FLASH IN.
[EXT. VARIOUS LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) -- DAY]
(Sirens wail in the distance.)
[EXT. LAS VEGAS STREET - DAY]
(A black Caprice zooms down the street. Two officer cars are pursuing it, their sirens blaring.)
(The black car crosses an intersection, nearly hitting a white car crossing it at the same time. The white car's horn blares.)
(The black car turns the corner. The officer cars continue their pursuit, sirens blaring. The intermittent sounds of automatic guns firing are heard during the chase.)
(In one of the cars, Brass is driving; Sofia sits in the passenger seat.)
Sofia Curtis: These guys are hard core. Who are they?
(The car chase continues.)
(In the second car are two officers. The older officer, Sergeant Adams, is driving; the younger officer in the passenger seat is Officer Bell.)
Officer Adams: Tell Control these guys have automatic weapons! Probably A-Ks!
(Officer Bell doesn't respond. He's just amazed by the car chase.)
Officer Adams: (shouts) You with me!
(Officer Bell shakes himself out of it and makes the call. Gun shots are fired from the black car in front of them. The windshield from one of the cars smashes from the impact of the bullets.)
Officer Bell: (to radio) Three-David-34, be advised subjects are firing automatic weapons, possibly AK-47s.
(In the third car are Officer Davis and Sergeant Carroll.)
Officer Davis: (to radio) All right, we're coming up on a T-intersection. Get ready.
Sgt. Carroll: Three-boy-seven, pursuit approaching a t-intersection on Jefferson and Third.
(Gunfire continues from the black car in front.)
(Car 2's windshield is hit; glass shatters in the car.)
Officer Bell: We're going to get killed!
Officer Adams: Not if you do what you're supposed to do.
(Gunfire continues.)
(The black car hits the side and flips over.)
(Car 2 stops. Both officers get out.)
Officer Bell: (to radio) Three-David-34, suspect Caprice has T/C'd. Intersection Jefferson and Third.
Officer Adams: When you get out, keep your head down.
(The two officers open their doors and use it as shield as they prepare for more gunfire.)
(The occupants of the black Caprice crawl out of the overturned car. They're both carrying handguns and open fire immediately.)
(Behind them, a second officer car arrives. Officers Davis and Carroll immediately open their doors and use it as shields and return fire.)
(The gunmen from the car crawl out and fire to get to cover behind the overturned Caprice.)
(It's complete chaos as gunfire is fired from both sides. Bullets are everywhere - sides of cars, windows, tires - richoceting off metal bins.)
(Brass and Sofia's car arrives. Sofia gets out of the car and starts firing.)
(Gunfire continues between the cops and the gunmen.)
(Brass gets out of his car and starts firing from behind the car door.)
(A bullet hits one of the officer car's tires and flattens.)
(A gunman in the blank tank top, Salvator "Stuckey" Rosario, stops to change cartridge.)
(Gunfire continues.)
(Salvator Rosario puts his gun aside. He intends to run for it.)
Salvator Rosario: Guys! Go! Go!
(Rosario uses the automatic weapon and fires at the officers.)
(He tosses the rifle aside when he runs out of bullets.)
Officer Adams: They're out of rifle ammo!
(Rosario takes out a handgun. An officer sees him and shouts out a warning.)
Officer: (o.s.) No! Get down! They've got more!
(Rosario fires.)
(Brass returns fire.)
(We hear the pinging of bullets off metal.)
(Officer Bell stands up to fire and is hit with a bullet square in his chest. He falls backward and hits the ground. We see he's bleeding from his neck)
(Salvator Rosario stands up to run. Leandro Chavez follows. A shot is fired and he is shot in the thigh. He falls to the ground.)
(Salvator Rosario takes off running up a resident's front drive.)
Officer: They're running. I'm going left. You go right. Going to take these guys. You guys, move on up.
(Brass moves forward to provide cover as Officer Adams checks on Officer Bell. The other officers scramble to chase after the running gunmen.)
Officer: (to radio) Three-boy-seven in foot pursuit of two male Latinos. One east, one west on Third Street. Requesting backup.
(Officers chase after the gunman. Salvator Rosario jumps over a wall.)
(Officer Adams calls for assistance.)
Officer Adams: Three- David-34, officer down. Requesting immediate backup and paramedics. (to Sofia) I'll take care of it. I'll stay with him.
(Brass and Sofia both leave to help pursue the gunmen.)
(Additional backup arrives.)
(Sofia runs up to Leandro Chavez, who was shot. She stands over him, her gun on him. She kicks his gun out of his reach.)
(A neighbor steps out into his yard and looks over at Brass.)
Neighbor: Que paso?
Brass: Nada. Haciente. Adentro, adentro.
(A second officer approaches Sofia.)
Sofia: Cuff him.
(The officer takes out his handcuffs to cuff the man in the white tank. Sofia turns and starts running to help catch the other gunman.)
Leandro Chavez: Dame una ambulancia, puey.
Officer: I don't speak Spanish.
(Sofia runs to help Officer Davis as they head to the west of the alley behind Third.)
(Brass rushes alongside the building to the east of the alley behind Third, his gun in hand. He reaches the back of the building.)
(He hears a noise and whirls around. He sees a woman open the door and step outside. He motions for her to get back inside.)
Brass: (to the woman) Back inside, back inside.
(In the distance, gunshots are fired. Brass makes his way toward the sound.)
VARIOUS FLASHES OF:
(Officer Davis and the gunman exchanging gunfire as the gunman tries to escape down the alley.)
(Officer Davis runs out of bullets, his gun clicking.)
(Salvator Rosario turns around and steps closer to the officer to fire. Sofia turns the corner and sees the gunman. She fires several shots, hitting the gunman in the shoulder.)
(Salvator Rosario goes down.)
(They both approach the gunman.)
Sofia Curtis: You okay?
Officer Davis: Yeah. You?
Sofia Curtis: Yeah.
(Officer Davis reaches the gunman first. He picks up the gun.)
Sofia Curtis: What are you doing? Put it down.
(He puts the gun back down on the ground.)
Officer Davis: Yeah, sorry. I was just trying to secure his gun.
Sofia Curtis: He's not going to use it anymore.
(Meanwhile, the third gunman, Ricardo Estevez, is near the top of a fence when Officer Carroll turns the corner and stops him.)
Officer Carroll: Stop! Police! Stop! Police!
(Ricardo Estevez jumps back down to the ground, his hands raised high above his head.)
Officer Carroll: Don't move! Don't move!
(Officer Carroll hears a sound behind him and turns to look. Brass rounds the corner, his gun raised.)
(Ricardo Estevez suddenly finds himself with a gun in his hands.)
(Someone fires and hits Ricardo Estevez several times in the chest.)
(Officer Carroll steps forward. Brass kicks the gun off to the side.)
(Brass takes out his radio.)
Sofia: (from radio) Brass, suspect's in custody.
Brass: (to radio) Copy. Control, this is Brass. Situation here is code 4. We have three suspects in custody. One is on the run.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. STREET (MAIN CRIME SCENE) -- JEFFERSON AND THIRD - DAY]
(The ambulance pulls away. Grissom and Catherine approach the scene.)
Catherine: You know it's going to be a long shift when you get the call to respond to a command post.
Grissom: Yeah. (to phone) Warrick ... we need everyone from grave. But park on Wall Street. Jefferson's taped off all the way back to Lincoln.
Vartann: The suspect was last seen running south.
Officer: These buildings have been searched and cleared.
Vartann: Okay, move south one block. Check each apartment. This guy's armed and dangerous.
Cavaliere: You got a lot of witnesses claiming to have seen what happened.
Vartann: Okay, good. Let's get some vans down here, bring them all to the station.
(They walk over to Sofia and Brass leaning up against the SWAT van.)
Catherine: What happened out here?
Brass: I was one of the shooters. So was Sofia, so you know the deal. That's really all I'm allowed to say.
(Brass notices Detective Nestor Ortega standing nearby.)
Brass: I see, uh, Detective Ortega, that hard-head from IA, is handling the case. Just our luck.
(Vartann joins them.)
Vartann: Caprice full of shooters opened up on two of our guys. One's down.
Grissom: Is Bell going to make it?
Vartann: (shakes his head) He's DOA. Three suspects are dead. Fourth outstanding.
Nestor Ortega: (interrupts) Excuse me ... guys, hang tight. I'm going to get some rides. Take you down to the station, okay? I want to get your statements.
Brass: Yeah ... yeah.
Nestor Ortega: Good, good. Excuse me.
(Ortega leaves.)
Catherine: (quietly to Grissom) I'll stay with them. I'll collect their firearms and ammo.
Grissom: All right. (to Brass) Good luck.
Brass: Thank you.
(Grissom walks past Brass and Sofia. He walks past an officer standing nearby.)
Officer: (under his breath) Hell of a day, man.
Grissom: It's just beginning.
FADE TO END OF TEASER ROLL TITLE CREDITS
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. STREET -- DAY]
(Detective Chris Cavaliere rushes down the street with the gun in his hand in pursuit of the final gunman. He turns the corner and sees the body on the street. The other officers rush forward.)
Officer: GSW victim matches the suspect.
Chris Cavaliere: You shoot him?
Officer: No, sir. Found him this way.
(Detective Cavaliere notices the bike strap still around the kid's ankle.)
Chris Cavaliere: Bike strap ... this isn't our suspect. This is a kid on his way to school. Where's his bike?
Officer: There was no bike.
Chris Cavaliere: Put out a broadcast. Suspect may be on a bicycle. (to radio) We need medical transport. Code three ...
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. STREET (MAIN CRIME SCENE) -- JEFFERSON AND THIRD - DAY]
(Grissom hands out instructions.)
Grissom: Okay, everybody around here has got a video camera or a cell phone camera. They'll all be taking pictures.
Warrick: I think we all know how to operate in front of a camera.
Nick: Don't be caught picking your nose.
Grissom: Catherine's back at the station collecting the officers' guns. This is the main crime scene. So Nick, you and Sara take this. There's two additional crime scenes down the alleys behind Third. Warrick, you take the west alley, I'll take the east.
Greg: And what do I get to do? Go back to the lab and wait for a phone call?
Grissom: This is a running gun battle that started twenty blocks back. You get that.
Greg: That's got to be, like, a mile? Who's with me?
Sara: A bunch of pissed-off locals with shot-up cars.
(Sara picks up her kit.)
Greg: Awesome.
Warrick: You'll be all right.
(They all pick up their kits and head in the direction of their assignments.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. ALLEY BEHIND THIRD (EAST) - DAY]
(Grissom arrives at the alley and puts his kit down. David Phillips is already there with the body. The coroner and an officer stand nearby.)
(Grissom puts evidence marker #12 down next to the bullet casing and snaps a photo.)
David Phillips: Grissom?
(Grissom picks up his kit and moves to the next casing.)
David Phillips: Heard anything about Bell?
Grissom: He died, David.
(Grissom puts his kit down and puts evidence marker #13 next to the gun.)
Grissom: (to the officer) Is this gun in its original position?
Officer: The arresting officers kicked it clear of the suspect.
(Quick flashback to: Ricardo Estevez and standing in front of the fence is holding a gun in his hand. He's shot several times and drops the gun. Brass kicks the gun aside.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Officer: Nobody's touched it since I've been here.
(Grissom snaps a couple of photos.)
David Phillips: Well, there's no bullet holes in the back. That's always good.
Grissom: How many times was he hit?
David Phillips: I don't know. Officer, can you remove these handcuffs?
Officer: Sure.
(The officer steps forward to remove the handcuffs. Grissom picks up the gun and looks at it. He removes the gun's cartridge.)
Officer: (to David Phillips) You have anything I can wipe these off with?
David Phillips: Yeah.
(David hands the officer something.)
Officer: Thanks.
(The officer stands up and walks over to the side. Grissom gets up and walks over to David Phillips, who is rolling the body over.)
David Phillips: Looks like three went in.
Grissom: All right, leave him here, David. Warrick's DB's in the other alley just over there.
(Grissom looks up and sees a couple of people peering through their second floor window from a building nearby.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - HALLWAY -- DAY]
(Sofia sits in the hallway chair, nervously wringing her hands together. Brass enters at the end of the hallway and sees her. He walks over to her.)
(Undersheriff McKeen intercepts Brass.)
Undersheriff McKeen: You did a hell of good job out there.
Brass: Yeah, not good enough. Has Bell's wife been notified?
Undersheriff McKeen: The sheriff's on his way to the house now.
Brass: You know, she's pregnant with their third kid.
Undersheriff McKeen: We all know the risks.
(Undersheriff McKeen leaves. Brass walks over to Sofia.)
Brass: Hey ...
(He sits down next to her and sighs.)
Brass: (softly) I remember my first shooting ...
Sofia Curtis: (interrupts) I appreciate the sentiment. We're not supposed to talk to each other till we give our statements.
Brass: You're right, you're right.
(An officer walking down the hall points to Brass.)
Officer: You're up. Curtis, make yourself comfortable.
Brass: Okay.
(Brass stands up.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY -- CONTINUOUS]
(Detective Ortega turns the tape recorder on and puts it in the middle of the table. Catherine is in the room as they interview Brass.)
Nestor Ortega: This is Detective Nestor Ortega. I am in PD interrogation taking a statement from Captain James Brass regarding the officer-involved shooting that occurred around 0643 hours this morning. CSI Catherine Willows is present to document and collect Captain Brass's firearm as evidence.
(Brass puts his gun on the table. Detective Ortega pushes the tape recorder forward.)
Nestor Ortega: Ready?
Brass: Yeah.
Nestor Ortega: You're not a patrol unit. Why did you get involved in the pursuit?
Brass: Detective Curtis and I were just closing a robbery case and, uh, we stopped for a bite to eat.
(Quick flashback to: [HOT DOG VENDOR - DAY] Sofia and Brass are getting their hot dogs when they hear the dispatch on the radio.)
Dispatcher: ... All units in the vicinity. Three- David-34 is in pursuit of a dark Chevy Caprice southbound of Paradise toward Desert Springs.
(Brass looks around.)
Brass: That's right near here.
(They run to their car and get in.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Brass: We joined the pursuit on Desert Springs.
Nestor Ortega: So you elected to back up the officers.
Brass: Yes.
Nestor Ortega: Were the suspects shooting at the time?
Brass: Yes.
Catherine: Could you tell the types of firearms they were using?
(Quick flashback to: [THE CAR CHASE] Gunfire erupts from the dark Caprice in front of them. End of flashback.)
Brass: Well, the two guys in the back had rifles, maybe AK's. The other two had handguns. I'm not sure what type.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) -- DAY]
(A news helicopter flies overhead.)
Reporter: (V.O.) We're flying over Third Street where just this morning police were involved in a deadly shootout.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. STREET (MAIN CRIME SCENE) -- JEFFERSON AND THIRD - DAY]
(Sara and Nick are putting plastic rods in the bullet holes of one of the police cars, C9538.)
Nick: Looks like a porcupine.
Sara: There's not enough room between rods for a human being to fit.
Nick: No, Bell and Adams must have really been swerving and weaving.
(Quick flashback of: [THE CAR CHASE] The officer car is weaving left to right as it chases the dark Caprice. End of flashback.)
Sara: Seventy-eight bullet holes.
(She looks down at the bloodstain on the road.)
Sara: And Bell wasn't hit until he was outside the car.
Nick: I heard Bell was a rookie, barely off training. It was just his time, I guess, huh?
(Nearby, the coroner walks past Vartann.)
Coroner: Suspect will be getting a ride with the coroner.
Vartann: A little street justice. Civilians okay?
Coroner: Some old lady's going to need stitches. The kid on the bike's critical in surgery.
(The coroner leaves. Vartann looks at Sara and Nick.)
Vartann: You guys okay here?
Nick: I'll call and have the suspect's vehicle towed to CSI.
Sara: I'm going to start digging bullets out of people's houses.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM -- DAY]
(Brass continues.)
Brass: I was just reloading and continuing firing. I don't know what hit him.
(Quick flashback to: [SHOOTOUT] Brass is firing. He shoots and hits Leandro Chavez in the thigh. Leandro Chavez goes down, his gun on the ground. End of flashback.)
Brass: Bullets were flying. There were multiple rounds. It was chaos.
Nestor Ortega: At what point did Carroll and Davis go in foot pursuit after the two suspects?
Brass: After the driver went down, the other suspect, I guess he felt it was getting too hot back there.
(Quick flashback to: Salvator Rosario yells for the others to go. End of flashback.)
Catherine: And they were shooting the entire time?
Brass: Oh, yeah. I mean, it was like, you know, those movie guns; they never run out of bullets.
Nestor Ortega: I don't go to the movies.
Brass: Oh.
Nestor Ortega: What happened next?
Brass: The next thing I remember ... the next thing I remember is Bell. Bell went down.
(Quick flashback to: Officer Bell is hit in the neck and falls backward. He hits the ground. End of flashback.)
Brass: He was ... he was just a kid.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) -- DAY]
(A news helicopter flies overhead.)
[EXT. STREET (MAIN CRIME SCENE) -- JEFFERSON AND THIRD - DAY]
(A loud crowd of neighborhood residents shout angrily from the crime scene tape.)
Man In Crowd: (shouts) (in Spanish)
(Nick turns around.)
Nick: Are they saying what I think they're saying? (He repeats the phrase to Detective Cavaliere in Spanish.)
Chris Cavaliere: Yeah. They claim this other cop shoots the suspect in the back. And not to mention there's a news leak in the hospital.
Man: See! Another one got killed! Where's ...
Chris Cavaliere: Hey! Let us do your job here, okay?
Woman: Mi hija vio a sus policias disparle a un nino en la espalda.
Nick: Senora, donde esta su hija, huh? Queremos hablar con ella.
Woman: La policia se la llevo.
Nick: Usted vio algo de lo que paso? No? (to Cavaliere) Nobody saw anything. (looking at the automatic weapon he's holding) I don't think this is police issue.
Chris Cavaliere: Look, these folks were suspicious of the cops long before this happened. Now this is how your circle stories get started.
(Nick checks the automatic weapon.)
Nick: The story keeps changing till you don't know what the truth is or whose story it was to begin with.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM -- DAY]
(Brass continues.)
Brass: So, uh, so the suspects saw that we were kind of distracted helping Bell, and they took the opportunity. I went on foot pursuit, you know. They, uh ... I can't run as fast as I used to, I mean, so I lost them. But that's when I heard the two shots. I think ... No, I heard shots coming from ... the east.
Nestor Garcia: How many?
Brass: Three.
(Quick flashback to: Brass is in the alley. He hears four gunshots, turns and heads in that direction.)
Officer: (o.s.) Get down!
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Brass: Four. And they sound a lot louder than a nine-millimeter.
(Quick flashback to: [EXT. ALLEY BEHIND THIRD (EAST) - DAY] Brass enters the alley. Officer Carroll has his back to the suspect, Ricardo Estevez, who suddenly has a gun in his hands. Four shots ring out. End of flashback.)
Catherine: The suspect had a gun in his hand.
Brass: Oh, yeah, definitely. I kicked it away when I cuffed him.
Catherine: Did you fire any shots in the alley?
Brass: I didn't have to.
Nestor Ortega: Captain, hand over your firearm to CSI Willows.
(Brass takes the gun out of his holster and gives it to Catherine. She checks the gun.)
Catherine: Any magazines?
(Brass looks at his empty holster.)
Brass: Uh ... I must have used them..
(One bullet pops out of the chamber.)
Catherine: Captain Brass's service pistol was received with an empty magazine and one live round in the chamber.
Brass: Well ...
Nestor Ortega: It'd be smart to have ammo before you go running into a gunfight.
(Brass shakes his head and wisely stays quiet.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. ALLEY BEHIND THIRD (EAST) - DAY]
(Grissom holds up the bagged gun and shows it to Vartann.)
Grissom: I didn't find any cartridge casings in this alley from the dead guy's gun. Just these three nine-millimeters from our cop.
(Quick flashback to: Officer Carroll fires three times. Ricardo Estevez is hit and falls back against the wire mesh fence. End of flashback.)
Vartann: So he must have been out of ammo.
Grissom: Yeah, but he had to know that he'd get shot holding a gun whether it was loaded or not. Why didn't he just toss it?
Vartann: Maybe he didn't know he was out. Heat of the battle. I mean, we're not talking rocket scientists.
Grissom: That doesn't make him suicidal, though, does it?
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - HALLWAY / FORENSIC AUTOPSY - DAY]
(David Phillips and Robbins push the gurney with the dead body into the forensic autopsy room. Robbins looks up and sees Sergeant Adams walking toward them.)
Robbins: Sergeant Adams, I'm sorry for your loss. If you'd like a few minutes to say good-bye ...
(Sergeant Adams walks past Robbins and goes into the forensic autopsy room. David Phillips walks out.)
(Adams stops in front of the table with the body on it. He looks up at David Phillips and Robbins. They leave him and walk out of view.)
Sgt. Adams: Okay, partner ... I guess I was pretty rough on you. Maybe not rough enough. You're the best rookie I ever trained. I have to leave you now. I'll, uh, I'll talk to Tracy. Try to make her understand. Drop in on the kids. You were a good cop.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. HOSPITAL - HALLWAY OUTSIDE CCU]
(Chris Cavaliere and Undersheriff McKeen stand outside the windows in the hallway looking in on the teenager inside.)
Chris Cavaliere: Geraldo Zamesca. High school football star. Full scholarship to USC. Got a bullet lodged in his spine. Condition's critical.
Undersheriff McKeen: Can we get the bullet?
Chris Cavaliere: Not unless his condition improves or he dies. SWAT guys going house-to-house breaking down doors. They're the ones who found him. They were going to blame us for this, too.
Undersheriff McKeen: CSI's processed the scene?
Chris Cavaliere: Not much to process. Some blood stains off the ground nine-millimeter cartridge case.
Undersheriff McKeen: Cops are shooting nines. Guilty until proven innocent.
(Off to the side, we hear Geraldo's parents.)
Danilo Zamesca: (to the doctor) This is my wife, Geraldo's mother. We want nothing but the best for our son. That means we will decide if you go in and get the bullet, not the police.
(Danilo Zamesca looks at McKeen and Cavaliere.)
Danilo Zamesca: You got that?
(The Zamescas enter the room. McKeen glances back at Cavaliere.)
Undersheriff McKeen: Kid's family?
Chris Cavaliere: (nods) Yeah. Danilo Zamesca, a local business man that lives in the 'hood, but dines uptown.
(McKeen closes his eyes and shakes his head.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD BUILDING (STOCK) - DAY]
[INT. TORRES' APARTMENT -- DAY]
(Sara is inside a second floor apartment of a building near the shooting. She snaps some photos of the window.)
(Mrs. Torres is upset. She has her two young children - a boy and April -- in front of her.)
Mrs. Torres: Perro porque la policia le disparo aqui nuestra casa? Nosotros no hicimos nada. Porque la policia nos disparo?
Sara: I-I'm sorry. I don't speak Spanish.
(Sara walks past her as she tries to work.)
Mrs. Torres: Que... no entiende, que ... nos hubiera matado. Die algo para que ella entienda.
April Torres: She wants to know why our house got shot at.
(Sara turns around and looks at April.)
Sara: I don't have the answer to that. I'm sorry.
Mrs. Torres: Que? Es que usted no me puede decir nada? No vio lo que hicieron? Que si fueran mis hijos? Que voy hacer sin mis hijos?
(She kneels down in front of her children, scared for them, and she cries. April turns and looks at Sara.)
(Sara finds something embedded in the wax candle on the shelf.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - BALLISTICS LAB -- DAY]
(Hodges scrapes the side of the gun handle and puts it in a bindle as Bobby Dawson watches.)
Bobby Dawson: So, what do you think that is?
Hodges: Well, it's not blood, it's not rust.
Bobby Dawson: Where did Grissom find that?
Hodges: In an alley off Third.
Bobby Dawson: 'Cause see, those scrapes and gauges look like road rash. Like when you toss a gun out of a moving car.
(Quick flash of: As a car passes by, tires screeching, a gun is tossed out of the moving car's window. End of flash.)
Hodges: You'd be the one to know about rashes.
(Hodges turns and leaves.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - GARAGE -- DAY]
(Nick dusts the car passenger door for prints.)
(Dissolve to: Nick dusts the glove compartment for prints.)
(Dissolve to: Nick dusts the dashboard for prints. He finds some prints on the dashboard.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. ALLEY BEHIND THIRD (WEST) - DAY]
(The coroner and David Phillips wheel out a body on the gurney. As they head for the coroner's van, a woman and a man scream loudly from the crime scene tape.)
"STUCKEY" ROSARIO'S BROTHER: That's my brother, man! What'd he do?!
Mrs. Rosario: My baby!
(Mrs. Rosario ducks under the tape and runs toward the gurney. Warrick is standing at the back of the open SUV when he hears the woman. He turns around.)
Mrs. Rosario: (distraught) My baby! You killed my son! My baby! You cops murdered my son!
Warrick: Miss ...
Mrs. Rosario: You murdered my son!
Warrick: Calm down, okay? I'm sorry for your loss. I'm with the Crime Lab. Talk to one of the detectives. Miss ...
(Mrs. Rosario starts hitting Warrick.)
Mrs. Rosario: I don't need to!
(Warrick grabs the woman's hands to stop her. She turns around and shouts to the crowd behind the tape.)
Mrs. Rosario: Look, police brutality! He's hitting me!
(Her son, standing behind the tape, ducks under the tape and runs toward them.)
Warrick: Can I get some backup here, please?
(Mrs. Rosario continues screaming.)
("Stuckey's" brother reaches Warrick and punches him in the face. The officers rush to assist and grab the man.)
Officer: You're under arrest.
(The officers grab Mrs. Rorasio and her son and move them back toward the tape. The woman glares at Warrick.)
Mrs. Rosario: Now you want my other son, huh? Is that what you want?
Warrick: I just want to do my job here.
Mrs. Rosario: What, lie for the Police Department?
(Warrick checks his jaw.)
Warrick: (to the officer) Can we lock this place up and move that crime tape down another block?
Officer: (to radio) Officer Mitchell, come into the west alley. Bring two uniforms with you.
Voice: (from radio) That's affirmative.
Officer: (to Warrick) These people think if they catch us doing something wrong, they sue and win the lottery.
Warrick: Yeah. We don't do anything wrong, we got nothing to worry about.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY]
[TV MONITOR]
(On the television monitor, Danilo Zamesca gives a press conference.)
Danilo Zamesca: (from tv) My son should be in school today. He should be playing football.
INTERCUT WITH:
[EXT. STREET CORNER - DAY - CONTINUOUS]
(The press conference is taking place out on a street corner outside a building.)
Danilo Zamesca: Instead, he's lying in a hospital bed. Why? Because the cops decided to shoot first and ask questions later.
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - DAY]
(David Phillips takes fingerprints off one of the gunmen.)
Danilo Zamesca: (V.O.) Anybody remember the last time the police had a running gun battle down the strip? No? That's 'cause it's never happened.
[EXT. STREET CORNER - DAY - CONTINUOUS]
Danilo Zamesca: Summerlin? Never. Seven Hills? No way. But down here, hey ...
[INT. HOSPITAL GERALDO'S ROOM - DAY]
(Mrs. Zamesca cries as she sits next to Geraldo's bed.)
Danilo Zamesca: (V.O.) My son, Geraldo, was a good boy. He was a great football player. Fearless out there. He had a chance to do something with his life.
[INT. CSI - PRINT LAB - DAY]
(Nick runs the prints found in the car through the database.)
Danilo Zamesca: (V.O.) To be better than his father. And now ...
[EXT. STREET CORNER - DAY - CONTINUOUS]
Danilo Zamesca: I may outlive my son. Because the police shot him before he could tell them who he was.
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - DAY]
(David Phillips snaps photos of the gunmen on the tables.)
Danilo Zamesca: (V.O.) Before he could tell them he was an honor student. I want to invite everybody here ...
[EXT. STREET CORNER - DAY - CONTINUOUS]
Danilo Zamesca: ... who cares about what happens in the community to come to Queen of Angels tonight, 6:00 P.M., ...
[INT. CSI - PRINT LAB - DAY]
(The computer beeps. Nick finds a match to the print in the car.)
Danilo Zamesca: (V.O.) ... to pray for Geraldo's life.
(The information on the computer shows:
NAME: JOSE FAUSTO
DOB: SEPTEMBER 28, 1974
AGE: 31 HEIGHT: 5'10"
WEIGHT: 150 LBS EYES: BROWN
RACE: HISPANIC s*x: MALE
HAIR: BROWN
WORK HISTORY:
DRIVER'S LICENSE #:
CRIMINAL HISTORY:
NRS 453.337
DRUG TRAFFICKING (MARIJUANA)
PROBATION 1 YEAR
NRS 453.3385
POSSESSION OF DRUGS (HEROIN)
STATE PRISON 1 YEAR
NRS 453.336
POSSESSION (NOT FOR SALE) (COCAINE)
STATE PRISON 1 YEAR
NRS 453.337
DRUG TRAFFICKING (COCAINE)
STATE PRISON 2 YEARS )
COMMENTS:
KNOWN MEMBER OF THE 18TH STREET CHUCOS GANG.)
Danilo Zamesca: (V.O.) And I want to say out loud, right now, to Sheriff Burdick, this will not stand.
(Nick nods.)
[EXT. STREET CORNER - DAY - CONTINUOUS]
Danilo Zamesca: You, sir, will be held to answer. I mean it. I'm not going away.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - WAITING ROOM -- DAY]
(The officers watch the report on the monitor.)
Reporter: (from tv) A police spokesman confirms that department officials are looking into all allegations of brutality and misconduct. Sheriff Burdick could not be reached for comment. Here's what we know so far ...
Officer 1: Nobody gives a crap about a dead officer.
Officer 2: I don't see them lighting candles for Bell.
Reporter: (from tv) ... This morning with a car chase. The pursuit ended in a shootout at Jefferson and Third Street between heavily armed suspects and police.
(Officer Adams turns and leaves the room.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY]
(Catherine and Nestor Ortega question Sofia Curtis.)
Catherine: Detective Curtis' service pistol was received with one magazine containing three live rounds and one live round in the chamber.
Nestor Ortega: During the gun battle, were you aware of the other officers' positions relative to you?
Sofia Curtis: They were in front of me and ... and to my right. No, my left.
Nestor Ortega: Did you continue to be aware of their positions after the suspect took off running?
(Quick flashback to: [SHOOTOUT] Sofia fires at the gunmen behind the car. She sees Officer Bell in front of her stand up. End of flashback.)
Catherine: Uh ... Bell was in front of me ... but he was down behind his car.
Nestor Ortega: Do you remember Officer Bell being shot?
(Quick flashback to: [SHOOTOUT] The gunman in black behind the car has his gun pointed at the officers in front of him.)
Voice: Get down!
(Sofia fires.)
(Cut to: Officer Bell falls down.)
(End of flashback.)
Sofia Curtis: Um ... s-sorry, what was the question?
Nestor Ortega: I asked if you remember Officer Bell being shot.
Catherine: Do you need a moment here?
Nestor Ortega: No, no, that's all right. She's going to do just fine.
Sofia Curtis: Uh ... make sure you check Bell's vest. I think he took one in the chest.
(The door opens and Detective Cavaliere steps inside.)
Chris Cavaliere: Detective Ortega, Catherine, can you step out for a moment?
(Catherine and Nestor Ortega head for the door. Ortega stops by Sofia and whispers to her.)
Nestor Ortega: We're not done.
(They leave the room.)
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - HALLWAY - DAY - CONTINUOUS]
(Catherine, Detective Nestor Ortega and Detective Chris Cavaliere meet in the hallway.)
Catherine: So how are we doing on the suspect that got away?
Chris Cavaliere: Jose Fausto. Identified through prints in the car. He's got a long rap sheet. Dogs lost his scent. SWAT guys checked the building -- nothing. Gang unit's beating the bushes. Word on the street is we shot two unarmed men and a high school kid.
Catherine: We got ID's of all three dead suspects. Multiple felonies, drugs, immigration violations. They're all members of the 18th Street Chucos.
Nestor Ortega: Also driving a stolen car, shooting automatic weapons at a police car. These guys aren't exactly altar boys.
Chris Cavaliere: West alley, I got eye-witnesses saw Po-Po plant the gun. East alley, I got an old lady who swears she saw Ricardo Estevez with his hands raised before he was killed.
Catherine: These witnesses credible?
Chris Cavaliere: I don't know.
Nestor Ortega: Listen, if the suspects don't have guns in their hands, we can't shoot them.
Catherine: Well, let's not get ahead of the evidence.
Chris Cavaliere: Okay, one more thing. The family of Leandro Chavez is suing the department for wrongful death. Claims we delayed treatment.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[CGI EFX: CLOSE-UP]
(From inside the thigh, the knife pierces the skin and cuts through the flesh. End of CGI EFX.)
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - DAY]
(Robbins cuts through Leandro Chavez's thigh. He puts the scalpel down and takes the forceps to remove the bullet.)
[CGI EFX: CLOSE-UP]
(Inside the thigh, the tweezers reach in. End of CGI EFX.)
(Robbins pulls out the bullet.)
Robbins: Medium caliber bullet -- transected the femoral artery.
David Phillips: Major artery. Fatal wound.
(Quick flashback to: [SHOOTOUT] Leandro Chavez is hit in his thigh. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
(Robbins points to the body's chest.)
Robbins: Take a look. What's missing?
(David Phillips checks.)
David Phillips: All of the organs seem to be in the right place.
Robbins: Look closer.
David Phillips: Okay. Kidneys are ... a bit pale. Liver is light tan.
Robbins: Right.
David Phillips: Not a lot of blood.
(Robbins nods.)
David Phillips: Dead at the scene. He bled out.
Robbins: Bingo. The wound was not immediately fatal. It took a while.
David Phillips: This is going to look bad.
Robbins: David, it is what it is.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY]
(The interview with Sofia Curtis continues. Nestor Ortega puts a large map of the community down on the table in front of her.)
Nestor Ortega: Why did you leave a downed officer?
Sofia Curtis: Sergeant Adams told me he had the situation under control. So I went to back up Officer Davis, who ran off in ... this direction. (She points to the map.) I caught up with him here.
(Quick flashback of: [BACK ALLEY] Officer Davis fires his weapon at the suspect. His gun locks. End of flashback.)
Sofia Curtis: Davis' slide was locked back. He was out of ammo.
Catherine: So the suspect had a gun pointed at Officer Davis.
Sofia Curtis: Of course. That was why I fired.
(Quick flashback of: [BACK ALLEY] The suspect has a gun pointed at Officer Davis. Sofia fires. End of flashback.)
Nestor Ortega: 100% sure?
Sofia Curtis: Yes.
Nestor Ortega: What did you do next?
(Quick flashback to: [BACK ALLEY] Officer Davis automatically picks up the gun.)
Sofia Curtis: What are you doing? Put it down.
(He puts the gun down.)
Officer Davis: Yeah, sorry. I was just trying to secure his gun.
Sofia Curtis: Okay, he's not going to be using it anymore.
(End of flashback.)
Sofia Curtis: Officer Davis was acting on survival instinct, not training. It was understandable under the circumstances.
Nestor Ortega: I don't think so.
(Sofia leans back in her seat. Catherine turns and looks at Ortega.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - BRASS' OFFICE]
(Brass is sitting at his desk, fiddling with his badge. Sofia appears in the doorway. They both look worn and tired.)
Brass: Want a ride?
Sofia Curtis: No, I'm just going to go home.
Brass: You sure?
Sofia Curtis: Yeah.
(Sofia leaves.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - LAB]
(Nick tests the trigger pressure of the guns.)
(He picks up the second gun, the automatic. He slides the gun chamber and finds it a little difficult. He tries again and pauses as he thinks about it.)
[INT. CSI - LAYOUT ROOM]
(Sara puts the various top view photos of the community down on the table. She also has photos of the three dead suspects.)
(She finishes putting the three photos down and walks around the table to look at a particular photo. Camera pulls back and we see part of the whiteboard with a layout of Third Street with the positions of everyone marked on it.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - DISPATCH - DAY]
(Catherine goes over the calls and call order with Dispatch.)
Dispatcher (woman): Okay, the first communication I received from three- David-34 was at 06:43:37.
Officer Bell: (from recording) This is three- David-34 requesting immediate backup. New suspect vehicle Adam- Robert- Charlie-208, Nevada, dark Chevy Caprice, four suspects. Suspects are armed.
Dispatcher (woman): (from recording) Copy, three-David-34.
Catherine: What did Bell mean by "new suspect vehicle"? Can you take it back to the last communication before that call?
Officer Bell: (from recording) Control, this is three-David-34. We'll be 487, twelve thousand block of Roosevelt on David-Nora-Charlie-130, Buick Regal.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY]
(Catherine and Detective Ortega interview Sergeant Adams.)
Catherine: A 487 is a traffic stop. You were pulling over a Buick?
Sgt. Adams: That's correct.
Nestor Ortega: Why'd you leave the Buick and start following the Caprice?
Sgt. Adams: Didn't leave the Buick. The Caprice cut in.
(Quick flashback to: The dark Caprice cuts in between the officer car and the Buick they're following. End of flashback.)
Nestor Ortega: Why'd he do that?
Sgt. Adams: Don't know. The next thing I know, we were taking fire. Forgot all about the Buick.
Catherine: Did you see where it went?
Sgt. Adams: I was kind of busy.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY]
[EXT. STREET -- DAY]
(Greg is still processing the street, evidence markers litter the roadway. Grissom walks up to him.)
Grissom: Hey! You done yet?
(Greg turns around and stands up.)
Greg: Grissom! Am I on overtime?
Grissom: Of course.
Greg: Did everyone else go home?
Grissom: No. No.
(Grissom looks down at the road with the bullet casings.)
Greg: Well, I finished about ten blocks so far. That's 98 cartridge cases. Let's see, double-L, 86, that's, uh, 38 bullet impacts.
Grissom: Good. Pursuit started ten blocks farther down. You're halfway done.
Greg: I've got like three or four hours more work left. Can I have some help?
Grissom: Everybody's busy. I think you missed one.
(Greg sighs and walks away.)
(Grissom notices that on the side of the road is a shiny hubcap.)
(Quick flashback to: The dark Caprice travels down the road and loses a hubcap. End of flashback.)
(Grissom's phone rings; he answers it.)
Grissom: Grissom.
Catherine: Hey. I just interviewed Sergeant Adams. He and Bell were making a routine traffic stop when the Caprice cut in.
(Grissom walks over to the hubcap and notices the Buick logo in the center of it.)
Catherine: The initial vehicle was a ...
Grissom: (interrupts) A Buick?
Catherine: I hate it when you do that.
Grissom: Lucky guess. I'll call you back.
(Grissom hangs up and makes his way back to Greg.)
Greg: How'd you know that hubcap was connected to the case?
Grissom: I'm a trained observer, Greg.
Greg: No, really.
Grissom: How long do you think a perfectly good hubcap like this would sit around out here? There's a freeway on-ramp about two blocks away. Check and see if there's any traffic cams between here and there.
Greg: You know, you scare me sometimes. It's kind of freaky. You ever bet on the ponies?
Grissom: I prefer poker. Horses are hard to control. (Greg nods.) Make sure you document these skid marks.
Greg: (snickers) He said "skid marks."
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - BALLISTICS LAB - DAY]
(Nick is test firing the guns.)
Nick: Oh-ho-ho! Yeah! That's what I'm talking about.
Warrick: I got over firing AK's a long time ago.
(Warrick looks at the revolver.)
Warrick: Hey ... mustache boy, come over here and check this out.
(Nick walks over. Warrick opens the gun and shows him the jammed bullet.)
Warrick: Get a load of that.
Nick: Whoa. What are the chances of that happening?
Warrick: Like one in a million.
(Quick flashback to: [BACK ALLEY] Officer Davis fires. The bullet leaves his gun and hits Salvator Rosario's gun right as he's about to fire. End of flashback.)
Warrick: The bullet jammed this cylinder. You know, I couldn't clear this gun at the scene. I should've noticed these bullet fragments. I guess I got distracted.
(Nick goes back to get the bullet he test fired out of the water bin.)
Nick: Well, the bullet had to come from Officer Davis's pistol ... but if you're the suspect, don't you know your gun's getting hit?
Warrick: I think it would have felt like a normal recoil. Besides, it was like the wild west out there.
Nick: You don't have to tell me; I know it was crazy out there. You know, I pulled 78 bullets out of one car. Davis just got lucky.
Warrick: This suspect had one live round left. It saved Davis's life.
Nick: Well, there you go. Proves he was pointing the gun at the officer. See you in court; stroke one up for the good guys.
Warrick: We still have to place it in Rosario's hand.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - HALLWAY - DAY]
(Grissom walks out of forensic autopsy and down the hallway. He walks past Salvator "Stuckey" Rosario's mother and brother sitting in the hallway. Mrs. Rosario looks up as he walks by, but Grissom doesn't notice her. Undersheriff McKeen and Tracy Bell walk up to Grissom.)
Undersheriff McKeen: This is, uh, Gil Grissom from the Crime Lab. This is Officer Bell's wife.
Grissom: Mrs. Bell, I'm so sorry about the loss of your husband -- he was a fine man.
(Mrs. Rosario sobs loudly.)
Tracy Bell: Why are they crying?
Undersheriff McKeen: Um, why don't I drive you home.
Tracy Bell: They're crying for the man that killed my husband.
Mrs. Rosario: What did you say?
Tracy Bell: You heard me. (McKeen leads Mrs. Bell toward the door.) If you did a better job of raising your son, I wouldn't be here.
(Mrs. Rosario surges to her feet. Her son holds her back.)
Mrs. Rosario: Don't you tell me how to raise my children!
Tracy Bell: You should be ashamed!
Man: (shouts) (in Spanish)
Mrs. Rosario: How dare you! (screams) How dare you!
(McKeen leads Tracy Bell out of the hallway.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - LAB - DAY]
(Catherine is examining Officer Bell's vest. She finds a bullet hole.)
(Quick flashback to: Officer Bell is shot. End of flashback.)
(Catherine feels around in the vest and finds the bullet.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY -- DAY]
(Grissom walks in putting on a pair of gloves. Warrick is already inside.)
Warrick: You run the gauntlet?
Grissom: Yeah. Ferro-tracing his hands?
Warrick: Yeah. I'm trying to prove Rosario here held the gun.
Grissom: Good old pyridyiphenyl triazine.
Warrick: I'm hoping this stuff reacts to the traces of iron that may have been left on his skin. It'll further refute any argument that the gun was a plant.
(Warrick sprays the shooter's right hand.)
(Quick CGI to: The spray reacts to something on the hand and a black mark appears on his palm. End of CGI.)
Grissom: That could be the back strap of a gun.
Warrick: Yeah. That would do it.
(Warrick snaps a photo of the mark on the hand.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - HALLWAY -- DAY]
(Det. Cavaliere walks through the hallway when he's stopped by an officer.)
Officer: Detective, do you have a moment?
Chris Cavaliere: Uh, yeah, I'm kind of busy -- what is it?
Officer: I picked up a junkie for possession, outside a fleabag motel off Fremont.
Chris Cavaliere: And what?
Officer: And ... last night, he spotted your shooter.
(Cavaliere turns and looks at the handcuffed man sitting on the waiting room chairs.)
Chris Cavaliere: Let's talk to him.
(He walks up to the junkie and shows him the photo of the suspect, Jose Fausto.)
Chris Cavaliere: You know this guy?
Junkie: What if I do? What'll it get me?
Chris Cavaliere: He's a cop killer. Gets you nothing.
Junkie: Hey, no need to get hostile.
Chris Cavaliere: Hey, man, you don't know what hostile is.
Junkie: Will it at least get me a ride home?
Chris Cavaliere: Come on ...
Junkie: Okay, okay. I-I do a lot of business at the Lucky Seven Motel. And that guy checked in last night. He scored a little something to help get him some sleep. But he didn't pay. He just flashed his piece.
Chris Cavaliere: Nine-millimeter?
Junkie: Yeah. He wanted a ... a girl, and I gave him a number. That dude's bad news. I want to give him to you.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - DAY]
(Grissom walks in as Robbins finishes Officer Bell.)
Robbins: Glad you're here. I'd like to get this one off my table. Found a rather large contusion the left chest just below the nipple.
Grissom: Well, that location is consistent with the bullet Catherine found embedded in his vest.
Robbins: It's like getting kicked by a mule. You'll want to see this. Through-and-through. (He sticks a rod through the bullet hole in Officer Bell's neck.) Entrance wound just below his left ear, exited below and to the front of his right ear, severing the right common carotid.
(Quick flash to: Officer Bell is shot in the neck. The bullet goes through the flesh, severs the artery and out through the other side. End of flash.)
Robbins: That's your COD. Fortunately, he never felt a thing.
(Grissom stops as he thinks about it.)
Grissom: Left to right, back to front.
Robbins: Mm-hmm.
Grissom: Only cops were shooting in that direction.
Robbins: Are you saying Bell was hit by friendly fire?
Grissom: Maybe not so friendly.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY]
[EXT MOTEL - DAY]
(The hooker exits the motel room and shuts the door behind her. She leaves the room with money in her hand.)
(As she nears the end of the walkway, she's grabbed and pulled off to the side.)
Chris Cavaliere: Who's in the room?
Hooker: Some john, I don't know.
Chris Cavaliere: Shh!
(He shows her a photo of Jose Fausto.)
Chris Cavaliere: Is that him?
Hooker: Mm-hmm. I couldn't wait to get out of there. He was acting real nervous. (She sees SWAT coming up the stairs.) Now I know why. I took care of him; he's asleep. So you're not gonna bust me, right?
Vartann: Get her out of here.
(The hooker is led down the stairs.)
[INT. MOTEL ROOM - DAY - CONTINUOUS]
(The door bursts open. Jose Fausto is on the bed. He jumps to his feet.)
SWAT: Police! Let me see your hands! Do it now! Get on the floor! Down!
(Jose Fausto gets down on his knees, his hands behind his head. Vartann cuffs him.)
(The SWAT officer checks to see that they have the right man.)
SWAT: That's our guy.
(Warrick walks into the room. He pockets his gun and picks up the gun on the counter. He checks it.)
Warrick: He's carrying a nine.
Officer: (o.s.) All clear, sir.
(Warrick looks at the bullet from the gun.)
Warrick: We'll run this gun against the cartridge case from that poor kid on the bike.
(He notices the bike in the room.)
Warrick: I'm guessing you didn't save up for that one, huh?
(Quick flashback to: Fausto runs out into the street, sees Geraldo on his bike and shoots him twice in the back. End of flashback.)
Vartann: You shoot an innocent kid in the back just to take his bike? You piece of crap! Get up!
(Vartann pulls Fausto to his feet.)
Chris Cavaliere: Hey, you're gonna wish you kept running. They hate cop killers in Vegas, you hear me? Huh?
Jose Fausto: Come on, let me get dressed up first, huh?
Chris Cavaliere: We got a jumpsuit just your size, don't worry.
(They lead him out of the room.)
[EXT. MOTEL - DAY - CONTINUOUS]
(The officers lead Jose Fausto out of the room and down the stairs. There's a small crowd gathered out front the motel.)
Voice: Suspect coming through.
(As they lead him to the car, a shot rings out. The bullet hits Fausto square in the chest.)
(A woman screams.)
Chris Cavaliere: (shouts) Down! Everybody down! Down!
(Officers scramble, their guns raised and looking around for the shooter.)
Warrick: Where did that come from?


[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.