CSI: Vegas (2021) s01e01 Episode Script
Legacy
1
When an irresistible force
Such as you
Meets an old, immovable
Object like me
You can bet
As sure as you live
Something's gotta give
Something's gotta
give, something's
(FLOORBOARDS CREAKING)
When an
Is someone there?
Keep it down.
Such as yours Will you keep it down, Elvis.
Implacable heart Such as mine (SHUTS OFF RADIO) (GRUNTS) (BOTH GRUNTING) Aah! (GROANING) Who are you? What do you want with me? He he didn't he didn't tell me.
Oh Oh, God.
WOMAN: Bryan, son.
Because you're not a B-minus student.
Okay, buddy.
I love (INDISTINCT CHATTER) Game time, people.
Look alive.
I see you.
You ready? Hey, Frank.
Okay.
This is my kind of mess.
Smile, Allie.
We got lots to work with.
No ID, though.
Only thing in his pockets.
- He sure picked the wrong house.
- I'd say.
The homeowner's Jim Brass.
Is this gonna be like the time I didn't know who Drew Carey was? Jim Brass used to run Criminalistics.
He was a captain.
He's a legend.
- (HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRRING) - Hmm.
(CHUCKLES) Yeah, I'm getting mauled here.
Well, look, I could really use your help.
That'd be great.
Okay.
Thank you.
Detectives are asking if they'll find any more guns in the home.
Guns? Sure.
There's a bunch.
But LVPD are good at their jobs they'll find 'em.
Jim Brass.
You went three for ten.
I'll grade on a curve and give you a B-plus.
BRASS: I'm half-blind.
How about an A-minus? I'm Maxine Roby.
We met at Catherine Willows' retirement thing.
Right.
You run the lab.
Yes.
And I'm here with Allie Rajan.
She's a level II CSI.
She's one of our best.
Honor to meet you, sir.
Well, sorry to make work for you, Allie, but he started it.
Everyone told me you were a tough old bastard.
I've made my share of enemies, I guess.
- You think one of 'em sent him? - Yeah, I'm pretty sure.
But that's all I could get out of Mr.
Mystery Guest.
Maybe whoever hired him gave him a ride.
There's no vehicle out here.
There's no time machine, either, so there's no telling why this kid would have a wad of hundreds older than he is.
Well, big bills stay in circulation, what, six or seven years? Well, this was all from the mid-'90s.
Really? Mid-'90s? Will you do me a favor, Allie? Could you, uh, read me the serial numbers on the money? Last five.
Yeah.
2-5-6-5-A, 2-5-6-6-A, 2-5 Actually, hold on.
These are all close together.
Oh.
Lucky.
- I don't think it could be random.
- No, no, that's his name.
His name is Lucky.
He's a kidnapper.
Struck four times.
He used to send us notes, um, and he sign them "Lucky".
Last woman he took, we never found her.
Him either.
Yeah, but I don't get it.
I mean, Lucky was paid millions.
It it was a long time ago.
I mean, why not let it be? Most people win, they keep playing.
If it was easy to walk away, this town wouldn't exist.
Trouble on the streets, I'm a bad one Nightmare of your dreams like a black lung Nowhere left to hide when the ruckus comes No, I'm not done, I'm not done I'm moving in with precision, I'm gun metal cold I hit the target, don't miss 'em, it never gets old Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh You don't want the smoke, no Outlaws doing bad things for the rush (GLASS BREAKS) Outlaw, yeah, I'm taking what I want.
MAN: Well, Folsom, looks like you're stuck with me.
Everyone else is tied up with the Jim Brass case.
Folsom? Folsom? You all right? You haven't moved in ten minutes.
Less there is to look at, the longer it takes to see what's missing.
Then we're gonna be here a while.
VFD says this one got nasty in a hurry.
The whole pawnshop was melted.
Think it started by the door, Chris.
Moved fast.
Killer had already doused the place in bleach.
They used an accelerant.
My money's on kerosene.
This guy's money is gone.
Robbery-homicide? Danny Yates.
Yates Pawn.
You weren't kidding about less to look at.
Not even an entry wound? Nope.
The bullet went in through the left eye.
Out through the occipital bone.
Hard to tell the caliber of the, uh, bullet.
(DOOR OPENS) - WOMAN: No! - WOMAN 2: Oh, my God, wait Hold on, give her a minute.
Is that is that Danny? He's her brother.
They've been looking for him all morning.
(SOBBING): Who who did this? ROBY: Joshua.
I heard you caught a doozy.
Yeah, the whole scene's one giant charcoal briquet, but it's possible we have the murder weapon.
It's possible? It could've been tossed in with the guns the store was selling.
Be a good way to confuse the issue.
You'll figure it out.
(SHORT CHUCKLE) Yeah.
I'll get right on that.
(SIGHS) What a view, huh? (CHUCKLES): Don't start with me, old man.
Yeah.
Too late, it sounds like.
How often do we talk? You never mentioned this what you're going through.
What? You got a cure for Fuchs' corneal disease up your sleeve? People care about you.
So much so they want me dead.
Listen, it's a six-hour drive from San Diego, and I did it in five.
Well, at least I got Sara Sidle back to Vegas.
Catherine has rolled out a red carpet.
She would be here, you know that, if she could.
Yeah.
She's got a little grandbaby in Dublin.
- What's your husband's excuse? - I sent him for jellyfish samples in the Panama Basin.
Collecting jellyfish.
That's on my bucket list.
Well, there are no flights from the deck of his boat.
Believe me, I've checked.
Is this bird your only helper? What, Elvis? That little bastard wouldn't lift a wing for me.
I got a cleaning lady, Mirta.
She looks after me.
You know, I mean, can still see, you know, things, shapes and I can see well enough to get on the Harley on the weekends.
I can't tell if you're kidding.
Good.
You look like you lost weight.
Well, I did skip dinner last night.
So, you think your old friend Lucky's back.
Do they have an ID yet on the guy that he sent? No, no.
Look I met new people, and I'm sure that they're great.
But I don't know them, and I'd feel a lot better if you took a look.
- Well, I don't know how that would work.
- Oh, come on, Sara.
I mean, we can figure it out.
I mean (SCOFFS) I didn't ask you back here so you can help me pack my socks.
- (ELEVATOR BELL DINGS) - ROBY: I got a meeting.
Let me talk to you later.
Got to go.
Hey.
- Sara Sidle.
- Yeah.
Nice to meet you.
I'm Maxine Roby.
- Thanks for having me.
- Thanks for passing on my dream job.
Come on back.
Walk with me.
You'll love this new lab.
SIDLE: Wow.
I had the same expression when I got here two years ago.
Course, back then, it still had that new lab smell.
Ethyl alcohol.
The more things change.
- Yep.
- (SHORT CHUCKLE) So, uh, Jim seems to think - you'll pick it all right back up.
- He already talked to you? - Yeah.
- I-I'm so sorry.
No, I love the idea of you riding shotgun on this one.
We're always understaffed.
- You up for it? - I was gonna ask.
Good, 'cause I already ran it up the pole.
It helps that you kept your certs up to date, so you're already authorized.
Uh, just can't carry until the sheriff signs o - Mm-hmm.
- What, you thought there was gonna be a fight? - A little, yeah.
- Nope.
Come on.
Saddle up, sis.
Is that you? Yep.
I got a PhD in genetics and a blown knee out of the deal.
Sweet ex-husband, though.
What do you know about Brass's attacker? Oh, lots.
He liked knives.
Stabbing people with knives, breaking into houses to stab people with knives.
I take it that prints, dental, and DNA were not in the system.
Nope.
But the cash he had on him was.
- Jim was right.
- Cash they found was part of a ransom paid to the man they knew as Lucky.
So this is who you're looking for.
Sketch artist worked that up back in '96 with a neighbor of the last woman taken.
They only got a glimpse, and no one's seen either since.
Kelsey Webb, 24.
Taken August 20, 1996.
Whoa.
Found her.
"Jim Brass is just the beginning".
Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Who are you? Who, who, who, who? I really wanna know Who are you? - Oh-oh-oh - Who Come on, tell me who are you, you, you Are you! I guess you'd call this good news.
Check the carotid.
Whoever killed this poor girl they didn't do it by cutting her head off.
Must have removed it just for us.
The severed edge is smooth.
If cause was decapitation, the tunica externa would be shriveled by now.
We get a nice look because she was buried in quicklime.
It's like one of my old school projects.
Poetry major? Archaeology and forensics.
Allie's our go-to CSI when we get a desiccated corpse.
Well.
Then, please.
Do the honors.
RAJAN: She has a long incisor.
You don't need to wait for DNA.
Dental's a match.
This is Kelsey Webb.
I'll inform the parents their daughter's been found.
SIDLE: She had a nicer smile than Lucky did.
Brass is gonna be torn up.
- He still blames himself.
- Why? Lucky got paid huge ransoms to return his first three abductees.
So Brass pitched a sting for the fourth.
Lucky sniffed it out and disappeared.
Maybe that's why he blames Brass.
Cost him a couple million bucks.
People kill for less.
But his note said, "Brass is just the beginning".
And I don't know what he's planning, but this guy woke up yesterday and decided to switch sports.
Max, if it's all right with you, I'm gonna learn more about his teammate Brass's buddy with the knife - work backwards from there.
- And I'll help you, but first we need to examine the attacker's clothes.
Well, you know what else might help? He also dropped the head.
The flesh is well, it's smushed.
Somewhere between decapitation and the box, this head impacted a surface that was coated in whatever this is.
We'll run tests.
Excellent.
Hey.
Come into my office.
My real office.
Thank you.
You come from the lab side? Actually, I come from Evanston, Illinois.
Go Cats.
But, yeah genetics, phenotyping that's my thing.
What about you? Materials and element analysis.
- Used to be.
- Yeah? - And now? - Uh, avoiding mosquitos in various corners of the globe, I guess.
It's too bad that Brass made such a mess.
I was hoping that our guy brushed up against whoever hired him, shook his hand.
Guess we'll never know.
- Oh, ye of little faith.
- That shirt is soaked.
Aren't you worried that all that blood is masking other DNA? I would be if it weren't for my new little friend here.
We are now into massively parallel sequencing.
It's the next gen of DNA analysis.
- Brave new world.
- Mm-hmm.
- CODIS still takes a couple of days? - Yeah.
But I'm hoping Lucky's in line for a name change before then.
You must be Dr.
Ramirez.
I'm sorry, I don't have time for new people right now.
Oh, I'm Sara.
Sara Sidle.
Okay.
SIDLE: You know, the last guy that worked in here would have been really impressed with this coronal sectioning.
So this is the brain of Brass's attacker? Call me Hugo.
Dr.
Robbins trained me, actually.
I like to imagine he's still watching me when I cut.
You know he's retired, not dead? It's just I-I don't get a lot of visitors down here, so What are you looking for in the corpus callosum? Motive? Some reason this guy would become a killer? In a way, yes.
Well, th-there is a lot of plaque.
During the autopsy, I noticed cirrhosis in the liver and auricular hematoma, of course.
So you're thinking a wrestler, MMA type? Gets cauliflower ear and CTE.
Self-medicates with liquor.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is hell to live with.
Mood swings, confusion, violent outbursts.
Contract killing.
I-I don't mean to justify what this man did.
No, no, by all means.
He-he had an unhealthy brain.
All these tats might as well have advertised his services.
But there's something funky about, uh, this one.
I think it's a cover-up.
Nice catch.
Yeah, uh, I'm not really a tattoo connoisseur, but the older half looks prison quality.
We should share it with RTCC right away.
Don't you think? I am a bit of a connoisseur, and I couldn't agree more.
I actually paint a little.
Did they tell you upstairs? Oh.
Huh.
Is that stomach contents? Pomegranate.
He was full of it.
PARK: It's actually much worse than not knowing who Chuck Woolery is.
- It was Drew Carey.
- (CHUCKLES) The point is, Jim Brass is on the Vegas PD Rushmore.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
- I'm ashamed of you.
- All right.
Well, since you're such an amazing historian, why don't you tell me something about Sara Sidle? You're kidding me.
I know the name, Chris.
Now that I've met her, I can't figure her out.
A woman works her way up to take over the Las Vegas crime lab, and then, right when they're ready to give her the keys, she just walks away.
Yeah, well, it's not really a mystery why.
Remember, uh, David Hodges? Salt and pepper, funny dude? He told me that Sara and Gil Grissom were the star-crossed duo here before Folsom and Don't.
So, what, she just left for a guy? The heart wants what it wants.
You told me you always thought you would move back to Mumbai after you finished college, but then you fell in love with Dunkin' Donuts and Carrie Underwood, right? That's weird.
- That powder is yeast.
- Huh.
Gil? Gil? ROBY: Hey, Sara.
- Looking for me? - Oh, yeah.
Uh, Allie wanted me to give this to you.
It was brewer's yeast, that yellowish powder on Kelsey's cheek.
ROBY: So, if that was laying on the ground when Lucky dug her up, then he's either a moonshiner or Board of Examiners keeps lists.
Distilleries, brewery supply stores.
I can check it out.
Well, what do you have here? Uh, Joshua Folsom.
And everything left from a burned out pawn shop.
FOLSOM: The store owner's son was shot and the scene was burned.
Trying to figure out just how hot this fire got.
Not hot enough to vaporize shell casings and slugs because there would've been melted pieces at least, right? So the killer swept up after themselves and burned the scene? And bleached it and wiped it down.
Not a partial print to be found on any of the glass either.
Welcome to 2021.
Whole lot of careful criminals out there.
(CHUCKLES) We do get the occasional moron, just not this time.
I love what you haven't done with the place.
FOLSOM: More and more, we're working scenes that have been altered, burned down.
It's nice to have a blank canvas for reconstructions.
It was a big aquarium last week.
He made fish out of foam core.
Popoto dolphins, actually.
Mammals.
He's a lot nerdier than he looks.
SIDLE: So, this will be the pawnshop as it was at the time of the shooting.
Wow.
Poor kid took it in the eye, huh? Yeah.
Killer steps up to the counter here and bang.
Best guess based off the exit wound is a .
22, but it's just a guess.
SIDLE: So, all these melted guns this was the killer cleaning up after themselves? FOLSOM: Maybe.
I haven't been able to find anything else they left.
Surprised they didn't take them.
The value of those guns is probably double what we think was taken in electronics, - jewelry and guitars.
- So, was this a robbery, or just made to look like one? Might be looking at an inside job gone wrong.
The victim Danny Yates, he has juvenile arrests for B and E.
Yeah, but he's kept his nose clean the past few years.
You never bet on an underdog? My sweet Folsom.
Hey, I know what it's like in the kind of neighborhood Danny's from.
It's a petri dish of self-destruction.
Not every angry young man turns out to be trouble.
Okay, I'm gonna send mine to live with you.
Huh.
(BEEP) Bad time for a drink? (CHUCKLES) Pretty flammable time for one.
- Wow.
Oh.
- (CHUCKLES) Is that ? Mark scared the hell out of me.
Asked me to move in with him like this.
Wow.
That's Congrats.
I didn't realize you guys, uh That's great.
We're grabbing friends to, you know celebrate.
- It'll be fun.
- Ah.
I wish I could go with you, but I think my gun is finished cooking.
You like 'em well done, hey? Didn't get that way till 1,370 degrees Celsius, which doesn't make any sense to me.
I'm with you there.
Yeah.
I'm trying to figure out how those guns melted.
This Colt's made out of the softest alloy I could find.
It held up way past the point of your typical structure fire.
So that was made before the fire? Somebody pulled a Salvador Dalà before they ever struck a match.
I think I better find out why.
(SCREAMING) Don't want the kisses unless they're bitter I'm hooked on touches that leave me weaker I swear that I love nothin' more than broke I always let the good ones go And, baby, you couldn't have loved me any better But doin' this is all that I've known ever MAN: Excuse me, Officer.
Can you point us to Circus Circus? North end of the Strip.
And hurry.
Looks like it's bedtime.
I let the good ones go.
(WOMAN WHIMPERING) I'm wondering if you guys have seen her.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER) - So, Lucky strikes again? - Yep.
This is connected.
Fisher was detailed to the Brass crime scene.
We're showing Lucky's sketch around and we're looking for witnesses.
So our guy checked in on things, and she caught his eye? We're checking security cameras, but so far nothing.
- You made any progress? - So, it's something interesting.
The head that Lucky sent Kelsey Webb her cheek was coated in brewer's yeast.
We're searching local distilleries.
- Sounds like a long shot.
- I thought so, too, but I just got a call.
There's one in particular, might be a pretty good bet.
A distillery next to a fruit stand.
Almost hope it's a coincidence.
Dude who tried to kill Brass didn't deserve a last meal this good.
(CHUCKLES) You know, you're different than I pictured.
(CHUCKLES) I was expecting more of a weather-beaten, salty sea captain vibe.
SIDLE: Gosh, thanks.
This lock looks brand-new.
Somebody's been using this place without permission.
- Ready? - Yeah, well, ready as I can be.
The sheriff hasn't authorized me to carry yet.
Well, you can stay back in the truck.
- Huh.
- Or not.
(BIRDS' WINGS FLUTTERING) (CREAKING) Got something over here.
Could be our brewer's yeast, from Kelsey Webb's cheek.
It is.
How you know they didn't just melt in the fire? Science.
Do you want the long answer? (SIGHS) But these are our guns.
- These were for sale at our store.
- You were reselling them.
Could be they were used in some other crime.
Maybe that's why they were destroyed.
Might be why your son is dead.
Are you saying Danny's a criminal? I'm not accusing anybody of anything.
RICK: Look, what you're not getting is, we sell clean weapons.
And you have to maintain records with the ATF online.
Now, I could deal with them direct, but I thought you could help me check some serial numbers I found.
You pulled numbers from that mess? They're engraved deeper than people think.
Got a few from the guns on top that were in better shape.
Becky, when you worked with Danny, did you ever see anything suspicious? Did you ever think Danny did it? For art? Now, that makes sense.
Boy was trying to be a sculptor.
He made that totem pole type deal out back.
LISA: Wouldn't that be just like him? Burning up inventory, trying to make some statement.
- (CHUCKLES) - BECKY: When we was clerking, he wouldn't shut up about gun control.
Is that right? RICK: I didn't raise him that way.
He was a normal kid.
Liked to hunt.
Danny got preachy when he got sober.
And he started taking those art classes.
RICK: Anyways, you find anything? The few numbers I got all had clean histories.
And I can't tell on the partials.
Thanks for giving it a shot.
- (WHIRRING) - SIDLE: Poor Kelsey.
Well, Ms.
Rajan, it's your time to shine.
What do you think? RAJAN: Cause'll be tough.
We can try to rehydrate these organs, but right now I can't tell if she was stabbed, strangled, or what.
Let's soak in Allie's secret sauce.
Saline, glycerin, and nitrates? You're good.
(CHUCKLES) Once upon a time.
What's it like to, you know, um stop and then, uh She wants to know if you regret retiring.
Oh.
(CHUCKLES) Sorry.
No, um No.
No, I don't.
I, um I loved this job.
I did it for 20 years.
And I wanted to be with my husband, and we had an adventure waiting.
Found out I wasn't meant to be in two places at once, you know.
Drink, little bronchioles, drink.
Got to love the lungs.
Always the first to plump.
Bet this hole wasn't always here.
RAJAN: Lacerated tissue in the lung.
Bullet wound? Guess who was hiding behind T8.
Never would have thought to look in back of her spine.
Let's go get this guy.
What the hell do you mean Lucky's not our man? SIDLE: He didn't send a killer after you, and he didn't kidnap Officer Fisher.
The gun that shot Kelsey Webb was a Beretta M9.
We know that because the same gun was used in another murder in October of 1996, and that case was solved.
Lucky killed his girlfriend over a busted hand of blackjack.
His name was Ellis Vikner.
Was? He died in prison two years ago.
At least Kelsey Webb's family gets a little closure.
Even when he dies, he manages to do it like a scumbag.
He leaves all his money to some sociopath who hunts cops.
I'm sorry, Sara.
I thought for sure we knew who we were looking for.
Well, you know, that's the worst part about this.
(SETS FILE DOWN) We're nowhere.
- (PHONE RINGS) - FOLSOM: Hey, Max.
I was about to call you.
I need you to head over to Fremont Street.
They found something where Officer Fisher was taken.
I know, I caught it on the radio.
I just got here.
The kidnapper left a calling card? Waitress thought he gave her a counterfeit tip.
Bet the prints are all smudged, but It doesn't matter.
Bring me everything he might have touched.
That bill could tell us who kidnapped Officer Fisher.
Yes, ma'am.
(SLURPING) Your poor kidneys.
Never gets easier, watching you destroy latents.
Some evidence must die so that others might live, and I'll take DNA over no-value prints any day.
You'll get plenty.
You might as well be swabbing a public bathroom.
Cotton and linen in paper money is kind of like a sponge.
But Lucky's stash wasn't touched for a long time, so a lot of that old DNA will be degraded, and the only epithelials will be from the perp and the waitress he tipped.
I'm skeptical about an ID, but we should learn something about him.
Once upon a time, you'd be burned as a witch.
I got to get back to the pawnshop case.
I got a theory.
Not what they pay us for, Joshua.
Evidence.
I know.
It's coming.
You didn't go home last night.
- Don't you tell Folsom about these.
- (CHUCKLES) I bet you don't miss these all-nighters.
You have a little boy.
Yeah.
Actually, Bryan's 20.
And he has not smiled at me like that in a bit.
Come here.
Let me show you something.
I ran our guy's DNA from the cash.
It was too degraded for STRs, but I got SNPs.
- SNPs? - Single nucleotide polymorphisms.
And they say our subject is male, Caucasian, has blue eyes, and he's on the short side.
There's plenty of those guys in the general population, but "gen pop" is another story.
Captain, we think this is who took Officer Fisher.
Bill Dwyer.
God, let's hope not.
A serial rapist? I worked the case with Detective Brass in 2010.
One of our lab techs David Hodges ran a soil analysis that put him away.
- So there's motive.
- ROBY: There's more than that.
We pulled prison files on all of Lucky's cellmates, looking for someone he might have told about his stash.
Dwyer's the only one with the same phenotype as the perp who handled that old cash.
- Phenotype? - He's a little blue-eyed devil.
Well, he got out in May, he's supposed to live in a halfway house during probation.
We called, and they haven't seen him in over a month.
ROBY: The pieces fit.
I mean, we got to find him and tie him to something.
The distillery, the cash, Kelsey Webb's body I'll put out an APB.
Just pray Officer Fisher's still alive, and this stays out of the news.
'Cause if Dwyer sees us coming You must've been a demon with Legos.
FOLSOM: Move half a foot to your left.
That can't be where the shooter was when he killed Danny.
You saw the hole in the skull.
That look like a bullet entry wound to you? We thought the killer shot Danny face-to-face, that the bullet went in through the eye and exited through the back of the head.
But that's not the only possible explanation for the hole in the occipital bone.
A tipless wooden bolt would make a jagged entry wound and it wouldn't come out the other side at all.
You're talking about an arrow? That's why we didn't find any bullets or shell casings.
The killer didn't collect them.
There weren't any.
The arrow just burned to ash.
I never would've thought the killer had a shot from behind.
I didn't either, until I came in here and found out that there was this one tight angle from H6 of our grid.
Not a section of the grid we ever would've spent much time with, but lo and behold.
Crossbows.
We got the murder weapon.
What's left of it.
That piece is called the stirrup and lath.
And the rest of it burned.
Whole family bow-hunts.
None of them did it.
- You sure? - The killer left us one clue thanks to how they got rid of all the rest.
Look at what else was in H6.
Too wide to be a shoe print.
(DOOR OPENS) LISA: I don't like being in here, Detective Carson.
Can't you ask your questions somewhere else? Sorry, but it's important that you both see this.
What? You see those marks that your walking boot makes? These were found at the spot where the killer took their shot.
(SCOFFS) What is this? You accusing me of ? FOLSOM: I think Danny found out you were selling illegal guns.
I think that's why he melted them down.
I think that's why you shot Danny.
Here's what I know.
You doused the scene with bleach and lit a fire to destroy the evidence.
No.
No, I didn't do any of this.
You tracked through the bleach you were spilling on your way out the back door.
The fire burned the sodium hypochlorite into the floor.
There's always something.
I just had to know where to look.
LISA: Becky.
Tell them that you wouldn't.
Tell us, Becky.
(SOBS): Why? Okay.
- LISA: Why?! - CARSON: Give me your hands, come on.
- Why?! - (HANDCUFFS CLICK) SIDLE: No need to call me back.
Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some news.
All right.
I miss you.
(PHONE BEEPS) Sara Sidle.
You don't look that surprised to see me.
You haven't been looking for me, have you? What are you doing, Bill? I'm not doing anything.
Seeing you here is just fate, I guess.
- (LINE RINGING) - I'm calling my office.
I'm not gonna hurt you.
DISPATCHER (OVER PHONE): CSI section.
I know all about you people.
I know how you put me away.
The way you plant evidence.
The way you lie.
Hello? Hello? Someone needs to teach you all a lesson.
Who knows? Maybe it'll happen tomorrow.
Where is she? Where's Julie Fisher? See you soon, Sara.
Hey, is anybody still there? Yes, ma'am.
How can I direct your call? I have a 427 suspect heading west on Ogden on foot.
C10 in pursuit.
I need backup.
Send them now.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER) Hey! Watch it! - (HORN HONKS) - (TIRES SCREECH) MAN: Watch it! - (TIRES SQUEALING) - (GRUNTS) MAN: You crazy? (TIRES SCREECHING) Confirmed.
Dwyer's car.
(OFFICER SHOUTS INDISTINCTLY) Let's go, move, move! Well, they said the house is clear.
All SWAT and non-essentials out.
CSIs have the scene.
No luck next door.
Neighbors haven't seen him.
PARK: They were definitely here.
Julie Fisher's service weapon.
Clip's full.
I know he was in a hurry, but would you leave that? I think we've got a match for the note he sent.
(SIRENS WAILING IN DISTANCE) (THUMP) He didn't take her gun.
(WHISPERS): The crawl space under the house.
OFFICER: There.
There he is! Show me your hands! (WHIMPERING) Lucky girl.
(SIREN WAILS) No, he didn't touch me.
Julie, you're okay.
You're gonna be okay.
You need to see this.
Due respect, I think this meeting is a little premature.
I haven't had a chance to review the case - against Mr.
Dwyer.
- The case is overwhelming, Mr.
Wix, we got your client dead to rights.
Kidnapping, assault We've got you in a car that left tracks at the scene where Kelsey Webb's body was found.
We've got the money you paid to have Jim Brass killed.
I mean, we've got plenty.
Well what's on the table? We could push the D.
A.
to offer favorable terms, but first we need to know who put him up to it.
ROBY: We found this.
It was addressed to your client.
"Pay Felipe, take $25K for yourself, and don't forget to wear gloves when you get the head".
See, that part was underlined, but you sure didn't wear gloves when you handled this.
We got about a hundred of your partials.
You were following a playbook somebody else wrote.
Who's behind all this? Be smart here, Bill.
There's a deal to be made.
DWYER: No.
There's not.
I ain't flipping.
The person who wrote that I like them.
But you people, I want to see you rot in hell.
The note you sent me said Brass was just the beginning.
I want to know how it's supposed to end.
Talk about this part, this bit at the end.
The storage facility in Spring Valley.
What are we going to find there? "We have to get in there before you go.
I think it's where they do it".
Come on.
Who's they? WIX: We're done here.
No cameras? MANAGER: No need.
We got the big gate out front.
The one on your warrant's up here.
Number 256.
My file says it's rented to a Mr.
Hodges.
- What? - David Hodges.
Long-term tenant, I guess.
I don't like any part of this.
I mean, why would he have this here? It's like his own little lab.
Hodges never mentioned this place.
Jenny Carrol, David Bohr, Natalie Davis.
Why would he take these and leave these off-site? So he'd have privacy.
You know what this looks like.
He's got everything he needed to fake test results and whip up phony evidence.
This is always where this was headed.
They wanted us to find this place.
It was all a setup.
Brass, the cash, the kidnapping, all of it.
Hodges didn't do this.
He couldn't have done this.
I think that's gonna be damn hard to prove.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER) This isn't real.
I'm afraid it is.
It's all checking out.
The files, soil from Eli Holt's burial site.
Thomas Donover's shoes.
Ballistics.
Fibers.
There's legitimate evidence from at least a dozen of our old cases.
What the hell is it all doing here? Exactly what it was designed to do: framing an innocent man.
I'd love to believe that, but there are two dozen prints here, and every one of them belongs to David Hodges.
- You don't know Hodges.
- RAJAN: Neither would a jury.
Sorry, it's just facts.
If I'm being generous, maybe it's all a little too damning, 'cause every one of these is clean and complete.
They were planted.
This transfer remnant is the guy that Dwyer worked for signing his work for us.
He left it there because it can't prove anything.
He knows forensics.
He knows how we work.
He knows what he's doing.
Well, then we'd better find him, or else your friend's in real trouble.
Okay, listen to me.
We can't make this all about David Hodges.
What happened here, whatever happened here, how we handle it will determine whether convictions hold up or not.
Whether murderers stay in prison or not.
Whether they're out there killing again or not.
First lawsuit got filed.
Only took three days.
And there's more coming.
A class action, Max thinks.
All the cases in the storage unit? No.
Every case.
Every defendant that was put away with evidence from our lab the entire time that David Hodges was at CSI.
That's insane.
There could be hundreds.
Thousands, and there's precedent.
That lab tech in Boston, there was a scandal in Houston, too.
Max has held off the D.
A.
this long, but they're gonna charge Hodges.
They have to.
We're not gonna let him take this fall.
That's a nice thing to say.
But what's the plan? You didn't come all the way to Vegas to sit on the sidelines.
What do we do now? What we always do, Jim.
Follow the evidence.
Such as yours Will you keep it down, Elvis.
Implacable heart Such as mine (SHUTS OFF RADIO) (GRUNTS) (BOTH GRUNTING) Aah! (GROANING) Who are you? What do you want with me? He he didn't he didn't tell me.
Oh Oh, God.
WOMAN: Bryan, son.
Because you're not a B-minus student.
Okay, buddy.
I love (INDISTINCT CHATTER) Game time, people.
Look alive.
I see you.
You ready? Hey, Frank.
Okay.
This is my kind of mess.
Smile, Allie.
We got lots to work with.
No ID, though.
Only thing in his pockets.
- He sure picked the wrong house.
- I'd say.
The homeowner's Jim Brass.
Is this gonna be like the time I didn't know who Drew Carey was? Jim Brass used to run Criminalistics.
He was a captain.
He's a legend.
- (HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRRING) - Hmm.
(CHUCKLES) Yeah, I'm getting mauled here.
Well, look, I could really use your help.
That'd be great.
Okay.
Thank you.
Detectives are asking if they'll find any more guns in the home.
Guns? Sure.
There's a bunch.
But LVPD are good at their jobs they'll find 'em.
Jim Brass.
You went three for ten.
I'll grade on a curve and give you a B-plus.
BRASS: I'm half-blind.
How about an A-minus? I'm Maxine Roby.
We met at Catherine Willows' retirement thing.
Right.
You run the lab.
Yes.
And I'm here with Allie Rajan.
She's a level II CSI.
She's one of our best.
Honor to meet you, sir.
Well, sorry to make work for you, Allie, but he started it.
Everyone told me you were a tough old bastard.
I've made my share of enemies, I guess.
- You think one of 'em sent him? - Yeah, I'm pretty sure.
But that's all I could get out of Mr.
Mystery Guest.
Maybe whoever hired him gave him a ride.
There's no vehicle out here.
There's no time machine, either, so there's no telling why this kid would have a wad of hundreds older than he is.
Well, big bills stay in circulation, what, six or seven years? Well, this was all from the mid-'90s.
Really? Mid-'90s? Will you do me a favor, Allie? Could you, uh, read me the serial numbers on the money? Last five.
Yeah.
2-5-6-5-A, 2-5-6-6-A, 2-5 Actually, hold on.
These are all close together.
Oh.
Lucky.
- I don't think it could be random.
- No, no, that's his name.
His name is Lucky.
He's a kidnapper.
Struck four times.
He used to send us notes, um, and he sign them "Lucky".
Last woman he took, we never found her.
Him either.
Yeah, but I don't get it.
I mean, Lucky was paid millions.
It it was a long time ago.
I mean, why not let it be? Most people win, they keep playing.
If it was easy to walk away, this town wouldn't exist.
Trouble on the streets, I'm a bad one Nightmare of your dreams like a black lung Nowhere left to hide when the ruckus comes No, I'm not done, I'm not done I'm moving in with precision, I'm gun metal cold I hit the target, don't miss 'em, it never gets old Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh You don't want the smoke, no Outlaws doing bad things for the rush (GLASS BREAKS) Outlaw, yeah, I'm taking what I want.
MAN: Well, Folsom, looks like you're stuck with me.
Everyone else is tied up with the Jim Brass case.
Folsom? Folsom? You all right? You haven't moved in ten minutes.
Less there is to look at, the longer it takes to see what's missing.
Then we're gonna be here a while.
VFD says this one got nasty in a hurry.
The whole pawnshop was melted.
Think it started by the door, Chris.
Moved fast.
Killer had already doused the place in bleach.
They used an accelerant.
My money's on kerosene.
This guy's money is gone.
Robbery-homicide? Danny Yates.
Yates Pawn.
You weren't kidding about less to look at.
Not even an entry wound? Nope.
The bullet went in through the left eye.
Out through the occipital bone.
Hard to tell the caliber of the, uh, bullet.
(DOOR OPENS) - WOMAN: No! - WOMAN 2: Oh, my God, wait Hold on, give her a minute.
Is that is that Danny? He's her brother.
They've been looking for him all morning.
(SOBBING): Who who did this? ROBY: Joshua.
I heard you caught a doozy.
Yeah, the whole scene's one giant charcoal briquet, but it's possible we have the murder weapon.
It's possible? It could've been tossed in with the guns the store was selling.
Be a good way to confuse the issue.
You'll figure it out.
(SHORT CHUCKLE) Yeah.
I'll get right on that.
(SIGHS) What a view, huh? (CHUCKLES): Don't start with me, old man.
Yeah.
Too late, it sounds like.
How often do we talk? You never mentioned this what you're going through.
What? You got a cure for Fuchs' corneal disease up your sleeve? People care about you.
So much so they want me dead.
Listen, it's a six-hour drive from San Diego, and I did it in five.
Well, at least I got Sara Sidle back to Vegas.
Catherine has rolled out a red carpet.
She would be here, you know that, if she could.
Yeah.
She's got a little grandbaby in Dublin.
- What's your husband's excuse? - I sent him for jellyfish samples in the Panama Basin.
Collecting jellyfish.
That's on my bucket list.
Well, there are no flights from the deck of his boat.
Believe me, I've checked.
Is this bird your only helper? What, Elvis? That little bastard wouldn't lift a wing for me.
I got a cleaning lady, Mirta.
She looks after me.
You know, I mean, can still see, you know, things, shapes and I can see well enough to get on the Harley on the weekends.
I can't tell if you're kidding.
Good.
You look like you lost weight.
Well, I did skip dinner last night.
So, you think your old friend Lucky's back.
Do they have an ID yet on the guy that he sent? No, no.
Look I met new people, and I'm sure that they're great.
But I don't know them, and I'd feel a lot better if you took a look.
- Well, I don't know how that would work.
- Oh, come on, Sara.
I mean, we can figure it out.
I mean (SCOFFS) I didn't ask you back here so you can help me pack my socks.
- (ELEVATOR BELL DINGS) - ROBY: I got a meeting.
Let me talk to you later.
Got to go.
Hey.
- Sara Sidle.
- Yeah.
Nice to meet you.
I'm Maxine Roby.
- Thanks for having me.
- Thanks for passing on my dream job.
Come on back.
Walk with me.
You'll love this new lab.
SIDLE: Wow.
I had the same expression when I got here two years ago.
Course, back then, it still had that new lab smell.
Ethyl alcohol.
The more things change.
- Yep.
- (SHORT CHUCKLE) So, uh, Jim seems to think - you'll pick it all right back up.
- He already talked to you? - Yeah.
- I-I'm so sorry.
No, I love the idea of you riding shotgun on this one.
We're always understaffed.
- You up for it? - I was gonna ask.
Good, 'cause I already ran it up the pole.
It helps that you kept your certs up to date, so you're already authorized.
Uh, just can't carry until the sheriff signs o - Mm-hmm.
- What, you thought there was gonna be a fight? - A little, yeah.
- Nope.
Come on.
Saddle up, sis.
Is that you? Yep.
I got a PhD in genetics and a blown knee out of the deal.
Sweet ex-husband, though.
What do you know about Brass's attacker? Oh, lots.
He liked knives.
Stabbing people with knives, breaking into houses to stab people with knives.
I take it that prints, dental, and DNA were not in the system.
Nope.
But the cash he had on him was.
- Jim was right.
- Cash they found was part of a ransom paid to the man they knew as Lucky.
So this is who you're looking for.
Sketch artist worked that up back in '96 with a neighbor of the last woman taken.
They only got a glimpse, and no one's seen either since.
Kelsey Webb, 24.
Taken August 20, 1996.
Whoa.
Found her.
"Jim Brass is just the beginning".
Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Who are you? Who, who, who, who? I really wanna know Who are you? - Oh-oh-oh - Who Come on, tell me who are you, you, you Are you! I guess you'd call this good news.
Check the carotid.
Whoever killed this poor girl they didn't do it by cutting her head off.
Must have removed it just for us.
The severed edge is smooth.
If cause was decapitation, the tunica externa would be shriveled by now.
We get a nice look because she was buried in quicklime.
It's like one of my old school projects.
Poetry major? Archaeology and forensics.
Allie's our go-to CSI when we get a desiccated corpse.
Well.
Then, please.
Do the honors.
RAJAN: She has a long incisor.
You don't need to wait for DNA.
Dental's a match.
This is Kelsey Webb.
I'll inform the parents their daughter's been found.
SIDLE: She had a nicer smile than Lucky did.
Brass is gonna be torn up.
- He still blames himself.
- Why? Lucky got paid huge ransoms to return his first three abductees.
So Brass pitched a sting for the fourth.
Lucky sniffed it out and disappeared.
Maybe that's why he blames Brass.
Cost him a couple million bucks.
People kill for less.
But his note said, "Brass is just the beginning".
And I don't know what he's planning, but this guy woke up yesterday and decided to switch sports.
Max, if it's all right with you, I'm gonna learn more about his teammate Brass's buddy with the knife - work backwards from there.
- And I'll help you, but first we need to examine the attacker's clothes.
Well, you know what else might help? He also dropped the head.
The flesh is well, it's smushed.
Somewhere between decapitation and the box, this head impacted a surface that was coated in whatever this is.
We'll run tests.
Excellent.
Hey.
Come into my office.
My real office.
Thank you.
You come from the lab side? Actually, I come from Evanston, Illinois.
Go Cats.
But, yeah genetics, phenotyping that's my thing.
What about you? Materials and element analysis.
- Used to be.
- Yeah? - And now? - Uh, avoiding mosquitos in various corners of the globe, I guess.
It's too bad that Brass made such a mess.
I was hoping that our guy brushed up against whoever hired him, shook his hand.
Guess we'll never know.
- Oh, ye of little faith.
- That shirt is soaked.
Aren't you worried that all that blood is masking other DNA? I would be if it weren't for my new little friend here.
We are now into massively parallel sequencing.
It's the next gen of DNA analysis.
- Brave new world.
- Mm-hmm.
- CODIS still takes a couple of days? - Yeah.
But I'm hoping Lucky's in line for a name change before then.
You must be Dr.
Ramirez.
I'm sorry, I don't have time for new people right now.
Oh, I'm Sara.
Sara Sidle.
Okay.
SIDLE: You know, the last guy that worked in here would have been really impressed with this coronal sectioning.
So this is the brain of Brass's attacker? Call me Hugo.
Dr.
Robbins trained me, actually.
I like to imagine he's still watching me when I cut.
You know he's retired, not dead? It's just I-I don't get a lot of visitors down here, so What are you looking for in the corpus callosum? Motive? Some reason this guy would become a killer? In a way, yes.
Well, th-there is a lot of plaque.
During the autopsy, I noticed cirrhosis in the liver and auricular hematoma, of course.
So you're thinking a wrestler, MMA type? Gets cauliflower ear and CTE.
Self-medicates with liquor.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is hell to live with.
Mood swings, confusion, violent outbursts.
Contract killing.
I-I don't mean to justify what this man did.
No, no, by all means.
He-he had an unhealthy brain.
All these tats might as well have advertised his services.
But there's something funky about, uh, this one.
I think it's a cover-up.
Nice catch.
Yeah, uh, I'm not really a tattoo connoisseur, but the older half looks prison quality.
We should share it with RTCC right away.
Don't you think? I am a bit of a connoisseur, and I couldn't agree more.
I actually paint a little.
Did they tell you upstairs? Oh.
Huh.
Is that stomach contents? Pomegranate.
He was full of it.
PARK: It's actually much worse than not knowing who Chuck Woolery is.
- It was Drew Carey.
- (CHUCKLES) The point is, Jim Brass is on the Vegas PD Rushmore.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
- I'm ashamed of you.
- All right.
Well, since you're such an amazing historian, why don't you tell me something about Sara Sidle? You're kidding me.
I know the name, Chris.
Now that I've met her, I can't figure her out.
A woman works her way up to take over the Las Vegas crime lab, and then, right when they're ready to give her the keys, she just walks away.
Yeah, well, it's not really a mystery why.
Remember, uh, David Hodges? Salt and pepper, funny dude? He told me that Sara and Gil Grissom were the star-crossed duo here before Folsom and Don't.
So, what, she just left for a guy? The heart wants what it wants.
You told me you always thought you would move back to Mumbai after you finished college, but then you fell in love with Dunkin' Donuts and Carrie Underwood, right? That's weird.
- That powder is yeast.
- Huh.
Gil? Gil? ROBY: Hey, Sara.
- Looking for me? - Oh, yeah.
Uh, Allie wanted me to give this to you.
It was brewer's yeast, that yellowish powder on Kelsey's cheek.
ROBY: So, if that was laying on the ground when Lucky dug her up, then he's either a moonshiner or Board of Examiners keeps lists.
Distilleries, brewery supply stores.
I can check it out.
Well, what do you have here? Uh, Joshua Folsom.
And everything left from a burned out pawn shop.
FOLSOM: The store owner's son was shot and the scene was burned.
Trying to figure out just how hot this fire got.
Not hot enough to vaporize shell casings and slugs because there would've been melted pieces at least, right? So the killer swept up after themselves and burned the scene? And bleached it and wiped it down.
Not a partial print to be found on any of the glass either.
Welcome to 2021.
Whole lot of careful criminals out there.
(CHUCKLES) We do get the occasional moron, just not this time.
I love what you haven't done with the place.
FOLSOM: More and more, we're working scenes that have been altered, burned down.
It's nice to have a blank canvas for reconstructions.
It was a big aquarium last week.
He made fish out of foam core.
Popoto dolphins, actually.
Mammals.
He's a lot nerdier than he looks.
SIDLE: So, this will be the pawnshop as it was at the time of the shooting.
Wow.
Poor kid took it in the eye, huh? Yeah.
Killer steps up to the counter here and bang.
Best guess based off the exit wound is a .
22, but it's just a guess.
SIDLE: So, all these melted guns this was the killer cleaning up after themselves? FOLSOM: Maybe.
I haven't been able to find anything else they left.
Surprised they didn't take them.
The value of those guns is probably double what we think was taken in electronics, - jewelry and guitars.
- So, was this a robbery, or just made to look like one? Might be looking at an inside job gone wrong.
The victim Danny Yates, he has juvenile arrests for B and E.
Yeah, but he's kept his nose clean the past few years.
You never bet on an underdog? My sweet Folsom.
Hey, I know what it's like in the kind of neighborhood Danny's from.
It's a petri dish of self-destruction.
Not every angry young man turns out to be trouble.
Okay, I'm gonna send mine to live with you.
Huh.
(BEEP) Bad time for a drink? (CHUCKLES) Pretty flammable time for one.
- Wow.
Oh.
- (CHUCKLES) Is that ? Mark scared the hell out of me.
Asked me to move in with him like this.
Wow.
That's Congrats.
I didn't realize you guys, uh That's great.
We're grabbing friends to, you know celebrate.
- It'll be fun.
- Ah.
I wish I could go with you, but I think my gun is finished cooking.
You like 'em well done, hey? Didn't get that way till 1,370 degrees Celsius, which doesn't make any sense to me.
I'm with you there.
Yeah.
I'm trying to figure out how those guns melted.
This Colt's made out of the softest alloy I could find.
It held up way past the point of your typical structure fire.
So that was made before the fire? Somebody pulled a Salvador Dalà before they ever struck a match.
I think I better find out why.
(SCREAMING) Don't want the kisses unless they're bitter I'm hooked on touches that leave me weaker I swear that I love nothin' more than broke I always let the good ones go And, baby, you couldn't have loved me any better But doin' this is all that I've known ever MAN: Excuse me, Officer.
Can you point us to Circus Circus? North end of the Strip.
And hurry.
Looks like it's bedtime.
I let the good ones go.
(WOMAN WHIMPERING) I'm wondering if you guys have seen her.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER) - So, Lucky strikes again? - Yep.
This is connected.
Fisher was detailed to the Brass crime scene.
We're showing Lucky's sketch around and we're looking for witnesses.
So our guy checked in on things, and she caught his eye? We're checking security cameras, but so far nothing.
- You made any progress? - So, it's something interesting.
The head that Lucky sent Kelsey Webb her cheek was coated in brewer's yeast.
We're searching local distilleries.
- Sounds like a long shot.
- I thought so, too, but I just got a call.
There's one in particular, might be a pretty good bet.
A distillery next to a fruit stand.
Almost hope it's a coincidence.
Dude who tried to kill Brass didn't deserve a last meal this good.
(CHUCKLES) You know, you're different than I pictured.
(CHUCKLES) I was expecting more of a weather-beaten, salty sea captain vibe.
SIDLE: Gosh, thanks.
This lock looks brand-new.
Somebody's been using this place without permission.
- Ready? - Yeah, well, ready as I can be.
The sheriff hasn't authorized me to carry yet.
Well, you can stay back in the truck.
- Huh.
- Or not.
(BIRDS' WINGS FLUTTERING) (CREAKING) Got something over here.
Could be our brewer's yeast, from Kelsey Webb's cheek.
It is.
How you know they didn't just melt in the fire? Science.
Do you want the long answer? (SIGHS) But these are our guns.
- These were for sale at our store.
- You were reselling them.
Could be they were used in some other crime.
Maybe that's why they were destroyed.
Might be why your son is dead.
Are you saying Danny's a criminal? I'm not accusing anybody of anything.
RICK: Look, what you're not getting is, we sell clean weapons.
And you have to maintain records with the ATF online.
Now, I could deal with them direct, but I thought you could help me check some serial numbers I found.
You pulled numbers from that mess? They're engraved deeper than people think.
Got a few from the guns on top that were in better shape.
Becky, when you worked with Danny, did you ever see anything suspicious? Did you ever think Danny did it? For art? Now, that makes sense.
Boy was trying to be a sculptor.
He made that totem pole type deal out back.
LISA: Wouldn't that be just like him? Burning up inventory, trying to make some statement.
- (CHUCKLES) - BECKY: When we was clerking, he wouldn't shut up about gun control.
Is that right? RICK: I didn't raise him that way.
He was a normal kid.
Liked to hunt.
Danny got preachy when he got sober.
And he started taking those art classes.
RICK: Anyways, you find anything? The few numbers I got all had clean histories.
And I can't tell on the partials.
Thanks for giving it a shot.
- (WHIRRING) - SIDLE: Poor Kelsey.
Well, Ms.
Rajan, it's your time to shine.
What do you think? RAJAN: Cause'll be tough.
We can try to rehydrate these organs, but right now I can't tell if she was stabbed, strangled, or what.
Let's soak in Allie's secret sauce.
Saline, glycerin, and nitrates? You're good.
(CHUCKLES) Once upon a time.
What's it like to, you know, um stop and then, uh She wants to know if you regret retiring.
Oh.
(CHUCKLES) Sorry.
No, um No.
No, I don't.
I, um I loved this job.
I did it for 20 years.
And I wanted to be with my husband, and we had an adventure waiting.
Found out I wasn't meant to be in two places at once, you know.
Drink, little bronchioles, drink.
Got to love the lungs.
Always the first to plump.
Bet this hole wasn't always here.
RAJAN: Lacerated tissue in the lung.
Bullet wound? Guess who was hiding behind T8.
Never would have thought to look in back of her spine.
Let's go get this guy.
What the hell do you mean Lucky's not our man? SIDLE: He didn't send a killer after you, and he didn't kidnap Officer Fisher.
The gun that shot Kelsey Webb was a Beretta M9.
We know that because the same gun was used in another murder in October of 1996, and that case was solved.
Lucky killed his girlfriend over a busted hand of blackjack.
His name was Ellis Vikner.
Was? He died in prison two years ago.
At least Kelsey Webb's family gets a little closure.
Even when he dies, he manages to do it like a scumbag.
He leaves all his money to some sociopath who hunts cops.
I'm sorry, Sara.
I thought for sure we knew who we were looking for.
Well, you know, that's the worst part about this.
(SETS FILE DOWN) We're nowhere.
- (PHONE RINGS) - FOLSOM: Hey, Max.
I was about to call you.
I need you to head over to Fremont Street.
They found something where Officer Fisher was taken.
I know, I caught it on the radio.
I just got here.
The kidnapper left a calling card? Waitress thought he gave her a counterfeit tip.
Bet the prints are all smudged, but It doesn't matter.
Bring me everything he might have touched.
That bill could tell us who kidnapped Officer Fisher.
Yes, ma'am.
(SLURPING) Your poor kidneys.
Never gets easier, watching you destroy latents.
Some evidence must die so that others might live, and I'll take DNA over no-value prints any day.
You'll get plenty.
You might as well be swabbing a public bathroom.
Cotton and linen in paper money is kind of like a sponge.
But Lucky's stash wasn't touched for a long time, so a lot of that old DNA will be degraded, and the only epithelials will be from the perp and the waitress he tipped.
I'm skeptical about an ID, but we should learn something about him.
Once upon a time, you'd be burned as a witch.
I got to get back to the pawnshop case.
I got a theory.
Not what they pay us for, Joshua.
Evidence.
I know.
It's coming.
You didn't go home last night.
- Don't you tell Folsom about these.
- (CHUCKLES) I bet you don't miss these all-nighters.
You have a little boy.
Yeah.
Actually, Bryan's 20.
And he has not smiled at me like that in a bit.
Come here.
Let me show you something.
I ran our guy's DNA from the cash.
It was too degraded for STRs, but I got SNPs.
- SNPs? - Single nucleotide polymorphisms.
And they say our subject is male, Caucasian, has blue eyes, and he's on the short side.
There's plenty of those guys in the general population, but "gen pop" is another story.
Captain, we think this is who took Officer Fisher.
Bill Dwyer.
God, let's hope not.
A serial rapist? I worked the case with Detective Brass in 2010.
One of our lab techs David Hodges ran a soil analysis that put him away.
- So there's motive.
- ROBY: There's more than that.
We pulled prison files on all of Lucky's cellmates, looking for someone he might have told about his stash.
Dwyer's the only one with the same phenotype as the perp who handled that old cash.
- Phenotype? - He's a little blue-eyed devil.
Well, he got out in May, he's supposed to live in a halfway house during probation.
We called, and they haven't seen him in over a month.
ROBY: The pieces fit.
I mean, we got to find him and tie him to something.
The distillery, the cash, Kelsey Webb's body I'll put out an APB.
Just pray Officer Fisher's still alive, and this stays out of the news.
'Cause if Dwyer sees us coming You must've been a demon with Legos.
FOLSOM: Move half a foot to your left.
That can't be where the shooter was when he killed Danny.
You saw the hole in the skull.
That look like a bullet entry wound to you? We thought the killer shot Danny face-to-face, that the bullet went in through the eye and exited through the back of the head.
But that's not the only possible explanation for the hole in the occipital bone.
A tipless wooden bolt would make a jagged entry wound and it wouldn't come out the other side at all.
You're talking about an arrow? That's why we didn't find any bullets or shell casings.
The killer didn't collect them.
There weren't any.
The arrow just burned to ash.
I never would've thought the killer had a shot from behind.
I didn't either, until I came in here and found out that there was this one tight angle from H6 of our grid.
Not a section of the grid we ever would've spent much time with, but lo and behold.
Crossbows.
We got the murder weapon.
What's left of it.
That piece is called the stirrup and lath.
And the rest of it burned.
Whole family bow-hunts.
None of them did it.
- You sure? - The killer left us one clue thanks to how they got rid of all the rest.
Look at what else was in H6.
Too wide to be a shoe print.
(DOOR OPENS) LISA: I don't like being in here, Detective Carson.
Can't you ask your questions somewhere else? Sorry, but it's important that you both see this.
What? You see those marks that your walking boot makes? These were found at the spot where the killer took their shot.
(SCOFFS) What is this? You accusing me of ? FOLSOM: I think Danny found out you were selling illegal guns.
I think that's why he melted them down.
I think that's why you shot Danny.
Here's what I know.
You doused the scene with bleach and lit a fire to destroy the evidence.
No.
No, I didn't do any of this.
You tracked through the bleach you were spilling on your way out the back door.
The fire burned the sodium hypochlorite into the floor.
There's always something.
I just had to know where to look.
LISA: Becky.
Tell them that you wouldn't.
Tell us, Becky.
(SOBS): Why? Okay.
- LISA: Why?! - CARSON: Give me your hands, come on.
- Why?! - (HANDCUFFS CLICK) SIDLE: No need to call me back.
Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some news.
All right.
I miss you.
(PHONE BEEPS) Sara Sidle.
You don't look that surprised to see me.
You haven't been looking for me, have you? What are you doing, Bill? I'm not doing anything.
Seeing you here is just fate, I guess.
- (LINE RINGING) - I'm calling my office.
I'm not gonna hurt you.
DISPATCHER (OVER PHONE): CSI section.
I know all about you people.
I know how you put me away.
The way you plant evidence.
The way you lie.
Hello? Hello? Someone needs to teach you all a lesson.
Who knows? Maybe it'll happen tomorrow.
Where is she? Where's Julie Fisher? See you soon, Sara.
Hey, is anybody still there? Yes, ma'am.
How can I direct your call? I have a 427 suspect heading west on Ogden on foot.
C10 in pursuit.
I need backup.
Send them now.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER) Hey! Watch it! - (HORN HONKS) - (TIRES SCREECH) MAN: Watch it! - (TIRES SQUEALING) - (GRUNTS) MAN: You crazy? (TIRES SCREECHING) Confirmed.
Dwyer's car.
(OFFICER SHOUTS INDISTINCTLY) Let's go, move, move! Well, they said the house is clear.
All SWAT and non-essentials out.
CSIs have the scene.
No luck next door.
Neighbors haven't seen him.
PARK: They were definitely here.
Julie Fisher's service weapon.
Clip's full.
I know he was in a hurry, but would you leave that? I think we've got a match for the note he sent.
(SIRENS WAILING IN DISTANCE) (THUMP) He didn't take her gun.
(WHISPERS): The crawl space under the house.
OFFICER: There.
There he is! Show me your hands! (WHIMPERING) Lucky girl.
(SIREN WAILS) No, he didn't touch me.
Julie, you're okay.
You're gonna be okay.
You need to see this.
Due respect, I think this meeting is a little premature.
I haven't had a chance to review the case - against Mr.
Dwyer.
- The case is overwhelming, Mr.
Wix, we got your client dead to rights.
Kidnapping, assault We've got you in a car that left tracks at the scene where Kelsey Webb's body was found.
We've got the money you paid to have Jim Brass killed.
I mean, we've got plenty.
Well what's on the table? We could push the D.
A.
to offer favorable terms, but first we need to know who put him up to it.
ROBY: We found this.
It was addressed to your client.
"Pay Felipe, take $25K for yourself, and don't forget to wear gloves when you get the head".
See, that part was underlined, but you sure didn't wear gloves when you handled this.
We got about a hundred of your partials.
You were following a playbook somebody else wrote.
Who's behind all this? Be smart here, Bill.
There's a deal to be made.
DWYER: No.
There's not.
I ain't flipping.
The person who wrote that I like them.
But you people, I want to see you rot in hell.
The note you sent me said Brass was just the beginning.
I want to know how it's supposed to end.
Talk about this part, this bit at the end.
The storage facility in Spring Valley.
What are we going to find there? "We have to get in there before you go.
I think it's where they do it".
Come on.
Who's they? WIX: We're done here.
No cameras? MANAGER: No need.
We got the big gate out front.
The one on your warrant's up here.
Number 256.
My file says it's rented to a Mr.
Hodges.
- What? - David Hodges.
Long-term tenant, I guess.
I don't like any part of this.
I mean, why would he have this here? It's like his own little lab.
Hodges never mentioned this place.
Jenny Carrol, David Bohr, Natalie Davis.
Why would he take these and leave these off-site? So he'd have privacy.
You know what this looks like.
He's got everything he needed to fake test results and whip up phony evidence.
This is always where this was headed.
They wanted us to find this place.
It was all a setup.
Brass, the cash, the kidnapping, all of it.
Hodges didn't do this.
He couldn't have done this.
I think that's gonna be damn hard to prove.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER) This isn't real.
I'm afraid it is.
It's all checking out.
The files, soil from Eli Holt's burial site.
Thomas Donover's shoes.
Ballistics.
Fibers.
There's legitimate evidence from at least a dozen of our old cases.
What the hell is it all doing here? Exactly what it was designed to do: framing an innocent man.
I'd love to believe that, but there are two dozen prints here, and every one of them belongs to David Hodges.
- You don't know Hodges.
- RAJAN: Neither would a jury.
Sorry, it's just facts.
If I'm being generous, maybe it's all a little too damning, 'cause every one of these is clean and complete.
They were planted.
This transfer remnant is the guy that Dwyer worked for signing his work for us.
He left it there because it can't prove anything.
He knows forensics.
He knows how we work.
He knows what he's doing.
Well, then we'd better find him, or else your friend's in real trouble.
Okay, listen to me.
We can't make this all about David Hodges.
What happened here, whatever happened here, how we handle it will determine whether convictions hold up or not.
Whether murderers stay in prison or not.
Whether they're out there killing again or not.
First lawsuit got filed.
Only took three days.
And there's more coming.
A class action, Max thinks.
All the cases in the storage unit? No.
Every case.
Every defendant that was put away with evidence from our lab the entire time that David Hodges was at CSI.
That's insane.
There could be hundreds.
Thousands, and there's precedent.
That lab tech in Boston, there was a scandal in Houston, too.
Max has held off the D.
A.
this long, but they're gonna charge Hodges.
They have to.
We're not gonna let him take this fall.
That's a nice thing to say.
But what's the plan? You didn't come all the way to Vegas to sit on the sidelines.
What do we do now? What we always do, Jim.
Follow the evidence.