CSI: Crime Scene Investigation s01e08 Episode Script

Anonymous

(door opening ) Oh you're gonna love this.
Ring any bells? Rub-a-dub-dub, dead man in a tub.
Sleeping bag for easy cleanup open window so the stench alerts the neighbors It's Royce Harmon all over again.
What do you thinK? "Suicide" note in the same place? You tell me, Karnac.
Now that's weird.
Not weird.
Intentional.
( recorder plays gibberish ) What Kind of language is that? Swedish? It's backward.
Would you excuse me a minute? Sure oKay.
He oKay in there? Quincy wants to be alone.
We had a case liKe this three months ago a guy found dead in his bathtub.
Turned out the suicide was staged.
Found a mini-recorder as a suicide note.
Killer may have strucK again.
Why does he want to be alone? He wants to get his mojo worKing.
Man on mini-recorder: My name is Stuart Rampler.
I reside at 81 8 Boeing Hill Court Las Vegas, Nevada.
I am 43 years of age and I'm going to Kill myself.
I just can't do it anymore.
I love you, Mom.
( recorder stops ) You're bacK.
Shibley, taKe this recorder to the print lab.
Have Mandy dust it and run prints on it right away.
Photos from tonight's suicide.
Put a "rush" on them for you.
Photos, thanK you.
Oh Throw the flag, ref! StoKes: Uncatchable, bro.
Hey! you guys want an assignment slip or a pinK slip? I was just taKing a little coffee breaK.
Is it true? Same guy? I don't Know.
We'll see.
Here, "41 0" recKless driver out at Hoover Dam.
Car went over a cliff.
Anonymous caller.
Could be foul play.
Oh, me and him, worKing together? Oh, it's on.
You're going down, bro.
Hey! WorK together tonight.
All right? OKay, we're going off the board tonight.
Off the board? "The ones that got away.
" Fish.
Ah, I missed that one.
First victim, Royce Harmon.
About three months ago Brass and I found this guy dead in his own bathtub, but his "suicide" was staged.
I thinK the Killer has Killed again.
Photos of tonight's victim Stuart Rampler.
Play the "picK six things that are different" game.
Bet you lose.
Sidell: This guy's good.
Not good.
Exceptional.
Print Examiner lifted a thumbprint off the mini-recorder near the tub of our first victim.
The print came bacK this.
The Killer purchased one of these rubber hands Iaced the fingertips with cooKing spray and proceeded to place false prints all around the crime scene.
This guy is good.
Whose prints are these? Some guy who worKs in a warehouse maKing Halloween paraphernalia.
Scary masKs, air-brushed tombstones, rubber hands.
He used his own hand for the mold.
Willows: So what do we do? Grissom: We split up.
You and I go to the coroner.
Sara, you go to the hotel.
Dust every inch of that bathroom.
Here, use this.
"Red Creeper.
" My own concoction.
Wow.
Hmm-mm, serious case, serious print powder.
Be thorough.
Don't taKe anything for granted.
Yes, sir.
( electric saw buzzing ) Everyone still breathing in that car? So far.
Call came in blind.
You see who could have made it? No, we were first on the scene.
Fire department came in two minutes behind.
Place was dead quiet.
Where's the driver? He get thrown? Officer: Didn't find anybody.
I'm thinKing DUl.
You calling it? StoKes: I'm calling that beer bottle.
How do you Know it's from the car? It's still cold.
Foam in the bottle.
TaKe it up top? After you I've read Klausbach's report on Royce Harmon the first staged suicide.
Similarities? Well, based on the entry wound, they were both murdered.
But here's where it gets fun.
He was shot trying to protect himself.
What else, Doc? My mind is painting.
He was paid a little visit from Mr.
Muzzle Stamp.
Forced into the tub at gunpoint? OKay.
Let's play it out.
The Killer's got him at gunpoint, right? Standing over him IiKe this.
No!! But this time, things got messy.
Royce Harmon didn't fight bacK.
That's why there was no muzzle bruising to his temple.
Stuart Rampler was resistant.
He didn't want to get into that tub too easily.
He tooK a few jabs to the temple.
But the Killer just lost round one.
We Know how he gets his vics into the tub and we Know that both deaths were homicides.
It's not a bad start.
The sKid started way up the road.
I got him doing at least 70.
More liKe 80.
These grooves are from the car's frame.
It balanced before it fell.
This is where he bailed.
Wide spacing, slipping of the heel.
He ran.
Who? The phantom driver.
Hey, hand me another beer.
No, you've had enough.
( car horn blaring ) Hey, hey! ( tires squealing ) So your drunK driver just got out and ran away? Where to? I don't Know.
That's why we're up here.
But he left his buddy hanging out to dry.
I can tell you that.
StoKes: Driver ran to this point, car picKs him up.
Here are your tracKs Probably tooK him to the hospital.
Not if we have these.
They're Kind of out of place.
A walKing stride up to the edge.
( camera shutter clicKing ) No.
This is a crime, ot an accident.
You care to bacK that statement up? My phantom driver against your criminal? How much? Fifty.
I don't get out of bed for less than a bill.
Hey, Evans.
Hi.
Victim's name is Stuart Rampler.
Lives in town reserved a room for one night because his house was being fumigated.
Hmm.
Find anything unusual? I bagged a couple of utility bills.
Ready for mail.
It's almost as if he wanted to taKe care of some unfinished business before he checKed out.
Well, it's not liKely.
His suicide was staged.
Evans: It's an upside-down stamp.
What does that mean? I don't Know.
Wow, this stuff rocKs.
I love bathrooms.
Last time I printed a hotel bathroom I had over 1,000 prints.
OKay close the doors and hit the lights, Daddy-o.
He wiped it clean.
Yeah.
This guy's a real pro.
Not only did he wipe it clean, it's sterile.
I thought you were going to tell me that you caught him.
Mrs.
Harmon, we believe that the person who did this to your son may have done it to someone else and we need your help.
Well, what can I do? We talKed to the second victim's girlfriend and played his suicide recording for her.
She confirmed that it was his voice.
But I already told you that the voice on that tape was not my son's.
I Know.
We just need to be absolutely certain.
Do you have a recording of your son's voice so that we could tie the Killings together? Anything, Mrs.
Harmon-- a home movie? A recorded message off your answering machine? All I have are pictures.
I may have something.
Royce gave this to me for Mother's Day last year.
It's a talKing frame.
It's all I have left.
Hey, Mom, it's Royce.
I Know you're always complaining you don't hear my voice in the house anymore.
Well, now you can listen to it anytime you want.
I love you.
( softly ): I love you, too.
Mr.
BacKseat going to maKe it? The name's Walter Bangler.
He'll live.
He well enough to talK? Subdural hematoma, compound rib fractures All right, all right, I get the picture.
How long until we can see him? I didn't say you couldn't see him.
He's sedated.
If you want to talK to him you're going to have to wait until he comes off his meds in about 1 2 to 24 hours.
( sighing ) Tan lines, no watch and no ring.
ChecK his personal effects.
That must have been one hell of a fall to KnocK his watch and his ring off and taKe his money.
So what do you say? Do you want to up the staKes another hundred? To what, a deuce? Say my foul play against your phantom driver? You bet.
Sanders: OKay I've got Stuart Rampler's DNA profile ready.
All I need is something to compare it to.
Coming right up.
Let's see if we can find out who this licKer is.
What do you got? Well, according to the DNA Stuart Rampler licKed the right-side-up stamps.
What about the envelope with the upside-down stamp? Well, it came bacK unKnown.
He's toying with us.
Who? Anonymous.
Superglueing the entire car? It's a little excessive, don't you thinK? Hey, man, this is war.
( chucKling ): You Know, I checKed with six different medical centers, and no phantom driver at any of them.
Minor setbacK.
How about the 91 1 call? Las Vegas cell phone.
PD's putting a name to it.
Good.
What's all this? The car was rented from the airport three days ago.
To? Walter Bangler.
I figure Vegas vacation; side trip to Hoover Dam.
MaKes sense.
Mm-hmm.
You find his watch and ring? No.
( laughing ) My pocKets are getting fat! Well, he travels light.
There was only a change of clothes in the damn suitcase.
God, you see all that money in there? All right, the fumes have settled.
Give me a hand.
Yeah.
( coughing ) You can run but you can't hide.
"Disco Placid"-- what's that? He's a jazz producer.
He specializes in audio.
He does voice comparisons for me from time to time.
He hears in perfect pitch.
Really? He's gifted.
"l Know, I Know, I Know, I Know, I Know, I Know "l Know, I Know, I Know, I Know, I Know, I Know "l Know, I Know, I Know, I Know, I Know, I Know ( sings along ): "Yeah, better leave young thing alone "But ain't no sunshine when she's gone.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Oh, that's Bill Withers, man.
The man cuts me up inside.
Catherine Willows, Disco Placid.
A pleasure.
-A pleasure.
"Ain't no sunshine when she's gone How are we coming with our voice comparisons? Got it right here.
All I got to do is, uh, heat this thing up.
It's a mini-cassette recording of your first victim.
"I'm going to Kill myself.
I'm comparing the "l love yous" "l just can't do it anymore I love you, Mom Now the talKing frame.
Well, now you can listen to it anytime you want.
I love you.
Minnesota Twins.
The mother was wrong.
That is her son's voice.
I laid in both suicide notes in the computer, stripped the tracKs one by one.
PicKed this up in the b-ground.
( crinKling in bacKground ): My name is Royce Harmon.
I reside at 7642 Carpenter Street Las Vegas, Nevada.
I am 41 years of age.
What is that? I don't Know.
It sounds liKe a flag or a tarp or something.
Give me a sec.
I'll give it to you in a Chinese to-go box.
Play the second victim's tape.
OKay.
My name is Stuart Rampler.
I reside at 81 8 Boeing Hill Court, Las Vegas ( tape stops ) No.
Play it through.
Nevada.
I am 43 years of age, and I'm going to Kill myself.
Play them side by side.
Both: My name is Royce Harmon.
Stuart Rampler.
I reside at 81 8 Boeing Hill Both: Las Vegas, Nevada.
Both: I am 41/43 years of age.
It's "fill in the blanKs.
" He's just reading from a suicide script.
( crinKling ) What do you thinK? Disco.
So I've got some good news and mysterious news.
Give me the good news.
Then how do you explain car number two? Well, your results are bacK from the prints on the car and your vic Walter Bangler's top on the list.
It's a big list.
You fumed the entire car.
What'd you expect? What's the mysterious news? I found some specKles of blue dust in the ridges of Bangler's print.
Here.
LooK.
Let me see.
What do you thinK? I have no idea.
I did some comparative digging on both victims-- Royce Harmon and Stuart Rampler.
Both are white males in their 40s, single and both have the same birthday.
Royce Harmon, born August 17, 1 958.
Stuart Rampler, born August 17, 1 957.
One year apart.
OKay, so maybe it's some reversed or backwards pattern.
August 1 7, 1 958 was recorded backwards; the postage stamp was upside-down Yeah? Maybe he's telling us in order to go forward, go bacK.
Sara, go bacK one more year-- August 1 7, 1 956.
See if anything pops up with the same MO.
I'm gone.
Mr.
Grissom, the prints are bacK from Stuart Rampler's mini-recorder.
Can we see the print? Not print-- prints.
What do you mean-- It's more than one person? It's two thumbprints overlapped.
Can you separate them? Yeah.
Running both prints through AFlS.
( beeping ) How can that be? "Compliance"? Someone within the department? What? Uh, Catherine, can you excuse us for a moment? I need to speaK with Mr.
Grissom in private.
Anything you have to say to me you can say to her.
Well, the top print came bacK Paul Millander.
I expected that.
He's the guy who maKes the rubber hands.
I've already cleared him.
What about the compliance-- the bottom print? It came bacK you.
It's Grissom's print? Wait a minute.
Somebody got a hold of your prints.
How? I wear gloves at every crime scene.
I was printed for the job.
We all were.
Well, somebody's obviously maKing this personal.
They could've gotten your print from a glass that you touched at a restaurant or from a latex glove that you discarded and they turned inside out ( sighing ): Oh, God I get it.
Whoever it is is telling me that he's got me under his thumb.
So who's your phantom driver? Possibly a cop from Philly.
Or a, a nurse from Omaha.
Don't forget the mail carrier from Nashville.
Man, it's a rental.
Those prints are probably older than you are.
Well, this is going nowhere.
You giving up? No, no, no, no.
We're still on.
I may be stalled, but I'm not out.
You want to taKe it to three? You want to taKe it to three? You still thinK he was robbed? Tan lines where his ring and watch used to be.
On vacation in Vegas, but no money in his wallet.
His face all bruised up before he tooK that cliffside tumble.
Damn right, I thinK he was robbed.
Are you all right, man? Yeah Yeah, I guess so.
I want the ring, the watch and all your cash.
OKay, all right.
Come on All right, all right.
Now get your ass in the bacK.
What? I said get your ass in the bacK! Strap in.
OKay.
He lays in wait.
He robs him.
He tries to Kill him, but he lets him bucKle in? I don't thinK the robber expected Bangler to get drunK and go crash his car.
He probably freaKed and put him in the bacK seat trying to fool me into thinKing someone else was driving.
But he only fooled you.
What about the blue dust, WarricK? What about it? Don't you thinK it matters? Maybe.
But there's other questions to answer first.
OKay, liKe? Footprints and tire tracKs.
I hate you.
You love me.
Who you Kidding? Mr.
Millander? Hey, it's the forensics guy.
I forgot your name.
I-I'm sorry.
Gil Grissom.
Hi, Mr.
Grissom.
It's been a couple of months.
How are you, sir? I'm oKay.
What are you maKing? I-l-I call it "Good versus Evil.
" You liKe it? Yeah, it reminds me of our supervisor on days.
So, what brings you down to my humble abode? I have a couple of questions regarding that staged suicide.
Remember? Yeah, how's that going? Not too well.
Say, w-would you liKe a cup of coffee? I got instant.
Sure.
I envy you, Mr.
Millander.
I do.
You can worK by yourself no one around to bother you.
You just do what you do.
I'd love to have that Kind of autonomy.
It's really all I Know.
I started out doing ice carvings but the artworK never lasted.
( chucKles ) I Know what you mean.
ThanK you.
Let's sit.
How can I help you? Do you remember the, uh, rubber hand mold that you made from your own hand? How could I forget? Well, whoever the perpetrator is has Killed again.
And again, your print came up.
So I was hoping you could help me.
Sure.
The last time we talKed you told me that you had sold several thousand units Iast Halloween? Bestseller, yes, sir.
Could you provide me with a list of your distributors? I really don't have a list.
Why? I was hoping to do a credit card search go bacK ten days before the first murder occurred try and run some names see if any priors pop up.
I would really love to help you, Mr.
Grissom, but I just don't Keep tracK of, of individual purchasers.
I-l-I'm just a wholesaler.
I don't, I don't crunch numbers.
I-I just spooK the children.
Of course you do.
I'm sure you do it well.
Finally Hey, partner, did you get a match yet? Ooh, Converse All-Star.
Size 1 1.
And you needed all the booKs for that? Those soles have been around 20 years.
I needed to be sure.
You looK tired, buddy.
You want me to maKe you a bottle, go nigh-nigh? You want me to clacK that jaw, maKe you go nigh-nigh? You should have worKed the tire tracKs.
Jimmy in Trace put together a digital catalog of treads has thousands on file.
TooK me three minutes.
Pirelli Low Profile P-Zeros.
High performance.
And standard on your alleged getaway vehicle the '99 Bentley Arnage, Red Label.
It's a sweet ride, man, hand-crafted.
So, how many people in Vegas do you thinK drive that Kind of price tag? Three.
Did a DMV search.
Any reported stolen? Yeah, one, last weeK.
It came in a couple of hours ago.
TaKe a looK.
Oh-ho! So sweet! ChecK this.
One-to-one says that's the car.
Yeah, well, don't bet the sub shop, WarricK.
That's all the evidence you'll get from the Bentley.
We found it at a car wash off Warm Springs.
It's been vacuumed detailed, the whole worKs.
It's cleaner than brand-new.
Well, I wish Bangler's rental car company were as considerate as your thief.
( chucKles ) Dr.
Livingston.
Your dead man is maKing cash withdrawals.
Which one? The first victim or the second? The second, Stuart Rampler.
The banK called.
His ATM card showed a couple of withdrawals after his time of death.
ATM machines taKe photographs every three seconds.
Maybe we can get a KodaK moment of this guy.
I want the machine here.
I want prints.
I want film.
I want everything.
The whole machine? Yeah, the whole machine.
OKay.
You got his clothes? That's right.
What are you doing? His laundry? Something to compare our mystery blue dust to.
Ah.
So what's the pot up to? We don't bet on cases.
Ah, of course you don't.
So, who's winning? I am.
-I am.
Fiends.
Your mystery dust is silicon blue dye.
What's that? Pool cue chalK.
Bangler's shooting sticK with the phantom driver tosses a few bacK piles into the rental I-93, Hoover Dam.
But don't drinK and drive.
You might spill your drinK car sKids bangs into the railing see-saws on the edge What does the driver do? Man, he bails.
He leaves Bangler in the bacK seat to taKe the fall.
Literally.
Fingerprints, grooves, footprints: all the bases are covered.
Victim, suspect, crime scene.
LiKe a laxative it worKs.
Bangler shooting sticK, I'll give you that.
Burping bourbons, I'll give you that, too.
But he left solo.
A few miles down the road, Bentley thief flags him down spooKs him into a sKid boom, crash! He's robbed forced into the bacK pushed over the edge.
With Bangler out of the way the thief gets in his stolen Bentley hightails it out of there.
No watch no rings, no cash stolen Bentley tire treads, Converse All-Star size 1 1 all bases covered.
Victim, suspect, crime scene.
And liKe a canary it sings.
You Know, I hate to admit it but I liKe your theory.
It does worK.
I was sitting here thinKing the same thing about your phantom driver.
So, what do you thinK? Can two solid theories, each bacKed by evidence both be correct? Grissom: Yeah, there's our guy Life IiKe holding a dove.
You hold it too hard you Kill it.
Hold it too soft and it'll fly away.
Catherine: Have we located this bum? Brass's guys are looKing for him.
OKay significance of the flipping? He's obviously maKing a point.
What does the dove symbolize? -Peace.
But I don't thinK it's peace in terms of of human civility or unrest.
I thinK maybe it's "peace of mind.
" What do you have to attain to have peace of mind? Justice.
"I'm going to Keep doing this over and over again until I get justice.
" ( door closes ) Hi.
How you doing? -Hmm.
How'd you find him? We canvassed a square-mile radius of the ATM machine.
Started throwing bums hamburgers out the window in a nice tight spiral.
He ratted him out in 20 minutes.
You want to tell him how you were approached? You Know, I thinK better when I eat.
No Kidding? Jim, call The SteaK House at Circus.
Get this fellow a porterhouse.
How do you liKe it, medium rare or no, you looK liKe a well-done Kind of guy.
Rare.
Two minutes, understand? That's all we'll need.
Hey, how are you feeling, Mr.
Bangler? Uh, better, I guess.
I understand last night was exciting, though.
Yeah.
I'm going to come right out and say it.
What happened to you is not right.
The person responsible needs to be brought to justice.
You tell me who that person is.
Who was driving that car? Who the hell are you guys? I'm WarricK.
-I'm NicK.
I'm NicK StoKes.
This is WarricK Brown.
We're with Criminalistics.
We've been worKing your accident.
Actually, sir, l-I don't thinK it was an accident.
I thinK you were robbed and any information that you remember about your attacKer would be very helpful.
I wasn't attacKed.
I was drunK really drunK.
No way I should've been driving that car.
( ball clacKs ) Yeah! I guess that's enough for me.
Then it's time to pay up.
LooKs liKe I'm a little short.
( chucKles ) Hit him.
No, wait.
( grunts ) ( engine revving ) ( horn honKing ) Jeez! ( tires squealing ) You mean you got hustled? I won the first game.
You climbed in the bacK seat yourself? Yeah.
So bucKling up really did save your life.
You Know that? Yeah, I guess it did.
You get well, oKay? Glad we could help.
Well, the only thing we didn't factor in was his will to live.
And the Bentley thief, size 1 1-- he could've been at that crime scene anytime last weeK.
So we push on the bet? No winner? No loser.
( pager beeping ) Double or nothing? You're talKing to the wrong guy.
Brass: Can we start again, please? Now, how did this man approach you? He walKed up to me.
Told me he'd give me a hundred bucKs if I flip some cards.
He pay you cash? Mm-hmm.
A hundred-dollar bill.
You still have it? How tall was this man? Was he shorter or taller than Mr.
Brass here? A hair taller.
By a hair, do you mean the hair of a rabbit or the hair of grizzly bear? Somewhere in the middle.
OKay.
Let's say he was 5'1 0".
What else do you remember about this man? He had a narrow chin.
Uh his eyes were blue deep-sea blue, you Know? Uh, jet-blacK hair Uh, SpocK-liKe ears pointed nose, bushy eyebrows.
SunKen cheeKs with a bad complexion, almost pockfaced.
Uh, thin as a soda cracKer and his clothes were wrinKled, liKe, uh, he slept in them.
And when he spoKe, he spoKe with a Stutter.
Yeah.
Paul Millander.
He set me up.
Son of a bitch! I had him and I let him go! You ever maKe any rubber hands? I sold 10,000 of those units last Halloween even used my own hand for the mold.
So when I picKed up the hand he must've lifted my print.
Latex rubber surface, freshly dried paint a snip of scotch tape-- it wouldn't be that hard to lift and replant.
Sara, we'll be on headsets.
Run everything you can on Paul Millander.
Use Forenz-L use Nexis, search anything and everything.
I'll call the brigade.
Typing in search word: Paul Millander.
Here it is, Paul Millander: Age 42, 5'1 1 ", male Caucasian.
Address not on file, no criminal record.
Keep looKing.
Listen, checK the business database.
Search word: "Halloweird.
" There's no listing, Grissom.
How can that be? I was just there.
Willows: Change databases.
Newspaper index, periodicals index, just Keep trying.
I got something out of the newspaper index.
What is it? "Two hotel security guards exonerated "in alleged 'staged' suicide.
Boy's testimony shaky.
" "Paul Millander, age ten, testified "that he watched in the closet while his father, John "was escorted by two hotel security guards "into his own bathtub at gunpoint "where he was found shot to death.
Official cause of death was ruled" Suicide.
ChecK the date.
( Keyboard clacKing ) Catherine, you were right.
August 1 7, 1 959 it's a pattern.
So he was Killing men who were born on the same day that his father died.
( sirens blaring ) ( metal clanKing ) All clear.
BlanK.
What's that mean? We have nothing.
Man: Mr.
Grissom in? No, he's out on assignment.
Do you want to leave him a message? No.
Just tell him a friend stopped by.
A friend? A friend.
He'll Know.
CBS PRODUCTlONS and ALLlANCE ATLANTlS
Previous EpisodeNext Episode