. [INT. HOTEL - PENTHOUSE - BEDROOM - DAY -- CONTINUOUS] (Catherine steps into the bedroom and finds a bathtub in the room. The water is overflowing. Rose petals float on the top of the water.) Catherine: (to Brass) Now we know how you drown in an elevator. You don't. (louder) Martin, could you join us? (She stops him from entering.) Catherine: Don't step in. Just take a look around and do you notice anything missing or out of place? Martin (hotel manager): There's a couple of towels missing. And a bath sheet. Catherine: And do all your infinity tubs come with rose petals? Martin (hotel manager): No, we did that. Catherine: When the water flows, the money flows? Martin (hotel manager): Four dozen red rose petals exactly. Imported bath oil. Brass: Per Mr. Hsing's request, hmm? (The hotel manager's phone rings. He steps away and answers it.) Martin (hotel manager): (to phone) This is Martin. Great. What floor? Who's in the room with him? (Catherine watches Martin for a moment. Brass watches Catherine.) Brass: (quietly) You okay? You know, I mean, working Sam's hotel so soon after the, you know? Catherine: I think that working helps. I mean, you know that. Brass: Yeah. Martin (hotel manager): (b.g.) (to phone) No, stay put. (to Catherine) We found Mr. Hsing. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. HOTEL - SUITE - DAY - CONTINUOUS] Martin (hotel manager): (V.O.) He's gambling in a private suite downstairs. (The dealer deals the cards, then flips his own over.) Dealer: Player has five. (Mr. Hsing checks his cards and tosses them over and in.) Dealer: Natural nine. You win. (Robert Hsing smiles. The door opens. Brass, Catherine and a couple of officers walk in.) Robert Hsing: Close the door. Brass: Mr. Hsing, I'm Detective Jim Brass, Las Vegas Police. (Robert Hsing gets to his feet.) Your security officer, Donna Basset, was found dead tonight. Murdered in your hotel room. Robert Hsing: I'm so sorry. Donna's worked for me the last twelve times I've come to your city. Have you notified her family? Brass: We'll take care of that. When did you last see her? Robert Hsing: When she escorted me here about four hours ago. Brass: Mm-hmm. Mr. Hsing, when you hire security, how much of it is for real threat and how much is perceived? Do you know what I mean? How much is for show? Robert Hsing: I have very real enemies. [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY LIGHTS (STOCK) - NIGHT] [INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - NIGHT] (Robbins holds the victim's right eye open as he shares his findings with Catherine. CGI CU of the eye vessels turning red.) (Robbins and Catherine are standing on either side of the body on the autopsy table.) Robbins: Yeah, she drowned, all right. Slight petechial hemorrhaging in both eyes. Catherine: Any chance it was an accident? Robbins: When was the last time you took a nap in Grissom's tub? Take a look. (He shows her the bruising on the victim's shoulders.) Catherine: Oh, yeah. Someone held her down. Robbins: And she ... (He shows her the cuts on the victim's knuckles.) Catherine: ... put up a fight. [INT. HOTEL - SUITE - DAY - CONTINUOUS] (Brass talks with Robert Hsing, as the game is on hold.) Brass: So, you checked in around 6:00. Where have you been since? Robert Hsing: Here, playing. It's why I come to Vegas. Brass: So you never left this room all night? Robert Hsing: Once, about three hours ago. Brass: (nods) Oh, that's helpful. Why'd you leave? Robert Hsing: My luck was bad. I went to change it. (Brass chuckles.) Brass: And how'd you swing that? Robert Hsing: Called Detective Basset to escort me back to my suite. She didn't answer. I went by myself. Brass: I see. (to the dealer) You can corroborate this? Dealer: He used the hotel phone. Brass: Okay, good, there's a record then. So you get back to you suite. Then what? Robert Hsing: I urinated. Changed my underwear. Came back. Kept playing. Brass: So changing your skivvies can change your luck? (Robert Hsing turns to look at the dealer.) Dealer: Mr. Hsing's was down $1.2 million. Now he's up over $2 million. Brass: Wow. I'll have to try that. [INT. CSI - A/V LAB -- NIGHT] MONITOR: TOP VIEW DOWN (The elevator security camera shows Donna Basset's body pushed into the elevator. The man's arm reaches in and presses a button. Video pauses.) (Archie and Catherine sit in front of the monitors reviewing the security video.) Archie: Well, got part of your killer. Catherine: He knew there were cameras in the elevators, but not in the hallways or the service area. Archie: So what do you want to do now? Catherine: His sleeve is wet. (She gets an idea.) Catherine: Stop and smell the roses. [INT. CSI - LAB -- NIGHT] (Catherine opens and lines up all the rose petals taken from the hotel room tub. She takes the rose petal found with the body and cuts a piece of it off.) VARIOUS CUTS: (Catherine tests and analyzes the rose petal.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. HOTEL - PENTHOUSE -- NIGHT] (The door opens and Robert Hsing finds Catherine, Brass and an officer at his door. Right behind him are his bags and things.) Robert Hsing: You just caught me. (Catherine steps into the room.) Catherine: Mr. Hsing, I'm Catherine Willows, from the Crime Lab, and I need to see the suit that you wore last night. Robert Hsing: You already have my fingerprints. Brass: Well, we can be finicky. Catherine: A rose petal from the victim's body was found to contain traces of vitisvinifera -- grapeseed oil. The kind that this hotel puts in your tub. We know that the killer's shirt was wet, so I need to see your clothes. (He takes the shirts wrapped in plastic off the suitcase rack.) Robert Hsing: I'll leave you my address in Hong Kong. You can ship them back to me when you're done. (She takes the shirts from him.) Catherine: Thank you. [INT. CSI - A/V LAB - NIGHT] (Catherine is back in the A/V Lab reviewing video from the elevator security camera. She watches it over and over again and appears to be stumped. She shakes her head as she thinks.) (Grissom walks in.) Catherine: Rose petals in the bathtub had traces of grapeseed oil. Killer's sleeves were wet. Grissom: So you get the clothes, you get your guy. Catherine: Dry cleaner screwed us. Grissom: Did he push all the buttons? Catherine: Yeah. Enough to keep that body moving, and leave me with a lot of partials. Grissom: A lot? (Catherine gets it. She looks at Grissom.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - PRINT LAB - NIGHT] (Catherine scans all the partial prints into the computer.) VARIOUS CUTS (She puts a composite print together and runs it through the search to specifically match against Robert Hsing.) (The computer beeps. MATCH FOUND.) INSERT: FLASHBACK (Robert Hsing is in the penthouse changing his tie. He turns and sees Donna Basset taking a bath in his tub.) Robert Hsing: You're in my water. You're the reason I'm losing! (He grabs her shoulders and pushes her down under the water. She struggles and gurgles.) Donna Basset: (V.O.) I changed his luck, and he took my life. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - MORGUE] (Donna Basset talks with Rebecca McGill.) Donna Basset: Every time he came to Vegas, he would gamble for four hours exactly. And, you know, I took that bath every time. Rebecca McGill: You were murdered. Donna Basset: I was a cop. Thought I could see danger coming. Rebecca McGill: Well, not me. I got into more train wreck relationships than I can count. And then I met Gavin. Donna Basset: And ... ? (We move around to the back of Rebecca's head where we see a large hole and her skull empty. Her brains are gone.) Rebecca McGill: He was a great guy. And then I fell ... I fell hard. [SCENE_BREAK] [BLACK SCREEN, WHITE TEXT] CHAPTER II: NO BRAINER CUE SOUNDS: (PRE-LAP) A WOMAN GROANING, A CRUNCHING SOUND, THEN A WOMAN SCREAMING [EXT. NEVADA DESERT - DAY] INSERT: CGI VISUALIZATION (Looking up from the bottom of a tall cliff, a woman's body falls off the top. She screams as she hits the rocks and ledges on her way down.) (She hits the bottom.) Warrick: (Warrick is at the top of the cliff looking down at the drop below.) (Sofia walks up to him and joins him at the cliff's edge.) Sofia: Rebecca McGill. She was taking a hike with her husband Gavin. He was taking photos. One second she was there, the next she was gone. He went for help. Warrick: Hiking accident? Sofia: Maybe. (Sofia looks around.) Sofia: It's going to take you some time to get down there. (Warrick puts his dark glasses on.) Warrick: It's better than the express route she took. [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. NEVADA DESERT (STOCK) - DAY] (Camera moves low and fast along the desert terrain.) [EXT. NEVADA DESERT - CLIFFSIDE -- DAY] (The coroners are at the bottom of the cliff with Greg. Warrick is near the top.) Warrick: Okay, Mr. Boy Scout. Greg: Eagle Scout. I didn't earn a chestful of merit badges for nothing. (Greg puts a flagged marker near a piece of bloodied cloth.) Greg: You see anything interesting up there? INSERT: CGI VISUALIZATION (The victim's body falls down the cliffside.) Warrick: Well, looks like she bounced around a lot up here at the top before she caught air. (The CGI body hits the side of the cliff and vanishes as it comes to a stop at the bottom.) Greg: She was hot. Warrick: You pay for "hot," believe me. (Greg turns the head and sees the large empty hole in her skull.) Greg: It's a no-brainer. I guess that makes me the search party. (Greg starts climbing.) Warrick: Oh, I see it. You're getting warm. (Greg sees the bits of brain on the dirt.) Warrick: Hotter by the foot. (Greg continues climbing till he finds the brain in the grass.) Warrick: There you go. (Greg takes out a digital camera and snaps photos of the brain.) INSERT: CGI (Through the hole in the victim's head, the brain on the ground "rewinds" back into her skull.) Greg: It's hard to crack an egg without breaking the yolk. BACK TO SCENE. Warrick: That's amazing. (Greg shuffles over to the side and picks up a cell phone.) Greg: Don't think she'll be needing it, but ... I found her cell phone. [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. NEVADA DESERT - TOP OF CLIFF - DAY] (Sofia and Warrick talk with Gavin McGill, Rebecca's husband. The body is wheeled on a gurney to the back of the coroner's van.) Gavin McGill: It was a bald eagle, and they're extremely rare, and Rebecca had to have a picture for our Christmas card. (He glances over at the body on the gurney.) Gavin McGill: (swallows) You take a picture, and you turn back around, and life as you know it is forever changed. Warrick: Sir, is that the camera that you used? Gavin McGill: Yeah. Warrick: May I see it? (He gives Warrick the camera. Warrick looks at the photos of Gavin and Rebecca.) Gavin McGill: This was supposed to be our second honeymoon. We fell in love at an Internet convention at the Hilton. Couldn't believe my luck. A model ... and a guy like me. Beauty and the geek. (There are six photos in the camera - a couple of Gavin and Rebecca; a couple of Rebecca showing off her wedding ring; and a couple of a flying eagle.) Warrick: What did you do after she fell? Gavin McGill: I ran to the edge, called down to her, and she didn't move. Sofia: Mr. McGill, you hiked to the ranger station for help. Why didn't you just use your cell phone? Gavin McGill: Bad reception. Sofia: You're free to go. But stay local. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - FORENCIS AUTOPSY - DAY] (Robbins goes over his findings with Warrick.) Robbins: (re: the brain) Impressive that it remained intact. Warrick: I'd say. Robbins: So take a look at this. (CU of the victim's neck.) Robbins: The multiple embedded small rocks present in the neck area. (Camera zooms out.) Robbins: Also in the parietal and occipital scalp, suggest she landed head first. Extremity fractures, rib fractures, spine fracture -- all consistent with a fall. Multiple abrasions on the arms and legs. So I am guessing most were sustained before hitting the ground. Warrick: Well, I did find some blood on the rocks at the top of the cliff, as well as a piece of his shirt. Looks like it was a bumpy ride all the way down. Robbins: Yeah. Which could explain these abrasions. Warrick: She tore up her hands grabbing on to anything she could. Robbins: Severe lacerations on the backs of both hands and a broken right middle finger. Warrick: Was that sustained during the fall ... or did someone step on her hand? [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY LIGHTS (STOCK) - NIGHT] [INT. CSI - HALLWAY -- NIGHT] (Warrick is on his cell phone leaving a phone message for Tina.) Warrick: (to phone) Tina, baby, can you give me a call when you get this? Listen, I know we haven't been spending quality time with each other, but I was thinking tonight we could ... (Henry Andrews steps out of the lab. He's carrying a file folder.) Henry Andrews: Uh, Warrick - Oh. (He sees Warrick on the phone.) Henry Andrews: (whispers) I'll come back. (Warrick hangs up and puts his phone away.) Warrick: Work comes first. What's up? (They start walking down the hallway together.) Henry Andrews: Oh, uh, tox came back. I detected traces of sertraline in the vic's blood. It's a currently popular anti-depressant. She had moderate levels of alcohol, oh, six percent. Warrick: That's a dangerous combination. Henry Andrews: But it's not that unusual. Warrick: Well, would you let your wife drink if she was on medication? Henry Andrews: If I had a wife? No. (They walk out of camera frame.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY] (Warrick and Sofia interview Gavin McGill.) Warrick: So let me get this straight. You took your depressed wife to the top of Red Rock Canyon, shared a bottle of wine, and then you went on a nature hike? Gavin McGill: What are you implying? Sofia: Did you know she was on anti-depressants? Gavin McGill: She made her living with her looks and, lately, she'd been worried about ... losing them. Sofia: Worried enough to kill herself? Gavin McGill: (smiles) I was going to take her to New York and then to Paris. We started talking about planning a family. Suicidal people don't make plans. Warrick: Maybe it wasn't a suicide, but then again, you're the only one left. You can say anything you want. Sofia: Let's just say your marriage wasn't so rosy. Alimony's a bitch. You get her drunk. It's cheap just to shove her off a cliff. Warrick: According to the coroner, the evidence suggests that her hands may have been stepped on. INSERT: FLASHBACK (Rebecca hangs off the edge of the cliff. Gavin steps on her hands and she falls. Rebecca screams. Her body hits the bottom.) BACK TO SCENE. Gavin McGill: You're right, Rebecca was drifting away. She became a different person. The meds weren't helping enough. I thought if I took her to Vegas, where we met, it would snap her out of it, but instead, she jumped. INSERT: FLASHBACK (Rebecca stands at the edge of the cliff. Gavin starts running to her.) Gavin McGill: No, no. (She jumps.) BACK TO SCENE. Gavin McGill: (crying) It is my fault. I never should've taken her out there. Sofia: Why didn't you just tell us this in the first place? Gavin McGill: Would you want people to know that your wife would rather be dead than spend another minute with you? [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - HALLWAY - DAY] (Warrick shows his findings to Grissom as they walk through the hallway. Grissom reads the report.) Warrick: Well, if he is lying, somebody should give him an Emmy award. Grissom: Well, there's plenty of physical evidence, but it's all ambiguous. Warrick: Yeah. Ultimately, I think he is responsible, whether he meant harm or not. Grissom: Well, you know, there's precedent for charging him with promoting a suicide attempt. It's reckless endangerment. There was a case in New York, but it's hard to make that charge stick. Warrick: Well, what if I can prove she tried to kill herself before? Grissom: How do you do that? Warrick: Well, I have her phone. I could go through the most recent calls. If I know women, the husband's usually the last person to know anything. (Grissom hands the file folder back to Warrick and walks away.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - LAB - DAY] (Warrick takes the cell phone out of the evidence bag, hooks it up to the computer and checks the RECENT CALLS. A list appears: (He copies the list to the hard drive. He checks the PICTURE HISTORY and finds the FOLDER IS EMPTY.) (He checks the CAMCORDER and finds VIDEO R1004.MP4.) (He plays the video.) (Rebecca and Gavin are struggling. She falls and he looms up above her. He steps closer, looks down at her, kicks her and she falls. The monitor goes black.) (Warrick is stunned.) INSERT: FLASHBACK (Gavin walks up to Rebecca. She turns and they struggle.) Rebecca McGill: Gavin, what are you doing? Gav ... wait ... No! No! (He pushes her off the cliff. She slides and manages to hang on to the edge.) Rebecca McGill: Wait! No - Oh, my God ... (Gavin steps up to her and kicks her hands.) (She falls.) END OF FLASHBACK. [INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY] (Warrick shows Gavin the photo of him.) Warrick: We have a witness. Why did you kill your wife, Mr. McGill? Gavin McGill: You try having a hot wife. You pay for it every day. I want a lawyer. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - MORGUE] (Rebecca shakes her head.) Rebecca McGill: I finally found a guy who liked me for my brains. Turns out he thought I didn't have any. (The door opens.) (A fourth body is rolled into the morgue in between Rebecca and another gurney on the far end with a red-haired man on it. The new body has a tattoo on his upper right arm.) (The door closes.) (Jack Day sits up and looks around.) Jack Day: Excuse me, ladies? Have you seen my wife? Her-her name's Cara. Rebecca McGill: No. Jack Day: Or my little girl? I had a beautiful little girl. She was only about that big. (He holds his arms as if carrying a baby.) You ain't seen her, have you? Donna Basset: (shakes her head) Nope. Just us. Jack Day: So they're not here? (He looks up and away. He exhales, relieved.) Jack Day: Okay. Then, it's okay. Anywhere but here, right? (He laughs, relieved.) Rebecca McGill: So, how'd you get here? Jack Day: Oh, ma'am, I thought the war was hell until I came to Vegas. [SCENE_BREAK] [BLACK SCREEN, WHITE TEXT] CHAPTER III: EMBALMY DAY CUE SOUNDS: (PRELAP) CAR TIRES SCREECH, CAR CRASHES [EXT. VEGAS STREET -- NIGHT] (Inside the car, a red-haired man is face-forward in his steering wheel.) (Outside, Nick ducks under the crime scene tape as Officer Linda Mendosa explains what happened.) Linda Mendosa: Knucklehead just blew the stop and ran right into the side of my car. (They walk toward the two cars - one black four-door smashed into the side of the officer car.) Nick: Damn. You're lucky -- I don't even see any skid marks. Linda Mendosa: Didn't even try to stop! Just dropped off my partner -- otherwise I would've been sitting in that passenger seat. (Nick snaps a photo and sees the blood on the outside driver's door handle.) Nick: Hey, Linda ... (Nick removes his camera from around his neck. He takes out a swab and preps it.) Nick: You didn't touch the outside of that door handle, did you? Linda Mendosa: No. I know better. Been to a couple of forensic classes taught by you lab guys. Reached in through the window to check his vitals -- he was dead. Paramedics pronounced; made sure no one touched anything. Nick: You did good. This might take a while, if you want to take a little break or something. Thanks. (Linda Mendosa leaves.) (Nick swabs some blood off the car door.) Robbins: (o.s.) Hey, Nick. Nick: Hey, Doc. What brings you out? Robbins: David's on a pickup, and he's got another two lined up after that. He's going for some sort of record. Nick: Dig in. (Robbins opens the car door and looks at the body as Nick walks around the car.) Robbins: What was going through his mind just before he crashed into the police cruiser? "I want to die today and take somebody with me"? Nick: Huh? Robbins: Nothing. (Robbins reaches in and removes the victim's wallet.) Robbins: Got a wallet. (He takes out the driver's license. It reads: CARIS, RUSSELL 50 VIKING CIRCLE LAS VEGAS, NV 89101 ) Robbins: Mr. Russell Caris. (Nick opens the passenger door and snaps a photo.) Robbins: He has dried blood on his hands and on the steering wheel but no bleeding wounds that could have contributed to it. (Nick finds a knife on the passenger seat.) Nick: This could explain the blood. (He holds it up. The blade is bloody.) Nick: Sofia ... (Sofia, who is on her phone, walks toward them. Robbins hands her the driver's license.) Robbins: Here you go. (She looks over at Nick.) Nick: You might want to put out a broadcast on Mr. Caris and his vehicle. (She shows him the knife.) Possible stabbing suspect. Sofia: Well, he's definitely good for something. I'll include the local hospitals in case they've had a stab victim. Robbins: Why wouldn't he have thrown that knife away? Nick: He's not smart. (Robbins laughs.) Robbins: This is natural selection. The dumb ones die. (Sofia hangs up.) Sofia: The good ones, too. I just found your stab victim. [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. GAS STATION -- DAY] (Officers tape off the area. A large American flag flies on the pole nearby.) (Nick and Sofia stand over the dead body.) Sofia: Patrol got a 415b call. Man with a knife. The paramedics rolled up soon after they did. The guy was already dead. Nick: Was he alone? Sofia: No. He was with his family. (Nick puts his sunglasses on and sighs.) [SCENE_BREAK] (Nick and Sofia talk with Cara Stone, Jack's wife. She's carrying her baby daughter.) Cara Stone: We were getting gas, and, uh, some lunatic came up ... (The baby starts crying.) Cara Stone: ... just stabbed my husband in the chest. My baby saw Jack get stabbed. Sofia: Did your husband know the man? Cara Stone: No. And Jack offered him his wallet. The guy just muttered something, just ... just stabbed Jack. And left the wallet. Why ... why did he do this? My ... my husband just met his daughter. Sofia: Wha ... what do you mean, he just met his daughter? Cara Stone: He just got back from his second tour in Iraq. Nick: Would you recognize this guy if you saw him again? (Cara nods.) (Nick shows her his digital camera view screen and a photo of the red-haired man from the car crash.) Nick: Is that him right there? Cara Stone: That's him. Well ... is he dead? Who is he? Why did he kill my husband? Nick: That's what I'm gonna find out for you. Why don't you go with this officer right now. She'll take care of you, all right? I'll do my best to keep you informed, ma'am, I promise. (Cara Stone and the officer leave. Nick and Sofia head back to the victim.) Sofia: Um ... I'll check with the clerk, see if his surveillance camera was working. Nick: Yeah, there's some-some ... oil and grease around the pump. I'll check the tire and ... shoe impressions. (They reach Jack. Nick sighs.) Sofia: Made it back from the war to die on the streets of Las Vegas. Nick: I'm telling you, no place is safe anymore. [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY] [INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY -- DAY] (Robbins reports his findings to Nick.) Robbins: Sergeant Jack Day was in top condition except for the single stab wound to his chest. Knife entered the fourth intercostal space, transected the fourth intercostal muscle, and the left internal mammary artery. COD's exsanguination. Nick: What about the crash-test dummy here? (Nick and Robbins turn to the body on the second table.) Robbins: Interesting case. He has intense erythema of the tracheal mucosa extending down into the main stem bronchi. INSERT: CGI ENHANCEMENT (The victim inhales. An x-ray view of the victim's chest shows the smoke entering into his lungs and turning the lungs black.) BACK TO SCENE Nick: You don't get that from an auto accident, do you? Robbins: No. You get it from inhalation of some caustic poison or drug. I sent samples to Tox. Nick: Okay, good. So ... COD? Robbins: Well, the impact of the accident caused the first cervical vertebrae to tear away from his skull, lacerating the brain stem. Nick: His skull separated from his spine. Robbins: Exactly. Nick: Should've been wearing a seat belt. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - A/V LAB - DAY] (Nick and Archie are reviewing surveillance tapes from the gas station. On the monitor, they watch the car crash victim get out of his car and stagger over to Jack Day, who is filling his car up with gas.) (Jack backs away from him. The attacker takes out a knife. Jack reaches into his back pocket and takes his wallet out. He offers it to the attacker.) (We push into the monitor and see the scene as a flashback. Jack backs away.) Jack Day: No! (The attacker stabs Jack in the chest.) BACK TO SCENE. (Archie shakes his head.) Archie: Well, why'd he stab him? I mean, it's not like he put up a fight. Nick: And why does he pick the biggest guy at the station? Archie: You think that guy in the back would be an easier target. Nick: Rewind it back to this fool getting out of the Buick. (Archie rewinds the video and they watch it again. The attacker gets out of the car and staggers as he heads for Jack.) Nick: He seems disoriented, shaky ... high on something. [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY] Henry Andrews: (V.O.) He had fairly high levels of THC in his blood. [INT. CSI - LAB - DAY] (Henry Andrews shares his findings with Nick.) Henry Andrews: 97 nanograms per milliliter. Nick: THC? That's it? Henry Andrews: Isn't that what you were looking for? Nick: No, I was kind of thinking there was something else in there. You should've seen this guy -- he was acting really ... sketched out. Henry Andrews: Sometimes people are just crazy. [INT. CSI - GARAGE - DAY] (Nick examines the smashed-up Buick. He opens the ashtray and finds a joint.) [INT. CSI - LAB - DAY] (Henry Andrews is holding the joint Nick found in the ashtray. He reports his findings to Nick.) Henry Andrews: Well, you're persistent, I'll give you that. I tested the remaining marijuana in the paper wrapper. You were right. The joint was dipped. Nick: PCP? Henry Andrews: No. Embalming fluid. Nick: "Embalming fluid" is the street name for PCP. Henry Andrews: Yeah, but I don't use street names when I don't mean to. No, I mean real, inject-into-a-dead-person embalming fluid, made of formaldehyde, methanol, ethanol, all that bad stuff. Nick: So this guy was smoking wet. [INT. CSI - GRISSOM'S OFFICE - DAY] (Grissom and Nick talk.) Grissom: Well, the embalming fluid would make the marijuana burn slower, giving it more chance to be absorbed, creating a longer lasting high, I would imagine. Nick: So, now, what do I tell Sergeant Day's widow? A retired Marine who served two tours in Iraq. That-that all this is about getting higher? Grissom: You got to tell her the truth. [INT. CSI - WAITING ROOM - DAY] (Nick talks with Cara Stone.) Cara Stone: (crying) It-it was ... it was just random? That's the reason I don't have a husband? That's why? Nick: (softly) I'm sorry. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. MORGUE] (Back in the morgue, Jack Day smiles.) Rebecca McGill: So after all that, how can you be happy? Jack Day: (shakes his head) You don't get it. This is the best week of my life. I got to hold my baby girl. (He looks at her and winks. He lies back down on the morgue table and closes his eyes, a small smile on his face.) (Suddenly, Lou Beltran, a dark-haired man on the gurney at the far end of the line-up, sits up. He looks around and swears violently.) Lou Beltran: Oh, son of a bitch! (The man on the gurney next to him also sits up. He's missing his left arm.) Ray Gaynor: Let me tell you something, you got nothing to bitch about here. (Ray Gaynor puts a cigarette in his mouth with his good right hand. Donna Basset watches wide-eyed as Ray tries to open a matchbook with his right hand.) Donna Basset: I don't think you can smoke in here. Lou Beltran: Nah. Let him try. Rebecca McGill: No, you guys, we're gonna be here a long time. Let's just try to keep it pleasant, okay? Lou Beltran: (angry) I'm not even supposed to be here. Ray Gaynor: Tell me about it. Cue Sound: (PRE-LAP) CHAINSAW WHIRRING [BLACK SCREEN, WHITE TEXT] CHAPTER IV: THE NEVADA CHAINSAW MASSACRE CUE SOUNDS: (PRELAP) CHAINSAW WHIRRING CONTINUES, TWO MEN SCREAMING, CHAINSAW STRIKES SOMETHING HARD AND STOPS. [CU: A WEDDING PHOTO] (A man in a suit and a woman in her wedding gown smile happily at the camera.) [EXT. BELTRAN RESIDENCE - FRONT DRIVE - DAY] (Camera pulls back and we see the framed photo in the trash bin.) (Brass joins up with Grissom and Sara as they all head for the house.) Brass: The hot weather, the full moon, too many people moving to Vegas. Whatever the reason, the natives are restless. (points) Scene's in the garage. (On their way up the driveway, Sara and Grissom see a splotch of something messy on the center of the concrete.) Sara: Well, that's not a good sign. Grissom: Bacon and eggs? (They both stop and examine the mess. Brass waves them to continue up the driveway.) Brass: Yeah, no, you know, don't bother about that. That's the water delivery boy. He lost his breakfast, and his bottle. (They continue up the driveway and walk past the water bottle on the ground.) Brass: He said the house belonged to a guy named Lou Beltran. Grissom: Is he one of the victims? Brass: He couldn't tell. The door's been forced. (They reach the garage door and see that it's partially opened.) [INT. BELTRAN RESIDENCE - GARAGE - DAY -- CONTINUOUS] (The door creaks open and Sara steps inside. The garage is a mess. There are two dead bodies; one of them has their left arm completely severed and is lying in a pool of blood. The second body is nearby in another pool of blood, a bloodied chainsaw between them. Broken furniture covered with a layer of blood spatter is scattered around the room.) (Sara and Grissom both remove their sunglasses. They're stunned by what they're looking at.) Sara: I thought this only happened in the movies. VARIOUS CUTS OF THE DEAD BODIES Grissom: Life imitates art. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. BELTRAN RESIDENCE - GARAGE - DAY] VARIOUS CUTS OF THE DEAD BODIES (The camera flashes as Grissom stands on top a ladder and takes photos of the blood-spatter patterns on the ceiling.) (Finished, he checks out the ceiling to make sure he's got it all. Then, he checks out Sara, who is printing the door, her head down and concentrating on her work.) Grissom: Okay. You first. (Grissom climbs down the ladder.) Sara: All right. Kicked-in door, one bloody chainsaw, two dead bodies. Someone broke in, cut up the two guys, left the murder weapon and split. (Grissom looks at the furniture cut into pieces.) Grissom: What about all this mess, the furniture and appliances? Sara: Some of the furniture looks new. Some of it's cut up, some of it's not. (She puts her printing powder and brush down. She steps into the room as she theorizes.) Maybe they were cutting it up when the assailant came in. Grissom: That's a workable theory for now. (Grissom snaps photos of the blood spatter on the furniture.) (Sara sits on a nearby overturned tub.) Sara: You know what this reminds me of? The first time we met. San Francisco. Your lecture. Double murder in a garage. I'd heard you were a little ... dull as a speaker, but you can't rely on your first blush. (beat) Sara: That was the, uh, subject of your talk. Grissom: I believe I said first opinions are crucial, but if the evidence changes, so must the theory. Sara: Exactly. (Brass steps into the room, putting his gloves on. He stops at the doorway.) Brass: Hey. Any ID on them yet? Grissom: We're still working our way in. Brass: Well, you know, I'm kinda stuck until I know who they are, so, uh ... Sara, do me a favor, will you? Reach into that barbecue and hand me his wallet. Sara: Sure. (Sara carefully steps near the body and reaches down to pull out the wallet from the man's pants pocket. She hands it to Brass.) Brass: Thank you. (He checks out the driver's license. It belongs to: GAYNOR, RAY 31160 DESERT WAY HENDERSON, NV ) Brass: This guy doesn't live here. This is Ray Gaynor, lives a few houses down. (Grissom stops taking photos and looks up from his camera. Sara points to the other body.) Sara: Maybe the other one's Lou. Brass: I don't know, but I'd bet my right arm that's his left arm. (Grissom tosses them a look.) (Brass chuckles. Sara stifles a smile.) Brass: I'm gonna see if the one-arm man has a wife who knows how to operate a chainsaw. INSERT: FLASHBACK (Someone wielding a chainsaw attacks Ray Gaynor.) BACK TO SCENE [INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - DAY] (Robbins shares his findings with Grissom. Both bodies are out in the room.) Robbins: It was a jagged, sharp force injury to the base of the neck on the right side. Wound extends down and left laterally from the right shoulder to the left hip. Wound becomes shallow and then separates into individual incisions. (Grissom notes the watch tan on the victim's right wrist.) Robbins: Directionality of the individual wounds is from bottom to top. Grissom: All chainsaws operate the same way, right? (Robbins nods.) Chain travels around the bar, teeth move away from the operator around the top and come back on the bottom. Robbins: Mm-hmm. Grissom: So, if our guy, Lou, was attacked from the front, the teeth would hit him from a downward angle. Robbins: Leaving downward wounds instead of the upward wounds you see here. Grissom: So ... what? He was attacked from behind? [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - LAB - DAY] (Sara is swabbing blood off the chainsaw when Grissom walks in.) Sara: Guess who owns the chainsaw. (Grissom puts his glasses on and looks at the etching on the plastic: RAY GAYNOR Grissom: Ray Gaynor. The neighbor. Sara: I also found bits of wood and metal shavings on the inside of the cover plate, consistent with the furniture and appliances. The teeth on the chain are dull, probably from cutting them up. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT -- DAY] (Brass interviews Lou's wife, Julia Beltran. She's also the woman in the framed wedding photo found in the trash outside the house.) Julia Beltran: Don't tell me Lou cut up my mother's headboard. Brass: Was it blue? (She takes a deep breath. She nods.) Brass: Sorry. Julia Beltran: How about my dining room set? Brass: Um ... I think there's a couple of chairs left. Julia Beltran: Damn that man. Everything I asked for in the divorce. Did he get the living room furniture? Brass: No. Julia Beltran: Figures. That was going to be his. Well, now it's mine. The b*st*rd can rot in hell. Brass: So, Mrs. Beltran, I assume the divorce wasn't final. Julia Beltran: No. Lou held it up out of spite. Brass: Hmm. Do you know Ray Gaynor? Julia Beltran: Decent guy. Never married. Lots of women around, though. Pretty handy with his tools. Brass: Uh-huh. Julia Beltran: Halfwit would go over there and Ray'd teach him how to do things. Too bad he never taught him how to be more of a man. Brass: Look, I gotta ask you this -- where were you last night? Julia Beltran: Thirty-two thousand feet over the Pacific with 300 other people. Brass: So you were in a plane. Julia Beltran: I'm a flight attendant. But go ahead and ask me if I'm sorry he's dead. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - GARAGE -- DAY] (Sara wheels a dummy into the mini plastic room they've put up. Grissom goes to stand next to the other dummy already there. Each dummy has a white foam strip covering the saw cuts for the person they represent --- Grissom's dummy has a foam strip on its left shoulder and Sara's dummy has a foam strip across its chest.) Sara: Where do you want him? Grissom: Put him under the Lou Beltran spatter. And load him up. (On the ceiling are red lines indicating the blood spatter similar to that found at the crime scene. Sara positions the dummy in the right spot.) VARIOUS DISSOLVES OF SARA AND GRISSOM BOTH SPRAYING BLUE INK OVER THE WHITE FOAM STRIPS ON THE DUMMIES. (When they're finished, they put their spray bottles down. Grissom picks up his chainsaw.) (Grissom powers up his chainsaw and cuts downward into the foam strip. The blue paint spatters on the ceiling plastic in the opposite direction of the red spatter.) (Grissom stops and looks up.) Sara: Blue test paint is not lining up with the red known spatter. Grissom: Well, the body's in the correct relative position. But the angle's off. Sara: What could throw the angle off? (Grissom looks at the ceiling and at the chainsaw. He tries to line it up.) Grissom: I don't know, but it's very awkward to try and line this up. (Sara watches him for a moment, then gets an idea.) Sara: You know ... (She reaches for the chainsaw and takes it from Grissom.) Sara: ... what if you line it up switching hands, like this? (Sara holds the chainsaw differently. She powers it up and cuts into the foam. The blue ink spatter lines up with the red spatter.) Sara: Ray Gaynor's killer was left-handed. Grissom: Lou Beltran wore his watch on his right wrist. INSERT: PHOTO FLASH OF LOU BELTRAN'S RIGHT ARM. BACK TO SCENE. Grissom: I bet he was left-handed. (Sara lifts up her mask.) Sara: So ... Lou could have killed Ray, cut off his arm ... but who killed Lou? Grissom: Doc Robbins said that the cuts on Lou's body were made when the chain was traveling upwards. (Sara motions with the chainsaw. Grissom's eyes widen.) Sara: Well, if I attacked you, the chain would be traveling downwards when held normally by a left-or a right-handed person. Grissom: Which means that the top of the chain had to be facing him. Sara: The way that this works, is if Lou was holding the saw. (Sara steps back.) Sara: The chain was dull from cutting up his wife's things. The wife told Brass that he wasn't very handy. Grissom: An inexperienced left-handed operator with a dull chainsaw certainly increases the risk for injury. (Sara lifts the saw straight upward and back toward her.) Sara: Kickback. INSERT: FLASHBACK [INT. BELTRAN RESIDENCE - GARAGE - DAY] (Lou Beltran is using Ray's saw to cut up his wife's furniture.) Ray Gaynor: You don't know what you're doing! (Ray grabs Lou from behind, trying to get him to stop.) Lou Beltran: I know exactly what I'm doing! (Lou pushes Ray away from him. He swings the chainsaw around and cuts Ray.) (Ray screams.) (Blood spatters on the ceiling.) (He hits the floor with a thud.) BACK TO SCENE. [INT. MORGUE - DAY] (Grissom is in the morgue teaching the class. They surround the bodies on the tables. He summarizes.) Grissom: So he chainsawed his wife's furniture and appliances, the metal dulled the blade, and the kickback from the chainsaw is what killed him. Smart Girl: So it was an accident. Grissom: How many of you are right-handed? (Most everyone raises their hands.) Grissom: Left-handed? (The smart girl raises her hand.) Grissom: Twenty-five hundred left-handed people die each year using products designed for right-handed people. Smart Girl: Okay, but how do you know there wasn't a third person that killed both of them? Grissom: A third person would have left shoe impressions in the blood, various other sign -- there was none. Smart Girl: You're absolutely certain? Grissom: Part of being a CSI is learning to work in the absence of absolute certainty. Each and every case brings us a new opportunity to learn something. For instance, in the case of Donna Basset, we can see that there is no such thing as an insignificant detail. (He points to Rebecca McGill.) Here, the evidence itself can bear witness. Don't just look for what you think you're going to find. (He points to Jack Day.) And this one, never impose logic on an illogical act. (Then to Ray and Lou.) And finally, if the evidence changes, your theory must change as well. Questions? (The male student raises his hand.) Male Student: How do you deal with the smell? Grissom: You get used to it. Male Student: I'm not sure I can do this. Grissom: Well, not everyone can. Smart Girl: Why do you do it? Grissom: Because the dead can't speak for themselves. (They look at each other.) TOP VIEW DOWN (The students and Grissom leave the room. We hold on the six bodies in the morgue.)
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