CSI: Miami s01e22 Episode Script

# Techno I'll put it in front for you.
Everybody back! Girls have arrived.
And lookin' fine.
- I owe you one, Danny.
- Hah.
DJ Scorpious here, y'all, liquid mixin'till the sun goes cool.
Hey, I gotta go back to the bachelorette party.
What about you and me? What are you talking about? When we get the bride-to-be sufficiently wasted, I'll come back for you.
- Promise? - I promise.
Yo, y'all, let's kick it trance style wit' a new test press from my boys from My-Mo, D-Day Bomb Squad.
- This place doesn't have sprinklers.
- I know.
You hit the alarm! SPEEDLE: Let's go! Everybody out! - Everybody stay calm! There's an exit here! This is Eric Delko, CSI! There's a major structure fire at Club Descent, Northwest Seventh and Main! Open the door! It's locked! It's chained! Move! Connie! Connie! - Hey! You have any more of those? - No, and I don't think it's gonna be enough! Get the hell outta here! Connie.
Connie! Connie! Don't go that way.
- I wanna go home! - Follow me! The front door is packed! It's bottlenecked up there! There's just too many people! Delko.
That door over there is open! - No way! - Come over here! Connie! Connie! Oh, my God.
Mandy, she's still inside! I'm going back in.
Everybody stop! There's an open door over here! Come this way! - Are you OK? - Yeah.
I'm all right.
- Where's Speed? - Helping.
Fire Rescue's on the way! Take my hand.
Come on.
Come on.
Let's go, let's go! I got you.
Connie! Connie, wake up.
Come on, man! We gotta get these people outta here! Come on.
Come on.
Everybody get away from the building! The building's about to collapse! The building is about to collapse! Go! Keep breathing.
Deep breaths, ma'am.
Deep breaths.
- Get a blanket on her.
Get a blanket.
- Yeah, I got her.
Call these people back! MAN: Get back! It went down so fast.
I didn't see a thing.
We'll figure it out, Speed.
We'll find out what happened, and this building will be our witness.
# THE WHO: Won't Get Fooled Again # We don't get fooled again # Don't get fooled again # No, no! SPEAKER: Engine 32, get your aerial around the north side of the complex.
Make sure any evidence that's tied to a particular body stays with that body.
PD needs a list of the victims and the missing.
Eric, I can't feel anything.
That's good, right? It's OK, Connie, you're gonna be all right.
Just hang in there, OK? How is she? I don't think she's gonna make it.
Come on The DJ's deck was here and uh these are the remains of the dance floor.
The ceiling went up in minutes.
Any sign of accelerant? Canines haven't alerted.
Nothing.
That's what I was talking about, over there.
A chained door.
So we've got two chained exit doors.
Did we miss anything? You know me better than that, Horatio.
A permit was filed five months ago when it opened.
Exits were free and clear.
- There was a compliance issue.
- A compliance? A month back.
Soundproofing.
Soundproofing.
OK, Speed, we need to look at that soundproofing.
- Where's the owner? - He's outside with Bernstein.
Quentin Haid.
I'll call you right back.
DJ Scorpious? There's a lot of people wanting to talk to you.
Yeah, well, I'm right here.
Well, you wanna tell me what happened? Wanna tell me why you frontin' me? I'm not frontin' you, right? I'm with Miami PD Crime Lab.
You got out quick.
There's not a speck of soot on you.
I saw the flames and I bounced, dog.
I bounced.
Who gave you permission to use the pyrotechnics? I use 'em every weekend.
Man, they just like sparklers.
It's like Fourth of July.
Nothin' ever goes wrong.
All it takes is one.
- Excuse me.
Are you the owner? - Yeah, that's me.
You ever hear of a sprinkler system? Didn't need 'em.
The club was grandfathered in.
Built pre-code.
And those chained exit doors were grandfathered in, too, huh? What am I meant to do? People were sneaking in.
And dying to get out.
15 dead, 58 in hospital.
Are you trying to get out of your lease? - What are you implying? - I'm not implying anything.
The average life span of a club is six months, and you were due, my friend.
Do you have an office we can talk in? - Inside.
- Show me.
You have a flash burn on your face, Mr Haid, which indicates you've been in the presence of an accelerant.
Are you a basehead? I had an accident a couple of days ago.
Where's your coke? I got rid of it.
It's a bad it's a bad habit.
Yes, and stupid.
Did it start the fire? Why would I torch my own club? This is my life.
Got all my money here.
I don't believe it! Somebody took my money! - Just not your day, is it? - I had $15,000 in there.
Who else had the combination? Just one of my bartenders, Johnny Brosnan.
Who happens to be missing.
Right? If you were robbed, that safe is evidence.
Hang on.
Yeah? What's up? Uh, I'm I'm all right.
I'm, you know - You need to take the day? - Oh, no.
I need to work.
- I need to be here.
- OK.
I need that safe printed.
Let's have Bernstein do some background work on employees, theft, fire.
Start with the owner.
- You got it.
- Good.
- Hang in there.
Horatio.
FRANK: I got a DB needs your attention.
Yeah listen.
I'm in the middle of something here.
I've got orders to grab you.
Pull you off.
Red ball, high profile.
You've been uh requested.
- Political or judicial? - Both.
OK.
Your Honour, why don't you tell me what happened? The woman in the bathroom, her name's Jill Susan.
She's a prostitute.
Is your wife out of town? My wife died last year.
I'm sorry to hear that.
I don't have time to wine and dine women.
Jill comes once a week, same time, spends the night.
She got here right before 11:30.
Usually by taxi, but tonight she drove herself.
Her car's in the driveway.
- It's a BMW.
I'll run the registration.
- OK.
She seemed a little disoriented.
Agitated.
She asked if she could grab a shower.
A few minutes later, I heard a loud noise.
I ran in.
She'd fallen.
I turned off the water, and called you guys.
Can you help me? You know how this looks.
I do.
Let's see if Jill's body confirms your story.
They got you too, huh? Busy night.
No semen, no defence wounds.
She does have what appears to be a fracture of the frontal skull.
HORATIO: There's blood over here on this faucet.
And that looks like bloody mucus.
Check this out.
Looks like soot.
- You get this from smoke inhalation.
- Mm.
And I think I know where it came from.
It's on her clothes, too.
Club Descent.
This lady was at the club.
Smoke inhalation's like a time-release bomb.
You walk away, think you're OK.
Soon you're not walking at all.
So our body count is up to 16.
The registered owner of the BMW is Quentin Haid.
Let's impound that.
All roads lead back to this club owner, don't they? ERIC: It's weird, Alexx.
I barely even knew her, but I feel like I had to pay my respects.
Don't apologise to anyone, honey.
Especially me.
What was the cause of death? Are you sure you? A combination of injuries led to her death.
People don't realise there are so many ways you can die in a fire.
Not always from flames.
Carbon monoxide poisoning? No, she breathed in superheated air.
A spasm of the epiglottis.
Scorched her airways.
She was a strong girl, Eric.
Made it to the front door.
But human nature got the best of her.
Fight or flight - hm.
These people did both at the same time.
Trampled her.
She's got three fractured ribs and a ruptured spleen.
You didn't even see it coming, did you, sugar? I never even got her last name.
She's one of the few whose looks were preserved enough to match face to ID.
Wilkes.
Connie Wilkes.
Thanks, Alexx.
Jill Susan was a cocktail waitress.
Yeah.
We checked her pay stubs.
Four thou a week for three nights' work? You know what we call that? - Yeah.
Very good wages.
- A prostitute.
We got a hold of your employee list.
Two bartenders, one bouncer, - You were running girls out of your club.
- Nope.
Yep.
Oh, yes, you were.
You were running girls.
In fact, even after this girl survived the fire, you had her go and turn a trick.
That's who you are.
- I didn't force her.
- No.
But you did lend her your car.
I let her borrow it.
Now I want it back.
When can I get it? It's been impounded.
You know what I find amazing about you? You have not enquired about her memorial service, and yet you want to know where your car is.
That's pretty salt-of-the-earth.
You know what? You can go.
Go.
He can go? Yeah.
Let's let him go.
Call the impound lot and tell them not to let him on the premises for 24 hours.
- The old squeeze play, huh? - Yeah.
- Hey, Danny.
You got my message? - Yeah.
- You all right, bro? - Yeah.
Yeah, I'm all right.
You? Yeah, I'm all right.
So, you gotta you gotta print me? Yeah.
Money was stolen from your boss's safe, so it's just standard procedure.
It's not a problem.
You're near the hospital.
I was heading there anyway.
- I heard about that blood drive for the victims.
- Yeah.
Danny, you're the bouncer over there.
Let me ask you, did you know about the chained exit doors? Look I didn't like Quentin, but he did hire me, so He already admitted to my boss that he chained the doors to keep out sneak-ins.
Yeah, I probably should have said something.
But he always told me he hired me for my size, not my opinion.
Well, what is your opinion? Quentin didn't care about the club.
Just the women and the money.
Sometimes when he wasn't around, I'd dump the place.
- Dump it? - Yeah.
To keep it under max occupancy.
Make everyone go out, then recount 'em when they come back in.
All right, man.
We're uh we're all done.
I'll see you around.
- Take care.
- You too.
Is the fire talking yet? SPEEDLE: A little.
We can't reconstruct anything until the floor's clean.
There is a direct heat source from the stage to the ceiling overhang.
The pattern indicates that it's from the sparklers from the pyrotechnics.
Well, the ceiling's 12 feet from the floor.
The curtains ignited high, they burned, dropped down There's remnants on the floor.
I'll collect the fireworks and curtain remnants.
H wants that soundproofing stuff.
OK.
Hey, look at this.
SPEEDLE: What? I guess the DJ recorded his shows.
The recorder's damaged but maybe the tape's OK.
Maybe that'll help us out.
You do the sound and the soundproofing, and I'll take care of the rest.
All right? Deal.
# MALE SAMPLE: You've nothing - nothing - nothing to worry about - worry about # Nothing - nothing - nothing to worry about - worry about # Nothing - nothing - nothing to worry about - worry about - Hey.
- Hey.
Check this out.
I took the audiotape of DJ Scorpious, I restored it, I transferred it to digital and then I brought it up on the computer.
Listen.
DJ SCORPIOUS: Yo, y'all, let's kickit trance sty le wit'a new test press from my boys from My-Mo, - D-Day Bomb Squad.
OK, can you isolate the microphone track and take away the music? Great minds.
Already done.
This is what the mike picked up.
Now tell me if you hear what I hear.
Yo, y'all, let's kickit trance sty le wit'a new test press from my boys from My-Mo, D-Day Bomb Squad.
Amplify that last part.
Play it again.
SPEEDLE: Those are accelerant vapours being ignited.
The scent dogs didn't pick it up, so it was something they weren't trained for.
It wasn't gasoline or paint thinner any of the usual suspects.
Well, there's ethanol, oak tannins and saccharum officinale.
That's sugar cane.
There's one type of alcohol aged in oak barrels, distilled from sugar cane.
Rum.
Well, imagine that.
Alcohol in a club.
The curtain behind the DJ was doused with the stuff.
Proximity.
Opportunity.
Why are you guys tryin' to grit me? I'm tellin' you right now, straight up, I had nothin' to do with this.
OK.
First, let's go ahead and drop that street thing.
OK? Because we know that you're from Aspen.
There was rum poured on the curtain directly behind you.
You were first out of the club.
It just doesn't look good.
Don't you think I know people paid money to see me spin, and now they're dead? I gotta sit with that for the rest of my life.
I did not pour the rum.
- Well, you did something.
- Yeah.
I kicked over one of the fountains.
After it went off, I tried to stop the fire.
But it did not work.
It made it worse, so I bolted.
- What kind of pyro do you use? - Standard eight-by-ten.
Can you clarify? It burns for eight seconds and it shoots ten feet high.
Nine volts triggers it, ignites black powder and titanium particles.
It practically burns cold, man.
I mean, the tip of a match is hotter.
You can put your hand right in it.
Yeah, but a spark's a spark, and you seem to know all about it.
Sparks are show business.
I'm in show business.
Fire's a no-go.
- I just play.
SPEEDLE: OK.
Do us a favour and play close to the sandbox.
OK? - Did you sign off on the soundproofing? - Not specifically.
Ronnie, we are not in a court of law yet.
Yes or no? On the reinspect last month we found material that wasn't flame resistant.
- Mm-hm.
- We told him he had two weeks to replace it.
Went back to follow it up.
The receipts checked out.
He upgraded.
Did you retest? It's like a fix-it ticket.
Show proof, gentlemen's agreement.
Our guy is no gentleman.
Check out this burn damage.
Yeah.
- The char's too deep.
That's not right.
HORATIO: Good news.
My people will be able to figure out why.
If I somehow had any part in this Let's not go there till we hear back from Trace.
All right? - Yeah.
- OK.
With the room clean, we can finally make headway.
Check out this burn pattern on the stage floor.
I guess the DJ was telling the truth about that part of the story.
He kicked one of the fountains over.
He said the sparklers shot up ten feet.
The ceiling's 12, so that's a little bit of give.
So the pyros kicked in, sprayed sparks towards the ceiling onto the curtains and then ignited the vapours from the rum.
Hey, Calleigh.
Look at that.
That's a pour pattern.
Somebody poured rum on these curtains, from here to there.
This room hasn't been cleared.
Did you guys get anything? Check that out.
HORATIO: An end table burned up from below.
That's interesting.
The fire originated at the DJ station, climbed up and outward across the ceiling, maintaining a high burn.
But in here in here, the burn is low.
High burn in there, low burn in here.
Linked by a common accelerant.
HORATIO: You guys smell that? It's burnt flesh.
It's everywhere.
Yeah, but it's more pronounced in here, isn't it? Excuse me.
There's a lot of dropdown right in this area.
Speed, you wanna help me with this? Whoa.
- This could be the missing bartender.
- Maybe he got caught during the fire.
Maybe he started it and got caught in the middle of it.
Now, there's an awful lot of blood for a burn victim.
Yes, it certainly is a lot of blood.
Someone could have started this fire to cover a murder.
The victim was stabbed.
He's got multiple incised wounds, surrounded by contusions.
That and the inconsistent pattern tell me they weren't from a knife blade.
- A broken bottle? - Could be.
Let's see.
Here you go.
Coloured glass.
Amber.
A shard may have punctured his liver.
Stabbers usually cut themselves in the act.
OK.
So we're gonna have to sift through every piece of debris that's been through this area.
It's separated, by rooms, outside.
I'll go.
ALEXX: No soot in his nose or mouth.
He stopped breathing before the fire broke out.
Guess he didn't start it.
We can't assume that yet, but what we can say is every time we eliminate a suspect another one pops up.
Yeah? FRANK: Squeeze play's paying off.
The impound lot's getting grief from our buddy Quentin Haid.
- How many times has he been there? - Going on four.
- How you doing? - Real good, thanks.
The car's ready.
- Where is it? - Inside.
- OK.
Give us a minute, will you? - You betcha.
Ready? OK.
PD's released your car.
You gotta sign.
Right there.
One garage to the back.
It's all yours.
HORATIO: They say that patience is a virtue.
And it looks like the cash survived the fire, huh? - You got a warrant? - Don't need one if it's in plain sight.
And I see over $30,000 there, not 15 like you said.
So what's up? I thought the bitch stole it out of my safe.
You know what? I was right.
Here's the problem with that scenario.
We found over 12 sets of prints on that safe, all you.
Huh.
My own prints on my own safe? Big deal.
You do that every night.
Squirrel away chunks that don't show on the books.
Like you did last night before you torched the place.
It never happened.
Why don't you let me decide that? Meantime, I want you to hear me.
If I find out you did this, if you hired somebody to do this, if you stood there and watched it happen, I will get you.
So, right now, I will settle for pandering.
But I want you to think about Jill while you're being booked.
Hands behind your back.
There's a step here.
- You got the door? - Yeah.
I'm right behind you guys.
ALEXX: Body's clear.
Room's all yours.
Tim? What? You OK? Look at this.
So it doesn't close.
It's weighted.
It should close by itself, but it doesn't.
And it didn't the night of the fire.
I was able to get out because it was open, light shining through.
I remember trying to get people out of this exit, but it was too close to the flames.
What are you getting at? Somebody left the club in a hurry, right before the fire, and forgot to shut the door.
And maybe just after he stabbed our bartender.
Yeah.
The only problem is, any blood would be too degraded by the fire.
But if you were first out once the fire started, you probably touched blood that was wet.
I didn't have any blood on my hands.
Wait a minute.
SPEEDLE: I remember thinking this was hot.
I used my sleeve.
You still have that shirt? Well, the blood sample from Tim's shirt did have DNA, but no hit in CODIS and nothing to match it to.
Hey.
Finished running background on the club employees.
Check this out.
Danny Maxwell, our bouncer.
No criminal history, no pyro past.
But get this.
He's a three-time loser.
Applied three times over the last year, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.
Rejected all three times.
No.
Back up, OK? I saw this guy run in from the front and try to put out the fire.
I mean, he pulled bodies with me.
Well, he does know the layout of the club and all about the doors.
And that blame would go to the owner or the DJ.
He started the fire so he could pull people out because it was his dream to be a hero, right? And in the middle of it, he stabbed his witness, the bartender.
I'll get a warrant for his DNA and I'll work him.
Hang on to that, Speed.
Eric? Eric, you have the relationship with this guy.
You can do it.
All right.
Forget about the warrant.
He said he was going to give blood today, so OK.
But remember we are dealing with a fire starter, and they can be very - I repeat - very unpredictable.
All right? Oh, hell, Mr CSI.
I must be in big trouble now.
- How's it going, Danny? - I had to wait in line half the day.
You here to give? No, I gotta I gotta get myself psyched up.
I never donated blood before.
Think I get enough on thejob.
OK.
You can sit up now.
Easy.
Apply light pressure on the arm.
See you again in eight weeks? I'll be here.
So how's the investigation going? It looks like an accident, possibly negligence.
Your boss was into some pretty shifty stuff.
- We're bringing him up on a few charges.
- So that's why you're here.
We wanted to see if you'd testify as to what you saw at the club.
Definitely.
That's great.
Danny, would you mind going to CSI to give my boss a formal statement? Whatever you need, man.
Appreciate it.
I think I'll stay and donate some blood, do my part.
That's great.
You could save three lives with one donation.
I'll see you there, man.
How's it going? Well, the piece of soundproofing you gave me was indeed flame-resistant at one time.
At one time, but But we recovered some trace and the soundproofing was covered with it.
The fire marshal did see a compliance issue, and he ordered the owner to get flame-resistant foam.
A receipt backs that up.
Well, Mr Compliance did in fact get the safe stuff originally, but he altered it with things like acetone, propane, other ingredients, if you get my drift.
- I get your drift.
- I'd love to be there when you tell him.
- His insurers are gonna love it even more.
- He's not in custody? His attorney popped him out this morning.
His first call was about his policy.
Toni.
What do you have for me? News you can use.
Blood from Tim's shirt matches the sample from the blood bank.
OK, that's good.
Thanks.
H.
All signs point to Danny Maxwell.
- You want to run him over the coals? - It's your interrogation, Eric.
- But, uh - You've gained his trust.
Now use it on him.
Kill someone? I saved lives! Eric, you were there.
You saw me.
I should be getting a medal, not the third degree.
- That's an ironic choice of words.
- Look, Danny.
Prove us wrong.
Show us the palms of your hands.
He's not gonna do that, cos he's hiding a cut.
Stabbing the one witness to his crime.
ERIC: It's OK.
Really.
It doesn't matter.
We found your blood on the back exit door.
So? So that puts you back there before the fire, and after you stabbed the bartender.
But how would you even be able to match my I see.
Guess you didn't donate blood after all.
You took it.
Your trash, my evidence.
Along with the rejected application to Miami-Dade Fire.
"Nothing in this applicant's profile stands out sufficiently to recommend him for employment" et cetera, et cetera.
You started the fire to be a hero so you could finally get into the Department? Really sorry that didn't work out for you, pal.
SPEEDLE: You doused those curtains and then you timed itjust right so that when the pyro sparked, it would light your fire.
Alcohol isn't typically used as an accelerant because the vapours aren't as strong as those of a heavy hydrocarbon like gasoline.
You knew that.
You knew the dogs wouldn't pick up on the scent also.
Somebody else did.
Danny? What the hell are you doing? DJ SCORPIOUS: Yo, y'all, let's kickit trance sty le wit'a new test press from my boys from My-Mo, D-Day Bomb Squad.
You thought it was just gonna be a nice little fire, and you could race on outside and come back in and put it out.
You don't understand.
I was born to be a fireman like my f like my dad, like my grandfather.
I was born to help people.
Well, a real firefighter would know 100 variables can turn a controlled fire into a chain of disaster.
Starting with the flammable stage curtain.
SPEEDLE: And the fact that the DJ happened to kick one sparkler into your accelerant and light the place up like a tinderbox.
- This way! - Get to the door! SPEEDLE: Then the club owner happened to chain the exits.
It's locked! It's locked! I needed to stand out.
Yeah, well, I guess you stand out now.
- Hi.
- Hey.
I'd like to donate blood in honour of Connie Wilkes.
Sure.
Would you like a notification card to be sent to her family? No, no, it's OK.
It's just for me.
OK.
Hah.
What did I do now? Park in a red zone? We've been able to prove that the fire was set intentionally.
Your bouncer, Danny Maxwell, will be held responsible.
- Ah.
So you were wrong about me.
- Not entirely.
This is a piece of soundproofing that you spray-painted to pretty-up your club, in defiance of the fire marshal, and defrauding your insurance company, right? If any false information were filed intentionally, or alterations made to the property without consent, the policy will be negated.
So you will never, ever get insurance again, and you will never open another club.
If you manage to stay out of jail, which we doubt, you'll spend 10-20 years in and out of court.
At the last count, 67 plaintiffs filed a wrongful death civil suit against you.
And I know at least one judge that will love to be there for that.
Horatio.
Hey, Ronnie.
You OK? What's the matter? I'm gonna resign.
Wanted you to be the first to know.
Ronnie, you could not have prevented what happened in there.
All those souls, Horatio.
I understand that.
But we need more good men, not less.
And now more than ever.
You know that.
About the guilt Ronnie Ronnie, the guilt keeps us sharp.
It makes us better.
Now, will you at least think about this? Thanks, Horatio.