CSI: NY s07e12 Episode Script

* I'm swaggin', I'm swaggin', I'm swaggin', I'm swaggin' * * I'm swaggin', I'm swaggin', I'm swaggin', I'm swaggin' * * Love me, it's the way you love me Touch me, touch me * * It's the way you touch me Love me, love me * * It's the way you love me * * The way you love me, baby You got me going crazy * * Ooh, ah, baby don't stop * * You know how I like it, daddy, When you hit the spot * * Ooh, ah, baby don't stop * * I'm-a take control when I climb up on the top * * I can take it Boy, switch your position * * Yeah, you're goin' hard, baby Like you on a mission * * Now I get a Superman Love or addiction * * Baby, you can count down Renew the prescription * * Yeah, you can move Just where you want to be * * I got the kind of loving That'll keep you off the streets * * Gentle, don't be rough Until I say so, say so * * You know I will be gripping tighter than your bankroll * * They say I'm the best, They're the best * * Now you want me in the worst way * * Ooh, it's so juicy, boy I hope you come in first place * * The way you love me, baby You got me going crazy, boy * * The way you love me, baby You got me going crazy * * The way you love me, baby You got me going crazy * * The way you love me, baby You got me going crazy * - * You got me going crazy * - Hey, man, this is off the hook! - Hey, what up, man? - All right! * I hope you want me in the first place * * Ooh, you're so juicy boy I hope you come in first place * * So good I make ya think my bed is my workplace * * You can't overwork me Baby, don't hurt me * * Baby you can see Just where you wanna be * * I got the kind of loving That'll keep you off the streets * * Baby you can see Just where you wanna be * - * The way you love me, way you love me * - You guys having fun? * Touch me, touch me * * It's the way you touch me Love me, love me * Yeah! * It's the way you love me-- * - Hey.
- Wait.
What's going on? - Who's he? - Hector Vargas.
Crime lab supervisor for Mossos d'Esquadra.
The Barcelona police.
You're familiar with them? FBI sent me to Madrid in '04.
To oversee the train bombing investigation under the mutual legal assistance treaty.
Yeah, well, that same treaty authorizes him to access and photograph our crime scene.
The victim a Spanish citizen? Mm-hmm.
Miguel Martinez, 23, club promoter, left Barcelona for Manhattan two years ago.
Who found the body? Girlfriend.
Natalia Sanchez.
Also a Spanish citizen.
Her first move was to call the victim's mother, who just so happens to be a diplomat of foreign affairs in Spain.
Just keeps getting better and better.
Where's the girlfriend now? Don't know.
Well, who notified the NYPD? He did.
After his arrival at JFK, ten hours after the body was found.
Te prometo encontrar quien te mató, sobrino prometo.
"Sobrino.
" He just promised to find the person who did this.
The victim is his nephew.
* Out here in the fields * * I fight for my meals * * I get my back into my living * * Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
* Why didn't you tell me you were related to the victim? Would it have changed anything? Of course.
It changes everything.
Every piece of evidence in this place will be called into question now.
I'll have to narrow the scope of your involvement.
Beyond what you already have? Observation, documentation.
- What else is left? - Asking you to leave my crime scene.
Miguel's mother's my sister.
Miguel's father was killed And now her son lies there murdered, thousands of miles from home.
I feel it's my duty to scrutinize this investigation every step of the way.
Please put yourself in my shoes.
If you had a relative that was killed in a foreign country, wouldn't you do the same? I would.
But not by jeopardizing the crime scene.
I'll continue to share information, but as far as this crime scene goes, you're finished here.
Taylor.
I got 25 uniforms searching every alley in every direction.
Still no sign of a murder weapon.
What about a canvass? Next door neighbor said he heard some arguing the last few nights.
Apparently Miguel and his girlfriend have been going at it.
- Same thing tonight? - No.
Tonight he only heard someone running up the stairs.
Minute or two later, he takes a look through his peephole, sees the girlfriend leaving.
And the doorway's intact.
Seems to rule out forcible entry.
I found a crystalline particle on the floor near the vic.
Glass? I don't think so.
Also, there are bloody shoe prints throughout the apartment.
All of them match the victim's shoes.
He must have been up and moving around for quite a while before he died.
Just got word the victim's girlfriend turned up.
- Where? - Spanish consulate.
You knew she was there, didn't you? First the victim, now the girlfriend.
Anything else you're hiding from me? Please.
Please.
You can't come in here.
She found the body.
She was inside the crime scene.
She needs to be processed and questioned.
And she will, as soon as we make her available to you.
This crime took place in New York, not Barcelona.
I don't believe there's a question of jurisdiction here.
You're right, but you just can't barge in here uninvited, unless of course you have a warrant.
You already know we don't.
- Then please wait outside.
- Why? So you can go over her alibi? Get the details of her story straight? Are you questioning my integrity? Have you given us a reason not to? The MLA treaty works both ways, Inspector.
Refuse to cooperate with us, we'll refuse to cooperate with you.
Wait.
Inspector, it's okay.
I have nothing to hide.
Natalia, please tell us about last night.
I went to Miguel's apartment to apologize for something I had said.
And when I got there, the door just opened.
Miguel? Miguel? Oh! There was blood, everywhere-- all over him, all over his apartment.
I'll never get that image out of my head.
Did you touch anything, move anything? No.
You said you went there to apologize.
Had the two of you been fighting? I mean, uh I guess you could say that.
We were in love.
Things got emotional.
- And Miguel went out last night? - He did.
Promoting one of his clubs.
I'm not sure which one.
Ms.
Sanchez, we believe Miguel was killed around 2 A.
M.
Can you tell me where you were? Alibi? She's a witness, not a suspect.
We don't know that yet.
You don't have to answer that, not without an attorney.
It's okay, really, I I'm not afraid.
I haven't done anything wrong.
I was home, alone.
After you found Miguel, the first thing you did was call his mother.
- Why? - I don't know.
It just seemed like the right thing to do.
That she should know.
And in the ten hours that passed after you found Miguel, you never thought you should call 911? His mother told me not to.
She told me to just leave, to get out of there.
And instead of going home, you came here.
She said it would be better for me.
That she would take care of everything.
Sid.
Planning on getting in a knife fight anytime soon? Uh, me? No.
Uh I take it stabbing is our official COD? Three puncture wounds to the abdomen, to be exact.
The first two were with the blade right side up.
The fatal one was with the blade upside down.
Hmm.
Not sure what to make of it, either or of these, for that matter.
Right there.
- Burns.
- Mm-hmm.
With some charring.
Could be chemical.
I also found multiple abrasions on the small of Miguel's back.
Various degrees of healing.
You think they're related to the burns? I don't think so.
These look more like bed sores.
Bed sores.
On this guy? - Did you check his medical records? - Mm-hmm.
Not a single hospitalization or chronic illness to speak of.
Well, then, what caused them? Our homicide may not be a homicide.
What are you talking about? I'm not ready to call it a homicide just yet.
The victim has three stab wounds.
The wallet was out on the floor, no money.
The murder weapon is missing.
I still have questions.
Like, there's no sign of forced entry.
Probably the killer pushed his way in behind Miguel.
Then why didn't Miguel call for help? He was alive after he was stabbed.
Walked all over the apartment, including to this desk.
He was standing right here, right next to the phone, bleeding out.
He never attempted to pick it up.
Could have been in shock.
What about the variation in the stab wounds? The way the knife was held? Your own ME found defensive injuries on Miguel's arm, indicating a struggle over a knife.
It could've been that the killer dropped it during the struggle, picked it back up, only this time the blade was upside down.
What about the castoff? The smearing.
The medium velocity spatter-- there isn't any.
It's all low-energy gravitational.
There wasn't any struggle.
I'm not quite sure what we're looking at here, but I haven't seen anything to convince me it's murder.
- Hey, Jo.
- Hey.
Um, what's the best way to tell someone that never messes up that they, uh, that th-they messed up? - Mac messed something up? - Oh, no.
- Why? I didn't say it was Mac.
- What happened? Uh those burn marks Sid found in the victim's clothing? It was sulfuric acid mixed with formaldehyde.
Marquis reagent? Yeah, I think Mac might've, you know, spilled it on the victim at the crime scene or something.
Well, how is that? Because Marquis reagent is used for drug testing.
There were no drugs at the crime scene.
I know.
It's so bad.
Oh.
Oh, here he comes.
Jo, just take a deep breath.
Act normal.
Okay, so I said to the guy, "Next time just use a latex glove.
" Whoop! Adam has something to ask you.
Ah, you do? I do.
Yeah, I No, I, um, yeah, I do, I think, yeah, thank you.
Um, did you happen to, uh, use Marquis reagent in your kit last night? - Why? - Uh-- It's what caused the burn in the vic's clothing.
And you think I might've what, sprinkled some around the crime scene? N-No! That would-- Nah.
No, I have no I mean-- I mean, what I'm trying to You have to admit, he has a point.
What other explanation would there be? Find one.
Okay.
Lindsay! Wow.
Um, I-I'm sure that you have something great for us, right? Yes, Adam, I do.
Awesome.
Uh, tox results on our vic.
- Clonazepam.
- It's used as an antidepressant, as well as an anti-anxiety medication.
No prescription for it in his medical records.
Maybe he was abusing.
Using it as a club drug.
Alcohol levels are also high-- .
19.
- Whew! He was hammered.
- Yeah, with no alcohol in his stomach contents.
How do you get that drunk without drinking any alcohol? Easy.
You inhale it.
Apparently, the club that our vic was promoting last night is called Mystify.
It's very high on the list of club hoppers in Manhattan.
Apparently, the mist cube is their biggest attraction.
The mist cube? Inhaling your alcohol.
I think I saw this on an episode of the Jetsons.
I'm not a doctor, but that can't be good for you.
The vapor or the girl? - Yeah.
- See that? The employees have to wear a gas mask inside the cube so they don't get drunk.
Buy you a drink when we're done? Yeah, sounds good.
One o'clock.
- Bouncer? - Good place to start.
- Miguel's dead? - He is.
- What do you know about him? - He's foreign.
Spanish, I think.
You know anybody that might've wanted to hurt him? Miguel? Nah.
The guy was friends with everybody.
Life of the party.
You know the type.
Actually, there was this one thing happened last night.
- What thing? - Miguel and Leo.
He's a familiar face around here.
They got into it a little.
- Leo.
- Leo.
We'll be in touch.
Hey, Leo, NYPD.
We want to talk to you.
Freeze! Police! Excuse me! Stop running, Leo! - Let her go! - Let her go now! Get back! Don't do it! Let her go! Now! One step closer and she's toast! Come on, listen to me.
Leo, I can tell this ain't you.
Just let her go.
Come on.
You got five seconds to let her go, starting now.
Five-- Aw, here we go again.
Last time we did this, I had to fill out a lot of paperwork.
- Four.
- I had to call an ambulance.
- And a coroner van.
- Three.
I got blood on my jacket.
Not to mention the brain tissue.
- Two! - Tonight's your call.
- Don't say I didn't warn you.
- One! No! Stay down.
Come on.
You know, Leo, you could've killed a lot of people tonight.
Whole place could've gone up in flames.
You were in a bit over your head, weren't you? Any chance we could just forget about that? Truth is, that firework show's the least of your concerns.
"Water, potassium chloride, tetrahydrozoline.
" It doesn't say anything about sulfuric acid or formaldehyde like we found in your bottle.
Around here, we call it Marquis reagent.
Used for drug testing.
I did my homework.
I found your Web site-- Party4yourlife.
org.
"Ensuring safe partying for New York's club scene.
" Very catchy.
A lot of bad dope out there.
You make sure they take their addictive mind-altering drugs safely.
They're gonna do it anyway.
Might as well know what they're taking, that's all I'm saying.
I get it.
The problem is, it's really a scam, because you're convincing them they have bad dope so you can sell them the good stuff.
Whoa.
Miguel Martinez is dead? You think I killed him? Chemical burns on his clothing-- sulfuric acid and formaldehyde.
And I'm the only one testing drugs out there? It was in a splash pattern, suggesting a struggle.
Eyewitness says that struggle happened with you.
Found drugs in Miguel's body.
Club drugs, same kind of stuff you sell.
He owe you money, is that what it was, why you killed him? I did not kill him! Then tell me what happened.
All right.
Last night at the club, Miguel wanted me gone.
** All right, check it.
I want you to take this back to where you got it, ask for a refund.
This, on the other hand, is the real deal.
Thought I told you not to be here on my nights.
Oh, man, is it Tuesday already? Get out.
Now.
Just providing a safe environment for your clients to party, yo.
Don't give me that.
You're attracting the wrong element.
Pretty soon, this place will be crawling with cops.
Now leave! Look, after that, I'd left.
I didn't kill him.
No history of robbery or any other violent crimes prior to tonight.
Well, why do you think he ran like he did? Long list of possession charges.
Looking at some serious time.
In my country, that standoff would have never happened.
Simple possession doesn't constitute for a criminal offense.
As for pill testing? It's supported by the Spanish government.
This isn't Spain.
Thing I can't figure out is, why Miguel was so opposed to having drugs at his club when he had them in his system.
Hey, Mac, I got the SEM results on that crystalline particle I collected at the crime scene.
- Came back as indium and gallium.
- Hmm.
- It's an unusual mix.
- Yeah.
Had to do a lot of digging.
Turns out, they're both used in the manufacture of photovoltaic cells.
- Solar panels.
- Yeah.
I already checked.
Miguel's apartment didn't have any.
It could have come from the killer.
Taylor.
I'll be right there.
Your sister's here.
I don't understand.
You already released him.
And now you're saying I have to give him back? The embalming process at the mortuary brought up new evidence on Miguel's body.
I don't care about new evidence.
I care about my son, and getting him back home, and putting an end to this for my daughter and I.
Eva, this new evidence can help catch the person that did this.
That's what you want, isn't it? Of course.
Then please, release him back to us.
It's in your son's best interest.
- No.
- Eva.
Ligature bruise.
Appears about a week old.
Hanging? No.
If it was, the bruise would be in a V pattern.
This is linear, horizontal, suggesting he was strangled from behind.
Someone tried to kill him before.
Bruising around Miguel's neck.
You never noticed it? On your own boyfriend.
We'd been having trouble lately.
I hadn't seen him without his shirt in some time.
He never said anything to you about being strangled? You think I did this, don't you? Just like you thought that before at the consulate.
You found Miguel's body.
You admit to having problems.
You have no alibi for when he was killed.
And now you claim not to have known about a violent attack a week prior to his death.
What would you think? I was in Madrid until three days ago for my sister's wedding.
I was there all week.
You can check, if you like.
This surveillance photo was taken outside the Iglesia de San Andres in Madrid.
The image is from a trusted source? One of my constables at the Mossos d'Esquadra.
- Date and time code? - Supports Natalia's story.
All flights were confirmed.
Hey, I just heard from Flack.
A knife was found behind a dumpster about 12 blocks from the crime scene.
Blood on it.
He's sending a jpeg now.
Serrated blade.
Consistent with Miguel's injuries.
It looks like you found your murder weapon.
Oh! Easy.
I collected 18 randomly-sampled bloodstains from our knife.
Don't tell me.
They all come back to our vic? Can't get a break in this case, man.
- Poco a poco sube, la vieja al coco.
- Huh? Poco a poco sube la vieja al coco.
It's a Spanish proverb.
It means, basically, "Small strokes fell great oaks.
" In other words, be patient, don't give up.
Small steps will get there.
- What, is everybody bilingual now? - Not bilingual.
I know a few things.
I'm teaching Lucy, too.
That's good.
That's the future.
Oh, what, so you two can talk behind my back? - Pretty much.
- That's funny-- This is funny to you? Hey, took a closer look at the solar panel shard that was collected at the scene.
I found a microscopic bloodstain.
Ran it through CODIS and got a hit to Vern Jackson.
Vagrant.
One prior, aggravated assault.
But more recently, three arrests for solar panel theft.
I heard that's on the rise.
Seems copper piping is out, solar panels are in.
Wow.
Even the homeless are going green.
Tha-th-that guy's dead? - You know him? - Uh - No.
- No? Well, what were you doing inside his apartment? - I was never in his apart-- - Ah, ah, yes, you were.
Okay? 'Cause we have your DNA inside his apartment, at the crime scene.
So, let's try this again now.
Why were you there? He, uh invited me in.
Okay.
Okay.
Let me get this straight.
Miguel Martinez, club promoter and expat from Spain, invited you, Vern Jackson, vagrant and ex-con from Rikers, into his apartment.
Why? To share a plate of paella? It's a simple question, Vern.
- Why were you there? - You know what I think? I think that you were snooping around Miguel's rooftop, looking for solar panels, and Miguel caught you.
He confronted you and threatened to call the cops.
But you got way too many priors to want to tangle with the police, so you followed him back to his place and put him down before he had the chance.
No.
You're wrong! I didn't kill that guy.
- Then what happened? - I don't know.
That's not gonna cut it, Vern.
I'm telling you, I never killed nobody.
Why were you in his apartment? - You're never gonna believe me.
- Try us.
All right, look.
This is gonna sound crazy, but the guy-- Miguel, whatever-his-name-is-- he came up to me out on the street.
Said he wanted to die.
He asked you to kill him? Paid me, actually.
Oh, he paid you.
That's very smart thinking, Vern.
Because now, when we find all of Miguel's money on you that you stole from him, you got a built-in explanation.
Very good.
What's the going rate for stabbing someone these days? - Just so I know.
- Wait, wait, wait, wait.
Stabbing? Who said anything about stabbing? I-I strangled the guy.
About a week ago.
But I'm telling you, he was alive when I left.
He wanted me to kill him.
I just-- I couldn't go through with it.
I had the rope around his neck, tied off in the back real good t-to cut off his air supply.
He was going, too.
I could feel it.
Body started trembling, shaking.
Eyes started rolling over in his head.
I could just feel the life just draining right out of his body.
Couldn't take it.
Freaked me out.
I had to stop.
Vern Jackson may be a lot of things, but I ain't no killer.
Seems like he's telling the truth.
Ah, you may have been right about this not being a homicide.
There's something I need to tell you.
It was 12 years ago.
I was fairly new at the crime lab.
Call came in from my sister's home.
Her husband was involved in a-- an accident.
High-profile case.
Yeah, drew a lot of media attention.
Eventually, I saw the case file.
The body was found at the bottom of a swimming pool.
Slipped? Hit his head? No indication of trauma.
- Toxicology? - Moderate levels of alcohol.
By no means was he drunk.
- What did the coroner rule? - Undetermined.
Wasn't much water in his lungs or his stomach.
Closer look revealed partial crushing of the trachea.
I guess he could have hit his throat at the edge of the pool as he fell in.
Or it could have been from a ligature.
People are people, Detective.
No matter where you're from in the world, they talk.
Pretty soon, there was speculation that Eva killed her husband or he killed himself.
Placing an extreme amount of pressure on the coroner.
Eventually he changed his ruling-- accidental death by drowning.
All speculation stopped.
So you're thinking that history might be repeating itself.
Miguel took his own life, just like his father.
It could explain the conflicting evidence.
It's time to go back to the crime scene.
Going with the suicide theory, Miguel could have stabbed himself with the knife.
Then walked around, leaving low-velocity bloodstains all over the apartment.
Explains no signs of forced entry.
Also why he never called for help.
He wanted to die.
Explains the blood spatter.
Wasn't any struggle because there wasn't any attacker.
But that's where we have a contradiction.
The orientation of the stab wounds suggest the knife fell during a struggle, as you pointed out.
Half a gravitational bloodstain along the blade.
The other half must be on the floor.
Over here.
Prints are a match to Miguel.
He must have dropped the knife, then picked it back up because he wasn't bleeding out fast enough.
Then stabbed himself one last time.
But why? Why would he-- Why would he stab himself? Clonazepam.
He was self-medicating.
Treating himself for depression.
Miguel killed himself.
But somehow, the knife ended up 12 blocks away.
Just listen to what I'm saying, Eva.
I don't want to hear it.
Miguel would have never taken his own life.
I know my son.
Miguel thought that if people knew the real him, they'd think he was weak, turn their backs on him.
That's how he was raised.
Why he came to America in the first place.
To escape his family.
Once he was here, he tried to hide his depression by taking meds-- Building a new personality, a new lifestyle.
All to cover up what he was really feeling inside.
He'd go days sometimes and never even get out of bed.
These look like bed sores.
I'd say to him, "What's wrong with you? "You have everything-- money, looks.
How could you be sad?" Eventually, it got so bad, he decided to take his own life.
But he needed your help to make it look like something it wasn't.
I can't do it anymore.
- No.
- Natalia.
No.
- I won't do it, no.
- Please, you got to help me.
- No! - You know the pain I'm in, so, please.
I can't.
Natalia, you got to help me.
You're the only one who can do this for me.
No.
You have to.
Please! He finally convinced you.
Told you when he was going to do it so you would know when to go to his apartment, stage the scene.
But you changed your mind.
That's when Miguel's neighbor heard you running up the stairs.
I was too late to save him.
My only choice was to do what he asked.
He didn't want his mother to know what he had done.
Miguel tried to talk to her about his depression, but she wouldn't hear it.
She was in denial.
Eva doesn't know this, but Miguel found his father's body before she did.
His father was in the closet of his bedroom, one end of a belt tied around the doorknob, the other around his neck.
Eva moved the body to the pool, tried to make it look like an accident so she wasn't ashamed.
Miguel made me promise not to tell, but I have to tell.
There's no shame in what Miguel and his father were going through, Natalia.
And that's why you tried to get Miguel help.
I tried to force him to go.
I threatened to leave him if he didn't.
That's what all our fights were about.
You always hear people say that suicide is the most selfish act.
But was I being any less selfish, trying to force him to go on living? To go on suffering? If he had cancer, or some other physical disease, something that shows up on an X-ray or an MRI would it be different then? Would people understand then? What I did may be against the law, but that doesn't mean it wasn't right.
I opened a door for Miguel.
To get what he wanted.
And now-- He's at peace.
He's finally at peace.
Natalia, you can justify your actions however you need to, but remember one thing.
You changed your mind.
You ran up those stairs to stop it.
She's right.
About all of it.
Ever since Miguel was a little boy, he had that look in his eyes.
Like his father.
What would you have done if it was your child? Oh, I don't know.
Hugged him, I guess, and never let go.