Catherine investigates the murder of a runaway teen whose naked body is found in a desert lot behind a hotel. Helping with the case is Mike Keppler (played by Liev Schreiber ), an experienced CSI from Baltimore who is the newest hire on the day shift but is filling in temporarily on the night shift since Grissom is on sabbatical. Their investigation reveals the dead girl may be the victim of a serial killer whose slayings may go back decades.
FLASH IN: CUE SONG: "Sweet Jane" by The Velvet Underground TIME LAPSE SEQUENCE: [EXT. (OLD) LAS VEGAS STRIP (STOCK) - NIGHT] (We're traveling along the old Las Vegas Strip.) [EXT. BUS STATION - NIGHT] (People carrying their suitcases cross the street in front of the bus station.) [TIME LAPSE] (FAST FORWARD: Night turns to day. The days pass. Seasons come and go. The weather changes. Tall buildings in the city are built.) [INT. BUS STATION (1970'S) - LOBBY - NIGHT] (FAST FORWARD to 1975: People come and go through the lobby.) (SLOW ON: A young blonde-haired woman carrying a suitcase arrives. She walks past a Liberace poster.) [TIME LAPSE] (FAST FOWARD TO 1989: More time passes. People come and go through the bus station.) (SLOW ON: A young woman with crimped hair arrives. She walks past a MIRAGE poster for their GRAND OPENING, FALL 1989.) [SCENE_BREAK] AS MORE TIME PASSES, FLASHES OF VARIOUS POSTERS WITH PEOPLE CONSTANTLY COMING AND GOING * EXCALIBUR, JUNE 1990 * LUXOR, GRANS OPENING, FALL 1993 * NEW YORK NEW YORK, OPENING JANUARY 1997 * MANDALAY BAY, LAS VEGAS, OPENING 1999 [EXT. BUS STATION - NIGHT] (FAST FOWARD ON: People are coming and going.) (SLOW ON: A blonde-haired young woman arrives with her suitcase in her hand. She looks around. A large billboard looms in the distance - MANDALAY BAY, LAS VEGAS, NOW OPEN.) (She walks out of screen and heads down the sidewalk, pulling her suitcase behind her.) (Sirens sound in the distance.) [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. BACK LOT - NIGHT (PRESENT)] (Catherine carries her kit and heads over toward Brass, who stands near the body. Officer car lights flash. The area is taped off.) (She stops next to Brass.) Brass: A trucker driving by saw the body, called it in. Catherine: Easy to miss. Brass: The coroner's tied up on a multiple in Pahrump, but they're en route. (Catherine notes that the ground surrounding the body has been brushed neatly. The only pair of shoes is the officer's prints leading up to the body.) Brass: Officer Jensen was first responding. When he saw the condition of the body, he backed out of the scene, stepping in his own footprints. Anyway, we've been beating the bush looking for her personal effects, but so far nothing. Catherine: (nods) Jane Doe it is. (Catherine ducks under the tape and heads toward the body, careful to step in the shoe prints already on the ground.) (The blonde-haired woman is naked, her right hand raised over her shoulder, palm facing up. Catherine looks around, then puts her kit down.) (The ground has been brushed, the dry leaves left near the body.) (Quick flashback to: SOMEONE brushes the ground, obscuring their shoeprints and any other markings. End of flashback.) (Catherine snaps photos of the body.) (A second CSI, carrying his kit, arrives on the scene.) (Catherine stops and sees Michael "Mike" Keppler arrive. He's carrying a cup of coffee. He stops outside the tape and empties the liquid on the ground. He crushes the cup and tucks it into his jacket pocket.) Catherine: You must be Keppler. Mike Keppler: Willows? Catherine: Catherine. Mike Keppler: Sorry I'm late. Got stuck on the Strip. (He takes out his flashlight, ducks under the tape and heads for the scene, careful to step in the shoeprints already there.) (He kneels down next to the body.) Catherine: Welcome to Las Vegas. (He smiles at Catherine, turns and looks at the body. The girl's eyes are open, a lock of hair over her face. Keppler gently brushes the hair aside.) Catherine: Is that how they're doing things in Baltimore these days? Out here, we don't touch the body until the coroner releases it. Mike Keppler: Sorry. Just ... trying to get a better look at her face. Catherine: There's bruising around the neck, relatively fresh. No other obvious wounds on the body. This girl's barely out of high school. Mike Keppler: Catnip. Catherine: Excuse me? Mike Keppler: The way they attract men at that age; it's like catnip. Catherine: That's a terrifying thought. Mike Keppler: You have kids? Catherine: A daughter, fifteen. Mike Keppler: You must be a hit on career day. Catherine: I try not to bring my work home with me. Mike Keppler: Yeah. Catherine: How about you? Mike Keppler: What? Catherine: Any kids? Mike Keppler: (shakes his head) No. Patchy discolorations on the skin. Looks like dehydration. (Catherine gets a tweezers from her kit and picks up a fiber off the body.) Catherine: White fibers. Mike Keppler: I'm guessing cotton. (Keppler notices the dried liquid on the body's arm.) Mike Keppler: Looks like she's been swabbed down with something that evaporated, maybe alcohol. (Quick flashback to: Someone swabs the victim's arm. End of flashback. Catherine: Unlike most men, this one knows how to clean up after himself. FADE TO END OF TEASER ROLL TITLE CREDITS [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. BACK LOT -- DAY] (Officer and crime scene units are there at the scene to process the lot. Catherine stands nearby as David goes over the body. Warrick turns and notes Keppler taking dirt samples of the area.) Warrick: So how long is this fellow Keppler supposed to be with us? Catherine: Well, he was hired to staff the new day shift, but ... since we're one shy with Grissom away, Ecklie wanted us to break him in for a few weeks. (David Phillips examines the body's hand.) David Phillips: Got a broken fingernail. Warrick: Please tell me she got a piece of her attacker. (Warrick snaps photos of the victim's nails.) Catherine: If the nail had been torn off, the break would be smooth. It's jagged; she's a biter. (Just out of the taped area, news cameras are there reporting the death. The coroners set up the gurney near the body.) (In another area, Brass shows the deputy a photo and instructs her. They are near where Keppler is working. He overhears the conversation.) Brass: So flash this photo around the Alphabets. If she's a pro or a local, somebody will recognize her. Deputy: Sure. (The deputy leaves with the photo.) Mike Keppler: Alphabets? Brass: Yeah, it's a neighborhood. You know, A Street, B Street, D Street. Mike Keppler: Mm. Brass: A through F is pretty bad -- homeless, junkies, scumbags, the hookers we chase off the Strip. I mean, if you're down and out in Vegas, sooner or later, you're gonna end up here. Mike Keppler: Hear you got one of the fastest growing murder rates in the country. Brass: Yeah, we're very competitive. Is that a Philly accent I hear? Mike Keppler: Trenton, born and bred. Brass: My condolences. I'm from Newark. (They shake hands.) Mike Keppler: How you doing? Brass: How are you? Mike Keppler: Thought I heard something familiar. Brass: (loudly) But you got to love Vegas, isn't that right, Catherine? (Catherine joins them.) Catherine: My hometown. Brass: I mean, the pizza's terrible, but everything else is paradise. (Keppler stands up. Brass steps away. Catherine and Keppler head out.) Catherine: So I see you've got the soil and vegetation exemplars. (The officer holds the tape up for them.) Catherine: (to the officer) Thank you. Mike Keppler: Three distinct locations. Not that it's gonna make much difference. I get the feeling our guy's not the type to track away dirt on his shoes. Catherine: Probably not. Our best bet's the body. Which we're probably not gonna get much from, either. Mike Keppler: So is the pizza really that bad? Catherine: I like it. [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY] [INT. CSI - KEPPLER'S OFFICE -- DAY] (The door opens and Keppler enters his office. He flicks on the lights. He unbuttons his suit jacket and loosens his tie. He checks the messages on his desk. They are: MESSAGE 1: FOR: M. KEPPLER DATE: 1-18-07 11:00 AM FRANK PHONE: 609-910-3200 MESSAGE 2: FOR: M. KEPPLER DATE: 1-18-07 12:10 PM FRANK PHONE: 609-910-3200 VERY URGENT MESSAGE 3: FOR: M. KEPPLER DATE: 1-18-07 1:00 PM FRANK PHONE: 609-910-3200 (Keppler looks at his messages.) [INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY -- DAY] (Catherine washes the body. Keppler walks in.) Mike Keppler: No obvious traces of semen? Catherine: No. Mike Keppler: No visible skin under the fingernails, so she probably didn't fight back. Catherine: There were no defensive wounds on her forearms, no ligature marks on her wrists or ankles. Mike Keppler: Maybe he didn't want to mark her up. I mean, look at her. So young. (Quick flash of: The victim as she was alive.) Mike Keppler: (V.O.) Innocent. He wanted to take his time. (End of flash.) Mike Keppler: He drugged her. We should expand tox to include volatiles and sedative hypnotics. You got something? (Catherine examines the victim's hair.) Catherine: Highlights and lowlights. That's a hair process that isn't cheap. Nominal hair growth is roughly half-a-millimeter a day. (She measures the hair.) And based on the length of her roots, it's been about two months since she's had it done. Mike Keppler: Not the kind of girl who goes missing without a report. VARIOUS CUTS OF: (The victim's prints are scanned into the computer and run through the database.) (A camera snaps photos of the victim - the color of her eyes and an iguana tattoo on her ankle.) (Information is fed into the U.S. DIRECTORY OF MISSING ADULTS, IMPERILED MISSING ADULTS database: EYE COLOR: BLUE IDENTIFYING MARKS: IGUANA HAIR COLOR: BLONDE (The computer searches the database for a print match.) (A POSITIVE MATCH is found.) NAME: VERONICA SORENSEN RACE: CAUCASIAN AGE: 17 EYE COLOR: BLUE HAIR COLOR: BLONDE HEIGHT: 5'4" WEIGHT: 125 LBS IDENTIFYING MARKS: IGUANA TATTOO ON LEFT ANKLE [INT. CSI - HALLWAY -- DAY] (Greg shares his findings with Catherine.) Greg: Your vic's name is Veronica Sorensen, age 17. Last reported in Victorville. Catherine: About two months ago? Greg: Yeah, yeah. She's a ... Catherine: Runaway? Greg: Yeah. Parents reported her missing. PD's already made the notifications. So, what's the verdict on this Keppler guy? What? You're usually pretty quick to size people up. Catherine: Jury's still out, but he knows what he's doing. (They stop just outside the breakroom to listen to the news report on the television set.) Reporter (on TV): In other news, local Las Vegas police officers are still trying to identify the body of a nude woman found late yesterday evening just off Highway 51 -- [INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - WAITING ROOM - DAY] (At the same time, Sofia watches as Mr. and Mrs. Sorensen watch the news report in the waiting room.) Reporter: (on tv) -- in an area commonly referred as 'Alphabet' Street. It's a well-known hangout for drug users and prostitutes. However, the police believe that this time -- Sofia: I'm Detective Curtis. (Mr. Sorensen turns around.) I'm ... so sorry for your loss. (Mrs. Sorensen shakes her head.) Mrs. Sorensen: That girl on the TV, that is not my Veronica. Mr. Sorensen: They wouldn't call us if they weren't sure. Sofia: We were able to match her fingerprints. Mrs. Sorensen: Then you've made a mistake. Mr. Sorensen: The prints that we gave to the police, they were from a school safe kit. She was ten years old. They could've changed, right? Sofia: Fingerprints don't change. There was a tattoo on her right ankle -- an iguana. Mrs. Sorensen: (cries) Oh, no. Mr. Sorensen: We just want to take her home. Sofia: Of course. As soon as we've completed the autopsy. Mr. Sorensen: No. No, you're not gonna cut her open. Sofia: Sir, this is a homicide. Mr. Sorensen: We're not giving our permission. (The Sorensens hug. On the monitor, Mrs. Sorensen watches as they cover her daughter.) Sofia: I'm afraid you don't have a choice. But I promise you, we'll treat her with the utmost respect. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY -- DAY] (Robbins whistles as he examines the victim's teeth. The door opens and Sofia walks in.) Robbins: And what can I do for you? Sofia: Let me know when you release the body. Robbins: It's going to be a while. I haven't even opened her up yet. Sofia: Well, just let me know. (Robbins turns the camera on and snaps a photo. He whistles as he works.) Sofia: And stop whistling. [SCENE_BREAK] (Quick flash to: Someone strangles the victim.) Robbins: (V.O.) COD was asphyxiation due to strangulation, but it wasn't quick. The overlapping patterns of fours and ones suggest multiple events. (End of flash.) [INT. CSI - LAYOUT ROOM - DAY] (Robbins goes over his findings with Catherine and Keppler. On the layout table are the photos of the bruises on the victim.) Robbins: I imaged subcutaneous bruises under UV from several positions around the throat. Killer choked and released at least three times. That's consistent with sexual asphyxiation. SAE is about what you'd expect. Vaginal trauma, no semen, but traces of spermicide. Guy used a condom. Mike Keppler: What about tox? Robbins: Well, blood was positive for MDMA. Mike Keppler: Ecstasy. That's it? Robbins: Yep. Catherine: I can't believe that she was compliant. Thanks, Doc. Robbins: You got it. (Robbins leaves. Keppler looks at the photos.) Mike Keppler: You ever see a cat playing with a mouse? Point isn't to kill the mouse, just keep the game going. Catherine: I'm guessing you've got cats. Mike Keppler: No. I just like the metaphor. (They share a smile.) Mike Keppler: Same game every time. Cat goes home, leaves its kill on the doorstep. Catherine: Our guy's done this before. I'm with you there. Mike Keppler: What got our cat's attention this time? Around puberty, most guys fixate on a particular body type that turns them on. Tall, skinny, short, red hair. Whatever floats your boat. It's imprinted. Hard to let go of. Catherine: Okay. So we know what his type is and we know what he likes to do with them. [SCENE_BREAK] [COMPUTER SCREEN] (In the UNSOLVED HOMICIDES DATABASE, under VICTIMS, a search is entered. AGE: 16-21 RACE: CAUCASIAN s*x: FEMALE EYES: BLUE HAIR: BLONDE (The computer beeps. SEARCH RESULTS: 3 CASES FOUND.) JANE DOE # 99-3218 JANE DOE # 89-5829 JANE DOE # 75-218 [INT. CSI - A/V LAB -- DAY] (Catherine and Keppler sit in front of the monitor.) Catherine: Okay, we've got three that fit the type. The cases were years apart. 1999, 1989 ... and 1975. (The case #'s are: CASE #: LVPD 99 10 17-3218 PB JANE DOE # 99-3218 CASE #: LVPD 89 09 12-5829 JANE DOE # 89-5829 CASE #: LVPD 02 07 1975-218 JANE DOE # 75-218 ) Mike Keppler: Let's bring up their photographs. (Catherine puts the three victims' photos up on the monitor. They're all posed in the same position, their right hand up near their head, palm up.) Mike Keppler: Look at the similarity in the body positions. They look posed, almost as if they were ... waving good-bye. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - LAYOUT ROOM -- DAY] INSERT: SEQUENCE (Catherine, Sara, Nick and Keppler put the photos out on the table. They each open a file folder.) END SEQUENCE Sara: Jane Doe '99 was discovered naked in a stretch of dirt off Paradise behind the old Hotel Continental. Based on the photos, her hair was matted with dirt, which suggests that it was wet when she was dumped. It's likely that her body was washed. Catherine: That's consistent with the latest victim. Mike Keppler: Any traces of alcohol or cotton swabs? Sara: There's nothing indicated, but there's almost nothing in this file. Based on TOD, the body was found less than four hours after death. Yet other than a general canvass, not a single person was interviewed. The homicide detective's summary is less than a page. Nick: Sounds like shoddy police work. Mike Keppler: Sounds like no police work. Sara: After the autopsy, COD confirmed asphyxiation by strangulation. There was absolutely no follow-up whatsoever. Nick: Well, there was a follow-up in spades on Jane Doe '89. She was found in a vacant lot off 28th Street near Boulder Highway. Uh, stripped of her clothing. Like the others, several peri-mortem bruises, but check out this hair. Catherine: Yeah, it's crimped. I remember those days. There's no way that style survives a shower. Nick: Killer didn't wash that one down. Mike Keppler: Methods evolve. Practice makes perfect. Nick: Again, the cops didn't come up with a single suspect. There were detailed sketches of the crime scene, microscopy on errant hairs and fibers, even ran the vic's prints through WIN. Sara: '89 ... that database was barely on the Internet. Nick: The guy that worked on this case was very thorough. He just didn't close it. Catherine: Okay, Jane Doe '75. Mike Keppler: Well ... she was found in an alley off of Bridger near Fremont Street. Based on the level of decomp, she'd been lying there about two days before they found her. Only thing about this one is, she had her clothes on. Might have been his first. Nick: Or maybe the first one found. Mike Keppler: Isolated contusions on her neck, arms and shoulders. COD listed as heroin overdose. Nick: Junkies do bruise easily. Sara: And the "waving good-bye" hand position is a natural way to fall. It's possible that this one is a coincidence. Mike Keppler: It's not. Catherine: How do you know? Mike Keppler: Because I do. This guy pays attention to the details. Knows what he likes; he doesn't mix it up. Thing that gets me is the discipline, though. He's got a habit, but he seems to be able to control it. Only needs to kill once every ten years or so, and when he does, he's got a type. Nick: Pretty but not pricey. Mike Keppler: And not likely to be missed. Catherine: You're a CSI, not a profiler. Mike Keppler: What's the difference? Catherine: Evidence. I want leads and IDs. Follow up on what you've got. [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - NIGHT] [INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - HALLWAY / WAITING ROOM -- NIGHT] (Sara leads Detective Paul Browning to a free table.) Paul Browning: When I left this place, it was all grey walls and cinder blocks. Very fancy. Sara: What made you transfer to Henderson? Paul Browning: Cost of living, better commute. I socked away a few bucks, bought a nice place in Green Valley. Sara: Ah, I take it you're a shortcuts kind of guy. (They sit down.) Paul Browning: I guess you could say that. I like to get to the heart of things right away. Sara: Any reason that you didn't get to the heart of this? (Sara shows Paul Browning photos of Jane Doe '99.) Paul Browning: Whoa. October 17, 1999. Sara: You remember the date? Paul Browning: Yeah. Sara: Why is that? Paul Browning: Hey, I'm not sure I like your tone. Sara: Answer the question, Detective. Paul Browning: It's my son's birthday. Day I caught the case, my wife went into labor. It was rough. There were complications. Anyway, I was out for weeks taking care of her. Used up all my vacation time. When I got back, there were a half-dozen cases on my desk. My captain told me to let it go. Look. We canvassed the neighborhood. No name. She was homeless, hooking for drug money. Sara: You do not know that. You didn't even ask for tox. Paul Browning: We didn't need to do a test. We found her at Paradise and Flamingo. What else would she be doing there? [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - COLD STORAGE] (The door opens. Sara and David walk in. David carries a clipboard and passes shelves and shelves of plastic containers with contents inside. He stops and picks one up.) David Phillips: Okay, here we are. Autopsy samples for Doe, Jane. 99-103. (The label reads: DOE, JANE CONTENTS: LIVER ID: 48120071 DATE FILED: 10/17/1999 Female: [X] Sara: Uh, most recent vic had traces of E in her system. If this one does, too, there might be a connection. David Phillips: To a drug dealer from ten years ago? That's kind of weak. Sara: Weak is the best that we have right now. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - TRACE LAB -- DAY] (Hodges processes the contents in the container.) Sara: (V.O.) Hodges ran the formalin-fixed tissue sample from Jane Doe '99 through GCMS. There's no traces of Ecstasy, but he did find chloral hydrate. [INT. CSI - HALLWAY -- DAY] (Sara and Catherine walk through the hallway as Sara reports her findings.) Sara: Chloral hydrate is a hypnotic sedative. There were no traces of anything like that found in Veronica Sorensen. Catherine: Which means if our guy still sedates his victims before sexually asphyxiating them, whatever he's using now isn't leaving a trace. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM -- DAY] (Keppler marks the victims locations on a map. Warrick walks in.) Warrick: Warrick Brown. (They shake hands.) Mike Keppler: Mike Keppler. Warrick: I know ... You trying to do a geographic profile of your serial? Mike Keppler: Yeah, most of these guys tend to operate out of one place. In theory, as the killer gets more and more comfortable with each act, the locations of the bodies should spiral outward from one central point. Warrick: I tell you one thing that your dumpsites do have in common. Mike Keppler: What's that? Warrick: When the bodies were found, the location that they were found in at the time had the highest crime rate in the city. (That's new to Keppler. He closes the file folder he's looking through and looks at the map.) Mike Keppler: Smart. The crime center sure seems to move around pretty quickly here, huh? Warrick: Well, in Vegas, new is old in five years, old is history in ten, and nothing ever seems to leave a mark. Mike Keppler: Sounds refreshing. [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY] [INT. CAR (PARKED) -- DAY] (Nick shows the case file to Jake Daniels. They sit in the car as Jake works on surveillance.) Nick: '89 Jane Doe, this was your case. Jake Daniels: One of the first homicides I ever worked. Damn, I had good handwriting. Excuse me. (Jake pauses and uses a camera to monitor the man walking the corridor.) Jake Daniels: Come on, come on, I know you got company. (As he watches, a woman steps out from the room wearing a dressing gown. Jake Daniels: Yeah, that's it. Oh, man. Nick: You processed a mountain of evidence but didn't turn up a single suspect. Jake Daniels: It's not my fault, man. I had the scumbag dead to rights. Nick: What are you talking about? There's nothing here to indicate that you ... (He shows the hair analysis report to Nick.) Jake Daniels: This is it. That's the killer's hair. Nick: You did note morphology consistent with the vic. Jake Daniels: Yeah, but the position-location was all wrong. I pulled that out of her navel, just that one hair. It was a sexual assault, It had to be from the killer. But I couldn't prove it, so... I didn't write it down. Nick: This hair had a tag. Did you run DNA? Jake Daniels: (chuckling) In '89? Man, we were just reading about DNA. The only lab in the country that was doing that stuff was the FBI, and my supervisor -- he wouldn't have called them in on a case like this. (He snaps a photo of the woman carrying a suitcase and running down the corridor. He snaps a photo of the man headed toward his car.) Jake Daniels: I used to bust my ass to keep a crime scene pristine, and then some uniform would wobble over, stuffing his face, drop a hamburger wrapper right at my feet. Who the hell needs that? (He snaps a photo of the woman in her dressing gown. He puts his camera down.) Jake Daniels: (wistfully) Man, if I had the tools you guys do today ... I finally would have been a real hero. (The man gets out of the car and kisses the woman. Nick nods toward the couple.) Nick: There's your money shot. (Jake puts his camera up to get the photo, but the man is already back in his car.) Jake Daniels: Damn it. Nick: Did you preserve the hair? Jake Daniels: Permount on a microscope slide with a cover slip. It should still be in Central Property. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. WAREHOUSE STORAGE - DAY] (The lights switch on and we see long rows of large boxes stacked one on top the other. The floor looks damp.) Clerk: Are you sure it's really here? As I said when you called, we have no record. Nick: Sir, I spent half the day at Central Property going through their records. Now, according to the case logs, it was transferred to this court in late 1989 and never returned. So, it's got to be here somewhere, okay? Clerk: Okay. (The clerk finds the box on the bottom of a stack.) Clerk: So it is. Nick: Excuse me, bro. (Nick gets to the box and opens it. There are baby rats inside the box. The paper is shredded. This doesn't look good.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - LAB -- DAY] (Nick has the box and is wearing a mask as he takes handfuls of shredded material and puts them in the glass tank with the vent on. The dust is sucked up the vent as he sifts through the shredded material looking for anything salvageable.) (Nick puts his mask aside and sifts through the material. He find an envelope and opens it. The glass slide inside is cracked.) Hodges: (o.s.) You rang? (Hodges walks into the lab.) Nick: Yeah, I think I need a hand here, Hodges. Hodges: Well, what is this? Nick: It's from an '89 Jane Doe. I'm looking for anything that will help us out. Hodges: Those look like rat droppings. Nick: That's because they are rat droppings, man. Hodges: Are you familiar with the hantavirus? Carried by rodents, transmitted to humans when they inhale vapors from contaminated urine, saliva or feces. That crap will kill you. Nick: (interrupts) Hodges ... glove up. (Hodges sticks his gloved hands in the mess.) Hodges: If I start leaking blood from my eyeballs, I'm blaming you. (Together, they sift through the shredded material. Nick picks up an old film negative and looks through it.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - BREAKROOM -- DAY] (Keppler is sitting in the breakroom, the various crime scene photos spread out on the table in front of him. He has the television set turned on softly for background sound.) (Robbins walks in carrying a file folder.) Robbins: Keppler? (Keppler stands up.) Robbins: Didn't they give you an office? Mike Keppler: I, uh ... I like the noise. It helps me to concentrate. Robbins: I prefer things quiet myself. Of course, I am a pathologist. (Keppler turns the television set off.) Robbins: I reviewed that Jane Doe autopsy from '75. Mike Keppler: That was fast. (Robbins and Keppler sit down.) Robbins: Well, I'm sure the original examination was, too. ME was a hack named Sam Barnard. He, uh, retired a little while after I started. Once saw him do a Y with a scalpel in one hand and a hot dog in the other. Mike Keppler: I take it he wasn't known for his, uh, rigorous analysis? Robbins: He was known for liking hot dogs. Mike Keppler: (chuckles) Well, that's just great. Robbins: You know, if you really want to figure out what killed your Jane Doe, there's pretty much only one thing we can do. [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LV CITY CEMETERY -- DAY] (There is a small crowd having a service around the coffin just before burial. The grass is green; it's sunny and it looks like a typical cemetery.) (We pull back and on the other side of the trees, there is an empty lot. A large bulldozer starts digging as Brass, Catherine, Keppler and Robbins watch.) (The ground is marked only with a small plate of numbers on a wooden stick, which indicate which coffins are buried. They're grouped in threes.) (Camera moves over the row of number plates: DOE, JOHN / 56-381 DOE, JANE / 52-492 DOE, JOHN / 50-021 DOE, JANE / 92-560 DOE JOHN / 89-013 DOE, JANE / 75-212 DOE, JOHN / 95-134 DOE, JOHN / 94-012 DOE JOHN / 88-45 DOE, JANE / 99-063 DOE, JOHN / 92-213 DOE, JOHN / 86-034 DOE, JANE / 99-103 DOE, JANE / 89-074 DOE, JANE / --- (CUT TO: The group of three crates are lifted out of the hole. They're stacked one on top of the other and are labeled on the side of the crates with large black lettering: DOE, JANE (The bottom crate is old and the most damaged. It's labeled with a metal plate screwed into the sisdeboard. The metal plate is old and dirty. The technician cleans the plate and they see that it's: DOE, JANE (Catherine points and nods.) Catherine: That one's it. (Keppler watches.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - DAY] (Using a crowbar, David Phillips and another coroner pry the crate open. Inside is a set of bones. They pick the skeletal remains up and put them on the examining table.) (David hangs a tag around the remains' toe.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY -- DAY] (Robbins goes over the remains with Catherine and Keppler. He points to the skull.) Robbins: See the sutured cut across the top of her head and the Y-incision? Catherine: No. Robbins: It's because they're not there. Catherine: So the original ME didn't even do an autopsy? Robbins: What can I say? He was a lazy b*st*rd. Mike Keppler: That's criminal malfeasance. Robbins: Well, if you want to tell him, I can dig him up, too. Mike Keppler: Ah, right. So what do you got? Robbins: Check out the hyoid bone. Mike Keppler: It's fractured. Robbins: Yeah, it doesn't take much force to do it, so it's possible there were no external marks. But our girl was strangled. Catherine: So she is one of ours. Mike Keppler: Gum line filling. Silver amalgam. Catherine: On the outside of the tooth? Mike Keppler: That's a cheap way to do it. Old school. Nowadays, most dentists use epoxy and other components to make it match the enamel. I worked a mass fatality fire in Philly. Learned a lot about teeth. Robbins: Well, Veronica Sorensen had a similar filling in her mouth. Catherine: Jane Doe '99 had traces of chloral hydrate in her system. I read that dentists used to use it to sedate pediatric patients. Mike Keppler: Looks like our guy might be a dentist. [SCENE_BREAK] [MONITOR] (A search is entered in the AMERICAN NATIONAL DENTAL COUNCIL database for CLARK COUNTY, NV. Keppler hits enter.) (He types in a SEARCH REQUEST: TYPE: DENTAL OFFICES KEY WORDS: DOING BUSINES SINCE 1975 5 RESULTS FOUND ARCHOFF DENTISTRY GROUP 8973 DUNELY DRIVE LAS VEGAS, NV 89109 LINDALES VALLEY DENTAL 6783 SORIANO ROAD LAS VEGAS, NV 89109 VEGAS CITY DENTAL GROUP 2030 GELSON STREET LAS VEGAS, NV 89110 COLEBERT DENTAL CENTER 9786 CHARLOTTE STREET LAS VEGAS, NV 89110 BEACHOFF DENTAL OFFICE 248 BOLSTON ROAD LAS VEGAS, NV 89109 ) [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LV CITY CEMETERY - DAY] CU: NAME PLATE DOE, JANE (Another old coffin is raised from the ground. The technician wipes the metal plate to reveal: DOE, JANE [INT. CSI - HALLWAY TO FORENSIC AUTOPSY - DAY] (A coroner pushes a crate through the hallway. A CLOSE-UP of the lettering on the side of the box shows: DOE, JANE [SCENE_BREAK] (CU: A toe tag on skeletal remains.) (CU: Dental work.) (Robbins turns from looking at the teeth of one remains to the teeth of another remains.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - LAB - DAY] (Mike Keppler is back at the computer looking at the map of the city area with emphasis on the five dental groups in the area and the locations the victims' bodies were found.) (He places a spiral on ARCHOFF DENTISTRY GROUP and widens the spiral. It doesn't work. Some victims are outside the spiral.) (He moves the spiral to the LINDALES VALLEY DENTAL and widens the spiral. It doesn't work.) (He moves the spiral to the COLEBERT DENTAL CENTER. He widens the spiral and notes that all the victims fall inside the area.) [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY] [INT. COLEBERT DENTAL CENTER - RECEPTION - DAY] (Catherine and Mike Keppler talk with the office manager. Catherine shows her a photo of the victim.) Catherine: Her name is Veronica Sorensen, and we believe that she might have been a patient here. Office Manager: Oh, yes ... that poor girl. I saw her on the news. It's terrible. (She barely looks at the photo and hands it back to Catherine.) Catherine: Yes. These girls, do you recognize any of them? (Catherine hands the folder with the other victims' photos to the office mnager. The office manager looks away. She doesn't look through the photos.) Office Manager: Are those girls dead? Mike Keppler: We need you to look carefully at those, ma'am. (She sighs and looks at the photos.) Office Manager: I'm sorry. I don't recognize them. Catherine: Well, we're going to have to see your patient files from 1975 to Office Manager: Oh, well, I'm sorry. Inactive files aren't kept past seven years. We just don't have the space. Mike Keppler: Can you tell us who worked on Veronica Sorensen? Office Manager: I'll have to check. (She goes to the file cabinet.) We have several dentists on staff. Even a few dental students who volunteer. There we are. (She looks at the file folder.) She saw Dr. Dave. That's Dr. David Lowry. Everyone around here calls him Dr. Dave. Catherine: How long has Dr. Dave been working here? Office Manager: Oh, as long as I have. And I'm going on my thirty-second year. Mike Keppler: Could you ask him to step out, please? We'd like to speak with him. Office Manager: It's 1:15. He's at the Quality Cafe, around the corner on Fremont. Second booth on the left facing the counter. The man is nothing if not predictable. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. QUALITY CAFÉ - DAY] (Catherine and Mike Keppler enter the cafe and head for the booth where David Lowry is sitting.) Catherine: Dr. David Lowry? David Lowry: Everybody calls me Dr. Dave. Catherine: I'm Catherine Willows. This is Michael Keppler. We're from the Crime Lab. David Lowry: Please, join me. Catherine: Thank you. (Catherine and Keppler sit down.) Mike Keppler: Dr. Lowry, we'd like to ask you about one of your patients ... Veronica Sorensen. Is this your work? (Keppler shows Lowry photos of the victim and her dental work.) David Lowry: That was a very sad business. She was a lovely, young girl. (sighs) She had a gum-line cavity. Now, normally, I would have used enamel resin to match the teeth, but this was on the inside of her mouth, so I used amalgam to fill it because it was less expensive, and she was worried about the cost, and ... her bill was never paid. Mike Keppler: Are these your work as well? (He shows Lowry the other victims and their dental work.) David Lowry: I have no idea -- I was ... I was seeing a lot of patients over the years. Do you know their names? I mean, that might ring a bell. Catherine: No, we don't know who they are. Do you ever use chloral hydrate? David Lowry: No one uses chloral hydrate anymore. It's too dangerous. (Keppler watches Lowry.) David Lowry: I just feel so awful. Mike Keppler: Why is that? David Lowry: I brightened her smile. Perhaps that's what attracted her predator. (He looks at them.) Oh, well ... you'll forgive, but if you don't have any more questions, I really should get back to my office. (He gets up.) David Lowry: (to Catherine) Whoever did your mouth ... he does lovely work. Catherine: Thank you. (Lowry heads out.) Woman: (o.s.) See you tomorrow, Dr. Dave. (Catherine and Keppler watch him leave.) Mike Keppler: I don't know, kind of reminds me of my Uncle Ralph. Catherine: Except for the serial killer part, I hope. Mike Keppler: Haven't seen him in a while. Who knows? [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - A/V LAB -- DAY] (Nick looks over the damaged film negatives. He scans it into the computer. The images appear on the monitor. He works on the negatives of the victims. He finds a photo of some bruising on the victim. He clears the image and sees it's a set of teeth marks.) [SCENE_BREAK] (Nick shares his findings with Catherine and Keppler.) Nick: In the original photograph, it would've looked like a severe bruise. But there's a lot of information in the negative. You know, back in the day, they didn't have the capability to see this stuff. Mike Keppler: Pretty distinct impressions of the six upper teeth. Nick: Yeah. And here, there's a small gap between the two front teeth. Did Dr. Dave have a space between his teeth? Catherine: I don't remember. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. COLEBERT DENTAL CENTER - HALLWAY -- DAY] (Catherine and Keppler head for the back dental offices. The office manager tries to stop them. Catherine is holding a warrant.) Office Manager: But you can't go in there, because he's with a patient. Mike Keppler: Excuse me. (Keppler motions to the officer, who stops the office manager from following them.) Officer: (b.g.) Ma'am. I'm sorry, but you'll have to stay here. (Catherine knocks on the door to the room. Dr. Lowry is working on a patient.) Catherine: Dr. Lowry, would you please come with us? David Lowry: Eugenia has been seeing me for, um, how many years, my dear? Eugenia: (grunts) David Lowry: I think it's much longer than that. I'd like to finish Eugenia up before the Novocain wears off. Catherine: We've got a court order to collect a bite impression from you. David Lowry: Is this about these young girls? Mike Keppler: I think you know what this is about, Dr. Lowry. You're gonna need to come down to the Crime Lab with us. David Lowry: Bite impression. Couldn't we just do that here? It'll save us all a lot of time and trouble, unless of course, embarrassing me in front of my patient is your real intent. (Dr. Lowry looks at Eugenia, who looks at them. Mike shrugs to Catherine.) Catherine: Fine. David Lowry: Okay. Eugenia? (Eugenia grunts.) David Lowry: I'm going to have you wait in Exam Four, and I'll be in there in just a short while. (Eugenia grunts again.) (He helps her up and out of the chair.) David Lowry: No, come on, let's go. Let's see, just ... And you know the upper right teeth we worked on? Well, they're looking fine. (He leads her out of the exam room. Keppler closes the door. [SCENE_BREAK] (Catherine is mixing the mold mixture. Lowry watches her work with disapproval.) David Lowry: (to Keppler) That's too much water. It will never set. Mike Keppler: We've got time. David Lowry: Young lady, please, please, please, let me do this. I have much more practice. Catherine: Be my guest. (He takes the container from her and mixes it himself.) David Lowry: You know ... I don't believe courts accept bite mark evidence much anymore. No, they'd much rather have DNA from saliva around a wound. Catherine: I've gotten convictions from bite marks. David Lowry: Not many, I suspect. Do you know that our teeth continuously migrate through our entire life? (chuckles) Yes. Dental forensics is definitely an inexact science. (He slathers the mixture on the holder and puts it in his own mouth. He shows it to Keppler, then settles to wait.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - LAB -- DAY] (The two teeth molds are made. Keppler compares it to the impression on the victim.) Mike Keppler: We could probably match four out of six. Catherine: That's not enough for a conviction. Mike Keppler: Has to be. It's all we've got. (Catherine looks at the killer's teeth impression.) Catherine: The killer's left front incisor is misaligned. Dr. Dave's smile is perfect. Mike Keppler: Would you go to a dentist with bad teeth? [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY LIGHTS (STOCK) - NIGHT] [INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - HALLWAY OUTSIDE INTERVIEW ROOM -- DAY] (Brass, Keppler and Catherine walk through the hallway on their way to the interview room.) Brass: So we're all on the same page, right? About giving the man to these girls. Catherine: Yes. Brass: So, Mike, the viewing room is down the end of the hall. Catherine: Wait, why don't you go in and I'll watch. Mike Keppler: What makes you think he's gonna talk to me? Catherine: Because I have a pretty good feeling he's not gonna talk to me. (Catherine gives the file folder to Keppler. She enters the observation room to watch.) Mike Keppler: All right. (Brass and Keppler enter the interview room.) [INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM -- CONTINUOUS] (Brass and Keppler talk with David Lowry.) Mike Keppler: Dr. Lowry, I'd like to show you a bite impression that we're using as evidence in the Sorensen case. (Lowry looks at the bite impression.) David Lowry: There are similarities. But I don't think it's conclusive. Mike Keppler: Yes. The left front incisor doesn't match, and there's a sizable gap between the two front teeth. But then we found these. (Keppler opens a file folder and takes out another bite impression.) Brass: We subpoenaed your personal records. You go to a good dentist. Mike Keppler: In late 1989, you had a cosmetic surgery to repair a sizable gap between your two front teeth. David Lowry: Diastema. It's called diastema. Mike Keppler: We used the X-rays taken before the procedure to modify your dental model so that it matched the configuration of your teeth in 1989. This is the new overlay. (He shows the comparison to Lowry. It's a match.) David Lowry: Very impressive. You make a good case. Mike Keppler: Wasn't easy, Dr. Lowry. You cover your tracks well. David Lowry: Dr. Dave, please, call me Dr. Dave. (Keppler shows Lowry the victim photos.) Mike Keppler: Jane Doe in 1975, Jane Doe in 1989, and Jane Doe, 1999. Three girls without identities. Brass: You were the last person to see them alive. You know their names. Tell us. Mike Keppler: You have two daughters, don't you, Dr. Lowry? David Lowry: This is the most cryptic conversation I've had since dental school. Brass: All right, let me clear it up for you. The last time you moved as a free man was when you walked into this room. When you leave here, you're gonna be charged with murder. So do yourself a favor and give us the identity of these three girls, and you might spare yourself the death penalty. David Lowry: At my age, I'll die before that happens. Brass: So what do you have to lose? David Lowry: I don't want to degrade the sweetness of my memories. My memories are all I have left. Mike Keppler: I can't imagine that you didn't feel something for these girls at some point. We're just asking you to help us return them to their families. David Lowry: What benefit would I get from doing this? Mike Keppler: You might sleep better at night. David Lowry: I sleep fine, thank you very much. I've always considered that a key to my good health. Mike Keppler: So none of this bothers you? David Lowry: My life has been blessed. I was married to a kind woman. Just lost her a few years ago. We raised two children. One of them is an oral surgeon, the other one is a homemaker. Mike Keppler: And you don't care how this might affect them? David Lowry: They'll be horrified, of course. They're not monsters. Brass: Well, I'm sure the judge will take that into consideration. David Lowry: You're not listening. I don't feel bad about what I've done. I feel disappointed that I've been caught, but I tend to take the long view of things. I've had a wonderful life, and I know that all things human eventually must end. (Keppler looks at Catherine and shakes his head.) [SCENE_BREAK] CUE SONG: "Sweet Jane" [EXT. LV CITY CEMETERY - DAY] (The three crates are lowered into the grave. City workers shovel dirt back on the boxes.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. - DAY] (Keppler sits at the table and dials.) Recorded Voice: (from phone) You have no new messages. (Keppler sighs.) [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. SCHOOL - DAY] (Lindsey heads off to school. She looks back at Catherine sitting in the car and waves to her. She runs over to join a group of friends.) (Catherine sits in her car and adjusts the rear view mirror to watch Lindsey.) [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. BUS STATION - NIGHT] (FAST FORWARD: Just like the teaser, people walk to and from the bus station.) (SLOW ON: A young woman arrives and looks out at the city.) (Hold on the young woman.) SMASH TO BLACK.
Sweet Jane