[EXT. SKY AT HIGH ALTITUDE (STOCK)]
(Camera opens on the sea of clouds at the bottom of the screen with the sun barely over the horizon. The wing tip of an airplane appears on the left of the screen. The camera moves over and the plane turns as it flies toward the camera.)
(In the background, fast-tempo techno pop music plays.)
(The camera zooms into the left engine.)
(Quick CGI through the engine, into the plane, through the electrical system, up toward the main cabin, through the gas pipe and out into the main cabin. End of Quick CGI. Resume to present.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. PLANE - MAIN CABIN - DAY -- CONTINUOUS]
(The gas flame flares in the pot over it. They guests don't pay any heed to it. They continue to mingle, laugh, and drink.)
(The party hostess, HARPER FITZGERALD, holds a martini glass in her hand and mingles with her guests. A man kisses her on her cheek.)
(A woman is getting a massage in the middle of the room.)
(HARPER FITZGERALD talks a bit with the woman getting the massage. The Steward, JASON BANKS, replenishes the food on the table.)
(Cut to: Ext. The plane hits some turbulence.)
(Cut back to: Int. Main Cabin. HARPER FITZGERALD and guests rock unsteadily on their feet as they feel the turbulence.)
(The blue FASTEN SEAT BELT sign turns on. The CAPTAIN'S voice filters through the P.A.)
Captain: (on P.A.) Hey, folks, we've hit a little more of that pesky turbulence. If you'd kindly take your seats we should be arriving on the hour.
(Guests start to plop down onto the nearest seat. JASON BANKS approaches HARPER FITZGERALD who is still standing.)
Jason Banks: (to HARPER) Fasten your seatbelts please.
(HARPER FITZGERALD takes her seat. She turns to the woman next to her and raises her martini glass.
Harper Fitzgerald: Cheers.
(The camera moves past the other party guests and focuses on the closed back door at the back of the room. A horse whinnying can be heard faintly through the party noise.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. PLANE - CARGO HOLD - DAY -- CONTINUOUS]
(The camera pans backward and down slowly. The horse continues whinnying. The cargo hold is padded with silver insulation and is filled with the passenger's things - a couple of motorbikes, a tray of food and, in the center of the cargo hold, a stall with a horse tied inside.)
(The camera moves past the tray of food, past the second motorbike, and focuses on the horse. Next to the horse on the ground in the stall on the straw is a dead woman.)
FLASH TO WHITE:
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. AIRPLANE HANGAR -- DAY]
(BRASS stands in the middle of the hangar waiting as GRISSOM and CATHERINE walk inside. They glance at the horse in a different hold to the right of the door. They walk up to BRASS.)
Brass: The victim's name is Lori Hutchins.
(The woman's body is still on the bottom of the horse's stall.)
Brass: Apparently, she chaperoned the horse on trips all the time. Baggage handler found the body in the cargo hold after the passengers had disembarked.
Grissom: We're going to need to process everyone on that plane.
Brass: Well, they're being corralled as we speak, partner.
Catherine: Where to start?
Grissom: First witness, first suspect.
(Everyone turns to look at the horse.)
Catherine: The horse?
(beat)
Grissom: Of course.
HARD CUT TO END OF TEASER ROLL TITLE CREDITS
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS AIRPORT (STOCK) - DAY]
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. AIRPLANE HANGAR -- DAY]
(CATHERINE interviews the STEWARD (JASON BANKS), the CO-PILOT and the CAPTAIN. They all stare at each other for a long moment. Finally, CATHERINE starts.)
Catherine: All right, let's talk about Lori Hutchins. What can you tell me about her?
Jason Banks: She was sweet, polite, quiet.
Co-pilot: (GLASSES) Horses were her life. She was great with them.
Catherine: And she always traveled down below with the horse?
Jason Banks: Checked on her twice during the flight. Brought her dinner about three hours in. She was worried about the horse, but that was nothing new.
Catherine: So nothing unusual.
Co-pilot: There was some turbulence, but nothing outrageous.
Captain: We had an emergency call button down there, if something went wrong. Lori never used it.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. AIRPLANE HANGAR]
(GRISSOM examines the horse's travel stall for evidence. He snaps some pictures of blood spots and finds a small pair of scissors with a piece of hair stuck to it.)
(NICK walks up to the stall and lingers near the doorway.)
Nick: Where's the horse?
Grissom: USDA facility. Mandatory 48-hour quarantine.
Nick: A hundred-pound woman trampled by a 1,400-pound horse? Doesn't seem very fair.
(GRISSOM finds something.)
Grissom: Tranquilizer dart.
Nick: Changes the odds a little.
(Under the straw, GRISSOM finds the rifle.)
Grissom: Mmm.
Nick: Yeah ... heavy artillery.
Grissom: More than one way to handicap a horse.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. AIRPLANE - CARGO HOLD - DAY]
(CATHERINE walks into the cargo hold with her kit. She looks around at the two motorbikes and other stuff.)
(She lingers at the brown pieces of something on the ground. She puts a sample in a bindle and packs it away. She continues her examination. She sees something pink in the ceiling lining. She takes out a small stool and extracts the tranquilizer dart.)
(Quick flashback to: In the cargo hold, the horse rears. LORI HUTCHINS tries to calm the horse down, but doesn't succeed. She turns around and picks up the tranquilizer gun and cocks it. She fires.)
(The plane hits some turbulence and rocks LORI HUTCHINS on her feet. The dart hits the ceiling instead as she falls backward on the ground. The horse rears up. LORI HUTCHINS is thrown forward into the stall. The horse comes down on her.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
(NICK walks into the cargo hold.)
Nick: What have you got?
Catherine: Trainer had all these small syringes. Why go for the big guns instead?
Nick: Mmm ... I don't know. Maybe she didn't want to get too close to a spooked horse. What about this food?
Catherine: Steward said he brought her some dinner.
(She lifts the cover off of the plate and looks at it. She puts the cover back on.)
Catherine: Guess she wasn't very hungry.
Nick: Looks like someone stepped in horse crap. (NICK kneels down.) And what was the vic wearing?
Catherine: Work boots, I think.
Nick: That's a funky print.
(CATHERINE looks at the print.)
Catherine: Oh ... a J.P. Tod's driving loafer.
Nick: Hmm?
Catherine: I may shop the outlets ... but I read vogue.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. DEATH VALLEY -- DAY]
(LOCKWOOD escorts SARA and WARRICK to the body.)
Lockwood: This is Death Valley, huh?
Warrick: You get lost out here, you're toast.
Lockwood: That may have been the idea.
[SCENE_BREAK]
(They reach the body.)
Lockwood: Helicopter tour pilot noted it and called it in.
Sara: Deathbed ... casket-ready. Laying in the hell's gate section of death valley.
Warrick: Poetic.
Sara: More like suicidal.
(She snaps some pictures.)
Lockwood: Is that bird crap?
(SARA takes a sample of it.)
Sara: Could be.
(WARRICK checks the boy's pockets for ID. He takes out a wallet and reads the information on it.
Warrick: Toby Wellstone. Mckinley High School. 12/12/87.
[ID # 8438291]
Sara: What's that on his hand?
Warrick: Looks like a transdermal patch. Fetanyl. Pores in the hand make for faster absorption. Intentional overdose.
Lockwood: I'll notify the parents.
(LOCKWOOD leaves.)
Sara: We're 85 miles from Las Vegas, one mile from the closest road. If this was a solo job, how did he get here?
(WARRICK points to some tracks on the ground nearby.)
Warrick: I see some tracks over there, but ... they could be from anything: A surveyor's tool ... a remote-controlled car ...
(SARA raises the camera to take a picture of the marks.)
Sara: Anything with wheels.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. AIRPLANE - MAIN CABIN -- DAY]
(CATHERINE checks out the main cabin. BRASS walks in.)
Brass: Oh, I'll tell you. Some days, it's tough to be me. You know, I wish that the seats were as organized as that bar. We have the passenger manifest. No assigned seating, 12 passengers 24 shoes, 36 lawyers.
Nick: What was this, a smoking flight?
Brass: Yeah, I think we've established the fact that these people do whatever it is they want.
(NICK grimaces and stares at the rumpled sheets on the bed.)
Nick: Now, please, don't make me ALS.
Catherine: Hey, man, I don't want to go blind any more than you do.
(CATHERINE looks down and finds a used condom on the bed. She opens a bindle and reaches down to pick it up.)
Catherine: Oh ... looky here. (She holds it out for NICK.) Little DNA party.
(NICK shudders. CATHERINE puts it in the bindle. She looks into the trashcan and sees something else.)
Catherine: Ooh. Bloody towels. (She holds the trashcan for NICK to look inside.)
Nick: Well, at least something made it into the trash can.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS AIRPORT (STOCK) - EARLY EVENING]
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. USDA FACILITY -- DAY]
(The USDA GUARD stationed at the doorway stops a woman from walking into the facility. She argues with him as CATHERINE and GRISSOM appear.)
USDA Guard: I'm sorry, ma'am. You may not enter the quarantine area.
Merrit: I know it's 48 hours, I know the rules, but I need to see my horse.
(CATHERINE and GRISSOM walk up to the guard and show him their IDs. He waves them in and turns back to the irate woman.)
USDA Guard: You can go in.
Merrit: I want to talk to Dr. Stevens.
USDA Guard: I'm sorry, ma'am.
Merrit: He's my vet.
USDA Guard: Sorry.
Catherine: Hi, Dr. Stevens.
(DR. STEVENS attends to the horse. He turns around when CATHERINE calls out to him. She shows him her ID.)
Catherine: How's she doing?
Dr. Stevens: Shaken up. Horses are incredibly sensitive to change. Travel's hard on them.
Catherine: How about losing a trainer?
Dr. Stevens: Like losing a best friend. I just don't understand how this could've happened.
Grissom: We're going to need to pull some samples from that horse.
Dr. Stevens: Okay.
[SCENE_BREAK]
(DR. STEVENS takes some samples from under the horse's hoof. He takes some skin samples and puts it in a bindle. He hands it to CATHERINE. She pulls out a pen to label it.)
Catherine: Thank you.
(GRISSOM checks out the HIGH FOLLY's backend. He notices something. The Camera zooms in to note the stitches.)
Grissom: This looks recent. What happened here?
Dr. Stevens: High Folly is what we call a "dirty mare." Prone to serious uterine infections.
(DR. STEVENS holds HIGH FOLLY'S head as CATHERINE extracts something from between her teeth.)
Dr. Stevens: Caslick stitching keeps out fluids and bacteria.
Grissom: So you stitch her up until it's time to breed?
Dr. Stevens: I know it sounds bad, but I promise having an acute infection is worse. And there's no greater tragedy than a champion who can't breed.
Catherine: Is this some kind of food?
(CATHERINE holds out the sample. DR. STEVENS looks at it.)
Dr. Stevens: I don't know. It could be.
Catherine: We'll need a blood sample. We found a tranquilizer gun in the container. We want to double-check it.
Dr. Stevens: You'd never use a tranq gun on a horse. The impact energy would cause an immediate adrenaline response. Make the horse more agitated.
Catherine: We'll still need that sample.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) -- DAY]
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - HALLWAY TO MORGUE -- DAY]
(SARA meets up with WARRICK as they head to FORENSIC PATHOLOGY. WARRICK carries and looks through a file.)
Sara: Hey. Nobody's here to claim the body?
Warrick: Nope. I don't know what's worse, consoling a grieving parent, or finding a kid with no parents at all.
Sara: No parents?
Warrick: No, this kid has been through seven foster homes in seven years. System lost track of him a year ago.
Sara: Mckinley high school said the same thing. He was out more than he was in. Kid was a ghost.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - MORGUE -- DAY]
(ROBBINS pulls out the table with TOBY WELLSTONE'S body on it.)
Robbins: Treated himself to a hamburger with pickles and ketchup, chocolate shake, and what I can only assume was super-size fries.
Sara: So that's what killed him.
Warrick: That's a five-course meal to a teenager.
Robbins: More like a last supper, I'm afraid. He took a synthetic narcotic, fentanyl. By patch and by pill.
Warrick: Yeah, that's a painkiller.
Robbins: Used in hospitals, post-surgery.
Sara: What is ... cisapride?
Robbins: That what separates the attempts from the corpses. It's a prokenetic agent that speeds up the body's absorption of fentanyl and it keeps the stomach acids from going into reflux.
(Quick CGI to: Stomach sounds. Stomach acids. A pill falls into the stomach and starts fizzing. End of CGI. Resume to present.)
Warrick: No nausea, no vomit.
Sara: No vomit, no chance of survival. Kid did his homework.
Warrick: Permanent solution to a temporary problem.
Robbins: Maybe not so temporary. 80% of all completed suicides have tried previously.
(ROBBINS holds out TOBY WELLSTONE'S wrist to show the scars.)
Robbins: From the scarring, I'd say twice before.
(He pauses and looks down at the body.)
Robbins: Third time's the charm.
(He pulls the sheet over the body.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY - IMPERIAL PALACE (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI -- LAB]
(Camera close up of an Evidence bag label. On it reads:
EVIDENCE ARTICLE: BRN SHAVINGS EXHIBIT NO. DATE/TIME COLLECTED: 04/30/03
WHERE ARTICLE FOUND: HIGH FOLLY'S TEETH INV. OFFICER: CW )
(CATHERINE picks up a piece of brown shavings and drops it in a filter set up on top of a glass tube.)
(Camera moves over a second Evidence bag label. On it reads:
EVIDENCE ARTICLE: BRN SHAVINGS EXHIBIT NO. DATE/TIME COLLECTED: 04/30/03
WHERE ARTICLE FOUND: CARGO BAY FLOOR INV. OFFICER: C.W. )
(She takes a piece of brown shavings from that sample and drops it into a second filter set up on top of a second glass tube.)
(She takes some CHLOROFORM and puts some of it in each sample.)
(NICK walks in. CATHERINE looks up.)
Nick: Hey, fashionista.
(He holds up the bag with a shoe in it.)
Nick: Brass collected all the shoes. You were right. Not only did we find a match, but I also found trace elements.
Catherine: Equus caballus?
Nick: Horse dung all the way. Brass is bringing her in now.
Catherine: Thanks.
(NICK turns to leave.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY]
(ROBBINS goes over the findings with GRISSOM.)
Robbins: Our horse trainer has paramortem bruising and scraping, ranging from minor to major, all consistent with being trampled. What's not consistent is this: Pinpoints.
(ROBBINS shows GRISSOM the body's right pupil. GRISSOM looks at ROBBINS, surprised.)
Grissom: An opiate overdose?
Robbins: Torphine. A thousand times as potent as morphine.
Grissom: Tranquilizer.
Robbins: Mm-hmm. One of the bruises contains a puncture wound about the same size as that dart you found.
(GRISSOM takes off his glasses and looks at ROBBINS.)
Grissom: How do you shoot yourself in the shoulder with a tranquilizer rifle?
Robbins: Someone else shot her.
Grissom: And framed the horse.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM]
(NICK and BRASS question HARPER FITZGERALD.)
Nick: Miss Fitzgerald, your shoe print was found in the cargo hold where Lori Hutchins' body was found.
Harper Fitzgerald: Please ... call me Harper.
Brass: Were you down there, Harper?
Harper Fitzgerald: Yes. It is my plane. I can go wherever I please.
Nick: Lady ... why were you down there?
Harper Fitzgerald: To woo her.
(Quick flashback to: HARPER FITZGERALD talks with LORI HUTCHINS.)
Harper Fitzgerald: I know how much Merrit is paying you.
(HARPER holds out the checkbook to LORI HUTCHINS.)
Harper Fitzgerald: Why don't you write your own check?
Lori Hutchins: (shakes her head) Thank you, all the same, but I'm not making any changes right now.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Brass: You don't strike me as the kind of woman who'd take no for an answer.
(BRASS sits down at the table.)
Harper Fitzgerald: Mmm ... I'm not. I figured she'd come around. Besides ... she's no use to me dead.
(NICK takes out a swab.)
Nick: We need a DNA sample.
(HARPER turns to look at NICK.)
(cc) NICK: Open up.
(She looks at him and opens her mouth. NICK takes the swab. She laughs.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAST VEGAS HILLS (STOCK) - DAY]
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. DEATH VALLEY -- DAY]
(WARRICK and SARA walk toward the dead body of a young woman. LOCKWOOD is already there kneeling next to it.)
Sara: Getting a strange sense of deja vu.
Warrick: It's raining bodies here.
(LOCKWOOD sees them and stands up.)
Lockwood: National Park Service found her. She was beyond our perimeter. We had no reason to believe that there were more bodies. They're looking for any others.
Warrick: Want to turn her over?
(The officers turn her over. WARRICK and SARA look at the body.)
Warrick: He's wearing a suit. She's wearing a prom dress? That's odd.
(WARRICK makes note of her wrists.)
Warrick: No prior scarring on the wrists, but the same transdermal patch. That white substance looks like the same stuff you found near Toby's body.
Sara: Seems like Romeo had a Juliet.
Warrick: Who got out of bed and ended up a half-a-mile away.
Sara: Her dress is way too big.
Warrick: What are you thinking?
Sara: Vanity, thy name is teenage girl. They were trying to go out in style. (beat) Something's off.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI -- LAB]
(GRISSOM walks into the lab. CATHERINE is already there. He's carrying a file.)
Grissom: The tranquilizer gun looks like a wipe-down, and there's no prints on the ceiling dart.
Catherine: How about the dart in the container?
Grissom: Partial palm print. Not enough for comparison. But, there was three different matches on the handrail leading down to the cargo bay. A Harper Fitzgerald ...
(Quick flashback to: From the teaser, HARPER FITZGERALD carrying her drink in the main cabin. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Catherine: Owner of the plane.
Grissom: Jason Banks ...
(Quick flashback to: From the teaser, The STEWARD turns around as he's refilling the food on the table. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Catherine: Steward who brought the vic her dinner.
Grissom: Rhone Confer.
(Quick flashback to: From the teaser, a blonde haired man in a dark suit and blue tie. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
(CATHERINE shakes her head. She doesn't recognize the name.)
Grissom: Formerly a Concierge at the Orpheus.
Catherine: Concierge ... interesting.
Grissom: It is?
Catherine: Those brown shavings that we collected from the cargo hold and the horse's teeth were tobacco. More specifically, of Volando and Colorado Maduro.
Grissom: Cigar tobacco.
Catherine: Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, but when it does not contain propylene glycol, an additive used in the humidification process ...
Grissom: Then it's a Cuban cigar.
Catherine: Dominicans are just as good, but, uh ... they're legal, so, you know, where's the fun in that?
Grissom: So if I'm looking for an illegally imported Cuban cigar, I go to ...
Catherine: Your handy concierge.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM]
(BRASS and CATHERINE interview RHONE CONFER.)
Brass: What were you doing on that plane?
Rhone Confer: I'm friendly with Harper.
Brass: Friendly? Is that a job title or do you perform a specific function for that distinction?
Rhone Confer: (laughs) You don't get it.
Brass: What, what ... what's not to get?
Catherine: Uh, why don't you help us, since you're so good at getting things like Cuban cigars?
Rhone Confer: Oh, come on. The embargo on Cuban cigars is ridiculous.
Catherine: It's still the law.
Brass: You break one law, the chances are...
Rhone Confer: I never went near Lori Hutchins.
Catherine: Well, we found your prints on the rail going down into the cargo hold.
Rhone Confer: (sighs) Look. I helped Harper out with a party at the Orpheus about a year ago. We hit it off. She started inviting me to things. This is my first trip on the jet. Now, I know I wasn't supposed to go down there, but ... (beat) all that stuff?
(Quick flashback to: RHONE CONFER walks up to HIGH FOLLY and pets her. She eats his cuban cigar. He protests.)
Rhone Confer: Hey, hey, hey, there, buddy. That's a $60 Cuban.
(He looks at the horse and backs away. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Rhone Confer: I got the hell out of there, and I kept my mouth shut. These people-- they don't tolerate a buzz kill, and I'll be damned if I'm going to be shot for being the messenger.
Brass: So the happier Harper stays, the fatter your pockets.
Rhone Confer: I really don't like to talk about money.
Catherine: (holds up a swab) How about we talk about DNA?
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI -- LAB]
(SARA swabs JILL FROMMER'S dress. She checks the dress with an ALS. She checks the dress stitching and notices the off colored threads.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - BREAKROOM/LOUNGE]
(WARICK is sitting at the table going through the file. SARA walks out from the hallway and into the breakroom. She takes the seat across WARRICK.)
Warrick: Hello. You get anything off of that dress?
Sara: I think our girl was a young Madame DeFarge. She made her own death shroud, but she didn't know her own measurements.
Warrick: That's kind of freaky.
Sara: Any results in the sexual assault evidence kit?
Warrick: No, the kit came back negative. The stomach contents came back the same. Identical to Toby's: Burger, fries, and a shake.
(WARRICK hands SARA the results.)
Warrick: And, also, the drug ratios were the same for fentanyl and cisapride.
(Camera focuses on the file folder of the two patches on the two hands.)
Warrick: You know what else is freaky -- her prints were on his patch, and his prints were on hers.
Sara: She was a willing participant in all this.
(Quick flashback to: JILL FROMMER pours some pills into her hand and swallows them. TOBY WELLSTONE, sitting next to JILL, does the same. JILL takes a drink from her water bottle. TOBY drinks from his.)
(JILL puts the patch on TOBY'S palm. TOBY puts the patch on JILL'S. He looks at him. He touches her cheek. She smiles.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Sara: Why didn't we find any trash at the crime scene, and why didn't we find a note?
Warrick: Well, you know, I read somewhere that only 15% of suicides actually leave a note, but you would think, with all the trouble they went through, they would want to be found.
Sara: Together.
Warrick: Yeah, and after she was sedated, she crawls away from the scene?
Sara: Why?
(There's a knock on the room door. WARRICK looks up.)
Lockwood: Hey, girl's library card matched a missing persons report filed today: Jill Frommer. Mom's coming in to I.D. The body.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - WAITING ROOM]
(SARA and LOCKWOOD interview MRS. FROMMER.)
Sara: Do you recognize this dress?
Mrs. Frommer: No.
Sara: Did Jill take Home Ec, or like to sew...
Mrs. Frommer: Jill? Please. No, Jill didn't do anything domestic. You only realize what you want to teach them after it's too late.
Lockwood: Toby Wellstone ... he lived with you as a foster kid about five years ago?
Mrs. Frommer: Yeah, for about a year, and then I sent him back.
Sara: Can I ask why?
Mrs. Frommer: My husband died of cancer, and I couldn't handle Toby alone. That boy was just way out of control. And then about ... about a year ago, Jill brings him home.
(Quick flashback to: JILL FROMMER pleading with her mother.)
Jill Frommer: Mom, look at Toby's back. He can't stay there. It's not safe; you have to help, please.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Lockwood: And you did.
Mrs. Frommer: It didn't seem like I had any choice. I mean, the system didn't care.
Sara: Mrs. Frommer, were Toby and your daughter involved romantically?
(She covers her eyes.)
Mrs. Frommer: You know those moments you look back on and you wish you'd chosen door number two instead? My whole life feels like that. I got nothing left.
(SARA looks down for a moment.)
Sara: To your knowledge, did, um, Jill ever attempt suicide before?
Mrs. Frommer: No. I mean, not that I know of, but with that boy around, there's no telling what he got her into. I ... I called Social Services. I tried to get him out of the house. He was on a list, but nobody wants teenagers, you know? Just five and under.
Sara: Mrs. Frommer, we believe that Toby and Jill had help. We'd like a list of their friends.
Mrs. Frommer: (laughs sadly) Friends?! I think it's pretty clear that my daughter's life was just way out of my hands.
(MRS. FROMMER sighs.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - DNA LAB]
(GREG reports his findings to CATHERINE.)
Greg: Blood on the paper towels was the vic's, Lori Hutchins. Found DNA on another area, however. Epithelials with two donors.
Catherine: By who?
Greg: Well, the vic and ... someone else.
Catherine: Are you being cagey?
Greg: I'm trying to transition out of cagey. You got to round up some more swabs. Neither Harpo ...
Catherine: (corrects) Harper.
Greg: Whatev-O. Neither She nor Rhone Confer was a match.
(CATHERINE'S phone rings. She answers it.)
Catherine: (to phone) Yeah?
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS AIRPORT (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. USDA FACILITY -- NIGHT]
(DR. STEVENS, GRISSOM and CATHERINE stand over HIGH FOLLY'S dead body.)
Dr. Stevens: I came as soon as I got a call from the USDA.
Catherine: What happened?
Dr. Stevens: Chronic metritis. Uterine infections. I opened up the caslicks. I tried antibiotics, saline lavage ... I guess it was too little, too late.
(GRISSOM kneels down and looks at HIGH FOLLY'S behind.)
Grissom: I found a suture scissors near Lori's body on the plane. Is it possible that she knew about the infection and tried to relieve it?
Dr. Stevens: Well, it'd have to be critical for lori to try emergency surgery in the air.
Catherine: Define critical.
Dr. Stevens: Massive swelling ... a threat to high folly's ability to foal.
Grissom: I believe we found our greater tragedy.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS AIRPORT (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. USDA FACILITY]
(GRISSOM watches the equine necropsy.)
Jessie Menken: Equine necropsy's a lot like human autopsy. One organ at a time. Do you know, they're a lot like us, except their constitutions are even more sensitive. A horse can die from indigestion.
Grissom: "A horse is dangerous at both ends, and uncomfortable in the middle."
Jessie Menken: Who said that?
Grissom: Ian Fleming.
Jessie Menken: Ah, James Bond fan, huh?
Grissom: I read the novels when I was a kid.
Jessie Menken: Well, the vet flushed and dilated her, but her white blood count was through the roof.
Grissom: You have any idea what caused the infection?
Jessie Menken: Hard to tell ... but the uterus is a highly-balanced environment, and an infection can start with something as simple as a speck of dirt. The uterine walls sense a foreign body, and attack it.
(GRISSOM holds out the tray. She pulls out the uterus and puts it on the tray.)
(Quick CGI of: The camera starts outside the horse's bottom, then zooms through to the uterus and focuses on a black substance. White liquid surrounds the black substance. End of CGI. Resume to present.)
Grissom: I thought the stitches were used to prevent the invasion of foreign bodies.
(GRISSOM puts the tray down.)
Jessie Menken: Well, they're supposed to, but she's got so much pyometra in her right uterine horn, something got in there.
(JESSIE MENKEN takes a knife and cuts into the uterus.)
Jessie Menken: Unless a horse is opened up, you can't actually reach the horns.
(She opens it up and sticks her hand inside. She pulls out a bag. She looks at it confused.)
Jessie Menken: This is outside my purview.
(GRISSOM looks at the bloodied bag. He cuts it open and looks inside. He takes a tray and empties it.)
Grissom: Uncut diamonds? (beat) The horse is a "mule".
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. HIGH SCHOOL (STOCK) - DAY]
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. McKINLEY HIGH SCHOOL -- DAY]
(WARRICK and SARA question a group of teenagers.)
Dark-haired Teenager: Jill Frommer? Dude, that girl was mental.
Blonde-haired Teenager: I used to be friends with her in, like, fifth grade.
Brown-haired Teenager: Sometimes I'd pick her up before school, and she'd always be waiting outside, like a dork.
Sara: When was the last time you saw Jill?
Dark-haired: Hmm, she hasn't been at school all year.
Blonde-haired Teenager: I heard she switched schools to be with some guy.
(She rolls her eyes.)
Dark-haired Teenager: How lame.
Brown-haired Teenager: Oh, like you wouldn't do it.
Sara: (interrupting) Like, does this dress look familiar?
Dark-haired Teenager: Oh, god. That's the dress that Alyssa made and wore to last year's homecoming.
Blonde: When she was fat?
Warrick: Ladies ... who is Alyssa?
Brown-haired Teenager: Jamison. Aka GTS. Goody two shoes. When she's not out saving the planet, she's healing the sick.
Sara: What?
Blonde-haired Teenager: She works as a "Volun-teen" at the hospital.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. HOSPITAL - HALLWAY -- DAY]
(SARA and WARRICK walk into the hospital and down the hallway.)
(They walk up to the pharmacy window and press the button. A teenaged girl in a volunteer's uniform appears on the other side of the window.)
Alyssa Jamison: Hello. How may I help you?
Sara: Hi, there. I'm Sara Sidle, and this is Warrick Brown. We're with the crime lab. Did you know Jill Frommer?
Alyssa Jamison: Sure.
Sara: Did you happen to give her this dress?
Alyssa Jamison: Yes.
Warrick: Did you also give her fentanyl and cisapride?
Alyssa Jamison: Oh, my god! She ... killed herself, didn't she?
Sara: Yeah, she did.
Alyssa Jamison: She gave me a necklace.
Sara: Excuse me?
Alyssa Jamison: Giving away sacred possessions. That's one of the sure signs of suicide. She traded the necklace for my dress. I told her she didn't have to, but she kept insisting. Said that she had something special to wear the dress to, and the necklace would be collateral. I took it as a good sign, because she'd been so depressed lately.
Sara: Did you give her any drugs, or-or give her access to this pharmacy?
Alyssa Jamison: I couldn't, even if I wanted to.
(She points to the camera above.)
Alyssa Jamison: Not that I ever would.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. DR. STEVENS' OFFICE -- NIGHT]
(CATHERINE kneels down next to the glass table. GRISSOM lingers in the doorway.)
Grissom: According to his receptionist, Dr. Stevens ... left town ... unexpectedly.
Catherine: Really? Well, check this out.
(Camera zooms close up to the dust on the table.)
Catherine: I don't think it's pixie dust. And ... lots of red lentils.
(CATHEIRNE picks up the nearby trash can and shows it to GRISSOM.)
Grissom: Supposedly used to keep the diamonds from chipping.
(Quick flashback to: DR. STEVENS working with the diamonds on the table. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Catherine: That Dr. Stevens was very involved.
Grissom: Mmm.
(GRISSOM turns around and looks at the large poster hanging on the office wall of the MARE REPRODUCTIVE TRACT.)
Grissom: A horse's uterus is the size of a football, so he could've packed it with pouches of diamonds.
Catherine: Why did he leave one behind?
Grissom: He took what he could reach.
Catherine: And ran.
Grissom: But he wasn't on that plane, so he couldn't have killed the girl.
Catherine: He had a partner.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI -- LAB]
(The uncut diamonds are being cleaned. GRISSOM takes one out. He does a diamond analysis on it. The results read:
ORIGINS: CENTRAL OR SOUTH AFRICA
... NESS: 1.1 - 2.5 SL. THICK
2 VERY GOOD EXCELLENT EXCELLENT WS1
F NONE
(GRISSOM puts the diamond aside.)
Grissom: Did you know that the term "carat" comes from the Mediterranean Carob Tree, whose seeds were used for centuries as a standard of measurement?
(GRISSOM takes the next diamond out. CATHERINE sits on the other side of the table. She weighed the lentils.)
Catherine: No. Um ... so, based on the six-to-one lentil-to-diamond ratio in the packet we found, and assuming that all the packets are the same size, I think we're looking for ... five more.
Grissom: Five?
Catherine: Well, yeah, based on weight, uh, we've established that approximately 183 grams of lentils per pack... 732 grams would be ...
(CATHERINE does the calculations.)
Catherine: Oh, my mistake. Four.
Grissom: Well, it's not 100% accurate, but, uh ... based on shape, color characteristics, wavelength absorptions of the regional impurities ... it says that these diamonds come from Central Africa.
Catherine: Conflict diamonds? Don't those fund warlords and support child slavery?
Grissom: Yeah. Bought for pennies on the dollar, and banned by the U.N.
Catherine: Well, that would explain why someone felt the need to smuggle them into the country.
Grissom: That, and a half a million dollars worth of luxury tax. No customs, no tax.
Catherine: And if Lori were about to find out, explains why someone would want to kill her.
Grissom: So we've got the how and the why. (beat) We just need the who.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM -- NIGHT]
(BRASS interviews the Steward, JASON BANKS.)
Brass: Well, you travel with a well-heeled crowd. I checked everybody's passports. Man, you guys get around ... but you're the only one who's been to Sierra Leone.
Jason Banks: You know why I became a steward?
Brass: I don't know, uh, see the world?
Jason Banks: Exactly.
Brass: What'd you see in Sierra Leone?
Jason Banks: Well, that's the joke. Free night in Amsterdam? No, no. I went around the globe picking up packages for the Fitzgeralds like a frickin' bike messenger. "Oh, could you take the plane to Rome ... to Ghana... pick something up for me?"
Brass: Sounds like fun. What kind of stuff did you pick up?
Jason Banks: Who knows? Art, antiques. It's usually wrapped up. Look, I figure I'm better off not knowing, and it looks like I was right.
Brass: What was your beef with Lori, the horse trainer?
Jason Banks: I don't have one.
Brass: Oh, well, we got a stack of bloody paper towels with your DNA on it that says you do.
(Quick flashback to the bloodied towels in the trash. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Jason Banks: I took them from her.
(Quick flashback to: JASON BANKS walks into the cargo hold carrying the dinner tray. LORI HUTCHINS sits on the floor against he wall. She stands up and he notices the wound.)
Jason Banks: Hey, Lori, dinner's ready. You okay?
Lori Hutchins: Yeah, the horse is just really freaked out. Gave me a good one.
(She shows him her arm.) Would you mind taking these? (She gives him the towels.)
Jason Banks: Sure. No problem.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Jason Banks: I got buzzed into the bedroom. Mrs. Fitzgerald needed help with her zipper. I threw the paper towels in the wastepaper basket.
Brass: That's a tidy little story.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - HALLWAY / DNA LAB]
(SARA and WARRICK head down the hallway toward the DNA lab.)
Warrick: You know Jill's friends seemed like they were brainwashed ... or brain-dead. And moms was absentee at best, huh?
Sara: Well, teenagers are very suggestive. If Toby was the best thing she had going, it's the biggest influence in her life.
Warrick: Yeah.
(They reach the lab.)
Greg: Don't even bother viewing those surveillance tapes. No hospital's dispensed cisapride in three years.
Sara: So that's it? The kids just magically got the drugs and offed themselves, end of story?
Greg: Not exactly. The white substance that you pulled from Romeo's blanket and Juliet's dress ...
Warrick: Yeah?
Greg: Denatured milk proteins and mucoid saliva. (beat) Baby spittle.
Sara: There was a baby out there.
Greg: Not just any baby -- their baby. I pulled DNA. Two halves make a whole.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. DEATH VALLEY -- NIGHT]
(Officers comb the area looking for the baby.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. FROMMER RESIDENCE -- NIGHT]
(LOCKWOOD meets up with WARRICK and SARA.)
Lockwood: Mom's credit card showed a suit purchase in the young men's department at JC Penney's.
Warrick: Oh, yeah? Looks like moms is a personal shopper and chauffeur, huh? Guess moms is busy.
(Through the car window, they see the take-out rubbish in the back of the car.)
Sara: Too busy to notice a baby, apparently.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. DEATH VALLEY - NIGHT -- CONTINUOUS]
(OFFICERS continue to search for the missing baby.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. FROMMER RESIDENCE - NIGHT -- CONTINUOUS]
(WARRICK, SARA, and LOCKWOOD stand outside the front door. They knock. MRS. FROMMER opens the door. LOCKWOOD holds up the warrant.)
Lockwood: Ma'am, we have a warrant to search the premises.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. FROMMER RESIDENCE - NIGHT -- CONTINUOUS]
(WARRICK and SARA each search through a drawer.)
(In the second drawer he looks through, WARRICK finds some cards.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
(WARRICK and SARA search through the kitchen. LOCKWOOD and MRS. FROMMER stand aside and watch.)
(SARA opens the cabinet door and finds something: a shelf full of prescription medicine. She goes through them and finds one in particular. She also finds a stack of patches.)
(cc) SARA: Warrick ...
(SARA picks up both the prescription bottle and the patches. She turns around to look at MRS. FROMMER.)
Sara: Cisapride and fentanyl-- you care to explain this?
Mrs. Frommer: My husband went through chemo, I told you that. The fentanyl's for my back pain.
Warrick: Why didn't you tell us that Jill and Toby had access to these?
(Quick flashback to: MRS. FROMMER asks JILL to get her pills.)
Mrs. Frommer: Jill, I'm going to lie down. Go get me those pills for my back.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Mrs. Frommer: You didn't ask.
(Out of nowhere, they hear the sounds of baby babbling and cooing coming from the refrigerator. SARA doesn't move. MRS. FROMMER doesn't say anything. WARRICK steps toward the refrigerator and opens the door.)
(On the top shelf is the baby monitor in front of three baby bottles.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. FROMMER'S RESIDENCE - NURSERY -- CONTINUOUS]
(WARRICK, SARA and MRS. FROMMER walk into the nursery. WARRICK looks at the baby in the bassinet.)
Warrick: Hi, baby. Hi, little baby.
(MRS. FROMMER picks up the baby.)
Mrs. Frommer: I'm this baby's only chance.
Sara: Lady, you are out of chances.
Mrs. Frommer: Watching people kill themselves isn't against the law in Nevada.
(Quick flashback to: JILL FROMMER lies down on the ground with the baby on her. She looks at her baby.)
Jill Frommer: (to her baby) I love you.
(MRS. FROMMER walks up to them and takes the baby from her.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Warrick: So you encouraged them to take the pills.
(Quick flashback to: MRS. FROMMER yelling angrily at JILL and TOBY.)
Mrs. Frommer: How much longer are you two going to ruin my life, huh? How much longer?
(Cut to: JILL and TOBY sitting in the back seat of the car eating their dinner while MRS. FROMMER drives.)
Warrick: (V.O.) You drove them out to death valley after their last meal.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Sara: There's nothing like a little positive reinforcement, is there?
(Quick flashback to: MRS. FROMMER pushes the baby stroller away from JILL.)
Mrs. Frommer: They were beyond saving.
(JILL gets up and cries out to her mother. Her mother continues to push the baby stroller away, ignoring her daughter.)
Jill Frommer: Wait, mom, I changed my mind. I don't want to die.
(JILL gets up and starts to follow them.)
Jill Frommer: Mom! Mom! Please don't leave me!
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Warrick: I think we can convince a jury that you did more than just watch.
Mrs. Frommer: Not helping a child in danger is a misdemeanor. You might as well write me a parking ticket.
Sara: We're going to write you up on murder, and then I'm going to call Child Services.
Mrs. Frommer: Go ahead. I am next of kin, and without a record, I'm going to get her back in a second.
(LOCKWOOD steps toward her and starts to handcuff her. She's still holding the baby. WARRICK steps up to take the baby.)
Warrick: Miss ...
(MRS. FROMMER gives the baby to WARRICK.)
Mrs. Frommer: (to the baby) It's okay. It's all right.
Sara: It's all going to be better with door number two.
Mrs. Frommer: That's right.
(LOCKWOOD takes MRS. FROMMER out of the room.)
Sara: You think we even stand a chance?
Warrick: No.
Warrick: (to the baby) Hi ... hey.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI -- HALLWAY]
(CATHERINE meets up with GRISSOM.)
Catherine: What have you got?
Grissom: We got animal, mineral, and now vegetable.
Catherine: What?
Grissom: I ran the trace on the remainder of the diamonds. Lentils and carrots.
Catherine: Carrots on the karats.
Grissom: I'm thinking Lori packed the diamonds.
Catherine: After she fed the horse, evidently.
(Quick flashback to: LORI HUTCHINS feeds HIGH FOLLY some carrots.)
Lori: There you go. That a girl.
(She scoops up the lentils off of the table.)
(Cut to: She bags the diamonds. She packs the horse.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: She was the only one who got close to that horse.
Catherine: So Dr. Stevens didn't have one partner, he had two.
Grissom: And Lori was the only one who knew there was five packages, which would explain why Stevens left one behind.
Catherine: She was a victim, but she wasn't innocent.
(GRISSOM chuckles wryly.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - AUDIO/VISUAL LAB]
(NICK is in front of the screen. CATHERINE and GRISSOM sit in the back of the room in front of the monitor. NICK is setting up the screen.)
(On the monitor is an Info box and picture of LORI HUTCHINS.)
Catherine: Okay, so, we've got a dead woman, a dead horse, a runaway vet, and ... a couple million dollars worth of uncut diamonds that are unaccounted for.
(NICK opens the second Info box and picture of ERICA DOLINKY, Ski Instructor. Additional Info reads: Birthplace, Las Vegas / s*x: Female / Age: 31 / Eyes: Brown / Hair: Brown / Height: 5'10".)
Grissom: Well, diamonds are worthless unless you have a buyer.
Nick: What if the vet repackaged the diamonds, took them with him. PD traced him to the Caymans.
Catherine: But why would he smuggle them into the country only to smuggle them out again?
Grissom: Flight Steward's story checks out. Lori Hutchins had an ante-mortem gash on her right forearm.
(NICK opens the third Info box and picture of TREVOR NELSON, Masseuse.)
Nick: Ski instructor ... massuese ... geez. Is there anyone not on Harper's payroll?
Catherine: Well, you met her. Would you be her friend for free?
Grissom: What about Harper? It was her plane, Meredith's horse. She didn't care what happened to the horse.
(NICK opens the Info box and picture for HARPER FITZGERALD. He then opens the next Info box and picture for RHONE K.-CONFER.)
Nick: Yeah, but she's got no reason to smuggle diamonds. Reward's not worth the risk.
Catherine: (under her breath) Rhone Kinsey-Confer. Hey, what if we were thinking about this whole thing a little too globally? I'm going to find out what Rhone's mother's maiden name is.
(CATHERINE picks up the phone and dials.)
Grissom: What's his mother got to do with it?
Catherine: She may have sold me my engagement ring. (to phone) Brass, check out Kinsey Diamonds.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. KINSEY DIAMONDS]
(Camera close up of a tray of uncut diamonds.)
Catherine: (V.O.) Find out if the owner is related to our Concierge.
(A single uncut diamond is picked up off of the tray.)
(BRASS, followed by other officers, enter the backroom of Kinsey Diamonds where a lone diamond cutter sits at the table.)
Brass: Sir, stop what you're doing. Las Vegas police. We have a search and seizure warrant for any and all diamonds.
(The officers confiscates the diamonds.)
Mrs. Kinsey: I bought those diamonds. They're mine. What are you doing?
Brass: Hey, Mrs. Kinsey, did you ever stop and think that maybe your family discount was a little too good to be true? Did you really think your son mined those rocks himself? Come on. Think about it.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM -- NIGHT]
(BRASS and GRISSOM interviews RHONE CONFER.)
Brass: Yeah, someone else's plane, someone else's horse. What a good plan. Except you got caught. Why even bother when you had everything you wanted at your disposal?
Grissom: Tantalus. Stuck in hell, forever staring at the fruit just out of reach.
Brass: Except you couldn't do it without Lori. My guess is her death was an accident.
Grissom: Did she care more about the horse than she did the diamonds?
(Quick flashback to: RHONE and LORI argue in the cargo bay of the plane.)
Rhone Confer: Can't you give her a pill or something?
Lori Hutchins: I'm taking the diamonds out.
Rhone Confer: No, you're not. We've come too far to have this fall apart now. It's not worth the horse's life.
Lori Hutchins: Yeah, well, it is to me.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Rhone Confer: Prove it.
Grissom: Would you mind taking off your shirt?
Rhone Confer: I don't want to.
Brass: Well, that's unfortunate, because ... your tax evasion allows us to expand your warrant. And your shirt -- that's just the beginning.
(BRASS opens the warrant and puts it on the table.)
(RHONE CONFER sighs and unbuttons his shirt.)
Rhone Confer: What are you looking for?
(RHONE'S shirt falls open. In the middle of his chest is a large red, black and blue bruise.)
Grissom: Evidence of a struggle. Oh, and there it is.
(RHONE looks down at his chest.)
Grissom: High-powered pneumatic guns don't need to be loaded to leave a mark.
(Quick flashback to: RHONE CONFER picks up the rifle and shoots; the backfire hitting him in the shoulder. The tranquilizer dart lodges in the cargo bay's ceiling.)
(LORI screams and struggles against RHONE and the rifle. She grabs the rifle and points the empty gun at RHONE'S chest. She fires.)
(RHONE grabs the rifle away from LORI HUTCHINS. He then grabs a tranq dart out of the holder and stabs it into LORI'S shoulder. She falls down backward into HIGH FOLLY'S stall. She's unable to get up. The horse rears up on her hind legs. Camera close up of LORI'S pupils contracting to pinpoints.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Rhone Confer: (mutters) Freakin' pony lover.
Grissom: "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse."
[Note: Richard, Richard III, Act 5, sc. 4, 1 7 and 13, Wm. Shakespeare]
(RHONE looks at GRISSOM, perplexed. GRISSOM smiles and shakes his head.)
Plan: A: Catherine; Q: Who is the female investigator on CSI? A: a horse trainer; Q: Who was found dead in the cargo bay of a private jet? A: the victim; Q: Who was trampled by the horse? A: the situation; Q: What do Grissom and his team discover is more complex than they first thought? A: two teens; Q: Who committed suicide in the middle of the desert? Summary: Grissom, Nick and Catherine investigate when a horse trainer is found dead in the cargo bay of a private jet. At first it looks like the victim is trampled by the horse, but Grissom and his team soon discover the situation is more complex. Meanwhile Sara and Warrick investigate how two teens could have committed suicide in the middle of the desert.