CSI: NY s08e09 Episode Script

Previously, on New York John Curtis raped another woman.
He's in New York.
The victim walked into Flack's precinct, he took the report, and then he recognized Curtis as your old DC rape case.
Who was she, the victim? Ali.
Ali Rand.
In DC, your colleague made a mistake in the first round of DNA testing and then destroyed the documentation, when you knew that John Curtis was your guy.
Serena Matthews, the senator's daughter.
Your DNA was planted on her underwear? I was acquitted.
I came here to make you a promise.
You will not walk away this time.
You put that bitch on the stand, your case'll fall apart faster than your career did in the FBI.
You don't believe me, do you? Please tell the court the expected dose-related effect on a person who's ingested Death.
So either your test is wrong, or Miss Rand is lying.
Out here in the fields I fight for my meals I get my back into my living Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mr.
Curtis, please stand.
.
Some of the testimony we've heard here today is cause for concern and raises serious questions as to the credibility of the victim.
I have been moved to grant defense counsel's request for a reduced bail down to the sum of $25,000.
This court is adjourned.
We'll see everyone back here on the eighth of January.
Late-breaking news today as John Curtis, the man commonly referred to as the "DC Rapist," will be released on $25,000 bail.
This dramatic turn of events occurred after the judge heard surprising testimony from the New York Crime Lab suggesting levels of GHB in the alleged victim's system were inconsistent with her statements.
There's no word yet as to whether the Manhattan D.
A.
will pursue the case further.
Jo what happened? Serena, it's okay.
That girl Lindsay who works with you I thought she was on our side.
She had to tell the truth.
The truth is that Curtis raped that girl and they just let him go.
Again.
All this means is that he's been released on bail.
There's a difference.
Not to me.
We're gonna get him.
- How can you possibly say that? - Because there are a lot of good people who still want to see this guy behind bars.
What, your associate on the stand up there? You? I have seen John Curtis walk out of a courtroom, a free man, twice.
Both times you were there.
I'm not involved in this case, Senator, as you know.
And yet, somehow it fell apart.
Dad, let's just go.
My daughter already paid her price.
Nothing can change that.
This is about all the other daughters that had to suffer since you let Curtis go the first time.
Come on.
Senator Matthews, I'm Jo Danville.
This is my associate.
Frank Waters, FBI Crime Lab.
Yes, I know.
I requested you.
Can you tell us what happened? We've been told very little.
My daughter, uh, was attacked tonight.
She came home beaten, half drugged.
- You take her to the hospital? - Of course not.
There can't be any press, no news conferences.
My daughter has got to be protected.
That's why I avoided the DC police.
Where's your daughter now? Serena? They're here.
Look what he did to my little girl.
You know you can't be doing that.
You shouldn't even be within ten feet of that evidence.
John Curtis is posting bail as we speak.
I can't sit back and watch this case fall apart.
The case isn't yours, Jo.
It's Lindsay's.
She'll be the one to go back over the evidence.
And you should get some distance.
You know John Curtis is not just another bad guy to me.
I can't pretend this is business as usual.
Yeah, I get that, it's personal.
All the more reason why you should step away.
Nobody knows this guy better than me.
I spent 11 months in DC on this case.
Of course it's personal.
But you know I can help this case.
Why don't you look over the evidence from the DC rapes.
Could be a detail that'll help us here.
Thank you.
Danny works with you.
You don't process anything.
Nothing where your signature shows up, - so you can't be subpoenaed.
- Deal.
Whatever you find, find it fast.
The only thing keeping this case alive is Ali's statement.
You said I was gonna be safe.
But that maniac is back out there.
Who do you think he's pissed at right now, the crime lab? Look, Ali, you just need to take a breath here.
They're calling me a liar in the newspaper, a whore.
I told you not to read the papers.
The D.
A.
is doubting my statements now.
Well, there are inconsistencies.
So you think I'm lying, too.
The levels of GHB in your system suggest that Curtis gave you a lethal dose.
You should be dead.
Can you explain that? I don't know; I'm not a scientist.
But without the physical evidence of you being drugged, all we have is your testimony.
Forget it.
I'm not doing this anymore-- I'm dropping the charges.
Let's be clear about something.
There is no dropping these charges.
Okay? You can't un-ring this bell.
You cannot force me to testify.
No.
But the D.
A.
can, and he will.
You're in this, Ali.
Okay, thanks for checking.
All right, so this is everything the FBI forwarded us on the DC rape cases.
Not much here to look at.
Curtis was careful.
Used cash buying them drinks, used condoms when he raped them, he used hotels so maids cleaned the sheets-- no evidence.
We only ever loosely connected him - to four attacks.
- Right.
The senator's daughter was the only one ever to cooperate.
Serena, I wanted to tell you what we're gonna do, so there are no surprises.
I'm gonna take some photographs, then I'm gonna do an examination with what we call a sexual assault kit, and ask you a couple of questions.
Is that okay? Frank, can I get that camera? Okay, there's gonna be a flash.
Frank, do you mind stepping out for a moment? I'm sorry.
It's just I'm so embarrassed.
There's no reason to be.
If I hadn't been drinking when this whole Serena, listen to me.
This is not your fault.
Not your fault.
I remember his face.
If you find him, then then I can identify him for you.
Good.
Good.
Jo.
Hey, Jo? Your cell phone's ringing.
Mac, I retested the swab from the cut on Ali Rand's cheek, only this time I ran an immunochemical test.
Determining the age of the wounds Ali sustained - during the rape.
- Right.
I figured if we couldn't nail John Curtis on the GHB We could confirm that the beating took place when Ali and Curtis were together in the hotel.
Right.
Unfortunately, it proved the opposite.
John Curtis left Ali Rand in that hotel eight hours before my examination.
But according to the P-selection to E-selection ratios, those wounds were sustained only a couple of hours before I took the swab.
Ali didn't just lie about the GHB, she lied about when she was beaten, too.
Mac, she's lying about everything.
Thank you.
Saw you at the courthouse yesterday.
I saw you, too.
You looked busy-- Senator Matthews.
Yeah, like old times, huh? Did you go to the hearing? Didn't work out the way I thought.
How are you, Frank? - I'm fine.
- Yeah? Working in the private sector-- Rothwell Laboratories.
You like it? It's a job.
What about Sally, the boys? They're in Indiana.
I didn't know.
Yeah, well, a lot can happen in two years.
I'm truly sorry for what happened to you, Frank.
By "what happened to me," you mean when you fired me from the FBI? Okay, is that why you asked me to breakfast? Because if you think I regret the decision I made, you're mistaken.
No, no, no, I didn't think you'd change your mind.
You made a mistake processing Curtis's DNA and tried to cover it up.
Jo I-I'm not here to argue.
I have thought about this long and hard, I really have.
When I came to the courthouse, I wanted to speak with you, I wanted to let you know I understand.
Okay, thank you.
But then I watched Curtis get away with it again, and all the things I wanted to say to make amends got stuck in my throat.
I'm not gonna sit here and let you blame me for what you did.
I don't, Jo.
Look, it took me a long time to figure it out, but I messed up and I own it.
If that's really the way you feel, I'm glad for you.
Yeah, but what I do blame you for is not letting it go.
Why didn't you just ignore my mistake? I had a responsibility, Frank.
To Serena, to the other victims.
If you'd just put your personal ethics to the side one time, none of this would be happening now.
Clearly you still don't understand what happened two years ago, and there's no point rehashing the past.
You're right, it was a mistake calling you.
It won't happen again.
Got a homicide in Central Park-- female, mid-20s, apparent victim of assault.
Who called it in? Couple from Iowa, in town to see Spider-Man on Broadway, after a walk in the park.
Odds were pretty good they were going to see a dead body either way.
She was putting on a pretty good show herself.
I aged the cut under her eye from the rape.
She might have done it to herself.
Well, she didn't do this to herself.
Wow.
This looks like a postcard-- I mean, except for the dead body, of course, but the rest of it, wow, look at it.
Huh? Total postcard.
"Wish you were here.
" Shut up and help me roll her.
Blunt-force trauma to the head.
Caved part of her skull in.
Multiple blows? It's hard to say.
I don't see any spatter.
It could have been just one shot.
It depends what she was hit with.
This.
There's blood on it.
Oh, that'd do it.
So she was killed here.
It wasn't a dump job.
It's probably not premeditated, right? I mean, it'd be strange if someone planned to kill her with a rock.
You never know.
Perp might have been following her.
Could have snuck up behind her and, bang, lights out.
The result of a heated argument.
Unsatisfied customer.
What? She's a call girl.
Don't make me sorry I brought you out here.
If she really did fabricate the rape story, there's definitely one guy who would want to confront her.
And John Curtis just got released on bail.
We, the jury, find the defendant, John Curtis, not guilty of rape in the first degree.
Mr.
Curtis, having been found not guilty of these charges, you are free to go.
Okay.
He say anything yet? Not about Ali Rand.
I don't get it.
Why would he agree to come in and then not be willing to talk? He's willing to talk, just not to me.
He specifically requested you.
This is Detective Jo Danville.
We're at the In the room with me is John Curtis.
This interview is being recorded - for the purpose of - This isn't an interview.
Excuse me? This isn't an interview.
I asked you here.
If anything, I'm interviewing you, but I'd prefer to call it a discussion.
Nevertheless, the camera is here to record the To make sure I don't falsely claim something happened? I mean, I can understand that.
I might leave here and go beat the hell out of myself and then come back and claim police brutality.
I hope you appreciate the irony here, you know, considering that you were so eager to believe-- Ali was her name? Well, against my better judgment and even more so, against my lawyer's wishes, I did have sex with her.
But I didn't rape her.
And why would she lie about that? Money.
If not mine, the hotel's.
Civil suit would be very lucrative.
Where were you last night? Where were you last night? I don't find this amusing.
It's not meant to be.
And I'll tell you why I ask.
Because I'd like to know what your alibi is for Ali's time of death.
The way I see it, you have more motive to kill Ali than I do.
I mean, you were so close, you could taste it.
You had a victim who suffered increased violence, who had GHB in her system and just enough memory to remember my name.
You were so close to being able to lay your head down on your pillow and forget me forever, but your star witness turned out to be a fraud, so you let Ali Rand know just how you felt about that.
Send me a copy of that, would you? I want to replay the look on your face.
Hey, Sid, have you ever seen someone punch herself in the face? Uh, no.
Are you going to punch yourself in the face? Uh, let me try that again.
Have you ever had a victim on your table who's exhibited self-inflicted punch wounds to the face? Uh, well, I've pretty much seen it all, but no, I have not come across anyone who has successfully punched herself to death.
Why? Ali Rand.
Could the old bruises on her face and the cut under her eye from the rape-- could those have been self-inflicted? Mm she seems pretty tough, but I would guess not.
It comes down to simple physics, really.
F = M x A.
Force equals mass times acceleration.
So you don't think she could have generated enough force? Not to sustain bruises like these or the laceration under her eye.
Ultimately, her fist alone doesn't contain enough mass.
She would have to put her entire weight behind the punch to do this kind of damage.
So, in your medical opinion, somebody else punched Ali? Yes, someone else punched her.
So she had an accomplice.
And whoever killed her, I'm thinking he hit her with something that left this behind.
Adam.
Oh, check this out.
Okay, what am I looking at? Dermal denticles.
Shark skin? - Mm-hmm.
- This is the trace from Ali Rand's coat? Yeah.
Weird, right? Unless her being a call girl is just a front for her real job as a pharmaceutical rep.
I'm not following.
I wasn't either, but I started looking into its uses, and there's this drug company that has been experimenting with protein in shark skin, developing these time-release gelatin capsules.
All right, collagen is extracted from the shark skin and then used to coat a cluster of individual microcapsules.
All right, the person ingests the pill, the outer layer is exposed to the stomach acids.
It dissolves, releasing the drug into the system.
And then the next layer is exposed and releases a second dose of the drug.
Allowing a sustained release of the drug over time, by only taking one pill.
Pretty cool, huh? Why use shark skin? Shark skin collagen has a higher degree of blocking damaging UV rays.
So the pills have a longer shelf life.
But this is before being ground up to coat a capsule.
Did Lindsay ever mention Ali having a connection to a pharmaceutical company? Rothwell Laboratories?! Working in the private sector-- Rothwell Laboratories.
It's Frank Waters.
Frank Waters.
NYPD.
Frank! How well did you say you knew this guy? Frank? I never meant for any of this to happen.
I know Curtis is guilty.
Where are you, Frank? If I could go back Just go back and undo what I did.
Why don't we talk about it, Frank? Let's just sit down and talk about it.
Tell me where you are.
That son of a bitch.
I know there are more.
More what, Frank? It's my fault.
Your intentions were good.
They were.
I know that.
All I wanted was for him to go away so he could never do it again.
I'm sorry, Jo.
Frank! No, no, no! Frank! Just spoke to Jo.
She's heading back to the M.
E.
's office with Frank's body.
Our buddy Frankie-- he never met a piece of paper he didn't like.
I guess they didn't teach organization at Quantico, huh? This isn't just sloppiness.
It's obsession.
Yeah.
I mean, he's got tons of surveillance photos of Curtis, he's got credit card receipts from all the hotel bars he went to.
Frank had a lot of time on his hands.
Flack talked to Frank's employer.
He's been calling in sick two, three times a week.
Maybe he was taking his work home with him.
This kitchen's set up like a makeshift chem lab.
Plus we got empty containers of metal polish, drain cleaner and camp fuel.
All of which can be used to make GHB.
You think Frank was working with Ali to set up Curtis for rape? He wanted Curtis to pay after making that mistake in DC.
Tracked him all over New York.
And then what? He hires Ali to proposition Curtis in public? Sure.
Whips up the GHB right here in the kitchen.
Ali could have come here before going to the precinct.
He doses her, then beats her to make it look right, and sends her off to the precinct to make a complaint.
Something doesn't make sense.
I mean, Frank worked at the FBI crime lab for years.
So how did he get the GHB levels so wrong? Ali could have accidentally taken a wrong amount.
I mean, there are a number of things that could have gone sideways.
And when they did, Frank got worried Ali would give him up.
So, he confronts her at the park.
What did you tell them? Nothing.
I'm done with this.
And made sure she'd stay quiet.
Tiger Woods, look out.
Got my own clubs.
Close the door, Frank.
Uh-oh.
Someone in trouble? I spent all night with this; couldn't sleep.
I was just sick to my stomach.
You missed a marker on John Curtis's DNA profile.
No.
The DNA's a match.
All 13 loci.
You got my report.
Yeah, I got it, March 3.
I signed off on it, and you testified to it in court.
And then I found this, dated March 2.
The first time you tested John Curtis's DNA when you missed a marker.
Where did you get that? From the printer queue in the lab.
I assume you destroyed the original.
Look, Jo, I made a mistake.
It's not just a mistake, Frank.
You know I have to alert the defense.
Oh, you do that, this whole case could blow up.
You've given me no choice.
He was a friend of yours? Used to be close.
Yeah.
How is it possible to misjudge a person so? I trusted this man.
And now he's suspected of murder.
Yeah, and I can't wrap my head around that.
Well I haven't found any physical evidence that directly connects Frank to Ali Rand's murder, but I did find this.
Irritation on the right hand and several fingertips.
Looks like chemical burns.
I found similarly inflamed tissue on the inside of his nostrils.
Sent samples up to the lab.
You know, supposedly, Frank was making GHB in the apartment.
Suggests he wasn't wearing gloves or a respirator.
Also supports the theory that he was helping Ali set up John Curtis.
I'm sorry, Jo.
Yeah, me, too, Sid.
Hey, Mac, one of the patrolmen retrieved Frank Waters' cell phone a few feet from where he killed himself.
Damaged in the collision.
Were you able to retrieve any phone messages or e-mails? I can do better than that.
I transferred the memory card to my tablet.
Found a conversation between Frank and Ali the day she died.
What are you, a cop or something? Yeah, I used to be, sort of.
I worked on the John Curtis case in DC.
Ah.
You did a hell of a job.
Yeah, well, so did you.
I was in court today.
If you're gonna dose yourself with GHB, you better figure out the right levels.
You're crazy.
Yeah, maybe.
And I'm precise.
And so is the New York Crime Lab.
Right now, they are pulling apart every detail of your story.
If you're lying about anything else, they'll know.
Get away from me.
Hey! I'm right, aren't I? You tried to frame him.
- Let go of me now.
- You know, you made it almost impossible for anyone else to step forward? The scrutiny they'd face? Just let me go.
- When was this recorded? - About an hour before she was killed.
Why would he record this conversation? It's like he was collecting evidence, trying to prove that Ali set Curtis up.
Well, doesn't exonerate Frank from the murder, but it changes our theory.
Clearly, he wasn't involved in the setup, but he could have followed Ali to the park killed her out of anger? Oh, it's possible.
But if Frank wasn't involved in framing Curtis, what was he doing with all that surveillance, and why was he making GHB? So, the metal polish and drain cleaner we found in Frank's apartment didn't belong to him.
We found John Curtis's fingerprints all over those containers.
How did Frank get them? He was following Curtis's movements.
Took a photo of Curtis getting rid of a large trash bag.
Hoping to establish Curtis was making his own GHB.
Yeah, Frank was a busy man.
I sorted through all the other surveillance photos of Curtis and hundreds of credit card receipts.
We got Curtis hitting six or seven different hotels every weekend for the past two months.
And the credit card receipts? All from the same hotels.
All belonging to female customers, dating as far back as six months ago.
Frank figured out what nights Curtis frequented the hotel bars, then collected data on the women who were there.
He was looking for another victim who hadn't come forward.
He'd have to track dozens of different women based only on their credit card information.
Frank was always stubbornly determined.
And that's how he got this.
That's Curtis's car.
I found a tape lift attached to the back of the photo, and it had a single hair on it.
You run it for DNA yet? Yeah, but no hit in CODIS.
Maybe there doesn't have to be.
A batting coach would tell you to swing from the hips, but that's a good follow-through, though.
What do you know about rare wood? Not much.
I'm guessing this has to do with the splinter Sid removed from Ali's head wound.
It's Pink lvory.
It's one of the three rarest varieties on the planet.
It's grown almost entirely in Southern Africa, and it's the sovereign tree of the Zulu Nation.
Should I put a BOLO out on the Zulu royal family? Not yet.
The traditional weapon from Southern Africa is called a knob kerrie.
It's a cross between a club and a walking stick.
Similar to the Shillelagh in Ireland.
Considered a gentleman's weapon.
Right.
The handle is rounded, so I thought it might have caused the circular bruising on Ali's temple, so I'm testing them to see if I can match the shape of the bruise.
Although, it's a little conspicuous to be walking around New York with it.
Not if it's out of plain sight.
Detective Taylor.
Uh, come on in.
I hope this house call means you've got some good news on the John Curtis case.
I'm not here about John Curtis.
I'm here about Ali Rand's murder.
Serena, would you excuse us one minute? I come here out of respect for you and what you've accomplished in your life.
I was also wondering where that umbrella of yours is.
The one you carry in your briefcase.
Mac, this is Senator Matthews.
What does this have to do with that woman's murder? Your umbrella was one of two weapons used to kill her.
So now now I'm a suspect in a in the murder of a woman that I-I don't even know.
Last year, you took some high-profile trips-- Miami, Aspen, two-week junket in Europe.
Yeah, it's all Senate business.
According to her financial records, Ali was in Miami, Aspen and Europe at the same time.
Same hotels, too.
I'm insulted at the innuendo.
How much did you pay her? I'm a United States Senator.
How much did you pay her to frame John Curtis for rape? Yes, add that to my-my list of felonies.
I'm going to ask you to leave now.
And I'll come back with a warrant for you to produce that unique umbrella.
And while you're thinking of excuses for how it disappeared, your face will replace John Curtis on the news.
They won't be talking about the DC Rapist anymore.
What would you do, Detective? If your daughter was violated the way mine was.
He was gonna rape again, unless someone took the initiative.
And so you hired Ali to trap him.
Oh, God, I should've just gunned him down myself.
Um.
Ali picked up Curtis at the hotel.
Afterwards, she and I met at her place.
Ready? She assured me she could handle the scrutiny of a high-profile investigation.
Then the case began to unravel.
'Cause she started panicking.
She'd call me every few minutes.
I told her we can't have any contact until the trial is concluded, but she insisted on meeting.
And that's when you decided she was a loose end? The only thing that mattered to me was seeing John Curtis pay his debt.
- I wanted to help you, but they know I'm lying now.
- Hey, Ali, Ali, we are so close.
If you stop now, Curtis is gonna do it again.
It's not my problem.
No, hey, don't don't walk away from me, damn it.
Come on.
Ali Ali I was desperate.
Detective Danville? Yeah, she's, uh, right over there.
Amanda Tanner? Yeah.
Hi.
I'm Jo Danville, Detective.
I spoke to you on the phone.
Yeah.
Thank you for coming down here.
Can you tell me what this is about? Maybe we should go to a room where it's a little more private.
Well, I have to be somewhere, so can you just tell me why I'm here? We need to talk about John Curtis.
I don't know who that is.
You were at the Rapid Lounge, three weeks ago, on Spring Street, right? He spilled your drink, maybe offered to buy you a new one? We left the bar after, um, about an hour, and, uh he drove me back to my place.
Normally, I wouldn't, I mean We just met, but I'm not here to judge you, Amanda.
I just need to understand what happened.
Um I asked him up, and, uh he opened a bottle of wine, and we were just talking.
I started to feel the room started You blacked out? I woke up the next morning and I was naked and my wrists they were all red.
And and I looked in the mirror and I saw my face.
It's okay.
How did you find me? From a hair in John Curtis's car.
We cross-referenced it to hotel credit card receipts and DMV photos, which led us to you.
I mean, I had the sheets and the wine and the clothes and everything, but I just couldn't Do you still have those things-- the clothes you were wearing, the wine glass? Would you mind if we went back to your place and I got those things from you? It's very important.
Great apartment.
Got a lot of light.
Yeah.
I'm moving, though.
I just can't stay here, you know? Ah.
Oh, this is great.
There's enough residue left that might contain the GHB.
The clothes are in my bedroom closet.
- I'll be right back.
- Okay.
Have you thought about seeing a therapist? Might help to talk to someone about what happened.
Yeah, I thought about it.
I just, I think I need some time, you know? I understand.
What about your parents, have you told them? Do they live in the city? Amanda? Amanda? Get up.
Come on.
Get up! Beg me not to kill you.
Come on, I want to hear you say it.
Never.
Attagirl.
You never did know when to give up, did you? You know how some experts say that sick people people like me, you know, that ultimately, we want to be caught? Hmm? That the mistakes we make are intentional.
Or that we stray from some particular course of action because we like the risk? Those experts are morons.
I have no intention of being caught.
This was not intentional.
You got too close, Jo.
Can I call you Jo? Uh-oh.
No bullets.
Come on.
Come on, you can do it.
There you go.
You know how most gun accidents happen and people end up shooting themselves? Bang.
You got me.
You finally got me.
They always forget the one in the chamber.
Looking up from underneath It's fractured moonlight on the sea Reflections still look the same to me As before I went under And it's peaceful in the deep Cathedral where you cannot breathe No need to pray, no need to speak Now I am under And it's breaking over me A thousand miles onto the sea bed Found the place to rest my head Never let me go, never let me go Never let me go, never let me go And the arms of the ocean Now they're carrying me And all this devotion Was rushing out of me And the crashes are heaven For a sinner like me The arms of the ocean deliver me