[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS COMMUNITY (STOCK) - DAY]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS DESERT (STOCK) - DAY]
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. MT. CHARLESTON - DAY]
(A stick is thrown high in the air and SKY jumps up to catch it in her mouth. She makes her way back to her owners.)
Matthew: Come on, Sky! Come on Sky. Sky, come on.
(MATTHEW picks up the stick that SKY drops in front of him. He throws it as far as he can. SKY runs off to get it.)
Matthew: Go get it, girl!
(SKY barks as she runs to get it. SKY tops and picks it up, then heads back to MATTHEW.)
Matthew: Come on, Sky. Come on, girl. Bring it back.
(SKY drops the stick at MATTHEW'S feet and barks. MATTHEW bends over to pat SKY on her head and pick up the stick.)
Matthew: Good girl.
(MATTHEW gets a good look at the stick.)
Matthew: That's not sky's stick.
(MATTHEW gives the stick to ROBB.)
Robb: What do you got there, Sky? Come here, girl. What did you get here?
Matthew: Dad, what is it?
Robb: Nothing ... it's just ... uh, just an old bone probably from a dead animal or something.
(ROBB looks around as SKY barks.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. MT. CHARLESTON - NIGHT]
(By the light of the flashlight, GRISSOM looks at the bone. CATHERINE looks around the desert.)
Grissom: It's a tibia ... or most of a tibia.
Catherine: How long you think it's been out here?
Grissom: Well, long enough for the animals to pick it clean.
Catherine: And long enough for the elements to have washed away any evidence.
Grissom: Evidence of what?
Catherine: Well, it is a leg bone, and my guess is that it didn't walk out here by itself.
Grissom: It could have been a hiker who got lost. It's interesting to me how you always expect the worst.
Catherine: You see, that way, I'm never disappointed. You know, sometimes I'm nicely surprised. So, can we call it a crime scene?
Grissom: Potential crime scene. Did you know that there's 206 bones in the human body?
Catherine: Yes, professor, I, too, took Osteology.
Grissom: Well, 205 more bones and we have a complete skeleton. If we find the rest, then we can determine whether or not it was a murder.
Catherine: Well, I feel it in every one of my 206 bones that this was a murder.
HARD CUT TO END OF TEASER ROLL TITLE CREDITS
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - HALLWAY]
(GRISSOM walks out of the break room, his team following him through the hallway to get their assignments.)
Grissom: Okay, Catherine and I are on the case at Mount Charleston. Nick, we could use your help on that.
Nick: Outstanding.
(He hands NICK the assignment sheet.)
Catherine: So we just talked with the academy. We're getting an entire class of cadets meeting us there.
Warrick: All you guys got to go on is a bone?
Catherine: Mm-hmm.
Grissom: The tibia. Where there's one there's usually another.
Catherine: So we'll do a grid search and we really could use your friend Teri Miller.
(GRISSOM stops and looks at CATHERINE.)
Grissom: I don't think that's necessary.
Catherine: Well, why not? She's a forensic anthropologist -- specializes in bones -- and, hello ... all we've got is a bone.
Grissom: I know what she specializes in. If we hit a wall, I'll call her.
Catherine: Okay.
(GRISSOM starts walking through the hallway again. Everyone follows him.)
Grissom: Sara, Warrick -- dead body in the lucky seven motel.
(He holds out the assignment sheet. NICK grabs it and hands it over to WARRICK behind him who takes it.)
Sara: Is that the place with that weird pool?
Catherine: Oh, yeah.
(WARRICK stops in the hallway. Everyone else except SARA leaves.)
Warrick: (reading) Maid found dead male body in a hotel room.
Sara: Any chance it's old age?
Warrick: Guy's 23. No. Sounds like a live one.
(He hands the assignment sheet to SARA to look at.)
Warrick: Let's go.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. MT. CHARLESTON - DAY]
(A line of cadets walk side by side looking for anything that may remotely look like bones. They walk and check the ground. One person raises their hand.)
Catherine: Stop!
(The entire cadet line stops. GRISSOM and CATHERINE walk over to check. The cadet points to the ground.)
Cadet: Looks like a piece of skull bone.
(GRISSOM kneels down to check it out. He picks it up, looks at it, then tastes it.)
Catherine: (alarmed) What are you doing?
Grissom: Bones are porous. They stick to the tongue. (He tastes it again.) This doesn't stick. (He looks up at the cadets.) It's a piece of rock.
(He puts the rock down and stands up.)
Catherine: I-I hope you had your Hepatitis B shot.
(GRISSOM heads back to the side so they can continue searching the grounds. CATHERINE follows.)
Catherine: Did you?
(Dissolve to: GRISSOM and CATHERINE head toward a cadet who has her hand raised. They kneel down and find something.)
Grissom: It could be a piece of wrist bone.
Catherine: Well, do you want to suck it ... to be sure?
Grissom: Flag man!
(Dissolve to: A flag is placed in the ground.)
(Dissolve to: The cadet line continues to check the ground.)
(Dissolve to: CATHERINE kneels down and finds something. She raises her hand for a flag.)
Catherine: Flag!
(Dissolve to: A flag is placed in the ground. There are now many flags up.)
(Dissolve to: GRISSOM kneels down on the ground and picks up something. He calls for a flag.)
Grissom: Flag!
(Dissolve to: The cadet line searches the ground.)
(Dissolve to: GRISSOM finds something, blows on it and looks at it. He takes a flag and sticks it in the ground.)
(Dissolve to: When they're done, there are white flags everywhere.)
(Time Dissolve to: NIGHT. GRISSOM and CATHERINE stand side by side overlooking the desert they just searched. GRISSOM is looking up in the sky; CATHERINE looks out at the desert.)
Catherine: So ... you thinking what I'm thinking?
Grissom: How amazing the universe is. Everything made from the same carbon -- stars to trees, trucks to human bones.
Catherine: Mmm ... no. I-I was thinking that we have about 100 bone fragments. We could I.D. this body before the end of the shift.
Grissom: Hmm.
Catherine: Stars and trucks?
(He nods, then turns to look at CATHERINE.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. THE LUCKY SEVEN MOTEL - NIGHT]
(SARA parks the SUV out in front of the motel. They exit the SUV and walk up the stairs in front of the large glass windows which show the swimmers in the pool.)
Sara: Only in Vegas.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. THE LUCKY SEVEN MOTEL - NIGHT -- CONTINUOUS]
(WARRICK and SARA walk into the room that's still decorated with party decorations, balloons and streamers. The body is face-down on the bed.)
Warrick: Looks like somebody had a par-tay.
Sgt. O'Riley: Here's a wallet.
(He hands the wallet to WARRICK who looks inside.)
Sgt. O'Riley: Couple 20s inside.
Warrick: "Darren Pyne." Dead at 23.
(SARA looks around the bed.)
Sara: Sign of struggle. I'll dust for prints.
Warrick: Looks like he was whacked over the head with this lamp.
Sara: Yeah. One hit or there would be blood.
Warrick: Unless each hit was to a different part on his dome. Who's the room registered to?
(The officer hands SARA the registration slip. She looks at it.)
Sara: Well, you know, that would be Celine Dion.
(She looks at the registration slip again.)
Sara: But, uh, the bill was charged to the credit card of a Lynn Henry, Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Warrick: Hey, O'Riley, you think ...
(He stands up and heads out.)
Sgt. O'Riley: (interrupts) Find out the last place she used her credit card.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. THE SPHERE HOTEL - OUTSIDE ROCOCO - NIGHT]
(WARRICK and SARA walk through the lobby.)
(Cut to: They ask the front desk for directions.)
(Cut to: They make their way out the courtyard toward a table with a group of women.)
Woman: I love those shoes. WOMAN: You can wear them again. WOMAN: What about the veil? WOMAN: You've got to remember the veil.
Warrick: Lynn Henry?
Lynn Henry: You know my name. What's yours?
Warrick: I'm Warrick Brown, and this is Sara Sidle.
Sara: Hi.
Warrick: We're with the Las Vegas Crime Lab.
Lynn Henry: Crime lab? About what?
(WARRICK hands LYNN HENRY the polaroid of the body. She looks at it.)
Warrick: Darren Pyne was found dead in your motel room at the Lucky Seven. Did you know him?
Lynn Henry: Oh, my god. Yes, I-I do know him. Sort of.
(She hands the photo back to WARRICK.)
Sara: Sort of?
Lynn Henry: Uh, we, we gave Meg a bachelorette party last night.
Joyce Lanier: We hired a male dancer.
Meg Wheeler: I didn't want my fiancé to know. Because he's staying at this hotel.
Lynn Henry: So we rented a room in a sort of out-of-the-way place.
Sara: So Darren was the dancer?
Lynn Henry: Yeah. Uh ... he arrived around ... 10:00?
(Quick flashback to: The night before. The music starts and DARREN PYNE starts dancing. The women sit around enjoying the show.)
Joyce Lanier: Oh, my god! Whoo! JOYCE LANIER: If Steve could see me now. LYNN HENRY: No husbands tonight, ladies. MEG WHEELER: Or fiancés.
(The ladies dance with DARREN PYNE.)
(Cut to: DARREN is lying down on the sofa, LYNN HENRY is above him and starts to pour champagne in his mouth. They laugh.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Lynn Henry: We left at 3:00. He was totally fine.
Meg Wheeler: He was dance out but definitely alive.
Warrick: He didn't leave when you did?
Lynn Henry: No. He asked if he could stay and the room was already paid for, so I didn't see a problem.
Sara: Lynn, how did you get those bruises on your wrists?
(LYNN looks down at her wrists and notices them for the first time.)
Lynn Henry: Oh, my god! I-I don't know. I-I was totally tipsy last night. I mean, falling all over everything.
Warrick: All right. We'll probably have more questions after the coroner completes his autopsy. If we need to talk to you can we reach you here?
Meg Wheeler: Yes. My wedding is tomorrow. Whatever we can do to help.
Sara: Thanks. Our card.
(SARA gives their business card to MEG WHEELER. They turn and leave.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - NIGHT]
(Camera opens on the "ATLAS OF HUMAN ANATOMY", opened and turned to the page with a picture of a skeleton and its parts identified.)
(Cut to: GRISSOM examines the bones one by one. CATHERINE looks through the book.)
(Cut to: Piece by piece, they start to reconstruct the skeleton.)
(Cut to: CATHERINE compares a bone with the book.)
(Dissolve to: GRISSOM picks up a piece of bone.)
(Dissolve to: CATHERINE takes the bone back from the book and puts it on the table. GRISSOM and NICK continue to work.)
Catherine: That's the femur.
(GRISSOM picks up a bone piece.
Grissom: Ankle bone? Medial malleolous? Goes on the bottom of the tibia?
Catherine: (looking at the book) That is correct. According to the book.
Grissom: I'll take toe bones for $200, Alex.
(GRISSOM picks up more bones and places them on the table where he thinks they should be.)
(Cut to: A bone is compared to the book.)
(GRISSOM leans over the table with the bones; CATHERINE sits in front of the book.)
Grissom: "All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again."
Catherine: (sighs) Hmm. Have we hit a wall yet?
Grissom: No. This was a man, judging by the pelvic bone.
(GRISSOM puts more bones down on the table.)
(Dissolve to: The bones.)
(Dissolve to: GRISSOM adjusts the camera above the table as he continues to work. GRISSOM picks up half of the jaw and looks at it enhanced on the monitor.)
Grissom: Hey, Nicky?
Nick: Yeah.
Grissom: Let's post this on the dental society database -- see if anyone responds.
Nick: You got it.
(Cut to: The skull is the last piece placed on the table. He measures the length of the bone.)
Grissom: Five times the length of the humerus means this guy was... six feet tall. But we don't know his race, and we don't know whether he was right-or left-handed yet.
Catherine: Well, he was old-- there's some calcification on the rib cartilage. 60, 70 years old, maybe.
Grissom: Hmm.
(GRISSOM sees something and leans in close to look at it.)
Catherine: Are the bones whispering to you?
(Quick close up flash to the bone that GRISSOM is looking at. There are marks on them near the broken. End of flash. Resume to present.)
(GRISSOM picks up the bone and looks at it under a magnifying glass. He hands the bone to CATHERINE.)
Grissom: Look at these jagged marks on the bone.
Catherine: Wait a minute. This guy was chopped up. That's murder.
Grissom: Well, not necessarily. Could have happened postmortem. You know, one of those tractors up in the hills. Or a mulching machine maybe.
Catherine: A mulching machine? How long do you plan on ignoring the obvious?
(TERI MILLER pushes the door to the autopsy room open.)
Catherine: A 70-year-old man found in the mountains with clear evidence he was chopped to pieces. That's a ... homicide.
Teri Miller: Well, you should check for hemorrhagic tissue at the bone's tool marks ... to be certain.
(At the sound of her voice, GRISSOM turns around.)
Grissom: Teri.
Teri Miller: Hi.
Catherine: Thanks for coming, Teri.
(CATHERINE turns to look at GRISSOM, who suddenly turns to look at CATHERINE.)
Catherine: I told you I was ... calling Teri ... ... didn't I? Anyway, what were you saying about hemorrhagic tissue?
Grissom: It's blood in the soft tissue. If you find it, it means the guy was alive when he was cut up.
Teri Miller: Hmm. Well, maybe you two don't need me, after all.
Grissom: I would never turn away a scientist of your talent.
(TERI smiles. GRISSOM turn to look at CATHERINE.)
Grissom: Uh, could I have a word with you outside, please?
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT CSI - HALLWAY - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS]
(CATHERINE and GRISSOM stand out in the hallway.)
Grissom: You bring in a specialist without my approval?
Catherine: And you don't bring in one, possibly compromise the case, because you two had a relationship?
Grissom: Relationship? I hardly know that woman.
Catherine: Oh ... so I guess that dopey look in your eye when she's around is just that. Here's the deal -- we're using cliff notes to put that skeleton back together in there. Teri is availing her services. You said she's the best, but, hey, if you want me to send her away ...
Grissom: Just ... (sighs) ... check with me about stuff like this, will you?
(GRISSOM heads back into the room.)
Catherine: Right.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY ROOM - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS]
(GRISSOM steps back into the room as TERI goes over their work.)
Grissom: Sorry. So, how did we do?
Teri Miller: Not bad.
(She picks up two pieces of bone.)
Teri Miller: Scaphoid... cuneiform. However, this is a wrist bone and this ... is a foot bone.
(She puts each piece in its proper place. They look at each other.)
Grissom: I'm glad you're here.
(TERI smiles.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - LAB - MORNING]
(NICK looks at the lower jaw bone and checks the computer. CATHERINE works quietly next to him.)
Nick: It looks like somebody in the dental society database saw our posting.
Catherine: Really?
Nick: Sid Tucker.
Catherine: No way. A local dentist.
Nick: He has records that go back thirty years.
Catherine: Move over.
(NICK moves aside and CATHERINE slides her chair over in front of the monitor.)
Catherine: (reading) "Hairline fissure of the mandibular canine." (sighs) Oh, god, why didn't I learn latin?
(NICK points to the tooth.)
Nick: It's lower level third from the middle.
(CATHERINE turns to stare at NICK.)
Nick: Better memory than you. And ... our first character match.
(CATHERINE hits the computer keyboard and brings up an x-ray.)
Catherine: "Overlapping left incisors." That's the front teeth, right?
Nick: Two for two.
(They look at the next x-ray.)
Catherine: "Gold fillings." Well, I know that. He's got gold fillings in "adjoining right molars and interspersed in left molars". Tell me this is all we need.
Nick: Nolan Ryan pitches another perfect game.
Catherine: And the winner is ...
(CATHERINE hits the keyboard and the "DENTAL RECORD IDENTIFICATION" box comes up.)
Nick: Mel Bennett. 326 Franklin Street. Date of birth September 6, 1931. He was 70.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - DAY]
(GRISSOM stands over the bones with TERI.)
Grissom: An electric saw? You sure?
Teri Miller: Grooves from a handsaw would be straight, parallel. Now look at the grooves along the medial condyle of the femur. They're coarse. See? A reciprocating electric saw was used on this person.
(NICK and CATHERINE walk into the room.)
Catherine: Excuse me. Um ... the person's name is Mel Bennett. We just confirmed it. We're going to meet Brass at the widow's house.
Grissom: (to TERI) I got to go. Thank you.
Teri Miller: You're welcome.
Grissom: Nick, would you stay here and work with Teri on this soft tissue stuff? She'll explain it to you.
Nick: Sure.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - DAY]
(DR. ROBBINS goes over the body with WARRICK.)
Dr. Albert Robbins: Our male dancer.
Warrick: Multiple blows to the head?
Dr. Albert Robbins: That's right. And one of those blows did enough damage to cause cranial bleeding. Any of your ladies mention having s*x with this victim?
(They both walk over to the scope.)
Warrick: No. Just lap dances-- nothing more.
Dr. Albert Robbins: I think the dance might have been a bit more intimate. Penile swab's back from the lab.
[SCOPE VIEW]
Dr. Albert Robbins: Vaginal cells.
Warrick: Looks like fried eggs.
Dr. Albert Robbins: That's because the cells are fresh. Darren had s*x just before he died.
Warrick: What's the estimated time of death?
DR. ALBERT ROBBINS Midnight.
Warrick: What?! These ladies said he was alive when they left him at 3:00 A.M.
Dr. Albert Robbins: Someone's lying.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY]
(SARA and WARRICK interview the women again.)
Meg Wheeler: I don't mean to be snippy, but we're already late for my rehearsal dinner.
Sara: Dinner's going to have to wait.
Warrick: We have forensic proof that Darren Pyne had s*x with a woman just before he died.
Sara: And, as far as we can tell you were the last three women with him. So, who's lying?
Joyce Lanier: I have two small children and a husband. I can't be involved in this.
Lynn Henry: (whispering) Joyce ... shut up.
Sara: About what? Lynn, does this have anything to do with the bruises on your wrists?
Warrick: Hey, tell us or tell the D.A.
Lynn Henry: Okay. After the bachelorette party, we left.
(Quick flashback to: LYNN opens the door and enters the motel room.)
Lynn Henry: (V.O.) I forgot my purse, so I went back in to get it.
(She looks and finds that DARREN PYNE is holding the purse and smiling at her.)
(Cut to: LYNN reaches for the bag and DARREN grabs her wrist.)
Lynn Henry: Let go.
(He pushes her back against the couch and gets on top of her.)
Lynn Henry: No! Get off! Oh, no.
(They struggle.)
Lynn Henry: (V.O.) I told him no, but he just wouldn't take no for an answer.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Warrick: So he raped you.
Lynn Henry: That's how I got the bruises on my wrists. I didn't even tell them until we got back to the hotel.
Warrick: Was Darren alive when you left?
Lynn Henry: Very... unfortunately.
Meg Wheeler: So ... can we go now? My fiancé is already asking questions.
Sara: Yeah, you can go.
(Everyone gets up.)
Sara: But, Lynn, uh ... a car's going to take you to the hospital for an exam.
Lynn Henry: An exam for what?
Warrick: It's just standard procedure for sexual assault.
(She nods.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. BENNETT RESIDENCE - DAY]
(A doorbell rings and the door opens.)
Rose Bennett: Yes?
Brass: I'm Detective Jim Brass -- Las Vegas Police Department. Are you Mrs. Bennett?
Rose Bennett: Oh, yes. Is this about my car plates? I have them. I just haven't had time to put them on the car.
GRISSOM; Actually, Mrs. Bennett we're here about your husband, Mel.
Rose Bennett: Oh, well, Mel isn't here right now.
Catherine: Well, do you know where he is?
(GRISSOM stares at her.)
Rose Bennett: Yes. He's at the store. Is there a problem?
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. BENNETT RESIDENCE -- DAY]
(An OFFICER and BRASS both escort ROSE BENNETT to the back of the OFFICER car.)
Brass: Mrs. Bennett, everything is all right. We're just going to ask a few questions down at the station.
Grissom: She looks distraught.
Catherine: Is that because she just found out he's dead or because she got caught?
[INT. BENNETT RESIDENCE -- DAY]
(Inside the house, GRISSOM examines the framed photographs on the walls.)
Grissom: Interesting how people catalog their lives. Fifty years of marriage on the wall.
Brass: Yeah, that's a lot of years. Maybe a few too many for the missus.
Catherine: Oh, I don't know. These two were good with each other.
(GRISSOM looks at CATHERINE. There's just something in her voice.)
Catherine: (She sighs.) It takes a bad marriage to recognize a good one.
(Cut to: BRASS looks through the things in the closet. He opens a box and picks up an old trophy.)
[BATHROOM]
(CATHERINE and GRISSOM are in the bathroom. CATHERINE opens the medicine cabinet to look inside while GRISSOM examines the toilet.)
Catherine: Well, not even an aspirin.
(CATHERINE shuts the medicine cabinet door, then bends to look into the tub.)
Catherine: Look at this. The tub hasn't been used in a while.
Grissom: Well, maybe she only uses her other bathroom.
(Cut to: BRASS continues to look through the boxes.)
(Cut back to: CATHERINE checks the drain.)
Catherine: Tub's the most obvious place to cut up a body but I don't see anything down there.
Grissom: Try phenolphthalein?
Catherine: Give me a swab.
(CATHERINE takes a swab of the drain. They test it. It tests positive.)
Grissom: Hmm...
[SCENE_BREAK]
[LIVING ROOM]
(BRASS walks in carrying a package.)
Brass: How did you guys do?
Catherine: We found blood in the drain.
Grissom: You find anything?
Brass: Just the murder weapon.
(GRISSOM and CATHERINE turn to look at BRASS.)
Brass: Cleaned, in the widow's garage.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - GARAGE - NIGHT]
(TERI handles the electric saw on a piece of ham. The drill whirls while CATHERINE and GRISSOM watch.)
Teri Miller: Bone of a pig. They are the most like humans, as you know.
(Finally, after a moment, TERI cuts through the bone. GRISSOM reaches out for the piece to look at the cut.)
Catherine: And this saw matches the one that Brass found in Mrs. Bennett's garage?
Teri Miller: Exact model. No doubt about it. The marks on this bone are consistent with the marks on Mel Bennett's bones. Exact same electric saw, same blade.
Grissom: Can you tell us anything about the operator?
Catherine: You mean Mrs. Bennett?
(CATHERINE turns to look at GRISSOM who doesn't say anything, neither confirming nor denying who operated the saw. She gets it.)
Catherine: Oh, right. (whispering) Reserve judgment.
Teri Miller: How someone operates a saw is as telling as how someone operates a pen. Now, look at the femur. The skipping marks of the saw over the bone tell us whoever used the saw was unfamiliar with its use. An amateur, if you will. Someone with or a weakened nature. Compromised musculature.
(CATHERINE turns to look at GRISSOM. He meets her gaze.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. LUCKY SEVEN ROOM - NIGHT]
(WARRICK and SARA check the room again as they talk about the case.)
Warrick: What do you mean, "it doesn't add up?"
Sara: Well, we're assuming that a couple of lamp hits to the head killed Darren, right?
Warrick: For now, yeah.
Sara: You read the coroner's final report. There's no traces of that lamp on his head at points of impact.
Warrick: Yeah, but maybe the materials didn't adhere. Doesn't mean he wasn't hit in the head with the lamp.
(He turns and sees SARA looking at the bed where DARREN PYNE'S body was found.)
Warrick: What are you looking for?
Sara: I don't know. I'll let you know when I find it.
Warrick: Well, if you don't know, I can't help you.
(SARA gets up and sighs. She walks around.)
Warrick: What is this?
Sara: What? What do you got?
(WARRICK indicates the crease of the sofa.)
Warrick: Something-something.
Sara: Where?
Warrick: Right there.
Sara: Nice.
(SARA takes a photo. He reaches out and picks it up.)
Sara: Tiniest diamond in the world.
Warrick: Oh, you think so, huh?
(WARRICK walks over to the glass table and tries to cut it. He finds nothing.)
Warrick: No. Diamonds cut glass. This is some cheap-ass cubic zirconia.
Sara: The bride-to-be's ring, maybe? She was here.
Warrick: Let's go ask her.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM - NIGHT]
(BRASS, GRISSOM and CATHERINE question ROSE BENNETT.)
Rose Bennett: Why do you keep asking me these kinds of questions?
Brass: Well, because someone killed your husband, Mrs. Bennett ... and was strong enough to wield an electric saw to do it.
Catherine: But not so strong as to make clean cuts.
Rose Bennett: (sighs) I didn't kill Mel. I loved him.
Brass: Why didn't you report him missing? Were you used to him leaving or did you fight much?
Rose Bennett: Never. Never. We had a perfect marriage. Perfect.
Grissom: And you failed to report him missing for seven months because ... ?
Rose Bennett: I don't like your tone, young man. Detective, you said I could have an attorney at any time. I think I'd like one now.
Brass: Oh, sure, Mrs. Bennett, sure. Just sign this form please.
(BRASS pushes a piece of paper and a pen toward her. She has difficulty picking the pen up. Everyone makes note of the difficulty.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. SPHERE HOTEL - STRIP - NIGHT]
(SARA and WARRICK step off of the escalator and head toward the hotel.)
Sara: Every time we go to find these women they're somewhere else. You sure you got that address? That desk clerk was talking very quickly.
Warrick: They talk faster at the sports book.
Sara: What?
Warrick: In the old days.
Sara: Oh. You think we're dressed for a wedding?
Warrick: Yeah. Not my wedding.
(SARA'S pager beeps. She checks it.)
Warrick: What?
Sara: Lynn Henry's SART exam's in.
(She hands her beeper to WARRICK to read the message.)
Warrick: She lied to us.
Sara: At this point, I think all those girls are lying to us.
Warrick: All right, let's call homicide and tell them to meet us there. Let's put this to bed before the honeymoon.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS STREET TO WEDDING CHAPEL - NIGHT]
(Police sirens wail as the cars turn the corner and head to the wedding chapel.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. A LITTLE WHITE CHAPEL - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS]
(Camera pans along the roof of the chapel that reads, "... you ... I want you ... I can't live without you.)
(Cut back to: "A LITTLE WHITE CHAPEL"'s sign. The camera moves from the sign to the roof to the police car parking.)
(SGT. O'RILEY gets out of the front car.)
(Cut to: SGT. O'RILEY walks through the lobby just as the minister is speaking. He interrupts them.)
Sgt. O'Riley: Sorry, Elvis. Your wedding party has to leave the building.
(The entire party turns around to find SGT. O'RILEY, WARRICK and SARA walking down the aisle.)
Joyce Lanier: (whispers) What?
Lynn Henry: Oh, my god.
Meg Wheeler: What's going on?
Sgt. O'Riley: All three of you ladies are coming in for questioning in the murder of Darren Pyne.
Luke: Murder? Is this a joke?
Sara: The clock's going to explain it all, believe me.
Luke: The ... the clock? What ... what clock?
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - HALLLWAY - NIGHT]
(GRISSOM and CATHERINE walk through the hallway. They bump into TERI MILLER carrying her kit and walking out past reception.)
Grissom: Hey. Where you going?
Teri Miller: I'm leaving.
Grissom: Town?
Teri Miller: Don't worry, I was able to isolate some soft tissue from the preserved vertebrae. Nick's working on it now.
(CATHERINE nods, then notices that GRISSOM hasn't said anything. She takes that as her cue to leave.)
Catherine: Well, I'm going to go check that out. Teri ... (they shake hands) ... You rule.
Teri Miller: Thanks, Catherine.
(CATHERINE leaves.)
Grissom: Well ... have a safe trip.
Teri Miller: Yeah.
(TERI puts her kit down.)
Teri Miller: I-I need to apologize for not returning your call last month.
Grissom: Teri, I admire your dedication to your work.
Teri Miller: Um ... dedication to my work didn't keep me from returning your call.
Grissom: Oh. It ... it was nothing. I-I-I just called to see how you were doing.
Teri Miller: Um ... well ... are you still interested in how I'm doing?
Grissom: Of course. So ... what's next?
Teri Miller: Mutilation in the Everglades.
Grissom: Maybe it was just an alligator.
Teri Miller: Yeah. And if it's not, I'll be filing for a change of address again. Anyway ... I got to go.
(TERI picks up her kit and walks past GRISSOM. He turns around to stop her.)
Grissom: Do you have to go? I mean ... couldn't you take a later flight?
Teri Miller: More bones?
Grissom: Have dinner with me later.
(She smiles and nods.)
Teri Miller: I think the bodies will keep.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI -- LAB - NIGHT]
(NICK and CATHERINE look through the scope.)
Nick: See this tissue?
[SCOPE VIEW of tissue]
Catherine: I do. There's no evidence of blood.
Nick: Yeah. Tells us blood was not pumping through Mel Bennett's veins when he was cut up.
Catherine: Which means he was already dead.
Nick: Yeah.
Catherine: So what does that leave us?
Grissom: A spectrum of possibilities.
(They turn to see GRISSOM leaning against the door frame.)
Grissom: The universe.
Catherine: Leaves me with a black widow.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM - NIGHT]
(GRISSOM and SARA re-question ROSE BENNETT with her lawyer.)
Margaret Finn: We want to thank the crime lab for discovering that Mrs. Bennett's husband was dead when she disassembled him.
Catherine: Disassembled him? So she admits to taking an electric saw to her husband?
Margaret Finn: After he was dead, yes. As you know, in Nevada, there's no law against cutting up a dead body.
Catherine: There's no law saying it's okay, either.
Grissom: Does your client care to tell us how her husband came to be dead?
Margaret Finn: Well, she has no idea. She came home from the grocer's went into the bathroom and there he was in the tub, deceased.
Rose Bennett: No. I-I want to explain.
Margaret Finn: Briefly, Mrs. Bennett.
Rose Bennett: (sighs) I couldn't afford the burial. So I-I got the saw ... and I cut him into manageable pieces.
Catherine: "Manageable"?
Rose Bennett: Mmm.
Grissom: You made it easier to transport his body?
Rose Bennett: Yeah. To Mount Charleston.
(The door to the interview room opens and BRASS walks in.)
Brass: I called that whistle-blower's line at the local treasury office. You know, the one that handles social security fraud? They were happy to help.
(BRASS puts some papers down on the table in front of them. GRISSOM and CATHERINE both look through them.)
Catherine: Well, Mrs. Bennett ... can you afford the burial now?
Margaret Finn: What are you talking about?
Catherine: It's her husband's social security checks from the last two years.
Brass: The signature's the same till seven months ago. Q.D. Matched the lady's writing. Mrs. Bennett, you've been cashing your dearly departed's checks, haven't you?
Grissom: And that's fraud.
Catherine: It's also a motive.
Margaret Finn: You want to alert the government about some forged social security checks, be my guest. But there's no murder here. We're done. Mrs. Bennett.
(They stand up to leave.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. THE ORPHEUS HOTEL/CASINO - DIFFERENT LOCATIONS - LATER]
(GRISSOM and CATHERINE walk down the sidewalk.)
Catherine: Typical Vegas wife - off'ed her old man for the money and there's nothing we can do about it.
Grissom: We have to go back to the body.
Catherine: Right. There's always a clue except we don't have a body.
Grissom: We have bones.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - LAB - NIGHT]
(GRISSOM takes a small portion of the bone and puts it in a dish. CATHERINE takes the dish and caps it. She leaves the lab.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - DNA LAB - NIGHT]
(GREG SANDERS puts a sample in the machine.)
Greg Sanders: Skeletal muscle of Mel Bennett. It goes in ... contents come out. In 30 seconds -- bioassay. I like saying that word. Bioassay. Sounds nubian. So how are you?
CATHERINE; Never better.
Greg Sanders: Yeah? Well, you look good.
Catherine: I try.
Greg Sanders: Yeah. I heard Grissom's lady friend was in town.
Catherine: Ladyfriend? Hmm. Wouldn't know anything about that.
Greg Sanders: Really? I thought you and Grissom were tight.
Catherine: We are.
(The machine beeps.)
Greg Sanders: Okay. Got it. Private.
(He reads the results.)
Greg Sanders: Huh. Digoxin.
Catherine: Digoxin?
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - GRISSOM'S OFFICE - NIGHT]
(GRISSOM reads the results.)
Grissom: It's supposed to treat heart failure but not if you're taking the amount found in Mel Bennett's bones.
Catherine: She poisoned him.
(GRISSOM looks at CATHERINE.
Grissom: "Someone" did.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. BENNETT HOUSE - LIVING ROOM -- NIGHT]
(GRISSOM and CATHERINE re-interview ROSE BENNETT.)
Grissom: We know your husband had an overdose in his system. We found it in his bone tissue.
Catherine: Did you kill him for his pension checks?
Margaret Finn: Don't answer that question.
Rose Bennett: It's okay. Mel took those pills himself. He asked me to leave the house, so he could do it.
Brass: So now it's suicide?
Rose Bennett: He was dying from the heart trouble. He was in chronic pain. He asked me to get it over with. I couldn't. I loved him.
Grissom: This is the part that I'm having a hard time with. You were able to cut him up when you realized you couldn't afford the burial?
Rose Bennett: I lied about why.
Margaret Finn: Mrs. Bennett, don't ...
Rose Bennett: No. Let me talk. Mel made me promise to hide his body so I wouldn't lose his social security benefits.
Catherine: (realizes) Because a wife's benefits are cut in half when the husband dies.
Rose Bennett: Yes. Even if you've spent fifty years by his side -- packing his lunch, pressing his work pants. Mel was my whole life. I didn't kill him. I couldn't even put him out of his misery.
(Her voice breaks and she starts to cry.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. BENNETT HOUSE - NIGHT]
(Standing outside the house, they discuss the case.)
Catherine: So what do you think, Jim?
Brass: I don't know. You're the lab guys. What is the evidence telling you?
Grissom: Forensically, we can't prove if Mel took the digoxin overdose or if she forced it on him.
Catherine: So that leaves us with one choice.
Grissom: Equivocal evidence.
Catherine: Golden rule.
Brass: Ah. Well, "when faced with evidence that can equally exonerate or implicate a suspect", we must "as objective interpreters of that evidence ... side with the defendant." Tie goes to the runner.
Grissom: Rose goes free. Because we'll never be able to prove who administered the fatal dose.
Catherine: (sighs) I don't think she did it.
Brass: Okay, then. I guess I'm out of here. I'll go start my paperwork.
Catherine: See you.
(BRASS leaves. CATHERINE turns to look at GRISSOM.)
Catherine: Okay, so I was wrong. It wasn't murder.
Grissom: It's not a contest.
Catherine: You want to go in with me? Give her the good news?
Grissom: Could you do it? I'm sorta late for a dinner.
Catherine: (smiles) Sure.
Grissom: Thanks.
(GRISSOM leaves. CATHERINE heads back to the house.)
(Cut to: Through the glass windows we see CATHERINE inside the house, walking up to ROSE and MARGARET FINN to give them the news. After a moment, ROSE turns and hugs her lawyer.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM - NIGHT]
(SARA and SGT. O'RILEY are in the interview room with the women. SARA stands in front of a blackboard.)
Sara: So, ladies of the wedding party, you get a free course in the forensics of sexual intercourse. Secrets of our trade. Lynn, when you had your exam for sexual assault a SART nurse makes a clock like this.
(SARA turns around and picks up a piece of chalk to illustrate on the blackboard.)
Sara: This is the v*g1n*.
(O'RILEY stands next to the blackboard.)
Sara: And it does tell a monologue. Some bruising is normal when s*x occurs. Injuries at 11:00 ... 12:00 or 1:00 indicate consensual s*x or what we would call "avid." Injuries around the dinner hour ... five, six, or seven, indicate forced entry. The woman hasn't done anything to help her partner thus sustaining serious bruising.
Sgt. O'Riley: Sidle, I'm going to be just outside the door.
(O'RILEY walks out of the room.)
Sara: Okay, O'Riley. Lynn ... your exam showed no evidence of s*x in the last 48 hours. Actually, in months. (JOYCE snickers quietly.) But the epithelials indicate that Darren had s*x right before he and the coroner puts time of death when you've all admitted to being present. So ... Meg? Joyce?
(No one responds.)
Sara: Look, we can run the clock exam on each of you. And the clock is going to tell us what happened. So who wants to go first?
MEG WHEELER I had s*x with Darren ... and it wasn't rape.
(Short time cut to later.)
(The tape recorder is on as it takes down MEG WHEELER'S statement.)
Meg Wheeler: Darren had been flirting with me all night. And, when it was time to leave I told the other girls to wait in the car. I know it's crazy but I thought ... I'm in Vegas. It doesn't really count.
(Quick flashback to: That night, MEG and DARREN are in bed thoroughly enjoying themselves. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Meg Wheeler: And ... then I don't know what happened.
(Quick flashback to: MEG runs her hand on DARREN'S shoulders and sees her engagement ring.)
Meg Wheeler: (V.O.) I saw my engagement ring.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Meg Wheeler: (crying) Then I-I thought about Luke and how he trusts me.
(Quick flashback to: MEG starts hesitating, but DARREN'S not buying it.)
Meg Wheeler: I don't think this is right.
Darren Pyne: Oh, you like it a little rough.
Meg Wheeler: (V.O.) I tried to push Darren of me ...
Darren Pyne: Okay. We can do that.
Meg Wheeler: (V.O.) But I-I don't think it got through.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Meg Wheeler: He wouldn't stop.
(Quick flashback to: MEG grabs the lamp off of the table and hits DARREN on the head with it.)
Meg Wheeler: As soon as I hit him with the lamp, I knew.
(Quick flashback to: DARREN is out cold on top of MEG.)
Warrick: (V.O.) So you only hit him once?
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Meg Wheeler: (nods) Mm-hmm. I didn't mean to kill him.
Sara: Meg, your engagement ring ... is that cubic zirconia?
Meg Wheeler: No. It's a real diamond. My fiancé wanted me to have the best.
Warrick: Does your fiancé have a zirconia ring?
Meg Wheeler: Zirconia-studded. It's a promise ring. He told me to save my money ... for our honeymoon.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM - NIGHT -- LATER]
(WARRICK and SARA interview MEG WHEELER with her fiancé, LUKE.)
Luke: Damaged? No. My ring is fine.
Warrick: May we see it?
(LUKE takes off the ring and hands it to WARRICK. He and SARA look at it and notice the missing stud.)
Warrick: You were in that motel room that night, weren't you, Luke?
Luke: I don't know what you're talking about.
Warrick: What happened? You got wind of the party?
(Quick flashback to: That night.)
Luke: (shouting) (o.s.) Where is she?
(LUKE grabs LYNN HENRY by her wrists and pulls her out of the car.)
Lynn Henry: I don't know where she is.
Joyce Lanier: Let her go!
Luke: Your husband told me you were here! Now tell me where she is!
Lynn Henry: Let go of me.
Luke: Just give me the room number. Tell me where she is.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Warrick: Bruised up Lynn's wrists.
Sara: Meg, you did have s*x with Darren the dancer. Maybe you even tried to stop in the middle of it. But something got your attention.
(Quick flashback to: DARREN and MEG are in bed.)
Meg Wheeler: I don't think this is right.
(MEG looks up and sees LUKE standing over them.)
Meg Wheeler: Oh, my god! Luke.
(LUKE gets angry and knocks the lamp off of the bedside table where it breaks.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Sara: Luke, you threw the lamp -- probably on the floor. Understandable rage.
Warrick: You did what any guy in your position would do.
(Quick flashback to: That night. LUKE grabs DARREN and slams his head against the headboard. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Warrick: But you didn't stop with one hit.
(Quick flashback to: LUKE continues to hit DARREN against the headboard. In the process, he looses the stud in his ring. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Warrick: And you didn't know that you had lost a piece of your ring.
Sara: Except we found it.
(She holds up the stud to show them.)
(LUKE gasps. MEG turn to look at LUKE.)
Meg Wheeler: Honey, I'm sorry.
Luke: We just ... we just were hoping we could get married. Put it all behind us.
Warrick: Laws don't end when you come to Vegas.
(WARRICK puts the ring back on the table. LUKE hangs his head.)
(Cut to: LUKE and MEG sitting in the back of the police car.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. RESTAURANT - NIGHT]
(High above the strip, GRISSOM and TERI have dinner.)
Grissom: I'm surprised. I'm having a nice time.
Teri Miller: Were you expecting a bad time?
Grissom: No. I just thought we might be uncomfortable away from work.
Teri Miller: Are you?
Grissom: No.
Teri Miller: Nor am I.
Grissom: Good.
Teri Miller: It's kind of like that old saying: "How a person does one thing is ...
Grissom: ... how a person does everything."
Teri Miller: Exactly.
(GRISSOM'S pager beeps. He looks at TERI.)
Grissom: Excuse me.
Teri Miller: Sure.
(He takes out his pager and reads the message. TERI takes a sip of her drink.)
Teri Miller: What's going on?
Grissom: (sighs) They found two bodies in a crack den at the end of the strip. Evidently, they've been dead awhile. They need me to do an insect analysis ASAP.
Teri Miller: Oh. Well ... you are the bug guy.
Grissom: Yeah. But I asked you to postpone your flight.
Teri Miller: It's okay. It happens.
Grissom: Maybe I can ...
(GRISSOM'S phone rings.)
Grissom: (to TERI) I'm sorry.
(GRISSOM turns aside and answers the phone.)
Grissom: (to phone) Yeah. Grissom. All right, look ... make sure the paramedics don't leave and have the primary on the scene take photographs of the corpses at two-minute intervals until I arrive. All right?
(He hangs up the phone and turns back.)
(TERI'S gone.)
(GRISSOM sighs.)
Plan: A: a single human bone; Q: What is discovered in the desert? A: miles; Q: What unit of measurement is used to describe the distance Grissom and Catherine must cover? A: a wedding party; Q: What group of people are the suspects in the murder of a male stripper? Summary: When a single human bone is discovered in the desert, Grissom and Catherine must cover miles of territory to find the rest of the skeleton. And Warrick and Sara trace the death of a male stripper to members of a wedding party who may have celebrated a little too hard the night before the nuptials.