CSI: NY s04e03 Episode Script

You Only Die Once

Wait, did you hear that? you got a roommate you never told me about? What are you doing? Where are you going? nypd! Don't move! You gotta be kidding me.
This is detective flack.
I got a 10-13 in pursuit.
Suspect was last seen rappelling down the outside of two-six-zero west seven-two.
Where are you going? Call 911.
Tell them you had a break-in.
Really? get out of the car! detective.
I need to borrow your car.
Come on, out, out, out! Out! Let's go! You pay for this! Detective flack here.
Suspect's heading south on broadway approaching central park south.
Black sports car, no plates.
***** what the hell kind of car are you? good morning, mhattan! Got some breaking news here.
The james bond wannabees have added three more robberies.
For almost a month, the gang has targeted manhattan's elite.
I can't wait for the movie on this one.
This high up, you'd think a break-in would be pretty tough.
No prints.
They were here.
Uh, no, I didn't, but, uh, don saw one of them.
Is that a shock or just weird? She's a lucky girl.
Just got robbed by a secret agent.
She's going to get all kinds of invitations for all the in parties.
Did you get a description of the car? Yup.
It was your average super stealth spy car.
Whatever model comes with the blue fire getaway package.
Okay.
So, we are invited to a very exclusive fundraiser on wednesday night.
Good.
So, did either one of you get a look at the thief? Yeah.
He was medium build, he had light brown hair, scar on his left cheek.
That's very specific.
Guy turned the lights on when he came in.
He did? What kind of thief sneaks into an apartment in the middle of the night and turns on the lights? excuse me.
Flack.
Where? let's flip him.
Yeah, that's the guy I chased last night.
See anyone else with him? There was one more guy, but I couldn't get close enough to get an I.
D.
The car window did some weird tinting thing.
Mac, you have a, uh, thingie there.
New shirt.
Two weeks, you still didn't get your luggage back from london? Not yet.
Mac? What have you got? Scalp.
Check this out.
Looks like it might belong to our vic, mac.
There's a redness in the eyes.
Could be some kind of chemical irritation.
He's got something around his neck.
Well, at least he dressed for the occasion.
Chief sinclair.
- Gentlemen.
- Sir.
You're all over the news, detective flack.
"Nypd detective in high-speed pursuit.
" Yeah, I'm getting calls from city hall, borough councils listen, chief, I'm S you know, the nypd has a strict policy against high - speed chases.
Or did you forget that? No, sir.
The next time you want to run up a $60 cab fare, you do that on your own time.
You're lucky no one got hurt.
Taylor.
Talk to me.
robber's M.
O.
Is the same as the guys that hit your place.
Now, looks like one of the thieves has been murdered.
You know, this gang is just a bunch of, uh, showboats.
Grabbing too many headlines, and they're making the department look really bad.
But I want you to step up the investigation.
Whatever resources you need.
I want to get these guys.
They hit sinclair's house, and they hit you, maybe they're targeting cops.
Only problem with that is, it was my girlfriend's place.
Girlfriend? how long has that been going on? Couple weeks.
Flack? Hawkes? Looks like skid marks here and here - overlapping treads.
Could be a body dump.
Car stops fast, leaves the body, drives away.
I mean, someone in this town has a license to kill.
seems this double 0 was prepared for anything.
Aside from the jumpsuit and tux, he had long underwear on.
Maybe it was part of some kind of disguise from an earlier robbery.
No.
Most of the lividity is on the back of his body, but I also found a small amount of hemolysis in the dermal tissue of his feet, which, uh, indicates he died while upright.
Yeah, we found him laying in the street.
Confirms a body dump.
What about the head wound? Yeah.
how about that head wound? Or that is a clean cut through most of the left parietal bone.
Interesting thing is it's postmortem, didn't kill him.
Except for the, uh, facial contusions, there are no other external injuries.
Still, as mrs.
Barry, my third grade counselor, told my mother, it's what's on the inside that counts.
Mrs.
Barry have a cod? Crush asphyxiation.
Caused by massive compressive force.
no bruising, no broken bones in the upper torso.
How do you crush someone to death without leaving a mark? Hey, hawkes, tell me you got something, 'cause I've got no luck with an I.
D.
On this john doe.
Prints didn't hit in afis, and nothing yet from missing persons.
Well, maybe these can tell us who he is.
Papilionoidea epithelias.
Scales from a butterfly wing? There were at least 20 different species of scales on the vic's tux.
And what's weird is, these species don't normally group together in nature.
Maybe not in nature, but they do at the manhattan conservatory.
Last night's benefit was a - list only.
He wasn't here.
Maude, go to two.
Check with the museum.
Maybe he's an employee.
- Mr.
Rodriguez - gay.
- Huh? - Rodrigue.
No Z.
It's basque.
The man was wearing a tuxedo.
I don't think he was an employee.
rodrigue events.
No, no, I said 50 cases of vodka, 100 cases of gilmore 171.
Yeah.
Maude, where are you? She's over there.
- I got your attention now? - Yeah.
Look, I know anyone who's anyone, and this anyone did not attend the party last night.
There's no way he could have just slipped in? No.
I provide security and guest screening.
Of course you do.
So, I'd love to chat, but I got to orchestrate the mayor's benefit tomorrow night, so, maude, will you help them, please? Maude, do you recognize this man? Sure.
I don't know his name.
He was a guest at the party toward the end of the night.
He did get into a fight with some guy.
Were you close enough to hear what it was about? No, but rodrigue had to call security.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Seems mr.
Rodrigue has short-term memory issues.
Get at guest list, check out the security report, and talk to some of the employees.
Let's find out why the guy who knows anyone who's anyone is lying.
Everstone superla.
It's a brand used on high-end sport cars.
What's in the bag? The future, mr.
Messer.
This came off the car when it crashed into the cab.
It's a memory polymer.
The electrical current heats it up.
And then the polymer remembers its shape.
That's why we haven't seen any reports of the car showing up at any auto odyshops.
- Hey, guys.
- Hey.
Oh, mac back in black.
That a new shirt? That's nice.
What's the latest on the car? Other than a bunch of aftermarket modifications including the ability to repair itself, I think we know where the car was last night.
Matched the skid marks from the penthouse, where the robbery took place, to the skid marks over on bond street, where the body was dumped.
Confirms the car was in both places.
So, whoever was driving the car dumped the body.
Thank you.
The tox results on the chemical in the vic's eyes.
Oleoresin capsicum.
That's cayenne pepper.
It's used in a lot of home remedies, recipes, and pepper spray.
Maybe whoever the vic was robbing pepper sprayed him.
It's kind of a big leap from pepper spray to crushing someone, scalping them, and then dumping their body.
'Cause the car was in both places, the most logical suspect is the guy flack saw get into the car.
The vic's accomplice.
We need to find out why our gang accelerated from robbery to murder.
All units, be advised, officers in pursuit of a black sports sedan.
Suspect vehicle last seen driving away from the robbery at 256 gramercy that was him.
He was here.
In my bedroom.
It was him? Last night.
In here.
That's what I told page six, yes.
Thanks.
so, she just id'd our vic as the burglar.
The only problem with that is he died 24 hours ago.
How'd you do? Same M.
O.
As the other burglaries.
Jewelry missing, lights on, window open.
Our vic's partner is still in business.
You know, maybe it's a double cross.
Maybe the partner kills the vic, and keeps the take home for himself.
Traces of smartwater.
Smartwater? Yep, this loft has a high-end security system.
Basically, the thief is spritzed with a luminescent dye, has its own unique chemical code.
Lasts about seven days and you can't wash it off.
So, somewhere in this town we've got a glowing thief who may be our killer.
Exactly.
I've analyzed every possible knife and none of them match the vic's head wound.
Even with the smoothest blade you would still see jagged marks in the skull and bone fragments.
This wound is too perfect.
Wait a second.
No bone fragments in the cerebral tissue.
There's no bone fragments between the cerebral tissue and the skull.
I - I cleaned away most of the hair and did find minute thermal damage.
Whatever cut through the vic moved so fast it burned the bone.
- Laser? - Well, possible, but I don't know of any surgical laser with enough juice to cut through two layers of bone.
I also found traces of mineral oil and lithium in the wound.
Both used as thickeners in synthetic racing grease.
Explains why the laser was doing zero to 60 in under five seconds.
Cutting lasers are used in custom body shops.
One could have been rigged to the car.
When the car sped away from the vic, it sliced through his head creating this unique wound.
you're saying a car scalped him? hey, boss.
I processed the street in front of the loft.
Found brake fluid near skid marks that matched the bond street crime scene.
Also picked this up.
Looks like an under panel to the car.
There might be a part number here.
See what you can get off it.
All right.
Oh, how's that new girlfriend? Keep walking, messer.
Yeah.
No, seriously where'd you meet her? Met her at a charity event.
Police/fire hockey game.
So she's got teeth or move.
Got a missing persons hit to the vic.
James stanton.
Heir to the stanton fortune.
Parents reported him missing this morning.
No idea their son had a dual career as a secret agent and a thief.
We'll follow up, thanks.
Mac, you all right? You got a second? Of course.
I've been receiving some strange calls.
When I pick up, there's just silence on the other end.
They've all come at 3:33 A.
M.
How long has this been going on? Since I was in london.
At first, they were made to my hotel room phone.
Then I switched hotels, they kept coming.
Is peyton getting these calls? I don't think this has anything to do with peyton because two weeks ago, I got a call here at my office.
And this morning, on my cell at the crime scene.
this time he left a message.
Ladies and gentlemen, flight four on final approach to jfk airport.
Please make belts are fastened are up I'm sorry, sir.
I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to turn your cell phone off.
He's in new york city.
I tried to trace the number but didn't get anything.
But I was able to identify some of the sounds in the background.
The loudest was a jet engine.
Based on pitch - a 767.
Next, I isolated the flight attendant's voice.
Assuming the caller was in a fixed position when the flight attendant spoke to him, I determined that the engine's sound waves were elongating away from the rear of the engine toward the caller.
He was sitting behind the engine, toward the back of the plane.
I need you to find that flight - get a hold of the passenger manifest.
Someone's playing a very real game and I'm e thtarget.
Speed racer's mach 5 does not come close to the batmobile.
End of story.
Are you kidding me? The mach 5 had submersible capabilities and a robotic homing pigeon.
Yeah, so did the batmobile.
Along with rocket boosters and armor plating.
Mach 5 rotary saw.
All right, montana.
Did speed racer's mach 5 have a field forensics kit? The batmobile did not have a field forensic's kit.
In the batmobile's trunk, it did.
That explains so much.
Looks like we got a number.
So, I got a part number off the under panel.
Car's registered to elliot gano.
He did time for auto theft - and he's a "skin" expert.
Modifies cars.
All right, he was definitely at the conservatory.
And according to the security report he was escorted off the premises at Exactly, so maybe he's the second guy flack saw.
Maybach 62 S.
- Nice car.
- Yeah.
It's the only v12 with infra-red reflecting glass.
It's got two rear Icd tv screens, and a retractable electro transparent partition screen.
And if you play today, I'll install piconet.
Piconet? Personal entertainment network.
Car retails for $350 - but for a $50, 000 annual membership, you can rent it whenever you want.
Got an hourly membership? Just looking for a little evidence.
they're clean.
I told you, the car was stolen.
Yeah, we heard you.
But, if that's true, mr.
Gano, why didn't you file a police report? Some of my cars have immigration issues.
What's all that stuff? Uh, it's nickel chromium.
We use it to customize different parts.
You modify all the cars that come through here? Yeah sure, but all modifications are done aftermarket for our discerning customers who enjoy a little something extra.
- Like james stanton? - Who? Oh, come on, mr.
Gano, he was seen driving your car the same night that you beat him up at the conservatory party.
We could have a chat with your parole officer - if you'd rather we go down that road.
Wait.
All right, stanton rented the car from me and he said it was stolen.
You didn't believe him.
Rich kid running around in a black sports car, showing off for his friends.
That's my car and I crashed that party to get it back.
Elliot.
Trolling for clients? My car.
Where is it? Get your hands off me! Hey, you screwed me, punk! When security escorted me out, I saw the car sitting right there by the valet¡ª some guy in the passenger seat.
Well, did you get a look at the guy's face? No - but that's who you should be looking for.
Well, it seems that the gang's preferred drink wasn't a martini.
This is from the liquid I processed from the street.
It was some kind of a color pigment - caramel #5.
It's used in varnishes, wall coverings, cooking.
Flack saw a blue flame.
So color pigment isn't flammable.
It had to have been mixed with something else.
But if the gcms isn't giving me a reading, how do I identify it? Trial and error.
Oh, we're goin' old school.
Let it be blue.
Okay, so what burns with ethanol to make a blue flame? Keep working on it.
what's up with the computers? I.
T.
Just alerted building security to a firewall breach.
Someone is illegally accessing our computer network.
And it's coming from in here.
It won't shut off.
Neither will this one.
Turn off all computers and electronics.
Shut them down, now.
Why is the light table flickering? Tux is hot.
Warmer than the light table.
It's this.
It's the jacket.
It's downloading information from our computers.
Micro technology.
The tux jacket is made up of nano-wires that act like a wireless device that downloads information.
When I processed the jacket I found this chip under the collar.
This carried an encryption authentication code that mimicked our system's A.
P.
A.
P.
? The system's access point.
After that, the tux logged on and rendered our firewall insecure.
The jacket is also heat activated.
Which is why our vic was wearing long underwear in one of the hottest days of the year.
And the light table and heat from the overheads turned it on.
The jacket created a power surge, causing the lights and devices to flicker.
Once it's powered up, it sends out a signal- connects with personal electronic devices, then downloads information.
And that's why all the lights were on at the robbery scenes.
So, if the gang created this jacket to download information secretly, why would they drive around in a flashy car that would only draw attention to what they're doing? For the fame.
They just weren't planning on getting caught.
Hawkes, cross-reference the robbery vic names with identity theft reports.
Get credit checks on all the vics.
This was never about stealing jewelry.
These were wireless robberies.
Mac, did some checking over at jfk.
Passenger manifest is in the works, but there was one 767 that landed at 6:00 A.
M.
But the thing is it didn't land yesterday, it landed two weeks ago, and after that, it was pulled into service rotation.
Flight 401, london to jfk.
He was on the same plane I was on.
That flight was packed Couples, kids, families I didn't even think to pay attention.
Listen, let me have intel do a threat assessment.
Get you some protection.
That's not necessary.
Come on.
What if this guy's trying to kill you? No, he's not going to hurt me, yet.
The calls, the way he's taunting me, they're methodical, deliberate actions.
He has a plan.
Get me that passenger manifest.
I need a name.
Okay.
Hey, mac.
I was able to hot synch the data from the jacket to a secure database.
Whoever designed the jacket didn't take the time to build his own encryption? And while I was downloading social security numbers, and bank accounts I came across this e-mail.
Secure all the information you've downloaded.
I don't want it to leave the lab.
No one else knows about this? I'm the only one.
Where did you get this? The gang wasn't just there stealing jewelry when they broke into your apartment.
They accessed your e-mail.
They were looking for account numbers, so I don't think they understood what they had.
The simplest gesture these days can be misconstrued.
What s says in this e-mail is garbage.
I don't care what it says.
Sexual harassment.
Yeah, she's nothing but a clerk looking for a handout in the form of blackmail.
Chief I brought this to your attention because it's evidence in a murder investigation.
Once I make an arrest, turn the evidence over to the D.
A.
, There's no guarantee he'll be as discreet.
Can the press get a hold of this? At this point, the evidence is only in our custody.
No one else has seen it.
So, where are you with solving the case, mac? You asked us to step it up.
We've got suspects, we're close.
Mac, have you any idea what an accusation like this could do to my career? Well, if you're asking me if I know what it's like to have my reputation called into question, I think you know the answer.
Oh, yes! I did it! I rock.
Lindsay? the car's blue flame was caused by the pigment in gilmore 171.
Ethanol, methanol and caramel #5.
Which is totally weird, but I rock anyway.
Ethanol is a drinkable alcohol.
And gilmore 171 is a caramel-colored liqueur.
So, who has access to enough of it to light the whole street on fire? Gilmore 171 sponsored the party at the conservatory, lindsay.
Okay, mr.
Rodrigue, tell us, who is your favorite bond villain? Dr.
No? Goldfinger? Blofeld? I don't go to the movies.
I prefer live theater.
That makes sense.
With the act you've been doing around town¡ª stealing people's jewelry, personal information.
Not to mention you and your partner interrupted a very important third date.
I don't know what you're talking about.
My girlfriend went to your butterfly shindig, left early to meet me and got a visit from your secret agent friend.
Yeah, it seems every time you throw a party, somebody on your guest list gets robbed.
Now, place your hands in front of you.
I had nothing to do with those robberies.
You drove away from that penthouse, you left a trail of gilmore 171 behind.
We got the delivery log from the party.
You signed for six cases that never showed.
That alcohol was stolen.
Where were you at 2:00 A.
M.
After the butterfly party? Cleaning up.
Not according to your own company's security report.
So, what happened? You let stanton establish his alibi, followed him after the party, then killed him? I wasn't at the party.
Okay? I was with a tabloid reporter.
I'm a spy.
There, I said it, all right? I'm not proud of it, but I spy on my own parties.
You can call him if you want, I'll give you the number.
Now, you can clear yourself right now of one robbery, or you can wait and we'll get a subpoena for a strip search.
Good choice.
Well, he's clean.
No trace of smartwater.
Means he's not our guy.
Maybe it's just his parties.
Now, we know that james stanton was a guest at the butterfly party because maude spotted him arriving at 9:00 P.
M.
He got here around 9:00.
We also know that devon's apartment was robbed by james at midnight.
Oh! Wait.
Did you hear that? And that james and gano got into a fight at 1:30.
- My car- where is it? - Get your hands off me! Which means james robbed devon's spot, and then went back to the butterfly shindig.
So, we know that the gang used the parties to establish their alibi.
Now, when we first interviewed rodrigue at the conservatory, he said that he was planning the mayor's benefit.
That's tonight.
And stanton's partner will probably be there.
You got a tux? flack.
Don flack.
There you are, sir.
Enjoy your evening.
the lights, flack.
Stanton's partner's here.
Cell phones, pdas - they're being downloaded right now.
Good luck on the smartwater.
Press photo, sir.
very nice.
great.
Thanks.
Anything? No.
No trace of smartwater yet.
All right, let me know.
I, uh, heard when cops work too hard, they talk to themselves.
Devon.
I thought you were working tonight.
What is this, some sort of an undercover thing? Tell her you'll make it up to her.
I'll make this up to you.
Yes, you will.
I think spies are sexy.
Press photo, sir.
flack, it's the assistant.
Maude.
She's headed toward roulette.
Maude? Nice jacket.
Is it hotwired? So, who's the designer? Excuse me.
Maude? Maude! Nypd! Freeze! is she kidding me?! flack! This is detective flack.
I got a 10-13 in pursuit of a murder suspect.
Suspect's headed west on park row.
employ divertive tactics.
Suspect's heading towards city hall.
Employ HLS security in five, four, three, two one.
Now! omg what?! What?! il you're under arrest.
Gimme your hands.
You'd never make it as a bond girl driving like that.
Oh, montana, hold up.
What's up? No, I got her.
Overtime.
Uh, evidence is coming in on the james stanton murder, and we have a date with it.
We got the car? You make the coffee.
I'll go get the batmobile.
I didn't kill james.
You were the brains behind the robberies, weren't you? You don't have anything on me.
Actually, we do.
You took a shower in a chemical that proves you were at the last robbery.
come on, maude.
You dumped his body and took the car.
Now, how does this work? You get your partner to fund all your fancy gadgets, then you knock him off before the big take home? No.
Maude's involvement with the second robbery and the fact that she was driving the car links her to stanton.
We still don't have anything that directly connects her to his murder.
The air bag didn't deploy when the car crashed.
James stanton's cod was crush asphyxiation.
Maybe maude customized the air bag to kill stanton.
Danny found brake fluid on the street after maude robbed the loft.
In order for that much brake fluid to leak from the car, you'd have to tamper with the brake caliper.
Right, and she wouldn't sabotage the same car she's driving.
So if she didn't do it, who did? A "q" wannabe.
Always behind the scenes, never got to use his own inventions.
Means there's a third gang member who wanted both stanton and maude killed.
We need the science to prove it.
Yeah.
Here's the chief now.
Chief sinclair, is it true? Did you sexually harass her? Were you having an affair? does your wife know about the e-mail? You burned me, taylor.
You leaked that e-mail to the press.
It did not come from me.
This kind of thing doesn't just go away.
Someone in your lab gave them the information, and I am holding you accountable.
Know that.
Rough day, detective taylor? All right, so mac was right about the air bag.
Normally there are holes to relieve the pressure.
This one, no holes.
It was rigged to an air canister that was set off by remote control.
And once the air bag was triggered, it shot out of the casing at 250 miles an hour, pinning him to the seat.
And then the air canister kept the air bag inflated long enough to suffocate him.
The air bag was never reattached before maude crashed, clearly sabotaged.
And we found capsicum, aka pepper spray which was on the air bag, which explains how it got in the vic's eyes.
And we also found it on the sabotaged brake caliper.
I don't think it was pepper spray.
There was this kid at the car club.
Had access to the car, knew everything about the latest tech, and he bites his nails.
And that makes him the killer because? Well, capsicum isn't just in pepper spray, it's also used as a home remedy for nail biting.
Nasty habit.
Cayenne pepper isn't working for you? Seems you have a nastier habit.
What are you talking about? The cayenne pepper you use to stop your nail biting, you left it and your prints all over the brake caliper and the airbag.
That doesn't mean anything.
You know what's funny about all this, mr.
Royd? Is that without you, this gang would've never existed.
But james and maude didn't get it.
The jacket you designed was awesome, but what you did to that car was genius.
Auto-tint windows, memory alloy? My favorite was how you rigged the exhaust pipes to handle the alcohol.
How'd you keep them from corroding? I, uh I lined the pipes with a nickel chromium alloy.
It was pretty cool, huh? Yeah, the night of the butterfly party, after maude gives james his instructions, he picks you up.
You were the lookout.
The guy I saw in the car after my girlfriend's place was robbed.
That was you.
I I don't know what you're talking about.
Oh, sure you do, mr.
Royd.
You were with james when he drove back to the party to reestablish his alibi.
So you decided you didn't need either one of them.
And when james finally drove you home that night, you put your plan into action.
You rigged the air bag to kill james.
And then you dumped his body on bond street.
Then, you sabotaged the brakes to kill maude.
They just used me.
What was I supposed to do? Just let them have all the fun? Just once, I wanted to wear the suit.
Get the girl.
They were never going to let that happen.
Mac, mac, I just heard about sinclair.
How'd this happen? I have no idea.
I secured the file.
You didn't show it to anyone before that? No, there's no way anybody in this lab could've leaked that information.
What about the jacket? Is it possible it sent the file to an external source? I don't know, I disabled that thing, but I guess it's possible.
Double check everything.
I will.
Luggage recovery.
Yes, this is mac taylor.
My suitcase was delivered with someone else's lock on it.
Let me check that, mr.
Taylor.
Sorry, mr.
Taylor, according to our records, we never located your luggage.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

Previous EpisodeNext Episode