WHITE FLASH TO:
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY]
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. SUNSET PARK (STOCK) - DAY]
(It's a bright, beautiful day at the park. The camera passes by a couple of teenagers walking and holding hands, a family barbeque-ing, a couple of kids with water guns and a group of children running and playing tag.)
(One particular little boy running and being chased by the others in his group, trips and falls on a patch of dirt. He starts screaming immediately. He gets up, holds his hands out in front of him and starts screaming.)
Little Boy: Mom! Mom! The dirt burned my hand!
(The camera focuses on the little boy's hands as it turns red ... burning his skin.)
FLASH TO WHITE:
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. SUNSET PARK -- NIGHT]
(The little boy's hands are being wrapped. Sirens blip in the background. GRISSOM and SARA appear at the scene carrying their CSI kit. They meet up with BRASS, the three of them making their way toward the body. They walk between the ambulance on the left and the Clark County Fire Department Hazardous Materials' Truck on the right.)
Grissom: What's Hazmat doing here?
Brass: Kid's playing tag, takes a header in the dirt ends up with first-degree on his hands.
Sara: Wait. We got a call about a dead body.
Brass: Yeah, I'm getting there. So, Hazmat arrives figuring some sort of chemical spill. Starts removing the toxic soil, and bamm a shovel slams into a shoulder blade.
(BRASS indicates some area off screen and to his right.)
FLASH TO WHITE: SHORT TIME CUT TO:
(The forensic team surrounds the site.)
Sara: (V.O.) Clothing's been reduced to shreds. Epidermal tissue. Is virtually gone. The body's desiccated.
(The camera starts at the body's legs and feet then moves slowly up toward the head.)
Grissom: Viscous fluid the consistency of dishwashing soap. Hazmat guy was right. Killer doused the body in lye.
Sara: Must have thought it would destroy the body.
Grissom: Yeah, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Without the wait.
HARD CUT TO END OF TEASER ROLL TITLE CREDITS
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. SUNSET PARK -- NIGHT]
(SARA is standing in the grave site with the body. Dispatcher noise can be heard in the background.)
HazMat: Ma'am, I'm sorry, but I need to neutralize the soil.
Sara: If you touch the soil you're going to contaminate my crime scene, but I'll let you know when I'm finished.
HazMat: Okay.
(The Hazmat man leaves, GRISSOM approaches SARA. He crouches down toward her.)
Grissom: What'd you get?
Sara: Vic's wallet, what's left of it. It's a Nevada License. Bob Martin. 31. He lived downtown. There's 20 bucks in the flap. Rules out robbery.
(SARA is holding a wallet in her hands with the following Nevada Driver's License information showing: )
(name) BOB MARTIN (address) 45?? ??? MATRIA LAS VEGAS NV 89108
NONE (weight) 175
BRN
(GRISSOM looks around the grave site and notices shiny white flecks. SARA picks up a sample for a closer look.)
Sara: Look at this.
Grissom: Looks like a paint fleck or metal chip, maybe.
Sara: What'd the ranger say?
Grissom: Nobody saw anything suspicious. Park closes up at 10 p.m. No security, minimal lighting. Basically, a pretty good place to dump a body.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY]
Robbins: You found this guy in the park?
Grissom: Actually, Hazmat found him.
Robbins: Well, that explains the postmortem scar tissue. Lye had a field day on his flesh.
(Quick flashback to powdery lye being poured over the dead body lying on the ground in a cloud of dust. Camera close up of the dead body's head and its burning flesh. Flash to white. Resume on SARA.)
Sara: Time of death?
Robbins: Approximately 24 hours ago. Tell me about the car.
Sara: Car? What car?
(ROBBINS pulls the sheet covering the lower body aside to expose the legs. He points to the wounds in the knees.)
Robbins: Comminuted fractures of the proximal tib-fib. Both legs. Bumper hits right below the knees. Sure sign he was hit by a car.
(Quick flashback to car headlights on a pair of legs standing in the middle of the road. Cut to side view of the impact of the car on the legs. Flash to white. Resume on present.)
Grissom: Look at all the bruising. If he was struck and killed, ecchymosis would be nonexistent.
Robbins: Which suggests he survived the impact. Usual injuries. Ruptured patellar tendon, laceration of the saphenous vein and multiple incised wounds containing slivers of glass ...
(ROBBINS picks up a piece of glass from the dead body's cheek. He puts it aside.)
Robbins: ... which I will send over to trace and bruise legs, arms and chest. What I didn't find was arterial lacerations or underlying vessel damage.
Sara: Just confirms death wasn't immediate?
Robbins: Correct. Victim was like a leaky water balloon. Heart slowly pumped blood right out of his body and based on the coloration of the bruises, trauma was sustained approximately 48 hours before death. Three days ago, this man was injured. He bled out until he died yesterday.
Grissom: We didn't find any blood.
(Camera holds on GRISSOM.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[EXT LAS VEGAS DESERT (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS DESERT - DIABLO CANYON -- NIGHT]
(NICK arrives at the site and walks toward the crime scene. He's carrying his CSI kit and is met up by DET. LOCKWOOD.)
Nick: Lockwood.
Det. Lockwood: Hey, Stokes.
Nick: Who called it in?
Det. Lockwood: BLM chopper pilot. They always buzz diablo canyon looking for hikers in distress. Or worse.
Nick: He see anyone else in the vicinity?
Det. Lockwood: No, just the vic: Stacy Warner, 26. Las Vegas resident. I scanned for a missing persons on her. Nothing.
(They arrive at the site where a woman lies dead on the ground.)
Nick: No tire treads. Whose are these?
Det. Lockwood: Paramedics and mine. Same path. Walked straight in, straight out.
Nick: Engagement ring, no wedding band.
(NICK puts his kit down and reaches out to brush the hair on the woman's forehead aside. He notes the wounds on the woman's right cheek. He opens her right eye lid to look at her pupils.)
Nick: Orbital bone looks fractured.
Det. Lockwood: Could have lost her footing and hit her head.
Nick: Could've. Hold that for me?
(NICK hands his flashlight to the Detective beside him. He pulls out forceps to take a sample of some fibers found at the left corner of the woman's mouth. He holds it up to look at it.)
Nick: Down feather.
Det. Lockwood: But she's not wearing a jacket.
(NICK takes the sample. He notices something else.)
Nick: Shine that right here.
(DET. LOCKWOOD continues to hold the flashlight. From the woman's ear, he finds a larvae. He puts it in a plastic container.)
Nick: Grissom should enjoy this. Hey, Lockwood you got any food in your vehicle? Hamburger, anything like that?
Det. Lockwood: Gum, sugar-free.
Nick: No, gum'll kill him. I'll stop at the first place I see pick up some jerky.
(NICK caps the container and pulls out a second container and hands it to DET. LOCKWOOD.)
Nick: Will you get me a sample of the ground underneath the body?
Det. Lockwood: Soon as the coroner moves her.
Nick: Good.
(NICK picks up his case and leaves the scene. DET. LOCKWOOD follows.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. REED COLLINS' RESIDENCE - LIVING ROOM -- NIGHT]
(REED COLLINS stands in front of the large screen television set. A baseball game is playing on screen. He turns around.)
Reed Collins: Bob is dead?
Brass: His body was found at Sunset Park. His license gave this address.
Sara: Are you his domestic partner?
Reed Collins: We're roommates. I got divorced last year. And about six months ago, Bob's wife kicked him out. He needed a place to crash and I needed help with the mortgage. He's two months late on the rent. How do I go about collecting under the circumstances?
(SARA doesn't say anything. She turns to look at BRASS. BRASS turns to look at REED COLLINS who clarifies.)
Reed Collins: Look, we were roommates. We weren't really friends.
Brass: When was the last time you saw him?
Reed Collins: We both work at the Tangiers. He managed the restaurant, and I work in maintenance. Last monday we drove in together.
Brass: But you didn't drive home together?
Reed Collins: Mondays? No. After shift, he'd walk over to the university. He's an amateur photographer. Take the bus home.
Sara: But he didn't come home Monday night ...
Reed Collins: I didn't think much of it. He's always going back and forth with Charlotte. His wife. What do I care? As long as the rent's paid.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. UNIVERSITY - PHOTOGRAPHY BUILDING -- NIGHT]
(Standing at the side of the road outside the Photography Building at the University, GRISSOM looks around. He sees the bus stop across the street. SARA approaches from behind. She's carrying a stack of photographs.)
Sara: Photo department kept a log. Bob Martin reserved a darkroom on Mondays from 10:00 to 11:00 P.M. He was logged in Monday night.
Grissom: Good. We got a bus to catch.
(Taking a-hold of her elbow, GRISSOM guides SARA across the street. SARA is still looking through the photographs. A car beeps its horn as it rushes by them. They stop, startled. They continue across the road. SARA looks through the photos.)
Sara: He left these photos behind. They're all of the same woman. I bet it's his wife.
(The photos are of a dark-haired woman. While crossing the street, GRISSOM notices silver flecks on the road. He reaches down and shines his flashlight down the road. SARA notices it also. GRISSOM reaches down and picks one up to look more closely at it.)
Grissom: Silver flecks ... like the one you found with the body.
(SARA reaches down and notice something. She picks it up.)
Sara: I got a piece of plastic. Looks like a headlight cover, maybe. This could be our crime scene.
(Quick flashback to BOB MARTIN crossing the same roadway while holding a stack of photographs much in the same manner that SARA had. As he crosses, a car speeds by and makes contact with BOB MARTIN. BOB MARTIN flies up and hits the windshield. Flash to white. Resume on SARA.)
Sara: Assuming this was a hit-and-run how does a guy with two broken legs end up on the other side of town buried in a park, covered in lye?
(GRISSOM doesn't answer her. He looks around.)
Sara: What are you looking for?
Grissom: No sign of blood. No evidence of a cleanup.
Sara: If this is our crime scene then somewhere between here and Sunset Park, Bob Martin lost eight to ten pints of blood.
(SARA looks around and shakes her head.)
Sara: Where is it?
HARD CUT TO BLACK.
[SCENE_BREAK]
FADE IN
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - GREG'S LAB -- NIGHT]
(GRISSOM enters.)
Grissom: So do want to tell me about the silver flecks I found? Paint chips?
Greg: Aluminum and melamine in the color coat indicate that it's car paint. Factory job. Uh, body shop paint contains styrene, not melamine.
Grissom: Mm, what type of car
Greg: Trick question. Paint won't tell me that. But I do have an answer. It's not technically part of my job description but as you know, I'm always eager to expand my responsibilities. Take a look down the scope.
(Through the microscope, we see the piece of glass SARA picked up from the roadway. The magnification increases and we now see the cross hairs on the plastic.)
Grissom: Looks like some sort of insignia.
Greg: Crosshairs. That's the plastic you collected at the accident site. Now that mark is only found on the S-Class Mercedes. It's all about branding. Now knowing that the headlight came from a Mercedes, I was able to compare the infrared spectra with the paint spectra supplied by the manufacturer. Check this out.
(GREG hands GRISSOM the test results.)
Greg: Your vehicle was painted Sarasota Silver. Also, only available on the S-Series '99 models. I checked with the Mercedes State Rep. Five were sold in Nevada. Sara's tracking down the owners.
Grissom: You've, uh, already shared this information with Sara?
Greg: Yeah, an hour ago. And she was way more fascinated than you are.
Grissom: Well, I'm somewhat fascinated by the fact that I'm your boss, but you talked to her first.
Greg: Well, you were at dinner.
Grissom: I've been in the lab all day, Greg.
(Camera holds on GREG.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - LAB/HALLWAY -- CONTINUOUS]
(GRISSOM leaves GREG and exits the lab to the hallway where he promptly meets up with SARA. GRISSOM is still holding his file.)
Sara: I've been looking for you.
Grissom: Well, it's hard to see me if you and Greg are out ahead of me.
Sara: Oh, uh, sorry about that but Brass got me a list of those Mercedes owners. One moved to Los Angeles, three are over 50. My guess, they would have stopped and rendered aid. Brass is checking them out which leaves a Ben Weston, 25. Leased the vehicle last week.
(GRISSOM takes the open file that SARA hands him. They walk out of camera frame.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. BEN WESTON'S OFFICE - DAY]
Ben Weston: You found my car?
Grissom: Why? Is your car missing?
Ben Weston: Yeah, isn't that why you guys are here? I filed a police report a couple days ago. God, I love that car. Hocked my future on it. Tell me it hadn't been stripped.
Sara: You wouldn't happen to have a copy of that police report, would you?
Ben Weston: I'm a lawyer.
(BEN WESTON smiles. He reaches down and hands the file to SARA. There are boxes stacked all over his office. It's as if he just moved into it.)
Ben Weston: Here you go.
Sara: Sarasota Silver, S-Series, stolen Monday night.
Ben Weston: Yeah, I stopped for take-out after work. When I came out, it was gone.
Grissom: Don't most of these luxury vehicles have security systems?
Ben Weston: What's with all the questions?
Grissom: We're investigating a possible hit-and-run.
Ben Weston: You think the b*st*rd that stole my car hit someone?
(Instead of answering him, GRISSOM looks around the room and his eyes instantly land on the young lawyer's diplomas. One from St. Ignacias High School and the other from Nevada State Law School.)
Grissom: Ignacias High, Nevada State University ... are you a local?
Ben Weston: Yeah. Great town. I studied my ass off in law school. Passed the bar first time.
Grissom: Good for you. Let me guess -- criminal defense?
Ben Weston: Everyone deserves representation.
Grissom: Yes, they do. Would you happen to remember what clothes you were wearing yesterday?
Ben Weston: A blue pinstripe, a light blue oxford, gray tie -- a gift from my girlfriend. First week as an associate -- firm like this you tend to pay attention to wardrobe.
Sara: Mr. Weston, we'd like to take a look at those clothes.
Ben Weston: Really? Well, you need a warrant.
(BEN WESTON looks at SARA. She shakes her head. She doesn't have one. BEN WESTON smiles.)
Ben Weston: But I'm a nice guy. I picked them up at lunch. Downstairs -- one-hour dry cleaning.
Sara: Nice suit.
Ben Weston: Thank you. I just bought it.
(SARA and GRISSOM both look at the shirt. Without removing the plastic covering, the both immediately notice the damage.)
Sara: I hope you didn't just buy the shirt.
Ben Weston: Oh, come on. I've been meaning to change dry cleaners.
(BEN WESTON looks at the shirt and takes the cleaning away from SARA.)
Sara: Well, maybe you shouldn't have gotten lye on it. Lye is an alkali and when it's mixed with water, it eats right through fabric. Mr. Weston ... you mind taking off your shirt?
Ben Weston: Excuse me?
Sara: Lye can burn through fabric. It can also burn through skin.
Ben Weston: I have my limits. You want me to strip, you're going to need a warrant. But since there's no basis for your request you can forget about it.
(Camera holds on GRISSOM.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY]
(The table is pulled out of its storage unit. The sheet is pulled away from the body to show the woman from the desert.)
David Phillips: She drowned.
Nick: This is the girl I found in the desert.
David Phillips: I am aware of that. She drowned.
Nick: It's not possible, Dave-O. She was found in Diablo Canyon -- miles from the nearest water source. Lake Mead's got to be 20 miles away.
David Phillips: Desert, no desert -- I don't care. She drowned. Look, if it's any consolation she dry-drowned.
Nick: Dry-drowned?
David Phillips: Happens in about ten percent of all cases.
(DAVID PHILLIPS opens the woman's mouth.)
David Phillips: When dry-drowning occurs the larynx closes involuntarily ...
(Quick CGI POV. Camera moves down the woman's open mouth. Down her throat. Down her wind pipe. The wind pipe closes as liquid fills up. Flash to white. Resume on NICK.)
David Phillips: ... preventing air and water from entering the lungs resulting in hypoxia -- a reduced concentration of oxygen in the blood. Thus, water's kept out of the lungs -- dry-drowning.
(Quick CGI POV of the camera once again starting above the woman's head. It moves downward through her open mouth, down her throat and down her wind pipe. The wind pipe automatically closes as liquid fills up. The wind pipe relaxes and the liquid passes through, filling her lungs. Flash to white. Resume to present.)
David Phillips: In wet drowning, hypoxia also occurs but the larynx relaxes and water floods the lungs. Still, the question remains, how does a girl drown in the middle of the desert?
Nick: She doesn't. She was engaged. The guy never filed a missing persons on her.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. HUDSON/WARNER RESIDENCE -- NIGHT]
Matt Hudson: I didn't file a missing persons report on Stacy, because she wasn't missing. As far as I knew, she was on a solo trek up in Diablo working toward her NESTFS.
Det. Lockwood: NESTFS.?
Matt Hudson: Sorry. National Extreme Sports Trainer Finals. I took mine last week. Did it in three days total. So, I didn't expect her back for at least two more days.
Nick: Okay. You mind if I have a look around?
Matt Hudson: No, go ahead.
Nick: Thanks.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. HUDSON/WARNER RESIDENCE - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS]
(NICK walks outside to the pool area. He puts his CSI kit down and takes a sample of the pool water. He looks around the edges of the pool and notices some blood underneath the far ledge on some tile above the waterline.)
Nick: Detective.
(NICK gets his swab kit from his case and sets it down. LOCKWOOD exits the house. )
Nick: Check that out. You see that?
Det. Lockwood: Yeah. Mr. Hudson ... you own this house with Stacy Warner, is that right?
Matt Hudson: That's right.
Det. Lockwood: Any idea how this blood got there?
(MATT HUDSON looks at the spot and shakes his head.)
Matt Hudson: No.
Nick: Stacy had a head trauma wound. You wouldn't know anything about that either, would you?
Matt Hudson: I'd never hurt Stacy.
Nick: No? How do you explain the domestic disturbance call to this address two weeks ago?
Matt Hudson: We told the officers then it was nothing.
Nick: I don't know ... the neighbor who filed the complaint said you were really yelling at Stacy. Said it sounded abusive.
Matt Hudson: We're sports trainers. We say some crazy things to get each other to do one more lap in the pool, one more crunch.
(Quick Flashback to MATT HUDSON standing over STACY WARNER while she does sit ups.)
Matt Hudson: Are you a liar?! Or are you going to give me more?! Are you weak? Are you worthless?!
(Flash to white. End of flashback. Resume on DET. LOCKWOOD.)
Det. Lockwood: Can you account for your whereabouts this week?
Matt Hudson: Big Sky Triathlon in Montana. You want to see a picture of me crossing the finish line?
Nick: No. No. We got what we need.
(NICK packs up his kit, preparing to leave.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. SALVAGE YARD -- NIGHT]
(BRASS, GRISSOM and SARA walk through a car salvage yard. They're headed toward the main office.)
Brass: So I sent out some bulletins. Got a hit on Weston's missing Mercedes. Sullivan called it in. He's a typical tow guy. I'll run him.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. SALVAGE YARD - MAIN OFFICE - NIGHT -- CONTINUOUS]
Mitchell Sullivan: Yeah, I got a call. "You want a wrecked S-Class?"
(MITCHELL SULLIVAN chuckles.)
Mitchell Sullivan: You betcha. The parts alone are worth four or five times the blue book value of the car. I asked where do I pick it up. That's all I asked.
Brass: You didn't ask his name?
Mitchell Sullivan: Someone throws you three hundred thou in used parts the only response is "thank you very much."
Sara: So where is the vehicle now?
Mitchell Sullivan: Look around.
Brass: You work fast.
Mitchell Sullivan: Hey, I called it in. What more do you want?
Grissom: Aristotle said something about the whole being more than the sum of its parts. Of course, he never worked in a chop shop. We want all of the parts.
(Camera holds on MITCHELL SULLIVAN.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - GARAGE -- NIGHT]
(GRISSOM sits on a stool in the garage. He's holding an open file folder. SARA swabs the passenger seat and checks for blood.)
Sara: Affirmative for blood -- passenger side.
Grissom: Well, that's just a trace amount. Where's the rest of it?
Sara: Want to pass me the luminol?
(GRISSOM hands SARA the spray bottle and turns off the light. SARA sprays the front passenger seat area. The seat glows.)
Grissom: Well, you do know how to light up a room. Location of the blood on the seats and the dash indicates that the victim was inside the vehicle.
Sara: Maybe the driver hit Bob Martin, stopped and put him in the front seat.
Grissom: Okay. Where'd they go?
Sara: Well, not to the Emergency Room. Not to Sunset Park for 48 hours. I'll swab the rest of the car -- bring the samples to Greg and have him run it against Bob Martin's DNA.
Grissom: If you find any blood that isn't his then ...
Sara: ... maybe it belongs to an injured joyrider and we have a new suspect.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI -- LAB]
(On the table in front of NICK, there are four water sample containers. He picks up the last container and looks at it. He writes something down. WARRICK walks in.)
Warrick: The one day I'm due in court and you pull a drowning in the desert.
Nick: How'd it go?
Warrick: Oh, it went great. The judge recessed right before my testimony. I'm on call. Catherine's on call.
(WARRICK opens the file on the lab table beside NICK and leafs through the pages.)
Warrick: Well, you're making progress. The blood from the poolside matches the female victim.
Nick: Yeah, the problem is the small amount of blood found in her own home isn't enough to prove anything, you know? People bump their heads and scrape their knees all the time.
Warrick: Yeah.
Nick: That musclehead boyfriend --he's a little shady. He's hiding something. I can feel it.
Warrick: Are you able to prove that he drowned her in their swimming pool?
Nick: Four samples: One from their swimming pool one from their bathroom, one from Lake Mead and one from Clark County Reservoir but none are consistent with the water I recovered from her stomach.
Warrick: What else did you collect from the scene?
Nick: Some rocks from under her body and a goose feather.
(Also on the lab table are two rocks in two evidence baggies. NICK picks up one baggie with the following information:
(article): ROCK
(exhibit No.): 147 (date) 4/29/02
(???): Under Body
Warrick: Goose feather? This looks like basalt rock. Didn't it say somewhere in here that she found her at 1,500 feet?
Nick: The desert, yeah.
Warrick: Well, you can only find this rock at high altitudes like 4,000 feet.
Nick: Really?
Warrick: Yeah.
Nick: You sure?
Warrick: Yeah. I went on this field trip up at table mountain in my senior year -- "rocks for jocks." Don't ask me why I remember any of this.
Nick: Hey, that helps. I think I'm going to head out there. You want to roll?
(NICK remembers.)
Nick: You're on call at court, right.
Warrick: Yeah.
(NICK gets up and leaves.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - GARAGE]
(SARA walks in. She's holding a piece of paper. GRISSOM is examining under the car seat.)
Sara: All that blood belonged to the victim.
Grissom: Look at this. Visible blood drops under the passenger seat.
Sara: That's a strange place for blood.
Grissom: Radiated spatter. What do you think?
(Quick flashback of a single drop of blood falling and hitting a pool of blood. The blood spatters up onto the car seat. Flash to white. Resume to present.)
Grissom: Blood pooled onto the floormat. As more drops splashed down the impact projected the blood drops upward.
Sara: Okay. But where did it fall from?
Catherine: So Greg said you guys are processing an S-Class.
Grissom: (to CATHERINE) Yeah, what's left of it.
Catherine: Now, that's a crime. Oh, this would have broken my ex's heart. Every weekend the guy'd be test-driving another Mercedes. I'd get myself all dressed up make the dealer believe we could actually afford it. Damn.
(SARA smiles at the story. GRISSOM looks up at CATHERINE. CATHERINE leans in and takes a closer look at the driver dashboard.)
Catherine: Except if the car was stolen the ignition lock would be punched, right?
(Immediately, GRISSOM and SARA both look at CATHERINE. They hadn't thought of it from that angle.)
Sara: Huh?
Catherine: Anyway, I got to go. Warrick and I are due in court. Later.
(CATHERINE gets up and leaves the room.)
Sara: We ... we would have caught that.
Grissom: We were distracted by what we were looking for.
Sara: Yeah. So how did the thief turn the engine over without breaking that lock?
Grissom: Maybe there is no thief.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERROGATION ROOM]
Ben Weston: All right, you got me. I ran into the Chinese restaurant. I wasn't in there more than two minutes but I left my keys in the car.
Brass: You left an $80,000 Mercedes idling.
Ben Weston: Yeah.
(SARA doesn't believe it.)
Ben Weston: Stupid, right? That's why I didn't say anything. Besides, if my insurance finds out it's contributory negligence.
Brass: Let's just cut to the chase.
Ben Weston: I told you everything. Chinese restaurant near my house. I couldn't find a parking spot. Parked in the handicapped zone, left the motor running. I wasn't in there more than a minute.
Sara: Take off your shirt, please.
Ben Weston: You're going to need a warrant, like I said. But you don't have basis.
Brass: Actually, the issuing judge disagrees.
(BRASS hands the bench warrant to BEN WESTON. He takes it.)
Ben Weston: I can call Judge Scott, contest your grounds.
Brass: But you won't.
Sara: You want to refuse? One of us will remove it for you.
Ben Weston: Yeah, all right.
(BEN WESTON stands and starts undoing the cuffs of his dress shirt. He rolls up his sleeves and holds out his arms.)
Ben Weston: Here you go. Look, no chemical burns. You satisfied?
(He unrolls his sleeves. SARA reaches for the warrant on the table and opens it flat.)
Sara: The warrant is for the whole shirt.
Ben Weston: Yeah.
(BEN WESTON takes off his tie and his shirt. From the top of his left shoulder blade down across his chest, he sports a large bruise.)
Brass: You don't have to be a scientist to know where that came from.
(Quick flashback to the driver's seat belt as the driver makes a hard stop. Tires screech in the background. Flash to white. Resume to present.)
Brass: We got enough for a hit-and-run.
Ben Weston: All right, hold on. It's not what you think.
(Quick Flashback to BEN WESTON on his cell phone as seen through the reflection from the rear view mirror.)
Ben Weston: (V.O.) I called in my order. I looked down to put away my phone.
(Cut to BEN WESTON putting his phone down and his car hitting something. Cut to view of the seatbelt cutting through the driver on impact. Cut to BEN WESTON stopping the car, getting out and walking to the front of the car to take a look around.)
Ben Weston (cont.) : I hit something. I stopped. I looked around. I couldn't see anything.
(End of flashback. Resume to present and BEN WESTON continuing to put his dress shirt back on.)
Ben Weston: I figured it must have been a dog and it ran off. So I drove to the restaurant and that's when my car was stolen. It was a rough night.
(SARA shakes her head and openly scoffs at the explanation.)
Ben Weston: (to SARA) Look, my car was stolen. What happened next, I don't know.
(BRASS holds up a hand.)
Brass: Save it. You're under arrest.
Ben Weston: All right.
(BEN WESTON grabs his tie off of the table and his coat from the back of his chair. He leaves the room.)
(SARA looks away and shakes her head.)
Sara: I hate lawyers.
Grissom: We need a warrant for his house. We need to find something we can use to keep that creep off the street.
FLASH TO WHITE:
[EXT. LAS VEGAS DESERT (STOCK) - DAY]
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS DESERT - DAY]
(NICK and DET. LOCKWOOD hike up the trail STACY WARNER traveled.)
Det. Lockwood: I'm all for retracing the girl's steps but it wouldn't hurt to bring in some cadets.
Nick: If it was a little kid or a mass casualty maybe we'd get that kind of manpower but hey, exercise is good for us, right?
Det. Lockwood: Air feels thin to me.
(They continue to hike up the side of the mountain. DET. LOCKWOOD finds it.)
Det. Lockwood: Check it out.
(Some distance from them, a large jacket is wedged in the rocks. It leaks its down filling into the wind.)
Nick: Let's go.
(NICK puts on his gloves and checks out the jacket wedged in the rocks.)
Det. Lockwood: You said the vic was wearing light layers of clothing, right?
Nick: Yeah, several layers, tempered cotton. This is a men's extra large. This is too big for her. Goose down like I found on her body. What's this?
(NICK looks through the pockets and finds a map of Diablo Canyon and the Highlands with the following information: )
[MATT HUDSON From: request(a)trailmaps.webct.net
To: matthudson(a)webct.net
Sent: Friday, April 26, 2002 4:25 PM
Subject: Trail map request Diablo Canyon, NV
TOPOl map printed on 03/22/02 from *diablo ... ]
Nick: Ah. Property of Mr. Muscles.
Det. Lockwood: You want to run it?
Nick: Well, maybe he left a day later than he said for his little marathon, you know? Followed her out here, started arguing with her no neighbors around to call the cops.
(Quick Flashback to STACY WARNER hiking up the mountain and scrambling away from something (or someone) behind her. STACY WARNER hits her head against the rocks. Someone pulling STACY WARNER down the mountain where the two struggle.)
Nick: (V.O.) She manages to fight her way free finds higher ground, he follows her, takes her down.
(End of flashback. Resume on DET. LOCKWOOD.)
Det. Lockwood: So then what? He drowns her with canteen water?
(Quick flashback to STACY WARNER struggling with her attacker. Sounds of sloshing water from a canteen can be heard in the background. Flash to white. End of flashback. Resume on DET. LOCKWOOD.)
Det. Lockwood: I'm going to let you run that by the D.A.
Nick: You should try describing a scuba diver up in a tree, man. This is nothing. No, the evidence tells a story.
Det. Lockwood: So why'd a cagey guy like our suspect leave his jacket up here?
Nick: Everybody thinks they have a plan till things start to go wrong.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERROGATION ROOM]
Matt Hudson: I gave Stacy my jacket the morning she left for Diablo for night layering. Extreme hikers can't carry bedrolls. That's what makes it extreme.
Det. Lockwood: And she just left your jacket wedged under some rocks.
Matt Hudson: Maybe. I don't know. Ok, I gave it to her to take care of her. I loved Stacy.
Nick: Then help us out here, man. I've got prior disturbance calls, her blood in the pool, her body drowned in the middle of the desert with your jacket nearby ... your map.
(NICK holds up the baggied trail map.)
Matt Hudson: That's my trail map. I'd like it back.
Nick: No. No, it's evidence now. You can put a request in for it when we complete our investigation, okay?
Matt Hudson: Am I free to go?
Det. Lockwood: You're not under arrest.
(MATT HUDSON gets up and leaves the room.)
Nick: I'm getting this to QD. He doesn't want me to have this map and I want to know why.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. BEN WESTON'S RESIDENCE -- DAY]
(SARA and GRISSOM walk up BEN WESTON'S driveway. They're carrying their CSI kits. Standing out front is BEN WESTON with BRASS.)
(BRASS sighs.)
Brass: He made bail.
Sara: Yeah, that figures.
(BRASS reaches into his inner coat pocket and takes out a bench warrant. He hands it to BEN WESTON.)
Brass: Oh, I almost forgot. Here's a warrant to search your premises.
Grissom: We'd like to start in your garage.
Ben Weston: Yeah.
(BEN WESTON takes a step toward GRISSOM.)
Ben Weston: Look, I'm filing a complaint with your supervisor. You're harassing me.
Grissom: If you're a lawyer, you should know the legal definition of harassment. Investigating a crime doesn't quite fit the criteria. However, a false accusation of harassment within earshot of my colleagues could be construed as slander. I know the law, too and I've actually been in a courtroom.
(Camera holds on BEN WESTON.)
HARD CUT TO BLACK.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. BEN WESTON'S GARAGE -- DAY]
(The garage door opens. GRISSOM, SARA and BRASS walk in. GRISSOM looks at the car.)
Grissom: This was parked in the driveway, wasn't it?
Ben Watson: Now that's a crime?
Grissom: Jim, could you get this car moved for us?
Brass: Unless the keys are in the ignition hand them over.
(BEN WATSON hands the keys over to BRASS.)
Ben Watson: It's a rental. You're not on my policy.
Brass: I'm a safe driver. Wait outside.
(BRASS moves the car revealing a large white stain on the concrete underneath. GRISSOM leans in close to smell the stain.)
Grissom: It smells like bleach to me.
Sara: I'll check for blood.
Grissom: Why would he leave his car outside with the sprinklers on instead of putting it in here?
Sara: Maybe the garage was full.
(GRISSOM looks around and thinks. SARA does a test for blood.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI -- LAB]
(MATT HUDSON'S map hangs from the vertical light.)
Ronnie Litre: What exactly do you want me to look for?
Stokes: Alterations, erasures, paper content. The guy was really nervous about me having these maps.
Ronnie Litre: Okay, I'll test the components in the inks and then bombard the paper with different wavelengths of light. We'll see what's up.
Nick: Sounds good, man. Thanks, man.
Ronnie Litre: You bet.
(NICK happens to see GRISSOM passing by the hallway outside. He looks up when NICK calls out to him.)
Nick: Hey, Grissom ...
(GRISSOM stops.)
Nick (to Ronnie): Keep me posted.
Ronnie Litre: I will.
(NICK approaches GRISSOM. They talk as they walk down the hallway.)
[INT. CSI - HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS]
Nick: Did you take a look at that maggot from e desert yet?
Grissom: Yes.
Nick: And?
Grissom: Well, it belongs to the family of sarcophagids. That's as far as I got.
Nick: You mind taking another look for me?
Grissom: Your maggot never developed, Nick. It never will.
Nick: Why?
Grissom: It happens to sarcophagids when they're exposed to freezing temperatures before they're allowed to pupate.
Nick: So, my maggot was stunted?
Grissom: Probably by frozen air.
Nick: Yeah, but we found the vic in the desert.
Grissom: Well, maybe it was a very cold night. Mucho frio.
(They arrive at GRISSOM'S destination. GRISSOM leaves into the room. NICK turns back down the hallway they just came from.)
Nick: Muchas gracias.
(NICK walks out of camera frame.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - LAB]
(GREG stands next to the glass wall to the lab. He faces the large wall monitor that shows what NICK is working on inside the room on the computer. NICK looks up and smiles.)
Nick: Come on in, Greg.
Greg: Hey.
Nick: Hey.
Greg: So I heard about your cold maggot.
Nick: News travels fast.
Greg: I was thinking -- most people figure Las Vegas means the strip. But it really means "the meadows."
Nick: I'm trying to calculate barometric pressures here, G.
Greg: Well, my point is Nevada is a Basin-and-Range State. Down in the desert basin, hardly any rain. But up in the mountain ranges, it's 40 inches a year. That's more than Seattle ... more than San Francisco. More than ...
Nick: Yeah, yeah, I see where you're going. Last week in Vegas -- perfect weather. Warm, steady barometric pressure, but ... out in Diablo, two days before I found Stacy Warner's body ...
(Camera shows the computer screen NICK works on. Camera moves in toward the screen.)
Greg: The Mountain Shadow Effect.
(Quick CGI POV as the camera moves in to the computer screen and through the computer-generated Diablo Canyon. Computer generated clouds above and sounds of thunder can be heard. End of CGI POV.)
Greg: That's what meteorologists call it.
(NICK nods.)
Nick: Right.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. -- NIGHT]
(ROBBINS walks outside toward GRISSOM who is leaning in through the rear window of the car.)
Robbins: This is Ecklie's Mercedes?
Grissom: Well, actually, I sold it to him five years ago. It was in much better condition back then.
(SARA approaches from behind.)
Sara: Hey. So I checked with auto detail. Uh, obviously, if you fill a car up with enough water or, in our case, blood it's going to leak through the bottom.
Grissom: Dicing wounds with glass were limited to the upper torso, right?
Robbins: Top of the head, face, top of shoulders and forearms.
Grissom: Which would be consistent with a head-on crash.
Sara: The head of the victim crashed into the passenger side of the windshield.
Grissom: Well, this isn't the same model or year but it's close enough.
Sara: Okay, I'm thinking that the car clipped the victim here and he was catapulted ... and he was positioned something like this.
(SARA climbs onto the hood of the mercedes, her head facing the passenger windshield. GRISSOM looks in from the open driver's window.)
(Quick flashback to BOB MARTIN slamming head first through the wind shield. Flash to white. Resume to present.)
Grissom: So now he's bleeding and his blood is dripping onto the mat.
(Quick flashback to blood dripping from BOB MARTIN'S bleeding face. Cut to close up of blood drop spattering. Flash to white. Resume to present.)
Robbins: The victim bled out for two days.
Grissom: Yeah, but he could have been conscious, right? Until he lost a third of his circulating blood volume?
Robbins: Then the hypovolemic shock would have set in after approximately 12 hours.
Grissom: So it's possible that he was wedged into the windshield of Ben Weston's Mercedes which was parked in Ben Weston's garage.
Sara: We know where Bob Martin was. Where was Ben Weston?
Grissom: My guess? ... at work, making a good impression.
(Quick flashback to BEN WESTON on the phone in his office. He's smiling and laughing. Flash to white. Resume to present.)
Robbins: Sometimes I'm glad I only deal with dead people.
(ROBBINS walks away.)
Sara: You know ... the tow truck driver said Weston's Mercedes was totaled. But the only damage would have been to the bumper and the windshield. He's lying.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. SALVAGE YARD.]
(MITCHELL SULLIVAN washes the grime from his hands. Reflected in the mirror in front of him, we see BRASS standing there.)
Mitchell Sullivan: Maybe it wasn't totaled. I don't remember. I was only interested in the parts.
Brass: You don't know who phoned it in?
Mitchell Sullivan: It was a guy. What else can I tell you?
Brass: Mr. Sullivan, in '96 you were arrested for vandalism, right?
Mitchell Sullivan: I was 18. It was a prank. I hoisted the principal's station wagon onto the roof of the gym.
Brass: St. Ignacias High School, right?
Grissom: You know. It's funny, but the registered owner of the Mercedes also went to St. Ignacious. You were in the same class. Ben Weston.
Mitchell Sullivan: That might ring a bell. So what?
Grissom: He's been arrested on a hit-and-run. He's also under suspicion for murder. That makes you an accomplice after the fact. Twenty to life.
(MITCHELL SULLIVAN turns around to face BRASS. He's not too thrilled with this disclosure.)
Mitchell Sullivan: Okay, look, all I did was take his call, take his car. I don't even like the guy. In high school, he's the one who turned me in. He said he wanted to make it up to me.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - GARAGE - NIGHT]
(SARA opens the car trunk and uses her flashlight to look inside. Behind her, GREG walks in.)
Greg: Just remind yourself that usually I bring the case home.
(GREG hands SARA the test results with the following information: )
Date: 5/01/02
PCR AMP #: 198456722
DNA STR TYPING RESULT ...
Sample # 1: "Blood In Concrete"
INC. INC. INC. INC. INC.
NR. NR. INC. INC. INC.
Greg: If that garage floor stain started out as blood the bleach just degraded it. There's nothing for me to work with. Sorry.
Sara: There goes the slam dunk. Blood in the garage would have conclusively linked victim to killer.
Greg: So is this his rental car?
Sara: Sunset Park is two miles from Ben Weston's house. I was thinking maybe he used this car to transport the body to the dump site.
Greg: So we should be able to find some of the vic's blood or hair or fibers from his clothes?
Sara: No visible trace of any kind. Except for this.
(At the bottom on the trunk is a large screw-like handle. She unscrews it and sticks her finger inside and we notice evidence of white power along the trunk edges.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. DIABLO CANYON -- DAY]
Det. Lockwood: So this Mountain Shadow Effect -- the barometric pressure spikes down the temperature strikes down ...
Nick: Right. Humidity spikes up. Moisture in the air condenses.
(Quick flashback to CGI recreation of clouds gathering in the canyon at night. Thunder can be heard. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Det. Lockwood: The mountains get a flash flood.
Nick: I checked with the national weather service. This area got three inches of rain in 20 minutes the night Stacy died.
(Quick flashback to STACY WARNER hiking at night.)
Det. Lockwood: (V.O.) So, she was up here hiking when the weather changed.
(Clouds roll overhead. Thunder rumbles. Wind whistles.)
Nick: (V.O.) Got nasty in a hurry. Nothing she could really do about it.
Det. Lockwood: (V.O.) Takes one to the head ... on to the basalt rock. She's trying to clear the cobwebs when the rain hit.
(STACY WARNER hits her head on the rocks. She looks up at the sky. It starts raining. She tries to continue to climb up the rocks and slide down as it continues to rain. Thunder rumbles. She gets caught in the flood of water pouring down from above.)
Nick: (V.O.) But it was too late. She drowns in the floodwater. Body gets carried to the base of the canyon.
(STACY WARNER loses her grip and gets swept down from the rocks by the flood water. Cut to CGI POV as the floodwaters push STACY WARNER'S body down to the canyon floor where NICK and DET. LOCKWOOD stand.)
Det. Lockwood: A couple hours worth of sun water dries up.
(As the body comes to a halt, it fades out. End of Flashback and CGI POV. Resume to present.)
Nick: No evidence of the storm anywhere except on the vic who carried traced amounts of basalt rock with her and rainwater in her throat.
(NICK'S cell phone rings.)
Nick: (to phone) Stokes.
INTERCUT WITH:
[INT. CSI - LAB]
Ronnie Litre: The map has definitely been tampered with.
Nick: (over phone) You sure about that?
Ronnie Litre: Positive. Chemical tag in the ink tells the tale. Then I shot the maps with 300 nanometers just to be sure.
Nick: (over phone) I need you to get those results to me.
Ronnie Litre: Thought you would. I have a messenger on call.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. HUDSON/WARNER RESIDENCE -- DAY]
(MATT HUDSON runs on the treadmill.)
Matt Hudson: Are you telling me Stacy's death was an accident?
Nick: An accident of nature, yeah. But you still had a hand in her death just the same, didn't you, Mr. Hudson?
Matt Hudson: What are you talking about?
Nick: Why don't you take a break. Come on over here for a sec.
(MATT HUDSON stops running on the treadmill and steps off. He grabs his towel and approaches NICK.)
Nick: You altered the map. You used the same color ink as the printer but the chemical tags in the ink are different. This is magic marker.
(Quick CGI POV Flashback to someone using a pen to alter the map.)
Nick: And when you shine ultraviolet light on it like this ...
(NICK uses the light and the hand-made changes become apparent.)
Nick: ... you can see exactly what you did. You made this look like an impenetrable ridge -- no way out, when it's actually a meadow.
Det. Lockwood: If she had a good map she might have been able to find her way out of the highlands by nightfall.
Matt Hudson: I didn't want her to die. I didn't.
Nick: Then why did you alter the map?
Matt Hudson: We competed. I'd just run the trail in three days. I didn't want her to beat my time.
(NICK sighs.)
Matt Hudson: Am I being charged with murder?
Det. Lockwood: No. You altered the map, but you didn't make it rain.
Nick: What you did isn't a crime ... but it is criminal, isn't it?
(NICK and DET. LOCKWOOD leave.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
SCENE #30
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERROGATION ROOM]
Ben Weston: Oh, come on. Your entire case is circumstantial. Your physical evidence is pathetic. You've got, what, a wrecked car -- a white powder in a rental -- and a bleached-out stain in my garage. If that's all you've got you won't even get a filing.
(From under the file in front of him, GRISSOM pulls out a baggied cell phone.)
Ben Weston: My cell phone.
Grissom: Yeah. Mitchell Sullivan found it in your car at his chop shop.
Ben Weston: I hope he didn't make any long-distance calls. Thanks.
(BEN WESTON reaches for it. GRISSOM stops him.)
Grissom: It's evidence.
Ben Weston: Yeah.
(SARA walks in. BEN WESTON looks up.)
Ben Weston: Hey, now it's a party.
Sara: And I brought the music.
(She holds up a small micro-cassette recorder. She takes a seat at the table.)
Grissom: You'll be happy to know that there were no long-distanced calls made on your cell phone. But there was one call made -- to 9-1-1 at 2:30 A.M. On Tuesday morning while your car was still in your possession.
(SARA turns on the table recorder.)
911 Operator (woman): 9-1-1. What's your emergency?
Bob Martin (gasping): Please help me.
(Flashback to BOB MARTIN hanging over the front seat passenger dash. He's bloodied and gasping for breath. In front of him is the blue glow of the cell phone's LCD panel.)
Bob Martin: I need help ...
911 Operator (woman): I can't hear you. You'll have to speak up.
Bob Martin: Help ...
911 Operator (woman): Sir, our system is not compatible with your cellular phone. Where are you calling from?
Bob Martin: (swallows) I'm in a garage.
911 Operator (woman): Sir, can you see a street sign?
Bob Martin: It's dark ...
(BOB MARTIN passes out with the effort. Flash to white. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
(GRISSOM takes off his glasses.)
Grissom: Explain it to me, Ben. How does a lawyer rationalize something like this?
Sara: You know the law. You hit a guy. It was an accident. Nothing criminal. But you let it escalate to first-degree murder. I spoke with your senior partner. It was your first day on the job. Big firm. Big welcome. How many drinks did you have that night?
(BEN WESTON looks at SARA.)
Grissom: Let me guess. You wanted the alcohol to wear off before you called it in, right? So you decided to wait it out. Have a cup of coffee, sober up and then call the cops. But unfortunately, Bob Martin woke up.
(Quick flashback. Door to garage opening. Light goes on. BEN WESTON appears in the doorway. BOB MARTIN is conscious.)
Bob Martin: Help me. Please, help ... help me...
(Camera close up of BEN WESTON. Garage lights go out. Garage door closes. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: So what do you do now, hmm? Can't walk into the Emergency Room and say, "Hey, this guy was bleeding to death in my garage while I was eating mu shu pork."
(A soft knock sounds on the door to the interrogation room just before it opens.)
Officer Metcalf: (quietly) Sara, there's someone here to see you.
Sara: Not right now.
Officer Metcalf: You'll want to talk to him. It's relevant.
(SARA looks at GRISSOM. She stands and leaves the room.)
(GRISSOM looks at BEN WESTON.)
Ben Weston: I sacrificed to get where I am. My whole life was leading up to last Monday.
Grissom: Yeah. It's tough, huh? Fifteen years to build your dream and a fifteen-second phone call destroys it.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - HALLWAY OUTSIDE INTERROGATION ROOM]
(SARA holds a piece of paper.)
Sara: Where did you find this?
Reed Collins: Packing up Bob's stuff. Found it on his dresser. Thought you'd want to see it.
Sara: Thanks.
(SARA leaves the hallway and goes back into the room.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT -- INTERROGATION ROOM -- CONTINUOUS]
(SARA closes the door, sits down and hands the paper to GRISSOM. GRISSOM puts his glasses on to read it. He looks over at SARA. GRISSOM takes off his glasses and turns to BEN WESTON.)
Grissom: When a driver hits a pedestrian the presumption is the driver is negligent. When a driver's been drinking and he hits a pedestrian it's no longer negligence, it's reckless homicide. But when a pedestrian intentionally throws himself in front of a moving vehicle then the driver's no longer responsible. Legally, he's off the hook.
Sara: This suicide letter was written by Bob Martin to his wife Charlotte. When you hit him Monday night it wasn't an accident.
(Quick flashback to close up of BOB MARTIN standing behind the bus stop. As the car driven by BEN WESTON approaches, BOB MARTIN deliberately walks toward it, stops and stands in front of the car waiting to be hit. Cut to BEN WESTON looking to the side presumably to put his cell phone down. The car impacts BOB MARTIN and he crashes in through the passenger wind shield. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Sara: You were off the hook.
Grissom: Until you let him die.
(Camera holds on BEN WESTON.)
Plan: A: a body; Q: What is found buried in a park? A: lye; Q: What substance is found on a body found in a park? A: Sara; Q: Who is Grissom's partner in the investigation of the hit and run? A: the man; Q: Who was the victim of a hit and run? A: Nick; Q: Who investigates the death of a woman who drowned in the desert? A: the middle; Q: Where in the desert did the woman drown? Summary: When a body is found buried in a park, covered in lye , Grissom and Sara discover the man was the victim of a hit and run. Meanwhile Nick investigates the death of a woman who drowned in the middle of the desert.