CSI: NY s06e14 Episode Script

Holy.
.
! I used to look forward to a new snowfall.
Not today.
It covered any tracks our killer may have left.
- We have an lD? - Nope.
She appears to be in her early 20s.
Parks and Recs called it in about a half an hour ago.
The first on scene said she has cash in her pocket and is wearing a watch.
So we're not looking for a thief.
Not seeing much lividity here.
Skin is pale.
She lost a lot of blood.
But no blood pool? T racks weren't the only thing snowfall covered.
Looks like the bottom of her earlobe's been bitten off.
Yeah.
Puncture wound.
Think I may have just found our COD.
Say cheese.
This woman was taking pictures.
Looks like we just found our only witness.
# Out here in the fields # I fight for my meals # I get my back into my living # Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah # This is an overlay of a patterned injury I found adjacent to the vic's puncture wound.
It's most likely a detail from our murder weapon.
Whatever that implement is, it punctured the carotid artery Ieading to exsanguination, your official COD.
- We get a name? - Ran her prints.
She's not in the system.
You're looking at Jane Doe for now.
Also found a curious scar on her left wrist.
It appears to be recent.
What about the injury to her ear? We found her in the park.
Tell me it's from animal activity.
Unfortunately, I can't do that.
And any foreign DNA on the ear was most likely washed away with the blood flow.
I did recover this fleck of blood at the puncture site on the vic's neck.
Unlike the blood from the wound, this particle was deposited when it was already dry.
It could be from our killer.
Or we're looking for a murder weapon that's seen more than one victim.
One second.
Come on in.
How's it going? Feeling old.
I'd say it was the cold weather, but you're too young for aches and pains like that.
Mac asked Adam to develop our vic's film.
Kid had no clue what he meant.
Digital generation.
- I hope you hit him.
- Oh, I did.
Found these at the end of the roll.
Imagine recording the last moments of your life on film.
Talk about a self-portrait.
Boyfriend? That's what I'm thinking.
Those are the first two pictures on the roll.
She looks happy.
Yeah.
34 pictures later, not so much, huh? The lighting on these two shots show morning.
She was killed much later than that.
It must have been taken earlier.
Or maybe even on another day.
I'm thinking that we can use the rest of the photos to retrace our Jane Doe's steps, figure out where she came from.
And who she is.
Here's where our Jane Doe took this photo.
Hey, maybe this belonged to her.
Dry lip balm.
Watch your step here.
This pattern, it shows there were foot impressions here before the snowfall.
And they're in close enough proximity to our scene.
That's kind of a long shot, but maybe this fell out of our killer's pocket.
It seems she took her next photo over there.
Here we go.
This is where she took the photo.
Look at the buildings in the background.
Maybe someone over there saw her.
We'll knock on some doors.
Yeah, I know her.
That's Estelle.
Estelle Christensen.
- How did this happen? - Murdered in the park last night.
Right across the street.
I wondered why she didn't come home.
I figured she stayed at the boyfriend's.
This him by any chance? Yeah, that's Keith, uh Borgese, I think.
Italian name, I know that.
When did you last see Ms Christensen? Yesterday just before sunset.
She takes photos in the park every day at that time.
Keith is usually with her.
Usually? He wasn't with her yesterday? No.
I don't believe so.
No.
What a shame.
That girl was beautiful, smart.
Hey, how're you doin'? Hey.
Thanks, Jimmy.
And funny.
You know, that English sense of humour.
- She was British? - Right down to the afternoon tea.
- Any other visitors? - Nah, just the boyfriend.
Pretty much.
- What do you mean pretty much? - Pretty much, pretty much.
OK, there was this older guy.
I don't recall his name, but he'd come by once in a while.
Late night.
Can you be more specific, guy? It's cold out here.
As I said, Estelle had a boyfriend, but I don't know.
Maybe she was seeing the older guy on the side.
I swear, I don't know his name.
That's all I got.
- OK, thanks.
We'll be in touch.
- Yeah.
Where did you and Estelle first meet, Keith? Central Park.
She took a picture of me.
When was this taken? A few days ago.
And this? That was the day before yesterday.
It's the last time I saw Estelle.
I understand you two walked in the park every day at sunset.
- Yeah.
- Why was last night different? We had an argument a few days ago.
- Was the argument about another man? - No.
Why would you say that? A witness described an older gentlemen Estelle may have had a relationship with.
I have no idea what you're on about.
My girlfriend just died and you ask me that? Well, help me out here, Keith.
You two go to the park every day.
On the day she's murdered, you're not there.
- How do you explain that? - Like I said, we had an argument.
About what? I don't know.
Nothing.
Just She was just acting weird lately, you know.
And, and something was different.
And l, I wanted to know why.
Did she tell you? Did she tell you why, Keith? Sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm I should have been with her last night.
This is my fault.
I could have protected her.
I I should have been with her.
I should have been with her.
Results from the dried blood Sid collected from the vic's neck revealed multiple donors, male and female.
Could have transferred from the murder weapon.
Was the boyfriend any of the donors? Don't know yet.
But the dry lip balm came back to him.
- Doctor.
- That's not surprising.
They could have shared it.
OK.
I got a CODlS hit from one of the donors on the fleck.
Say hello to Billy James.
One prior for assault and battery.
And now possibly murder.
Billy James? I take it you guys don't want NYPD tattooed on your forearms? Let's take a break.
Must be a special guy - Jackson.
You a friend of Estelle Christensen's? I know her.
Why? She was murdered a couple nights ago and we found your DNA on her body.
- Estelle's dead? You serious? - Yes, we're serious.
Why do you think we're here? How'd you get the scar on your wrist? I got lazy holding the gun a few months ago and put it into my wrist.
Where were you night before last, Mr James? - Right here.
- 'Till what time? - Late.
I don't know.
- You'll have to do better than that.
What, you think I killed Estelle? We're gonna have to confiscate all your guns, Mr James.
Wait.
You can't do that.
These guns are my income.
- I can't work without them.
- A woman's dead.
Let's see how this works for you.
She was quiet and polite.
Kept to herself.
She would never harm anyone.
- I'm sorry, Mrs Christensen.
- Yes.
How long has she lived here? - Not even a year.
- Yeah.
When did you last speak to your daughter? Two days ago.
She was saying how much she loved living here in the city.
And her photography was going really well.
We brought Estelle here for the first time when she was Uh, she was five.
My mother actually lived in the city.
You OK, sir? No, I'm sorry.
I'm not.
I thought nothing could be worse than losing my mother, but here I am back in New York this way.
She loved it here, didn't she? Ever since our first trip she used to say that, um this was the place with the tall buildings.
And that she was gonna live here some day.
It really doesn't make any sense.
Who would want to hurt her? That's what we're trying to figure out, ma'am.
You find the person who did this.
We will.
- That pig giving you a hard time? - Yeah.
He's not being cooperative.
So far none of Billy James' tattoo guns match Estelle Christensen's puncture wound.
No matter what I try, nothing penetrates deep enough to severe the carotid artery.
Plus, I got off the phone with Flack and Billy James' alibi checks out.
That young girl bled out from a single puncture wound.
How can something so small be so fatal? Sid.
You found something? After you left, it occurred to me.
That scar on Estelle's wrist? It was vaguely reminiscent of a zigzag pattern I had seen before.
So I did a little digging through my files and, and, uh, conferred with some other MEs.
And I'm afraid my hunch was correct.
This particular scar is the result of a cutting ceremony shared by a certain cult.
Cult? Look, I'll just stay it straight.
I think our vic may have been killed by a vampire.
I believe they're called Sanguine Vampires or simply real vampires, as opposed to Lifestyle Vampires, which are more about the gothic style and so on.
But real or Sanguine Vampires, can get very philosophical and see it basically as their religion.
And one way they discover that higher place is through blood exchange.
Which apparently is a consensual act.
All right.
And, uh, you know this how? Oh, don't give me that look.
I mean, my eccentricities only go so far.
I promise you, I'm no vampire.
It's all there on the World Wide Web.
Our vic's scar can very well be the result of a blood exchange.
That happens in the world of vampirism.
One of our earlier suspects Billy James and the vic's father both had this same scar.
They could all be involved with this, you know, way of life.
You said the father was from Europe? England.
Perhaps the family has Romanian roots.
Maybe they're descendants of Vlad the lmpaler.
Well, these could be upstanding citizens walking among us.
It's just fascinating to me, from a purely scientific perspective, of course.
With everything that's out there, the idea of ingesting someone else's unscreened blood is frightening.
Yeah, well this whole theory, Sid, is a bit frightening.
Yes.
It appears Estelle Christensen had a dark side.
Which I intend to shed some light on.
- That's a relief.
- What? She's got a bed.
What, did you think, she'd have a coffin? She had a nice eye.
Obviously put a lot of time into these photographs.
Oh.
She obviously put a lot of time into some interesting reading habits as well.
The Awakening, Confessions of a Vampire.
You serious? How does one get involved in this? I mean, when do you have that moment of deciding, "l wanna suck someone else's blood? " I don't know.
What happened to kids playing stickball and man-hunt? Yeah, suddenly, it's uh, you know, being pale and skinny and having sharp teeth and great hair.
That's the way to go.
Ah.
This is odd.
More film.
She's a photographer.
I get storing unused film in a fridge, but an exposed roll? Maybe she made a mistake.
Or maybe she was trying to hide something.
Is that from the roll you found in the fridge? Yes.
Looks like some sort of gathering.
Billy James, our tattoo artist, present.
Keith Borgese, the boyfriend, present.
- Doesn't look like he belongs.
- No.
But this guy does.
Huh.
He's a little older than the rest.
Exactly.
And take a look at this.
Same group, different night.
Everyone's there except for the boyfriend.
Obviously wasn't his cup of tea.
This could be the older guy the doorman mentioned.
He's front and centre.
Estelle Christensen's close by.
It does sort of look like a ceremony.
My guess is, he's the puppet master.
Or maybe the one leading the sheep to slaughter.
Hey, push in on that table.
Does that look like some sort of blade? It's hard to tell.
You can use genuine fractals to manipulate the pixels.
May get us a better image.
We may just be looking at our murder weapon.
My wife's always misplacing her key.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
I've told you everything I know.
Have a seat, Mr Christensen.
We're gonna be here a while.
We may as well get comfortable.
Found a few photographs that your daughter took of people at a party.
Take a look.
Anyone ring a bell? I don't see anyone here I know.
Are you sure about that? Yes.
- Put your left arm on the table.
- What? - I wanna know what that is.
- It's a scar.
Don't waste my time, Mr Christensen.
You know what I'm asking you.
I'm trying to solve your daughter's murder.
Does that mean anything to you? Or is your faith so strong you'll allow her killer to go free? - You know nothing about my faith.
- Maybe I don't.
But I think you're protecting someone who's involved in this murder.
Help me solve your daughter's death, Mr Christensen.
Tell me what you know.
Joseph Vance.
That's the name of the older gentleman in the photograph.
Tell me about him.
We met in a haven many years back.
- Haven? - It's where we gather.
A safe place.
Is that what I'm looking at in these photographs? A vampire haven? Joseph is the master of the haven here in the city.
I asked him to keep an eye on our daughter.
He's known her since she was a child.
We met, actually, here in New York when we brought Estelle.
T ruth is the last time I spoke to Estelle, she did sound a bit different.
Like something was bothering her.
What do they use to make the scar on your wrist? The coven master usually has the instrument made.
It's a small silver object.
It's an ankh.
Also known as the cruxansata.
Represents balance, male and female, more importantly, life and death.
It's also the Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol for eternal life.
And Joseph Vance may need just that.
Test everything.
Believe nothing.
I am the only god that is.
I am willing.
- NYPD! Don't move! - What the hell is going on? Hey, drop the knife! I said, put it down right now! - You have no right to be in here.
- You're not gonna bite me, are you? Take a seat, Mr Vance.
You own a cord blood bank and in your spare time you slit people's wrists.
Are you a bloodthirsty man? Despite what you think, I've never harmed a human being.
Then what do you call that party my men broke up in your living room? Such a sad world you live in.
Fear of what you don't know.
I think you instilled fear into an innocent young girl.
I gave Estelle nothing but love and support.
I honoured that young woman.
You wouldn't understand.
I understand you are in possession of the weapon that may have been used to kill our victim.
I understand you also made late night visits to her apartment and you don't appear to show any signs of sympathy for your so-called friend.
I am deeply disturbed by Estelle's death.
You are deeply disturbed.
I'll give you that much.
Hey, Stell.
Danny found the missing piece of our vic's ear in Joseph Vance's flat.
What about the ankh he had when we arrested him? Heading to the lab to process it.
See if it matches our vic's wound pattern and run it for DNA.
If we can connect this to our murder, it may be enough to lock Vance up.
- That wouldn't suck.
- No.
Blood trace on the blade was a match to Estelle Christensen.
So it did draw her blood.
And the blood of other donors I'm running through the system.
Vance said the ankh was used in several blood ceremonies.
Multiple donors makes sense.
Estelle's blood was barely degraded so it was recently deposited.
And the DNA from the handle matches Vance's reference sample.
Looks like we got enough to put this guy away.
I found foreign DNA on the piece of the vic's ear I recovered from the fridge.
Only thing is, it's not a match to Joseph Vance.
How is that possible? It's possible.
If he didn't act alone.
We got the murder victim and our vic's ear in Vance's apartment.
But we must find something that puts him at her murder scene.
And so far, we can't do that for him or Billy James or Keith Borgese.
DNA results found all their blood on the blade but can't pin any of them to the scene for definite.
How about Dracula? Can we put him on there, too? Should I add him to the list of suspects? All right.
All right.
Look, I won't pretend to understand what these people believe in.
But, from everything we've seen and heard, this sect, haven, whatever you call it, is non-violent.
Yeah, Mac's right.
Just because we're not followers of Joseph Vance, doesn't mean the evidence supports him killing our vic.
And biting an ear or a neck isn't a part of their ritual.
He claims we planted the ear in his freezer.
- Threatening to sue.
- Let's forget what he thinks.
It's our job to focus on the evidence with impartial eyes.
Maybe we should look at the DNA again.
What are you thinking, boss? You found Keith Borgese's DNA on that blade, right? Yeah.
He was one of the donors.
Keith didn't have a scar on his wrist.
I should have been with her.
This is my fault.
I could have protected her.
I, l, I should have been there.
But he was in the photographs we developed from Estelle's apartment.
Yes, but he's only in the first, not the second photo, which was clearly taken on another day.
Maybe he didn't like what he saw and he was on the dry lip balm found at the scene.
Boyfriend and girlfriend.
Or it fell out of his pocket when he ran outta there.
His blood shouldn't have been on the blade if he wasn't at the ceremony.
Nope.
Which means this kid could've spilled more blood than anyone else.
What she did made you jealous.
I can understand that.
This isn't about another man.
This is about the haven.
They took her from me.
What you saw disgusted you, didn't it? Did you see what they do? She wasn't mine any more.
They, they, they changed her.
You lost your girlfriend to something you couldn't comprehend.
And in the heat of the moment, you took that frustration out on her.
You were with her in the park but not like before.
She thought she was alone but you were right behind her.
When you saw you were in too deep - Stop! -there was only one way out.
Set up the person you thought was taking the girl you loved away from you Joseph Vance.
I was trying to save her.
I swear to God, I'm not like those other people.
No, you're not.
However disgusted you are with them, they didn't kill anyone.
I just didn't understand it.
There's a lot of things in this world we don't understand.
It's never a reason to take a life.
Mr Christensen? Thank you for coming.
This park used to be a special place for our family.
I know you may not agree with our beliefs but it's got us through a lot and it'll get us through this.
I'm not judging you, Mr Christensen.
Your daughter's work.
I'm sure she'd want you to have it.
She had a way of seeing the beauty in everything she came across.