[EXT. VARIOUS LAS VEGAS COMMUNITY (STOCK) - DAY]
Cue Sound: MACHINE ENGINE STARTING
[EXT. SANDSTONE COMMUNITY -- DEVELOPMENT SITE -- DAY]
(Camera pans past a large sign:
SANDSTONE
THE AMERICAN DREAM
FROM $399,000
(A large construction machine moves along the cleared land. From the command office, the foreman walks out of the trailer with a cordless phone in his hand. He's not pleased.)
(He heads over to the man driving the bulldozer.)
Foreman: Joe! Joe!
(He waves his arms high in the air trying to attract Joe's attention, but the machines are just too loud. He continues to head toward Joe.)
Foreman: Joe! Hey, Joe!
(The machines continue to drown out his voice. The foreman walks closer to the work area.)
Foreman: (shouts) Joe! Phone! Phone! I'm not your damn secretary and your wife's not my boss! (to phone) You hear that, Cheryl? This is a company phone.
(Joe continues to work.)
Cheryl: (from phone) I don't care! I want to talk to Joe!
(At the sound of her voice, the foreman pulls the phone away from his ear and looks away. Suddenly, his face turns grim as he sees something in the ground in front of him.)
(Cut to: A pair of a woman's legs half buried in the ground, her high-heeled shoes still on her feet.)
WHITE FLASH TO:
[EXT. SANDSTONE COMMUNITY -- DEVELOPMENT SITE -- DAY]
(Nick looks around the area where the body is. He's wearing a bandana over his nose and mouth to keep from breathing in the dry dirt. The dirt around the body is marked by little yellow flags.)
(In the back, Catherine walks with the foreman toward the site.)
Foreman: If this is an Indian burial ground, I'm totally screwed. I'll be in litigation for months.
Catherine: I can't make any promises, sir, but I don't think the Paiute wore heels.
(They reach the site. The officer stops the foreman. Catherine passes Nick, who is busy filling up the marker with paint, and heads over to Warrick, who is examining the body.)
Officer: Sorry, sir. You can't go in there.
Catherine: Hey! What's it look like?
(Warrick looks at the partially buried legs.)
Warrick: Well ... the body's been cased in something. It's black. It's flexible ... but it's pretty stubborn.
(He pokes at the black stuff with his finger.)
Warrick: I think it's roofing tar. It keeps the smell and the animals away.
Catherine: It makes our job a lot harder.
Nick: We've got disturbed soil in a three-by-five perimeter.
Catherine: Okay. (to the drivers) Gentlemen! Start your shovels!
(The drivers of the machines start their engines and dig around the body.)
SHORT TIME CUT TO:
(The machines dig a hole around the body encased in tar. Nick works on excavating the body.)
(As he works, Catherine and Warrick discuss the body off screen.)
Catherine: (o.s.) Do you think our Jane Doe was buried alive?
Warrick: (o.s.) I don't' know. She wasn't just covered, she was completely encased. Whoever buried her sure had access to a lot of tar. I'm thinking a construction worker.
Catherine: Nick, did you get that last soil sample?
(Nick brushes away the dirt from under the body and finds a skeletal foot.)
Nick: Yeah, but I think I got something else too.
(Nick pulls his bandana away from his mouth.)
Nick: Hey, guys. Check this out.
(Catherine and Warrick walk toward Nick.)
Nick: A third foot. (sighs) Looks like we have another body at the bottom.
(Camera zooms in through the skeletal foot through all that decay and ends up inside where the skull is focusing on the yellow teeth.)
(End of camera zoom. Resume to present.)
Catherine: I don't know if she was buried alive, but ... she wasn't buried alone.
(Catherine raises the camera, looks through the lens and snaps a photo.)
FLASH TO END OF TEASER ROLL TITLE CREDITS
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY]
(The large block of tar and rock containing the two bodies now rests on an examining table in the middle of the autopsy bay. David Phillips and the other coroners wheel in the large x-ray equipment.)
(Quick flash to an x-ray image of a skeletal chest is burned onto film.)
(David Phillips adjusts the x-ray equipment, pulling it up to the middle of the block.)
(Quick flash of an x-ray image of a skull as it's burned onto film.)
(David Phillips adjusts the x-ray equipment, pushing it down the block.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - LAB]
(The x-ray images of the two bodies in the tar block are out on the table. Doc Robbins goes over the images with Catherine.)
Robbins: Two sets of hands. Two sets of feet. Two skulls, two bodies. Both appear to be female. Jane Doe bottom's curled up. Jane Doe top's laid out flat.
(Catherine points to the wire across the skull's teeth.)
Catherine: This looks like ... barbed wire.
Robbins: It's in her mouth. Could be a dental appliance.
Catherine: Or maybe some kind of torture device.
Robbins: You're thinking ritualistic?
Catherine: Oh, I don't know what I'm thinking.
(Suddenly, Grissom appears in the doorway, his face alight with eagerness.)
Grissom: (interrupts) Hey! They told me you dug up two bodies covered in tar?
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - LAB]
(The block of tar. The camera slowly pulls away from the block of tar. We find Catherine and Grissom standing over it trying to figure out how to get to the evidence inside.)
Grissom: So. How you going to separate them?
Catherine: I'm not sure yet. Obviously I can't saw through without potentially destroying evidence, so ... if the tar were harder, I could chisel it. If it were softer, we could peel it off.
(Grissom smiles knowingly.)
Grissom: I have an idea.
Catherine: Of course you do, but last I checked, the backlog on grave was about ... mmm ... a hundred cases?
Grissom: You've been spending too much time with Ecklie. I'm off the clock. I came in early for this.
(Camera refocuses on the pair of shoes sticking out of the tar block.)
(Cut to: Catherine uses a drill and bores a hole into the tar block. Grissom places a funnel into the holes that Catherine drilled. They line up down the middle of the tar block.)
Catherine: You ever done this before?
Grissom: Nope ... but I do know that tar becomes as brittle as glass at about minus two hundred degrees.
(Cut to: They fill a canister up with liquid nitrogen. Grissom pours the liquid into the funnels. He fills up three funnels. On the fourth funnel ...
(Quick CGI POV: Camera zooms down into the funnel following the liquid into the tar block. The liquid nitrogen freezes the tar.)
(End of CGI POV. Resume to present.)
(Grissom uses a hammer and hand axe and taps the block down the middle following the line of funnels.)
Catherine: Okay, Mr. Wizard.
(Grissom hits the hammer hard and the block breaks neatly into two pieces.)
(Catherine's impressed.)
(Cut to: Both Catherine and Grissom work on one of the blocks, using hand canisters to spray liquid nitrogen, and chip away at the pieces of tar to get to the body inside.)
(Cut to: They continue working on the block, exposing more and more of the body inside.)
Catherine: Not much left of her but the clothes.
Grissom: Well, let's see what our other one looks like, shall we?
(They move over to the second tar block and start working on that. They spray and chip at the block. Grissom gets a piece of tar loose and lifts it up. He peels the tar piece off. The skull inside collapses and crumbles.)
(Grissom stares at the broken skull. He turns and looks at Catherine.)
Grissom: Huh.
(Catherine clears her throat.)
(Grissom glances down at his watch.)
Grissom: Oh, boy. I gotta get my shift started. Good luck with the case.
Catherine: No, no, no. You're not going to just destroy this skull and split.
Grissom: You can make a nice mold from the impression.
Catherine: I'm short-handed as it is.
(Grissom takes his glasses off.)
Grissom: I think Sara just wrapped a case. If you need her, she's yours.
(He turns and makes his escape, leaving Catherine exasperated.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - LOCKER ROOM]
(Greg is standing in front of his mirror in a suit and tie. He's straightening his hair trying to get it to stay down.)
(Sara walks into the locker room. She sees Greg and stops.)
Sara: Wow. Look at you, Mr. Straightedge. I did not know that your hair could do that.
Greg: I look like a dork.
Sara: No, no. No, you look like a pro, which is what you are. Let me guess - a prelim for Sherlock?
Greg: Yep.
(Sara puts her bag in the locker. She takes her jacket off.)
Sara: Uh-huh. Who's your judge?
Greg: Uh ... Dudley ... Anderson?
(Sara grimaces.)
Sara: Yeah. Well, not the sharpest tool in the shed.
(She hangs up her jacket and turns to give Greg some advice.)
Sara: (clears her throat) Speak slowly. Use simple terms. You're gonna nail it.
(Catherine pokes her head in the doorway.)
Catherine: Sara. You're mine tonight.
(Catherine leaves as Sara turns around.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY]
(David Phillips examines the remains. He touches the skull and lifts up the arm. He takes a swab of some of the bloodstains on the victim's clothing. He tests it. It turns pink.)
INTERCUT WITH:
[INT. CSI - LAB]
(Sara sprays the inside of the piece of tar covering the victim's face as she prepares to reconstruct the victim's face. She mixes the molding and pours it into the tar piece.)
(Nick examines the victim's clothing and checks the clothing label.)
(Meanwhile, David Phillips takes out the bone pieces that he's been boiling. He adds more bone pieces to put back into the pot. He removes the wire mouthpiece from the batch and sets it aside.)
(Sara removes the mold from the tar piece. She flips it over and looks at the mold of the woman's face.)
(Later back at the forensics lab, Doc Robbins is fitting the pieces of the broken skull back into place. The cleaned skull is set on a stand. He turns the skull around to examine the back.)
(Sara has the victim's mask on a stand as she paints the face in a flesh-colored tone. She continues to work.)
(Various dissolves as she finishes.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - LAB]
(Sara finishes the face and places it on the table, face away from her.)
Sara: Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Jane Doe Top.
(Catherine, Warrick and Nick are standing in the doorway.)
Catherine: My God.
Warrick: Nice job.
Sara: Thanks.
(They walk in and take a seat at the table. Catherine sits next to Sara)
Catherine: Thank you, Sara.
(Catherine turns the mold of the victim's face toward her.)
Catherine: Well, Doc Robbins told me that she had severe trauma to the skull, probably what killed her.
Warrick: Well, that would explain the blood David found on her shirt. Mia's running DNA right now to find out if it matches the victim, or any suspects, for that matter.
Nick: Remember, now, she had a broken jaw. That was 26-gauge stainless steel. It's used to surgically wire jawbones shut.
(Sara looks at the photos of the victim's hands.)
Sara: What's with the fingers?
Catherine: Distal phalanges were cut off. Both vics, both hands. I cast tool marks, looks like some kind of opposed blade tool. Jagged on one side, smooth on the other.
Nick: Well, if it was pre-mortem, that would support torture.
Warrick: Yeah, but if it was post, they probably did it to conceal identity.
(David Hodges enters the room.)
Hodges: Hey, you guys still working on that mass-grave theory?
Catherine: Yeah.
Hodges: You know what I like about flesh decomposing in soil? It's predictable.
(Quick CGI POV to: The body in the tar block decomposes. In fast motion, the rotting flesh off the skull slides off, revealing the muscle under it. The muscle rots, slides off the skull and dries up.)
Hodges: (V.O.) The constituent elements diffuse into the ground over time.
(Camera swings over to the soil underneath, showing the liquid flesh dripping off the bones and seeping into the soil under the corpse.)
(End of CGI POV. Resume to present.)
Hodges: The longer they're there, the lower the concentrations. I tested the soil samples Nick took from around each body. Curly Sue was on the bottom for at least five years, and Flat Sally was on top for only two.
(Hodges turns and leaves the lab.)
Catherine: So we've got a killer who digs a grave, dumps a body, covers it with tar, comes back three years later, digs again and dumps another one on top of it?
(Sara looks at the photos.)
Sara: Ten to one, it's domestic abuse. Beat up, then shut up.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - NIGHT]
Nurse: (V.O.) You hitting every E.R. in town?
Sara: (V.O.) Seems like it.
[INT. DESERT PALMS HOSPITAL - FILE ROOM - NIGHT]
(The nurse carries in a file box. She walks over to Sara who is sitting behind a desk.)
Nurse: These are all the jaw fractures that came in from two to three years ago.
Sara: Thank you.
(The nurse opens the file box.)
Nurse: We don't get as many of these as we used to.
Sara: Domestic violence laws have forced men to get smarter about their hitting.
(The nurse leaves. Sara opens the first file folder and looks at the photo inside of a blonde-haired woman with bruises on her face.)
(She opens a second file folder and compares the battered woman's photo to the photo of the mold of the victim's face. No match. She sets the file folder aside and continues.)
(In the voice over background noises, we hear the muffled sounds of a man and a woman yelling.)
(Flash to: Sara rubs the back of her neck as she goes through the file folder. Another flash and we get a close up of Sara nervously twitching her thumb. She closes the file folder and sets it aside.)
(Various flashes of: Sara continues to go through the file folders, viewing photos of battered women and comparing it to the photo of her Jane Doe Top.)
(Finally, she finds a photo that matches her mold.)
(She looks at the Admission Record:
DESERT PALMS HOSPITAL
ADMISSION RECORD
PATIENT'S NAME: MELTON, SVETLANA
PERMANENT ADDRESS: -9 RIVERSIDE LANE, LAS VEGAS
PRIOR HOSPITALIZATION: N/A
OBSERVATIONS - PATIENT APPEARS TO -
DOMESTIC ABUSE
CONDITION OF ADMISSION
TEMPERATURE: 99
PULSE: 86
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - RECEPTION / INTERVIEW ROOM -- NIGHT]
(Catherine opens the door. Andrew Melton arrives with his very young wife, June.)
Andrew Melton: (to June) Why don't you, uh, you wait for me here, okay?
(June turns around and obediently sits down in the hallway chair. Andrew Melton enters the interview room.)
Catherine: Mr. Melton, take a seat.
(Catherine closes the door behind him. Andrew Melton sits at the table. Sara glares at him.)
Andrew Melton: I married, uh, June about a year after Svetlana left.
Catherine: And when was the last time that you saw Svetlana?
Andrew Melton: It was about two years ago. She didn't come home one night. Next thing I know, the cops are knocking down my door. I thought something happened to her, but they were there to arrest me. For hitting her.
Sara: Are you saying that you didn't?
Andrew Melton: We were married for three years. I never hit her.
Sara: Why would she lie?
Andrew Melton: I don't know.
(Catherine watches Sara. She turns back to Andrew Melton.)
Catherine: And then what happened?
Andrew Melton: After that, I ... I was done. I went looking for her to sign the divorce papers, but ... it was like she fell off the face of the earth.
Sara: Or got buried a few feet under it.
(Catherine turns to Sara, surprised by what she's saying.)
Andrew Melton: Look, I took out ads in the newspaper every day for a month. She never responded.
Catherine: Yet you didn't file a missing persons report.
Andrew Melton: I'd been accused of abuse. How would that have looked?
Sara: You seem to care a lot about the way things look, Mr. Melton.
(He looks at Sara. Sara glares back.)
Catherine: Well, we're gonna need a list of Svetlana's friends and family.
Andrew Melton: She didn't have any.
Sara: She spawned from nothingness?
Andrew Melton: Her parents died in some kind of industrial accident in Odessa.
Catherine: Russia?
Andrew Melton: Yeah.
Catherine: How did the two of you meet?
Andrew Melton: Through an agency.
Sara: Svetlana was a mail-order bride?
Andrew Melton: We were introduced through an agency.
Sara: So what happened, the Russian agency denied your application for another wife, or, uh, you lost your taste for white meat? Too tough?
(Catherine's eyes widen and jaw drops. Andrew Melton gets angry. Catherine puts a hand to her forehead as the entire interview falls apart.)
Andrew Melton: You know what, lady? I am not gonna feel bad about my decision. I dated American women, like you. They don't want to be anyone's wife, or mother - (Sara turns and looks at Catherine. Catherine looks back.) -- you mention the word "domestic," they're done with you. It's nice to be needed ... (Andrew Melton turns and looks back at June, who is sitting obediently out in the hallway. He turns and looks at Catherine.) ... not resented.
Sara: Yeah, I find isolation and dependency really sexy, too.
Andrew Melton: (sighs) You know, what, you can think whatever you want.
(Andrew Melton gets up and heads for the door. He leaves. June stands up as he steps out into the hallway. With a last glance at the interview room, he leaves.)
SHORT TIME CUT TO:
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - HALLWAY - NIGHT -- CONTINUOUS]
(Catherine and Sara walk down the hallway.)
Sara: Look, all I am asking is to have a black-and-white do regular welfare checks.
Catherine: Did the wife ask for help?
Sara: Well, that's kind of hard to do when you don't speak English and you're a s*x slave. I'm sure she doesn't know her rights.
Catherine: (sighs) You can't arrest someone for marrying the wrong person.
Sara: You would know.
(Catherine lets that one slide.)
Catherine: If the guy's an abuser, if he killed his first wife, we will build a case and we will nail him.
Sara: And in the meantime, he can just keep using her as a punching bag.
Catherine: Sara, I was there -- there wasn't a mark on her.
Sara: Not that we could see, Catherine.
(They stop walking. In the back of the hallway, Conrad Ecklie steps out of the lab and sees Catherine and Sara.)
Catherine: You know ... every time we get a case with a hint of domestic violence or abuse, you go off the deep end. What is your problem?
Sara: Yeah, I probably do, and you let your sexuality cloud your judgment about men, and I'm gonna go over your head.
Conrad Ecklie: Sidle.
(Sara turns and looks at Ecklie.)
Conrad Ecklie: Get in my office. Now.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - ECKLIE'S OFFICE -- NIGHT]
(The office door opens. Ecklie and Sara step inside.)
Conrad Ecklie: You are a law enforcement officer and a representative of this city. That means I expect you to conduct yourself in an appropriate manner, in and away from this lab.
(Ecklie walks around the desk and sits down.)
Sara: You know what, if this is gonna be one of your "for the good of the lab" speeches, don't bother. I've heard them.
Conrad Ecklie: Just take a seat.
(Sara remains standing.)
(Ecklie opens his desk drawer and takes out a file folder.)
Conrad Ecklie: Willows is a supervisor -- that means you treat her with respect. Insulting her in front of coworkers ...
Sara: She's not my supervisor.
Conrad Ecklie: All right-- your superior. Sara, you berate witnesses, you disrespect the people you work with, you luck your way out of a DUI. Take a look -- you got a half a dozen complaints in your jacket. (He tosses the file folder on the desk in front of her.) And if Grissom really documented your performance, there'd probably be a dozen more-- that's not the kind of person I want in my lab.
Sara: The only reason this is your lab is because Grissom doesn't kiss ass. You couldn't hack it in the field, so you fail your way up, you break up our team, and now you just hang out in the hallways waiting for one of us to screw up.
Conrad Ecklie: Sidle, you're on one-week suspension without pay, ...
Sara: (mutters) Great.
Conrad Ecklie: ... and when you get back, you're apologizing to Catherine.
Sara: (shakes her head) No, I'm not.
(Sara turns and leaves the office.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - LAB]
(Catherine walks into the lab where Warrick is working. He looks up as she sighs.)
Warrick: What's going on around here?
Catherine: I don't want to talk about it. Okay, so, this is the jacket that Svetlana was wearing the night that she went into the hospital?
Warrick: Yeah. I pulled it out of the vault from the original abuse charge two years ago. Most of the blood is Svetlana's, although there is a small portion that comes from an unknown male.
Catherine: So I'll see if the husband's willing to give us a comparison.
Warrick: Don't bother, he already voluntarily gave a sample the night that this happened, and it's not a match.
Catherine: So he was telling the truth?
Warrick: (shrugs) Eh ...
(Warrick picks up a "Lacey's Pocket Dictionary".)
Warrick: I did find this ... in her pocket.
(Hidden inside the pages of the dictionary is a set of camera booth photos of Svetlana and a young dark-haired man.)
Warrick: Is that the husband?
Catherine: Nyet.
Warrick: Well, they're looking pretty friendly here. And you could write some teen poetry from the words that are highlighted in this dictionary.
Catherine: Well, maybe Andrew found out that Svetlana wasn't as lonely as he thought she was.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY]
[INT. CSI - HALLWAY -- DAY]
(Catherine is walking through the hallway when Greg catches up with her.)
Greg: Catherine, I heard Ecklie suspended Sara. What can we do?
Catherine: Nothing.
Greg: No?
Catherine: Mm-mm.
Greg: Sara's always been there for anyone who needs her. She's always had my back. So what if she flew off the handle a little?
Catherine: Greg, she crossed the line with a suspect; she was inappropriate with me and with Ecklie; she needs the time off.
(Catherine walks away from Greg, leaving him stunned in the hallway.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - LAB -- DAY]
(A set of clothes are set out on the table. Warrick and Nick stand near the table.)
Warrick: A lot of blood on that blouse.
Nick: Yeah, well, her wounds don't just trickle, man, they-they gush.
Warrick: Were you able to get anything off these jeans?
(Nick picks up a slip of paper from the table.)
Nick: Uh, found this paper. It was found in the pocket. Decomp trashed it, though.
Warrick: That reminds me of the time I as at the Ghost Bar, and I ran into this hottie. I mean, the girl was an absolute dime. And I didn't have my phone on me, so I wrote her number down on paper, and put it in my pants. The jeans ended up in the wash.
Nick: Ouch.
Warrick: Yeah. But ...
(Warrick checks the inside lining of the pants pocket.)
Warrick: Yeah.
(He chuckles as he finds the ink smudge inside the lining.)
Nick: Fatty acids dissolve the ink, and it leeches onto the pocket lining.
Warrick: Yeah.
Nick: Huh. That must've been a pretty hot number you had there, boss.
Warrick: Yeah, it was.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - Q.D. LAB - DAY]
(Ronnie Litre processes the writing on the pocket lining for Nick.)
Ronnie Litre: All right, first we mirror it, and then we remove the background texture of the cotton weave.
Nick: Sharpen the contrast, will you?
(Nick reads the writing.)
Nick: "Madame ... Matryoshka's. Tuesday ... Eight? G A.M."? Some kind of appointment. "G A.M."?
Ronnie Litre: Do you know what "matryoshka" are?
Nick: (nods) Sure.
Ronnie Litre: (laughs) Russian nesting dolls.
Nick: Oh, yeah, yeah, the dolls that look alike, that fit inside of each other, right?
Ronnie Litre: My grandma had a set. Anyway, people who've gone from writing cyrillic to English often write their nines as lowercase g's.
(Nick nods.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY]
[INT. MADAME MATRYOSHKA'S (BEAUTY SHOP) - LOBBY -- DAY]
(Brass and Nick walk into the beauty shop. They walk up to the reception counter. Brass clears his throat.)
Vlad: You have appointment for haircut?
Brass: Nah, I'm trying to get a rastafarian thing going. (Vlad looks at them.) Is there an actual Madame Matryoshka?
Vlad: (in Russian) (untranslated)
Brass: We're polizia. Yeah.
(Brass and Nick walk around the counter. A tall woman walks up to them.)
Chloe Daniels: Chloe Daniels. What can I do for you?
Brass: I'm Detective Jim Brass, Las Vegas Police. This is Nick Stokes from the Crime Lab. We're here about Svetlana Melton.
Chloe Daniels: Yeah, she used to work here.
Brass: In what capacity?
Chloe Daniels: Hairdresser.
Nick: You mean wife-to-be.
Chloe Daniels: Yeah.
Nick: For money?
Chloe Daniels: Yeah.
Nick: Sounds a lot like prostitution to me.
Chloe Daniels: Yeah, well, it's not.
(Nick walks past her and starts looking around the back. Chloe turns her attention back to Brass.)
Chloe Daniels: Look, I didn't invent this. Go on line -- there are dozens of sites with thousands of women. They advertise these exciting trips to Kiev. I just bring Kiev to you. I sponsor 90-day work VISAs, teach the girls a trade. They cut hair for men.
Brass: So men shop for a wife. You screen the guys?
Chloe Daniels: You pick up a woman at a bar, does the bartender screen you? You take her home, take her to your bed. How well did you screen her?
Brass: You should be sainted.
Nick: Mm, I don't know about that. Svetlana ended up dead.
SHORT TIME CUT TO:
[INT. MADAME MATRYOSHKA'S (BEAUTY SHOP) - CHLOE'S OFFICE -- DAY]
(Chloe Daniels sits behind her desk. Brass and Nick sit across her. Brass shows her the camera booth photos found in Svetlana's pocket dictionary.)
Brass: You recognize this guy?
Chloe Daniels: Yeah. Ken Wellstone. Lives down the street. Actually comes in for haircuts. Isn't interested in my service. Not the marrying kind, I guess.
Nick: Yeah, I-I'm sorry, there seems to be a really fine line here between, uh ... peddling marriage and peddling flesh.
Chloe Daniels: When is marriage anything else?
Brass: Nick is, uh ... he's an old-fashioned guy.
Chloe Daniels: Really? (laughs) Well, what do you think engagement rings are? Just proof that a man can pay for his bride. Look, caveman would go steal a woman from a neighboring clan. He'd tie her hands and her feet till she wouldn't run away. Once she'd stay put, he would only tie her finger, just to remind her.
Brass: So you're a romantic.
Chloe Daniels: Marriage is not romance. It's a contract with the state. It's an investment in your future.
(Nick looks around the office at the framed photos of happy couples.)
Chloe Daniels: I'm not making it about money, it just is.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY]
[INT. WELLSTONE RESIDENCE - LIVING ROOM - DAY]
(Brass and Nick interview Ken Wellstone.)
Ken Wellstone: Uh, she cut my hair.
Brass: She licked your cone.
(Brass holds out the camera booth photos. Ken Wellstone looks at them.)
Ken Wellstone: Well, I-I took Svetlana out once for. For ice cream. It was ... it was a hot day.
Nick: That's it?
Ken Wellstone: Yeah, that's it. She, uh, gave me some sob story about how she was married to some abusive guy, you know, and how, uh ... she begged me to help, and ... blah, blah, blah, blah. I don't ... I don't need that kind of drama. I don't.
Brass: Mr. Wellstone, what do you do for a living?
Ken Wellstone: I'm a real estate agent.
Brass: You're not in construction or anything?
Ken Wellstone: No. Why? (Suddenly it dawns on him that they must be there for a reason.) Something happen to Svetlana?
Nick: Yeah, she was murdered.
(Ken is stunned momentarily silent.)
Ken Wellstone: Oh.
Nick: We're gonna need to get a DNA sample from you, and I'm gonna take a look around your place. Is that cool?
Ken Wellstone: Sure. Yeah, go ahead.
[SCENE_BREAK]
VARIOUS CUTS OF:
(Nick walks into the darkened room carrying an ALS. He swings the light around as she walks into the room.)
(Nick pulls away the bed cover and looks at the bed sheet under the ALS.)
(Nick looks under the dining room table. He turns the ALS off. He shines his flashlight on the carpet and sees some discoloration. He cuts a swatch of the carpet off.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. SARA'S RESIDENCE -- DAY]
(Sara is sitting at her desk, a beer bottle in her hand, when someone knocks on the door. Using the remote, she turns the stereo off. The background music stops. She stands up and answers the door.)
(She opens the door and finds Grissom standing outside her front door. She sighs.)
Sara: Well, if you're here, it can't be good.
Grissom: Can I come in?
(She steps back to let Grissom in. She lifts her beer bottle at him.)
Sara: Want to ask me if I'm drunk?
Grissom: We both know that's not your problem.
(He steps into the room. Sara closes the door. Grissom turns around.)
Grissom: I spoke to Catherine.
Sara: (nods) Ecklie?
Grissom: He wants me to fire you.
Sara: I figured.
(She sighs.)
Sara: Can I get you anything?
Grissom: Sure. An explanation.
Sara: I ... lost my temper.
(Sara walks around the room and stops in front of the chair near her desk.)
Grissom: That seems to be happening quite a bit. Do you know why?
Sara: What difference does it make? I'm still fired.
Grissom: It makes a difference to me.
(Standing a room apart, Sara takes her best shot at giving him an explanation.)
Sara: I have a problem with authority. I choose men who are emotionally unavailable. I'm self-destructive. All of the above.
Grissom: "Have you ever gone a week without a rationalization?"
(Sara takes a breath, but before she can say anything, Grissom explains.)
Grissom: It's from the "Big Chill". One of the characters explaining a basic fact of life -- that rationalizations are more important to us than s*x even.
(Sara sits down.)
Sara: I am not rationalizing anything. I crossed the line with Catherine, and I was insubordinate to Ecklie.
Grissom: Why?
Sara: (shakes her head) Leave it alone.
Grissom: No, Sara.
Sara: What do you want from me?
Grissom: I want to know why you're so angry.
(Sara stares at Grissom.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. SARA'S APARTMENT - DAY]
(Sara and Grissom sit facing each other. The light from the setting sun filters through the darkening room.)
Sara: It's funny ... the things that you remember and the things that you don't, you know. There was a smell of iron in the air. Cast-off on the bedroom wall. There was this young cop puking his guts. I remember the woman who took me to foster care. I can't remember her name. Which is strange, you know, 'cause I couldn't let go of her hand.
Grissom: Well ... the mind has its filters.
Sara: I do remember the looks. I became the girl whose father was stabbed to death. Do you think there's a murder gene?
Grissom: I don't believe that genes are a predictor of violent behavior.
Sara: You wouldn't know that in my house. The fights, the yelling, the trips to the hospital. I thought it was the way that everybody lived. When my mother killed my father, I found out that it wasn't.
(Sara starts to cry. Grissom reaches out and holds her hand.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - TRACE LAB -- NIGHT]
(Hodges works on processing the black spot found on Ken Wellstone's carpet. He also takes a bit of the tar from the tar block.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM -- NIGHT]
(Brass interviews Ken Wellstone. Brass shows Ken Wellstone two photos.)
Brass: So the tar from your carpet matches the tar that Svetlana Melton was buried in.
Ken Wellstone: Tar ... I ... where? I mean, I have no idea what you're talking about.
Brass: We also found your blood on her parka that she wore to the hospital two years ago.
Ken Wellstone: I can explain that. That was from ...
Brass: So can we -- you beat her, you killed her, you buried her.
Ken Wellstone: No, I didn't. No, stop, please. Listen. She ... she ran away.
(Brass looks blankly at Ken. He reaches into his jacket pocket, takes out his wallet, opens the wallet and takes out a folded slip of paper. He opens the paper and reads the note.)
(Brass holds out the file folder.)
Brass: Put that in here.
(Ken drops the open note on the file folder, words-side up.)
Brass: (reads) "Ken, do not look for me. I need to go away. Svetlana."
Ken Wellstone: You know, after everything that we'd been through and everything, this just seemed really, uh ... it was cold. (Brass nods.) Didn't sound like her. She usually called me ... Kenski.
Brass: So what was your relationship, Kenski?
Ken Wellstone: What was my relationship? My relationship was, uh ... we were, uh ... we were in love.
Brass: How did her husband feel about that?
Ken Wellstone: Her husband bought her, so he thought he owned her. And Svetlana was way out of his league. And what she wanted to do was fast track her divorce. So she thought maybe if she made it look like Andrew had beat her, that that would do it, but that didn't do it because he'd actually never hit her. So ...
Brass: How'd she break her jaw?
(Ken suddenly becomes very quiet.)
Brass: Huh?
Ken Wellstone: She begged me.
(Quick flashback to: Svetlana pleads with Ken.)
Svetlana Melton: Please, Kenski. Please. Hit me hard on face. It is only way for me to leave this horrible man. Please, Kenski. Hit me if you love me.
(He leans forward and kisses her.)
(He straightens and punches her in the face.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Ken Wellstone: I just loved her.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI -- LAB]
(Warrick is spraying the clothes with luminol. As she blood spatter lights up, he places little arrow stickers on the material to show where the blood is located.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - HALLWAY]
(Warrick reports his findings to Catherine.)
Warrick: All of the blood on Svetlana's sweatshirt was hers.
Catherine: Nothing from Ken Wellstone?
Warrick: No, but some of the drops look a lot like dried blood, but they came back "aubergine sheen number 315," professional grade hair dye.
Catherine: Well, she worked in a hair salon.
Warrick: Yeah. Some of the patterns look a lot like cast-off.
(Quick flash of: [BEAUTY SHOP] Svetlana fights with her attacker.)
Catherine: (V.O.) Hair dye was present when she was being attacked.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Warrick: Ken still could have done it.
Catherine: True, but his story is so absurd I almost buy it.
Warrick: Yeah, well, admit the punch and you go to jail for a night. Admit the killing and you go to jail for life.
(They both turn and walk into the A/V lab where Nick is.)
[INT. CSI - A/V LAB - CONTINUOUS]
(Nick is going through the various photos of the mail-order brides on the internet at ivanawife[dot]com.)
Warrick: Find anything you like, buddy?
(Nick chuckles.)
Catherine: So, you can't sell your kids, but you can buy their mother.
(He stops at one and reads what the woman wrote.)
Nick: (reads) "I looking for kindest, noble man." Well, I got news for you, sugar pants. Buying women ain't that noble.
Warrick: Well, life is short. Dating's complicated. This makes it much simpler, doesn't it?
Catherine: It's not supposed to be simple. Complicated is the whole point.
Warrick: It is?
Catherine: Yeah.
Nick: Hey, wait a minute. You're not telling me you're into this stuff?
Warrick: Me? No. But you know, for a guy who's over 40, lonely, tired of the bar scene, got a little cash, wants to buy himself a sweet honey, be his companion ...
Nick: He needs a translator, 'cause you're not even speaking the same language.
Warrick: That's the best part.
Catherine: (groans) Ugh ... !
(Catherine turns and leaves. Warrick chuckles.)
Nick: (clueless) Best part of what?
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[EXT. BEAUTY SHOP - SIDEWALK - NIGHT]
(Brass, Chloe Daniels, Vlad and some police officers stand outside the beauty shop.)
Chloe Daniels: What's all this about?
Brass: We have reason to believe Svetlana Melton was murdered in your salon. We have a search warrant.
(Brass hands the warrant over to Chloe.)
Chloe Daniels: (sighs) Let them in.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. BEAUTY SHOP - NIGHT -- CONTINUOUS]
(Catherine looks around the main area. She stops at the table with an open shears holder. Catherine takes a pair of scissors out of the holder and looks at it.)
Catherine: Jagged on one side, smooth on the other.
(Quick CGI POV of: A fingertip is cut off with the pair of scissors. End of CGI POV. Resume to present.)
(Nick looks around the area. He picks up the appointment book and looks at it. He puts the book down and snaps a photo of it.)
(Catherine walks up to a station and uses the ALS on the wall.)
Catherine: I got blood spatter next to the hair dye.
(Nick walks over.)
Nick: Svetlana was a tall girl. Spatter looks a little low. Maybe she was sitting.
(Catherine notices the different chairs.)
Catherine: These chairs don't match.
(She reaches out and removes the vinyl from the chair.)
Catherine: I think somebody's hiding something.
(Under it, the back of the chair is smudged.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY LIGHTS (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[INT. CSI - LAB - NIGHT]
(Warrick shows Catherine what he's found.)
Warrick: The stain on the chair was Aubergine Sheen hair dye. DNA from the bloodstains on the walls was too degraded, and Mia could not get a match.
Catherine: So, we know who the blood belongs to. We just can't prove it.
Warrick: I think we can, though. You know some guy was selling a grilled cheese sandwich on ebay for something like $28,000 because he claimed the burn pattern contained the face of the Virgin Mary?
(As he talks, Warrick takes the smudge pattern from the chair and digitally matches it to one of the camera booth photos of Svetlana.)
(He flips the smudge over and matches it perfectly to the photo.)
Warrick: How much you think I can get for the face of Svetlana in hair dye?
(Quick flash of: [BEAUTY SHOP] Someone throws the hair dye at Svetlana. The metal pan hits the floor. The person throws Svetlana against the chair. She hits the chair with her face leaving the smudge behind.)
(End of flash. Resume to present.)
Catherine: Hang on. There's something else.
(Catherine enhances the locket in the photo. She recognizes the locket.)
(Quick flash to: [JUNE] June is wearing a similar locket around her neck. End of flash. Resume to present.)
Catherine: A recycled love token. Now, that's tacky.
Warrick: Yeah, that is pretty tacky.
Catherine: But it's cause for a warrant.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. COMMUNITY (STOCK) - DAY]
[INT. MELTON RESIDENCE - LIVING ROOM - DAY]
(Andrew Melton reads through the warrant. June Melton stands next to him. Brass and the officers wait.)
Brass: Everything in order?
Andrew Melton: I'm not giving you a damn thing until I read every last word.
Brass: Take as long as you want. We're going to be here a while.
(In the kitchen, Catherine looks at the chain and padlock around the refrigerator door.)
Catherine: Do you believe this?
(Warrick notes that all the kitchen cupboards are also padlocked.)
Warrick: What, that the guy locks up his food?
Catherine: Locks his wife out.
Warrick: You think he's trying to protect his investment? Weight goes up. Value goes down.
Catherine: Control her food, control her destiny, I don't know.
Warrick: Look at this.
(Warrick holds up the phone with the cord removed.)
Warrick: She can't even call out for pizza.
Catherine: Or help.
(Andrew Melton finishes reading the warrant. Seeing that he's done, Brass mentions what they're there to collect.)
Brass: The necklace.
(Andrew Melton steps toward June to remove the necklace himself. Brass stops him.)
Brass: No, no, no. No, no. I got it. I got it.
(Brass reaches out and undoes the necklace clasp as Andrew Melton glares jealously at Brass. He swallows hard.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - LAB]
(Catherine scans the necklace into the computer, magnifying it and examining it at the same time. She finds some blood on the clasp.)
(She takes a sample and tests it. The paper turns pink.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI -- OFFICE]
(Catherine meets with Warrick and Nick.)
Catherine: Svetlana's blood was on the necklace worn by Andrew Melton's current child bride.
Warrick: Could you imagine a control freak like him having to spend the night in jail on a phony abuse charge? You know he went looking for her when he got out.
(Quick flash to: Andrew Melton kneels down over Svetlana's dead, bloodied body and removes the necklace.)
Warrick: (V.O.) He beat her, killed her and took back the only thing he valued.
(He puts the necklace in his pocket.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Nick: It'll never stand up, Rick. You know how it is, they'll say the blood could've come from anywhere. She could've left the necklace behind.
Warrick: We need a murder weapon.
Catherine: (scoffs) Yeah, well, good luck on that one. Crime's over two years old. (groans) All righty. We know that this guy did it. How do we prove it?
Warrick: Can we prove he buried her?
Nick: I'm not convinced he did. Svetlana was buried in a pre-existing grave. Right on top of another girl's body.
Catherine: And both girls' fingertips were removed by blending shears.
Warrick: Which we also found at the salon.
Catherine: And the only people with full access to the salon are Chloe and Vlad.
Nick: Yeah, and Chloe doesn't really seem like the type that gets her hands dirty.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - Q.D. - NIGHT]
(Ronnie puts two enlarged writing samples - one of "Ken" from the note, and the other of "Kie" from the appointment book - one on top of the other to compare the two. Nick watches.)
Ronnie Litre: All right, the relative size of the letters and the spacing between them appear to be consistent with both Vlad's appointment book and the good-bye note left by Svetlana. My opinion is it's the same writer.
Nick: Well, it looks like the Vladski tricked the Kenski.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM - NIGHT]
(Warrick interviews Vlad. He shows Vlad his credit card statements.)
Warrick: According to your credit card statements, you purchased several buckets of tar two and five years ago ... at a local hardware store. Tell me, what's a receptionist at a hair salon doing with that much tar?
Vlad: In Russia, I work for certain family. When they want body taken care of, I go to oil field, dump body in tar. None ever found.
Warrick: Sounds like fun. (Vlad nods.) Tell me about Svetlana.
Vlad: Girl already dead. Nothing I can do.
Warrick: So you're saying you did not kill her?
Vlad: No.
Warrick: Then why'd you cover it up?
(Quick flash to: [BEAUTY SHOP] Vlad walks into the beauty shop. Svetlana is dead; Andrew Melton kneels over the body retrieving the necklace.)
Vlad: Svetlana, time to lock up.
(Vlad stops when he sees Andrew and Svetlana. Andrew stares at them.)
Warrick: (V.O.) You didn't call 911?
(Cut to: Vlad mops up the blood on the floor.)
Warrick: (V.O.) You cleaned up the scene, buried her, ...
(Cut to: [WELLSTONE RESIDENCE] Vlad walks into the house and leaves the note behind.)
Warrick: (V.O.) ... and then you left a note for Ken.
(As Vlad leaves, he leaves behind a tar stain from under his shoe and onto the carpet.)
(End of flash. Resume to present.)
Vlad: America is land of opportunity. Her death should be a total loss? Andrew Melton is very good tipper.
Warrick: Was Andrew Melton a very good tipper five years ago?
Vlad: (shakes his head) No.
Warrick: Svetlana wasn't buried alone. There was another body in that grave.
Vlad: Many girls want American husband. Sometimes Chloe can't get them a visa. They come anyway ...
(Quick flash to: [AIRPORT BAGGAGE] The people unload the luggage.)
Luggage Handler: (indiscernible)
(They put the suitcase on the side.)
(Cut to: Inside the suitcase, a woman gasps.)
(The workers pile on another heavy suitcase on top of the suitcase with the woman inside.)
(Inside the suitcase, she's being squashed.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Warrick: She came here in a suitcase, but she was dead on arrival, so you take her out to the desert and bury her in a hole?
(Quick flash to: [DESERT] Vlad unzips the suitcase with the dead woman inside.)
(Cut to: The dead woman is curled up in the hole. Vlad pours tar on the body.)
(End of flash. Resume to present.)
Vlad: Again, girl already dead. Nothing I can do.
WHITE FLASH TO:
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM - NIGHT]
(Andrew Melton sits in the interview room.)
FLASH TO:
(Brass sits across from Andrew Melton.)
Brass: Boy, women can really drive you crazy, huh? I mean, this perfect creature who needs you, who loves you. I mean, you think you've got it all worked out. Your Christmas card's gonna look like the Sears catalogue, right? And then what? I mean, you give her stuff. You give her clothes, money and shelter, and, uh, and then she goes and makes up some bogus story about how you attacked her.
Andrew Melton: Which I never did.
Brass: Man ... a love like that. So pure. I mean, men have robbed banks for less, put their life on the line ... would kill to protect it.
Andrew Melton: Everywhere we went, men were making love to her with their eyes, defiling her with their thoughts. It got so bad it wasn't safe to let her leave the house. But then she got lonely. Like a person I didn't recognize.
Brass: You made her an American.
Andrew Melton: In all the good ways ... (beat) ... and the bad.
(Quick flash to: [BEAUTY SHOP] Svetlana is in the shop when Andrew Melton walks in.)
Andrew Melton: Svetlana!
(Svetlana looks at him, scared.)
Andrew Melton: (angry) You told them I hit you?! (Svetlana looks for a way to escape, but doesn't see any. She can't cry out because her mouth is wired shut.) Why would you do that? Huh?
(He rushes toward her, throwing the metal dish of Aubergine Sheen hair dye in her face. He pushes her away from him toward the chair. Svetlana hits the chair with her face, leaving behind the face-shaped smudge.)
(He rushes toward her and starts punching her in the face.)
Andrew Melton: Is that what you want? Huh? You want me to hit you?! That you want?!
(He doesn't stop.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Andrew Melton: She never appreciated me.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - HALLWAY - NIGHT -- CONTINUOUS]
(Officers escort a handcuffed Andrew Melton through the hallway. Chloe Daniels and June are in the waiting room. June sees them walk past. She rushes toward them.)
June Melton: Andrew, what happens? JUNE MELTON: Andrew?
(Chloe appears behind June.)
Chloe: It'll be okay, honey. It'll all work out. You'll see.
(She hugs June, who sniffs.)
(In the back of the hallway, Brass watches them.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - ECKLIE'S OFFICE]
(Grissom heads for Ecklie's office. Inside the office, Catherine and Ecklie are going over some files.)
Catherine: (to Ecklie) Okay, here's what I wanted to show you. The facts just don't match up.
(Grissom walks up to the table where the two are seated.)
Grissom: You wanted to talk to me about Sara?
Conrad Ecklie: I haven't received her disciplinary action. What's the holdup?
Grissom: Well, I'm not firing her.
Catherine: What action are you taking?
Grissom: I've taken it.
Conrad Ecklie: I thought I was clear.
Grissom: You were. Now let me be clear. Sara's behavior is a direct result of my management.
Conrad Ecklie: So I should fire you.
Grissom: But you won't.
Conrad Ecklie: Look, Gil ... I've been there. We're human. We get attached to people, we try to fix their problems. It doesn't work.
Grissom: She's a great criminalist, Conrad. And I need her.
Conrad Ecklie: I'm sure you do. You know what? (He stands up.) She's a loose cannon with a gun. And she's all yours.
(Grissom watches Ecklie. He shifts his gaze from Ecklie to Catherine, who looks at Grissom.)
(Camera holds on Grissom.)
FADE TO BLACK
Plan: A: two bodies; Q: How many bodies are found covered in tar? A: the CSIs; Q: Who must try to uncover the identities of the bodies? A: the murderer; Q: Who is the CSIs trying to find? A: Sara; Q: Who is reprimanded by Ecklie for improper conduct? Summary: When two bodies covered in tar are found, the CSIs must try to uncover their identities and that of the murderer. Sara is reprimanded by Ecklie for improper conduct.