CSI: NY s07e07 Episode Script

I received a memo from my superior officers just prior to calling this meeting.
It reads as follows "There is no sniper.
" Make no mistake about it.
New York City has a sniper.
And he's good.
Our victim was shot and killed yesterday morning.
Ballistics tests have determined that the shot was fired from approximately 300 yards, from an elevated, yet undetermined location.
The sniper fired a single shot from what appears to be a rifle of extremely high power.
The wound characteristics are unique, unlike anything I've ever seen.
He's precise, he's determined, and he leaves no witnesses.
Our hope is that this was an isolated incident, and that the shooter will be in custody soon.
I know that's what the brass wants the public to believe.
What I don't know, what we can't know, is when or where the killer will strike again.
* Out here in the fields * * I fight for my meals * * I get my back into my living * * Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
* Sixty-five sixty-six sixty-seven-- sixty-eight.
There.
Ah.
Yeah.
Sixty-nine I miss the no-vacancy sign out front? Uh, standing room only.
Three DUI vics in the corner, a robbery gone bad, and a pair of unrelated suicides against the wall over there.
Perfect timing for a sniper attack.
This victim number one? Yeah.
Elizabeth Grant.
Well, meet victim number two-- Vanessa Walters.
Looks like Mac was right in his prediction.
Two bodies in two days? That's a deadly pace.
Yeah.
Oh, the, uh, entry wound is much smaller than with the sniper's first victim.
Yeah, greater chance the round is still intact.
We can run it through IBIS, and hopefully, get a lead on our shooter.
Let's have a look.
Looks like the round is only slightly deformed.
It's a bit hard to tell from the scan, but I think we Sid! Hey, Sid, are you all right? Sid! Hey, get EMS down here now.
Sid, can you see? - Sid, look - Doc, Doc, what happened? Oh, my God.
Have we checked his pupils? - Are they constricted? - Is he responding? - You're gonna be okay.
- Yeah.
His vitals look good.
He's a little dazed and confused, but I think he's gonna be okay.
If it weren't for these, he would be blind right now.
What the hell happened? Well, he was retrieving the slug from our second sniper vic, and all of a sudden, her head just exploded.
- Exploded? - Yeah.
The entry wound is now a match to the one in the first victim.
And all our ballistics evidence is gone now, too.
And I have techs collecting fragments as we speak, and they've already screened for explosive residue.
Nitroglycerin.
Not bad enough this guy's killing people, but he's shooting them with exploding bullets.
Heard about your antics this morning.
By antics, you mean telling the truth? Look, your own people is one thing.
I trust you're not going to be tearing up any directives from above in front of the press.
No, no.
They were smart enough not to send me anything on paper this time.
All right, wait, wait, listen.
Neither of us is to utter the word sniper, is that clear? That's a direct order from Chief Sinclair to me.
Now it is a direct order from me to you.
Is that going to be a problem? - They have a right to know.
- No.
Why? So they can turn this into Son of Sam? So they can post it on their blogs? Harry Smith does a segment on the Early Show about the psychology of a sniper, and then introduces a new song by Katy Perry? No, the public has a right to know what we tell them.
I'm not going to lie for you or anyone else.
Who said anything about lying? Mac, look, I walked the beat just like you did, all right? I know where you're coming from, but there is a difference between lying and withholding a truth.
I don't think there is.
And I don't need an IBIS hit to tell me two exploding rounds are a ballistic match.
These cases are related.
The sooner the people know, the faster they can take steps to protect themselves.
It's not your call, all right? And I'm not about to create a citywide panic.
Well, I don't think we can control that in this day and age, and why even have me up there at all? You're the head of the crime lab.
It's gonna look like I'm withholding something if you're conveniently absent.
So just stand there.
It will all be over in a few minutes, all right? Thank you all for coming.
It is my hope that by answering some of your questions, we may clear up any rumors and perhaps get some information to help us solve these heinous crimes.
Chief Carver, are the two shootings related? No.
At this point in the investigation, there is no conclusive evidence to indicate that.
Is there any evidence to indicate they're not related? Well, I cannot comment on the evidence but, yes, that is our belief at this time.
So they're isolated incidents? - It appears that way, yes.
- It appears that way? Or are they are, in fact, isolated incidents? At this juncture, with limited information-- Chief Carver, is there or isn't there a sniper in the city? Please, let's not jump to conclusions, people, all right? We are using all resources at our disposal to get to the bottom of this, but until we have more information, it will be Detective Taylor, your team must have ballistic evidence - from the shootings.
- What type of firearm was used? Was it the same caliber in each murder? At this time, we don't have specifics on the type of guns used, nor can we state with any accuracy the caliber of the bullets.
The rounds were too badly damaged.
Both victims were shot through a window.
- Isn't that true? - Yes, it is.
So it's safe to assume that the shots came from a rooftop or from a window across the street? I wouldn't assume anything.
Were there any witnesses to either of the shootings? No, there were no witnesses.
So what you're saying is both victims were shot from a distance, through a window, by an unseen gunman who was possibly perched on a rooftop? Sounds like a sniper to me, Detective.
Me, too.
Thank you.
That's all for now.
- What the hell was that? - Look, ask yourself one question.
If you were a civilian, would you want to know? You're a piece of work, Taylor, you know that? What the hell am I supposed to tell the commissioner and the mayor now? You tell 'em I never uttered the word "sniper.
" Boot tread impressions.
You find something? Based on the length and diameter, I'm thinking this is a hair from our shooter's forearm.
Okay, so, our sniper could have been standing right here when he fired.
Definitely could have been his hide site.
Any DNA? Doesn't look like there's a root.
Must have been shed, not pulled.
Danville.
Right.
Ah.
Okay.
Thanks.
That was Flack.
There's still no connection between Elizabeth Grant and Vanessa Walters.
Right.
So this guy's just going around shooting anybody? Starting to look like it.
So many people.
So many targets.
We walk around down there every day.
You never think about how vulnerable you are.
Vanessa Walters was shot and killed in her office surrounded by people who cared about her.
It's so scary.
And random.
I didn't know you were so interested in bugs.
I'm not.
But I am interested in witnesses.
Insect blood is green, not red.
There's no indication our shooter was bleeding here.
So whose blood is this? Hey.
Perfect timing.
So I just filled the tip of a bored-out round with nitroglycerin and fired it into the anatomical gel.
And boom! Explosion.
Just like our first victim.
Wound characteristics appear to be a match.
You know, I already checked.
I mean, there hasn't been anything like this on the market since Hinckley's assassination attempt on Reagan in '81.
Means it's homemade.
Our guy's modifying store-bought rounds to explode.
Damn.
Well, what about chemical analysis? Anything unique about the composition of the bullets we can chase? Nah.
Centerfire .
300 Magnum-- It's the kind of stuff you can find at any hunting store.
But I'm trying to find the source of the nitroglycerin.
Could be homemade, too.
What about the second round? Any idea why it didn't explode till it got to Autopsy? Well, nitroglycerin detonates due to shock.
So I constructed a second round with half as much explosive.
- Okay.
Allowing for some cushion.
- Yeah.
Take a look.
Round's still intact.
Until it's agitated.
Go ahead.
It's just like what happened to Sid in Autopsy.
He's lucky he didn't lose a finger or two.
I know.
How's he doing? Well, doctor says he's fine.
In fact, I hear he's already back at the office.
They told him to take the rest of the week off, but you know Sid.
Right, right.
I mean, he's not happy unless he's looking at dead things.
* I dreamt I was a child * * Holding a string into the sky * * Climbing it till I finally reached the other side * * I get carried away * * Oh, oh, oh, oh * * Please warm the blood inside my veins * * I get carried away * * Oh, oh, oh, oh * * Please warm the blood inside my veins * We still haven't found a personal connection between Vanessa Walters and Elizabeth Grant.
What about the fact they're both women? Strawberry blonde, both blue-eyed.
Could be a pattern.
Well, Vanessa Walters was killed in the middle of celebrating a multimillion dollar deal for her corporate law firm.
So maybe there's a motive in there somewhere.
What about the first victim, Elizabeth Grant? How does that theory explain the murder, if there's no connection? Maybe Elizabeth was killed to make Vanessa's murder look random.
Yeah.
Kill several victims, hide your intended target.
Let's run with it.
Wouldn't be the first time we've seen something like that out of a spree killer.
And, at this point, we're not ruling anything out.
How about Flack's canvass? Come up with anything? It's ongoing.
As of right now, lots of people heard lots of shots.
Nobody knew where to look.
Lots of shots? Yeah.
Sound waves were probably bouncing off the concrete buildings, creating echoes.
That leaves us with the insect you collected from the rooftop.
The cochineal beetle, to be exact.
It's indigenous to subtropical Mexico and South America.
It produces carminic acid, which is a crimson red pigment that's used in everything from bug repellent to food coloring, clothing dye Run a stable isotope analysis.
Let's see if we can find out where that beetle came from.
So far, that's our only lead.
Blood on the beetle and mitochondrial DNA from the hair both got hits in CODIS Missing Persons.
To the same person? A nine-year-old boy who went missing years ago.
Michael Reynolds.
You know him? I spent three years searching for him.
Let me out! Let me out! Michael! Michael had been missing for 72 hours when this case file came across my desk.
He was on his way home from school when he was abducted.
Did you catch the guy? Took three years.
Arthur Francis.
Twice convicted sex offender.
Whole time he was missing, we didn't know whether he was alive or dead.
It was the first case I ever questioned which of those two options might be worse.
I'm sure his own parents asked themselves the same thing.
At age 12, he finally managed to escape.
Clawed his way through the floorboards to a crawl space.
I can't imagine that moment for a 12-year-old kid.
It's heartbreaking.
I went to see him a few times after he returned home, made sure he was doing all right.
He always wanted to wear my badge.
He asked me if it was pure gold the first time he put it on.
His brother Tom, too.
I thought for sure one of those boys would become a cop.
I tried to stay in touch with the family, but then another case came along, then another case, and I lost touch.
Now he's the primary suspect in a murder investigation.
Mac there's only so much this job allows us to do.
Hey.
I just got off the phone with Flack.
There are no bank accounts under the name Michael Reynolds.
No credit cards, either.
In a lot of cases like Michael's, victims just want to fall off the face of the Earth, disappear, hide somewhere no one can find them.
Consistent with the method of killing.
- What about a home address? - Nothing, Mac.
Well, then we'll start with the last address on record.
The place he grew up.
I'm thinking "guilty.
" Wow.
I'll go chat with the landlord and see if he knows what happened to the parents.
There's no one there, you know.
No one's been there for a while.
What's "a while"? The boys moved out when they were teenagers.
Parents have been going to Florida every winter since the father retired.
Been gone about a month.
How long have you lived here? Long time.
Are you a cop? I'm with the crime lab.
So, then, you know what happened to Michael? I was one of the detectives working the case Mac Taylor.
Hayley.
Hayley Mont-- - Montgomery.
- Yeah.
I interviewed you, sitting right there in that window.
You were probably about-- Nine.
Just like Michael.
I'll never forget when my Mom told me what happened.
What happened to him could have happened to any of us.
When he came back, he had nightmares.
I remember that the most.
God, those screams.
I could hear 'em all the way over here through the glass.
Mom! Mikey, Mikey, it's okay.
I'm here.
Every night was the same.
And it went on for years.
The only thing that seemed to help him was his painting.
That's when he seemed to be at peace.
When did Michael leave home? When we were 18.
- Where'd he go? - I don't know.
I don't even think he told his parents.
- He just left.
- Mac? We got another victim.
- Find the sniper's hide site? - Still looking.
Witness accounts? Conflicting, just like in the first two.
It's a male vic this time.
Rules out gender as a pattern.
What do we know about the vic? Brian Sanders, accountant, commutes to the city every day from Connecticut.
- Married? - Yeah.
Kids? Single-entrance wound, extensive trauma, consistent with exploding rounds.
You prepared to tell the public the truth now? How sure are we it's the same guy? Sure as I was before.
So I hear you've got a primary suspect.
Somebody you're familiar with? Michael Reynolds, missing person years ago.
- I handled the case.
- Complete whack job? Well, he was held against his will for three years, physically and emotionally abused the whole time.
It affected him, if that's what you mean.
Your stunt at the press conference didn't stop him from killing this guy, did it? It could have.
Come on, Taylor.
If it wasn't him, somebody else would be dead right now.
You know that, that's how these things work.
You trying to convince me or yourself? Why don't we try to get on the same page here, all right? Exactly what do you want from me? I want you to go to the commissioner, tell him we're going public with the whole thing, everything we know.
This whole city should be on high alert.
Otherwise, I promise you, there will be a fourth victim.
Oh, damn it.
Stable isotope results on the beetle? Matched water sample ratios pulled from the Palmas region of Brazil.
Do a lot of insect suppliers get their beetles from that part of South America? Well, one does, so I cross-referenced their customer records with the customer records of paint supply retailers who carry items like we confiscated from Michael's bedroom.
They brought me to this.
Michael Francis? Another dead end.
Francis Francis, Francis.
Stockholm Syndrome.
In a lot of abduction cases, the victim will actually start to sympathize with his captors.
Right, especially when they're held a long time.
And Arthur Francis was Michael's abductor.
Michael Reynolds is Michael Francis.
He took his kidnapper's last name.
We need a current address for Michael Francis.
Mike Francis! Police! Move! Go! Go! Go, go, go! Go! House is all clear! It's all clear! Neighbor confirmed the I.
D.
on our vic.
Michael Francis.
Lives here alone.
Wound's consistent with a small-caliber round.
Muzzle stamp, must have been a handgun of some sort.
It's a close-contact shot.
Maybe he decided to do us all a favor and took himself out.
It's hard to tell in this place, but I am seeing indications of a struggle.
And if he took himself out, where's the gun? Could be under his body.
No.
No gun here.
Well, I'm no expert, but I've seen enough guns in my time to know that they don't just grow legs and walk away.
No, he didn't commit suicide.
- Michael Reynolds was murdered.
- What a life.
He gets kidnapped, kept for three years, escapes only to be murdered 12 years later.
Rigor's broken in his leg.
That means he's been dead at least 48 hours.
Well, that puts his death before the first sniper attack.
Michael's not the sniper.
He's dead.
Murdered.
Danny and Flack just found his body.
- Oh, Mac, I'm so sorry.
- Any idea who killed him? Had to be the sniper, whoever that is.
Well, that explains the beetle we found at the sniper's hide site.
It had Michael's blood on it.
The beetle jars at Michael's home were knocked over.
Probably happened during the struggle.
Gunshot wound must have misted some of the beetles with spatter.
The sniper kills Michael and transfers the beetle to the rooftop.
So if Michael isn't the sniper, who is? The hair you collected from the rooftop.
Blood on the beetle and mitochondrial DNA from the hair, both got hits in CODIS missing persons.
There's only one other person that could've come from.
Michael had a brother-- Tom Reynolds.
Mitochondrial DNA from the hair was a match to Michael.
Mito's shared by all maternal relatives, including brothers, so it would also be a match to Tom.
So he's our shooter.
Why? Off to one side, unnoticed.
Everyone else around him is celebrating Michael's return.
Tom is just standing there.
Emotionless, neglected.
So you're telling me he starts shooting people 'cause he didn't get enough hugs and kisses from Mommy and Daddy? I've studied a lot of spree killers-- Jeff Weise, David Gray, Charles Whitman.
Neglect-- it was the most common form of abuse in their childhood.
He murdered his brother.
Then he goes on a shooting rampage.
Getting to that point cannot be that simple.
No, it's not.
It's usually a preexisting condition, a genetic anomaly of some sort, that renders them susceptible.
Nature combined with nurture.
Taylor.
- Detective Taylor, he's back.
- Hayley.
Tom, uh, he's in there acting crazy, throwing things around like he's searching for something.
Has he seen you? No, I don't think so.
Hayley, step away from the window.
Why? Why? What's going on? He's a suspect in a murder case.
Tom killed somebody? - Oh, my God.
- What? - What's going on? - I think he just saw me.
Hayley Montgomery's apartment, and the Reynolds place.
Send units now.
Now he's gone.
But where is he going? Hayley, is anyone there with you? - No, no, I'm-- I'm all alone.
- Listen to me.
Lock the door and stay where you are.
- Keep her on the phone.
- Yeah.
Hayley? Hayley! It's Detective Taylor! Hayley! Hayley.
Hayley, it's me.
You all right? Yeah.
I think so.
Shh, shh, shh.
He's gone.
It's gonna be okay.
Shh Why do you think he came back here? What is he looking for? I don't know.
But I'm gonna find out.
Okay.
Shh.
It's all right.
Welcome home! Welcome home! We missed you so much! Mom! Mom! Mom! Michael, are you okay? Mama's here.
Mama's here.
Calm down.
You're home.
It's gonna be okay, buddy.
Emptiness.
Loneliness.
Abandonment! How much can one person take? How much can one person do? 'Cause I've tried.
God, how I've tried.
Run this image against lower Manhattan's Homeland Security surveillance footage.
If he's on the move, one of our cameras might be able to pick him up.
But it's too late for that now.
You make my life a living hell.
And for what? What did I do to deserve this? I'm tired of-- of waiting for something to change, because nothing changes.
Always just stays the same! Always like this He looks younger here, like, 17.
I've seen this type of behavior before.
They start off by killing a loved one.
The one that they think is responsible for their neglect? Yeah.
And then things spiral out of control from there.
So what I don't get is why did he go back for the tapes? Tom knows we're going to figure out it's him, and the videos confirm it.
Over and over.
So the only option was to destroy them.
They're very revealing.
His recordings are clearly an outlet for this kid's anger.
I tried everything to make you notice me.
But you look past me.
You realize this means he knows we're on to him.
He'll be looking at his next attack as his last.
You cast me aside.
Like I'm invisible.
But I'm not invisible.
I'm right here.
Right here in front of you.
You turned my life into a hole, empty of everything.
One day you'll pay.
Nothing.
I'm not getting anything.
There has to be a better way to do this.
NY-Alert system.
We can use it to get Tom's image to every cell phone in the city.
And all we need is for one person to recognize him.
This is Taylor.
On my way.
That was Flack.
Your NY-Alert just got a hit.
We have a location? Midtown.
Grand Parker Hotel.
Everybody, stay calm! Just start moving down the street.
Let's go! The sniper suspect is considered armed and dangerous.
Proceed with caution.
Move, move, move! Move, move! Contact.
Northwest corner.
Flack, we're on the roof.
He's been spotted on the northwest corner.
Repeat.
Northwest corner.
Air support? Denied, due to exploding rounds.
Damn it.
That's a miss.
Snipers aren't going to get a clean shot.
He's too well-protected.
Reposition to better line of sight.
It's over, Tom! Put down your weapon! I know what happened to your brother! You don't know anything! I know what happened to him.
I was there.
I know what happened to you.
.]
Man down.
Repeat.
Man down.
I need EMS standing by.
Officer down.
Repeat.
Officer down.
I need to go to my man, Tom.
You need to let me do that.
Do you hear me? Let's go! Move up, move up! Damn it.
Your family turned away from you.
We all did.
I know what that must have been like.
You don't know anything.
No one knows what that's like living in a hole! Abandoned.
Ignored.
No one knows what that's like! Killing people won't change that! Look around you.
What's going on.
All of this is because of me! Because of what I'm doing! There are other ways, Tom! I've tried all the other ways.
Nothing changes.
It's just the same! But now? Now it's different.
People will know me.
They'll know my name.
They'll know my face.
They'll know me because of this.
No! - Go, go, go, go! - Go, go, go! Move in! Move, move.
Hang in there, all right? You're gonna be okay.
You hear me? You're gonna make it.
Come on, come on.
Would these help? They're a perfect match to the other ones.
Thank you.
You're so welcome.
- Huh.
- Ah How they feel? Little heavier, maybe? Well, now that you mention it, yeah.
Impact-resistant glass.
Just in case.
Call it the mom in me.
Well, the thing I can't figure out is, how did you know my prescription? Well, I'm a detective, Sid.
Oh, yeah.
And a very good one, I see.
I don't like to brag, but yes, I am.
- Good night, Jo.
- Good night, Sid.
Thanks.