COLD OPEN.
[EXT. VARIOUS LAS VEGAS CITY LIGHTS (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[INT. OMNI BUILDING LOBBY - NIGHT]
(Through the glass, we see a yellow taxicab pull up to the curb. Chloe Davis gets out of the cab and walks up to the locked glass doors to the front of the building.)
(Cameras pan down and we see that there's a security station just inside the lobby equipped with security cameras on the front doors, elevators and other entrance and exit points in the building. On the security station console, there's an open burger and fries - and no sign of the guard.)
(Chloe Davis uses a key to get through the glass doors. She opens the doors and walks in. She walks past the security station without turning or acknowledging anyone, which leads us to believe that there's no one at the station. The glass doors close behind her.)
(Through the monitors for CAMERA 3 and for CAMERA 4, we see Chloe Davis arrive at the elevators. She presses the button and leans heavily against the wall waiting for the elevators to arrive.)
(Camera pans over to the monitor for CAMERA 2, inside the elevator. We hear the elevator bell ding and see the doors open on the monitor. Clearly, with a little too much to drink, Chloe Davis staggers into the elevator and presses the button for her floor. The elevator doors close.)
(She turns and looks up directly into the security camera and fixes her hair. She rubs her fingertip against her lips and turns around to face the elevator door. The elevator doors open.)
[INT. OMNI BUILDING - HALLWAY - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS]
(Chloe Davis walks crookedly on her high-heeled shoes as she makes her way down the hallway to her apartment. She staggers through the hallway and reaches her apartment door. She tries unsuccessfully to get her key into the keyhole, but it's not working.)
(Suddenly, the door to the apartment behind her opens. A naked woman runs out, bleeding and delirious. She collapses into Chloe Davis's arms.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. OMNI BUILDING LOBBY - NIGHT -- LATER]
[ON CHRISTINA HOLLIS]
(The naked woman is on a gurney, fitted with a nasal cannula. Her hearing is unclear, her eyes dart from side to side and her tongue constantly licks her dry lips.)
[EXT. OMNI BUILDING LOBBY - NIGHT -- CONTINUOUS]
(The paramedics wheel out the victim on the gurney to an ambulance waiting outside. Near the doorway, the woman in blue talks with an officer.)
(The paramedics put the gurney in the back of the ambulance. Sofia Curtis walks up to Grissom and Catherine.)
Sofia Curtis: Vic's name's Christina Hollis. She's a sales agent for the building. Neighbor said she just came running out of her unit, delirious and hysterical.
Catherine: Sexual assault?
Sofia Curtis: Definitely. I'm gonna go with her to the hospital, see if I can get a statement.
Catherine: Thank you.
(Sofia leaves them. Grissom and Catherine walk toward the building. As they head inside, Grissom notices the security cameras.)
Grissom: Video cameras. That's good for us.
Catherine: Vic probably thought it was good for her, too.
(They walk into the building.)
[INT. OMNI BUILDING LOBBY - NIGHT -- CONTINUOUS]
(As soon as they step inside, two men, one carrying a microphone and the other a camera, both step in their path.)
Producer: Excuse me, hi, can you identify yourself for the camera, please? Just look right in the lens.
['LIVE' CAMERA POV]
(Grissom isn't happy about his. Catherine looks as if she's recalling or thinking about what this means.)
Grissom: What is this?
(Grissom and Catherine walk across the lobby and head for the elevators.)
Producer: (o.s.) It's a reality crime show. We're following you for this investigation. Sheriff promised full cooperation.
Catherine: We got that memo. They're 'Hard Crime.'
Producer: (o.s.) That's us-- we're the guys who put the folks who look in the microscopes under the microscopes.
Catherine: Right.
(They reach the elevators. The door opens. The officer standing next to the door holds it open for them.)
Catherine: You see, it's good PR for the department. Try not to bust their chops, okay?
Producer: (o.s.) You ever see the show? It's got a lot of forensics.
Grissom: There's too many forensics shows on TV.
(The elevator doors close.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. OMNI BUILDING - HALLWAY OUTSIDE HOLLIS' APARTMENT -- NIGHT -- CONTINUOUS]
(Grissom and Catherine walk through the hallway toward the room. Brass is waiting for them outside.)
Brass: The doorknob, the frame, the strike plate are all clean. No sign of a forced entry.
Grissom: So she might have known her assailant.
Catherine: Either that or he talked his way in.
(In the background behind them, we see the 'Hard Crime' camera crew turn the corner and head for the scene. Grissom and Catherine duck under the crime scene tape and enter the room. The camera crew tries to follow, but Brass stops them.)
Brass: Hey, hey, hey. Stay behind the crime tape.
(They stop, but the camera continues to be on Grissom and Catherine inside the apartment.)
Producer: (o.s.) Don't cut. Did you get all that?
(Grissom turns and comes into view of the bed. Catherine comes up right behind him. They both have their flashlights on.)
[INT. HOLLIS' APARTMENT -- NIGHT -- CONTINUOUS]
[OFF GRISSOM AND CATHERINE]
(Their eyes widen at the sight.)
[ON BED]
(The bed is rumpled and unmade. Restraints from the bedposts at the head of the bed are bloodied near the ends and on the sheets and pillows. More blood is on the center of the bed. Something horribly bad happened here.)
Producer: (o.s.) (calls out) Mr. Grissom, can you please describe what you're seeing?
(He doesn't look at them.)
Grissom: A long night.
FADE TO END OF TEASER ROLL TITLE CREDITS
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. HOSPITAL ROOM -- NIGHT]
(Christina Hollis is on the stirrup table, propped up. Sofia Curtis stands next to her. Christina is still disoriented.)
Christina Hollis: I don't understand. Why am I here?
Sofia Curtis: Miss Hollis, you've been assaulted.
Christina Hollis: Who ... ? I ...
Sofia Curtis: You don't know who did this? (She shakes her head.) What was the last thing you remember?
(She stops and tries to remember. She shakes her head.)
Christina Hollis: I don't know.
(She looks down at her wrists and sees that they're red, raw and partially bleeding from the restraints.
Christina Hollis: Oh, my God.
(She looks down at her legs, lifts up her hospital gown a little to expose her thighs and sees them red and bruised.)
Christina Hollis: Oh, my God!
(She looks down at her feet and sees them pedicured perfectly with her toenails painted red.)
Christina Hollis: (panicking) Okay, this isn't right. Why isn't this right? Why don't I look right? Right ... This isn't --
Sofia Curtis: Christina, it's okay.
Christina Hollis: No, it's not okay. It's not okay. Why don't I look right? I don't underst- ...
(She looks up and beyond Sofia, she sees the cameras on her.)
Christina Hollis: Why are they st- ... why are they staring at me? (hysterical) Stop looking at me!
(Sofia quickly shuts the curtains closed.)
Sofia Curtis: Nurse, get in here!
(Christina dissolves into hysterical sobbing. Sofia grabs her and holds her tightly.)
Sofia Curtis: (softly) It's okay. It's okay.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. HOSPITAL - HALLWAY - NIGHT -- LATER]
(The cameraman turns the corner. The producer calls his attention and points down the hallway.)
Producer: (o.s.) Hey.
(At the end of the hallway, Sofia Curtis is talking with the nurse.)
Nurse: I did a wet mount from a vaginal swab and got four-plus motile sperm present.
Sofia Curtis: So she was raped within the last few hours. No condom means he's not in the system or he doesn't care if he gets caught.
Nurse: Guys like this, they keep doing it.
(Finished, Sofia turns to leave. The producer tries to catch her attention.)
Producer: (o.s.) Excuse me, detective. Can I ask you a question?
(She ignores him and continues walking down the hallway.)
Producer: (o.s.) Detective.
(Sofia looks back as she continues down the hallway.)
Sofia Curtis: You try something like that again and you're gone. I don't a give a damn what the sheriff says.
Producer: (o.s.) Look, we never put anyone on screen without a signed release.
Sofia Curtis: You invaded her privacy at her most vulnerable moment.
Producer: (o.s.) I am trying to give the crime a face.
Sofia Curtis: Yeah, well, we're going to lose an hour waiting for her to calm down. That's on you.
Producer: (o.s.) I apologize. It won't happen again. Look, can I just ask you what you've got there?
(She stops and shows it to him.)
Sofia Curtis: It's a sexual assault evidence kit and blood sample. I've seen date rape victims in similar dissociative states. We're going to run a tox screen, see if she was drugged.
Producer: (o.s.) You were a CSI, right?
Sofia Curtis: Yeah.
Producer: And now you're a detective. So which side of the fence do you prefer?
Sofia Curtis: It's the same side.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. HOLLIS APARTMENT -- NIGHT]
(Grissom snaps photos of the bloodied restraints and the sheets.)
(Quick flash to: Christina Hollis struggles on the bed, her wrists tied to the bedposts. She struggles against the restraints. End of flash.)
(Grissom puts the camera down and looks at the bed. He slowly walks around the bed and takes a picture of the framed photo on the bedside table of the victim with blood spattered on the glass frame. He takes additional photos of the pictures on the table of the victim with an older woman.)
(Catherine opens the closet and we see that Christina has a lot of high-heeled shoes. Catherine snaps a photo of the yoga mats on the closet floor. Catherine closes the closet door.)
(Catherine walks up to the kitchen counter where there are candles burning. She snaps photos of the candles, the wax spilled out and melted on the counter top.)
Catherine: Candles burned down. A bouquet in the trash.
(She takes a photo of the bouquet in the trash bin next to the kitchen counter.)
Catherine: Flowers and candles -- sure seems like a date.
(She looks around and snaps more photos.)
Grissom: Some date.
(Grissom snaps a photo of a glittery substance in the blood on the bedsheet.)
(Catherine walks over to another side table with a candle burning on it. She notices something.)
Catherine: Got a void in the wax.
(Sure enough, in the melted wax on the counter, there's a large block as if something were taken that used to be on the table when the wax melted.)
(She snaps a photo of it and notices something else on the wooden floor. It's a yellow piece of material. She snaps photos of it and puts her camera aside to get the material.)
(Meanwhile, Grissom notices something on the bed frame.)
Grissom: Some kind of white flaky substance.
(He takes a tape lift of it. Catherine joins him.)
(He also sees a drop of something red and shiny on the bed frame.)
Grissom: This looks like blood, but ...
(He tries to take a swab sample of it and finds that it's dried and doesn't come off.)
Catherine: I think it's nail polish.
(She snaps a photo of it.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. OMNI BUILDING LOBBY - SECURITY STATION -- NIGHT]
(The security station monitor for CAMERA 8 shows a maintenance man working in the dark corridor in the basement. Brass walks up to him.)
[INT. OMNI BUILDING - BASEMENT - NIGHT]
(Brass walks up to the maintenance man as he works on the pipes.)
Brass: Hey, how's it going?
(The maintenance man turns and looks at Brass.)
Brass: According to your supervisor, you were doing maintenance work on the 11th floor at 5:00 A.M.
(The maintenance man notices the security camera in the corridor.)
Brass: What were you fixing at 5:00 in the morning?
Maintenance Man: I was just clocking a little overtime.
Brass: Uh-huh.
Maintenance Man: Management said they wanted a few extra coats of paint on three, seven and eleven. Got to keep everything nice and pretty for the tenants.
Brass: You know, the security guy didn't see you on his camera. Why is that?
Maintenance Man: Yeah, well, that guy doesn't see much. Service elevator's out. We have to use the stairs. God forbid the tenants ever have to look at one of us.
Brass: You got a master key to all the apartments?
Maintenance Man: Yeah. But we only go in if a tenant specifically asks us to fix something.
Brass: You ever fix anything for Christina Hollis?
Maintenance Man: Nope. Never.
(Brass notices the roll of duct tape on the maintenance man's tool belt. He reaches out and removes the roll and looks at it.)
Brass: You're running a little low on duct tape, my man.
Maintenance Man: Yeah. It's holding up half the building.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - TRACE LAB]
(Hodges looks at the duct tape through the scope. He writes on the clipboard when Nick walks in holding two evidence bags.)
Nick: Two pieces of duct tape; both have been swabbed for DNA and fingerprinted. Grissom wants you to compare adhesives. He's looking for a match. ...
Hodges: Okay. (nods cheerfully) That'll take a laser ablation test. That's good.
(Hodges smiles and casually looks around.)
Nick: (frowns) Why's that good?
Hodges: Well, laser ablation is both visual and dramatic.
Nick: Are you looking for the video crew right now?
Hodges: I would think that they would be looking for me.
Nick: Relax, man, the show's only an hour long. Laser ablation takes, like, six.
Hodges: Yeah, but when they cut it together, it'll only take thirty seconds.
(Nick smiles and nods. He turns and leaves.)
(Hodges picks up the two evidence bags. He again glances around the area.)
(Cut to: Hodges opens the evidence bag and removes the duct tape piece from it. He cuts a piece of the duct tape off.)
(He again glances around the area.)
(He puts the piece cut off into the machine and shuts the drawer-like door. He starts the machine and it whirrs. He moves to the monitor and starts the lasers.)
(Quick CGI EFX: Camera zooms into the machine and shows the laser cutting an S-pattern from side-to-side on the piece of duct tape.)
(The particles burned off the sample are sucked into the cylinder tube.)
(End of CGI EFX. Resume to present.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - HALLWAY -- DAY]
(Hodges reports his findings to Grissom.)
Hodges: Ran laser ablation on the duct tape samples. (He hands the report to Grissom.) Not a match.
Grissom: So she wasn't tied up with the maintenance man's tape.
Hodges: (shakes his head) Mm-mm.
Grissom: What about the rest of the trace?
Hodges: White powder was primarily biological, so I kicked it back to DNA. It did contain some glassy particles. Might be industrial diamonds.
Grissom: And the yellow reflective flakes?
Hodges: My next priority.
(They turn the corner and we hear the producer talking.)
Producer: (o.s.) Okay, we're rolling. Go ahead.
(He points and scoffs as they pass by the A/V Lab.)
Hodges: That's a waste of film.
(Hodges and Grissom walk out of camera frame. The camera lingers on Archie and Catherine in the A/V lab with the camera crew.)
[INT. CSI - A/V LAB - DAY -- CONTINUOUS]
Archie Johnson: The victim came out of her apartment around 5:00 A.M., so I've been working my way back from then.
(Archie rewinds the video. The time clock is around the 10:34 hour.)
Archie Johnson: In the previous seven hours, 37 people came and went from the 11th floor, 21 of them male.
Catherine: So the assailant could be any one of them ... (Archie nods.) ... assuming that our guy didn't take the stairs which, of course, aren't monitored.
(Archie shows a particular man stepping into the elevator.)
Archie Johnson: Okay, now, here: This guy got off on the vic's floor at 10:32 P.M. There's no footage of him coming back down. And check this out.
(He enlarges the flowers in the man's hands.)
Catherine: He brought flowers. How romantic.
Archie Johnson: But I don't think this was a first date.
(Archie brings up another camera view of the front doors. The time clock reads 10:27 P.M. On the monitor, we see the man walk up to the building doors and use a key to get inside.)
Archie Johnson: Guy had his own key.
Catherine: So he could've been with the victim the whole night.
(Archie nods.)
Catherine: Pull the best image of his face you can, and get a printout to Brass.
Archie Johnson: I'm on it.
(Catherine stands up to leave. The producer stops her.)
Producer: (o.s.) Ms. Willows, hold on a second. All you have is a guy's face. How do you figure out who he is?
Catherine: Good question.
(Catherine turns and leaves.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - LAB -- DAY]
(Nick waits.)
Producer: (o.s.) Guys, we're good to go. Speed. VOICE: (o.s.) Fine.
(He clears his throat and waits.)
Producer: (o.s.) So what have you found so far?
Nick: I lifted two identifiable prints off the bouquet wrapper.
Producer: (o.s.) How do you know they belong to the suspect?
Nick: We don't, but one matched a print found on the duct tape, right here, used to tape up the victim. (He shows the photo of the duct tape.) Unfortunately, that print's not in our database.
Producer: (o.s.) So your suspect doesn't have a record?
Nick: Apparently not, no.
Producer: (o.s.) Well, how do you find a guy who's not in the system?
Nick: (chuckles) You just got to get creative, you know? I mean, the flowers ... (shows the flowers) ... came from a small shop off-strip. Took the suspect's image to the clerk, (Nick holds up the photo) ... showed it to him. He gave me a credit card receipt. From that receipt, I got a name. That name gave me a driver's license. (He holds up the DMV printout.) Dwight Reynolds. Police are bringing him in now.
Producer: (o.s.) Great, okay. Clear and concise, thank you.
(He breathes and relaxes.)
Nick: Thanks. Yeah, well, we have to do it in court all the time. If you can't explain it to a jury, then the bad guy usually walks, and we don't like it when the bad guy walks.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - HALLWAY]
(Sofia and Brass walk through the hallway on their way to the interview room.)
Sofia Curtis: Unit picked him up at the double down. He was plastered.
Brass: What'd he blow?
Sofia Curtis: One nine.
(They stop just outside the interview room.)
Brass: That's almost enough to wash away your sins.
Sofia Curtis: Well, we're going to have wait until he sobers up.
Brass: No, no, let's not wait, let's move on this. I think we got a chance. Look, why don't you come in there with me, huh? Maybe pop a few buttons?
(She chuckles.)
Brass: No, seriously. See how he reacts.
Sofia Curtis: If he tries too hard not to look, it could be a guilty conscience?
Brass: Yeah, maybe, something like that.
Sofia Curtis: If he is the guy, and we interview him now, anything he says could be thrown out of court.
Brass: It's worth a try. What do you think, huh?
(Smiling, Sofia undoes the top button of her blouse.)
Sofia Curtis: Let's go.
(They enter the interview room. The 'Hard Crime' cameras remain outside. The door closes.)
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM -CONTINUOUS]
(Brass and Sofia interview Dwight Reynolds.)
Brass: How's it going?
Dwight Reynolds: Okay.
Brass: Did you know a Christina Hollis?
Dwight Reynolds: Yeah, we used to date.
Brass: You seen her recently?
Dwight Reynolds: No.
Brass: Then how come we found your prints on some flowers at her place?
Dwight Reynolds: I dropped some flowers off ... but I didn't see her when I did.
Brass: You had a key?
Dwight Reynolds: Yeah. She likes me to come over sometimes, you know? Help her move stuff.
(Sofia leans forward across the table.)
[HARD CRIME CAMERA POV]
(Sofia leans forward across the table; the camera lingers on her chest.)
[RESUME BRASS]
Brass: Oh, come on, what really happened, huh? You went over to move some stuff, and she wasn't in the mood, is that it?
Dwight Reynolds: I told you -- I didn't see her.
(Quick flashback to: [HALLWAY OUTSIDE CHRISTINA'S APARTMENT - NIGHT] Dwight takes out the keys and starts to unlock the door. He hears loud Barry White music coming from inside. He stops and throws the bouquet down on the hallway floor. He leaves.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Dwight Reynolds: She was playing Barry White. Everybody knows what that means. I guess it wasn't my night.
Brass: You're lying! We found the flowers inside her apartment in the trash, and you didn't use the elevator to leave.
Dwight Reynolds: I was pissed. I tried to walk it off. I figured eleven flights down, It's better than a cold shower.
Sofia Curtis: Christina Hollis was tied up and brutally assaulted in her apartment last night.
Dwight Reynolds: What?
Brass: And you were there.
Dwight Reynolds: Is she ... ?
Sofia Curtis: She's alive and talking.
Dwight Reynolds: Last night? The guy who with her was ... was doing that to her?
(Quick flash to: [PEEPHOLE VIEW] Dwight Reynolds is standing in front of the door. He throws the flowers down on the floor and leaves. End of flash. Resume to present.)
Dwight Reynolds: I could've stopped it.
(Sofia and Brass glance at each other.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - DNA LAB - DAY]
(Wendy Simms reports her findings to Catherine.)
Wendy Simms: So the powder that you found on the bedroom floor was actually keratinized skin cells. They belong to the vic, and morphology suggests that they're probably from her cuticles.
Catherine: Cuticles?
Wendy Simms: Mm-hmm.
Catherine: Nail polish, diamond particles ... maybe she was giving herself a mani and pedi before the assault.
Wendy Simms: I don't know about you, but if I could afford to live in an apartment like that, I'd be in a spa every week.
Catherine: Yeah, I hear you there. Thank you.
Wendy Simms: Mm-hmm.
(Catherine takes the results and leaves the lab. The camera crew follows her.)
[INT. CSI - HALLWAY / GRISSOM'S OFFICE - DAY - CONTINUOUS]
(Catherine catches up with Grissom and reports.)
Catherine: Wendy ran the semen, no hits in CODIS.
Grissom: Yeah, the, uh ... ex-boyfriend didn't match any of the prints on the duct tape, either.
Catherine: SAE found oral, vaginal and a**l smears positive for semen. Degraded and intact sperm suggests multiple deposits.
(They walk into his office and continue their conversation. The 'Hard Crime' camera crew remains outside in the hallway.)
Grissom: Which means that he probably raped her on and off, for a long time.
Catherine: Yeah, well, tox came back -- lorazepam in the vic's blood.
Grissom: I didn't find any prescription bottles in her apartment.
Catherine: No, nor did I. Lorazepam is a hypnotic sedative, and I know in high doses, it causes acute amnesia. Maybe that's what he was counting on to cover his tracks.
Grissom: Well, it usually takes an hour for a drug like that to kick in. How did he subdue her in the meantime?
Catherine: (shakes her head) Low-profile entry, sedatives, duct tape -- I mean, if he's not a serial, he will be soon.
(Grissom glances back at the cameras outside.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - TRACE LAB -- DAY]
(Hodges fixes his hair and his eyebrows. Sara walks in. Hodges smoothes out his eyebrows and checks his teeth. Sara startles him.)
Sara: Hey, there, gorgeous.
(Hodges turns around and casually looks around for the cameras.)
Sara: I'm going to be running with the trace from the victim's apartment. Would you mind bringing me up to speed?
Hodges: (nods) Certainly.
(Hodges pauses, waiting for something. In the background, we see the camera crew turn the corner and head for the Trace Lab.)
Sara: Take your time.
(The camera crew rushes into the lab.)
Producer: (o.s.) Did you page us?
Hodges: Um ...
(Hodges turns and looks away.)
Sara: (shakes her head) No. Mm-mm.
(Hodges opens the file folder and reports to Sara.)
Hodges: According to the gas chromatograph mass spectrometer, the glossy red drop you found on the footboard was ... nail polish.
Sara: Well, that's not unusual in a woman's apartment.
Hodges: What is far more intriguing is the reflective yellow flakes. Follow me to the Fourier transform infrared microscope.
Sara: (under her breath) Hodges, what's wrong with you?
(Hodges shakes his head.)
Hodges: Nothing.
(Sara walks over to the scope.)
Producer: (whispering) Guys ... stay with the girl.
(Hodges leans in closer to her, where the camera has a nice angle on his face.)
Hodges: As you can see, the flakes are fluorescent reflective lenses bonded to an aramid backing by a special polymer layer. And it's used exclusively in the reflective trim of firemen's turnouts.
Sara: You're telling me there was a firefighter in the victim's bedroom.
(Hodges ponders that thought.)
Hodges: Hmm ...
Sara: Thanks.
(Sara turns to the camera.)
Sara: Thanks, Hodges.
(She turns to leave.)
Hodges: Anytime.
(The camera lingers on Hodges. He turns and looks through the scope.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY]
[INT. FIRE STATION -- DAY]
(Brass and Sara talk with Captain Hendricks.)
Captain Hendricks: Yeah, all right, okay, let 'em roll.
(He waves over at the camera crew.)
Captain Hendricks: But you're buying the lobster.
Brass: Yeah, right.
(The 'Hard Crime' camera moves in closer to the three.)
Brass: (to Sara) See, one of the guys gets on TV, that guy has to buy lobster for the whole company, you know? (The Captain chuckles.) These guys eat well - - lobster thermidor! Check it out. (louder) So, according to dispatch, you responded to an alarm at the Omni condos last night?
Captain Hendricks: Yeah, at 6:58 P.M. We were on scene in about four minutes. Three smoke bombs on three different floors, three pains in my ass. There's no major damage, just paint and wallpaper. We were there about a half hour.
Sara: What'd the arson guys find?
Captain Hendricks: They didn't find much. Uh, the smoke bombs were made out of soda cans. (He shrugs.) Kids, Internet, you do the math. It's all in your lab.
Sara: Really? What for?
Captain Hendricks: A couple guys from the day shift were gonna compare 'em to those bombs we found a couple of weeks ago.
Brass: What are you talking about?
Captain Hendricks: Apartment building over on Paradise. Smoke bombs started a fire, one woman died. We still don't have a suspect in that.
(Sara thinks about it. She leaves Brass to continue to talk with Captain Hendricks and she moves over to the lockers and benches to check out the firemen's gear.)
Brass: Were you on the scene?
Captain Hendricks: I saw it after. Smoke bomb was too close to the wall, the whole place was ...
Brass: Where was the woman who died?
Captain Hendricks: Down the hall asleep.
(Sara reaches down and checks the base color of the reflection material at the base of the fireman's yellow jacket.)
Brass: Which of your guys were up on the 11th floor at the Omni?
Captain Hendricks: I don't know. I'd have to ask around. Why?
Brass: A woman was raped last night.
Captain Hendricks: You think one of my guys did it?
Brass: No. I'm not saying that, but we found some evidence that a fireman was near her bed.
Captain Hendricks: You came here to accuse my guys of this in front of the camera?
Brass: No, no, no. Settle down, settle down...
Captain Hendricks: The hell I will. No wonder they call you Brass, because you really got a set.
Brass: Aw, come on, Sparky ...
(Sara returns.)
Sara: Excuse me, gentlemen. Captain, uh, which of your guys ... wears a yellow reflective stripe on their turnouts?
Captain Hendricks: Nobody; department's color is orange.
Sara: The reflective flake we found in Christina Hollis' apartment was yellow.
Captain Hendricks: Then you're not looking for a Las Vegas fireman.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - A/V LAB -- DAY]
(Archie reports his findings to Catherine and Grissom.)
Archie Johnson: According to surveillance, the victim came home at 6:19 P.M. And the firemen were in her building at approximately 7:00. They took the stairs, so we don't have them on this camera. Now take a look at this ...
(Archie shows the video at 6:36 P.M.. On it, a fireman is pounding on one of the doors.)
Catherine: Well, he certainly looks the part.
Archie Johnson: He touched the door with his bare hands. Might get prints.
Catherine: The time code says 6:36 P.M. But the alarm went out at 6:58. That's 22 minutes later.
Archie Johnson: What kind of fireman comes before the fire?
Grissom: Someone who knows it's coming.
(beat)
Producer: (o.s.) Uh, Mr. Grissom, we may have missed that. Could say it one more time for the camera?
(Grissom turns and glares incredulously at the cameraman.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
(COMMERCIALS ET)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. OMNI BUILDING - PARKING -- DAY]
(The janitor is talking with an officer. Greg is printing the garage door.)
Producer: (o.s.) You ever hear the saying, "Only the dumb ones get caught?"
Greg: Yeah ... but we catch the smart ones, too. And this guy's definitely smart.
(Quick flash to: Someone places a lit soda can on the center of the hallway floor.)
Greg: (V.O.) He lights smoke bombs on three different floors so as not to call attention to his target.
(End of flash. Resume to present.)
(Greg continues to print the door.)
Greg: Victim sees the smoke, sees him, and opens the door.
(Quick flashback to: The smoke bombs are smoking in the hallways. The fake fireman goes to the door and knocks.)
"FIREMAN": Fire Department, open up.
(Christina opens the door and the fireman bursts into her apartment.)
(End of flash. Resume to present.)
Greg: I mean, who wouldn't trust a fireman, right?
(Greg continues to print the door.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM -- DAY]
(Christina Hollis is in the interview room sipping from a coffee cup. Her wrists are wrapped up. Her interview with Sofia Curtis is being video recorded.)
Sofia Curtis: It takes a lot of courage to do this.
Christina Hollis: Thank you.
Sofia Curtis: And if you change your mind about the camera, all you have to do is say so -- no one ever has to see this.
Christina Hollis: No, I want him to see it.
Sofia Curtis: He'll watch it in jail. Okay, so, you said you were beginning to remember what happened?
Christina Hollis: Yeah, a little.
Sofia Curtis: Can you tell me what he looked like?
Christina Hollis: Um ... no, not really. It's mostly, uh ... just feelings.
Sofia Curtis: Feelings. Of what?
Christina Hollis: I know he raped me.
(Quick flash of: Christina Hollis is tied and bound in her bed. End of flash.)
Christina Hollis: What I remember most ... it was, um ...
(Quick flash of: The person is touching her feet. End of flash.)
Christina Hollis: (sniffles) He ... he kept ... he kept touching my feet.
(She cries.)
Christina Hollis: He kept touching my feet.
(She covers her eyes as she cries.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY LIGHTS (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[INT. CSI - HALLWAY -- NIGHT]
(Grissom and Catherine walk through the hallway.)
Grissom: A foot fetish is a visual pathology. The suspect would have had to be close enough to the vic to see her toes and then get aroused.
Catherine: We live in a desert, Gil. You want to see a woman's bare feet, all you have to do is look down.
(They walk out of camera frame.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - EVIDENCE ROOM -- NIGHT]
(Sara is going through the selection of firemen outfits on the Internet. Greg enters the room.)
Greg: Door in the parking structure was like the arm of a slot machine: Smudge city.
Sara: Anything useful from the janitor?
Greg: Yeah, he gave us a full description. Said he looked like a fireman.
Sara: Well, between eBay, uniform shops, and national manufacturers, there's about a hundred different places that you can buy yellow-striped turnouts.
Greg: Maybe he was a fireman in another city.
Sara: Maybe.
Greg: What's that?
Sara: When I was at the firehouse, all of the air tanks were rigged with the valves on the bottom, like this one. (She looks at a security photo.) But our guy ... his valve is on top.
Greg: A real fireman probably wouldn't make that mistake.
Sara: His airline isn't even rigged to his mask. It's rigged to a second mask on his side.
Greg: Maybe he put something in the tank to subdue her.
Sara: He used lorazepam.
Greg: Eventually. But this guy was somehow able to get her from the door to the bed without a struggle. (He thinks about it.) I bet he used nitrous oxide. That stuff will knock you out real fast.
(Quick flash to: [Christina's apartment] The door opens. The fireman steps inside and puts the gas mask over Christina's face. She struggles. He steps inside and the door closes behind him.)
(End of flash. Resume to present.)
Greg: And it's undetectable in the blood after a few minutes. Pretty easy to come by. And it would explain the valve on top. It's liquid under pressure. It would spill if it were upside down. All you need is a driver's license and a deposit for the tank. If this guy bought nitrous from a local distributor, there's definitely a record.
Sara: Check it out.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - LAB -- NIGHT]
(Warrick is alone and talking on the phone.)
Warrick: (to phone) Come on, Tina. Like, I'm the only one working doubles here. (He listens.) Oh, so it's my fault that we have strange schedules. Great. Go out with your friends. (scoffs) I'm sure you'll be seeing Robert again tonight, too, huh?
(Warrick notices the cameras entering the room behind him and he quickly ends the call.)
Warrick: (to phone) You know what? It's fine. I got to go. Have a fun time.
(He hangs up.)
Producer: (o.s.) This a bad time?
Warrick: No. Great time. What can I do for you?
Producer: (o.s.) What are you working on?
Warrick: I'm examining smoke bombs recovered from, uh ... the victim's condo, and comparing them to smoke bombs from an arson case a couple of weeks ago.
Producer: (o.s.) How do you know which is which? I mean, how do you tell them apart?
Warrick: Well, so far, I've only opened up one item from each case. CSIs, when we work a case, we take extensive notes at the scene, and photos of each item. And, uh ... they're very similar, I know. But, based on the construction and the components, I'd say these two bombs were made by the same person.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY]
(Robbins is on a treadmill and talking with the producer on camera.)
Producer: (o.s.) So I guess this is a slow day at the morgue.
Robbins: You can't really predict this job. Today it's like this, tomorrow it's a bus accident. So I am here.
(Grissom enters the room.)
Grissom: Albert.
Robbins: Yeah?
Grissom: Did you find the blood sample I called you about?
Robbins: Female arson fatality. COD is smoke inhalation. Partial tox came back carboxyhemoglobin and cyanide.
Grissom: I need a test for lorazepam.
Robbins: Blood's on its way to tox.
Grissom: You recall any other sexual assault victims that tested positive for lorazepam?
Robbins: Uh ... nothing comes to mind, but I'll check my files, confer with Toxicology.
Grissom: Thanks.
(Grissom leaves.)
Robbins: Yeah. (to camera) A slow day is a good day.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - WAITING ROOM]
(Inside the waiting room, there is a crowd of people. Outside in the hallway, Sofia talks with Sara.)
Sofia Curtis: These people lived on the same floor as the female arson fatality from two weeks ago.
Sara: Tox on the arson victim came back negative for lorazepam. So maybe she wasn't the target.
(They both head into the waiting room.)
Producer: (o.s.) Ms. Sidle, is this what you guys call a 'fishing expedition?'
Sara: We call this 'following a lead.'
Producer: (o.s.) Forgive me, but it's not very much of a lead.
Sara: What's that supposed to mean?
Producer: (o.s.) Well, this case is even colder than the one you're on. You'd almost be better off if you had a new rape victim and a fresh scene.
Sara: That might be true, but that is definitely not the outcome that we're looking for.
(Sara turns and heads into the waiting room. She walks up to a young woman and introduces herself.)
Sara: Hi. I'm, uh, Sara Sidle. Maybe we could talk in here?
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM -- CONTINUOUS]
(Sara talks with Stephanie.)
Stephanie: I didn't really know the girl who died. I still can't believe what happened. It's just awful.
Sara: Tell me what you remember.
Stephanie: I was alone in my apartment Saturday night. Hello. What's new, right? I was reading or something.
(Quick flashback to: [SATURDAY NIGHT] Someone pounds on the door to apartment
Stephanie: (V.O.) And then, suddenly, there was someone pounding on my door.
(Stephanie opens the door. She looks around and sees the smoke. Her eyes widen.)
(End of flash. Resume to present.)
Sara: Can you describe what he looked like?
Stephanie: Well, he was a fireman. I mean, he was wearing a mask. It all happened pretty quick. (Sara sighs.) Why?
Sara: We're looking for a rapist who masquerades as a fireman. He uses smoke bombs to get his victims to open their doors.
Stephanie: He knocked on my door. Are you saying you think he was going to rape me?
Sara: It's possible.
Stephanie: You know, I was pretty freaked.
(Quick flash to: The walls are on fire. Stephanie takes a step to get out as well.)
Stephanie: (V.O.) When he was standing there in front of me ... just before he left ...
(End of flash. Resume to present.)
Stephanie: ... I swear, for a second, it felt like he wasn't going to let me go.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY]
[INT. CSI - BREAK ROOM -- DAY]
(Catherine, Sara and Greg meet to discuss the case.)
Sara: Turnouts were a dead end. And there's nothing to track off of the smoke bombs.
Greg: I've got hundreds of names of people who purchased nitrous oxide in the last six months.
Catherine: What? You got to narrow that down.
Greg: That is narrowed down.
Catherine: Okay. Our rapist is a foot fetishist. That's what gets him off. He has to see his victim's feet somewhere. If we can figure out where, maybe we can find him.
Greg: What do the victims have in common?
(Catherine looks at the file folder.)
Catherine: Christina Hollis. African American. Single. Lives and works at the Omni. She lives on the 11th floor, so there's no real way for a peeper to see in. And she uses the gym, but not the pool.
Sara: Stephanie Daniels lives across town. Caucasian. Also single. No gym membership, but she does use the pool at her apartment complex regularly. There's a couple of adjacent buildings. It's possible that somebody could see into her place with a telescope, but she has shades and curtains. I kind of doubt it.
Greg: So they have nothing in common.
(Grissom walks in carrying a file folder.)
Grissom: Sure, they do. They both have feet. We may have a third victim who may also be our first victim. Tara Weathers. Last month, she claimed she was drugged in a bar and woke up in her apartment with her toes freshly painted. They did a tox on her at the time. Found lorazepam in her system.
(Catherine looks at the photo of feet.)
Catherine: Well, she does have nice feet. And the nail polish looks like a similar shade to Christina Hollis'.
Grissom: Yeah. So the pattern starts a month ago. Our guy drugs Tara Weathers in a bar, takes her to her apartment, paints her toes, leaves. Two weeks later, he steps it up.
Sara: Poses as a firefighter, places smoke bombs in an apartment building, only things don't work out the way that he planned. The building catches fire, and he runs.
Catherine: He waits a couple more weeks, he does it again, but this time he goes all the way.
Grissom: Yeah. And now he's escalating.
Greg: Where does he go from here?
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY]
[INT. TARA WEATHERS APARTMENT - HALLWAY -- DAY]
(Tara Weathers opens her front door and finds Brass and Catherine standing there.)
Brass: Tara Weathers? I'm Jim Brass, Las Vegas Police. This is Catherine Willows from the Crime Lab.
Tara Weathers: What do you want?
Brass: Well, we're here to ask you about the incident you reported to the police last month.
Tara Weathers: The nail polish thing?
Brass: Yeah, the nail polish thing.
Tara Weathers: You guys said I should consider myself lucky, that there was no real crime anyway.
Catherine: Well, we may have be wrong about that.
Tara Weathers: I knew it, that's what I tried to tell you the first time.
(She lets them inside.)
(Inside, they talk with her.)
Brass: The guy who drugged you is a rapist and a murderer, and we're looking to stop him before he does it again.
Tara Weathers: Are you serious?
Catherine: Very. We're trying to understand what you have in common with the other victims that might lead us to him.
Brass: Now he has a foot fetish. He's into feet. Is there any way that he could've ... seen your feet?
Tara Weathers: (shakes her head) Um ... I - I ... I don't know.
Catherine: Where do you buy your shoes?
Tara Weathers: All over.
Brass: Do you go to a gym?
Tara Weathers: No, not really.
Catherine: Pool?
Tara Weathers: No, never. I burn easily. I'm a legal secretary, I don't get out much. My work starts early and it goes late. The firm is so conservative, we're not even allowed to wear open-toed shoes.
(Catherine sees the yoga mat.)
Catherine: I notice that you do yoga.
Tara Weathers: Yeah.
Catherine: Where?
Tara Weathers: Out on the balcony. It's practically the only fresh air I get.
(Catherine turns and looks out the balcony at the apartments around the area.)
Catherine: Anybody in those apartments has a clear view of her bare feet.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. BUILDING - HALLWAY -- DAY]
(Catherine and Brass run through the hallway. The 'Hard Copy' producer and camera follow.)
Producer: (o.s.) So how'd you get the warrant?
Catherine: The tenant's name was on the nitrous oxide list.
(They stop at Richard McQueen's apartment door. There are other officers there and the manager with the key.)
Brass: (loud) Las Vegas Police. Open up, we have a warrant. Open up, police.
(There's no answer.)
Brass: (to the manager) Open it.
(The manager uses the key and opens the door. He quickly steps aside. The officers and Brass enter the apartment.)
Producer: (o.s.) Let's go.
(Catherine stops the camera from following.)
Catherine: No, no, no, you're not going in there, no.
(He hands her a flashlight.)
Producer: (o.s.) Well, will you take this cam-light in, it's a flashlight camera. It'll record anything you point it at.
(Catherine takes the flashlight-cam.)
Producer: Thanks.
(Officer Akers exits the apartment.)
Officer Akers: All clear.
Catherine: Okay, thanks.
(Catherine enters the apartment.)
Producer: (o.s.) Okay, you get any of this? Zoom in. Zoom in.
(The producer holds the hand monitor and we see the image on the small screen. Camera zooms in close to the monitor screen.)
(On the monitor, Catherine makes her way over to Brass.)
Brass: Perfect view of Tara's balcony.
(Inside the apartment, Catherine finds yoga class flyers on the counter.)
Catherine: Yoga flyers from all over town.
(Next to it on the counter is an open manicure-pedicure kit.)
Catherine: Guy's got everything he needs for a pedicure.
(On the monitor, we see posters and pictures of women and their feet hanging on the walls.)
(Catherine walks over to Brass.)
Brass: Hey, check this out. God bless the Internet.
(On the wall, Brass stands in front of a bulletin board with pictures pinned to it. Catherine shines her flashlight on the pictures of women in exercise outfits with focus on their feet and women wearing high-heeled shoes. Photos upon photos of feet and toes and shoes.)
(Catherine rolls her eyes, turns and continues looking through the apartment.)
(Catherine and Brass walk into the next room. On the wall is a large poster of women's shoes. On the table, Brass finds bomb-making paraphernalia. On the floor next to the table is a case for a 'Breathing Air Unit'.)
Brass: Fireman's air tank case.
(He opens the case and finds it empty.)
Brass: Where's the tank?
(Catherine puts on some gloves.)
(Brass takes out his phone and makes a call.)
Brass: (to phone) Yeah, this is Brass. I want to put a broadcast out on Richard McQueen. That's M-C-Q-U-E-E-N.
Dispatch: (from phone) McQueen copy that, we'll put it on the wire.
(On the table, Catherine finds a video camera. She lifts it up and finds candle wax stuck to the bottom of the camera.)
Catherine: Candle wax on the camera.
(She puts the camera down and flips it on.)
(The image of Richard McQueen giving Christina Hollis a pedicure fills the screen. She is tied to the bed.)
(Catherine picks up the flashlight camera and shines it on the digital video camera.)
(On the monitor, Richard McQueen turns and looks at the camera.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. BUILDING -- DAY]
(Officer cars stop in front of the building. Brass gets out and runs past the fire engines to get inside. The camera crew follow him.)
(They run inside the building.)
[INT. BUILDING - DAY]
(Off screen we hear someone grunt and a loud voice.)
Voice: Stay down! Stay down!
(Brass and other officers run through the smoke-filled corridor toward the commotion.)
Brass: Las Vegas PD!
(We hear the sounds of fists hitting flesh. All we see is smoke.)
Brass: Las Vegas PD! Break it up! Break it up!
(The officers arrive and pull a couple of firemen off a man on the floor.)
Brass: What the hell's going on here?
Captain Hendricks: Smoke bombs. We caught this creep sneaking away. My guys tried to stop him.
Richard McQueen: She wouldn't let me touch her feet.
Brass: Get him out of here.
(The officer pulls Richard McQueen away. Captain Hendricks points into the apartment.)
Captain Hendricks: You should see what he did?
(Brass rushes into the apartment. He passes several men in the living room heaving deeply, appalled by whatever they've seen in the bedroom.)
(Brass enters the bedroom and leans against the door frame at the sight of the young dead woman, naked and bound to the bed. The gas mask is still on her face, her eyes wide open and staring off to the side.)
(Brass stands at the base of the bed and shakes his head.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY LIGHTS (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[INT. CSI - HALLWAY/ FORENSIC AUTOPSY]
(Doc Robbins puts on his gloves as he talks to the camera.)
Robbins: Women are four times more likely than men to be the victims of a sex-related murder. And men are ten times more likely than women to be the murderer. It's just the way it is.
(He pushes the doors open and enters the morgue. Inside, the young woman is on the table. He takes a knife and starts the Y-incision.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - LOCKER ROOM -- NIGHT]
(Catherine is putting her things away and getting ready to go home. The producer sits nearby watching.)
Producer: (o.s.) Is that your daughter?
Catherine: Oh, yeah, these are old pictures. She's a teenager now.
Producer: (o.s.) With all the things you see on this job, do you ever worry about her?
Catherine: Are you kidding? I keep a vial of her blood in my freezer.
Producer: (o.s.) Like as a DNA sample in case you need to identify her?
Catherine: Well ... one thing you learn doing this job is that bad things happen to people who never expect it ... every day.
(Catherine turns and leaves.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - HALLWAY -- NIGHT]
(With chains around his wrists and ankles, Richard McQueen is escorted away. He turns around and looks back at the camera.)
(Brass talks with the camera.)
Brass: Yeah, we got a confession. He didn't choose women's feet, women's feet chose him. He lit candles, he played music, he thought he was on a date.
Producer: (o.s.) But did he explain, you know, why he did it?
Brass: Oh, yeah. Oh, sure. His mother was a hooker, she put him under the bed when she did her business, her feet dangled over the edge of the bed. He watched her feet;they were perfect. You know, I don't know if it's true.
Producer: (o.s.) What about the fireman thing?
Brass: I don't know, I guess he wanted to be a fireman when he grew up. Didn't you? Look, juries love explanations; they want it nice and neat. They don't want to know we live in a random world; they want meaning. It's that simple.
Producer: (o.s.) So how do you cope with a day like today? What do you do?
Brass: What do you want me to tell you, that I go home, I get drunk, I go to a bar, I stay out all night, I don't sleep ... huh? That's not the truth. You know what happens? I take care of myself; I sleep very well.
Producer: (o.s.) How well did you sleep after you learned you killed that fellow officer in that shootout last year?
Brass: (angry) Uh, yeah. Oh, is this ... is that ... oh, is this what this is about? Who've you been talking to, huh? What, you come here with your camera and you roll a little film and ... what, you think you know what it's like to be a cop? You? You're all done. You're all done with this. Get out of here.
(Brass turns and leaves.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - HALLWAY TO GRISSOM'S OFFICE - NIGHT]
(Grissom walks through the hallway on his way back to his office. The cameras follow him.)
Grissom: The truth is if there isn't any evidence, we have nowhere to go.
Producer: (o.s.) So you feel you did the best you could?
Grissom: Yes, I do.
Producer: (o.s.) Do you think forensic shows are just teaching the criminals how to get away with crimes?
Grissom: Everyone learns from science. It all depends on how you use the knowledge.
(Grissom enters his office and closes the door behind him.)
Producer: (o.s.) Keep going, go inside for a close-up.
(Camera moves in close to the door and holds on Grissom, who takes a seat behind his desk and continues working.)
Plan: A: The team; Q: Who is followed by a reality TV crew? A: a reality TV crew; Q: Who follows the team as they investigate the rape of a real estate agent? A: the building; Q: Where was the video surveillance system installed? A: flowers; Q: What did the suspect leave at the victims door? A: forensics; Q: What clears the suspect? A: Suspicion; Q: What does the possibility that the perpetrator is a fireman cause? Summary: The team is followed by a reality TV crew as it investigates the vicious rape of a real estate agent. Thanks to a video surveillance system, suspicion falls on someone taped entering the building and leaving flowers at the victims door, but forensics clears him. Suspicion then falls on the possibility that the perpetrator is a fireman when they find trace evidence of a fireman's uniform