DUE TO ADULT CONTENT VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
[EXT. VARIOUS LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) -- NIGHT]
(Sirens blare in the distance.)
WHITE FLASH TO:
[INT. DEBBIE MARLIN'S RESIDENCE -- NIGHT]
[LIVING ROOM]
(Scene opens on a close up of GRISSOM'S covered feet together as he stands on the side of the room. He cautiously takes a step to the side, hugging the wall as he looks around the silent living room.)
(He takes another cautious step, his flashlight noting the various items in the room - a red lantern floor lamp turned on at the base of the living room counter, the vase full of wilted red roses on the center of the coffee table, two empty and unused wine glasses, a bottle of wine and a wine opener is on the coffee table. On the back table are more candles.)
(GRISSOM takes several more cautious steps along the living room wall and faces the long stretch of hallway in front of him. He pauses and shines his flashlight all the way down the hallway carpet. He sees the brush tracks of a vacuum cleaner and on it, one set of normally spaced shoeprints leading away from him, toward the bedroom, and one set of wider spaced shoeprints leading toward him.)
[HALLWAY]
(Careful to hug the hallway wall, GRISSOM cautiously makes his way along the carpet careful not to disturb the shoeprints.)
(He moves along the hallway and shines his flashlight into the first open room door, the spare bedroom, where he sees something red with a tassel hanging from a stand next to a red sofa bed. On the bed is a red blanket, several red pillows, one red pillow with butterflies on it and a white pillow. He moves his flashlight to a wall metal framed shelf with various items with a similar butterfly motif - from a glass case with various butterflies in it to boxes and other small items.)
(GRISSOM continues down the hallway toward the master bedroom. He takes another cautious step along the wall toward the end of the hallway. On the hallway floor at the base of the door to the master bedroom is a stack of red candles. He looks at it and moves on.)
[MASTER BEDROOM]
(GRISSOM looks into the master bedroom. On the bed is a red pillow in the center of the bed; something small and red in the center of the bed. Our eyes catch the red bowl on the dresser at the back of the room and the red blouse hanging in the closet.)
(Hugging the wall, GRISSOM slowly makes his way toward the bathroom.)
[BATHROOM]
(GRISSOM slowly enters the bathroom. The lights are on. The room is large decorated in a white and black checkerboard pattern. He looks around and moves further into the bathroom knowing that the body is there in the shower area. He inches his way around the corner and through the clear shower glass, sees the body of the dark-haired young woman in a pool of blood on the black and white checkerboard floor, the blood as black as the floor itself.)
(She is kneeling face down, her knees tucked under her close to her chest, heels under her bottom and her arms positioned to her side and back, hands near her feet. She's wearing a powder pink spaghetti-strapped top and low-riding blue jeans prominently displaying her red satin and lace thong just under a butterfly tattoo on the small of her back.)
(Her head lies in a large dark-red nearly black pool of blood, forehead barely touching the floor, face turned toward the bathroom entrance with her hair pushed away from her face and clothes.)
(Something catches GRISSOM'S eye. He kneels slowly down to get a closer look at the body.)
(For a long moment, he stares at the woman - slender, young, dark-haired, pale skinned -- transfixed by her familiarity and haunting similarity to someone he knows.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT./EXT. DEBBIE MARLIN'S RESIDENCE - NIGHT]
(GRISSOM opens the front door and walks outside where everyone is waiting for him. He steps out onto the front porch and stops, his eyes seeking out and latching onto ...
[GRISSOM'S POV]
(SARA - slender, young, dark-haired, pale skinned -- turns and looks directly at GRISSOM.)
[RESUME POV]
(His gaze doesn't falter.)
(BRASS turns and sees GRISSOM. He steps forward and around SARA toward GRISSOM.)
Brass: Ready for us?
(Everyone turns to look at GRISSOM waiting for his instructions.)
Grissom: For now, no one enters this house except CSI.
(BRASS nods.)
(And, as if he can't help it, GRISSOM'S eyes shift to look behind BRASS at ... )
HARD CUT TO END OF TEASER ROLL TITLE CREDITS
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. DEBBIE MARLIN'S RESIDENCE - NIGHT]
(GRISSOM hands out assignments.)
Grissom: Warrick, you got the car.
(WARRICK turns around to look at the cluster of cars behind him.)
Warrick: Which one?
Grissom: Both.
(BRASS turns to WARRICK.)
Brass: Uh, take the Honda. The VW belongs to the victim's friend, over there. (He points to the woman talking with the officer in the back.) She called it in.
Warrick: Aw, that's too bad. This will be a day she'll never forget.
Grissom: Sara, you take the perimeter.
Sara: What? You just did a one-hour walk-through. The perimeter cannot be a priority.
Grissom: I need you to work the outside. Catherine and I will be inside.
(Not thrilled, SARA levels GRISSOM a look, then turns to work the perimeter.)
Catherine: I'll go talk to the friend.
Grissom: Find out where she walked and what she might have touched in there.
(GRISSOM turns to go back to the house while CATHERINE joins BRASS.)
Catherine: Hey, Jim.
Brass: Yeah?
Catherine: Did you talk to that guy across the street?
(CATHERINE points to a young man busy talking enthusiastically to a small crowd of neighbors.)
Brass: The neighbor? He's on my list.
Catherine: Yeah, he looks like he has something to say.
(CATHERINE ducks under the tape and makes her way to the friend wearing scrubs, sitting on the gurney while being checked out by the medics.)
Catherine: Hi, I'm Catherine Willows. I'm with the crime lab. What is your name, Miss?
Kelly McNeil: Kelly McNeil. Deb and I are best friends. We were supposed to get together yesterday. It was our day off.
Catherine: You're a nurse?
Kelly McNeil: Yeah. Both of us. Desert Palm Hospital. We made lunch plans, but she canceled.
Catherine: She give a reason why?
Kelly McNeil: Michael.
Catherine: Michael?
Kelly McNeil: Michael Clark. Um, she's been seeing him for a month or so. He's a surgical intern. When she didn't show up for work today, I called the house ... her cell ... no answer, so I drove by after shift.
Catherine: And how did you get in?
Kelly McNeil: We have each other's keys.
Catherine: Did you touch anything inside?
Kelly McNeil: No. I walked in and ... I saw her and I ran out.
(Quick flashback to: [HALLWAY] The image of KELLY MCNEIL runs through the hallway away from the bedroom toward the exit. Camera moves down to the carpet to show the shoe prints left behind.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Catherine: Kelly, this, uh, Michael -- is he just a guy, or is he somebody special?
Kelly McNeil: He was the first guy that Debbie ever blew me off for.
Catherine: And did you see him today, at the hospital?
Kelly McNeil: No. I figured they were both playing hooky.
(She looks at CATHERINE.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. SIDE OF THE HOUSE]
(SARA examines the side of the house. She reaches the back gate and sees something. She puts her kit down and runs a black gloved finger on the pavement to show a white powdery film coating the concrete. Thinking, she looks around the area.)
Jeff Pike: (V.O.) Moved in about two months ago.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. FRONT OF THE HOUSE]
(BRASS interviews the NEIGHBOR.)
Jeff Pike: ... Single girl. Alone in the house. Got my attention. I'm running for captain of the neighborhood watch. I'll probably have to self-appoint myself, but I'm going to put out a flyer, you know, about shutting doors, locking windows, I mean, the thing is ... you just don't think it's going to happen to you. You know what I'm saying? On your block ...
(BRASS puts up a hand to stop the campaign speech.)
Brass: Listen, Pike. Stop talking. I never seen somebody so excited about their neighbor being killed.
Jeff Pike: Let me tell you something: I know the business of everyone up and down this block, all right? Who's cheating on his wife, who's behind on his bills, whose kid's going to become the next Manson.
Brass: Let's talk about Debbie Marlin.
Jeff Pike: You know what they say about nurses.
Brass: What's that?
Jeff Pike: (hinting) That-that they like to party.
(BRASS doesn't say anything.)
Jeff Pike: Hey, look. You see a stethoscope around this chest? No. You want to know why? I'm not a doctor. So I couldn't even get close to her.
Brass: Well, who is getting close?
Jeff Pike: It's like a fricking doctor auto mall over there. You know, hunky surgeons, board certified, lots of dough. And if you want my opinion, I think they were dropping quarts.
Brass: Okay, did you notice any automobiles, any cars out front?
Jeff Pike: You know, as a matter of fact, sir, yes. Black Mercedes, E320. 2004 model, been there about a month. Rolls in all hours. I'm figuring on call, booty call. That kind of thing.
Brass: When's the last time you saw the Mercedes?
Jeff Pike: Two days ago. Around lunch. And, uh, I think he stayed for a little bit of dinner, too.
Brass: Thanks a lot.
(Finished, BRASS excuses himself and walks away. He takes out his phone and makes a call.)
Brass: (to phone) Yeah, this is Detective Jim Brass.
(WARRICK, in the meantime is taking photos of the paper grocery bags in the back of the car.)
Brass: (o.s.) See if you can find a 2004 Mercedes, black, registered to a Michael Clark, M.D. Thanks.
(SARA walks up to WARRICK.)
Sara: I have absolutely nothing. How are you doing?
Warrick: I got a lot. Check out the backseat.
(SARA looks at the grocery bags.)
Sara: Bananas. Stuffed mushrooms.
Warrick: Chocolate syrup, a six-pack of soda, a box of condoms.
Sara: No surprises there.
Warrick: Fresh bag of groceries in an unlocked car?
Sara: (thinking) Maybe she was interrupted.
(SARA turns to look at the house and stares directly at the camera.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. DEBBIE MARLIN'S RESIDENCE - BATHROOM - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS]
(SARA'S face DISSOLVES IN to a close up of DEBBIE MARLIN and her lifeless eyes.)
(GRISSOM is kneeling down just outside the shower area to look at the body.)
(CATHERINE walks into the bathroom. She looks down at the body, taking it all in. She shakes her head.)
Catherine: (softly) One thing I can never get over with this job: Anything can happen to anybody.
Grissom: That's why we're here.
(GRISSOM continues to stare at the body. CATHERINE looks around the bathroom.
Catherine: I bet this bathroom was the reason she bought this place.
(GRISSOM notices something and looks around ... sniffs around.)
Grissom: What am I smelling?
Catherine: Cleanser. Bleach maybe.
(There's blood all over the walls and on the shower glass.)
Catherine: Arterial spray is neck high. Indicates she was standing when she was attacked.
(Quick flashback to: [BATHROOM] DEBBIE MARLIN stands in the shower. Her attacker grabs her from behind, hooking his arm around her shoulders, ripping the knife violently across her neck. Blood sprays on the shower glass.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Catherine: And the highest gush of blood has the most volume.
Grissom: Definite lack of lividity. She must have bled out.
(GRISSOM stands, still staring at the body.)
Catherine: The killer had to get something on him. Had to be a bloody mess, but there's no ... footprints, there's no handprints, no smears.
Grissom: She looks like she was placed in this position.
Catherine: What's the message?
(GRISSOM doesn't answer her.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. DEBBIE MARLIN'S RESIDENCE - KITCHEN - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS]
(The refrigerator door opens. WARRICK and SARA kneel to look at the contents inside.)
Warrick: What do we got here? Pendale's milk. Non-fat. Half a gallon. Unopened.
(WARRICK takes a photo of the milk.)
Sara: Groceries that made it inside.
(SARA walks over to the grocery bag on the counter and looks through it taking out items from the bag.)
Sara: Fancy crackers ... brie. Coupons with no receipt.
Warrick: No receipt? This milk expires on the 23rd.
Sara: Eight days from now.
Warrick: Milk is delivered daily to the supermarket. That's a ten-day window. People usually reach back for a fresh one. Hmm ... subtract ten from the 23rd?
Sara: She was at Pendale's two days ago.
Warrick: Well, according to Brass, that was the last time her boyfriend's car was seen out front.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[BATHROOM]
(CATHERINE works at the sink while GRISSOM sits in the bathtub taking out swabs. He takes a swab of the drain. CATHERINE takes a swab of the drain. She tests it and sticks the red tipped swab in the test tube. GRISSOM tests his swab and places the white tipped swab in the next test tube. He adds liquid to the swab and it turns yellow. CATHERINE continues to test her swabs.)
(GRISSOM holds out the tube rack.)
Grissom: Positive for both.
(CATHERINE'S final swab turns purple.)
Catherine: Same here. So there's blood in all four drains, followed by bleach.
Grissom: He kills Debbie in the shower. Then he washes up in both sinks and in the tub? Why?
Catherine: The answer is in the drains.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[UNDER THE HOUSE]
(SARA crawls under the house. She reaches the bathroom pipe under the tub. She takes a wrench and loosens the pipe. Water drips out. She quickly gets a container to get the water as she removes the pipe. She pours the red-stained water into the container and looks at it. She then crawls under the pipe and looks up.)
(Camera zooms forward ... up through the pipe ... and up to the tub drain. Drops of luminol drip through. Camera pushes through the holes in the drain to ... )
[BATHROOM]
(GRISSOM kneels inside the tub spraying luminol around the drain. The lights are off and the area glows. CATHERINE sprays luminol on the bathroom tile around the tub. The tile glows with circular patterned swirls. Finished, CATHERINE looks at the results.)
Grissom: He cleaned everywhere but inside the shower.
Catherine: We're never going to know where the blood ends and the bleach begins.
Grissom: Where's all this blood coming from?
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[INT. DESERT PALM HOSPITAL - NIGHT]
(BRASS interviews VINCENT LURIE about MICHAEL CLARK.)
Vincent Lurie: Dr. Clark is on my surgical rotation. He was scheduled to assist this morning. No show.
Brass: Oh. Was that like him?
Vincent Lurie: No. It's completely out of character. See, half these interns come in here so scared, they couldn't carve a turkey. I have to give them scalpels with training wheels. Clark was different. He, uh, he's a real artist, a steady hand. Yeah, he has a gift.
Brass: How about outside the O.R.? Was he socially gifted?
Vincent Lurie: He turned a lot of nurses' heads, but it never interfered with his work. Why the questions?
Brass: Debbie Marlin, one of your nurses, was murdered. Throat slashed. You didn't know this? Dr. Clark and his "steady hand" haven't been seen or heard from since, so you don't have to be a brain surgeon to guess what I'm thinking.
(DR. LURIE'S pager beeps. He glances down at it.)
Vincent Lurie: Uh ... all I can ask is that I ... I hope that you're wrong about Dr. Clark. Excuse me.
(DR. LURIE turns and walks away.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. DEBBIE MARLIN'S RESIDENCE - NIGHT]
(CATHERINE and WARRICK search the cabinets for cleaning supplies. GRISSOM looks around the room.)
Catherine: No cleansers. No rags, no sponges, no paper towels ...
Warrick: You'd think that she restocked when she went shopping.
Catherine: Well, I'm thinking the killer used everything the victim had.
(GRISSOM looks into the trash can and finds it empty.)
Grissom: And then disposed of it.
[EXT. DEBBIE MARLIN'S RESIDENCE - BACK DOOR]
(GRISSOM steps outside. He takes a moment to remove the covers over his shoes. CATHERINE and WARRICK look outside.)
(They step out onto the alley where the trash bins are lined up against the fences on both sides of the road. CATHERINE lifts the lid and checks the nearest bin. WARRICK and GRISSOM spread out to check the other bins.)
(She drops the lid closed.)
Catherine: Nothing.
(GRISSOM walks across the road and checks the bin. He finds the bin empty.)
(CATHERINE moves to the next bin.)
(WARRICK checks a bin and sees it filled with leaves. He sticks his hand inside to check the contents.)
(GRISSOM looks around and notices the flies buzzing around a particular bin.
Warrick: Nothing here.
(GRISSOM makes his way to the bin with the flies. WARRICK and CATHERINE also turn to see what's inside the bin.)
(GRISSOM lifts the trash lid and waves the flies away. He sees a trash bag. Inside the trash bag are bloodied towels and empty bleach containers. He digs in further and finds a plastic bag with flesh inside.)
(CATHERINE takes a photo of it.)
(GRISSOM looks at the other trash bins lining the road.)
(cc) GRISSOM: There's gotta be more.
(He leaves the bin with CATHERINE and WARRICK and slowly walks down the alley with the trash bins lining both sides of the road.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. ALLEY BEHIND DEBBIE MARLIN'S HOUSE -- DAY]
(A group of agents work at going through the trash bins lining the sides of the back alley.)
(GRISSOM, WARRICK and CATHERINE each work at their own trash bin. GRISSOM empties the contents of his bag. CATHERINE overturns her bag and finds more plastic bags of flesh.)
(WARRICK finds a particularly gruesome bag filled with intestines.)
Warrick: I think I found the victim's internal organs.
(CATHERINE picks up a bag with a left hand in it.)
Warrick: This guy meant business.
(She picks up a second bag and examines its contents.)
Catherine: I think I can confirm the victim's male.
Grissom: It seems he vacuumed to remove any trace from the house.
Catherine: City picks up the evidence and spreads it all over the dump.
Warrick: We have the victim's clothes. Very neatly folded.
(He puts the clothes aside and picks up a plastic bag with a face in it.)
Warrick: Well, if this is our boyfriend, then ... Brass is looking for a ghost.
(GRISSOM looks at the bags and sighs.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - LAB - DAY]
(SARA filters the water sample from the bath tub pipe. She checks the filter and lifts off a strand of hair.)
(GREG walks into the lab.)
Greg: Heard about the shower. Nurse, huh?
Sara: Multiple hairs, multiple donors.
Greg: Looks like she had a few "friends" over. A little nurses gone wild.
(SARA looks at GREG; he shrugs at her. She goes back to her filter and lifts off another strand of hair. GREG looks at it.)
Greg: Blanched.
Sara: Killer poured bleach down all the drains.
Greg: Talk about sucking all the life out of DNA.
Sara: If there's anything left, it's probably denatured.
(Quick close up of a strand of hair stuck in the drain, the bleach dripping off the wilted strand. Camera zooms into the hair follicle, down to the DNA to show the DNA strands deteriorating.)
(End of CGI POV. Resume to present.)
(SARA thinks about it and picks up the pipe. She looks inside and lifts off a strand directly from the pipe.)
Sara: Wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait ... bleach might have missed this one.
(Quick CGI POV: Camera zooms down the pipe as the bleach drips down the walls. Camera stops on a single strand of hair stuck in the pipe, protected from the bleach.)
(End of CGI POV. Resume to present.)
(SARA examines the hair strand.)
Sara: Lucky for us ... we got a skin tag.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY -- DAY]
(DAVID PHILLIPS puts the bags of flesh together on a table while DR. ROBBINS goes over the preliminary findings with CATHERINE.)
Robbins: She's exsanguinated time of death is anybody's guess. Rigor's past, so it's over 24 hours. Deep incised wound of the anterior and lateral neck, transecting both carotids and the anterior trachea.
(CATHERINE stares at the body on the table..)
Robbins: Cut's clean. Extremely sharp, short instrument.
Catherine: Scalpel?
Robbins: That's what I'm thinking.
(ROBBINS touches the head lightly. He moves around the table to the other body.)
Robbins: You know, I caught a 25-pound yellowtail last year off the coast of Mexico, and it took me half an hour to filet. Dismembering an adult male with this precision and without cutting through the bone, twelve hours minimum.
Catherine: Half a day. That's patience.
Robbins: The, uh, patella was cleanly removed. And with one slice, the femur was separated from the tibia and the fibula. There's a perverse elegance to this butchery.
Catherine: Oh, I'm not so sure I see it that way. A killer with knowledge of anatomy whose tool is a scalpel. I think the butcher was a doctor.
(CATHERINE turns to look at DAVID PHILLIPS.)
Catherine: So David, isolate all ten fingers, ink them, give Jacqui the ten-card. We need to know who he is.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. DEBBIE MARLIN'S RESIDENCE - SPARE ROOM -- DAY]
(GRISSOM stares at a blue butterfly. He puts the blue butterfly down on the dresser. He picks up the framed photograph on the dresser. DEBBIE MARLIN is smiling, her arms raised up high above her head.)
(The resemblance is uncanny.)
(GRISSOM sighs and shakes his head.)
(He stares at the photo unable to get her out of his mind. He looks at the mirror.)
(Quick flash to: DEBBIE MARLIN sits at the vanity behind GRISSOM. She's dressed in the powder pink spaghetti strapped top, low-riding blue jeans with the bottom half of the butterfly tattoo exposed.)
(She turns around slightly and looks over her shoulder behind her at GRISSOM.)
(Quick flash to: SARA sits at the vanity behind GRISSOM, turned and looking over her shoulder at him.)
(GRISSOM stares at the mirror for a long moment.)
(His cell phone rings; he automatically answers it.)
Grissom: Grissom.
Sara: (from phone) Hey.
(Startled, GRISSOM realizes whom he's talking to and is thrown a little off-balance.)
Grissom: Sara, uh, listen, I'm in a bad area. I'll call you back.
INTERCUT WITH:
[INT. CSI - HALLWAY]
Sara: I got a skin tag off the bathtub drain pipe.
Grissom: (distant) Skin tag? That's great. Uh, give it to Greg.
Sara: Yeah, I did. Hey, do you want me to come over there and give you a hand?
Grissom: (faltering) No, I-I'm fine. I'll-I'll, uh ... I'll talk to you back at the lab.
(GRISSOM quickly disconnects the phone. SARA hangs up.)
(GRISSOM stares at himself in the mirror.)
(SARA pockets her phone, turns and walks back into the garage where WARRICK is working on the car.)
[INT. CSI - GARAGE - CONTINUOUS]
Sara: Hey, where'd Brass find the car?
Warrick: Long-term parking at McCarran. Ran the plates. R.O.-- Dr. Michael Clark. The head of security is giving us a copy of the surveillance tape.
Sara: So, he kills her and whoever she was with, and then he hops a plane?
Warrick: Well, it seems like that. You know what they say down at P.D. The quickest way to get a car stolen is to leave it at the airport unlocked.
(WARRICK easily opens the unlocked door.)
Warrick: See what I mean?
Sara: Who doesn't know that?
(SARA opens the passenger door and they both check out the front seat.)
Sara: Black powder on a black dash.
Warrick: I know. Let's just superglue it, huh?
(Cut to: WARRICK secures the cyanoacrylate fumer on its stand inside the car. He and SARA close the car doors and watch the fumes fill the car.)
(Dissolve to: They wait for the fumes to settle, then open the doors. On the passenger seat, circular patterns cover the chair; the driver's seat is clean.)
(SARA looks at WARRICK.)
Sara: Wipes and swirls. He cleaned everything but the driver's seat.
Warrick: Well, he had to drive himself to the airport, right?
Sara: He put something on the seat.
Warrick: Whatever he put, he took it with him.
(WARRICK looks around and spots something. Camera zooms in to a piece of black plastic stuck under the chair.)
Warrick: The black, plastic bag, maybe?
(WARRICK takes it out.)
Warrick: He missed a piece.
(Quick flashback to: The DRIVER puts a large black, plastic bag on the driver's chair.
Sara: (V.O.) He puts a bag on the seat, and then he adjusts it.
(The DRIVER slips into the car, sits on the plastic and adjusts the chair catching the plastic in the gears.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Warrick: How tall was he? Five-nine, according to the DMV report?
(WARRICK sits in the driver's seat to check the seat adjustment.)
Warrick: Wow. I'm six-two, and this is more than enough room for me.
Sara: So, whoever was driving this car, was way taller than five-nine.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - CONFERENCE ROOM]
(CATHERINE, WARRICK and SARA sit at the table to go over the case with GRISSOM on the phone.)
Catherine: Two days ago, Debbie Marlin is off work. Sometime in the morning, she buys groceries.
Warrick: It's from Pendale's, the closest store in West Charleston.
Sara: Brass talks to the box boy, remembered her, saw her just before his lunch break at 11:15.
Catherine: Pendale's is about 20 minutes from her house. Where's Nick?
Sara: American Academy of Forensics Science Convention.
Grissom: (from phone) Hey, guys, can we continue, please?
(Quick flashback to: [EXT. DEBBIE MARLIN'S FRONT PORCH] GRISSOM visualizes DEBBIE MARLIN taking a bag of groceries out of the back seat of her car.)
Grissom: (V.O.) (from phone) She comes home from the grocery store.
(GRISSOM leans on the front porch talking on his cell phone, looking out at the driveway and visualizes DEBBIE MARLIN carrying the groceries to the house.)
Grissom: (V.O.) She parks in the driveway, and she begins to unload.
(DEBBIE MARLIN walks into the house.)
(End of flashback. Resume to Conference Room.)
Warrick: She takes out her perishables first. She has to go back for second shifts, so she probably leaves the front door open.
Sara: Explains why there was no forced entry.
(GRISSOM steps to the hallway and looks down its long stretch.)
Catherine: (from phone) Getting ready for her date.
(He slowly makes his way down the hallway.)
(Quick flashback to: [HALLWAY] GRISSOM visualizes DEBBIE MARLIN kneeling and lighting the candles on the floor at both sides of the entrance to her bedroom.)
Catherine: (from phone) (V.O.) Lighting candles. Multi-tasking.
(Finished, DEBBIE puts the match out and walks into her bedroom.)
(End of flashback.)
(GRISSOM walks to the bedroom doorway.)
Warrick: (from phone) She opens up a bottle of wine, two glasses.
(Quick flashback to: Standing in the doorway, GRISSOM visualizes DEBBIE MARLIN kneeling and lighting candles at the base of the porcelain white bath tub.
Catherine: (from phone) Her girlfriend said that she was locking down for the afternoon with Michael Clark.
(End of flashback. Resume to Conference room.)
(In the background, we see GREG walking down the hallway toward the Conference Room.)
Sara: Nosy neighbor puts the Mercedes in the driveway sometime around noon.
(GREG walks into the Room with the test results.)
Greg: Thought you guys would want to know. The hair Sara found is a match to the bags of human tissue. Prints confirm it. Per Jacqui, it's Michael Clark.
(GRISSOM is on the other end of the phone listening to GREG'S report.)
Catherine: (from phone) So, um, most of our efforts have been towards identifying another victim.
Grissom: Michael Clark. But can we place him dead at the house?
(GRISSOM stands at the bedroom doorway looking at the bathroom.)
Grissom: Greg, what else can you tell us about that hair?
Greg: (from phone) You mean hairs? There were two. Ancillary, maybe arm or leg hair.
Sara: Found it in the tub drain.
(GRISSOM heads for the bathroom.)
Grissom: (to phone) The avatar of choice ... for dismemberments.
Greg: According to Jacqui, there were no prints found on the scalpel blades or handle,
(Quick flashback to: [BATHROOM] The Killer picks up a scalpel with a gloved hand. End of flashback.)
Greg: ... but the blood's a match to both victims.
Catherine: So Michael Clark was dead in the tub.
(Quick flashback to: [BATHROOM] MICHAEL CLARK, eyes wide open, is dead in the bathtub.)
Catherine: (V.O.) We just don't know how he got there.
(End of flashback. Resume to GRISSOM.)
Grissom: Well, I KM'd the carpet at the threshold of the bathroom. It's negative for blood.
Sara: So all the violence took place in the bathroom, at least anything that had to do with blood.
(GRISSOM steps into the bathroom and turns to look at the shower.)
Catherine: The bathroom is big, but it's not big enough to kill two at the same time.
(Quick flashback to: [BATHROOM] GRISSOM visualizes DEBBIE MARLIN standing inside the shower, lighting a candle on the shelf.)
Grissom: (V.O.) She lights the candles in the shower. Her back is to the door. He grabs her from behind...
(The KILLER grabs DEBBIE from behind and slashes her throat with a knife, blood sprays on the shower glass.)
Grissom: (V.O.) ... and slits her throat.
(GRISSOM looks down at the pool of blood near the shower drain in the empty shower area.)
Grissom: (V.O.) Then he positions her body ...
(Flash to: Close up of DEBBIE MARLIN'S head being deliberately turned toward the door, her eyes are open.)
(Flash to: GRISSOM deliberately turns DEBBIE MARLIN'S head toward the door.)
(Flash to: MICHAEL CLARK walks into the bathroom. DEBBIE MARLIN is already dead and positioned on the shower floor.)
Grissom: (V.O.) ... so that her face is the first thing the boyfriend sees when he walks in.
(MICHAEL CLARK turns and sees her.)
(End of flashback. Resume to CATHERINE.)
Catherine: So he takes seconds to kill Debbie.
(Quick flashback to: [BATHROOM] MICHAEL CLARK is dead in the bathtub. The killer picks up a scalpel and starts working on the body.)
Catherine: (V.O.) So why does he spend so much time cutting up Michael Clark?
(End of flashback. Resume to GRISSOM.)
Grissom: (to phone) Most likely because Michael Clark was the real focus of his rage.
(Flash to: Back view of DEBBIE MARLIN dead and positioned, her face turned to the door, hair fanned out behind her and facing GRISSOM who is standing just outside the shower stall.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[INT. DEBBIE MARLIN'S RESIDENCE - HALLWAY -- NIGHT]
(GRISSOM is on his hands and knees in the hallway. He leans forward and rubs a circular pad on a small section of carpet directly in front of him and tests for GSR. He finds nothing. He puts the pad aside and picks up another pad to continue testing for GSR. Camera pulls back slowly.)
(Dissolve to: GRISSOM rubs the pad on the small section of carpet directly in front of him. Camera pulls back further down the hallway.)
(Dissolve to: GRISSOM continues testing the carpet.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[HALLWAY]
(CATHERINE steps out into the hallway and sees GRISSOM on his hands and knees at the other end continuing his tests.)
Catherine: Don't tell me you never went home?
(GRISSOM looks up.)
Grissom: Okay. I just got started in here. Haven't even gotten to the other rooms yet.
Catherine: You know you lose your edge after sixteen hours. You're into your third shift. I mean, I'm all for overtime, but this is just plain greedy.
Grissom: My knees can't take this anymore.
Catherine: Have you eaten anything?
Grissom: What did you bring?
Catherine: (shrugs) I'll see what's in the fridge.
(CATHERINE leaves the hallway.)
Grissom: (shouts) We have to replace that, you know.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI -- LAB]
(WARRICK sifts through the vacuum bag. He picks out various items of interest and places them in open petri dishes according to HAIR, FOOD CARPET, PAPER &
OTHER.)
(He coughs. SARA walks in.)
Sara: Hey ... black lung.
Warrick: Ha, ha. I've been sifting through this trash for about six hours. You coming to rescue me or make fun of me?
Sara: I am just looking. Relax.
(SARA points to a particular dish.)
Sara: What are these white fibers here?
Warrick: They must be from the spare bedroom because all the other carpets are green.
(SARA turns and looks at the layout of DEBBIE MARLIN'S house, the "SCHEMATIC PLAN VIEW OF CRIME SCENE", CASE #00469-2.)
Sara: Spare bedroom wasn't on his entrance or exit path.
Warrick: Look, all I know is that they were near the top of the bag, so it must have been one of the last things he vacuumed.
(SARA nods.)
Warrick: I did happen to find this butterfly pendant, with some white fibers on it.
(WARRICK picks up a pendant from a dish.)
Warrick: It looks like a necklace or a bracelet and it has this link that snaps, so I'm thinking ... sign of struggle?
Sara: The killer was in that spare bedroom.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. DEBBIE MARLIN'S RESIDENCE - PATIO -- DAY]
(GRISSOM is eating out of a yogurt container, an open jar of peanut butter on the table in front of him. CATHERINE enters the room.)
Catherine: Feel better?
(She sits down at the table across from GRISSOM.)
Catherine: Well, now that we fed you, we should probably talk about a shower.
(He looks at her.)
Catherine: I mean at your place. You need to go home.
Grissom: As soon as we find some evidence, I promise.
Catherine: With fresh eyes, you won't miss it.
(GRISSOM puts the yogurt container and spoon down on the table in front of him.)
Grissom: Just talk it through with me, will you? What do we know?
Catherine: All right. The bathroom is where things got started -- candles, oils, steam shower, cleaned up, oiled up, sexed up.
(GRISSOM dips his finger in the peanut butter and sticks it in his mouth.)
Grissom: Let's go back to the bedroom.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. DEBBIE MARLIN'S RESIDENCE - BEDROOM]
(CATHERINE stands on one side of the bed using the ASL on the bedsheets while GRISSOM stands on the opposite side of the bed.)
(GRISSOM lifts the sheet corner.)
Grissom: No, nothing on this sheet.
(He and CATHERINE remove the top sheet. They ASL the second sheet.)
Catherine: She changed her sheets for her date-- I would.
(GRISSOM looks around and sees something. He sees a red silk scarf tied to the mattress.)
Grissom: Hey, Cath? Got silk?
(CATHERINE looks at the other side and finds the matching tie on the other side of the bed.)
Catherine: (smiling) Why, yes, I do.
(Quick flashback to: DEBBIE MARLIN is on the bed, her arms tied with the red silk. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Catherine: I don't mean to embarrass you, but, um ...
(CATHERINE lifts up the sheet away from the bed frame.)
Catherine: ... some guys need leverage.
(Quick flashback to: A pair of male feet pressed up against the bed frame. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: They do?
Catherine: (nods) I'll dust for prints.
(GRISSOM'S phone rings; he answers it.)
Grissom: (to phone) Grissom.
Warrick: (from phone) It's Warrick. I have something for you. I found a butterfly link with some white fibers on it.
(CATHERINE opens her powder container to dust the bed frame.)
Grissom: (to phone) Butterfly? Where?
(GRISSOM steps out of the bedroom into the hallway.)
Warrick: (from phone) In the vacuum bag. You check all the rooms?
Grissom: (cc) I haven't checked the spare bedroom. (audio) Let me look again and I'll call you back.
Warrick: All right.
(The phone disconnects; GRISSOM hangs up.)
[SPARE BEDROOM]
(GRISSOM lingers in the doorway and notices the butterfly collection on the shelf against the far wall. He walks into the room and examines the items in the collection: pins, pieces of jewelry, boxes and a couple of framed photos of DEBBIE and MICHAEL.)
(GRISSOM opens the butterfly jewelry box and looks inside. Bracelets line the inside, a pendant with "LOVE, DR. T", and other butterfly items. GRISSOM pushes the jewelry around and sees the butterfly pendant.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[MASTER BEDROOM]
(CATHERINE finds a print and lifts it off the bed frame.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[SPARE BEDROOM]
(CATHERINE walks in and lingers at the doorway. She holds up the print card.)
Catherine: Hang one. Toe print.
(CATHERINE walks into the room and joins GRISSOM in front of the shelves.)
Catherine: I'll have Sara compare it against both victims.
Grissom: Good. Warrick found a butterfly charm in the vacuum bag. I think I just found a piece from the same chain in this box.
Catherine: Butterfly, huh?
Grissom: She had a collection.
Catherine: Gifts from her ... gentlemen callers?
Grissom: Maybe the killer was taking his gift back, as in leave no trace. Maybe he finally ran out of patience and got sloppy.
(GRISSOM finds a strand of hair on the shelf. He picks it up. CATHERINE kneels next to him to look at the hair.)
Grissom: And this is why I didn't leave.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY]
(DEBBIE MARLIN'S body is on the table, a large identification tag hanging from her right big toe.)
(SARA settles in on the left of the body and begins to automatically take toe print samples. From where she sits, she pauses and looks up at the body. After a moment, she continues to take print samples.)
(Curiosity getting the better of her, she pauses and looks up at the body again. This time, she wants a better look. She pushes her chair away from DEBBIE MARLIN'S feet to get a good look at her face. SARA stares grimly at the face in front of her - a face that could be her own.)
(Unable to look anymore, SARA turns away, affected by the girl on the table.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - LOCKER ROOM -- DAY]
(CATHERINE is sitting on the bench and changing her shoes when SARA appears in the doorway.)
Sara: Hey, you seen Grissom?
Catherine: He's still at the crime scene.
Sara: (quietly) I eliminated both victims from the print you pulled off the bed.
Catherine: Well, we know she was fishing off the company pier.
(SARA nods. CATHERINE turns around and looks at her.)
Catherine: You, uh, seen Debbie?
Sara: Yeah.
Catherine: (prompting) And?
Sara: (avoiding) Yeah, I compared her toe prints.
Catherine: If I didn't know better, I'd think that was you on that table.
Sara: (tightly, smile forced) I didn't really look at her face.
(CATHERINE doesn't say anything, yet we get the feeling that she knows that SARA'S not telling the truth.)
Sara: (quietly) When you see Grissom, will you tell him?
(CATHERINE nods as SARA moves away from the door. CATHERINE watches her go, concerned.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. DESERT PALM HOSPITAL]
(CATHERINE takes the foot print of a doctor at the hospital while the other male hospital workers stand around waiting their turn. BRASS stands on the side and watches.)
Doctor: Oh, that feels nice. Do you have something to take this off?
Catherine: Just step on the card, please.
Doctor: Good thing you caught me early in the shift.
(He steps on the card.)
Catherine: Yeah, lucky for me. I think I could probably tell who pulled a double.
(Finished, CATHERINE hands the card to JACQUI FRANCO who manually compares prints right there in the room. THE DOCTOR stands and leaves. HOWARD TRIPTON takes a seat to take his prints.)
Howard Tripton: Listen, I've got a patient waiting in pre-op.
Brass: We'll have you out in a minute. We appreciate you providing your prints voluntarily.
Howard Tripton: Well, there's probably a little bit of a lot of us in Debbie's house.
(JACQUI looks up.)
Jacqui Franco: Oh, we'll know soon enough.
(CATHERINE finishes with the prints.)
Catherine: (to the surgeon) Thank you.
(VINCENT LURIE walks over to BRASS.)
Vincent Lurie: You understand, right? The police aren't the only ones with a code of honor. Now, some of these men are married, and if this gets out ...
Brass: Nothing gets out unless it needs to get out.
(In the background, JACQUI finishes and looks at CATHERINE.)
Jacqui Franco: Got a match.
(She points at the print sample and the print card.)
Catherine: Dr. Tripton.
(HOWARD TRIPTON looks up.)
Brass: I'm afraid your patient in pre-op is going to have to wait a little while longer.
(Camera holds on HOWARD TRIPTON.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM]
(HOWARD TRIPTON takes a sip from his cup. BRASS and CATHERINE interview him.)
Howard Tripton: Don't really know why I'm here.
Catherine: Your toe print was found in Debbie Marlin's house.
Brass: Same house she was murdered in.
Howard Tripton: Her car was in the shop, and I gave her a ride home one night, and she invited me in for a cup of coffee. She didn't like anyone wearing shoes in the house. Some Feng Shui thing.
Catherine: So, you Feng Shui-ed your way to the bed?
Howard Tripton: She was provocative. You take your coat off, she has her clothes off. She came on to me.
(Quick flashback to: [BEDROOM] DEBBIE grabs TRIPTON'S shirt and pulls him toward her.)
Debbie Marlin: Come on, doc, let's do it.
(She flips over onto her stomach.)
Debbie Marlin: Take a look.
(He lifts up her shirt to look at her butterfly tattoo.)
(Cut to: They're in bed; DEBBIE'S straddled on TRIPTON. She's wearing a sheer cover; her arms are outstretched with the silk ties in her hands sort of looks like butterfly wings. Oh, yeah, they're doing it - no more needed here.)
(Close up of TRIPTON'S toes against the bed frame.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Catherine: All right, well, let's talk about what's not open to interpretation. Yours were the only prints found in the house.
Brass: Michael Clark was on your rotation -- he was on your surgical team the day he was killed. You called in sick. Surgery was cancelled. Freed him up to be with Debbie, who also had the day off. What luck.
Howard Tripton: My son had a ball game. My daughter was at a swim meet. My wife was at a conference, and the surgery was elective. Not a stretch.
Brass: Your wife know about you and Debbie?
Howard Tripton: No.
Brass: She asked for s*x, right? She also asked for the bracelet, too, huh?
(CATHERINE puts the bag with the butterfly charm on the table.)
Howard Tripton: No, but ... I gave it to her. (He points.) This one.
(CATHERINE picks it up.)
Howard Tripton: She loved butterflies. Uh, I figured if I gave something special to her, she'd give something special to me.
Brass: Hmm. So it was a long-term relationship?
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - DNA LAB]
[SCOPE VIEW] of a hair strand
Greg: That's the hair from the spare bedroom.
(GRISSOM lifts his head from the scope.)
Grissom: There's an oily film on the surface of the hair.
Greg: Propylene glycol. Active ingredient in rogaine for male pattern baldness. Personally, I don't use the stuff, but my grandfather, Papa Olaf -- he was Bruce Willis at age 16. Lucky for me, baldness comes from the mother's side, so I'm safe ...
Grissom: Greg, please, I'm very tired.
Greg: Well, maybe the guy we're looking for is going bald ... or trying not to. According to Papa Olaf, a lot of guys who use rogaine also use propecia, kind of like a cocktail. I ran the hair through massspec. I got four peaks: Ethyl alcohol, propylene glycol, minoxidil, and finasteride.
(GRISSOM looks at the test results.)
Grissom: Finasteride, the chemical name for propecia.
Greg: But wait, there's more, and it's a family secret. Sexual. Happens in less than two percent of users. (whispers) Papa Olaf was one of those guys that needed hydraulics.
(GRISSOM thinks about it, shakes his head, then leaves the lab.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - HALLWAY -- CONTINUOUS]
(CATHERINE looks into the break room. She's looking for GRISSOM. GRISSOM turns the corner; CATHERINE turns and sees him.)
Catherine: Oh.
(GRISSOM walks up to her.)
Catherine: The prodigal CSI returns. You get any sleep?
Grissom: Not yet.
Catherine: So, uh, Brass had to let Dr. Tripton go. The old s*x alibi. Too bad he didn't leave a toe print on a scalpel blade.
Grissom: You got a take on him?
Catherine: Balloon head, but credible ... like most adulterers.
Grissom: Is he going bald?
Catherine: Not really.
Grissom: Grey hair?
Catherine: No.
Grissom: Anything else?
Catherine: He's a lefty.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY]
(TOP VIEW of MICHAEL CLARK'S body put together from the pieces found in the trash cans. ROBBINS goes over his findings with GRISSOM.)
Robbins: Okay, keep in mind, this is just a theory. It's a hot button issue among forensic pathologists.
Grissom: What's the consensus?
Robbins: Most doctors say it's impossible to prove handedness based on the wounds inflicted on a victim.
Grissom: Forget hard science. What's your hypothesis?
Robbins: Based on micro-incisions and hesitation marks, the victim was lying face up when he was killed. Take a look at the right knee.
(ROBBINS turns the knee over to show GRISSOM the cut. Camera zooms in close for a really good look at the cut.)
Robbins: The cut on the cartilage of the right distal femur has slight angulations from the, uh ... left distal to the right proximal, which suggests the killer was left-handed. This angulation is consistent with cuts made to the acetabulum and to the wrist, but bear in mind, it's not going to be admissible in court.
Grissom: I don't care about court. My mind's on a left-handed, propecia-using surgeon who's probably on staff at Desert Palm.
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. DESERT PALM HOSPITAL]
(The older doctors who fit the required description sit in a single row as GREG uses the ALS on their heads. He starts with the first doctor and goes one by one down the row of men. Finally, he finds the match.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM]
(GRISSOM and BRASS question VINCENT LURIE while his LAWYER is with them.)
Vincent Lurie: There was no need for the light show. All you had to do was ask.
Brass: Good. Since we're being completely honest ... are you losing your hair?
Vincent Lurie: I'm a 48-year-old man. I'm not unique.
Grissom: Your hair is, though. (He holds up the bagged evidence.) We found it at the crime scene. Minoxidil absorbs infrared light.
Vincent Lurie: I-I take rogaine and propecia. Again, not unique.
Brass: Well, we think that Debbie Marlin and Michael Clark were killed by a surgeon who is left-handed, and we know of two left-handed surgeons at Desert Palm: Dr. Tripton, who has an alibi, and you.
Vincent Lurie: Well, if you're going to make accusations, you should really do your homework. Howard and I are the only lefties on staff. Dr. Randolph, who has privileges at the hospital, he's also a lefty. We play tennis every Wednesday. He's got a heck of a back-hand. (BRASS nods.) If you want me to name more names, I could, but you don't want me to do your job for you, do you?
Lawyer: Gentlemen ... we're here as a courtesy, so if you're quite through wasting our time, I think that the doctor would like to get back to the business of saving lives.
Brass: Not so fast. Is this a link from a bracelet you gave Debbie?
(He puts on his glasses.)
Vincent Lurie: Mm-hmm. It looks like it. Where's the rest of it?
Brass: This link was vacuumed from the floor of the spare bedroom after the murder. The other link was in her jewelry box. The funny thing is that all the bracelets from the other guys she slept with are intact.
Vincent Lurie: Well, all I can tell you is when I gave it to her, it was in one piece.
(LURIE puts a hand on his LAWYER'S arm to get his attention; they confer for a moment. The LAWYER turns back to BRASS and GRISSOM.)
Lawyer: Do you have any other evidence?
Grissom: No, we don't.
Brass: We might not have any other evidence, but we have a theory.
Lawyer: That's not admissible in court.
Vincent Lurie: (indulgently) Oh, no, no, it's worth a listen.
(BRASS stands up and walks over to LURIE.)
Brass: (quietly) We think you killed Debbie Marlin because she rejected you, and Michael Clark paid the price.
(LURIE smile and chuckles a bit.)
Lawyer: Thank you for your time and your theories, but you said it yourself: You don't have a case. (he turns to LURIE) Doctor.
(VINCENT LURIE and the LAWYER stand up and head for the door. The LAWYER holds the door open for LURIE. Before he can leave, GRISSOM stops him.)
Grissom: (quietly) It's sad, isn't it, doc? Guys like us. Couple of middle-aged men who've allowed their work to consume their lives.
(Although he doesn't turn to look at GRISSOM, he's listening.)
Grissom: The only time we ever touch other people is when we're wearing our latex gloves.
(LURIE turns to look at GRISSOM.)
Grissom: We wake up one day and realize that for fifty years we haven't really lived at all. But then, all of a sudden ... we get a second chance.
(Quick flashback to: [DAY OF THE MURDER] DEBBIE MARLIN rushes out to the living room carrying a wine bottle and two glasses. She puts them on the table.)
(She lights the candles on the table, then turns and rushes down the hallway to light the other candles. Camera moves and we see a figure standing in the doorway watching her.)
Grissom: (V.O.) Somebody young and beautiful shows up. Somebody ...
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: ... we could care about. She offers us a new life with her ... ... but we have a big decision to make, right? Because we have to risk everything we've worked for in order to have her.
(GRISSOM'S eyes move off of LURIE and his words turn introspective.)
Grissom: I couldn't do it ...
(He refocuses on LURIE; their eyes meet.)
Grissom: ... but you did. You risked it all ...
(LURIE looks away, unable to hold GRISSOM'S knowing gaze.)
Grissom: ... and she showed you a wonderful life, didn't she? But then she took it away and gave it to somebody else, ...
(Quick flashback to: [BEDROOM] LURIE sits on the bed as DEBBIE MARLIN ends their relationship. LURIE buries his head in his hands.)
Grissom: (V.O.) ... and you were lost.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: So you took her life.
(Quick flashback to: [BATHROOM] DEBBIE lights the candles in the shower. LURIE grabs her from behind, she gasps. He slashes her throat, blood sprays on the shower wall.)
(Cut to: [SPARE BEDROOM] LURIE, hands bloodied, picks up the butterfly bracelet from the box on the shelf. He rips the bracelet apart in anguish; the charms fall onto the carpet. He stands there, his head in his hands.)
Michael Clark: (o.s.) Debbie, it's me, Michael.
(LURIE hears MICHAEL and quickly bends down, hastily picking up the links off the carpet. He misses one.)
Michael Clark: (o.s.) Debbie?
(Cut to: [BATHROOM] VINCENT LURIE stands in the doorway looking at DEBBIE positioned in the shower. He turns around and we see MICHAEL CLARK dead, throat slashed, lying in the tub.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: You killed them both, and now you have nothing.
Vincent Lurie: (nods) I'm still here.
Grissom: Are you?
(VINCENT LURIE turns and walks out of the interview room, his LAWYER following behind him.)
[OBSERVATION ROOM VIEW]
(Through the glass, SARA watches GRISSOM sitting at the interview table, her image reflected in the glass. Just how long she's been standing there, how much she's heard, is anyone's guess.)
(Camera refocuses on SARA.)
(Although by the look on her face, we suspect she's heard it all. She watches as GRISSOM shakes his head and lowers it. BRASS walks out of the room leaving GRISSOM alone at the table while SARA watches him.)
FADE TO BLACK
Plan: A: her friend; Q: Who found the nurse dead in her house? A: her spacious bathroom; Q: Where did the nurse die? A: her head; Q: What part of the victim was facing the door when she died? A: Grissom; Q: Who is left unnerved because the victim bears a resemblance to his fellow CSI, Sara Sidle? A: dinner; Q: What was the nurse supposed to have with her new boyfriend? A: Dr. Michael Clark; Q: Who was the prime suspect in the case? A: the same hospital; Q: Where does Sara Sidle's new boyfriend work? A: very little evidence; Q: What does the crime scene reveal? A: the killer; Q: Who is the medical personnel? A: any DNA; Q: What did the killer use bleach to denature? A: initially a prime suspect; Q: What was Dr. Clark initially a suspect of? A: his workaholic life; Q: What does Grissom contemplate after the death of the nurse? Summary: A nurse is found dead in her house by her friend, who's also a nurse. The victim died in her spacious bathroom, posed with her head facing the door. Grissom is left unnerved because the victim bears a resemblance to his fellow CSI, Sara Sidle. According to the friend, she was to have dinner with her new boyfriend, Dr. Michael Clark, who works at the same hospital. Processing the crime scene reveals very little evidence because the killer has thoroughly cleaned the place and used bleached to denature any DNA. Dr. Clark, initially a prime suspect, is later found, albeit in pieces, in garbage bins behind the house. The precision of various cuts suggests that the medical personnel is the killer. Meanwhile, this case prompts Grissom to contemplate his workaholic life and whether it is worth the life he may be missing out on.