CSI: NY s06e03 Episode Script
LAT 40° 47' N/Long 73° 58'W
Between 1 892 and 1 954, more than through the 30-plus structures here on Ellis lsland.
But as you can see, most of them are still abandoned.
So with the help of preservationists like you, hopefully we can give buildings like this former powerhouse a brand new chance at life.
Oh, my God! This is Dario Gonzales.
He's been the night shift custodian for four years.
Only by nine this morning, he was permanently off the clock.
It's when a private tour group found his body.
This is a national monument to immigration.
Maybe he was trying to make a statement.
"l shouldn't have tried to make a fast buck.
I'm sorry.
" Hmm.
- He left a wife behind.
- And two kids.
Yeah, I spoke to Mrs Gonzales this morning.
She said she called her husband's cell at eight.
When he answered, she said he sounded upset.
When she asked him what was wrong, he hung up.
That doesn't make any sense.
In fact, it's impossible that he even talked to her at all.
It's 10 o'clock now.
And his core body temperature is 89 degrees.
That puts time of death at least seven hours ago.
So, how does a guy hang himself at 3:00am and answer a phone call from his wife at eight? Well, I'm not finding a cellphone so maybe he didn't answer that call.
His killer did.
# Out here in the fields # I fight for my meals # I get my back into my living # Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah # I wonder why our killer answered the phone.
His whole plan might have worked if he hadn't.
It's obvious he went to a lot of trouble to stage a suicide.
And the ferries operate from sunrise to sundown, so he had to get onto the island yesterday, hid on the grounds overnight and left this morning.
I mean, why go through all that and then answer the vic's phone and risk getting caught? Maybe he doesn't think he will.
Or he hopes he does.
Got definite signs of a struggle up here.
Scuff patterns from two different shoes.
Got directional drag marks that lead up to the catwalk.
I got smudge prints up here where the rope was tied.
No ridge detail.
Killer definitely wore gloves.
So he jumps him on the landing, drags him up the stairs, then left him hanging.
- Danny.
What are you doing? - Processing the vic's phone.
Of course.
What was I thinking? Flack had the vic's phone pinged.
It was in a skip.
Waiting on DNA results from the trace.
I figured I'd get a pump in.
Don't you have physio today? Yeah.
I'm getting ready for it.
What? You see Lucy lately? She's standing up in her crib, cruising along the apartment walls.
She's gonna walk soon.
Please say you're not competing with our 10-month-old baby.
I'm not competing with our baby.
All right? I'm just sick and tired of being in this chair.
I wanna run through Central Park with my daughter on my shoulders.
I wanna chase down boys who try to hit on her.
I wanna dance with you and her at her wedding.
So, if you don't mind I don't mind at all.
I can tell you this much.
Mr Gonzales was dead before he was lynched.
You see the double set of ligature furrows? - He was strangled first.
- Correct.
Those are the marks that angle back.
And these marks that angled up were caused by the hanging.
COD was asphyxiation.
But his larynx was crushed, Mac.
And judging by the extent of the damage, your killer was strong and extremely violent.
What is it? I don't know, Sid.
There's something about this I can't shake.
The pointed, yet fake, suicide note, a broken compass in the vic's pocket, the crying his wife heard on the phone.
The killer wanted to tell us something.
I need to find out what that is.
I shouldn't have done it.
I have work to do.
I shouldn't have done it.
I should've The letter I shouldn't have written the letter.
I didn't have a chance to write I'm sorry.
I can come back.
No, it's all right.
Go ahead and clean up.
- Detective T aylor.
- Yes? I don't know if you remember me.
I'm Haylen Becall.
We met two weeks ago when l You found an undocumented partial print at a crime scene.
I remember.
What can I do for you, Ms Becall? I graduated cum laude from Chelsea University, got an undergrad in Biology and a Masters in Forensic Science.
I've completed a full course of lab safety training.
I already read the first three resumes you mailed to my office.
But when you didn't respond, I wondered why.
And then it hit me.
- You can't afford me.
- I'm sorry? Well, not you, but the lab with the layoffs and budget cuts.
- I'm well aware of the problems.
- OK.
So, I wanna fix them.
What's this? A New York State Police Forensics lnvestigation's Honours Grant.
I applied for it and I got it.
So the state will pay 100% of my wages up to the minimum salary of an entry level tech.
So, all you have to do is sign that form and you and your staff can take full advantage of all the skill and enthusiasm I have to offer for an entire year.
Absolutely free.
I appreciate your determination and you're right, I could probably use some help.
But even if I did take you on, it's very likely once the year was up, I couldn't give you anything else.
Are you kidding? You'd be giving me everything.
Detective Taylor, working a crime lab like yours is all I've wanted to do since I was nine years old and the neighbour poisoned our cat.
It's a long story.
All you have to do is give me an opportunity.
I promise I'll take care of the rest.
I'll think about it.
Thank you, sir.
Stella.
We watched the surveillance footage from Battery Park where we found our vic's phone.
Due to all the tourists there, we only got crowd shots.
That's exactly where our killer would have boarded the ferry to go to and from Ellis lsland.
Even checked all the ticket receipts but got nothing.
I was thinking about that suicide note.
"l shouldn't have tried to make a fast buck.
" - Does it mean something? - On a janitor's salary? No.
Then I found out what Gonzales liked to do on his off-time.
# Don't, don't, don't say nothin' You lose on red, you win on ace.
Here we go.
# Hey doc # Check this out I'm gonna go with that one.
We got a winner in the house, huh? Beautiful.
# I'm in my zone, man # Let's get it # So I threw it like a chip so I made a song All right.
Where is the ace? - Um, right there.
- This one right here? All right.
Let's see.
- Better luck next time.
- Damn! That's too bad.
Here, let me show you where the real ace is.
Heads up, heads up! Got an officer pursuing a suspect towards Bowery and Grand.
T urn around! Time to fold.
Three priors in five years for aggravated assault.
What are you wasting your time palming aces for, Curtis? Shouldn't you be beating people up? I did my time.
I was trying to go legit.
Three Card Monte doesn't exactly qualify.
I had to hustle up some cash.
Why don't you just write me the ticket? We both know flipping cards is just a misdemeanour.
Yeah.
But murder? Not so much.
Remember him? Nice necktie.
That a little thank you gift from you? Wack wannabe.
He said he used to do sleight-of-hand.
Starts stepping on my game, watching which cards I bent, telling marks how to bet and taking money.
So I taught him how to get bitch-slapped.
And that minor altercation cost you eight more months at Rikers.
That stung.
Not as bad as a rope around the neck.
"l shouldn't have tried to make a fast buck.
I'm sorry.
" Should that mean something to me? Between your rap sheet and the beef you had with Gonzales, it might make a good case for pinning you as the guy who strung him up and posted a fake suicide note.
Sounds like he definitely made a few extra bucks at your expense.
Then paid for it with his life.
Look, I am tickled sideways that that bastard is dead.
But if you actually think that l What I think is you're gonna give us a handwriting sample.
And if your scrawl matches the writing on that letter Then you are gonna be somebody else's mark.
For 25 to life.
I know that face.
- What face? - The "l don't like what I see" face.
Like the way you look at me when we try to change Lucy's diaper.
Well, I did find a faint watermark on the corner of the suicide note.
Looks like a letter P design? Yeah.
But I haven't placed it yet.
And I ran three different handwriting samples from the suicide note, the vic and the suspect in lockup.
None of them match.
If it makes you feel any better, I got DNA from biologicals on the phone that doesn't belong to our vic, but no hit in CODlS.
- Saliva trace? - No.
Actually, it came back ALS positive and amylase negative.
So it was tears? Maybe when the vic's wife called, it upset the killer.
He saw the image of the family come up and realised what he'd done.
Hello? Dario? Hello? What kind of cold-hearted killer feels guilty over murder? - I understand.
- Cliff Angell.
- How are you? Good to see you.
- OK.
Good to see you too.
T rust me.
We're doing all we can to find the suspect.
Thank you.
You, too.
Bye.
- Hey, stranger! - Cliff! What are you doing here? I had to get a photo for my lD card.
Apparently I'm not the, uh, strapping young cadet I was 28 years ago.
- You been good? - Uh, yeah.
Yeah.
- How about you? - Hey.
A day at a time.
Jess was my only daughter, so it's tough.
I was telling the boys I haven't seen you since the funeral.
- Called you a couple times.
- Yeah, I know.
Thank you.
I, I got the messages.
I, uh I've just been Don, believe me.
I get it.
Took me mandatory retirement and a hacksaw to get out of this place.
- Anyway, it was good to see you.
- You, too.
- Say hello to everybody.
- I will do.
Unless you wanna do that yourself? How's that? Sunday would have been Jess' birthday.
I know.
We're having supper at the house.
It's nothing fancy.
Just family.
No pressure, but if you feel like a nice pot roast, you can - You cooking? - You kidding me? Then count me in.
Sherry will be tickled.
Set a place for your ugly mug.
- I'll see you about seven? - Sounds good.
- Good to see you, Don.
- You, too.
Thanks, Cliff.
I don't know if I can, I can bring it.
Tell me one thing.
No.
No.
I don't know.
Tell me what you want me to do.
Just tell me.
OK, OK.
No.
T ell me something.
How does a man put a compass in his pocket without leaving prints on it? No partials, no nothing? I fumed every inch of this.
Didn't find a single one.
Our victim, Dario Gonzales, never touched it.
- You said the killer wore gloves? - Yeah.
That's why it was in the vic's pocket.
The killer put it there.
It's his message.
He wanted us to find it.
He didn't want us to find everything.
No.
But I wouldn't let that stop you.
Hey, Stella.
Did you ever have a pen pal? I did.
Uh, Ellen Thornberry from Columbus, Ohio.
I think my third grade teacher gave me her name.
I had one, too.
Suzanne Wacker.
She was from Jenks, Oklahoma.
- Hmm.
- OK.
Now we've established our letter writing skills, can you tell me why? Here's why.
There's a faint watermark on the suicide note.
It's from the Preston Pen Company, but they haven't used the logo in 40 years.
Now, it turns out, they invented the whole pen pal concept for the 1964 New York World's Fair.
They had an old computer to match you up with someone in the world.
Then they gave you a pen and paper to write to them with.
Now, I'm thinking that one of those same pens was used to write the suicide note on a vintage piece of that paper.
OK.
What about the handwriting? It's not a match to Dario Gonzales or Kimball Curtis.
So our handwriting has gotta be our killer's.
If we can find out who has access to that kind of paper stock We could give our killer something to write home about.
Any luck with the compass? Well, it's American-made, early - Uh-huh.
But broken.
- More like fixed.
- Someone super-glued the needle.
- So that it only points south.
Probably the same person who put the engraving on the back.
"Happy B-Day.
Yours 4Ever, CE.
" Is it an engraving by the original owner? Ah, it looks too recent.
And those are contemporary abbreviations.
So, CE may be the initials of our killer or someone who meant something to him.
And by leaving it behind, he wants it to mean something to us, too.
Hey, what's up, Doc? Just on my way to search arrest records through the OLBS, hoping I can find some kind of match to the initials off our compass.
What about you? I gotta go calibrate the genetic analyser.
Why not just let the new tech do that? New tech? - You didn't hear? - Hear what? Mac hired that hottie from the crime scene cleanup crew.
Part-time.
Twice a month.
You know the one.
Haylen - Becall? - Exactly.
- Oh, God.
- Come on.
You're fine.
This is gonna be good.
Thanks.
Remember? Can you see me? Do you even know which way to look? - A second compass.
- And this needle's pinned north.
So you think we have another body on our hands? Our first vic was found on Ellis lsland, off the southern tip of Manhattan.
And the compass at the scene was also pointing south.
Now our killer sends us a second compass directly.
Which says he wants us to look for a second body.
So we turn our attention north.
Along with the new compass, that's where he seems to be pointing us next.
The stamp shows the envelope was mailed from the Bronx.
Well, that is the northern edge of the city.
All right.
The avenues in Manhattan deviate from true north by 29 degrees.
If we run that through tactical crime analysis, this seems to be the optimal area to search in the northernmost regions of the city between Broadway and the Bronx River Parkway.
That's a hell of a lot of ground to cover.
Flack and his men are focused on high-profile locations and cross-referencing all missing person reports for the area.
Mac, is this a hunt for the second victim or for a killer? Could be both.
While they pound the pavement, we stick to the science.
Hawkes, what did you get from the Ellis lsland rope? It's artificial turf.
Strictly old school.
It was a match to a vintage manufacturer samples from the mid-1960s.
It's like the ink and paper used for the suicide note.
Find the source yet on either of those? It could have come from anywhere.
That paper was distributed to millions of people.
- But we're checking with collectors.
- This guy seems seriously retro.
I'm gonna take a look at the second compass he sent us.
Maybe it'll tell us how to find a killer who's pointing us in every direction but his own.
From 1964, here's Gerry and the Pacemakers on New York's Big Apple Oldies.
# Don't let the sun # Hello, sleepyhead.
Did you get some rest? You must have needed it.
I'm just I'm glad you're here.
There's nowhere else I'd rather be.
It's a beautiful day outside.
What do you say we open up these drapes? - No, no.
No.
- Oh, oh, all right.
- No, I like them like that.
- OK.
We'll leave it just like that.
I'm sorry.
I don't I don't mean to snap.
Don't worry.
I understand.
It's a tough time and, and you've got a lot on your mind.
Remember, as long as we're side-by-side.
And going in the right direction.
I know.
I know.
I love you.
I love you so much.
I love you too, baby.
Everything's gonna be fine.
I'm right here.
Danny, you haven't seen a cute but evil job-stealing blonde, have you? What? No, no.
Let me ask you this.
Why do you think the tear I swabbed off our Ellis lsland vic's phone was spiked so high for calcitriol? Uh, Vitamin D? Those levels Probably taking supplements for a deficiency.
All right.
What would be the possible causes? Cystic Fibrosis? Crohn's Disease? Colitis? Or maybe he just doesn't get a lot of sun.
Hi, guys.
What's going on? Haylen's new to our team.
I invited her to observe the process on this compass.
Oh.
Right.
That's, that's great.
There's a fine layer of some kind of trace on the crystal.
How should we take a closer look? Scanning Electron microscope.
Go ahead.
Cypripedium Fasciculatum.
Also known as, um, Clustered Lady Slippers.
They're a, a rare orchid indigenous to the Pacific Northwest.
How does this information help us? We could run a search, see if there are any growers or suppliers of that species in the city.
Great minds think alike.
They're on display right now at the T riborough Gardens.
- lsn't that in the Bronx? - Yeah.
It says the conservatory housing them now is under temporary renovations.
Which makes it a perfect place to plant a body.
We're too late.
"l should have written the letter when I had the chance.
I'm sorry.
" What letter? No clue.
But her name was Carole Hillcroft.
She was a 40-year-old widow.
According to the management here, she was a regular patron and member of the Bronx Garden Guild.
She last used her membership card to gain admission at the front entrance yesterday evening.
Looks consistent with lividity and rigour.
Wasn't this exhibit closed for renovation? Back entry deadbolt lock was bumped.
I seriously doubt she was responsible.
No.
She could have been lured in here by someone who was.
Got unis canvassing her contacts right now.
They're looking to see if she told anybody at all why she was here.
Hey, listen.
You two don't need me to stick around? I got a bunch of fives to type back at the precinct.
- Go ahead, Don.
We got it.
- Thank you.
You know, he used to shave every day.
He'll get through this.
Just takes time.
Hey, I've got some partial shoeprints from whoever else was here with our vic.
The same ligature patterns as the last one.
Find something? Maybe it came off his glove when he covered her mouth.
What do you think it is? Asbestos.
Of course they didn't call it that in the mid-60s when they made kitchen countertops and floor tiles out of it.
But that's what this sliver in her mouth was made of.
They discontinued this type of material years ago.
We'll be lucky to get a match but we must run with it.
I'll do it.
We get anywhere with the partial footprints? Yeah, I ran it through the sole print database.
I found a corresponding tread pattern from a men's size 1 1 tennis shoe with wear marks matching the scuff marks at Ellis lsland.
Let's break them down.
Our perp is a muscular male, size 1 1 shoes, approximately 6ft 2.
Judging by the damage, your killer was strong.
Potentially pale skin.
Or maybe he just doesn't get a lot of sun.
Each victim is accompanied by a compass.
Which means he wants us to find them.
And he chokes his victims with a rope first.
Then he hangs them to simulate suicide.
With written confessions of guilt pinned to each.
Apparently he feels a level of remorse in the process.
"l shouldn't have tried to make a fast buck.
" "l shoulda written a letter when I had the chance.
" "I'm sorry.
" Maybe the killer thinks all these people should feel guilty enough over something to kill themselves.
- That may be the link.
- It must be.
We didn't find anything else to link Carole Hillcroft to Dario Gonzales.
We have a working class janitor and a wealthy widow.
They're worlds apart.
Whatever it is, something brought them together in the morgue.
So, we'll work night and day to figure out why this killer chose his victims and we'll use that link to catch him before the press gets wind of it and panics the whole damn city over some kind of compass killer or worse Before he adds another victim to the map.
- Oh.
Can't you stay in tonight? - No, no, no.
- Do you have to go out again? - I still have work to do.
- All right.
Just be careful.
- Yeah.
OK.
- To Jess.
- To Jess.
Your old man dust you for prints after every date? If it was up to them, I wouldn't have known boys existed until I was 21.
I'm sure the boys knew you existed.
Is that a line, Flack? Did you just bust out your game on me? - Well - It was, wasn't it? Look at you.
- You're blushing.
- My game.
Game? I have no game.
If I did, that's probably as good as it gets.
I think it's pretty good.
Uh, Mac.
It's Sid.
Listen, I know you've been at it pretty hard, but I just wanted to give you a call.
I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to post the second victim 's report yet.
But her husband came in to view the body and kinda threw me a little off schedule.
So, uh, anyway.
I'll, I'll get it done first thing tomorrow.
Her name was Carole Hillcroft.
She was a 40-year-old widow.
Her husband came in to view the body.
Sid? Hey.
Is he still here? - Who? - The husband.
- The man who lD'd her body.
- Uh, he left.
He was so upset.
- I hope he went home - Where exactly did he stand? At that table right over there.
Here.
- Oh, no.
- The killer was here.
And I don't know where the hell he's going next.
But as you can see, most of them are still abandoned.
So with the help of preservationists like you, hopefully we can give buildings like this former powerhouse a brand new chance at life.
Oh, my God! This is Dario Gonzales.
He's been the night shift custodian for four years.
Only by nine this morning, he was permanently off the clock.
It's when a private tour group found his body.
This is a national monument to immigration.
Maybe he was trying to make a statement.
"l shouldn't have tried to make a fast buck.
I'm sorry.
" Hmm.
- He left a wife behind.
- And two kids.
Yeah, I spoke to Mrs Gonzales this morning.
She said she called her husband's cell at eight.
When he answered, she said he sounded upset.
When she asked him what was wrong, he hung up.
That doesn't make any sense.
In fact, it's impossible that he even talked to her at all.
It's 10 o'clock now.
And his core body temperature is 89 degrees.
That puts time of death at least seven hours ago.
So, how does a guy hang himself at 3:00am and answer a phone call from his wife at eight? Well, I'm not finding a cellphone so maybe he didn't answer that call.
His killer did.
# Out here in the fields # I fight for my meals # I get my back into my living # Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah # I wonder why our killer answered the phone.
His whole plan might have worked if he hadn't.
It's obvious he went to a lot of trouble to stage a suicide.
And the ferries operate from sunrise to sundown, so he had to get onto the island yesterday, hid on the grounds overnight and left this morning.
I mean, why go through all that and then answer the vic's phone and risk getting caught? Maybe he doesn't think he will.
Or he hopes he does.
Got definite signs of a struggle up here.
Scuff patterns from two different shoes.
Got directional drag marks that lead up to the catwalk.
I got smudge prints up here where the rope was tied.
No ridge detail.
Killer definitely wore gloves.
So he jumps him on the landing, drags him up the stairs, then left him hanging.
- Danny.
What are you doing? - Processing the vic's phone.
Of course.
What was I thinking? Flack had the vic's phone pinged.
It was in a skip.
Waiting on DNA results from the trace.
I figured I'd get a pump in.
Don't you have physio today? Yeah.
I'm getting ready for it.
What? You see Lucy lately? She's standing up in her crib, cruising along the apartment walls.
She's gonna walk soon.
Please say you're not competing with our 10-month-old baby.
I'm not competing with our baby.
All right? I'm just sick and tired of being in this chair.
I wanna run through Central Park with my daughter on my shoulders.
I wanna chase down boys who try to hit on her.
I wanna dance with you and her at her wedding.
So, if you don't mind I don't mind at all.
I can tell you this much.
Mr Gonzales was dead before he was lynched.
You see the double set of ligature furrows? - He was strangled first.
- Correct.
Those are the marks that angle back.
And these marks that angled up were caused by the hanging.
COD was asphyxiation.
But his larynx was crushed, Mac.
And judging by the extent of the damage, your killer was strong and extremely violent.
What is it? I don't know, Sid.
There's something about this I can't shake.
The pointed, yet fake, suicide note, a broken compass in the vic's pocket, the crying his wife heard on the phone.
The killer wanted to tell us something.
I need to find out what that is.
I shouldn't have done it.
I have work to do.
I shouldn't have done it.
I should've The letter I shouldn't have written the letter.
I didn't have a chance to write I'm sorry.
I can come back.
No, it's all right.
Go ahead and clean up.
- Detective T aylor.
- Yes? I don't know if you remember me.
I'm Haylen Becall.
We met two weeks ago when l You found an undocumented partial print at a crime scene.
I remember.
What can I do for you, Ms Becall? I graduated cum laude from Chelsea University, got an undergrad in Biology and a Masters in Forensic Science.
I've completed a full course of lab safety training.
I already read the first three resumes you mailed to my office.
But when you didn't respond, I wondered why.
And then it hit me.
- You can't afford me.
- I'm sorry? Well, not you, but the lab with the layoffs and budget cuts.
- I'm well aware of the problems.
- OK.
So, I wanna fix them.
What's this? A New York State Police Forensics lnvestigation's Honours Grant.
I applied for it and I got it.
So the state will pay 100% of my wages up to the minimum salary of an entry level tech.
So, all you have to do is sign that form and you and your staff can take full advantage of all the skill and enthusiasm I have to offer for an entire year.
Absolutely free.
I appreciate your determination and you're right, I could probably use some help.
But even if I did take you on, it's very likely once the year was up, I couldn't give you anything else.
Are you kidding? You'd be giving me everything.
Detective Taylor, working a crime lab like yours is all I've wanted to do since I was nine years old and the neighbour poisoned our cat.
It's a long story.
All you have to do is give me an opportunity.
I promise I'll take care of the rest.
I'll think about it.
Thank you, sir.
Stella.
We watched the surveillance footage from Battery Park where we found our vic's phone.
Due to all the tourists there, we only got crowd shots.
That's exactly where our killer would have boarded the ferry to go to and from Ellis lsland.
Even checked all the ticket receipts but got nothing.
I was thinking about that suicide note.
"l shouldn't have tried to make a fast buck.
" - Does it mean something? - On a janitor's salary? No.
Then I found out what Gonzales liked to do on his off-time.
# Don't, don't, don't say nothin' You lose on red, you win on ace.
Here we go.
# Hey doc # Check this out I'm gonna go with that one.
We got a winner in the house, huh? Beautiful.
# I'm in my zone, man # Let's get it # So I threw it like a chip so I made a song All right.
Where is the ace? - Um, right there.
- This one right here? All right.
Let's see.
- Better luck next time.
- Damn! That's too bad.
Here, let me show you where the real ace is.
Heads up, heads up! Got an officer pursuing a suspect towards Bowery and Grand.
T urn around! Time to fold.
Three priors in five years for aggravated assault.
What are you wasting your time palming aces for, Curtis? Shouldn't you be beating people up? I did my time.
I was trying to go legit.
Three Card Monte doesn't exactly qualify.
I had to hustle up some cash.
Why don't you just write me the ticket? We both know flipping cards is just a misdemeanour.
Yeah.
But murder? Not so much.
Remember him? Nice necktie.
That a little thank you gift from you? Wack wannabe.
He said he used to do sleight-of-hand.
Starts stepping on my game, watching which cards I bent, telling marks how to bet and taking money.
So I taught him how to get bitch-slapped.
And that minor altercation cost you eight more months at Rikers.
That stung.
Not as bad as a rope around the neck.
"l shouldn't have tried to make a fast buck.
I'm sorry.
" Should that mean something to me? Between your rap sheet and the beef you had with Gonzales, it might make a good case for pinning you as the guy who strung him up and posted a fake suicide note.
Sounds like he definitely made a few extra bucks at your expense.
Then paid for it with his life.
Look, I am tickled sideways that that bastard is dead.
But if you actually think that l What I think is you're gonna give us a handwriting sample.
And if your scrawl matches the writing on that letter Then you are gonna be somebody else's mark.
For 25 to life.
I know that face.
- What face? - The "l don't like what I see" face.
Like the way you look at me when we try to change Lucy's diaper.
Well, I did find a faint watermark on the corner of the suicide note.
Looks like a letter P design? Yeah.
But I haven't placed it yet.
And I ran three different handwriting samples from the suicide note, the vic and the suspect in lockup.
None of them match.
If it makes you feel any better, I got DNA from biologicals on the phone that doesn't belong to our vic, but no hit in CODlS.
- Saliva trace? - No.
Actually, it came back ALS positive and amylase negative.
So it was tears? Maybe when the vic's wife called, it upset the killer.
He saw the image of the family come up and realised what he'd done.
Hello? Dario? Hello? What kind of cold-hearted killer feels guilty over murder? - I understand.
- Cliff Angell.
- How are you? Good to see you.
- OK.
Good to see you too.
T rust me.
We're doing all we can to find the suspect.
Thank you.
You, too.
Bye.
- Hey, stranger! - Cliff! What are you doing here? I had to get a photo for my lD card.
Apparently I'm not the, uh, strapping young cadet I was 28 years ago.
- You been good? - Uh, yeah.
Yeah.
- How about you? - Hey.
A day at a time.
Jess was my only daughter, so it's tough.
I was telling the boys I haven't seen you since the funeral.
- Called you a couple times.
- Yeah, I know.
Thank you.
I, I got the messages.
I, uh I've just been Don, believe me.
I get it.
Took me mandatory retirement and a hacksaw to get out of this place.
- Anyway, it was good to see you.
- You, too.
- Say hello to everybody.
- I will do.
Unless you wanna do that yourself? How's that? Sunday would have been Jess' birthday.
I know.
We're having supper at the house.
It's nothing fancy.
Just family.
No pressure, but if you feel like a nice pot roast, you can - You cooking? - You kidding me? Then count me in.
Sherry will be tickled.
Set a place for your ugly mug.
- I'll see you about seven? - Sounds good.
- Good to see you, Don.
- You, too.
Thanks, Cliff.
I don't know if I can, I can bring it.
Tell me one thing.
No.
No.
I don't know.
Tell me what you want me to do.
Just tell me.
OK, OK.
No.
T ell me something.
How does a man put a compass in his pocket without leaving prints on it? No partials, no nothing? I fumed every inch of this.
Didn't find a single one.
Our victim, Dario Gonzales, never touched it.
- You said the killer wore gloves? - Yeah.
That's why it was in the vic's pocket.
The killer put it there.
It's his message.
He wanted us to find it.
He didn't want us to find everything.
No.
But I wouldn't let that stop you.
Hey, Stella.
Did you ever have a pen pal? I did.
Uh, Ellen Thornberry from Columbus, Ohio.
I think my third grade teacher gave me her name.
I had one, too.
Suzanne Wacker.
She was from Jenks, Oklahoma.
- Hmm.
- OK.
Now we've established our letter writing skills, can you tell me why? Here's why.
There's a faint watermark on the suicide note.
It's from the Preston Pen Company, but they haven't used the logo in 40 years.
Now, it turns out, they invented the whole pen pal concept for the 1964 New York World's Fair.
They had an old computer to match you up with someone in the world.
Then they gave you a pen and paper to write to them with.
Now, I'm thinking that one of those same pens was used to write the suicide note on a vintage piece of that paper.
OK.
What about the handwriting? It's not a match to Dario Gonzales or Kimball Curtis.
So our handwriting has gotta be our killer's.
If we can find out who has access to that kind of paper stock We could give our killer something to write home about.
Any luck with the compass? Well, it's American-made, early - Uh-huh.
But broken.
- More like fixed.
- Someone super-glued the needle.
- So that it only points south.
Probably the same person who put the engraving on the back.
"Happy B-Day.
Yours 4Ever, CE.
" Is it an engraving by the original owner? Ah, it looks too recent.
And those are contemporary abbreviations.
So, CE may be the initials of our killer or someone who meant something to him.
And by leaving it behind, he wants it to mean something to us, too.
Hey, what's up, Doc? Just on my way to search arrest records through the OLBS, hoping I can find some kind of match to the initials off our compass.
What about you? I gotta go calibrate the genetic analyser.
Why not just let the new tech do that? New tech? - You didn't hear? - Hear what? Mac hired that hottie from the crime scene cleanup crew.
Part-time.
Twice a month.
You know the one.
Haylen - Becall? - Exactly.
- Oh, God.
- Come on.
You're fine.
This is gonna be good.
Thanks.
Remember? Can you see me? Do you even know which way to look? - A second compass.
- And this needle's pinned north.
So you think we have another body on our hands? Our first vic was found on Ellis lsland, off the southern tip of Manhattan.
And the compass at the scene was also pointing south.
Now our killer sends us a second compass directly.
Which says he wants us to look for a second body.
So we turn our attention north.
Along with the new compass, that's where he seems to be pointing us next.
The stamp shows the envelope was mailed from the Bronx.
Well, that is the northern edge of the city.
All right.
The avenues in Manhattan deviate from true north by 29 degrees.
If we run that through tactical crime analysis, this seems to be the optimal area to search in the northernmost regions of the city between Broadway and the Bronx River Parkway.
That's a hell of a lot of ground to cover.
Flack and his men are focused on high-profile locations and cross-referencing all missing person reports for the area.
Mac, is this a hunt for the second victim or for a killer? Could be both.
While they pound the pavement, we stick to the science.
Hawkes, what did you get from the Ellis lsland rope? It's artificial turf.
Strictly old school.
It was a match to a vintage manufacturer samples from the mid-1960s.
It's like the ink and paper used for the suicide note.
Find the source yet on either of those? It could have come from anywhere.
That paper was distributed to millions of people.
- But we're checking with collectors.
- This guy seems seriously retro.
I'm gonna take a look at the second compass he sent us.
Maybe it'll tell us how to find a killer who's pointing us in every direction but his own.
From 1964, here's Gerry and the Pacemakers on New York's Big Apple Oldies.
# Don't let the sun # Hello, sleepyhead.
Did you get some rest? You must have needed it.
I'm just I'm glad you're here.
There's nowhere else I'd rather be.
It's a beautiful day outside.
What do you say we open up these drapes? - No, no.
No.
- Oh, oh, all right.
- No, I like them like that.
- OK.
We'll leave it just like that.
I'm sorry.
I don't I don't mean to snap.
Don't worry.
I understand.
It's a tough time and, and you've got a lot on your mind.
Remember, as long as we're side-by-side.
And going in the right direction.
I know.
I know.
I love you.
I love you so much.
I love you too, baby.
Everything's gonna be fine.
I'm right here.
Danny, you haven't seen a cute but evil job-stealing blonde, have you? What? No, no.
Let me ask you this.
Why do you think the tear I swabbed off our Ellis lsland vic's phone was spiked so high for calcitriol? Uh, Vitamin D? Those levels Probably taking supplements for a deficiency.
All right.
What would be the possible causes? Cystic Fibrosis? Crohn's Disease? Colitis? Or maybe he just doesn't get a lot of sun.
Hi, guys.
What's going on? Haylen's new to our team.
I invited her to observe the process on this compass.
Oh.
Right.
That's, that's great.
There's a fine layer of some kind of trace on the crystal.
How should we take a closer look? Scanning Electron microscope.
Go ahead.
Cypripedium Fasciculatum.
Also known as, um, Clustered Lady Slippers.
They're a, a rare orchid indigenous to the Pacific Northwest.
How does this information help us? We could run a search, see if there are any growers or suppliers of that species in the city.
Great minds think alike.
They're on display right now at the T riborough Gardens.
- lsn't that in the Bronx? - Yeah.
It says the conservatory housing them now is under temporary renovations.
Which makes it a perfect place to plant a body.
We're too late.
"l should have written the letter when I had the chance.
I'm sorry.
" What letter? No clue.
But her name was Carole Hillcroft.
She was a 40-year-old widow.
According to the management here, she was a regular patron and member of the Bronx Garden Guild.
She last used her membership card to gain admission at the front entrance yesterday evening.
Looks consistent with lividity and rigour.
Wasn't this exhibit closed for renovation? Back entry deadbolt lock was bumped.
I seriously doubt she was responsible.
No.
She could have been lured in here by someone who was.
Got unis canvassing her contacts right now.
They're looking to see if she told anybody at all why she was here.
Hey, listen.
You two don't need me to stick around? I got a bunch of fives to type back at the precinct.
- Go ahead, Don.
We got it.
- Thank you.
You know, he used to shave every day.
He'll get through this.
Just takes time.
Hey, I've got some partial shoeprints from whoever else was here with our vic.
The same ligature patterns as the last one.
Find something? Maybe it came off his glove when he covered her mouth.
What do you think it is? Asbestos.
Of course they didn't call it that in the mid-60s when they made kitchen countertops and floor tiles out of it.
But that's what this sliver in her mouth was made of.
They discontinued this type of material years ago.
We'll be lucky to get a match but we must run with it.
I'll do it.
We get anywhere with the partial footprints? Yeah, I ran it through the sole print database.
I found a corresponding tread pattern from a men's size 1 1 tennis shoe with wear marks matching the scuff marks at Ellis lsland.
Let's break them down.
Our perp is a muscular male, size 1 1 shoes, approximately 6ft 2.
Judging by the damage, your killer was strong.
Potentially pale skin.
Or maybe he just doesn't get a lot of sun.
Each victim is accompanied by a compass.
Which means he wants us to find them.
And he chokes his victims with a rope first.
Then he hangs them to simulate suicide.
With written confessions of guilt pinned to each.
Apparently he feels a level of remorse in the process.
"l shouldn't have tried to make a fast buck.
" "l shoulda written a letter when I had the chance.
" "I'm sorry.
" Maybe the killer thinks all these people should feel guilty enough over something to kill themselves.
- That may be the link.
- It must be.
We didn't find anything else to link Carole Hillcroft to Dario Gonzales.
We have a working class janitor and a wealthy widow.
They're worlds apart.
Whatever it is, something brought them together in the morgue.
So, we'll work night and day to figure out why this killer chose his victims and we'll use that link to catch him before the press gets wind of it and panics the whole damn city over some kind of compass killer or worse Before he adds another victim to the map.
- Oh.
Can't you stay in tonight? - No, no, no.
- Do you have to go out again? - I still have work to do.
- All right.
Just be careful.
- Yeah.
OK.
- To Jess.
- To Jess.
Your old man dust you for prints after every date? If it was up to them, I wouldn't have known boys existed until I was 21.
I'm sure the boys knew you existed.
Is that a line, Flack? Did you just bust out your game on me? - Well - It was, wasn't it? Look at you.
- You're blushing.
- My game.
Game? I have no game.
If I did, that's probably as good as it gets.
I think it's pretty good.
Uh, Mac.
It's Sid.
Listen, I know you've been at it pretty hard, but I just wanted to give you a call.
I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to post the second victim 's report yet.
But her husband came in to view the body and kinda threw me a little off schedule.
So, uh, anyway.
I'll, I'll get it done first thing tomorrow.
Her name was Carole Hillcroft.
She was a 40-year-old widow.
Her husband came in to view the body.
Sid? Hey.
Is he still here? - Who? - The husband.
- The man who lD'd her body.
- Uh, he left.
He was so upset.
- I hope he went home - Where exactly did he stand? At that table right over there.
Here.
- Oh, no.
- The killer was here.
And I don't know where the hell he's going next.