CSI: NY s03e17 Episode Script

It just happened.
I was putting a piece of bloody glass into an evidence bag it was still wet and it just broke and cut me.
I had no idea at the time that emery gable was hiv-positive.
Stella, why didn't you tell me? I thought I could handle it on my own.
I'm scared, mac.
I know there are a lot of people living with aids, and I just I don't think I have the strength to do that.
I don't think I'm brave enough to wait for a cure.
What is it you say to me? "Panda eh-hees tharos.
" You always have the strength you always have the guts.
Mesa inside.
If you need to leave work, say take some time no.
I took a blood test.
It came back negative.
I'm still in that window.
I won't know for sure if I'm hiv-positive for ten weeks.
Right now the only thing that's keeping me sane is work.
I'm here for you.
I know.
All right? mac just went in.
What's the deal? Gunshot vic.
Male, approximately Probably the guy who rents the place.
Neighbors think his name is noah hubler.
What do you mean they think? They say he moved in a year ago, alone.
Hasn't been too social.
In fact, they say he's a pretty strange fellow.
Who called it in? Mr.
Macaluso.
Lives across the street.
He asked if we'd mention his plumbing supply business if reporters asked who found the body.
Everybody's got an angle.
Are you kidding me? What the hell? Most are passages from various bibles.
The koran - the rest are a collection of quotes.
This one's from nostradamus.
It's pretty weird.
Wait.
I guess we can rule out robbery.
Save your film.
There's something else I think you should see.
Over herE.
I don't believe it.
Is this what I think it is? Yup.
Well, if this is noah's house than this must be noah's ark.
There could be another body in there.
Looks like our boy had some serious end of the world issues.
I have no idea who would want to hurt noah.
H - he was a good man.
You didn't hear or see anything? No, sir, we were on the ark the entire time.
How long have you been in there? Five days now.
Five days? In there? Why? The flood is coming.
We had to prepare for the voyage.
You do know it hasn't rained in over four weeks, right? Noah said it was divine retribution.
That god was going to bring forth his wrath once more to punish us for our sins.
He promised to take us to the mountains of ararat.
Where the ark came to rest following the great flood.
He spoke at the bible study convention last year.
He said he was building an ark, and those that wanted to be a part of the new world were welcome as passengers.
What's the catch? Salvation was guaranteed to those who donated to the building of the ark.
How much did you donate? For each couple, it was the same.
"YOU CAN SURVIVE THE END OF DAYS" Looks like our man was quite popular.
Got 28 messages here.
I know you're there.
Call me back.
I don't know what you think you're doing, but I suggest you pick up.
We need to talk.
Ugh, don't make me come over there.
you've got to be kidding me.
Okay, let's just say it now to get it over with.
Smoking kills.
Yeah, but who killed him? No idea and no id.
Any witnesses? First on the scene says that a passerby up there describes what she saw as a giant cigarette on fire running for its life.
She dialed 911.
By the time we found him down here, he was dead.
Okay, so he fell, which could explain his two broken legs, and maybe that's what stopped the fire from spreading.
He was stubbed out.
Now, if this cat landed on his feet, and the fire didn't kill him then why isn't he breathing? Take a look at this.
A one man antismoking campaign? You got something? Melted plastic.
Looks like our vic gave us directions to the primary crime scene.
Corporate headquarters for the national spirit tobacco company, one of the largest tobacco companies in the country.
You know what I'm thinking? Smoking equals death.
Cigarettes are death sticks! Maybe somebody in the company didn't like what our vic had to say.
Hey, stel.
You ever seen a green cigarette before? Can't say that I have.
well, noah was taking these people for a ride, but it wasn't on the ark.
His flock all tested negative for gsr and they've asked if they can get back on the good ship loony tunes before sunday 'cause that's when the world's ending.
I told them they can reboard once the crime scene's cleared, but what i really want to do is throw them all in the shower, and then a rubber room.
They're not crazy.
Maybe their personal belief is so strong it overrides their better judgment.
After all, faith is the foundation of religion.
Right.
But who really believes some guy in rockaway beach can predict how and when the world's going to end? Apparently eight people do.
What matters is our killer might have believed it, too.
It would take 5,000 $20 bills to equal $100,000.
That's the exact amount each couple paid to get on the ark.
Well, maybe our killer couldn't get a ticket to ride.
Heard you got something for me.
Yeah, weitlaner retractor.
Is there any reason why I'd want one of your tools? It's not mine.
I found it inside your vic.
Based on the healing characteristics of the surgical scars, I'd say it'd been in there at least a year.
You okay? Yeah, I just threw down a meatball hero.
Got a little indigestion.
So I'm thinking whoever the hack was who did his shoddy gastric bypass, must have left it behind during surgery.
You send blood to tox? On its way.
Uh, put him over there.
Besides your guy having more facial hair than all three members of zz top combined, and a tattoo that makes no sense, I think we're good.
"Seven, ten.
" Numeric code.
Could be something gang-related.
It's from the bible.
Book of genesiS.
"God said to noah, 'I am going to put an end to all people, "for the earth is filled with violence because of them.
' "And after seven days, the waters of the flood appeared on the earth.
" Right.
Ou The way the bodies have been stacking up here lately, I'd say your vic might have been on to something.
The signs are everywhere.
Like birth pangs experienced by expectant mothers, these tragic events are god's way of warning us that we must prepare for the end of days.
Consider matthew 24:11, "and many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many.
" Matthew 24:6, "and you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars.
" Matthew 24:7, "for nation will rise against nation, "kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famine.
" My friends I have accepted these signs as god's punishment for our sins, but he is not without mercy.
That is why I have been given the task of building a vessel that will allow many of god's creatures to survive what will be known as our rebirth.
If you have yet to see the signs, you will.
Have faith in god.
Now is the time.
The door is closing.
The clock is ticking.
sid? Sid! sid! Sid! Oh, sid.
Help! I need some help in here! Somebody help! Hey! He's in anaphylactic shock.
There's an epipen in that medical kit.
Hurry up! sid.
Sid, look at me.
It's okay.
Look at me, look at me.
It's okay.
Epinephrine's going to wear off in about 15 minutes.
Call 911.
it's okay.
It's okay.
You're going to be okay, sid.
All right?I'll call your family.
Please, don't worry.
he ate something he was allergic to and went into anaphylactic shock.
I had to administer cpr, mac.
I mean, I called for help and there was nobody.
Nobody around and there was no time for a mouth piece or a ventilator.
I just stella, open mouth contact is considered very low risk for contracting hiv.
I know.
You did the right thinG.
If you hadn't acted, sid would be dead right now.
RighT.
I know you're there.
Call me back.
I don't know what you think you're doing, but I suggest you pick up.
we need to talk.
Don't make me come over there.
He said his name was bill walters.
We met in a bar in the financial district.
He said he developed a new skin moisturizer, and if I invested $10,000 into his multilevel marketing plan for the product, my commissions would turn that $10,000 into $100,000 but that never happened.
Did it? I lost everything.
Ms.
Demartino, pyramid scams are illegal in the state of new york.
Oh, god.
Look I've had a run of bad luck lately.
I needed the money.
I thought he was for real.
And when you found out he wasn't, you tried to get him on the phone, but he wouldn't call you back.
So what happened then? Nothing.
No, not nothing.
You went to see him.
You said so in your last message.
"Don't make me come over there.
" You want me to play it for you again? I was desperate.
I didn't know what else to say, but I didn't follow through.
Well, then explain to me how your calls to the guy who stole from you ended two hours before he got killed? It was late.
I went to sleep.
And I would have started calling him again this morning, if you hadn't told me he was dead.
According to sid's notes, gross examination of the lungs revealed cod was poisoning due to inhalation of dioxin fumes when the latex cigarette suit was burned.
Also says here our vic was in the early stages of emphysema due to long-term exposure to tobacco smoke.
So he was a smoker? Yeah.
At least two packs a day according to this report.
I don't get it.
What's a heavy smoker doing protesting a tobacco company? Maybe he blames them for his emphysema.
Then why continue smoking? I ran background on noah hubler.
The only records that exist are paperwork filed in the name of a non-profit organization and some applications for wild animal licenses.
Prints give us anything? Volumes.
Turns out our prophet's real name was patrick dent.
He had a long list of iases and an even longer rap sheet.
Guy's done it all: Vulture fraud in D.
C.
, Pyramid schemes in new york, home renovation cons in miami, dot, dot, dot.
So makes for a long list of people who'd want him dead.
He ever serve any jail time? Nothing serious, but he came close.
An se Oh, I know.
Doesn't even look like the same guy.
He was collared for bilking senior citizens in a promissory note scam, but he was never sentenced.
Why not? He disappeared.
Our man of a thousand faces was wanted for more serious crimes in new york.
So when word came down, the new orleans da agreed to an extradition.
Here's where it gets really interesting.
A day earlier than expected, an nypd detective shows up in new orleans with id, badge, gun, all the necessary paperwork.
So new orleans hands him over in the airport to what turns out to be a bogus detective.
Next day, when the real guy shows up, everyone's in the wind.
It was a con.
One that required someone the vic trusted to set it all in motion and pose as a detective escorting him back to new york.
Where he had his stomach stapled to change his appearance.
Smart guy.
Yeah, not smart enough to avoid a bullet.
so the soil on our vic's shoes turned out to be from the flower bed on the side of the house.
That eliminates one set of shoe prints.
What about the second? They're industrial work boots.
Which could explain this cable tie I found.
The brand and color tells me it belongs to advantage power company.
And the trace from the flecks of the teeth belong to a tulip tree.
It's also known as queens giant.
Found in alley pond park in douglaston.
All right, so how did trace from douglaston end up in far rockaway? Maybe our vic was getting work done? No, no.
Power line technicians have assigned routes, so whoever owned these boots paid a special visit to our vic.
Let's find out why.
Melodee costanza? Yeah.
How you doing? detective messer.
New york crime lab.
Like to talk to you for a second.
Do me a favor, huh? Tell me what you, uh, know about that guy right there? He's dead? Yeah, he's dead.
You sure about that? Very sure.
you just made my whole day.
No.
My year.
Oh, well, I'm-I'm glad to help.
Why don't you explain to me your relationship with patrick dent? You mean ricky white.
That's what he told me his name was.
A little over a year ago, I invested in what ended up being a ponzi scheme he a Tell me about his partner.
Melissa clarke.
Those two took my entire life savings.
Yeah, well, my pop said, you can't cheat an honest person.
Yeah, well, I'm not going to get rich doing this.
Took me the better part of a year to find him.
You find him last night? His lights were on, and his truck was in the driveway, so I knew he was home.
I figured he was just trying to duck me.
So that gave you the right to trespass? My girlfriend left me when she found out we were broke.
I just wanted my money back.
What are you doing here? I want the money you owe me.
I want it.
Where is it? He told me he spent every dime building his ark.
That god told him the world was coming to an end on sunday.
You know, at first I thought this was another scam, but you could see it in his eyes.
He was serious.
He said he felt badly about what he did, and that I could get on with the other freaks for free.
I just wanted my money.
Right.
Which was spent on gopher wood and glue.
How pissed did that make you? Obviously not as pissed off as your killer.
God bless him.
Any luck id'ing our john doe? Not yet.
Had detective angell talk to security over at national spirit tobacco.
They said our guy was a nuisance, but not disruptive enough to call the police.
You get anything off his costume? No.
The shiny residue on the burnt portion of the cigarette turned out to be hairspray.
One of the ingredients is butane.
So they used it as the accelerant? But who carries around hairspray? Some women do.
I was right.
It was a lugie.
What's he talking about? Adam found a mucus stain just below the face mesh.
Dna came back to an unknown male donor, and gcms detected traces of tobacco and citric acid.
Fruit? By itself, it doesn't look like much, but this transfer turned out to be the same tobacco blend and charcoal.
Specifically, insta-light coals.
Tobacco, fruit and charcoal.
Hookah bar? Already looked into it, and I found a place on 45th and 6th that uses what we found.
That's two blocks away from our crime scene.
They keep a list of customers? Our He's an employee.
How do you know that? I talked to the owner of the hookah bar, and she told me that the customers don't handle the charcoals, that the employees do, and it turns out that three of the employees weren't working at tod, and one of the employees is a male.
no, I'd never seen him before.
Really? Well, maybe this'll jog your memory.
Oh, yeah.
That's the douche bag in the cigarette suit.
Seems like you two were close.
You got a really great job here, damon.
Great location, hip clientele.
Being the manager, I'm sure you make a good buck.
Yeah, I do all right.
Uh, so someone protesting outside, telling your customers that smoking is bad for them it would probably hurt your bottom line, right? Maybe.
But I didn't touch the guy.
Really? I have evidence that you spit on him.
I was on my way home from work.
You're going to die, man.
You're going to die.
These things'll kill you.
Give me back my cigarettes.
No way.
I just saved your life, man.
I saved your life.
Screw you.
end of story.
And you never went back? I stopped to buy another pack of cigs.
Then I went home.
Hawkes, what are we playing, who gets cancer first here? Dna on our evidence came back to our vic.
I'm trying to identify a brand, maybe trace the purchase.
We also may be able to determine if burn produced the color change in the paper, turning it green.
good, good.
Let's make sure everybody gets hazard pay.
Stella? What's up? Besides the smoke detectors going off every five minutes? Right.
I spoke to sid's wife.
He's fine.
Hospital's holding him overnight for observation.
Maybe I'm worried about nothing.
If the world is going to end on sunday, then, what difference does it make, right? Well, my evidence is making a compelling case.
Oh, yeah? Almost every dollar my vic took from his passengers is accounted for here with receipts for supplies to build the ark.
So what does he stand to gain from the scam? That's just it.
I don't think he was in it for the money.
Everything about this guy says he was on the up-and-up.
He believed in what he was doing.
So, if he was a conduit to god, then why didn't god save him? Well, the fact is, the ark was finished, his work was done.
Technically, he wasn't needed.
But that's not a theory I'm ready to subscribe to.
Maybe he was delusional.
This town is full of people who are hearing voices from god.
There's no evidence to indicate a psychological disorder.
You're always looking for the scientific explanation, mac.
Maybe, this case, there isn't one.
You remember that heaven's gate cult? Seemed pretty normal, right? Their leader convinced 39 people that it was the end of the world.
Yeah, and the nightly news convinces millions.
True.
Here's the anomaly.
Guys like marshall herff applewhite and jim jones they convinced their followers to commit mass suicide.
My guy was trying to save lives.
Maybe it was his redemption.
For all the years he had been conning those people.
Ah, this goes deeper.
A man spends a year building an ark.
Recruiting people, animals.
That takes conviction.
Did you check the weather report? There's no rain in the forecast for sunday.
In fact, it's the warmest month on record for this time of year.
testing determined our green cigarette is not on the market.
Is it a bidi or a homemade job? Too sophisticated.
The tobacco is a glycerin blend with the usual 600 chemical additives, including ammonia to aid delivery of the nicotine, and chocolate to mask the bitter taste.
It's got a carbon tip I've never seen before, and the wrap is made from recycled paper manufactured in kentucky, all special order for a company based here in the big city.
You're just teasing me with this big buildup, aren't you? Take a look.
"National spirit tobacco company.
" The same place our vic was protesting.
They're called spirit green.
Mother nature's brand? That is the best hook since the competition subliminally inserted a naked man into their artwork to get the female smokers.
the regular cigarettes.
The paper is biodegradable.
Low odor, and low impact means that the tobacco is heated instead of burned, so the smoker gets the sensation of smoking without the harmful burn effect on Imagine, it'll take ten spirit greens to do the same damage as one menthol cigarette.
What I'm imagining is how your customers who make the switch deal with their nicotine addiction.
Excuse me? Well, if you have less nicotine in each cigarette, they're going to crave more in order to satisfy their addiction.
The poor bastard who smokes a pack a day is going to need to smoke ten packs a day.
And at five dollars a pack, your company's making a whole lot of money.
Are we done? No.
I have one more question.
If spirit green is a protope, then how did our vic's dna get on that cigarette? I have no idea.
It's possible that someone from the research and development team snuck one out and gave it to a friend.
Why don't i send you over the list of names of the r&d team? You do that.
National spirit tobacco companY.
Please hold.
I want to see my husband.
I know that he's here.
I want to see him.
Hey, hey, hey! What's going on? They won't let me see my husband.
His name is jason williams, and no one's telling me what happened to him.
Let her go.
is that your husband? Yes.
What the hell is going on? Jason williams worked for your company.
What was he doing outside of the building, protesting the product that he sells? Jason was in marketing.
He came up with anti-smoking guy as a way of unveiling the new spirit green cigarettes.
The plan was to build some awareness, and then introduce the product as a way of answering the health issue.
To make your company look like it cared about the little guy.
YeS.
It was a brilliant campaign.
Obviously very confidential.
Not many people know about it.
Why did you lie to me? Detective, a dead employee in a cigarette suit is not exactly investor-friendly.
This man had a family.
You were going to have security kick his wife out of the building.
I was going to tell her.
I was just trying to buy the company a little bit of time until we figured out how to spin it.
Get this man out of my face.
What do you got? Our crime scene cash turned out to be counterfeit.
Yeah? Got three prints.
I ran 'em through afis.
Only one got tagged; jim "iceberg" easman.
That's the easy part.
He's in otisville, halfway through a dime for counterfeiting.
If easman's in prison, who else had access to his product? So my old man says, "jimmy, what's mine is mine.
" "You got nothing coming, so you got to go out and make your own money.
" So that's exactly what I did.
Jimbo, why don't you spare us the stroll down memory lane? What? You double-parked or something? You asked a question, I'm answering.
Come on.
You're playing games.
Okay.
Say if I help you, how you going to do right by me? You got a parole hearing in two months.
And a call from us to the board will do a lot more than that hat you traded for two packs of smokes.
Kufi.
It's not a hat, it's a kufi.
Worn as a sign of respect to the prophet mohammed.
I know.
What you don't know, is that wearing it doesn't mean you're rehabilitated.
And this money that turned out to be counterfeit with your prints connects you to the murder of patrick dent.
You may have been in jail, but that doesn't mean you're not an accessory.
Maybe you know him as noah hubler.
I had nothing to do with father time's demise.
I never even seen that white boy before.
Jim, we find a dead man laying in a bed of your cash, your prints are everywhere.
How you going to explain that to the parole board? yeah, it's mine.
Belongs to one of my last print runs.
How much did you print? I stopped production at 500k.
Didn't like the way the shadow fell under jackson's chin.
What'd you do with the money? Hid in one of my go whips.
'99 suburban.
The plan was to drive across country, wash the green.
Only, before I could go, the treasury department came down on me for passing counterfeit checks.
Imagine that.
There's nothing in your arrest record that says that money was vouchered.
That's because the badges didn't know anything about it.
It was still in the ride, and I wasn't about to make 'em rich.
What happened to the vehicle? Everything I had was seized, then sold at government auctions.
So whoever bought that car found your money.
Took a look inside the gym bag we picked up at the crime scene, and I found traces of the same hairspray that doc found on the cigarette suit.
So the gym bag could belong to our killer.
found identical trace on the cover.
There's no name or address.
Now, these bar codes and numbers can give us something.
I can have detective angell cross-reference it with the gym membership, possibly get a name.
Yeah, that's my bag, but it was stolen two nights ago.
I was coming home from work when this guy attacked me.
Do you remember what he looked like? No, it was dark.
All I remember is black hair, long black coat.
I grabbed his hair, he bit me, grabbed my gym bag and took off.
I filed a police report.
Ms.
Pescow, do you mind if I see where he bit you? Okay, ms.
Pescow, we're going to need to take a photograph of that bite mark, all right? And I'm going to need the clothes you were wearing the night of the attack.
Okay.
Heidi pescow worked at pretzel barn on 45th.
So we have one victim found dead in a cigarette suit and another attacked while wearing a bavarian beer maid outfit.
You remember last summer when those guys from chicago beat up mr.
Met? Yeah, when the cubs lost that doubleheader at shea.
Right.
I'm thinking we're looking at a mascot basher.
You guys want to see something scary? Ran the bite mark that doc photographed through the ir filter.
Right? Got two sharp points next to the incisors.
Makes you think your girl was attacked by a dog or something.
Or a vampire.
Heidi pescow said that her attacker was wearing a long black coat.
He's right.
We just found our killer.
I'm telling you, pal, the fabric your suit's made out of provides no ventilation.
Worse than that, what if an emergency worker or paramedic or something like that had to get you in a hurry 'cause you're having a heart attack? Just come to the meeting.
Find out what your rights are.
Hey, count.
Littering's a crime in this city.
So is murder.
He was trying to unionize all the costumed greeters in the city.
But jason williams and heidi pescow weren't interested.
So he beat her up and he set jason on fire? Yeah.
He thought it might change jason's mind.
Give him a little taste of what might happen if he wasn't protected by a union.
Look, I'm not interested! Hey, hey, hey.
We're talking about something very serious here! Mascot bashing, harassment.
We could force your company to hire security to protect your butt.
Will you leave me alone?! That suit shouldn't be flammable.
People who do this job should be protected.
From people like you.
I just wanted him to get the idea, show him how vulnerable he was.
I didn't think he'd burn.
Well, he's ashes now, vince.
Mac mac, what do you got? Tox report.
Turns out, our victim had bacterial endocarditis, a serious blood infection, more than likely a result of the surgical tool left in his body.
You see, it was all in his head.
I'm thinking the infection got worse over time and caused our vic to become delusional.
That's the reason mr.
Doomsday thought the world was coming to an end.
Spent his last few days at frankie's hardware buying two-by-fours.
Yo, yo! I got some interesting info on our vic's disappearing act from the big easy.
Spoke to an officer buckley, who's the new orleans cop was in charge of the prisoner handoff.
According to buckley, the bogus detective was a white female, 30 to 35 years old, blonde hair, and she identified herself as detective moulton.
Also carried the same caliber weapon we believe is responsible for the hole in our vic's chest.
This could be a our shooter.
And if she is, I think we have her.
Turn out, both the vic and his partner made phone calls from the seat-back phone on the flight from new orleans back to new york.
When the partner didn't pay her credit card bill, the bank put a very aggressive collection agency on the case.
Tell me you got a name.
And a warrant.
You're good, ms.
Demartino.
Unlike your partner, you've never been caught for a crime.
But this time, you made a mistake.
I doubt it.
You're right.
If this was ten years ago, making that bullet disappear from the crime scene would have guaranteed you got away with murder, but have this new science, it's called "lead memory," that will prove to a jury you killed your ex-partner.
My lab matched the lead isotopes from the gunshot residue left on our victim to lead isotopes in the barrel of the gun we found while searching your home.
Ms.
Demartino, you're an expert at lying.
Look at me.
Do I look like I'm lying? Why'd you killim? He stabbed me in the back.
When we first got to new york, patrick had all these plans for us.
Then a couple of Kept talking about the world coming to an end.
At first, I thought he was kidding, but he wasn't.
And you didn't like losing your partner? I was fine parting ways.
I wanted the money he owed me from our last score.
said he spent it building his ark, but that he was going to get his hands on some more cash.
Two weeks later, I get a call.
That's it.
That's everything I owe you.
Are you sure you want out? Yes.
Now, please leave.
Couple of days later, I tried to spend one of those bills, and it's flagged as counterfeit.
I came this close to getting pinched.
You thought patrick was trying to pull a fast one.
I didn't know.
I swear.
One of my passengers gave me the money.
You liar.
But patrick wasn't lying.
Somebody really did give him that money.
This time, he was the victim of a scam.
Hey, sid.
Hey.
Didn't think you'd be back on the job so soon.
Well I can't help myself.
I'll take it one body at a time, I guess.
it's all a little embarrassing.
I should have checked that sandwich better.
I'm sorry I scared you.
Um, sid, there's something you should know.
I I'm-I'm waiting for a window period to lapse.
I cut myself at the emery gable crime scene.
That victim was hiv-positive.
You administered cpr, stella.
I can't get the virus from saliva.
I know that.
Do.
And, um you know, it's just that, um, I remembered that that morning when I brushed my teeth, my gums bled a little.
So, I, um just, I know that it's less than 0.
there is a risk.
and you have a wife and two girls.
and I just, I wanted you to know.
And, I mean, it's all really unknown.
Except for the part where I'm alive because you saved my life.
Okay? So thank you.
My wife and I had no idea the money was counterfeit.
Mr.
Strauss, you find $500,000 stuffed into the door panels and seats of a truck you purchased at a government auction.
You mean to tell me that didn't raise a red flag? Then what did you think? It was a sign from god.
excuse me.
Today is sunday, right? Yeah, that's right.