During a shootout with the police, a suspect in the kidnapping and possible murder of a blackjack dealer and her husband takes his own life. Searching his ranch, the CSIs find the kidnapping victim's head mounted onto a plaque, but no sign of her husband. As the investigation continues, it is revealed that the dead suspect and several others connected to him belonged to a strange cult in which it is believed that certain people are secretly intelligent reptilian creatures set on conquering mankind.
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY] [EXT. DESERT ROAD - DAY] CU: LIZARD ON A ROCK (A lizard is on a rock in the middle of the road.) (Officer cars rush down the road and are headed toward the lizard. Sirens blare. The lead car suddenly turns right and smashes through the wooden fence. The other cars follow.) [EXT. CONNORS RESIDENCE - DAY] (The officer cars rush down the long driveway and stop in front of a house complete with pigs in a sty out front. Car doors open and officers with their guns out take position behind the doors. The SWAT team moves out toward the house. Brass gets out of the car and yells through the bullhorn.) Brass: Hank Connors, Las Vegas Police. Come out with your hands above your head. Come out slowly. (Gunfire erupts from the house. Officers duck as bullets shatter car glass.) (The officers return fire.) (A couple of SWAT move in closer and take cover behind an old tractor.) (The gunfire from the house continues.) (The two SWAT officers move in closer to the house. One of them is hit.) Brass: Officer down! (They continue to exchange gunfire.) Hank Connors: (shouts) Go back where you came from! You're not taking me! (He continues to fire on the officers outside.) (He stops and looks outside.) SLOW MOTION: Three SWAT officers move in toward the house. (Hank Connors takes a moment, then he runs into the house.) (The officers reach the front porch.) [INT. CONNORS RESIDENCE - HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS] (Hank Connors makes his way through the hallway to the door in the back.) [EXT. CONNORS RESIDENCE - FRONT PORCH -C ONTINUOUS] (One of the officers kicks the front door in.) [INT. CONNORS RESIDENCE - BACK DOOR - CONTINUOUS] (Hank Connors stops in front of the back door and turns around to look inside, his back to the door.) [INT. CONNORS RESIDENCE - LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS] (SWAT officers enter the house and head for the hallway.) REVERSE VIEW (The SWAT officers appear in the hallway entrance and make their way toward the back door.) (Hank Connor appears to stand in front of the back door.) (SWAT officers continue to make their way toward him.) (Hank Connor grabs a gun, puts it under his chin and -- BANG! (Blood spatters on the back door window.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CONNORS RESIDENCE - LIVING ROOM / HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS] (The guns found in the house are on the table. Nick walks in and heads for the hallway where Hank Connor's body is slumped up against the back door.) (Along the hallway walls, Nick notes the guns and ammunition stacked on the side. He stops in front of the body and notes the handgun in the victim's grip. He also notes the large water bottles in the room beyond the back door.) (Brass enters the hallway.) Brass: MREs, automatic weapons, ammo, water -- this guy Connors was ready for the end of days. Nick: Which, in his case, was today. Bomb squad find any booby traps? Brass: No, he liked it mano a mano. Nick: Any sign of Chyna De Vere? Brass: Not yet. [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. CONNORS RESIDENCE - FRONT YARD -- DAY] (Grissom and Warrick walk along the side of the house where the pigs in the pen are.) Warrick: You know, there's some food, you just shouldn't see where it comes from. Grissom: Did you know that pigs are very intelligent animals, right behind chimps, dolphins and elephants? Warrick: Ahead of dogs? Grissom: And certain politicians. (Warrick chuckles.) (They look around.) Warrick: I don't see Connors' truck anywhere. Grissom: Let's look in the barn. (They head for the barn.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CONNORS RESIDENCE - BARN -- DAY] (The cat runs down the steps and out the door as it opens. Grissom and Warrick walk in.) Warrick: There's the truck. (Warrick steps up to the area where the blue truck is parked. He and Grissom look at the truck. They find bloodstains in the bed.) Warrick: If this is Chyna De Vere's blood, we're getting warmer. (Warrick snaps photos of the blood. Grissom turns and looks around the barn. They note the items on the desk and the stuffed animals on the side.) Warrick: Looks like he had a hobby -- stuffed animals. (Warrick stops near the table and looks at the items on it while Grissom continues toward the other side of the barn. He looks at the various stuffed animal heads up on the wall.) Grissom: Hey, Warrick. Warrick: Yeah? Grissom: I feel like Marco Polo. (Warrick heads over toward Grissom.) Warrick: Why's that? Grissom: I just discovered Chyna. (Chyna's head is mounted up on the wall.) FADE TO END OF TEASER ROLL TITLE CREDITS [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CONNORS RESIDENCE - BARN -- DAY] (David Phillips is standing up on a chair and looking at Chyna's head up on the wall.) David Phillips: This is a career first. (Warrick is working on the table in the back.) Warrick: A little tip for you: The new Mrs. Phillips doesn't need to hear about this. David Phillips: Are you kidding me? She'll want to hear every detail. Why do you think I married her? [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. CONNORS RESIDENCE - FRONT YARD -- DAY] (Sara walks around the house and finds Nick in the sty with the pigs and the mud. He's trying to round them up.) Nick: Come on, pretty girl, come on. (The pigs squeal. Sara watches him.) Nick: Come on. Sara: Hi. Nick: Hey. Sara: What are you doing? Nick: Well, I read about this farmer in Canada who killed a bunch of women and fed them to his pigs. Sara: Oh. Nick: Yeah, their health department had to put out a bulletin that said, "Warning: your pork may be contaminated with human." (Nick pushes a pig toward the container opening.) Sara: I'm so glad I'm a vegetarian. (The pig snorts as Nick grabs him and pushes him through the opening.) Nick: Get through there! (The pig goes through the opening.) Nick: Well, no one has seen or heard from the victim's husband, so ... I kind of figured he may have been dessert. (Nick herds another pig to the opening.) Sara: I think the fat one likes you. (Nick smiles and sighs at Sara.) Nick: They always do. [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY] [INT. CSI - GARAGE -- DAY] (Greg and Catherine walk into the lab.) Greg: We went to Connors' ranch because a week ago, Chyna De Vere went missing. She just separated from her husband, got her own place. (They stop in front of a large piece of carpeting on the floor.) Greg: This is a large section of her living room carpet -- wet to the touch, pheno confirmed a blood pool. Catherine: Well, it's certainly enough blood to suggest foul play. (Greg looks through the file.) Greg: There were also traces of perchloroethylene, phosphates, alcohol, ethers and sodium hypocholorite. Catherine: Used a steam cleaner. Would've denatured any DNA. (She stands up and walks around the carpeting.) Greg: Yeah, we checked all the local places that rent them. Connors' name didn't come up. Catherine: How about the husband's? Greg: Nope. And he's still missing. Catherine: So what's this? (She points to a circle on the carpet marked GS 102.) Greg: That is a single, distinct blood drop -- not from the victim, not from the husband. They didn't clean the whole carpet. Unknown female. We also found soil trace, identified as scheelite, a tungsten ore. Apparently, Connors' ranch is near old tungsten mines by McCade. Catherine: (shakes her head) How is Connors, this pig farmer, connected to the victim? Greg: Oh, he's in kind of a club with the victim's husband. Catherine: Kind of a club? [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CONNORS RESIDENCE - BACK ROOM -- DAY] (Grissom flips through a book of drawings of aliens, UFOs and other unidentified creatures. He closes the book to look at the title, "To Walk Among Us.") (He puts the book down. The next book on the bookshelf is, "Serpents of the Universe: A Comprehensive Account of the Reptilian Conspiracy.") (He turns and looks at the various items on the table - UFO magazines, a photo, tin foil, tape. He picks up the photo of two men and a woman. He puts the photo down and opens a magazine to a yellow flyer. It reads: APRIL 15, 2006 FRIENDSHIP AUDITORIUM McCADE, NEVADA SPECIAL PRESENTATION BASED ON THE WORK OF DR. SIDNEY BUCKMAN WE ARE NOT ALONE. COME HEAR THE TRUTH. ) (He picks up the flyer and looks at it.) [INT. CONNORS RESIDENCE - LIVING ROOM / BACK ROOM -- DAY] (Sara walks into the house as the coroners are wheeling out the body. She walks through the hallway and into the back room where Grissom is.) Sara: Want me to take the living room? Looks like Armageddon came on a Thursday. Grissom: Do you believe that intelligent life exists on other planets? Sara: I'm not sure there's intelligent life on this planet. (He gives her a look.) Sara: I'll get started. [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY] [INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM -- DAY] (Brass walks in and talks with Shannon Turner.) Brass: Ms. Turner. Shannon Turner: I already went through this a week ago. Brass: You know, you're right. But let's go through it again. Chyna De Vere is dead. And her remains were found on your boyfriend's ranch. Shannon Turner: Yeah, not my boyfriend -- my friend. And furthermore, I never knew Chyna De Vere. Brass: She wasn't a member of your club? Shannon Turner: No. If she was, I would have known her, and I didn't. Brass: Her husband was. And he's MIA. You know, the club's getting smaller and smaller by the minute. This morning, Hank Connors died. (Shannon Turner appears shocked and upset by the news.) Brass: When we went up there to arrest your friend, he shot himself. And I'm getting the feeling that you're going to be missing a meeting, too. Look, Shannon, you alibied a killer. You're already an accessory to one murder. If Hank Connors killed Chyna's husband, too ... Shannon Turner: Oh. Oh, is that what you think happened? Brass: Tell me where he is. Hmm? You know, this can work in your favor with the DA. Shannon Turner: Oh, you know what? I'm not really worried about that. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CONNORS RESIDENCE - BACK ROOM -- DAY] (Grissom is looking at the notices and clippings pinned to the bulletin board. He looks around and notices the pull-down projector screen up on the ceiling. He pulls down the projector screen and looks around for the projector.) (At the end of the room, the projector is set up in the closet. Grissom turns the closet light on and switches on the projector.) (The image of Dr. Sidney Buckman appears on the screen.) Sidney Buckman: Adam and Eve were not only the first humans on the Earth, they were bait ... for intelligent life forms elsewhere in the cosmos, refugees from planets that could no longer sustain them. But why Earth? Deoxyribonucleic acid. DNA. The blueprint of human life is the key to their survival. Without it, they will perish. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY] (The door opens and Greg walks in with his kit.) Greg: Hi, Ms. Turner. My name's Greg Sanders; I'm with the Crime Lab. I have a warrant to take a sample of your DNA. (He puts his kit on the table and gives the warrant to her.) Shannon Turner: You're not touching me. Greg: Well, ma'am, this is standard procedure. (Greg opens his kit and takes out a swab.) Shannon Turner: I know who you are. Greg: I'm just going to swab the inside of ... (He approaches her with the swab. She stands up and violently pushes him away from her.) Shannon Turner: Hey! Not! (The woman officer grabs her and holds her as she struggles.) Officer: Calm down. Shannon Turner: Get off of me! Officer: Calm down, ma'am. Calm down. Shannon Turner: All of you get away from me! Get him away from ... ! Officer: Calm down. (They force her to sit down on the floor.) Shannon Turner: No! Greg: Let's try this again. (He tries to get the swab in her mouth and she bites down on his hand.) Officer: Let go of his hand! Let go of his hand, ma'am. (Greg looks at the bite mark on his hand.) Greg: That bitch bit me. (Greg turns and swabs her saliva from his hand.) Greg: I got my sample. (He turns and heads back to his kit.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CONNORS RESIDENCE - BACK ROOM -- DAY] (Grissom continues to watch the film.) Sidney Buckman: (on film) The first encounters between humans and extraterrestrials took place over a hundred thousand years ago in Atlantis, and in its sister civilization in the Pacific, Lemuria. Ancient civilizations on every continent have recorded evidence of these encounters. These visitors were highly advanced and did not appear in human form. Now, the Mayans called them Chanes -- people of the serpents-- and in Hebrew legend, the snake represented knowledge. Of course it did. It was not human. Not of this Earth. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. TURNER RESIDENCE - DAY] (Catherine and Brass walk into the living room. Catherine puts her kit down while Brass looks at the books on the shelf.) Brass: Shannon sure has a lot of books. (There are titles for 'Foundation for "A Course in Miracles"', 'Flying Saucers: Top Secret,' 'The Handbook of Artificial Intelligence,' 'Astronomy: The Cosmic Journey,' and A Different Approach to Cosmology. ) Brass: UFO's, alien abduction ... (Catherine is looking at the mail on the desk. She flips the card over. The address on the other side is to: SHANNON TURNER 1654 HILLIS AVE LAS VEGAS NV 89101 ) Catherine: Chyna was a dealer at the Palermo. Looks like Shannon was a player. Gold level. (The card is for PALERMO PLAYER'S CLUB, LOOSEST SLOTS IN VEGAS. WORLD-CLASS BUFFET GOLD LEVEL MEMBERS - ½ OFF EARN POINTS FOR CASH GOLD LEVEL MEMBERS - EARN DOUBLE POINTS ON TUESDAYS EXCLUSIVE OFFER ONLY FOR GOLD LEVEL MEMBERS LIKE YOU! ) Brass: Yeah, tell me they never met. We'll check the Palermo security. (Catherine opens the desk drawer and takes out a sketchbook. Brass walks over as Catherine flips through it. She sees sketches of various designs and reptilian creatures.) Catherine: Reptiles ... UFOs ... (She turns the page over to a sketch of a warrior woman.) Brass: Xena, Warrior Princess. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CONNORS RESIDENCE - BACK ROOM -- DAY] (Grissom continues to watch the film.) Sidney Buckman: (on film) History is replete with stories of the heroic destruction of serpents: Perseus and Medusa, St. George and the Dragon, St. Patrick and the Snakes of Ireland. (Sara walks in and stops to watch the film with Grissom.) Sidney Buckman: (on film) But these are not merely legends ... Sara: What is this? Grissom: I think their UFO club is based on the teachings of this guy. Sidney Buckman: (on film) ... and the natural form of these invaders is not human. They are described in ancient accounts as serpents and dragons. And man's weapon against them is the sword. Cut off the tail, the serpent lives. Cut off its head, and it dies. Sara: So Connors cut off her head because he thought she was a serpent from outer space? (Grissom turns and looks at her. The film ends.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. TURNER RESIDENCE - DAY] (Catherine continues to flip through the sketchbook to show more reptilian creatures. Brass is in the kitchen.) Brass: Catherine ... check this out. (Catherine heads for the kitchen. Brass shows her a mug with a photo of Preston De Vere and Shannon Turner. The caption reads: Chillin' in Cabo.) Brass: Chyna De Vere's husband, Preston. Catherine: What's Shannon doing with him? Brass: "Chillin' in Cabo." (Catherine sees something black like a handle up on the top cabinet shelf. She takes the stepladder out to see what it is.) (A brown cat trots into the kitchen.) Brass: Aww. Well, while Mommy's in custody, I guess the kitty's hungry; I'll call Animal Control. (Catherine climbs up the stepladder and finds a long blade sword.) Catherine: Oh, Jim ... Brass: Well, hello, Xena. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CONNORS RESIDENCE - FRONT YARD -- DAY] (The pigs are sunning in the mud on one half of the pen. On the other side of the pen, Nick digs through the mud and finds what looks like a human bone.) Nick: Oh, boy. [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY LIGHTS (STOCK) - NIGHT] [INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - NIGHT] VARIOUS CUTS OF: (David Phillips and Robbins use a drill to unscrew Chyna's head off the mounting board.) (They remove the board and cut the wire holding the sides of the head together.) (They unwrap the skin and hair from around the skull, which was padded with dry straw.) Robbins: Look what he used on the incision. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - NIGHT] (Robbins shares his findings with Grissom.) Grissom: Duct tape? Robbins: Yeah, he used it to close up the laceration from a sharp force perimortem wound. Corresponds to the indentation in the skull. (He picks up the skull and shows Grissom the mark.) Grissom: Could that be the fatal wound? Robbins: Give me the rest of the body and I can tell you. Grissom: Nick's working on it. (Robbins peels back the duct tape.) Grissom: Almost three inches, smooth-edge blade; you know, Catherine found -- Robbins: (interrupts) Yeah, I heard. A sword -- everyone's talking about this one. (He glances over his shoulder at Hank Connors on the table behind him.) Robbins: Why would anybody want to taxidermy a human head? Grissom: I'm still working on the "how." Robbins: That, I can tell you. Mounted one myself. A deer-- Dad was a hunter. First, our guy had to separate the head from the body. For that, he used a serrated-edge knife. (Robbins shows Grissom the pattern on the bottom of the skin.) Robbins: Dad used a carving knife, same one we used at Thanksgiving. When mom found out, she almost killed him with it. Grissom: Heartwarming. Robbins: Yeah, so then ... he had to flesh the skin away from the underlying muscle. (Quick flash of: Hank peeling the skin off the muscle. End of flash.) Robbins: Next, he would've stretched the skin out on a board, -- (Quick flash of: Hank rubs rock salt into the skin.) Robbins: (V.O.) -- rubbed it with rock salt ... (End of flash.) Robbins: ... then waited two days. Then he tanned the skin to preserve it, (Quick flash of: Hank working on the head.) Robbins: (V.O.) -- hydrated it with a borax and water solution to keep the bugs off. (End of flash.) Robbins: Next, he cleaned the skull, filled the imperfections with clay, sawdust, anything at hand. Popped in two glass eyes, and then ... (Robbins puts the skull back in the skin.) Grissom: And he's got the best-looking wall mount in the neighborhood. (smiles and nods.) We're going to need to process that toolmark. Robbins: Yeah, I'll get it over to CSI. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - LAB -- NIGHT] (Catherine dusts the blade for prints. She finds several. She takes a print lift of the prints.) (Mandy walks in and finds Catherine in her chair.) Mandy: Oh ... nice sword. Mm-hmm! I dated a guy on the fencing team. His thighs were incredible. (She takes a lift of a print on the hilt.) Did you want to show me something? Catherine: Yes, the, uh, tip has been wiped clean. Negative for blood. But I did find a couple of partials on the blade just above the hilt. (Catherine takes her gloves off.) Mandy: Okay. Catherine: And a couple of full prints on the handle. (She takes her coat off.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY -- NIGHT] (Nick measures the length of the bone he found.) Nick: The femur measures 461 millimeters. (He checks the height chart.) Gives us a height for a white female of 5'6". Grissom: Exactly Chyna's height. How about for a male? Nick: 5'7". Grissom: Preston De Vere is too tall. Did you measure the head of the femur? Nick: No, sir, I was just about to. (He measures the head.) Nick: 41 point s ... point five millimeters. Grissom: It's a female. Nick: You want my theory? (Grissom listens and Nick ticks off the items on his fingers.) Nick: This little piggy went to market. This little piggy stayed home. This little piggy had Chyna. Grissom: Yeah. (He looks at the markings on the bone.) Human teeth aren't strong enough to leave these marks. Nick: And it is consistent with Connors chopping off her head and tossing his "girls" a bone. Grissom: (sighs) Okay ... go back to the ranch. See if you can find the rest of her. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - LAB] (Greg is in the lab when Catherine walks in with her sword. Greg's hand is bandaged.) Catherine: Hey, Greg. You up for a bite? (Greg laughs like it's the funniest joke ever. He pounds on the table as if unable to control his laughter.) (Catherine watches him as she takes her jacket off.) (He continues laughing, then stops.) Greg: No. I am on antibiotics, I had a tetanus shot-- I'm having a pretty bad year. (Catherine puts her lab coat on.) Catherine: Oh, it's only a bad year if you do a bad job, Greg. You're having a great year. (She winks at him.) Greg: (suggestively) I got that gel ready for you. (Catherine picks up her sword and starts cutting into the gel.) VARIOUS DISSOLVES OF: (As Greg works on one side of the table, Catherine cuts impressions into the gel on the other side of the table. She makes several cuts working her way down the sword.) (Meanwhile, Greg prepares the cast and makes an impression of the marking in the skull.) (Catherine stands the gel impression on its edge and makes a cast impression of the sword cuts.) (Greg removes the cast from the skull. He puts it under the scope.) (Catherine peels off the impression from the sword cut and gives it to Greg, who puts it under the second scope to compare. He looks under the scope and finds a MATCH.) Greg: Voila! Catherine: We have our weapon? Greg: Yeah, and a mounted human head, a suicidal pig farmer, a missing husband, and a bunch of UFO believers. What could be next? [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - GRISSOM'S OFFICE] (Grissom's lizard is in its tank. Grissom sits at his desk looking up a website on the DRACO CONSPIRACY. The lizard on the monitor removes its mask to reveal photos being morphed into reptilians.) (Warrick walks in.) Warrick: Wendy got results back on the blood from Connors' workbench in the pickup truck. It's Chyna De Vere. Grissom: Good. Come here, take a look at this. (Warrick walks around the desk to look at the humans morphing into reptilians.) Warrick: Hey, isn't that, uh ... ? Grissom: Yeah. You can see Dick Cheney, Al Gore, all nine Supreme Court Justices shape-shift into reptilians. Did you know that, for thousands of years, creatures from the constellation Draco have been mating with humans to form a super-race that includes 43 US presidents, most members of Congress, and the entire British royal family? (Catherine walks in.) Grissom: Hey, did Shannon Turner have a cat? Catherine: Yeah. Grissom: So did Hank Connors. See, it figures. Cats are a natural enemy of reptiles. Catherine: I'll keep that in mind. The sword I found at Shannon Turner's made the tool marks on the skull. Shannon's prints were all over the handle. And the partials on the blade, above the hilt -- Chyna De Vere's. Grissom: She tried to defend herself. (Quick flash to: Shannon is sparring with Chyna, who is unarmed. Chyna grabs the sword's blade to avoid getting hit. End of flash.) Catherine: Did Wendy find anything on that drop of blood on the carpet? Warrick: Came back to Shannon. Grissom: Yeah, but Brass interviewed her last week. She didn't have any visible cuts. Catherine: Warrick? Come at me with a sword. (Warrick steps forward and Warrick advances toward Catherine with a make-believe sword. Catherine puts her hands up and pushes Warrick's make-believe sword back in his face.) Catherine: All right, so I push back hard enough ... (Quick flash to: Shannon comes at Chyna with the sword. Chyna pushes the sword back and hits Shannon in the face.) Catherine: (V.O.) -- bang you on the nose. Brass wouldn't have seen that. (End of flash.) (Grissom concedes the possibility.) Grissom: But what I don't understand is if Shannon Turner and Hank Connors really believed in a reptilian conspiracy and they felt threatened by the political establishment, why kill a blackjack dealer? [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY] [INT. CONNORS RESIDENCE - LAND AROUND AREA -- DAY] (Officers are moving slowly around the area looking for evidence.) (Warrick walks around the house.) Warrick: Hey, Nick! Nick: (o.s.) Yeah? Warrick: I got something over here. (Warrick walks over to a circular stone formation on the ground with ashes in the center. He uses a stick and pushes the ashes and dirt aside. Nick walks over to him.) (Nick kneels down in the dirt as Warrick picks up a bone.) Nick: Man, that looks human. (He puts the bone down and picks up his camera to snap a photo of it.) (Nick pushes the ashes and dirt around with a stick and picks up a fabric remnant.) (Warrick sifts through the ashes and finds a ring. He reads the inscription inside.) (Nick finds a second ring and reads the inscription.) Warrick: (reads) "To Chyna, Love, Preston." Nick: "To Preston, Love, Chyna." Warrick: Till death do us part. (They look at each other. Nick holds the ring up.) [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY] [INT. CSI - A/V LAB -- DAY] (Sara and Archie go over the Palermo security video.) Archie: According to the Palermo, Shannon Turner joined the Player's Club last month. Whenever a player uses a club card at a table game, the floor man writes down what game you played, where you sat, what time you started, time you quit. Then they estimate your average bet, win-loss ratios ... Sara: No wonder she believed in conspiracies. Archie: Well, this is the first time Shannon used her card. (He fast-forwards the video and stops on Shannon at Chyna's table.) Sara: And the dealer is Chyna. (He puts up different video.) Archie: A week later. By now, she's a regular. Sara: Looks like they're best friends. (He puts up another video.) Archie: Two weeks ago. Sara: Table's full. She's waiting for a seat. Archie: Shannon only gambled at Chyna's table. Sara: Maybe Chyna was her lucky charm. Archie: That depends on how you define luck. (Archie puts up Shannon's tally sheet showing losses every week.) Sara: She never walked away a winner. Archie: Maybe she blamed Chyna for her losses. Sara: She's too friendly. I think she was gaining her trust. Stalking her. Archie: Well, it's Las Vegas. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY] (Brass and Grissom interview Shannon Turner.) Shannon Turner: It's not a crime to play blackjack. Brass: You're right, it's Las Vegas. But it is a crime to lie to the police. We found your blood in Chyna's apartment. Shannon Turner: Then it was planted. Brass: By whom? Shannon Turner: How should I know? Maybe you planted it. Brass: Look ... you killed Chyna, and you got Connors to help you move the body. And Connors killed Preston, because he was obsessed with you and wanted to eliminate the competition. (Brass puts a photo of the SHANNON AND PRESTON mug on the table. Shannon swallows.) Brass: You lied about knowing Chyna; you going to lie about this, too? Shannon Turner: Preston can't be killed. His cells don't die. He's over 4,000 years old. Brass: Oh, 4,000. The new fifty. Shannon Turner: You just don't know the truth when you hear it. Preston is a great man. He has the wisdom of the ages. Beyond your capacity to understand. Grissom: Ms. Turner ... was Chyna a reptilian? (She doesn't answer him.) (Grissom opens the folder and takes out a sketch of a reptilian with a crown.) Grissom: Who is this? Shannon Turner: The Reptilian Athena. Grissom: Is that Chyna De Vere? (Again, Shannon doesn't answer him.) (Grissom shows her the sketch of the warrior princess.) Grissom: Tell me about this one. (She smiles.) Shannon Turner: That's the Protector of Mankind. Brass: Is that you? (Brass sips from his water cup. Shannon sees his snake-like forked tongue slip out of his mouth and drink from the water.) (Brass stops drinking. He looks at Shannon.) Shannon Turner: Hmm? Grissom: Did you slay the Reptilian Athena? Shannon Turner: I did what I had to do. (Quick flash of: Shannon is dressed in her warrior princess outfit.) Chyna De Vere: What's this all about? Shannon Turner: I have to kill you. Chyna De Vere: What?! (Shannon takes out her sword and attacks Chyna. Chyna fights back. Eventually, Shannon knocks Chyna back.) (End of flashback.) Shannon Turner: It's not like there's nothing at stake here. Just the survival of the human race. Brass: Yeah, I'm just a phone booth away from changing into my tights and saving the world. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - A/V LAB] (Archie is in the lab going through the security video. Warrick walks by.) Archie: Hey, Warrick, I got something. (Warrick walks into the lab.) Archie: I was scanning the casino footage from the day Chyna disappeared. And she had a visitor--her husband. Warrick: She doesn't look so happy to see him. (On the video, Chyna and her husband are arguing. She holds out the palm of her hand. He takes his ring off and gives it to her.) Warrick: Well, we don't need words to get that. Archie: "Give me your ring. I really, really hate you. Our marriage is over." (She takes her ring off and slips both rings in her pocket.) Warrick: Well, that means she was killed before she had a chance to change her clothes. That would explain why we found both rings in the ashes. But it doesn't explain what happened to him. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY -- DAY] VARIOUS DISSOLVES OF: (David brushes the ashes and dirt off the bones and hands them to Robbins, who sets them in their correct place on the table.) (When they're done, David looks at the table. Robbins snaps a photo of the bones.) (David turns over a vertebra with a bullet inside. Robbins takes a photo of it.) (Robbins extracts the bullet from the vertebra.) [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY -- DAY] (Robbins shows Warrick the bullet.) Robbins: I found it embedded in this. T-9 vertebra. Warrick: But that means the bullet had to pass through at least one vital organ. Robbins: Yeah, heart, lung, and then the dome of the liver. That's your COD. Warrick: And you're sure these are Chyna De Vere's bones. Robbins: Yeah, pelvis is female. No duplicate bones. The femur's the same length as the one the pigs were chomping on. It's her. (Warrick holds out the open bindle. Robbins drops the bullet inside.) Warrick: Okay. Well, we'll run this against Connors' guns. [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY LIGHTS (STOCK) - NIGHT] Cue Sound: (V.O.) GODZILLA ROARING [INT. APARTMENT - BEDROOM - NIGHT] (Sara and Grissom are watching an old Godzilla movie on the television set. Godzilla stomps through the city. People scream and run. Godzilla uses his tail and smashes into a building.) (Sara is leaning back against the bed headboard while eating yogurt. Grissom sits near the foot of the bed with Bruno the dog.) Sara: I always feel sorry for the monster. Grissom: (amused) Then you better turn it off before they use the Oxygen Destroyer on him. (Grissom gets up and leaves the bed. He whistles. Bruno gets up and follows Grissom.) (After a moment, Sara puts the yogurt down on the bedside table and turns the television set off with the remote. An envelope stuck in between the pages of a book catches her eye. It has her name on it.) (She takes the envelope out and looks at it, partially addressed to her.) (She looks at it for a moment, then opens it. It's the letter Grissom wrote to her back in 7X13-Redrum. He never sent it to her. Sara reads it.) Grissom: (V.O.) I don't know why I find it so difficult to express my feelings to you. Even though we're far apart, I can see you as vividly as if you were here with me. I said I'll miss you, and I do. (In his study, Grissom takes a photo off his desk and moves to the worktable where he's constructing Grissom: (V.O.) As Shakespeare more ably wrote my sentiment in Sonnet 47, "Thyself away art present still with me; For thou not farther than my thoughts canst move, and I am still with them ... (Grissom is in the next room working on his miniature scene.) Grissom: (V.O.) Or, if they sleep, thy picture in my sight, Awakes my heart to heart's and eye's delight." (We hold on Sara. She turns and looks over in Grissom's direction.) Warrick: (PRE-LAP) Fire in the hole! [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - BALLISTICS LAB] (Warrick files into the tank. BANG!) (Nick jumps. His earphones aren't on yet.) Nick: You're supposed to let me get these things on. Warrick: Hey, you were supposed to be ready. (Warrick puts the gun down and opens the container to get the can with the bullet in it.) Warrick: I don't know, man. Maybe it would have worked out if Tina was someone who did what we did. At least she'd understand the hours. (Warrick empties out the contents of the can.) Nick: Oh, I don't know. I don't think it's a good idea to date somebody you work with. You never really get away from work or them the way you need to, you know? (Warrick picks the bullet out and juggles it from hand to hand.) Warrick: You mean, like me and you, baby? Nick: Yeah, exactly, honey. Warrick: Mm-hmm. (He gives the bullet to Nick. Nick looks at it under the scope. It looks like a match.) Nick: Yeah, it looks like the bullet that killed her came from Connors' Walther PPK. (Quick flash of: Chyna is on the floor crying. Hank Connors stands above her with the gun pointed down at her. He fires. End of flash.) FLASH TO: [EXT. LAS VEGAS DESERT (STOCK) - DAY] [EXT. LAS VEGAS DESERT ROADWAY - DAY] (Brass parks his car on the side of the road. The officer car following him stops as well. A sheriff's car is parked on the opposite side of the road with the sheriff waiting for them.) Joe Vasquez: Captain Brass? Brass: Jim. (They shake hands.) Joe Vasquez: Joe Vasquez. Brass: How you doing, Joe? Joe Vasquez: I got a call from a passing motorist. Naked guy running around in the desert. That may not be so strange where you work, but out here, it gets our attention. I recognized him from the news. Brass: Thanks a lot, Joe. (Brass looks into the back of the car.) Brass: Preston De Vere? Preston De Vere: Very glad to be back home. Brass: What are you doing out here, Preston? Preston De Vere: I was a captive, held against my will. From what the sheriff tells me, I've been gone over a week. Feels like just seconds. Brass: Can you describe these people to me? Preston De Vere: Well, yes, but you won't believe me. Brass: Try me. Preston De Vere: They were very tall ... with reptilian features: large, almond-shaped, red eyes. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. HOSPITAL - PRESTON'S ROOM -- DAY] (Brass walks in. Preston is in bed.) Brass: Hey, what's happening, Lizard King? Preston De Vere: I appreciate your skepticism. I anticipated it. Insight begins with asking the right questions. (He sits up and puts his glasses on.) Brass: Okay, then, when exact were you abducted? (Preston takes his glasses off and looks at Brass.) Preston De Vere: Nine days ago. (He puts his glasses on.) Brass: Oh, so you were abducted before your wife was missing. Preston De Vere: What do you mean Chyna is missing? What happened to her? Brass: What are you trying to tell me? You don't know your wife is dead? Preston De Vere: That was callous of you. Unnecessarily cruel. I had no idea. That sweet girl ... (Preston takes his glasses off, covers his face with his hand and sobs loudly. Brass is unmoved.) Brass: Stop the crocodile tears. Come on. Preston. If she was so sweet, what were you doing Chillin' in Cabo with Shannon Turner? Preston De Vere: Are you suggesting that was romantic? (Preston puts his glasses back on.) Brass: Well, you got your pictures on the coffee mug. That's romantic to me. You better come up with an alibi -- on planet Earth -- of where you were the night your wife was killed. Preston De Vere: That's easy. (Preston slides off the bed and stands up.) Preston De Vere: There's a woman, and it is romantic, very romantic. I was with her when they took me. Her name is Clarissa Niles. [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY] [INT. ROOM -- DAY] (An Alien Abduction Survivor's Group meeting is being held.) Man: We are victims ... and no one is listening to us. We're powerless against what's going on. (Brass and Grissom arrive with several officers. They wait in the doorway while the group meeting continues.) Man: We're not crazy. If you look at who has had contact, we're airline pilots, professionals, teachers, scientists. I don't know how to get the truth out, but we have to. (Some of the members nod in agreement.) Barbara: Has anyone talked to Shannon in the last couple of days? (Several members shake their heads.) Man: They've got her. Grissom: It's like we're witnessing some form of mass hallucination. You know, they think the cops are part of this reptilian conspiracy as well. That's why Shannon attacked Greg. (Quick flash to: [INT. P.D. -- INTERVIEW ROOM] The officers hold Shannon down while Greg stands over her.) Greg: Let's try this again. (As she looks at him, his hand turns scaly and green with webbed fingers.) (Shannon looks at Greg and his face turns reptilian.) (End of flash.) Brass: And why Hank Connors shot himself. (Quick flash to: [EXT. CONNORS RESIDENCE] Hank looks out his window. The officers are advancing toward the house with their guns. A cloud of dust blocks his view. When it clears, Hank sees reptilians dressed as officers and carrying guns as they advance toward the house.) [SCENE_BREAK] (Hank stands in front of the door to his back room. He sees a reptilian advancing toward him down the hallway. He puts the gun under his chin and shoots himself.) (End of flashes.) (Brass steps into the room and holds up his badge.) Brass: Sorry to interrupt. Man: Don't make eye contact with them. (Everyone in the group looks away.) (Brass looks at Grissom.) Grissom: Please, we come in peace. Brass: Which one of you is Clarissa Niles? (The man looks at Clarissa and shakes his head.) Man: Don't. (Clarissa raises her hand.) Clarissa Niles: It's all right. I'm not afraid. [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - SUNSET] Greg: (V.O.) Got a warrant to tow in Clarissa Niles' car. [INT. CSI - GARAGE] (Greg shows Catherine what he's found on the tires under the ALS.) Greg: Blue fluorescence is one of the properties of scheelite. (Catherine puts her gloves on.) Catherine: Which was found in the soil at Hank Connors' ranch. Greg: (nods) And Preston beamed down in the same area. Catherine: Have you looked inside yet? Greg: Naw. I was just about to. (Catherine opens the back door and looks inside. She finds men's shoes and clothing.) Catherine: Preston was found naked, right? Greg: Yeah, it's a recurrent theme in tales of alien abduction. I practically grew up on 'The X-Files.' Catherine: Preston's wallet. Somehow I doubt aliens would have folded his clothes when they abducted him. (Greg pops the trunk.) Catherine: So Clarissa drove him out there and he left his stuff in her car. Greg: That's not all he left. (Catherine joins Greg and she chuckles at the contents in the trunk.) Greg: Steam cleaner. Just what every estranged husband needs to clean up his dead wife's blood. Catherine: This case just came down to Earth. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM] (Brass interviews Clarissa Niles.) Clarissa Niles: Yes, Preston was at my home in Summerlin. We were asleep and suddenly the room turned very cold. Freezing. I woke up and looked over and Preston was gone. I ... I searched the house, outside ... It was as if he evaporated. Brass: (SIGHS) Come on, Clarissa, you're a smart woman, I mean, really. I mean, you have a beautiful home, you're a good citizen, you pay your taxes, you vote, you even play a little golf. You got way too much on the ball to fall for this con man. Clarissa Niles: Con man? You think I'm gullible? He's a brilliant man. He saved my life. When we first met, I was very ill. It was cancer and he cured it. Brass: Really? How'd he do that? Clarissa Niles: He knows how to prevent human cells from dying. He has injections; they're, they're radioactive. Hospitals won't do it because it would make everyone well. It would put them out of business. Brass: Do you really think he's four thousand years old? Here. Let me show you something. (He opens a file folder. She puts on her glasses.) Look at this. He's 42. He claims he's a nutritionist. He's not. And look. Look at all these schools and labs he said he went to. They never heard of him. He has no place of business, no job. He just preys on vulnerable women. He got Shannon Turner to kill his wife for him. Got you to give him money. Clarissa Niles: He never asked for it. I wanted to give it to him. Brass: You would have done anything for him, whether he asked for it or not. (Quick flashback to: Preston talks with Clarissa at a group meeting.) Preston De Vere: Do you have any idea how beautiful you are? (She blushes.) I mean really, really, really beautiful. More so every day. Clarissa Niles: That's because you cured me. I-I-I've never felt better or happier. Preston De Vere: You know, I didn't want to alarm you, but they put an implant in you. They do it while you're sleeping so they can manipulate your thoughts. My injections disabled it. You're not only cancer-free, you're free of their control. Clarissa Niles: Oh, my God. How am I ever going to be able to thank you? (End of flashback.) Brass: You drove him out to McCade, you dropped him off, you brought back his clothes. The evidence is all over your car. Clarissa Niles: He loved me. Brass: He used you just like he used everybody. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. CSI - TRACE LAB] (Hodges opens the steam cleaner and finds a single strand of hair in the bristles. He removes the hair.) [INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY] (David opens the drawer and takes a single strand of Chyna's hair.) [INT. CSI - GARAGE] (Greg dusts the plastic steam cleaner water container and finds a print under the cover. He lifts it and scans it into the database.) [INT. CSI - HALLWAY/ DNA LAB] (Hodges shares his findings with Catherine.) Hodges: If they were trying to clean up all the blood, they did a good job. Steam cleaner tested positive for blood, but there wasn't enough for DNA. Catherine: Did you find anything? (They enter the DNA Lab.) Hodges: Funny you should ask. Found a hair in the brushes. Catherine: Oh. Hodges: It's on the left. (Catherine looks in the scope at the two strands of hair.) Hodges: The one on the right is Chyna De Vere's. Catherine: They're both Chyna's. (Hodges nods. Greg bursts into the lab.) Greg: Hey. So, that steam cleaner was completely wiped down, couldn't find any prints. But then I remembered this story about a CSI down in LA. Nobody could find any prints on a gas can from an arson, but he realized that you got to grip it underneath in order to pour out the gas. And you know what? He broke the case. Catherine: So whose prints are on the steam cleaner? Greg: I just got an AFIS hit: Preston De Vere. (Quick flash to: [INT. CONNORS RESIDENCE] Chyna is on the floor. Hank paces nearby. Preston talks with Shannon.) Preston De Vere: You have a destiny. You were chosen. You are a Protector of Mankind. Have no fear. (to Hank) Cut off her tail, she lives. Cut off her head, she dies. Hank Connors: No problem. (Hank picks Chyna up. There's a large bloodstain on the carpet.) [SCENE_BREAK] (Preston steam cleans the carpet.) [SCENE_BREAK] (Preston removes the plastic water container and empties the bloodied water down the drain.) (End of flashback.) Greg: It wasn't a reptilian conspiracy, but it was a conspiracy. Catherine: Men are snakes. [SCENE_BREAK] [INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - HALLWAY] (The officers lead Preston out through the hallway. Preston smiles and nods to everyone. Brass follows behind him.) Brass: So we checked Chyna's bank account. She had a tidy little inheritance until she met you. Preston De Vere: Chyna was sucking the life out of me. She deserved none of what she wanted and all of what she got in the end. I'm glad it took a long time for her to die. I can only imagine the pain. Brass: You know, every time I think about leaving this job, a guy like you comes along and reminds me why I can't. (Brass leaves. Preston turns and sees Clarissa Niles walk up to him. She spits on his face. The officer leads her away.) Sidney Buckman: (V.O.) History is replete with stories of the heroic destruction of serpents. [SCENE_BREAK] [EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY LIGHTS (STOCK) - NIGHT] Sidney Buckman: (V.O.) Perseus and Medusa, St. George and the Dragon, St. Patrick and the Snakes of Ireland. [INT. GRISSOM'S RESIDENCE - NIGHT] (Grissom works on constructing his miniature scene while Bruno slobbers at his feet.) Sidney Buckman: (V.O.) These are not merely legends. These are accounts of battles for the survival of the human race -- a battle we will lose unless we stop killing one another and focus on the real enemies. (Grissom applies glue to a piece and puts it on the grid of the room he's constructing.) Sidney Buckman: (V.O.) They are among us.
Leapin' Lizards