CSI: NY s03e03 Episode Script

Hi.
The bottle's made of ice for the party, but when it hits the markets, it'll be glass.
Can I fill you up? Make it a double.
You want to try both flavors? Here you go.
Party time.
This is awesome.
Check this out.
This is my masterpiece.
Buri Vodka.
I'd rather have her.
Straight up, or on the rocks? Which one tastes better? Ladies and gentlemen, presenting Buri Vodka's Ice Princess! She's bleeding! Tonya! Tonya! It's Liam! Call an ambulance! Call 911! Stay with her.
I'll go get help.
Party was for the release of a new vodka.
DOA is Tonya Nettles, the face of the promotional campaign.
Statements? Looks like she was killed in the basement before she came up on that platform.
Access to the basement? Yeah, there's a stairway.
The manager, a guy called Colin Flynn, said that only employees have access.
Well, see what else you can get, and I'll have a look at the vic.
I'm sorry, Mac.
I got hung up.
No retraction marks.
And the blood in the fabric looks diluted.
Weapon was either soaking wet or She was stabbed with an icicle? That's cold.
Not cold enough.
Our evidence is about to turn into a big pool of water.
Coverage is coming down.
The air conditioning's been lowered to 55 degrees.
This dry ice will help stabilize the ambient temperature.
Ice is about 25 degrees.
Given the surface area of the crime scene, we have about an hour maximum to procure what evidence may still be here.
These icicles could be part of the murder weapon.
Well, we don't have much time to find out.
You got the scene? You good? Yeah First priority's up here.
I got uniforms keeping the crime scene secure downstairs till you get there.
- Keep me posted.
- All right.
And work fast.
The manager said everyone who handled the ice bottles was told to wear gloves.
Everyone but our killer.
The dirty underbelly of show business.
It can't all be glitz and glamour.
Tonya Nettles would not disagree with that.
It's been a long time since I've been stood up on a date.
More wine, sir? Sorry, Danny.
Something came up.
Phone's not working, or? I'm really sorry.
Are we all right? Yeah.
Sure.
These are the ice versions of the commercial product.
They were filled with vodka for the party.
All right, so this lift is operated from upstairs.
Think those are from someone at the party? Well, they weren't our vic's.
She wasn't wearing feathers this color.
From her killer? Well, if they are, looks like he flew the coop.
You're Tonya's boyfriend? I was visiting my parents up in Beaver Kill, and I got stuck on the Tapanzee Bridge coming back.
I thought she'd be so mad if I was late,so I changed in the car on the way here.
Miss, you were asked to stay inside till the detective talked to you.
I needed a cigarette.
I've been here all night.
It's nearly 5:00 a.
m.
When was the last you saw Tonya Nettles? Not until her grand entrance.
She was in the basement primping.
I was up here working.
- Is there anyone that can vouch for that? - The manager.
Won't let you go pee without asking him first.
Take a minute.
I'll be right back.
Get anything? Negative.
The bouncer said nobody left the bar after Tonya was discovered.
So our witness list might be our suspect list.
MAN Runners, take your marks.
Three! Two! One! MAN Runners, proceed with caution.
Please follow the cones.
The course has been diverted.
Please follow the cones.
Proceed with caution.
The course has been diverted.
Please follow the cones.
Looks like he was pushed, hit his head on the curb.
With all the crap on the ground, he could have easily lost his footing.
Lost more than his footing.
What makes somebody want to run 26.
2 miles anyway? Read the sign.
Brightness of the blood, lividity of the face- classic signs.
- Of? - Cyanide poisoning.
In the middle of a marathon? How? The aid station.
Hey! No more water! Shut this station down! The water's bad! Be thorough.
Every cup.
Anything you can find.
The volunteers wear gloves, so even if one of them did poison our vic, we wouldn't get any prints.
Could still get poison trace.
Mac? It's a high pressure valve.
An odd thing to find at a marathon.
Senior Vice President, Latchford Financial Partnerships.
A player.
Cause of death was definitely not natural.
He was in superb shape.
Lungs, heart, all the vital organs, near perfect.
So you're saying he's actually still alive? Tox came back negative for cyanide poisoning.
There's also this.
Looks like frostbite.
Yeah.
Related to COD? Well, he didn't freeze to death, if that's what you mean.
It's 90 degrees out there.
Bright red blood color, facial lividity.
Rapid system failure.
Cyanide's not the only substance that would cause these symptoms.
Right.
So, what else could it be? Well, possibly a hemoglobin inhibitor, like carbon monoxide.
CO molecules absorbed by red blood cells destroy the blood's ability to carry oxygen, leading to tissue death and organ failure.
Same symptoms as cyanide.
Just my opinion, but cyanide seems a lot simpler way to kill someone.
Murder's never simple, Doctor.
You ready? Warming up as we speak.
Looks like some sort of egg, but the ELISA will tell us for sure.
Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.
You're soaking in it.
Fish eggs.
What are fish eggs doing on a marathon runner's shirt? Autopsy results? This is a good one.
A runner who somehow has frostbite on his face in 90-degree heat, who died of carbon monoxide poisoning in the middle of Central Park.
That's just not possible.
An interesting case.
Tonya Nettles was stone cold sober.
Aren't most people when they're at work, Sid? I'll ignore the implication of your question, Detective.
I only remark on it because the young lady's blood alcohol content was zero percent but her stomach was filled with vodka.
That happens how? The alcohol entered her body either at the time of death or immediately afterwards.
I'd say the vodka came in via this wound in her stomach.
Well, the waitresses were pouring vodka from bottles made of ice.
You know, the promoter said that she was supposed to be holding a big ice scepter when she came up.
Which is also filled with vodka.
I also found this trace on her cheek over her make-up- some kind of grease.
Tonya had a compact.
She would have checked her face last.
Did she have any trace on her hands? Nary a one.
If she didn't put it there herself We have to find out who did.
The nozzle was modified to allow the largest possible burst of gas.
Which would maximize and accelerate the effect.
Combined with fatigue at mile 25 of a marathon Less than a second's worth of the gas would have been enough to kill.
Explains the frostbite also.
Adiabatic cooling of the gas due to rapid pressure drop.
Exacerbated by the nozzle modification.
The gas would have been ice cold.
I think this nozzle is one piece of our murder weapon.
Who uses carbon monoxide? Well, there are several practical applications.
Calibration of home gas detectors, semiconductor fabrication.
It's also a preservative, right? Yeah, but that doesn't help us much.
You know what does help us? Is the fact that this was a premeditated attackon a specific target, and there has to be a motive out there somewhere.
Flack and his guys talked to all the volunteers and spectators, right? He didn't find anyone with a connection to the victim.
All right, we have the how, but not the who or the why.
Time to cast our net a little wider.
Let's re-examine the crime scene.
All right.
You still with us? Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry, I just- I can't get over the fact that this happened and that no one saw anything.
I've been going over these feathers.
They're mostly rooster, ostrich, that sort of thing.
More than likely came from the costumes the waiters were wearing at the party.
You getting anything back off the print from the scepter? Nothing in AFIS, but I did get a source for the smear on Tonya's cheek.
Soy oil.
Some kind of make-up? Soy oil's significant property is its ability to withstand extreme cold.
From the hydraulic lift at the club.
But the way that platform was set up, Tonya couldn't have touched the grease.
Well, transferred to Tonya by somebody she worked with maybe? No CODIS hit on the blood from the safety pin, and the DNA sample from the gum was too corrupted to say anything more than that it came from a woman but we do know it's not from Tonya Nettles.
I'm pulling a list of employees.
There's our boy, Flack, the manager from the club.
All right, let's go.
Colin Flynn? Tha's me.
NYPD.
We got a couple of questionsfor you, all right? Do I have to answer? I'm a cop, not a lawyer, but yeah, you do.
What's that under your eye, Mr.
Flynn? My cat scratched me.
Yeah, I got to tell you- I don't know what you think, Detective, but you don't really look like a cat person to me.
You sure you didn't hurt yourself at work last night? Maybe playing peek-a-boo with some of the girls at the party? Okay, sure, I was checking out that girl.
I wanted to see if she'd fit in that tiny little costume.
She caught me.
What can I say? Get the hell out of here.
We're gonna need to get your fingerprints.
You're going to charge me with something? You want us to? Hey, that's harassment, man.
You know what? You're right.
You're right.
It's my fault.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
You can go.
Go ahead.
That was good.
You like that? Yeah.
- Got it? - Got it.
I've matched Owen Reid's projected finish time with the runners he would have crossed the finish line with.
Extrapolate backward and you get the group who would have been in the area where he fell.
According to the race splits, these three runners were with Reid at the 10k, half - marathon, and 20k marks.
Interestingly enough, this one here- Michael Gibson- was involved in a lawsuit against Reid.
Something about a bad $40 million investment.
Seems like Owen Reid gave this Michael Gibson a serious run for his money.
Hmm.
And a motive for murder.
Mr.
Gibson, we're looking into the death of a colleague of yours in the marathon yesterday.
Yeah, I heard it, uh, it might have been a heart attack.
You don't seem upset.
Well, everyone knows the risks of running a marathon.
Hmm, last man standing sort of thing? Something like.
You wouldn't have happened to help him fall, perhaps? County.
I wouldn't need to cheat to beat Owen Reid, no.
We found traces of Vaseline on Mr.
Reid's back- a handprint with streaks of blood in it.
Is that going to be your blood? I don't know.
Should it be? We have photos of the finish line.
You had blood on your shirt when you crossed.
When you run, various parts of your body chafe enough to bleed.
So we use Vaseline.
It helps a lot.
Owen was fading, so I gave him a slap on the back as I took off.
Just a friendly slap? No, there was nothing friendly about it.
I was going to beat his ass.
He's dead, Mr.
Gibson.
His lawsuit isn't.
Being dead, it's not going to stop him.
It might slow him down a little, but that's about it.
Why don't you just quit while you're ahead? You got enough blood on your hands already.
We'll need a DNA sample.
Yeah.
I thought you might.
Why don't we get his prints as well? seeing as Mr.
Gibson here is in such a giving mood.
Yeah.
Colin's prints came back negative.
So is he off the hook? Blood still puts him at the scene.
So what else do we got? Do you want to go get some lunch? Danny, Mac wants us to wrap this up.
Sure, but he doesn't want us to starve to death.
What else did Adam say? What do you mean? I mean, that's who you were talking to, right? Yeah, but what makes you think he said anything else? I just want to go get something to eat.
All right.
The gum you found? He matched it to the dental impressions from the vic.
Nothing.
The DNA and teeth impressions both negative? Negative.
I'm gonna go back and look at the gum.
No, no, no, no, Adam, Adam looked at the gum.
I just want to grab a slice.
I'm starving here.
Where am I? We need to connect someone to this nozzle.
Somebody had to see something.
Owen Reid was lying almost directly on top of this sign.
But it was found from the nozzle.
It couldn't belong to the killer.
Maybe it could lead us to a witness.
Now none of these footprints have enough individualizing characteristics to be unique.
But take a look at this.
A bicycle, maybe? Or a stroller.
Some people like to run with their kids.
But this tread pattern is too narrow to be a stroller.
It's a wheelchair.
Still have those results? Yeah.
Uh Okay.
According to this, Owen was on track to finish the race in three hours and 20 minutes.
Only one wheelchair finished in that time.
Looks like I found my witness.
I checked your stats, you ranked in your age group.
You've only been racing for five years.
That's how long I've been at a chair.
I wasn't born like this.
Guy jumped a median on the belt parkway and pow, didn't even see it coming.
He walked away from it, and I haven't walked since.
You said on the phone you had some questions about Owen Reid.
You knew him? I read the papers.
Did you see anything? I saw him go down.
I just thought maybe he slipped, on those paper cups.
What happened to your hands? Just before that guy fell I crashed as well.
Someone got in my way and I went down hard.
That's the repair I'm doing.
So you didn't see anything at all? One of the disadvantages of being in a wheelchair, you don't see things the way you used to.
They look different.
Well, thank you, Mr.
Keith.
If I have any further questions, I'll be in touch.
The fish eggs are from Masago.
Smelts.
Yeah.
Widely used as a garnish for sushi.
Popular and cheap.
So no immediate source that links to our suspect.
Well, not unless Owen Reid stopped at Norimaku while he was running up First Avenue.
Hey guys, you can come here for a second? I talked to Richard Keith.
Not a lot of help, so I decided take another look at that nozzle.
You already checked for prints.
Well, given the blank we're drawing with Mr.
Gibson, I figured it was good for another go-round.
All right, remember these indentations? What am I looking at? I think they're animal bite marks.
And that which bites leaves saliva.
Exactly.
And the mystery animal is? Felis Lybica Sarda.
A Sicilian Wild Cat.
It's illegal to own because of its protected status.
But as in all things illegal- There are people that just have to have one.
Yeah, several people have been fined in the last 12 months for having one in their possession.
Our only link to a suspect is a cat's DNA? A cat that's owned by a person.
And you have a list of people.
As a matter of fact I do.
My landlord and me, we had an agreement.
It's still illegal to keep those animals in the city.
I had Psycho for six years.
Ever since I came from Sacramento.
All of a sudden there's this law.
I didn't even know.
Where is Psycho now? Not in the tree, he died four days ago.
I buried him down there.
What happened? Ate rat poison.
Someone in the building had a thing against against cats- you, uh, you know how many sickos there are in this town? Your vet told you it was rat poison? He said it was cyanide.
Heather, I'm sorry, but we're going to have to examine Psycho.
You want to dig him up? I'm sorry.
Is there any dignity left? What do you got? The gum we found at the crime scene was bubble gum but it had traces of spearmint and nicotine.
One of the waitresses was smoking before I talked to her and then she did a pop of that breath freshener.
She said she wasn't in the basement, though.
Well her breath tells a different story.
So you told the detective that you didn't go down into the basement.
That's right.
I was up here working the party.
And did you go onto the stage after Tonya came up? No.
Look, I'm kind of in a hurry.
I have proof you were on the platform where Tonya was killed.
I wasn't there, I told you.
Your gum, Jennifer.
You left it behind.
Okay.
Look, I only went down there to sit on the throne.
Feel what it was like to be in the winner's seat for a change.
And did Tonya see you? She came out of her little dressing room.
Caught me sitting there.
You have to earn that seat.
I earned it.
Sure on your back.
What did you say?! You heard me.
You little bitch! Then I went back upstairs.
Is this your costume? Yeah.
Did you go into Tonya's dressing room? No.
Maybe I don't know.
I'm going to need your prints.
I was wearing gloves.
How's that going to prove anything? You were there, so I need your prints.
Look, I told you what happened.
My dad's an attorney.
You want my prints, you talk to him.
Believe me, I will.
You got a C.
O.
D.
on Psycho yet? Two guesses.
No one.
Carbon monoxide? Somebody told you.
So why the teeth marks on the nozzle? Did the cat bite the canister used to kill Owen Reid? Or maybe the cat was gassed as a test.
Can't rule it out, I guess.
Anything else? Yeah, I found this under one of the cat's claws.
Material? Some kind of nylon.
Let me take a look at this.
I know where this came from.
I'm sorry, you caught me at work.
You were contacted by a detective earlier today.
About the marathon.
I volunteer every year.
You mind if I sit? That's the repair I'm doing.
That's a nasty bruise.
Yeah, it's one of the perils of volunteering.
it's hard to avoid them all.
A runner did that? A runner fell near the aid station.
you were working at.
I heard that.
I didn't see it happen, but as you said I was nearby.
It's unforgivable when an athlete's injured.
Your upstairs neighbor's cat died.
And? These tears in your screen make us think that it tried to get into your apartment.
So you think I killed it? Would you mind if I looked around? Well, I'm actually in the middle of a shoot.
But okay.
I mean, please try not to disturb anything.
I see your studio is wheelchair accessible.
That's the law for businesses, no? I thought you'd approve.
What's this used for? Carbon monoxide - it brightens the food for the camera.
It's the missing canister.
Did you shoot this sushi recently? Day before yesterday.
Why? You left eggs at Central Park.
** I got your message.
You don't like Jennifer for the killing, so I thought I'd take another look at these here.
It just doesn't add up.
Jennifer weighs There's no way she could have thrust that ice scepter with that much force.
I'm getting her prints anyway.
Just tying up loose ends.
So what do you have here? This one's odd.
The rest of these are common feathers, but this one comes from a rare jungle bird in Central India.
It's called a Jungle Cock Eye.
You know what, at this magnitude the feather should look dull.
See how it's kind of glassy? Synthetic? Fishermen use these kind of feathers to make flies.
What do you got? Euglenae.
It's freshwater organisms.
This feather was used recently.
Who's our fly fisherman? I was visiting my parents up at Beaver Kill.
Tonya's boyfriend said he was up in Beaver Kill.
That's up in the Catskills.
Freshwater.
Trout fishing central.
Well, I think we just got a bite.
Like I told you earlier, I was never in the basement.
I barely even made it to the party.
Where'd you say you were? I was upstate- my parent's place.
That's right, upstate.
You do some fishing up there? Yeah, sure.
Make your own flies? That was a question.
Why don't you just tell us what happened in the basement.
I was never in the basement.
Do me a favor now- don't get yourself in a situation where you're going to tell one lie to explain another lie, all right? It's just a bad strategy, man.
This got on your clothes when you were changing in your car.
Then when you went downstairs that feather fell on the floor.
There were tons of people with feathers on them at that party.
Not this particular feather, though.
And when we asked to examine your suit, remember that? Yeah? We were looking for grease from the hydraulic lift in the basement in the club.
Well, guess what? We found some.
That gives us probable cause to arrest you and take your prints.
Which we're thinking are going to match the prints that we found on the murder weapon.
We went out since high school.
We even went to the same college so we could be together.
Go on.
Almost Almost as soon as we got here, she started talking about needing space, and we should take our time.
Said she was waitressing.
Till dawn some nights.
She'd come home drunk.
So I followed her to work one day, 'cause I knew, I knew she was lying.
She was dancing.
A dancer.
We had a huge fight.
She couldn't trust me.
I was suffocating her.
The Buri Vodka thing came up, she quit dancing.
Everything felt better.
We were talking about getting married.
I went upstate to tell my mom and dad, and then, I get this phone call.
I just thought you'd want to know that your girlfriend is sleeping with the vodka man.
I got back in, like, three hours.
Went to the club, went downstairs.
We're done, finished.
I'm moving out.
I have to go.
Tonya, please.
I love you.
We've been done for years.
Every time we break up, you just stand there with that look on your face.
Yeah, that look.
No more.
What are you doing? I was just so mad.
Love run cold.
That'll do it.
Lindsay Monroe, can I talk to you for a second? Yeah.
I have to know what's going on with you.
Look, I mean, you and I- we have this-this thing, right? This chemistry, like we're into each other? But every time we're in the same room together today, it's like Don't tell me you don't feel it, also.
I can't do this, Danny.
You can't do what? I can't be in relationship with you.
All right, I don't I don't Um, I just I'm talking about spending some time together.
Dinner, a few drinks.
Some laughs.
Look, Danny I like you.
A lot.
But right now, I can't.
It's not you, okay? It's I just I need to be by myself so I can work some stuff out that I thought I had put behind me.
I didn't mean for this to happen.
It's okay.
Maybe we should just do our jobs.
If there's anything you need from me, just let me know, okay? Your sister's in trouble, Richard.
Ms.
Cates, we know you killed Owen Reid.
I don't know what you're talking about.
I was handing out water.
You handed out more than water.
You waited till he got to the aid station, and then you poisoned him with this.
I found his skin on this canister from your apartment.
The canister was so cold, he left a piece behind.
I think I know why you did it.
That racer who crashed into you, Richard Keith- as luck would have it, he was your brother, who nearly died from an accident caused by Mr.
Reid.
You still go by your married name, which is why the connection wasn't obvious.
The DA says unless you confess your involvement, there will be no plea bargain for your sister.
That means life.
Richard normally finishes at the top of his age group, but yesterday, he was a full two hours behind.
See, I think he was trailing Reid.
He'd let you know he was coming.
Richard had nothing to do with it.
How did he communicate to you that Reid was approaching your aid station? Did he page you from a pay-as-you-go cell phone so we wouldn't be unable to trace it? The fact that he crashed into me isn't connected to Reid's death.
We know about the settlement Reid negotiated, and how he didn't live up to it.
You took him to court and you still didn't get anything.
I can see how angry that would make you, Sharon.
Look, I would be angry, too.
You know when I was hurt, she was more devastated than me.
I figured I could recover, but she never did.
You have no idea.
Richard was an all-American runner.
Ranked third in the country coming out of high-school.
Olympic qualifier in '96.
His best marathon time was 2:26 in Boston.
Then that animal Owen Reid was drunk and he took my brother's life away.
He took his legs away, Sharon, not his life.
Whatever agreement you have with Sharon, you owe it to her to accept responsibility.
She made me promise.
She'll tell you everything you need to know.
My brother's already in prison; what he goes through every day.
I killed Owen Reid in revenge for what he did to my brother.
Richard's innocent.
He had nothing to do with the death of Owen Reid, and I have nothing else to say.