CSI: Vegas (2021) s02e09 Episode Script
In the White Room
1
You know, this whole time with Grace,
I've mostly been working from home.
But now that I'm gonna
stick around, I had an idea
about where I'm going to hang my hat.
Okay, so if this your way of trying
to get a piece of my office
No. I was thinking something
a little cozier.
You want a locker near Penny's.
Just a place to stash my kit. And
maybe get in her ear a little bit.
You two do get along, don't you?
She reminds me of someone.
I love that.
You know, back when I was coaching,
I used to pair the freshmen
with the seniors and just
watch 'em grow.
Senior?
Okay.
Careful.
You know, just yesterday
I taught Penny and Beau
how to make queso with a blowtorch.
You ask me, they're already
getting quality mentorship.
You do have a murder
that needs to be investigated,
don't you, Joshua?
I'm going.
Allie! I didn't think I'd see you here.
You've got your level 3
exam on Friday, don't you?
I thought you'd be, uh,
taking a few days off to cram.
Indeed, it would be wise
to do so, Mr. Folsom.
But the untimely demise of Lady
Fanny Prince is not a matter
that will resolve itself.
I'm sorry, did we just step
through a portal to 1812?
That's Lady who now?
Don't worry about it. Her
real name is Shelby Winslow.
She's part of a little
festival up at the hotel there.
Regency Romantics Weekend.
There's a few dozen
other ladies and gentlemen
dudded up in the ballroom.
Looks like a hoot.
Well, not anymore. May I?
Jack released the body. Go for it.
What happened?
What, she get Alexander
Hamilton-ed in a duel?
No, footprints show her
running for her life,
all the way from inside.
She must have slipped
and the killer caught up.
I'm shocked she made it this far.
It's really hard to sprint in a corset.
Well.
Any witnesses?
Not exactly. The groundskeeper
heard the gunshot.
Actually, he was the
one who called it in.
Any chance he's our Aaron Burr?
No, his hands tested negative for GSR.
And he wears size 14s.
These prints are ten and a half.
I'll tell you what else
doesn't fit. How is her head
still in one piece?
I mean, that caliber
serious business.
Yeah, and look.
There's no exit wound, either.
Huh.
Well, how up to date do you think
our ballistics lab is on musket balls?
I know it sounds weird, but, I mean,
w-what else explains what
we're looking at here?
I suppose.
Mm, smaller powder load,
less velocity, unrifled barrel?
Maybe a flintlock?
He would have had to have been close.
I think he was really close.
Short and coarse.
Pretty sure she yanked this
out of somebody's beard.
Nicely done, Lady Fanny.
She put up a fight.
So up close and personal.
I wonder if they knew each other.
This is weird. Uh
I think there's some sort
of chemical interference.
The mold isn't setting properly.
Smells like chlorine bleach.
Huh. Well, who takes the time to bleach
their crime scene but doesn't
rake over his footprints?
I don't think he brought
it down here to clean up.
He might have tracked it with him.
I hear the other scene is
saturated with the stuff.
- There's another crime scene?
- Mm. And another victim.
Cops are keeping the
whole place locked down.
Chavez took Beau up
there to get started.
If you can help Penny,
I'm gonna go take a look myself.
All right, well, keep an eye out
for any gentlemen who's
missing a chunk of beard.
Tell me, CSI Rajan,
what items need to be
impounded separately
from other items as evidence?
Don't tell me Folsom's roped you
into playing University Challenge, too.
I'm going to assume that's,
like, a crappy British Jeopardy!
For what it's worth, I told him
if anyone's got that
test handled, it's you.
Hm. Thank you.
It's nice of you to help.
It's all Josh.
You know him: he's invested.
Okay.
Meet Clarence Mosley.
37, Libra, organ donor.
In town from Santa Fe.
Huh. According to his
driver's license photo,
the hole in his head is new.
Dinner was being served next
door, this place was empty.
Nobody heard a thing, apparently.
It's consistent with the
wound on our other victim.
So, the tread of these shoes
is identical to the footprints
we found in the sand trap.
- Same triggerman?
- Mm-hmm.
And I'm pretty sure
they struck here first.
What makes you think that?
Well, there's no trace of dirt or sand.
They would have tracked it with them.
Yeah, biggest regret of my life
was buying my kids a sandbox.
You wouldn't believe
where you find that stuff.
Guys.
You're gonna want to see this.
Murder in black and white.
But not the murderer.
They say a picture's
worth a thousand words.
Mm, but this one isn't saying enough.
- Hey.
- Hey, Max.
How you do
Hang on a hang on a sec.
You ever see little
powder marks like this?
Yeah, but only once.
Same marks are on the lady I just pulled
out of the sand trap. What
kind of gun leaves those?
Maybe one with a damaged barrel.
Allie was hoping we'd get
some ideas, but all you can
really see is the murderous
bulge behind the curtain.
"A murderous bulge,"
that's probably something
we don't want to say again, huh?
One other thing.
There's this crusty schmutz
around the bullet hole.
Schmutz?
It's a technical term.
It looks organic.
Gonna be curious to see what
GCMS has to say about this.
Wait, you think the
murder weapon left that?
Yeah, I got to think so, right?
Maybe the muzzle of the gun
left that trace there before
the trigger was pulled.
If the killer was shooting blind,
I wonder if he even knew
that Shelby was in there.
You think Clarence was the main target?
I don't know.
It might explain how she
had all that time to run
all the way down to the 17th fairway.
- Right?
- Wonder what the motive was
somebody cut in line for rum punch?
A croquet rivalry gone too far?
Okay, we got two dead bodies and
a conference full of suspects.
All right, time to
start swabbing for GSR.
How dare you, madam.
Implying I'm a suspect.
It's an affront to my good name.
Mrs. Perlmutter, we're actually
trying to exclude you as a suspect.
This is an absurd inconvenience.
I still have a conference
to organize, you know.
So Prudence Perlmutter
is your real name?
Of course.
Why would I adopt a false identity?
Shelby Winslow,
she was going as Lady Fanny Prince.
Shelby never had the proper
respect for the classics.
She preferred those
déclassé bodice-rippers
to Jane's exquisite prose.
Brontës were more my jam.
Everybody's got their thing, right?
Regency Romantics Weekend used to be
a refined appreciation of a bygone era.
And what is it now?
It's been usurped by young people
indulging in their tawdry fantasies.
Like Shelby and that debauched rake,
Clarence Mosley.
Too much flirting for you?
If only it were limited to flirtation.
Shelby Winslow was married.
Clarence knew and didn't give a damn.
You ought to talk to Mr. Winslow.
The cuckolded husband.
Certainly seems like a prime
suspect to me, Inspector.
It's detective.
And we will. You're free
to go, Mrs. Perlmutter.
Indeed.
Hm.
Do you like her theory?
The cuckolded husband?
Why not?
I mean, the rest of these
dandies can all alibi each other.
Hmm.
Love makes people do crazy things.
Anti-psychotics.
Uh, the analysis of the beard
hair in Shelby Winslow's fist
shows the killer was on haloperidol.
At least, sometimes.
He went off his meds?
LC-MS shows that there was a ton of it
in the bottom two-thirds of the hair,
but not in the 8.6
millimeters near the root.
Sample is about an inch.
Beard hair grows less than
half a millimeter a day,
which means
it's about three months of growth?
So he stopped treatment
about four weeks ago.
We're looking for an
erratic bearded man.
Where are we ever gonna
find one of those in Vegas?
I might be able to get us closer.
That, uh, crusty trace we
rubbed off the murder weapon?
It's grackle scat.
Remind me of what a grackle is.
Oh, it's a blackbird.
They're all over Vegas.
Like pigeons, only Halloweenier.
Do you know what they
call a group of grackles?
A plague. Murder of crows,
conspiracy of ravens,
a plague of grackles.
My favorite is a parliament of owls.
I like preponderance of evidence.
How does this help?
GC/MS found traces of agave, yucca,
desert kangaroo rat,
and a whole lot of corn.
Sounds like your keto diet.
Well, I'm hoping this particular menu
can serve as a sort of
geographic fingerprint.
You think it's distinct enough
to narrow down a search area?
Well, the good thing about grackles is
they're homebodies this time of year.
They stay around wherever food
is plentiful. The murder weapon
had to be around the birds
long enough to get crapped on.
I've never heard of using bird
poop to solve a crime before.
If we match a plague of grackles
to the mix of food in our sample
You might get a general idea
of where the murder
weapon's been hanging out.
Uh, animal control can help me
catch some grackles around the city.
Sure, collect scat samples
from different
neighborhoods and we might
be able to match our crime scene sample.
Proof's in the poop.
- We hope.
- Yes, we do.
Yeah.
That's Shelby.
You don't seem that torn up
about your wife's death, Mr. Winslow.
She was cheating on me.
Did you know that?
I thought if I went to that
dorky costume party she
might cool it, but no.
She and Clarence were
right out in the open.
I'm gonna need to see your shoes.
Ten and a halfs.
Yeah, so?
Same size as the killer.
There's no sand here, though.
And it's a different tread.
Did you shave this morning?
I shave every morning.
Where were you last night
at 9:00, Mr. Winslow?
Nobody at the Regency event
remembers seeing you
after cocktail hour.
Shelby and Clarence looked
like they were gonna knock
the tea and crumpets off
the table and go at it.
So I went to The Eclipse.
Lost a grand on the Raiders game.
- Anyone go with you?
- No.
But here.
Look, I know how it is.
Husband's always the first suspect.
A lot of times, husband's guilty.
Look.
I didn't like that
she was sneaking around
with a guy in a powdered wig.
But I didn't shoot my wife.
Okay. I'm starting to think
this guy didn't shoot his wife.
What makes you say that?
Well, for one, neither of these
victims have a bullet in their head.
As in, the killer fished it out?
As in, I'm not convinced there
ever was a bullet to begin with.
All I found in the wound
tracts were bone chips.
And very small traces of
Okay.
I think this is avian
fecal matter on the chips.
The guy who was indoors
had more of it, actually.
You don't look surprised.
The murder weapon left traces
of bird poop on the curtain
where Mr. Mosley was shot.
It is strange, though.
I mean, excrement
being inside the wounds,
not just around them.
And then there are these powder burns.
Shelby has the same marks.
What kind of a gun does that?
What if it wasn't a gun at all?
I mean, look at the
characteristics of the wound canal.
Something both penetrated and
was removed from the wound.
Penetrating trauma at a
consistent depth in both victims.
Something like this could have done it.
A captive bolt pistol.
And there would be no projectile.
Yeah, a weapon like
that would eject a rod
at high speed into the victim's brain.
And that would explain the fecal trace
and that brain matter transfer.
Because the same bolt was
used in both victims' heads.
A bolt gun.
Isn't that something
they use on livestock?
Our killer had a different
kind of slaughter in mind.
Hey, take him! Take him!
No! No!
Detective Castricone gave
me the heads-up on this one.
Said the M.O. looked like
our photo booth couple.
Yep. Looks like a bolt gun
was used to blow the lock.
Yeah, it did this, too.
Wait.
We know him.
Is that Lamont Moore?
Uh, I can't believe this.
I-I chased a killer
out of this guy's house.
Stop!
Alan Herskovitz.
Yeah, but that makes no sense.
Herskovitz was crazy.
He heard voices.
Why would someone else want Lamont dead?
Hard to see how this connects
to anything. I-I mean,
I can't picture Lamont hanging out
with the Jane Austen
Time Travel Society.
I have a hard time believing
he's just the unluckiest dude in Vegas.
So, must be something we're missing.
Tonight, a third homicide victim
has been discovered downtown.
With no suspects yet
identified, some are asking,
is there a serial killer
active in Las Vegas?
A Las Vegas PD spokesperson
declined to comment on the status
Got to be the same killer.
How many bolt gun-carrying weirdos
could be running around Vegas?
Mm. This motel is a long
way from Pride and Prejudice.
What would bring the killer here?
Lamont's landlord said he
hasn't been home in weeks.
Well, maybe he knew he was being hunted.
He came here to hide?
This does have a vibe of
a place you go to lay low.
Well, not you. You'd find
a place with a minibar
and you'd pack a lot more shoes.
He had a ton of cash
and was staying here
under an assumed name.
Lamont really was trying
to stay off the grid.
Mm.
Speaking of grids, pop quiz:
can you tell me how the
grid search method differs
from the strip and
spiral search methods?
Terrific segue.
- Mm.
- Very natural.
You really want to do this now?
That level 3 test is no joke, Al.
Written exam, the oral boards,
the-the practical scene
it will kick your ass
if you're not ready.
You don't want to have to take it twice.
The grid search provides
double coverage of the area.
I know the handbook. I'm ready.
Hey.
Look what was on the dash
of Lamont's truck out there.
Amaranth Hotel.
That's the same place they held
the Regency Romantics Weekend.
Looks like we've got a connection.
I'm gonna go speak to the
manager if you two want to join.
Um, no. You two can go up.
I'll stay here and
practice my grid searching.
You know, I always thought
Lamont was a little sketchy.
Is he, like, your prime suspect?
We are looking at a potential link.
- Actually, I
- He's been out of work for weeks with "COVID."
Just got back to work four days ago.
But he's so unreliable, I
wish he'd just stayed away.
- Well, you're in luck, Mr. Smith.
- Hmm?
Lamont's another victim.
He's
Wow.
- You good?
- Yeah.
I think I know where
our bleach came from.
Oh.
Fumes are intense here.
I think luminol can show us the way.
It loves bleach as much as it
loves blood. Do you know why?
You are not quizzing
me, dude. Keep spritzing.
All right, hit the lights for me.
Hey.
Where's this door go?
That's the Earl Grey
Banquet Hall down there.
That's where we found Clarence.
So, the killer engages Lamont here.
Lamont defends himself.
Both men are covered in bleach.
But Lamont gets away.
Killer lags behind,
follows him.
Then somehow Clarence is
the one who gets killed. Why?
I don't know, boss.
Maybe wrong place, wrong time?
Maybe wrong face, wrong time.
Clarence Mosley and Lamont
Moore could almost be cousins.
Do you think this is a
case of mistaken identity?
I mean, the killer did just
get splashed with bleach.
Maybe some got in his eyes.
If he lost sight of
Lamont and sees a guy
that looks like him duck
into a photo booth
He never gets a clear look at the guy
that he's killing through the curtain.
He might not have even known
that Shelby was in there, too.
And once Shelby ducks
out of the photo booth,
he realizes the mistake
and then he's chasing a
witness down the 17th fairway,
puts her down
but leaves a piece
of himself behind.
But he's still oh for two, so he gets
Lamont's address from a work ID,
tracks him down at a hotel
room, finishes the job.
This killer's made a real hash of this.
He still got his man in the end.
- I'll tell you one thing.
- Hmm?
Clarence might not have
been the intended target,
- Mm-hmm.
- but our best lead's from his scene.
Which evidence is that?
The poop.
The poop.
Oh, you are a handsome
fella, aren't you? Yeah.
Even if you have been
eating rancid fried chicken.
Don't you want to get
to know our guests?
I'm good. I appreciate
wildlife from a distance.
Ooh. Hey.
Hmm.
Your friends tell us anything useful?
Yes and no. I mean,
everybody's stool sample contained
elements of the magic mix.
Agave. Little bit of yucca mixed in.
That goes for most of
'em. But none of 'em
are even close to the perfect match.
So we haven't ID'ed our
killer's geographic fingerprint.
I couldn't even swear
the trace left by the gun
was from a bird in Nevada.
Thinking of going broader.
You know? More grackles, more samples.
Uh-huh.
Before you do, Penny,
what are you thinking and not saying?
Oh. No, it's-it's nothing. It's just
It's-it's a hunch. It's not
based on anything concrete.
Spit it out.
Corn.
Everything else in the
droppings from the scene
is from a desert ecosystem.
- Agave, yucca, kangaroo rat.
- Right.
But the scat at the
scene is almost half corn.
Where would a grackle
have access to that
quantity of corn around here?
Our murder weapon, the bolt gun,
is usually used as a
cattle stunner. Could be
livestock feed?
You know, in a previous life,
I knew the GMO guys making
herbicide-resistant crops.
A lot of corn-based feed in GMOs.
Corporations, they patent
the chemical makeup.
It's easy to identify.
Well, a microarray from the MiSeq FGx
could give us the exact
variety of the corn.
We can match it to the GMO product.
Good thinking, Penny.
Oh! Gah! Scared the crap out of 'em.
Just means more samples.
Way to go, boss.
Nicely done.
You hear about our third victim?
Our old pal Lamont Moore?
Yeah. This is the second time
somebody came after this guy.
Lamont's not the president of Honduras.
Why do people keep
trying to assassinate him?
You know, maybe we should talk to
the first guy who came after him.
Alan Herskovitz.
It's all by design!
He'll be medicated now.
Might be willing to fill
in some more blanks for us.
Maybe you could call
your guys at the NDOC,
see if we can talk to
their newest patient?
Better than dealing with that crap.
Ah. Looks like you're
about to close up shop.
How can I help?
I've already dusted for prints.
Housekeeping is much
better than you'd think.
I only found one set of
prints. Probably Lamont's.
Well, you've bagged
everything there is to bag.
What's left?
Saved the best till last.
Luminol.
Huh. Just Lamont's shoe prints.
None of the killer's.
Hey, uh, Al.
- Hmm?
- Question.
What do the letters R.A.M. stand for?
I'm not doing trivia with you.
If you don't know, you can just say.
Rhodamine 6G, Ardrox and MBD.
- Say the long version.
- You say the long version.
I've passed the test.
Rhodamine 6G,
Ardrox and seven p-Methoxybenzylamine,
four nitrobenz, two oxa, 1,3 diazole.
Happy?
Okay, now draw it.
Seriously?
Wait. He walked into the tub?
Whoa.
- Buddy.
- Mm.
I've heard of shower shoes,
- but come on, man.
- Hold on.
What's that?
Someone's unscrewed this recently.
There's something tied to this.
Careful.
Max.
Thank you. Yes.
Lamont Moore wasn't just a victim.
He was supposed to be a killer, too.
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
What are you guys talking about?
Lamont Moore was being blackmailed.
We found this dossier hidden
in Lamont's motel room.
And somebody wanted
him to commit a murder.
Who was Lamont supposed to kill?
That's what's really crazy.
Somebody else we've met recently.
Albert Santoni, aka Peter Nesicolacci.
The guy who killed that chef.
And it's not just Lamont.
At least three cases we've worked on
in the last few weeks
they're all connected.
These are our players.
At least the ones we know.
Now, all of these cases,
all of these people are related.
Okay, slow down.
How do you think they're all connected?
All of these people were treated
by the same psychiatrist, one
Dr. Leon Sarkisian.
He electroshocked his
patients in front of mirrors.
Kids with mental disorders.
Alan Herskovitz.
He killed Lynn Zobrist.
And then he went after Lamont Moore.
Lamont Moore
we know someone just took him out.
Now, he had a file on Peter Nesicolacci,
aka Albert Santoni.
Albert was the
Italian-speaking dishwasher
who killed Chef Dario Donnelly.
- So, Lamont was interested in the case?
- No.
He was interested in Albert
before there ever was a case.
Folsom and I found an old dossier
stuffed in the overflow pipe
of Lamont's motel bathtub.
Along with
this note.
"Keep your secrets.
Cull the rotten fruit."
Someone was ordering
Lamont to kill Albert.
But he didn't.
Because Albert jumped off a building
before we could arrest him.
Hold on.
No!
Lamont never acted on the
instructions he was given.
He just seemed like a
troubled soul when we met him,
but there was a sweetness in there.
I think
Lamont paid the price for
resisting someone's command.
Okay, so what's the link
to Clarence and Shelby?
- Were they patients of this quack Sarkisian?
- No.
And there's no connection
to anyone else on the board.
I-I mean, I think
there's reason to believe
that these two were innocent
bystanders who just got
caught up in this mess.
Okay. Well, the only person left alive
on this board is Alan Herskovitz.
We were already planning
on paying him another visit.
Let's talk to him, find out if the voice
that was telling him to murder
people was just in his head
or someone was whispering in his ear.
Hello, Alan.
Have we met?
We have, haven't we?
We're the reason you're here.
Mm.
There's so much that's
fuzzy. I
I have trouble remembering.
Yeah, well, we're here to talk
about what you do remember,
starting with him. Lamont Moore.
You broke into his house,
tried to kill him.
You remember that, don't you?
Well, he's dead now.
Someone came and
finished what you started.
We just want to know
who wanted him dead.
You said someone put you up to it.
Um, I don't want to talk to you.
You don't want to come off as sane.
I get it.
You'd rather die in a psych
ward than on death row.
We're not here to take that away.
Have you seen one of these before?
Hmm?
Where did this come from?
Where did you get that?
We were hoping you would tell us.
You said that someone
was speaking to you.
A voice.
Is this what you were talking about?
You're already too late.
Too late?
Too-too late for what, Alan?
Don't you get it?
This is all by design.
A thing begun is already half done.
There will be more.
- More what?
- More blood.
More reckoning.
The wheel will spin
and there's nothing
that you or I or anyone
can do about it.
Alan, Alan, stop.
Alan, just-just stop.
- Alan
- Nurse!
Oh, he's either crazy or
stone-cold committed to the act.
Oh, either way,
I-I'm not sure there's much difference.
He's not gonna give us anything more.
If we find out who killed
Lamont and our two bystanders,
maybe we'll figure out the rest.
Ooh, every time I stray
from the physical evidence,
I think I'm gonna end
up in a place like this.
Let's get back to it, then.
'Cause if he's right and
there's more blood coming,
we better work fast.
All right, got the
addresses. Now all we have
Can I ask you a question?
Uh, yeah, yeah. Shoot.
You've been here for five months
and somehow you have no fear.
I wouldn't say no fear.
Bears, snakes, large erratic
insects, skin cancer
But I mean, with hypotheses.
You just put it out
there with no hesitation.
How do you do that?
I think I've had the fear of
looking stupid beaten out of me.
I've been married a bunch of years,
I've got kids.
I know exactly how stupid I am.
Say instead of you, you were me.
Well
first, I would give myself a break.
Yeah?
And then I would remember,
I mean, you have to
make stupid mistakes,
ask stupid questions.
I mean, the only way to become
less stupid is to be stupid.
Ooh! Boss, hey, uh, the poop is talking.
Hope it's saying good things.
FGx analysis gave us a precise
chemical breakdown of the
corn in the grackle poop
on the murder weapon.
Well, look at that.
And the corn in the grackle
scat has a proprietary
bacteria-derived protein
active against rootworm.
That protein is exclusive to
Fat Cow brand GMO livestock feed.
And how common is it?
Only a half dozen feed buyers
in the greater Vegas area.
All right, let's split
up and check 'em all.
I want to find this guy fast.
Before he gets any
further down his hit list.
Yeah, okay. I'll let you know.
Folsom and Beau struck out.
Hope we're not about to do the same.
I already feel better about
this place than the last one.
I'd call that a plague of grackles.
It's full of tools.
Maybe this is how the
murder weapon got crapped on.
Farm belongs to a guy
named Richard Ambrose Sloan.
He's definitely got the
name of a serial killer.
I don't think I can arrest
someone based on vibes, but
this dude would be a great candidate.
Do you think anyone's home?
Richard Sloan? LVPD.
The door is open.
Mr. Sloan, we're coming in.
LVPD. Anyone home?
Mr. Sloan?
Hello?
Richard?
Hello?
I don't think anyone's here.
- Hold still.
- Hey! Stop!
- Get off her.
- Okay.
Richard. Richard, listen to me.
- You don't want to do this.
- I have to.
I don't want to shoot you.
The plan is in motion.
We must not interfere.
Interfere with what?
The Basilisk. The Basilisk commands me.
The path must be clear.
The Basilisk knows all.
I don't know about that, but I know that
you didn't want to kill
those two people at the hotel.
It wasn't part of the plan.
The path must be clear.
Hey, I'm not part of
the plan, either, dude.
No choice. You help or suffer.
I had to find Lamont Moore.
The Basilisk is very clear:
let no one stand in its way.
But I was blinded.
Aah!
The wrong man.
I had to clean up the mess.
I had to clear the path.
The Basilisk commands it of me.
Richard, you're just
making a bigger mess.
Richard. Hey, Richard,
Richard, lis-listen to me.
Chavez!
BP's dropping.
Dispatch says they have an OR
waiting for him at Desert Palm.
That's if he makes it that far.
This is my punishment. My
my failure. I didn't
protect the Basilisk.
W what do you mean?
Who is the Basilisk?
It found me through time.
It sees everything. It s
it saw my failure.
This guy's crazy, too.
Richard
No, no, no, Ri-Richard, wake up!
Richard Sloan's in surgery.
He was still breathing,
but unlikely he'll make it.
You did the best you could.
- Did he tell you anything?
- Mm.
Even while he was bleeding to death,
Sloan kept talking about the Basilisk.
- The Basilisk?
- I looked it up.
It's an Internet thought experiment
about an omniscient
artificial intelligence.
Like Siri?
On meth.
Supposedly, in the future, the Basilisk
will torment anyone who
doesn't do its bidding.
So, in Sloan's mind, we're all doomed.
Sloan believed this AI was
talking to him from the future,
telling him to kill Lamont Moore.
So, why does a sci-fi villain
want to kill a hotel janitor?
True believers in the
Basilisk think the AI
will kill anyone who tries
to stop its rise to power
or anyone who fails to help it.
So, if the Basilisk told
Sloan to kill Lamont,
then I'm sure it made a lot
more sense once he stopped
taking his Haloperidol.
So, meanwhile, back in reality,
Sloan's being manipulated by somebody.
Just like Alan Herskovitz.
I don't think it's a computer
or a disembodied voice
- or the Easter Bunny talking to either of them.
- No.
I mean, odds are it's the
same person behind all of it.
Whoever it is,
I've got the feeling they're not done.
You know,
following the corn
was the right instinct.
But you know what would have happened
if I hadn't dragged it out of you?
We'd still be staring down a dead end.
I thought, you know
Beau's a big-deal chemist
and you're a legend,
so, there's neither
of you thought of it,
then there's no way it
could be right. Right?
Wrong. Obviously.
It's just the corn thing was
it was worse than a guess.
It was a gut feeling, a hunch.
- We don't play hunches, we test hypotheses.
- Yeah, I know.
But I was thinking that you noticed that
I was thinking something, so maybe
next time you could just ask me.
You don't get paid to sit around
until someone asks your opinion.
Speak up.
Or hang it up.
Allie. Hey. Are you doing okay?
Yeah. Still a little
jittery from the adrenaline,
but I'll be all right.
Okay.
So, I got to drive Serena home
after she talks to
IAB about the shooting.
Mm, don't worry.
I mean, I think it'll go in her favor.
Sloan didn't really give
her much of a choice.
Knowing Serena, as
soon as I get her home
she's gonna tell me to get lost
so she can recoup with
reality TV and shots of mezcal.
You want to run flash cards?
Josh, um
things are complicated.
What do you mean?
I was just in a life-or-death situation
with your girlfriend,
and all I should have
been thinking about
- was getting us both out okay.
- And you did.
I was thinking about you.
And what would you do
or say if things went wrong?
Allie, it's not
You're the most important
person in my life here.
But you're with Chavez now.
We can't be friends.
Not like we have been.
Tell Serena I'll see you
both on our next shift. Yeah?
So, this is Sloan's laptop.
Yep, and there you have it.
Someone did send Sloan
a dossier on Lamont.
And blackmail, too, just like the papers
- Allie pulled out of Lamont's tub.
- Mm-hmm.
Uh-oh.
Wait a minute, what
happened? Where'd it go?
Got me. I didn't touch it.
Well, try clicking on the thing
- Oh!
- Whoa-whoa! Penny, what's going on?
That file didn't close by itself.
Someone's accessing the computer.
Maybe through a RAT.
A rat?
Remote access Trojan.
It's a malware program
that lets a hacker take over.
Like, they could have closed the
file while we're looking at it?
It's not just the files.
It can control the whole machine.
Including the webcam.
If someone was keeping tabs on Sloan
They could have been watching
him through the camera.
You know, this whole time with Grace,
I've mostly been working from home.
But now that I'm gonna
stick around, I had an idea
about where I'm going to hang my hat.
Okay, so if this your way of trying
to get a piece of my office
No. I was thinking something
a little cozier.
You want a locker near Penny's.
Just a place to stash my kit. And
maybe get in her ear a little bit.
You two do get along, don't you?
She reminds me of someone.
I love that.
You know, back when I was coaching,
I used to pair the freshmen
with the seniors and just
watch 'em grow.
Senior?
Okay.
Careful.
You know, just yesterday
I taught Penny and Beau
how to make queso with a blowtorch.
You ask me, they're already
getting quality mentorship.
You do have a murder
that needs to be investigated,
don't you, Joshua?
I'm going.
Allie! I didn't think I'd see you here.
You've got your level 3
exam on Friday, don't you?
I thought you'd be, uh,
taking a few days off to cram.
Indeed, it would be wise
to do so, Mr. Folsom.
But the untimely demise of Lady
Fanny Prince is not a matter
that will resolve itself.
I'm sorry, did we just step
through a portal to 1812?
That's Lady who now?
Don't worry about it. Her
real name is Shelby Winslow.
She's part of a little
festival up at the hotel there.
Regency Romantics Weekend.
There's a few dozen
other ladies and gentlemen
dudded up in the ballroom.
Looks like a hoot.
Well, not anymore. May I?
Jack released the body. Go for it.
What happened?
What, she get Alexander
Hamilton-ed in a duel?
No, footprints show her
running for her life,
all the way from inside.
She must have slipped
and the killer caught up.
I'm shocked she made it this far.
It's really hard to sprint in a corset.
Well.
Any witnesses?
Not exactly. The groundskeeper
heard the gunshot.
Actually, he was the
one who called it in.
Any chance he's our Aaron Burr?
No, his hands tested negative for GSR.
And he wears size 14s.
These prints are ten and a half.
I'll tell you what else
doesn't fit. How is her head
still in one piece?
I mean, that caliber
serious business.
Yeah, and look.
There's no exit wound, either.
Huh.
Well, how up to date do you think
our ballistics lab is on musket balls?
I know it sounds weird, but, I mean,
w-what else explains what
we're looking at here?
I suppose.
Mm, smaller powder load,
less velocity, unrifled barrel?
Maybe a flintlock?
He would have had to have been close.
I think he was really close.
Short and coarse.
Pretty sure she yanked this
out of somebody's beard.
Nicely done, Lady Fanny.
She put up a fight.
So up close and personal.
I wonder if they knew each other.
This is weird. Uh
I think there's some sort
of chemical interference.
The mold isn't setting properly.
Smells like chlorine bleach.
Huh. Well, who takes the time to bleach
their crime scene but doesn't
rake over his footprints?
I don't think he brought
it down here to clean up.
He might have tracked it with him.
I hear the other scene is
saturated with the stuff.
- There's another crime scene?
- Mm. And another victim.
Cops are keeping the
whole place locked down.
Chavez took Beau up
there to get started.
If you can help Penny,
I'm gonna go take a look myself.
All right, well, keep an eye out
for any gentlemen who's
missing a chunk of beard.
Tell me, CSI Rajan,
what items need to be
impounded separately
from other items as evidence?
Don't tell me Folsom's roped you
into playing University Challenge, too.
I'm going to assume that's,
like, a crappy British Jeopardy!
For what it's worth, I told him
if anyone's got that
test handled, it's you.
Hm. Thank you.
It's nice of you to help.
It's all Josh.
You know him: he's invested.
Okay.
Meet Clarence Mosley.
37, Libra, organ donor.
In town from Santa Fe.
Huh. According to his
driver's license photo,
the hole in his head is new.
Dinner was being served next
door, this place was empty.
Nobody heard a thing, apparently.
It's consistent with the
wound on our other victim.
So, the tread of these shoes
is identical to the footprints
we found in the sand trap.
- Same triggerman?
- Mm-hmm.
And I'm pretty sure
they struck here first.
What makes you think that?
Well, there's no trace of dirt or sand.
They would have tracked it with them.
Yeah, biggest regret of my life
was buying my kids a sandbox.
You wouldn't believe
where you find that stuff.
Guys.
You're gonna want to see this.
Murder in black and white.
But not the murderer.
They say a picture's
worth a thousand words.
Mm, but this one isn't saying enough.
- Hey.
- Hey, Max.
How you do
Hang on a hang on a sec.
You ever see little
powder marks like this?
Yeah, but only once.
Same marks are on the lady I just pulled
out of the sand trap. What
kind of gun leaves those?
Maybe one with a damaged barrel.
Allie was hoping we'd get
some ideas, but all you can
really see is the murderous
bulge behind the curtain.
"A murderous bulge,"
that's probably something
we don't want to say again, huh?
One other thing.
There's this crusty schmutz
around the bullet hole.
Schmutz?
It's a technical term.
It looks organic.
Gonna be curious to see what
GCMS has to say about this.
Wait, you think the
murder weapon left that?
Yeah, I got to think so, right?
Maybe the muzzle of the gun
left that trace there before
the trigger was pulled.
If the killer was shooting blind,
I wonder if he even knew
that Shelby was in there.
You think Clarence was the main target?
I don't know.
It might explain how she
had all that time to run
all the way down to the 17th fairway.
- Right?
- Wonder what the motive was
somebody cut in line for rum punch?
A croquet rivalry gone too far?
Okay, we got two dead bodies and
a conference full of suspects.
All right, time to
start swabbing for GSR.
How dare you, madam.
Implying I'm a suspect.
It's an affront to my good name.
Mrs. Perlmutter, we're actually
trying to exclude you as a suspect.
This is an absurd inconvenience.
I still have a conference
to organize, you know.
So Prudence Perlmutter
is your real name?
Of course.
Why would I adopt a false identity?
Shelby Winslow,
she was going as Lady Fanny Prince.
Shelby never had the proper
respect for the classics.
She preferred those
déclassé bodice-rippers
to Jane's exquisite prose.
Brontës were more my jam.
Everybody's got their thing, right?
Regency Romantics Weekend used to be
a refined appreciation of a bygone era.
And what is it now?
It's been usurped by young people
indulging in their tawdry fantasies.
Like Shelby and that debauched rake,
Clarence Mosley.
Too much flirting for you?
If only it were limited to flirtation.
Shelby Winslow was married.
Clarence knew and didn't give a damn.
You ought to talk to Mr. Winslow.
The cuckolded husband.
Certainly seems like a prime
suspect to me, Inspector.
It's detective.
And we will. You're free
to go, Mrs. Perlmutter.
Indeed.
Hm.
Do you like her theory?
The cuckolded husband?
Why not?
I mean, the rest of these
dandies can all alibi each other.
Hmm.
Love makes people do crazy things.
Anti-psychotics.
Uh, the analysis of the beard
hair in Shelby Winslow's fist
shows the killer was on haloperidol.
At least, sometimes.
He went off his meds?
LC-MS shows that there was a ton of it
in the bottom two-thirds of the hair,
but not in the 8.6
millimeters near the root.
Sample is about an inch.
Beard hair grows less than
half a millimeter a day,
which means
it's about three months of growth?
So he stopped treatment
about four weeks ago.
We're looking for an
erratic bearded man.
Where are we ever gonna
find one of those in Vegas?
I might be able to get us closer.
That, uh, crusty trace we
rubbed off the murder weapon?
It's grackle scat.
Remind me of what a grackle is.
Oh, it's a blackbird.
They're all over Vegas.
Like pigeons, only Halloweenier.
Do you know what they
call a group of grackles?
A plague. Murder of crows,
conspiracy of ravens,
a plague of grackles.
My favorite is a parliament of owls.
I like preponderance of evidence.
How does this help?
GC/MS found traces of agave, yucca,
desert kangaroo rat,
and a whole lot of corn.
Sounds like your keto diet.
Well, I'm hoping this particular menu
can serve as a sort of
geographic fingerprint.
You think it's distinct enough
to narrow down a search area?
Well, the good thing about grackles is
they're homebodies this time of year.
They stay around wherever food
is plentiful. The murder weapon
had to be around the birds
long enough to get crapped on.
I've never heard of using bird
poop to solve a crime before.
If we match a plague of grackles
to the mix of food in our sample
You might get a general idea
of where the murder
weapon's been hanging out.
Uh, animal control can help me
catch some grackles around the city.
Sure, collect scat samples
from different
neighborhoods and we might
be able to match our crime scene sample.
Proof's in the poop.
- We hope.
- Yes, we do.
Yeah.
That's Shelby.
You don't seem that torn up
about your wife's death, Mr. Winslow.
She was cheating on me.
Did you know that?
I thought if I went to that
dorky costume party she
might cool it, but no.
She and Clarence were
right out in the open.
I'm gonna need to see your shoes.
Ten and a halfs.
Yeah, so?
Same size as the killer.
There's no sand here, though.
And it's a different tread.
Did you shave this morning?
I shave every morning.
Where were you last night
at 9:00, Mr. Winslow?
Nobody at the Regency event
remembers seeing you
after cocktail hour.
Shelby and Clarence looked
like they were gonna knock
the tea and crumpets off
the table and go at it.
So I went to The Eclipse.
Lost a grand on the Raiders game.
- Anyone go with you?
- No.
But here.
Look, I know how it is.
Husband's always the first suspect.
A lot of times, husband's guilty.
Look.
I didn't like that
she was sneaking around
with a guy in a powdered wig.
But I didn't shoot my wife.
Okay. I'm starting to think
this guy didn't shoot his wife.
What makes you say that?
Well, for one, neither of these
victims have a bullet in their head.
As in, the killer fished it out?
As in, I'm not convinced there
ever was a bullet to begin with.
All I found in the wound
tracts were bone chips.
And very small traces of
Okay.
I think this is avian
fecal matter on the chips.
The guy who was indoors
had more of it, actually.
You don't look surprised.
The murder weapon left traces
of bird poop on the curtain
where Mr. Mosley was shot.
It is strange, though.
I mean, excrement
being inside the wounds,
not just around them.
And then there are these powder burns.
Shelby has the same marks.
What kind of a gun does that?
What if it wasn't a gun at all?
I mean, look at the
characteristics of the wound canal.
Something both penetrated and
was removed from the wound.
Penetrating trauma at a
consistent depth in both victims.
Something like this could have done it.
A captive bolt pistol.
And there would be no projectile.
Yeah, a weapon like
that would eject a rod
at high speed into the victim's brain.
And that would explain the fecal trace
and that brain matter transfer.
Because the same bolt was
used in both victims' heads.
A bolt gun.
Isn't that something
they use on livestock?
Our killer had a different
kind of slaughter in mind.
Hey, take him! Take him!
No! No!
Detective Castricone gave
me the heads-up on this one.
Said the M.O. looked like
our photo booth couple.
Yep. Looks like a bolt gun
was used to blow the lock.
Yeah, it did this, too.
Wait.
We know him.
Is that Lamont Moore?
Uh, I can't believe this.
I-I chased a killer
out of this guy's house.
Stop!
Alan Herskovitz.
Yeah, but that makes no sense.
Herskovitz was crazy.
He heard voices.
Why would someone else want Lamont dead?
Hard to see how this connects
to anything. I-I mean,
I can't picture Lamont hanging out
with the Jane Austen
Time Travel Society.
I have a hard time believing
he's just the unluckiest dude in Vegas.
So, must be something we're missing.
Tonight, a third homicide victim
has been discovered downtown.
With no suspects yet
identified, some are asking,
is there a serial killer
active in Las Vegas?
A Las Vegas PD spokesperson
declined to comment on the status
Got to be the same killer.
How many bolt gun-carrying weirdos
could be running around Vegas?
Mm. This motel is a long
way from Pride and Prejudice.
What would bring the killer here?
Lamont's landlord said he
hasn't been home in weeks.
Well, maybe he knew he was being hunted.
He came here to hide?
This does have a vibe of
a place you go to lay low.
Well, not you. You'd find
a place with a minibar
and you'd pack a lot more shoes.
He had a ton of cash
and was staying here
under an assumed name.
Lamont really was trying
to stay off the grid.
Mm.
Speaking of grids, pop quiz:
can you tell me how the
grid search method differs
from the strip and
spiral search methods?
Terrific segue.
- Mm.
- Very natural.
You really want to do this now?
That level 3 test is no joke, Al.
Written exam, the oral boards,
the-the practical scene
it will kick your ass
if you're not ready.
You don't want to have to take it twice.
The grid search provides
double coverage of the area.
I know the handbook. I'm ready.
Hey.
Look what was on the dash
of Lamont's truck out there.
Amaranth Hotel.
That's the same place they held
the Regency Romantics Weekend.
Looks like we've got a connection.
I'm gonna go speak to the
manager if you two want to join.
Um, no. You two can go up.
I'll stay here and
practice my grid searching.
You know, I always thought
Lamont was a little sketchy.
Is he, like, your prime suspect?
We are looking at a potential link.
- Actually, I
- He's been out of work for weeks with "COVID."
Just got back to work four days ago.
But he's so unreliable, I
wish he'd just stayed away.
- Well, you're in luck, Mr. Smith.
- Hmm?
Lamont's another victim.
He's
Wow.
- You good?
- Yeah.
I think I know where
our bleach came from.
Oh.
Fumes are intense here.
I think luminol can show us the way.
It loves bleach as much as it
loves blood. Do you know why?
You are not quizzing
me, dude. Keep spritzing.
All right, hit the lights for me.
Hey.
Where's this door go?
That's the Earl Grey
Banquet Hall down there.
That's where we found Clarence.
So, the killer engages Lamont here.
Lamont defends himself.
Both men are covered in bleach.
But Lamont gets away.
Killer lags behind,
follows him.
Then somehow Clarence is
the one who gets killed. Why?
I don't know, boss.
Maybe wrong place, wrong time?
Maybe wrong face, wrong time.
Clarence Mosley and Lamont
Moore could almost be cousins.
Do you think this is a
case of mistaken identity?
I mean, the killer did just
get splashed with bleach.
Maybe some got in his eyes.
If he lost sight of
Lamont and sees a guy
that looks like him duck
into a photo booth
He never gets a clear look at the guy
that he's killing through the curtain.
He might not have even known
that Shelby was in there, too.
And once Shelby ducks
out of the photo booth,
he realizes the mistake
and then he's chasing a
witness down the 17th fairway,
puts her down
but leaves a piece
of himself behind.
But he's still oh for two, so he gets
Lamont's address from a work ID,
tracks him down at a hotel
room, finishes the job.
This killer's made a real hash of this.
He still got his man in the end.
- I'll tell you one thing.
- Hmm?
Clarence might not have
been the intended target,
- Mm-hmm.
- but our best lead's from his scene.
Which evidence is that?
The poop.
The poop.
Oh, you are a handsome
fella, aren't you? Yeah.
Even if you have been
eating rancid fried chicken.
Don't you want to get
to know our guests?
I'm good. I appreciate
wildlife from a distance.
Ooh. Hey.
Hmm.
Your friends tell us anything useful?
Yes and no. I mean,
everybody's stool sample contained
elements of the magic mix.
Agave. Little bit of yucca mixed in.
That goes for most of
'em. But none of 'em
are even close to the perfect match.
So we haven't ID'ed our
killer's geographic fingerprint.
I couldn't even swear
the trace left by the gun
was from a bird in Nevada.
Thinking of going broader.
You know? More grackles, more samples.
Uh-huh.
Before you do, Penny,
what are you thinking and not saying?
Oh. No, it's-it's nothing. It's just
It's-it's a hunch. It's not
based on anything concrete.
Spit it out.
Corn.
Everything else in the
droppings from the scene
is from a desert ecosystem.
- Agave, yucca, kangaroo rat.
- Right.
But the scat at the
scene is almost half corn.
Where would a grackle
have access to that
quantity of corn around here?
Our murder weapon, the bolt gun,
is usually used as a
cattle stunner. Could be
livestock feed?
You know, in a previous life,
I knew the GMO guys making
herbicide-resistant crops.
A lot of corn-based feed in GMOs.
Corporations, they patent
the chemical makeup.
It's easy to identify.
Well, a microarray from the MiSeq FGx
could give us the exact
variety of the corn.
We can match it to the GMO product.
Good thinking, Penny.
Oh! Gah! Scared the crap out of 'em.
Just means more samples.
Way to go, boss.
Nicely done.
You hear about our third victim?
Our old pal Lamont Moore?
Yeah. This is the second time
somebody came after this guy.
Lamont's not the president of Honduras.
Why do people keep
trying to assassinate him?
You know, maybe we should talk to
the first guy who came after him.
Alan Herskovitz.
It's all by design!
He'll be medicated now.
Might be willing to fill
in some more blanks for us.
Maybe you could call
your guys at the NDOC,
see if we can talk to
their newest patient?
Better than dealing with that crap.
Ah. Looks like you're
about to close up shop.
How can I help?
I've already dusted for prints.
Housekeeping is much
better than you'd think.
I only found one set of
prints. Probably Lamont's.
Well, you've bagged
everything there is to bag.
What's left?
Saved the best till last.
Luminol.
Huh. Just Lamont's shoe prints.
None of the killer's.
Hey, uh, Al.
- Hmm?
- Question.
What do the letters R.A.M. stand for?
I'm not doing trivia with you.
If you don't know, you can just say.
Rhodamine 6G, Ardrox and MBD.
- Say the long version.
- You say the long version.
I've passed the test.
Rhodamine 6G,
Ardrox and seven p-Methoxybenzylamine,
four nitrobenz, two oxa, 1,3 diazole.
Happy?
Okay, now draw it.
Seriously?
Wait. He walked into the tub?
Whoa.
- Buddy.
- Mm.
I've heard of shower shoes,
- but come on, man.
- Hold on.
What's that?
Someone's unscrewed this recently.
There's something tied to this.
Careful.
Max.
Thank you. Yes.
Lamont Moore wasn't just a victim.
He was supposed to be a killer, too.
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
What are you guys talking about?
Lamont Moore was being blackmailed.
We found this dossier hidden
in Lamont's motel room.
And somebody wanted
him to commit a murder.
Who was Lamont supposed to kill?
That's what's really crazy.
Somebody else we've met recently.
Albert Santoni, aka Peter Nesicolacci.
The guy who killed that chef.
And it's not just Lamont.
At least three cases we've worked on
in the last few weeks
they're all connected.
These are our players.
At least the ones we know.
Now, all of these cases,
all of these people are related.
Okay, slow down.
How do you think they're all connected?
All of these people were treated
by the same psychiatrist, one
Dr. Leon Sarkisian.
He electroshocked his
patients in front of mirrors.
Kids with mental disorders.
Alan Herskovitz.
He killed Lynn Zobrist.
And then he went after Lamont Moore.
Lamont Moore
we know someone just took him out.
Now, he had a file on Peter Nesicolacci,
aka Albert Santoni.
Albert was the
Italian-speaking dishwasher
who killed Chef Dario Donnelly.
- So, Lamont was interested in the case?
- No.
He was interested in Albert
before there ever was a case.
Folsom and I found an old dossier
stuffed in the overflow pipe
of Lamont's motel bathtub.
Along with
this note.
"Keep your secrets.
Cull the rotten fruit."
Someone was ordering
Lamont to kill Albert.
But he didn't.
Because Albert jumped off a building
before we could arrest him.
Hold on.
No!
Lamont never acted on the
instructions he was given.
He just seemed like a
troubled soul when we met him,
but there was a sweetness in there.
I think
Lamont paid the price for
resisting someone's command.
Okay, so what's the link
to Clarence and Shelby?
- Were they patients of this quack Sarkisian?
- No.
And there's no connection
to anyone else on the board.
I-I mean, I think
there's reason to believe
that these two were innocent
bystanders who just got
caught up in this mess.
Okay. Well, the only person left alive
on this board is Alan Herskovitz.
We were already planning
on paying him another visit.
Let's talk to him, find out if the voice
that was telling him to murder
people was just in his head
or someone was whispering in his ear.
Hello, Alan.
Have we met?
We have, haven't we?
We're the reason you're here.
Mm.
There's so much that's
fuzzy. I
I have trouble remembering.
Yeah, well, we're here to talk
about what you do remember,
starting with him. Lamont Moore.
You broke into his house,
tried to kill him.
You remember that, don't you?
Well, he's dead now.
Someone came and
finished what you started.
We just want to know
who wanted him dead.
You said someone put you up to it.
Um, I don't want to talk to you.
You don't want to come off as sane.
I get it.
You'd rather die in a psych
ward than on death row.
We're not here to take that away.
Have you seen one of these before?
Hmm?
Where did this come from?
Where did you get that?
We were hoping you would tell us.
You said that someone
was speaking to you.
A voice.
Is this what you were talking about?
You're already too late.
Too late?
Too-too late for what, Alan?
Don't you get it?
This is all by design.
A thing begun is already half done.
There will be more.
- More what?
- More blood.
More reckoning.
The wheel will spin
and there's nothing
that you or I or anyone
can do about it.
Alan, Alan, stop.
Alan, just-just stop.
- Alan
- Nurse!
Oh, he's either crazy or
stone-cold committed to the act.
Oh, either way,
I-I'm not sure there's much difference.
He's not gonna give us anything more.
If we find out who killed
Lamont and our two bystanders,
maybe we'll figure out the rest.
Ooh, every time I stray
from the physical evidence,
I think I'm gonna end
up in a place like this.
Let's get back to it, then.
'Cause if he's right and
there's more blood coming,
we better work fast.
All right, got the
addresses. Now all we have
Can I ask you a question?
Uh, yeah, yeah. Shoot.
You've been here for five months
and somehow you have no fear.
I wouldn't say no fear.
Bears, snakes, large erratic
insects, skin cancer
But I mean, with hypotheses.
You just put it out
there with no hesitation.
How do you do that?
I think I've had the fear of
looking stupid beaten out of me.
I've been married a bunch of years,
I've got kids.
I know exactly how stupid I am.
Say instead of you, you were me.
Well
first, I would give myself a break.
Yeah?
And then I would remember,
I mean, you have to
make stupid mistakes,
ask stupid questions.
I mean, the only way to become
less stupid is to be stupid.
Ooh! Boss, hey, uh, the poop is talking.
Hope it's saying good things.
FGx analysis gave us a precise
chemical breakdown of the
corn in the grackle poop
on the murder weapon.
Well, look at that.
And the corn in the grackle
scat has a proprietary
bacteria-derived protein
active against rootworm.
That protein is exclusive to
Fat Cow brand GMO livestock feed.
And how common is it?
Only a half dozen feed buyers
in the greater Vegas area.
All right, let's split
up and check 'em all.
I want to find this guy fast.
Before he gets any
further down his hit list.
Yeah, okay. I'll let you know.
Folsom and Beau struck out.
Hope we're not about to do the same.
I already feel better about
this place than the last one.
I'd call that a plague of grackles.
It's full of tools.
Maybe this is how the
murder weapon got crapped on.
Farm belongs to a guy
named Richard Ambrose Sloan.
He's definitely got the
name of a serial killer.
I don't think I can arrest
someone based on vibes, but
this dude would be a great candidate.
Do you think anyone's home?
Richard Sloan? LVPD.
The door is open.
Mr. Sloan, we're coming in.
LVPD. Anyone home?
Mr. Sloan?
Hello?
Richard?
Hello?
I don't think anyone's here.
- Hold still.
- Hey! Stop!
- Get off her.
- Okay.
Richard. Richard, listen to me.
- You don't want to do this.
- I have to.
I don't want to shoot you.
The plan is in motion.
We must not interfere.
Interfere with what?
The Basilisk. The Basilisk commands me.
The path must be clear.
The Basilisk knows all.
I don't know about that, but I know that
you didn't want to kill
those two people at the hotel.
It wasn't part of the plan.
The path must be clear.
Hey, I'm not part of
the plan, either, dude.
No choice. You help or suffer.
I had to find Lamont Moore.
The Basilisk is very clear:
let no one stand in its way.
But I was blinded.
Aah!
The wrong man.
I had to clean up the mess.
I had to clear the path.
The Basilisk commands it of me.
Richard, you're just
making a bigger mess.
Richard. Hey, Richard,
Richard, lis-listen to me.
Chavez!
BP's dropping.
Dispatch says they have an OR
waiting for him at Desert Palm.
That's if he makes it that far.
This is my punishment. My
my failure. I didn't
protect the Basilisk.
W what do you mean?
Who is the Basilisk?
It found me through time.
It sees everything. It s
it saw my failure.
This guy's crazy, too.
Richard
No, no, no, Ri-Richard, wake up!
Richard Sloan's in surgery.
He was still breathing,
but unlikely he'll make it.
You did the best you could.
- Did he tell you anything?
- Mm.
Even while he was bleeding to death,
Sloan kept talking about the Basilisk.
- The Basilisk?
- I looked it up.
It's an Internet thought experiment
about an omniscient
artificial intelligence.
Like Siri?
On meth.
Supposedly, in the future, the Basilisk
will torment anyone who
doesn't do its bidding.
So, in Sloan's mind, we're all doomed.
Sloan believed this AI was
talking to him from the future,
telling him to kill Lamont Moore.
So, why does a sci-fi villain
want to kill a hotel janitor?
True believers in the
Basilisk think the AI
will kill anyone who tries
to stop its rise to power
or anyone who fails to help it.
So, if the Basilisk told
Sloan to kill Lamont,
then I'm sure it made a lot
more sense once he stopped
taking his Haloperidol.
So, meanwhile, back in reality,
Sloan's being manipulated by somebody.
Just like Alan Herskovitz.
I don't think it's a computer
or a disembodied voice
- or the Easter Bunny talking to either of them.
- No.
I mean, odds are it's the
same person behind all of it.
Whoever it is,
I've got the feeling they're not done.
You know,
following the corn
was the right instinct.
But you know what would have happened
if I hadn't dragged it out of you?
We'd still be staring down a dead end.
I thought, you know
Beau's a big-deal chemist
and you're a legend,
so, there's neither
of you thought of it,
then there's no way it
could be right. Right?
Wrong. Obviously.
It's just the corn thing was
it was worse than a guess.
It was a gut feeling, a hunch.
- We don't play hunches, we test hypotheses.
- Yeah, I know.
But I was thinking that you noticed that
I was thinking something, so maybe
next time you could just ask me.
You don't get paid to sit around
until someone asks your opinion.
Speak up.
Or hang it up.
Allie. Hey. Are you doing okay?
Yeah. Still a little
jittery from the adrenaline,
but I'll be all right.
Okay.
So, I got to drive Serena home
after she talks to
IAB about the shooting.
Mm, don't worry.
I mean, I think it'll go in her favor.
Sloan didn't really give
her much of a choice.
Knowing Serena, as
soon as I get her home
she's gonna tell me to get lost
so she can recoup with
reality TV and shots of mezcal.
You want to run flash cards?
Josh, um
things are complicated.
What do you mean?
I was just in a life-or-death situation
with your girlfriend,
and all I should have
been thinking about
- was getting us both out okay.
- And you did.
I was thinking about you.
And what would you do
or say if things went wrong?
Allie, it's not
You're the most important
person in my life here.
But you're with Chavez now.
We can't be friends.
Not like we have been.
Tell Serena I'll see you
both on our next shift. Yeah?
So, this is Sloan's laptop.
Yep, and there you have it.
Someone did send Sloan
a dossier on Lamont.
And blackmail, too, just like the papers
- Allie pulled out of Lamont's tub.
- Mm-hmm.
Uh-oh.
Wait a minute, what
happened? Where'd it go?
Got me. I didn't touch it.
Well, try clicking on the thing
- Oh!
- Whoa-whoa! Penny, what's going on?
That file didn't close by itself.
Someone's accessing the computer.
Maybe through a RAT.
A rat?
Remote access Trojan.
It's a malware program
that lets a hacker take over.
Like, they could have closed the
file while we're looking at it?
It's not just the files.
It can control the whole machine.
Including the webcam.
If someone was keeping tabs on Sloan
They could have been watching
him through the camera.