CSI: Vegas (2021) s03e09 Episode Script
Heavy Metal
1
Push my button, push to start it ♪
["PUSH TO START" BY NOIZU &
WESTEND FEATURING NO/ME PLAYING]
[CAR HORN HONKING]
DRIVER: Hey, what's
the matter with you?!
[HORNS HONKING]
DRIVER 2: Move, idiot!
[LIVELY CHATTER, LAUGHTER]
You are so cute. Come here.
You sure you're tall
enough to ride this ride?
Okay, keep your hands
to yourself, Crystal.
He's my present.
WOMAN: Yeah, here, put this on!
Mama needs a pit stop.
There's a couple
shopping centers up ahead
and a liquor store.
This hypnotic, this robotic ♪
[HORNS HONKING]
This hypnotic, this robotic ♪
- DANCER: Whoo!
- That's right, girl.
- Uh-huh.
- Hey.
Eyes forward.
DANCER: Gonna show you what
it's like to do the cowboy.
Yeah. Oh, yeah, just like that.
Hey, hey, hey. Stop the car!
- [TIRES SCREECH]
- [WOMAN SCREAMS]
BRIDEZILLA: Oh, my God. What an idiot.
[GROANS]
What the hell were you thinking?
Help. I've been shot.
Call an ambulance!
Hey, somebody call for help!
JACK: John Doe appears
roughly 65 years of age.
Presents with ballistic
entry wound to the abdomen.
My guess is:
nine-millimeter-caliber weapon.
No exit wound.
Three tattoos on his chest.
Hon, I have to describe the ink.
What would you say that fading
Calvin is peeing on there?
Hmm. I don't know. Our date night?
[SIGHS] I'm so sorry.
Look, if Dr. Hudson weren't
testifying in Carson City,
- I never would have picked up the call.
- I know.
I like watching you work. I'm kidding.
Especially in a suit.
But it's just the apps were so small,
and obviously I can't eat now, so
- Just one more X-ray.
- [CHUCKLES]
That is your third chest screen.
How many times are
you gonna zap this guy?
I just don't want to rush this.
Why not? I said I couldn't eat.
I didn't say I couldn't dance.
Well, here's the thing, hon.
We have a shooting victim here
with no exit wound, but
you know what we don't have?
- There's no bullet.
- There's no bullet.
♪
Yes! Yes.
Finally.
Hey, ma'am, could you
please keep it down?
Some of us are trying to work here.
Joshua, what are you
doing here so damn early?
- Just trying to stay out of trouble.
- Yeah.
Oh, redecorating? Looks
like a Faraday cage in here.
We're air-gapping the entire lab.
One cyberattack is enough for me.
If somebody can encrypt
malware on synthetic DNA,
they got other tricks up their sleeve.
No services.
Kind of limiting.
We've still got AFIS, CODIS,
and LVPD databases still hardwired,
but that is it.
No more digital contact
with the outside world
until we know what we're up against.
But you know what?
I am getting closer.
That synthetic DNA sample you
found at Valerie's apartment.
You're trying to reverse engineer it?
Not just trying to. I did it.
- Excuse me, son.
- [GASPS]
ROBY: So, if you want to
script your own strand of DNA,
all you got to do is convert
your code to As and Ts
and Cs and Gs, and then
let the RNA/DNA synthesizer
bake your message right
into a double helix.
Just takes the right brew.
Look out, everybody.
She's doing the Ocho shuffle. [CHUCKLES]
- What?
- Your little, uh
Your little victory dance there.
It looks like Ocho's start-up sequence.
I thought you were I'm sorry, I
- I wasn't making fun
- No.
It looked
You may be more right than you know.
Every single time Ocho starts up,
he does this.
I was doing this all night.
It's like he was built
to create synthetic DNA.
Just like the sample
that was left for us
at Valerie Hammond's apartment.
So what are we saying?
The malware that was used
to destroy all those files,
Ocho's brother or sister cooked that up?
FOLSOM: It can't be a coincidence.
Everything that has happened
since we started investigating
the murder at Mojave Kinematic Designs
is connected somehow.
Robert saw Cliff
doing something he
wasn't supposed to do.
So Cliff got rid of him.
And as soon as we figured it out,
Cliff's electric car
drove right into a tree.
WILLOWS: And his airbags
just happened to malfunction.
FOLSOM: And Cliff's got a
picture of Valerie Hammond
at the crime scene on his camera.
And right as she's about to
explain what really happened
WILLOWS: She gets abducted.
FBI says that case is ice-cold.
We know the perps were slick.
And tech savvy enough to encode
Trojan horse software
into a blood sample.
Every single file that got deleted
was related to our investigation
of the robot factory.
Truman Thomas's robot factory.
ROBY: Yup.
Either this man is
behind this whole mess
ROBY: Or he got the ball rolling
and passed it on to something else.
♪
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! ♪
What do you mean you can't
find the bullet, Jack?
You make it sound like
a personal failing.
There's no bullet to find.
You can't fool an X-ray.
Look, by all rights, it should be here,
in the transverse
colon. It's just not.
Hmm. The edge is a bit of a mess.
All of that from,
what, a nine-millimeter?
- Why is it so
- JACK: Ragged?
Not sure if it was from the
first responder or the victim,
but somebody applied a little
too much pressure to the wound.
- Yeah, and slathered it with Betadine.
- Mm-hmm.
GILL: Yeah, the EMTs
definitely went a little nuts
with the disinfectant,
which isn't great for
prints or gunshot residue.
So it looks like the
bullet isn't the only thing
we're gonna have to do without.
Grissom once told me
about a murder he solved
involving a meat bullet.
A bullet made of meat. Meat bullet.
Well, there's no ground beef here,
but I did find this
gelatinous substance.
GCMS says tapioca
starch and brown sugar.
So, looks like Mr.
Doe liked his boba tea.
I guess I'm done with boba.
Don't tell your partner.
He loves that stuff.
Yeah, I'm not actually sure
where Chris is at the moment.
So no bullet, no ID,
no idea where this man was shot.
It's that last bit that
bothers me the most.
We can't exactly be
crime scene investigators
without a crime scene.
Well, on the plus side, we have glass.
Uh, there's at least two
types ground into his palm.
But he collapsed in the street.
I kind of figured that's
where he picked it up.
I'm not so sure.
This is soda lime standard glass,
bottles, windows.
This blue glass is much denser.
♪
It's got lead in it.
[SCOFFS]
They stopped putting lead
in glass when they stopped
prescribing cigarettes to soothe nerves.
For this to be embedded
in his skin is strange.
Strange is good.
Strange is our friend.
Oh. First responders
pronounced John Doe
dead at the scene here.
Look what's right down the block.
RAJAN: Sands of Time Antiques.
Sounds like just the spot
you'd find vintage glass.
That's where I'm putting my chips.
Anyone want to bet against me?
♪
[ENTRY BELL JINGLES]
[DOOR CLOSES]
Oh. There he is.
Neil. Guess that's his name.
Look how happy he is with
that extremely beautiful man.
Bruce Campbell? Yeah.
I'd be smiling, too, dude.
RAJAN: Uh, I am smiling. Look.
- Get shots of all of this, Pen.
- [CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
Welp. This is clearly
the scene of the crime.
Yeah, I'll call it in.
Look at this place. It's great.
- I was born in the wrong era.
- Uh, no, Penny.
Now is your time. This is your moment.
You delivered the crime scene.
You get to run point.
I'll backstop you and
handle the sign-offs, but
if you're gonna level
up, you need practice.
Wow. I mean, yes.
I mean, thank you, thank you,
but, uh, I-I don't know
how to thank you, but
Well, by solving this murder and
making me look good, obviously.
- Mm-hmm.
- I'd start with the register.
Just, someone tried to
claw their way into it
with maybe, what, a screwdriver?
- Didn't work.
- Okay, take me through it.
From the top.
It looks like a failed smash-and-grab.
The killer waits until closing,
shoots Neil through the window
tries to get into the register.
It doesn't work, he gets spooked.
Neil waits until he's gone,
then stumbles out to look for help.
- Would that explain all the back spatter?
- Mm
High-velocity misting is
about what you'd expect, but
Yeah, you're right.
There's a lot of blood.
And you don't normally see
viscera from back spatter.
Teeny bits of flesh like that?
Well, we are in an antique store.
- Maybe they used an antique gun.
- Yeah, maybe.
Call Chris,
'cause you'll need help testing
and swabbing all of this stuff.
You never know.
Some of it might be from the killer.
This is your scene.
Wait, where are you going?
To see if Chavez found out
why nobody called it in.
- Okay.
- Okay?
Yeah.
- Cool.
- Mm-hmm.
That's good.
[GIGGLES SOFTLY]
Sorry, Neil.
- It's my fault.
- Shawna, no. Don't say that.
No, I was supposed to work last night.
Dad covered my shift, and he
was gonna open in the morning
so I could go to Lisa's
dumb birthday thing.
Nobody even knew.
He he was out in the street?
God.
- Why?
- RAJAN: It looks like
the shooter tried to
get into the register,
but evidence suggests that
they didn't try that hard.
I have to ask.
Can you think of anyone
who might have wanted
to hurt your father?
No way. Neil?
He was, he was like
the mayor around here.
Everyone loved him. I loved him.
Oh, he loved you, too, babe.
We used to joke that
people came to see my
dad, not the antiques.
[KNOCK ON DOOR]
Hi. I'm sorry to interrupt,
but, um, this is a
security camera, isn't it?
Yeah.
We didn't see any in the ceiling,
so we just assumed
Your dad had a security camera?
GILL: You know, we can handle this.
Yeah, babe, I-I don't
think you have to
No, I Maybe it was
one of the regulars, or
I don't know, I just, I want to help.
CHAVEZ: Wait, what?
You're kidding me.
SHAWNA: I don't
understand. What happened?
That's it? That-that's all there is?
Hey, this isn't the dead
end that you think it-it is.
If we can figure out
how they disabled it,
then that might give us something.
It already did.
Look right here.
They didn't leave empty-handed. See?
No guitars.
SHAWNA: I think they
might have taken some of
the Elvis memorabilia, too.
Okay, you get me a list,
I'll call local pawnshops,
have them keep an eye out.
Please, you have to find
the person who did this.
Hey.
I thought we all
agreed you were going to
stop torturing suspects.
[LAUGHS] Uh, just a,
just a robot biopsy.
- Mm-hmm.
- Would've been nice if they'd made
- his hard drive a little more accessible.
- Okay.
You guys get all that?
Thank you, Barry.
I owe you. A few.
What you got?
So, I called my favorite
computer dude at Quantico.
He was walking us through
- Ocho's programming.
- And?
Oh, we should be solving cybercrimes.
Did you know that programmers
leave little notes to
themselves everywhere?
Half the time they,
like, sign their work.
The code that runs
Ocho's start-up sequence,
the DNA shuffle,
it has two letters that you're
gonna recognize all over the place.
ROBY: T.T. Truman Thomas.
Yeah. I got to be honest,
I didn't think he had it in him.
Barry says the code is genius.
I really doubted Truman is
as smart as he thinks he is.
Well, maybe he is, maybe he's not,
but I'd like to ask him
a few questions about our friend here.
ROBY: That's a kind offer.
Actually, Catherine and I
are gonna take it from here.
You know what? Penny's
on her first homicide.
Why don't you lend her a hand?
That'd be a help.
Yeah, of course.
Whoa.
Don't freak out.
Whoa, this clutter is not sparking joy.
I know Chavez put out a BOLO, but wow.
Yeah, the pawn community
really showed up.
I heard you needed help
pulling prints from a couple of things.
By "couple," did you mean everything?
Okay. I'm in it to win it.
Papa loves mambo ♪
Papa loves mambo ♪
Mama loves mambo ♪
Mama loves mambo ♪
Havin' their fling again ♪
Younger than spring again ♪
Feelin' that zing again, wow ♪
Papa loves mambo ♪
Mambo papa ♪
Don't let her rumba ♪
And don't let her samba ♪
'Cause Papa ♪
Loves a mambo tonight. ♪
Penny. Status.
Elvis fans are a surprisingly
law-abiding bunch.
While I can't tell you for sure
which items came from Sands of Time,
I can tell you, no matches in AFIS.
But Penny is running sweat she found
on the register through the DSR-PLUS,
and I found this oily substance
on some of the gak that
deserves a look in the Q-TOF.
What a chore.
You do know you have an actual partner
to help with this, right?
Where is Chris?
Really, Beau?
Suddenly, you aren't
in the mood to talk?
Hurtful.
Chris and I might be
using our personal days to,
um, miss each other.
Sorry. What? Oh, hey, we have something.
Cannabis. In the perp's sweat.
That really narrows things down.
Well, how about sodium
chloride, tartrazine,
naphthalenesulfonic
acid, ethyl decadienoate.
This guy's fingers are covered
in movie theater popcorn butter.
How could you possibly know that?
Oh, like you've never tried to
chemically recreate the golden magic
that can only be found in a theater.
Oh. [SNIFFS]
Oh, my God.
We know who it is.
Huh.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's familiar
stuff from Neil's shop.
You know, when they
called me down here to
come take a look at
this stuff, I thought
this kind of feels like
an interrogation room.
It's because it is, Jim.
We know you stole these things
from your father-in-law's store.
What makes you think that I
CHAVEZ: Petty theft, grand theft,
receiving stolen goods.
You were a real rascal
when you were young, huh?
Should we add murder to the list?
What? No. That's ridiculous.
Your trial is gonna be ridiculous
because we found movie
theater popcorn butter
all over everything.
Look at your vest, dude.
CHAVEZ: You know, I
can't imagine the theater
pays all that much.
Was it just greed
Look, I didn't kill Neil.
Come on. Hands on the table.
We're gonna test you
for gunshot residue.
JIM: Okay, fine.
CHAVEZ: Not a big soap fan, are we?
You don't understand.
When I got there, I saw the
window was already broken.
And suddenly he's stumbling out
and he was hurt. Okay? I could see that.
I know I should've helped
him. I-I I know that,
but instead I just
flipped a few old guitars
and some junk. That's all I did.
All you did was kill
him for a few bucks.
Penny.
- And now you're gonna go down for murder, Jim.
- Pen?
- Murder.
- Penny.
Isn't it supposed to be red?
There's no GSR?
I told you, I didn't shoot Neil.
I-I have no idea who did.
You! Yeah, you, Rajan.
So, uh,
no gunshot residue on Jim Vikner, huh?
Mass Spec confirmed.
Jim's being booked for grand larceny.
This is a strange case.
It's a wobbly one for
Penny on her first go.
Good, she needs it.
Front row students always think
everything's gonna come easy.
Hey, boss.
What's up?
Hmm?
I think you may have been right.
About my partner plan.
You've always said the most important
chemistry in the lab is between people.
I got it wrong.
Catherine and Beau have been bickering
like an old married couple
right out of the gate.
Folsom and I have eyes on us,
and now Chris and Penny
are avoiding each other.
If you're a fan of I-told-you-so's
I'm not.
And you'd be a fool to quit now.
Sorry.
How do you mean?
Our case closure rate has increased 17%
since you've became
day shift supervisor.
You asked me to trust you, I did,
and I'm glad I did.
Max
Your plan saved you from becoming
lunch in that basement,
and Catherine and Beau are buddies now.
Change is hard, not bad.
I'm starting to feel unpopular.
Let me tell you something.
So, the best part about being a boss
you don't have to care what
everybody thinks all the time.
Except me.
Don't take that pie out
of the oven too soon.
I've tried everyone on our list.
Except Jim, for obvious reasons
Shawna, look, I-I promise.
We're gonna make sure your dad
gets a proper send-off, all right?
I-I'll give the eulogy
myself if I have to.
- SHAWNA: Thank you.
- Oh.
Hi, Ms. Dellino.
This is my godfather Lou.
- Hi.
- We're working on the arrangements.
I just need my checkbook, if I can?
Of course.
Uh, Mike, can you take her back?
- Thanks.
- MIKE: Right this way.
You know, I don't mean to pry,
but I'm a little surprised to hear
you're having trouble finding
speakers for Neil's funeral.
I thought he was pretty popular.
Well, you know, Neil,
Neil always had a lot of fans,
just not many friends.
Life on the road and
late nights in the studio,
short tempers are inevitable.
I was his partner, I was used to it.
Others, not so much.
I actually know the feeling.
You were in a band?
Yeah, had a couple
songs chart in the '80s.
Oh. Um
- Oh, wow.
- Razor Pit. Maybe you've heard of us.
Is that ever on Olivia Rodrigo Radio?
[LAUGHS] Back then,
Neil and I had a lot more hair
and we were a lot more metal.
What happened?
Uh, Neil wanted a family,
and the spotlight's never been for me.
And we still get calls
every now and then for a gig.
Uh, got an offer last
month, if you can believe it.
But that's in the past.
Got to grow up, right?
Do you miss it?
You got to leave these
things before they leave you.
So I gig as a roadie,
I help out old friends
Neil didn't have a lot of those. I mean,
do you think this could be
some kind of old feud or ?
Please.
This is sad enough as it is.
SHAWNA: You ready, Lou?
Yeah. Nice chatting.
Yeah.
- Hey there, bestie.
- Look who showed up.
Like a bad penny.
Oh, good one.
I can't believe you didn't tell me
you caught your first homicide.
I had to hear it from
your, uh, "faux-ancé."
Chris.
I'm happy you're here.
Well, I insisted.
But we're all here now.
As is Locard's exchange principle.
The killer had to leave a
piece of himself somewhere.
Yep.
Oh. Thank you.
["DUST & FIRE" BY HIPPO
& THE JACKET PLAYING]
GILL: A-2, tie clip.
A-4, cuff links.
A-3, cash register.
B-1, broken glass.
A-3, really cool thimble.
Just put "thimble."
So all the action was in row A.
Yeah. Neil kept a pretty tidy shop,
except for the detritus
along that baseboard.
Close to where he was shot, actually.
PARK: You know what's
weird? The cuckoo clocks.
Mm. Grandma Finado had one of those.
Oh, the nightmares.
Little Dutch boys popping
out of a gnarled tree.
Where were they going?
I don't know, big guy, but I meant
they weren't working today.
They were on the night of the murder.
That's neat, but I could
use an actual break here.
So can you grab an image
of the shooter or not?
Sorry, no lay-up on your first murder.
There's no salvaging this.
The, uh, coaxial cable's fried.
FINADO: Spooky. The killer managed
to short-circuit the cameras
before he came inside.
Got no print, no image.
Looking for the Invisible Man.
So, the whole "I'm cutting
back on caffeine" thing
Mind your bidness, Willows.
Just don't pull this guy's arm off
and beat him to death, okay?
Turnabout's fair play, right?
TRUMAN: Ladies.
Heard you had some
questions about robotics.
I'm here to help.
Yes, I am sure that's why Sabrina here
arranged for your lawyer to join us?
Howard Rossman. You have questions?
Many. And maybe you can start
by telling us why you'd program a robot
to mirror a lab tech.
Is that what it looks like to you?
So, what it looks
like to me, Mr. Thomas,
is a robot creating synthetic DNA.
That's a heavy lift,
right? Even for you.
So why go to all that trouble?
WILLOWS: I have to wonder
how you have time for it all.
We know that you've got your hands
in several business ventures.
And none of the publicly traded ones
- are biotech companies, but
- But you're right.
Better living through
science is the next big thing.
We're gonna change the world.
I just came from one of our labs.
Directly, in fact.
I hear that DNA is the new hard drive.
Petabytes of information
at your fingertips.
All the power players are in it, right?
[CLEARS THROAT]
Unfortunately, Mr. Thomas
is not at liberty to discuss.
So sorry. Security. You understand.
Yeah, I understand. We had
our own security breach.
A cyberattack.
The only files that were destroyed
were the ones that we've
collected from your company.
You think that I would
hack you poor folks?
I'm on your side.
- I'm a concerned citizen
- Mr. Thomas, I apologize.
We were told they needed
technical assistance
with a murder investigation.
I see now we were misled.
You can direct any further
inquiries to Howard.
I have very important
work waiting for me.
As do we.
Well, as long as he's
got a muzzle on payroll,
we're not getting squat.
I wouldn't be so sure.
Stop.
Don't take another step. Hand me a swab.
"Directly, in fact."
I used to have these dreams, Jack.
Up at the front of the classroom,
and all I'm wearing is my underwear.
That's what this case feels like.
Totally. I have the exact
same dream about you.
[LAUGHS] Stop.
I just, I only have so many chances
to prove I'm ready for the Level 2 test,
and I feel like I'm failing.
JACK: It has been a day,
and it's a learning experience, hon.
I think you're looking at
this completely backwards.
Say that again.
I'm just saying, you know
You're looking at this
completely backwards.
Sorry, am I in trouble?
No, but I need to use your camera.
♪
[CAMERA CLICKING]
So
Okay. You were right.
The edges of the stomach
wound, the-the skin,
they're not so much puckered
in. They're more facing out.
Because we were never
looking at an entry wound.
- It's an exit wound.
- But
unless the shooter was standing
inside this guy's colon,
that's impossible. I-I think
we just need to find the bullet.
No, but what if we're not
looking for a bullet at all?
The messy wound, the fried electronics,
the stopped clocks, the Betadine
didn't erase gunshot
residue, there wasn't any.
I think I know what we're looking at.
["DON'T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA"
BY JULIE COVINGTON PLAYING]
[FINADO HUMMING]
FINADO: All you will see ♪
Is a girl you once knew ♪
Although she's
dressed up to the nines ♪
I had to let it happen ♪
I had to change ♪
Couldn't stay all
my life down at heel ♪
So I chose freedom ♪
Running around trying everything new ♪
But nothing impressed me at all ♪
I never expected it to ♪
Don't cry for me, Argentina ♪
The truth is I never left you ♪
All through my wild days ♪
My mad existence ♪
I kept my promise ♪
Don't keep your distance. ♪
GILL: Oh, beautiful,
Beau. It's gorgeous.
- [MUSIC STOPS]
- WILLOWS: What are we looking at here?
A murder weapon.
Uh
I think this is what killed Neil.
A bullet isn't the only deadly
high-velocity projectile.
Have you ever heard
of neodymium magnets?
Would you think less of me if I said no?
GILL: They're only the
strongest magnets on Earth.
We're talking an incredibly
powerful magnetic field.
It attracts small
matter over long range.
Oh.
Build up that force?
It could kill someone.
WILLOWS: Really? I mean,
I get we're not talking
your mama's fridge magnets,
but for this to work,
the killer would've had to implant
the magnet inside Neil, right?
Not implanted. He fed him.
FINADO: We know he had boba
tea the day of his death.
Those little balls of tapioca goodness,
nearly identical to the magnets.
I don't know where you're getting this.
There was no killer, no
magnets, nothing on the footage.
On the damaged footage.
Guess what put it on the
fritz and messed with the gears
in all of those old clocks.
Tada. Electromagnet.
We all built one in third grade.
I mean, this is bigger,
but it's simple stuff really.
An electromagnet explains
the inside-out damage
to Neil's abdomen and the extra
blood and viscera at the scene.
FINADO: We haven't even gotten a
glimpse of this guy for good reason.
Magnetic waves can
penetrate a brick wall.
The window didn't have a shot.
I think he operated
this from a distance.
That way he could avoid
the security cameras.
Oh, ye of little faith.
Watch me kill someone with a magnet.
Get back, people.
- Get back.
- Move, move.
FINADO: All right!
Cover what you care about most.
Three, two, one.
[ELECTRONIC WHIRRING]
[METALLIC CLANK]
Whoa!
[WHIRRING STOPS]
GILL: That's how Neil
was "shot in reverse."
Murder by magnet. I'll be damned.
ROBY: Pretty good,
Ms. Penny, pretty good,
but now there's the
small matter of finding
the small matter.
You've got a murder method,
now you need a murder weapon.
So, I'm standing right
where the victim was hit.
The hex orb would have shot out of Neil
and exited the store in the
direction of the electromagnet.
Only the smallest metal debris would.
Depending on the angles, some
of the little guys hit the wall.
Penny, I'm not sure old
thimbles and trigonometry
are gonna help you find a killer
who never stepped foot in here.
Oh, they will.
Laser party, anyone?
GILL: So, the electromagnet
had to be right there.
RAJAN: Well done.
A lot closer than we thought.
There's got to be
something right around here.
Trace, impressions.
I'll holler if I find anything.
Are you gonna tell me what's
going on with you and Chris?
I don't know. Magnets
with the same polarities
don't attract. They repel.
That's rubbish. You and
Chris are nothing alike.
Tell me what's going on.
Hey, Folsom,
beat you.
RAJAN: Penny.
Someone left in a hurry
since Tuesday's rain.
Wide wheel base. Big old truck.
GILL: Hey, there's something
weird and fresh over here.
It doesn't look like motor
oil. It's not that viscous.
Well, you're kneeling right
where the driver would've been
before they peeled out.
It's it's probably dip.
Chewing tobacco.
Well, Jim's hands were pretty dirty,
and we only ever asked if he shot Neil.
Maybe he was telling us the
truth, just not the whole truth.
DNA. Pronto.
You know I would never doubt you.
I wouldn't even say I have a doubt.
More a curiosity about your plan here.
Finding Truman Thomas's
hidden biotech lab
using a speck of dust,
as opposed to, say,
his tax filings.
Truman covered all of his tracks, right?
Except the ones in our lobby.
So, this baby uses X-rays
to measure the crystal structures
in the dust on the shoe
and the composition of the dust
What, spells out an address?
The IXRF, it tells us what's in the air
at Truman Thomas's biotech firm,
and that, that might just tell us
whether he's been toying
around with the building blocks
of synthetic DNA, among other things.
Okay. Yeah, that make sense.
- Yeah.
- You giving me a hard time or something?
This what Penny's been putting up with?
Why aren't you working
on her case with her? Hmm?
I just don't want to miss
when you wipe the
smirk off Truman's face.
I'll get the truth out
of you one way or another.
I'll put your whole sorry
butt in the IXRF if I have to.
♪
[TRILLS, BEEPS]
PARK: Tellurium?
You could synthesize
DNA with that, right?
And you want to guess
who owns a tellurium mine?
Maybe that's where he
and his robot buddies
are cooking up their little
double helix stink bombs for us.
Mm-hmm. Me and you are
gonna pay him a visit.
Right after you help Penny.
Oh, look. I wiped that
smirk off your face too, huh?
Hmm.
LOU: Yeah. Hope you got
my text. Sorry I'm late.
Car trouble.
FOLSOM: No, I'm afraid
we're land lines only today.
We thought you might want this.
It was in Neil's wallet.
LOU: Ozzfest '99.
Man, wild times.
Wow. My-my wallet's only for
the people I care about most.
- You must've been tight.
- Yeah, we were close.
CHAVEZ: You chew tobacco, Lou, right?
How are we on time?
We've got five minutes, at least,
probably more,
unless Lou's smarter than he looks.
Well, he built a magnet to kill a man,
he might surprise us. [SIGHS]
Where are you, little fella?
We found some chewing
tobacco outside Neil's store.
Thought it might've
come from the killer,
but that's your DNA, Lou.
Oh, I'm sure it is.
It's my only vice.
These tire tracks came from a truck
same size as yours, and
the width and tread tells it
was hauling something heavy.
Why are you telling me this?
Shawna mentioned you
started bringing Neil boba
- a few weeks back.
- Yeah.
See, a magnet the
size of a tapioca pearl
was used to kill Neil, and your truck
was in the exact path of that magnet.
I don't understand. Neil was shot.
No, he wasn't.
Now, you're a roadie, right, Lou?
So, magnets are in every
piece of equipment you use.
Microphones, speakers
And copper wire, too.
That's perfect for an electromagnet.
[CHUCKLES] I mean, you should
see the way they make metal fly.
It's almost faster
than a speeding bullet.
GILL: I don't understand.
It should be right here.
It has to be.
Layla's about to come on shift.
Cutest waitress at Waffle House.
And since you don't
have enough to hold me,
I'm leaving now.
Well, let me walk you out. I
wouldn't want you to get lost.
- We got to go.
- We can't go.
- It should be right here.
- We got, we got to go.
We got to go. Come on.
Our model said the magnet
would be in the back
of that truck. I don't get it.
[ENGINE STARTS]
- Hey, Chavez.
- Hey.
That one's yours, right?
You guys up for a car chase?
- What?
- What?
Just hurry. Let's go!
I've never tailed a suspect before.
Ooh, baby's first car chase.
Well, buckle up. Here we go.
Okay, I hope you both had fun.
Detective, our suspect just
made an un-signaled right turn.
Wanna go ahead and pull him over?
Hold on, I thought you
wanted to follow this guy.
PARK: Left blinker's going double time.
Only does that when the
tail light's damaged.
Something's lodged in the right one.
Oh, my God. I was rushing again,
and I missed what was
right in front of my face.
- [SIREN CHIRPS]
- Hands on the steering wheel.
- Miss me already, Detective?
- [CHUCKLES]
- Tail light's broken.
- I'll just pay whatever fine
Ah, no need. We'll take
a look at it for you.
That'll be Neil's blood
on there, won't it?
I want a lawyer.
You told me you weren't
cut out for the spotlight,
but you sure missed it, didn't you?
Neil ended your careers, right
as you were making it big,
and Neil moved on, but you couldn't.
Is that why you laced Neil's
tea with the murder weapon?
Because you were bitter?
But, I guess, your music career
did come in handy for something.
Because all your toys had the
makings of an electromagnet.
And with the flip of a switch,
you made Neil take his final bow.
[CRIES OUT]
[ENGINE STARTS]
[TIRES SQUEALING]
It was truly demented.
Is that the point?
- Still hardcore?
- [SCOFFS] No.
I told you,
last month, an agent reached
out, he found our music.
He offered us a second chance,
and Neil said no, again.
He wouldn't even give me one night.
Dude, let it go.
I was, I was supposed to be a star.
I was supposed to have a different life.
I just picked the wrong partner.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Sounds good.
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]
No, uh, celebratory
dinner with the faux-ancé?
You need new material.
- Stop, I'm I'm teasing.
- Yeah, you're always teasing.
About my sweaters, music.
But Jack? Leave him out of it.
I'm-I'm sorry.
Is it him? Is it us?
Is it is it me?
Forget it. Really.
I don't want you feeding
me a boba in 30 years.
No. What the hell?
Are you really getting married, Pen?
- Chris
- It's just a question.
You don't live together,
you won't set a date.
Do you even know each other that well?
I mean this as a friend.
When you told me you got engaged,
I kind of thought it was a joke.
Because everything is a joke to you.
You know, maybe your next partner
will enjoy your sense of humor.
ROBY: Hey, Chris. A minute?
Boss?
Hey. Everything okay?
Yeah. Yeah, sure.
What's all, what's all this?
FOLSOM: Research on
Truman's tellurium operation.
Gene editing is a gray area.
If you wanted to stay
out of the public eye,
a subterranean lab is about right.
You're serious. A bat cave?
FOLSOM: Look where
his tellurium mine is.
PARK: Few miles from
MKD and nothing else.
Good work, Joshua.
You ever, uh, hang a
homicide on a billionaire?
I mean, could be more than one.
Cliff. Robert Cuevas.
Maybe even Valerie.
Hey, hey, we're not gonna
get all hyped up on this.
We're just gonna go take a look.
- You're coming with me and Catherine.
- Yeah.
Leaving in five.
- Okay?
- Yeah. I'll grab my gear.
Oh
I made copies for everyone, don't worry.
No, you hang back and
keep digging in on this
'cause if I'm right,
I'm gonna need your help
backing it up with the D.A.
Max, I'm trying here.
I know,
and I appreciate it, but
I am almost at the end
of this thing, okay?
Chris has got me covered.
Yeah, of course.
Good luck.
This is the big bad
synthetic DNA operation?
I was expecting something
a little less, uh, crusty.
I don't know, but I don't think
Truman's out here digging in dirt.
♪
Anybody home?
Come on.
♪
WILLOWS: Well
- See that?
- Here we go.
I don't exactly want to be here long.
What are we looking for?
Somebody who works here would be nice.
Proof Mr. Thomas made
that rotten synthetic DNA
would be even better.
I'll take this hall.
♪
[MACHINERY WHIRRING]
PARK: Look who's home alone.
So, without a warrant
We get as many photos as we can.
PARK: What do you think all this is for?
"Changing the world." His words. Go on,
get a video of that. Get a video.
Get Catherine.
Come on.
Damn it.
[MUFFLED EXPLOSIONS]
Get behind me.
You've got one good arm.
Okay.
Whoever's down here, they're
not gonna come for two
[GAS HISSING]
Watch out! Ah!
No! No! Cover your mouth!
Come on, Chris.
- [PARK CHOKING]
- Chris, no.
[GUN COCKS]
MAN [DISTORTED]: Drop it, Dr. Roby.
WILLOWS [RECORDED]:
You've reached Catherine Willows.
- Please leave a message.
- [BEEPS]
ROBY: He's six foot, gray
suit. He's got a Beretta.
- Tell Joshua!
- [CHOKING]
Push my button, push to start it ♪
["PUSH TO START" BY NOIZU &
WESTEND FEATURING NO/ME PLAYING]
[CAR HORN HONKING]
DRIVER: Hey, what's
the matter with you?!
[HORNS HONKING]
DRIVER 2: Move, idiot!
[LIVELY CHATTER, LAUGHTER]
You are so cute. Come here.
You sure you're tall
enough to ride this ride?
Okay, keep your hands
to yourself, Crystal.
He's my present.
WOMAN: Yeah, here, put this on!
Mama needs a pit stop.
There's a couple
shopping centers up ahead
and a liquor store.
This hypnotic, this robotic ♪
[HORNS HONKING]
This hypnotic, this robotic ♪
- DANCER: Whoo!
- That's right, girl.
- Uh-huh.
- Hey.
Eyes forward.
DANCER: Gonna show you what
it's like to do the cowboy.
Yeah. Oh, yeah, just like that.
Hey, hey, hey. Stop the car!
- [TIRES SCREECH]
- [WOMAN SCREAMS]
BRIDEZILLA: Oh, my God. What an idiot.
[GROANS]
What the hell were you thinking?
Help. I've been shot.
Call an ambulance!
Hey, somebody call for help!
JACK: John Doe appears
roughly 65 years of age.
Presents with ballistic
entry wound to the abdomen.
My guess is:
nine-millimeter-caliber weapon.
No exit wound.
Three tattoos on his chest.
Hon, I have to describe the ink.
What would you say that fading
Calvin is peeing on there?
Hmm. I don't know. Our date night?
[SIGHS] I'm so sorry.
Look, if Dr. Hudson weren't
testifying in Carson City,
- I never would have picked up the call.
- I know.
I like watching you work. I'm kidding.
Especially in a suit.
But it's just the apps were so small,
and obviously I can't eat now, so
- Just one more X-ray.
- [CHUCKLES]
That is your third chest screen.
How many times are
you gonna zap this guy?
I just don't want to rush this.
Why not? I said I couldn't eat.
I didn't say I couldn't dance.
Well, here's the thing, hon.
We have a shooting victim here
with no exit wound, but
you know what we don't have?
- There's no bullet.
- There's no bullet.
♪
Yes! Yes.
Finally.
Hey, ma'am, could you
please keep it down?
Some of us are trying to work here.
Joshua, what are you
doing here so damn early?
- Just trying to stay out of trouble.
- Yeah.
Oh, redecorating? Looks
like a Faraday cage in here.
We're air-gapping the entire lab.
One cyberattack is enough for me.
If somebody can encrypt
malware on synthetic DNA,
they got other tricks up their sleeve.
No services.
Kind of limiting.
We've still got AFIS, CODIS,
and LVPD databases still hardwired,
but that is it.
No more digital contact
with the outside world
until we know what we're up against.
But you know what?
I am getting closer.
That synthetic DNA sample you
found at Valerie's apartment.
You're trying to reverse engineer it?
Not just trying to. I did it.
- Excuse me, son.
- [GASPS]
ROBY: So, if you want to
script your own strand of DNA,
all you got to do is convert
your code to As and Ts
and Cs and Gs, and then
let the RNA/DNA synthesizer
bake your message right
into a double helix.
Just takes the right brew.
Look out, everybody.
She's doing the Ocho shuffle. [CHUCKLES]
- What?
- Your little, uh
Your little victory dance there.
It looks like Ocho's start-up sequence.
I thought you were I'm sorry, I
- I wasn't making fun
- No.
It looked
You may be more right than you know.
Every single time Ocho starts up,
he does this.
I was doing this all night.
It's like he was built
to create synthetic DNA.
Just like the sample
that was left for us
at Valerie Hammond's apartment.
So what are we saying?
The malware that was used
to destroy all those files,
Ocho's brother or sister cooked that up?
FOLSOM: It can't be a coincidence.
Everything that has happened
since we started investigating
the murder at Mojave Kinematic Designs
is connected somehow.
Robert saw Cliff
doing something he
wasn't supposed to do.
So Cliff got rid of him.
And as soon as we figured it out,
Cliff's electric car
drove right into a tree.
WILLOWS: And his airbags
just happened to malfunction.
FOLSOM: And Cliff's got a
picture of Valerie Hammond
at the crime scene on his camera.
And right as she's about to
explain what really happened
WILLOWS: She gets abducted.
FBI says that case is ice-cold.
We know the perps were slick.
And tech savvy enough to encode
Trojan horse software
into a blood sample.
Every single file that got deleted
was related to our investigation
of the robot factory.
Truman Thomas's robot factory.
ROBY: Yup.
Either this man is
behind this whole mess
ROBY: Or he got the ball rolling
and passed it on to something else.
♪
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! ♪
What do you mean you can't
find the bullet, Jack?
You make it sound like
a personal failing.
There's no bullet to find.
You can't fool an X-ray.
Look, by all rights, it should be here,
in the transverse
colon. It's just not.
Hmm. The edge is a bit of a mess.
All of that from,
what, a nine-millimeter?
- Why is it so
- JACK: Ragged?
Not sure if it was from the
first responder or the victim,
but somebody applied a little
too much pressure to the wound.
- Yeah, and slathered it with Betadine.
- Mm-hmm.
GILL: Yeah, the EMTs
definitely went a little nuts
with the disinfectant,
which isn't great for
prints or gunshot residue.
So it looks like the
bullet isn't the only thing
we're gonna have to do without.
Grissom once told me
about a murder he solved
involving a meat bullet.
A bullet made of meat. Meat bullet.
Well, there's no ground beef here,
but I did find this
gelatinous substance.
GCMS says tapioca
starch and brown sugar.
So, looks like Mr.
Doe liked his boba tea.
I guess I'm done with boba.
Don't tell your partner.
He loves that stuff.
Yeah, I'm not actually sure
where Chris is at the moment.
So no bullet, no ID,
no idea where this man was shot.
It's that last bit that
bothers me the most.
We can't exactly be
crime scene investigators
without a crime scene.
Well, on the plus side, we have glass.
Uh, there's at least two
types ground into his palm.
But he collapsed in the street.
I kind of figured that's
where he picked it up.
I'm not so sure.
This is soda lime standard glass,
bottles, windows.
This blue glass is much denser.
♪
It's got lead in it.
[SCOFFS]
They stopped putting lead
in glass when they stopped
prescribing cigarettes to soothe nerves.
For this to be embedded
in his skin is strange.
Strange is good.
Strange is our friend.
Oh. First responders
pronounced John Doe
dead at the scene here.
Look what's right down the block.
RAJAN: Sands of Time Antiques.
Sounds like just the spot
you'd find vintage glass.
That's where I'm putting my chips.
Anyone want to bet against me?
♪
[ENTRY BELL JINGLES]
[DOOR CLOSES]
Oh. There he is.
Neil. Guess that's his name.
Look how happy he is with
that extremely beautiful man.
Bruce Campbell? Yeah.
I'd be smiling, too, dude.
RAJAN: Uh, I am smiling. Look.
- Get shots of all of this, Pen.
- [CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
Welp. This is clearly
the scene of the crime.
Yeah, I'll call it in.
Look at this place. It's great.
- I was born in the wrong era.
- Uh, no, Penny.
Now is your time. This is your moment.
You delivered the crime scene.
You get to run point.
I'll backstop you and
handle the sign-offs, but
if you're gonna level
up, you need practice.
Wow. I mean, yes.
I mean, thank you, thank you,
but, uh, I-I don't know
how to thank you, but
Well, by solving this murder and
making me look good, obviously.
- Mm-hmm.
- I'd start with the register.
Just, someone tried to
claw their way into it
with maybe, what, a screwdriver?
- Didn't work.
- Okay, take me through it.
From the top.
It looks like a failed smash-and-grab.
The killer waits until closing,
shoots Neil through the window
tries to get into the register.
It doesn't work, he gets spooked.
Neil waits until he's gone,
then stumbles out to look for help.
- Would that explain all the back spatter?
- Mm
High-velocity misting is
about what you'd expect, but
Yeah, you're right.
There's a lot of blood.
And you don't normally see
viscera from back spatter.
Teeny bits of flesh like that?
Well, we are in an antique store.
- Maybe they used an antique gun.
- Yeah, maybe.
Call Chris,
'cause you'll need help testing
and swabbing all of this stuff.
You never know.
Some of it might be from the killer.
This is your scene.
Wait, where are you going?
To see if Chavez found out
why nobody called it in.
- Okay.
- Okay?
Yeah.
- Cool.
- Mm-hmm.
That's good.
[GIGGLES SOFTLY]
Sorry, Neil.
- It's my fault.
- Shawna, no. Don't say that.
No, I was supposed to work last night.
Dad covered my shift, and he
was gonna open in the morning
so I could go to Lisa's
dumb birthday thing.
Nobody even knew.
He he was out in the street?
God.
- Why?
- RAJAN: It looks like
the shooter tried to
get into the register,
but evidence suggests that
they didn't try that hard.
I have to ask.
Can you think of anyone
who might have wanted
to hurt your father?
No way. Neil?
He was, he was like
the mayor around here.
Everyone loved him. I loved him.
Oh, he loved you, too, babe.
We used to joke that
people came to see my
dad, not the antiques.
[KNOCK ON DOOR]
Hi. I'm sorry to interrupt,
but, um, this is a
security camera, isn't it?
Yeah.
We didn't see any in the ceiling,
so we just assumed
Your dad had a security camera?
GILL: You know, we can handle this.
Yeah, babe, I-I don't
think you have to
No, I Maybe it was
one of the regulars, or
I don't know, I just, I want to help.
CHAVEZ: Wait, what?
You're kidding me.
SHAWNA: I don't
understand. What happened?
That's it? That-that's all there is?
Hey, this isn't the dead
end that you think it-it is.
If we can figure out
how they disabled it,
then that might give us something.
It already did.
Look right here.
They didn't leave empty-handed. See?
No guitars.
SHAWNA: I think they
might have taken some of
the Elvis memorabilia, too.
Okay, you get me a list,
I'll call local pawnshops,
have them keep an eye out.
Please, you have to find
the person who did this.
Hey.
I thought we all
agreed you were going to
stop torturing suspects.
[LAUGHS] Uh, just a,
just a robot biopsy.
- Mm-hmm.
- Would've been nice if they'd made
- his hard drive a little more accessible.
- Okay.
You guys get all that?
Thank you, Barry.
I owe you. A few.
What you got?
So, I called my favorite
computer dude at Quantico.
He was walking us through
- Ocho's programming.
- And?
Oh, we should be solving cybercrimes.
Did you know that programmers
leave little notes to
themselves everywhere?
Half the time they,
like, sign their work.
The code that runs
Ocho's start-up sequence,
the DNA shuffle,
it has two letters that you're
gonna recognize all over the place.
ROBY: T.T. Truman Thomas.
Yeah. I got to be honest,
I didn't think he had it in him.
Barry says the code is genius.
I really doubted Truman is
as smart as he thinks he is.
Well, maybe he is, maybe he's not,
but I'd like to ask him
a few questions about our friend here.
ROBY: That's a kind offer.
Actually, Catherine and I
are gonna take it from here.
You know what? Penny's
on her first homicide.
Why don't you lend her a hand?
That'd be a help.
Yeah, of course.
Whoa.
Don't freak out.
Whoa, this clutter is not sparking joy.
I know Chavez put out a BOLO, but wow.
Yeah, the pawn community
really showed up.
I heard you needed help
pulling prints from a couple of things.
By "couple," did you mean everything?
Okay. I'm in it to win it.
Papa loves mambo ♪
Papa loves mambo ♪
Mama loves mambo ♪
Mama loves mambo ♪
Havin' their fling again ♪
Younger than spring again ♪
Feelin' that zing again, wow ♪
Papa loves mambo ♪
Mambo papa ♪
Don't let her rumba ♪
And don't let her samba ♪
'Cause Papa ♪
Loves a mambo tonight. ♪
Penny. Status.
Elvis fans are a surprisingly
law-abiding bunch.
While I can't tell you for sure
which items came from Sands of Time,
I can tell you, no matches in AFIS.
But Penny is running sweat she found
on the register through the DSR-PLUS,
and I found this oily substance
on some of the gak that
deserves a look in the Q-TOF.
What a chore.
You do know you have an actual partner
to help with this, right?
Where is Chris?
Really, Beau?
Suddenly, you aren't
in the mood to talk?
Hurtful.
Chris and I might be
using our personal days to,
um, miss each other.
Sorry. What? Oh, hey, we have something.
Cannabis. In the perp's sweat.
That really narrows things down.
Well, how about sodium
chloride, tartrazine,
naphthalenesulfonic
acid, ethyl decadienoate.
This guy's fingers are covered
in movie theater popcorn butter.
How could you possibly know that?
Oh, like you've never tried to
chemically recreate the golden magic
that can only be found in a theater.
Oh. [SNIFFS]
Oh, my God.
We know who it is.
Huh.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's familiar
stuff from Neil's shop.
You know, when they
called me down here to
come take a look at
this stuff, I thought
this kind of feels like
an interrogation room.
It's because it is, Jim.
We know you stole these things
from your father-in-law's store.
What makes you think that I
CHAVEZ: Petty theft, grand theft,
receiving stolen goods.
You were a real rascal
when you were young, huh?
Should we add murder to the list?
What? No. That's ridiculous.
Your trial is gonna be ridiculous
because we found movie
theater popcorn butter
all over everything.
Look at your vest, dude.
CHAVEZ: You know, I
can't imagine the theater
pays all that much.
Was it just greed
Look, I didn't kill Neil.
Come on. Hands on the table.
We're gonna test you
for gunshot residue.
JIM: Okay, fine.
CHAVEZ: Not a big soap fan, are we?
You don't understand.
When I got there, I saw the
window was already broken.
And suddenly he's stumbling out
and he was hurt. Okay? I could see that.
I know I should've helped
him. I-I I know that,
but instead I just
flipped a few old guitars
and some junk. That's all I did.
All you did was kill
him for a few bucks.
Penny.
- And now you're gonna go down for murder, Jim.
- Pen?
- Murder.
- Penny.
Isn't it supposed to be red?
There's no GSR?
I told you, I didn't shoot Neil.
I-I have no idea who did.
You! Yeah, you, Rajan.
So, uh,
no gunshot residue on Jim Vikner, huh?
Mass Spec confirmed.
Jim's being booked for grand larceny.
This is a strange case.
It's a wobbly one for
Penny on her first go.
Good, she needs it.
Front row students always think
everything's gonna come easy.
Hey, boss.
What's up?
Hmm?
I think you may have been right.
About my partner plan.
You've always said the most important
chemistry in the lab is between people.
I got it wrong.
Catherine and Beau have been bickering
like an old married couple
right out of the gate.
Folsom and I have eyes on us,
and now Chris and Penny
are avoiding each other.
If you're a fan of I-told-you-so's
I'm not.
And you'd be a fool to quit now.
Sorry.
How do you mean?
Our case closure rate has increased 17%
since you've became
day shift supervisor.
You asked me to trust you, I did,
and I'm glad I did.
Max
Your plan saved you from becoming
lunch in that basement,
and Catherine and Beau are buddies now.
Change is hard, not bad.
I'm starting to feel unpopular.
Let me tell you something.
So, the best part about being a boss
you don't have to care what
everybody thinks all the time.
Except me.
Don't take that pie out
of the oven too soon.
I've tried everyone on our list.
Except Jim, for obvious reasons
Shawna, look, I-I promise.
We're gonna make sure your dad
gets a proper send-off, all right?
I-I'll give the eulogy
myself if I have to.
- SHAWNA: Thank you.
- Oh.
Hi, Ms. Dellino.
This is my godfather Lou.
- Hi.
- We're working on the arrangements.
I just need my checkbook, if I can?
Of course.
Uh, Mike, can you take her back?
- Thanks.
- MIKE: Right this way.
You know, I don't mean to pry,
but I'm a little surprised to hear
you're having trouble finding
speakers for Neil's funeral.
I thought he was pretty popular.
Well, you know, Neil,
Neil always had a lot of fans,
just not many friends.
Life on the road and
late nights in the studio,
short tempers are inevitable.
I was his partner, I was used to it.
Others, not so much.
I actually know the feeling.
You were in a band?
Yeah, had a couple
songs chart in the '80s.
Oh. Um
- Oh, wow.
- Razor Pit. Maybe you've heard of us.
Is that ever on Olivia Rodrigo Radio?
[LAUGHS] Back then,
Neil and I had a lot more hair
and we were a lot more metal.
What happened?
Uh, Neil wanted a family,
and the spotlight's never been for me.
And we still get calls
every now and then for a gig.
Uh, got an offer last
month, if you can believe it.
But that's in the past.
Got to grow up, right?
Do you miss it?
You got to leave these
things before they leave you.
So I gig as a roadie,
I help out old friends
Neil didn't have a lot of those. I mean,
do you think this could be
some kind of old feud or ?
Please.
This is sad enough as it is.
SHAWNA: You ready, Lou?
Yeah. Nice chatting.
Yeah.
- Hey there, bestie.
- Look who showed up.
Like a bad penny.
Oh, good one.
I can't believe you didn't tell me
you caught your first homicide.
I had to hear it from
your, uh, "faux-ancé."
Chris.
I'm happy you're here.
Well, I insisted.
But we're all here now.
As is Locard's exchange principle.
The killer had to leave a
piece of himself somewhere.
Yep.
Oh. Thank you.
["DUST & FIRE" BY HIPPO
& THE JACKET PLAYING]
GILL: A-2, tie clip.
A-4, cuff links.
A-3, cash register.
B-1, broken glass.
A-3, really cool thimble.
Just put "thimble."
So all the action was in row A.
Yeah. Neil kept a pretty tidy shop,
except for the detritus
along that baseboard.
Close to where he was shot, actually.
PARK: You know what's
weird? The cuckoo clocks.
Mm. Grandma Finado had one of those.
Oh, the nightmares.
Little Dutch boys popping
out of a gnarled tree.
Where were they going?
I don't know, big guy, but I meant
they weren't working today.
They were on the night of the murder.
That's neat, but I could
use an actual break here.
So can you grab an image
of the shooter or not?
Sorry, no lay-up on your first murder.
There's no salvaging this.
The, uh, coaxial cable's fried.
FINADO: Spooky. The killer managed
to short-circuit the cameras
before he came inside.
Got no print, no image.
Looking for the Invisible Man.
So, the whole "I'm cutting
back on caffeine" thing
Mind your bidness, Willows.
Just don't pull this guy's arm off
and beat him to death, okay?
Turnabout's fair play, right?
TRUMAN: Ladies.
Heard you had some
questions about robotics.
I'm here to help.
Yes, I am sure that's why Sabrina here
arranged for your lawyer to join us?
Howard Rossman. You have questions?
Many. And maybe you can start
by telling us why you'd program a robot
to mirror a lab tech.
Is that what it looks like to you?
So, what it looks
like to me, Mr. Thomas,
is a robot creating synthetic DNA.
That's a heavy lift,
right? Even for you.
So why go to all that trouble?
WILLOWS: I have to wonder
how you have time for it all.
We know that you've got your hands
in several business ventures.
And none of the publicly traded ones
- are biotech companies, but
- But you're right.
Better living through
science is the next big thing.
We're gonna change the world.
I just came from one of our labs.
Directly, in fact.
I hear that DNA is the new hard drive.
Petabytes of information
at your fingertips.
All the power players are in it, right?
[CLEARS THROAT]
Unfortunately, Mr. Thomas
is not at liberty to discuss.
So sorry. Security. You understand.
Yeah, I understand. We had
our own security breach.
A cyberattack.
The only files that were destroyed
were the ones that we've
collected from your company.
You think that I would
hack you poor folks?
I'm on your side.
- I'm a concerned citizen
- Mr. Thomas, I apologize.
We were told they needed
technical assistance
with a murder investigation.
I see now we were misled.
You can direct any further
inquiries to Howard.
I have very important
work waiting for me.
As do we.
Well, as long as he's
got a muzzle on payroll,
we're not getting squat.
I wouldn't be so sure.
Stop.
Don't take another step. Hand me a swab.
"Directly, in fact."
I used to have these dreams, Jack.
Up at the front of the classroom,
and all I'm wearing is my underwear.
That's what this case feels like.
Totally. I have the exact
same dream about you.
[LAUGHS] Stop.
I just, I only have so many chances
to prove I'm ready for the Level 2 test,
and I feel like I'm failing.
JACK: It has been a day,
and it's a learning experience, hon.
I think you're looking at
this completely backwards.
Say that again.
I'm just saying, you know
You're looking at this
completely backwards.
Sorry, am I in trouble?
No, but I need to use your camera.
♪
[CAMERA CLICKING]
So
Okay. You were right.
The edges of the stomach
wound, the-the skin,
they're not so much puckered
in. They're more facing out.
Because we were never
looking at an entry wound.
- It's an exit wound.
- But
unless the shooter was standing
inside this guy's colon,
that's impossible. I-I think
we just need to find the bullet.
No, but what if we're not
looking for a bullet at all?
The messy wound, the fried electronics,
the stopped clocks, the Betadine
didn't erase gunshot
residue, there wasn't any.
I think I know what we're looking at.
["DON'T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA"
BY JULIE COVINGTON PLAYING]
[FINADO HUMMING]
FINADO: All you will see ♪
Is a girl you once knew ♪
Although she's
dressed up to the nines ♪
I had to let it happen ♪
I had to change ♪
Couldn't stay all
my life down at heel ♪
So I chose freedom ♪
Running around trying everything new ♪
But nothing impressed me at all ♪
I never expected it to ♪
Don't cry for me, Argentina ♪
The truth is I never left you ♪
All through my wild days ♪
My mad existence ♪
I kept my promise ♪
Don't keep your distance. ♪
GILL: Oh, beautiful,
Beau. It's gorgeous.
- [MUSIC STOPS]
- WILLOWS: What are we looking at here?
A murder weapon.
Uh
I think this is what killed Neil.
A bullet isn't the only deadly
high-velocity projectile.
Have you ever heard
of neodymium magnets?
Would you think less of me if I said no?
GILL: They're only the
strongest magnets on Earth.
We're talking an incredibly
powerful magnetic field.
It attracts small
matter over long range.
Oh.
Build up that force?
It could kill someone.
WILLOWS: Really? I mean,
I get we're not talking
your mama's fridge magnets,
but for this to work,
the killer would've had to implant
the magnet inside Neil, right?
Not implanted. He fed him.
FINADO: We know he had boba
tea the day of his death.
Those little balls of tapioca goodness,
nearly identical to the magnets.
I don't know where you're getting this.
There was no killer, no
magnets, nothing on the footage.
On the damaged footage.
Guess what put it on the
fritz and messed with the gears
in all of those old clocks.
Tada. Electromagnet.
We all built one in third grade.
I mean, this is bigger,
but it's simple stuff really.
An electromagnet explains
the inside-out damage
to Neil's abdomen and the extra
blood and viscera at the scene.
FINADO: We haven't even gotten a
glimpse of this guy for good reason.
Magnetic waves can
penetrate a brick wall.
The window didn't have a shot.
I think he operated
this from a distance.
That way he could avoid
the security cameras.
Oh, ye of little faith.
Watch me kill someone with a magnet.
Get back, people.
- Get back.
- Move, move.
FINADO: All right!
Cover what you care about most.
Three, two, one.
[ELECTRONIC WHIRRING]
[METALLIC CLANK]
Whoa!
[WHIRRING STOPS]
GILL: That's how Neil
was "shot in reverse."
Murder by magnet. I'll be damned.
ROBY: Pretty good,
Ms. Penny, pretty good,
but now there's the
small matter of finding
the small matter.
You've got a murder method,
now you need a murder weapon.
So, I'm standing right
where the victim was hit.
The hex orb would have shot out of Neil
and exited the store in the
direction of the electromagnet.
Only the smallest metal debris would.
Depending on the angles, some
of the little guys hit the wall.
Penny, I'm not sure old
thimbles and trigonometry
are gonna help you find a killer
who never stepped foot in here.
Oh, they will.
Laser party, anyone?
GILL: So, the electromagnet
had to be right there.
RAJAN: Well done.
A lot closer than we thought.
There's got to be
something right around here.
Trace, impressions.
I'll holler if I find anything.
Are you gonna tell me what's
going on with you and Chris?
I don't know. Magnets
with the same polarities
don't attract. They repel.
That's rubbish. You and
Chris are nothing alike.
Tell me what's going on.
Hey, Folsom,
beat you.
RAJAN: Penny.
Someone left in a hurry
since Tuesday's rain.
Wide wheel base. Big old truck.
GILL: Hey, there's something
weird and fresh over here.
It doesn't look like motor
oil. It's not that viscous.
Well, you're kneeling right
where the driver would've been
before they peeled out.
It's it's probably dip.
Chewing tobacco.
Well, Jim's hands were pretty dirty,
and we only ever asked if he shot Neil.
Maybe he was telling us the
truth, just not the whole truth.
DNA. Pronto.
You know I would never doubt you.
I wouldn't even say I have a doubt.
More a curiosity about your plan here.
Finding Truman Thomas's
hidden biotech lab
using a speck of dust,
as opposed to, say,
his tax filings.
Truman covered all of his tracks, right?
Except the ones in our lobby.
So, this baby uses X-rays
to measure the crystal structures
in the dust on the shoe
and the composition of the dust
What, spells out an address?
The IXRF, it tells us what's in the air
at Truman Thomas's biotech firm,
and that, that might just tell us
whether he's been toying
around with the building blocks
of synthetic DNA, among other things.
Okay. Yeah, that make sense.
- Yeah.
- You giving me a hard time or something?
This what Penny's been putting up with?
Why aren't you working
on her case with her? Hmm?
I just don't want to miss
when you wipe the
smirk off Truman's face.
I'll get the truth out
of you one way or another.
I'll put your whole sorry
butt in the IXRF if I have to.
♪
[TRILLS, BEEPS]
PARK: Tellurium?
You could synthesize
DNA with that, right?
And you want to guess
who owns a tellurium mine?
Maybe that's where he
and his robot buddies
are cooking up their little
double helix stink bombs for us.
Mm-hmm. Me and you are
gonna pay him a visit.
Right after you help Penny.
Oh, look. I wiped that
smirk off your face too, huh?
Hmm.
LOU: Yeah. Hope you got
my text. Sorry I'm late.
Car trouble.
FOLSOM: No, I'm afraid
we're land lines only today.
We thought you might want this.
It was in Neil's wallet.
LOU: Ozzfest '99.
Man, wild times.
Wow. My-my wallet's only for
the people I care about most.
- You must've been tight.
- Yeah, we were close.
CHAVEZ: You chew tobacco, Lou, right?
How are we on time?
We've got five minutes, at least,
probably more,
unless Lou's smarter than he looks.
Well, he built a magnet to kill a man,
he might surprise us. [SIGHS]
Where are you, little fella?
We found some chewing
tobacco outside Neil's store.
Thought it might've
come from the killer,
but that's your DNA, Lou.
Oh, I'm sure it is.
It's my only vice.
These tire tracks came from a truck
same size as yours, and
the width and tread tells it
was hauling something heavy.
Why are you telling me this?
Shawna mentioned you
started bringing Neil boba
- a few weeks back.
- Yeah.
See, a magnet the
size of a tapioca pearl
was used to kill Neil, and your truck
was in the exact path of that magnet.
I don't understand. Neil was shot.
No, he wasn't.
Now, you're a roadie, right, Lou?
So, magnets are in every
piece of equipment you use.
Microphones, speakers
And copper wire, too.
That's perfect for an electromagnet.
[CHUCKLES] I mean, you should
see the way they make metal fly.
It's almost faster
than a speeding bullet.
GILL: I don't understand.
It should be right here.
It has to be.
Layla's about to come on shift.
Cutest waitress at Waffle House.
And since you don't
have enough to hold me,
I'm leaving now.
Well, let me walk you out. I
wouldn't want you to get lost.
- We got to go.
- We can't go.
- It should be right here.
- We got, we got to go.
We got to go. Come on.
Our model said the magnet
would be in the back
of that truck. I don't get it.
[ENGINE STARTS]
- Hey, Chavez.
- Hey.
That one's yours, right?
You guys up for a car chase?
- What?
- What?
Just hurry. Let's go!
I've never tailed a suspect before.
Ooh, baby's first car chase.
Well, buckle up. Here we go.
Okay, I hope you both had fun.
Detective, our suspect just
made an un-signaled right turn.
Wanna go ahead and pull him over?
Hold on, I thought you
wanted to follow this guy.
PARK: Left blinker's going double time.
Only does that when the
tail light's damaged.
Something's lodged in the right one.
Oh, my God. I was rushing again,
and I missed what was
right in front of my face.
- [SIREN CHIRPS]
- Hands on the steering wheel.
- Miss me already, Detective?
- [CHUCKLES]
- Tail light's broken.
- I'll just pay whatever fine
Ah, no need. We'll take
a look at it for you.
That'll be Neil's blood
on there, won't it?
I want a lawyer.
You told me you weren't
cut out for the spotlight,
but you sure missed it, didn't you?
Neil ended your careers, right
as you were making it big,
and Neil moved on, but you couldn't.
Is that why you laced Neil's
tea with the murder weapon?
Because you were bitter?
But, I guess, your music career
did come in handy for something.
Because all your toys had the
makings of an electromagnet.
And with the flip of a switch,
you made Neil take his final bow.
[CRIES OUT]
[ENGINE STARTS]
[TIRES SQUEALING]
It was truly demented.
Is that the point?
- Still hardcore?
- [SCOFFS] No.
I told you,
last month, an agent reached
out, he found our music.
He offered us a second chance,
and Neil said no, again.
He wouldn't even give me one night.
Dude, let it go.
I was, I was supposed to be a star.
I was supposed to have a different life.
I just picked the wrong partner.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Sounds good.
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]
No, uh, celebratory
dinner with the faux-ancé?
You need new material.
- Stop, I'm I'm teasing.
- Yeah, you're always teasing.
About my sweaters, music.
But Jack? Leave him out of it.
I'm-I'm sorry.
Is it him? Is it us?
Is it is it me?
Forget it. Really.
I don't want you feeding
me a boba in 30 years.
No. What the hell?
Are you really getting married, Pen?
- Chris
- It's just a question.
You don't live together,
you won't set a date.
Do you even know each other that well?
I mean this as a friend.
When you told me you got engaged,
I kind of thought it was a joke.
Because everything is a joke to you.
You know, maybe your next partner
will enjoy your sense of humor.
ROBY: Hey, Chris. A minute?
Boss?
Hey. Everything okay?
Yeah. Yeah, sure.
What's all, what's all this?
FOLSOM: Research on
Truman's tellurium operation.
Gene editing is a gray area.
If you wanted to stay
out of the public eye,
a subterranean lab is about right.
You're serious. A bat cave?
FOLSOM: Look where
his tellurium mine is.
PARK: Few miles from
MKD and nothing else.
Good work, Joshua.
You ever, uh, hang a
homicide on a billionaire?
I mean, could be more than one.
Cliff. Robert Cuevas.
Maybe even Valerie.
Hey, hey, we're not gonna
get all hyped up on this.
We're just gonna go take a look.
- You're coming with me and Catherine.
- Yeah.
Leaving in five.
- Okay?
- Yeah. I'll grab my gear.
Oh
I made copies for everyone, don't worry.
No, you hang back and
keep digging in on this
'cause if I'm right,
I'm gonna need your help
backing it up with the D.A.
Max, I'm trying here.
I know,
and I appreciate it, but
I am almost at the end
of this thing, okay?
Chris has got me covered.
Yeah, of course.
Good luck.
This is the big bad
synthetic DNA operation?
I was expecting something
a little less, uh, crusty.
I don't know, but I don't think
Truman's out here digging in dirt.
♪
Anybody home?
Come on.
♪
WILLOWS: Well
- See that?
- Here we go.
I don't exactly want to be here long.
What are we looking for?
Somebody who works here would be nice.
Proof Mr. Thomas made
that rotten synthetic DNA
would be even better.
I'll take this hall.
♪
[MACHINERY WHIRRING]
PARK: Look who's home alone.
So, without a warrant
We get as many photos as we can.
PARK: What do you think all this is for?
"Changing the world." His words. Go on,
get a video of that. Get a video.
Get Catherine.
Come on.
Damn it.
[MUFFLED EXPLOSIONS]
Get behind me.
You've got one good arm.
Okay.
Whoever's down here, they're
not gonna come for two
[GAS HISSING]
Watch out! Ah!
No! No! Cover your mouth!
Come on, Chris.
- [PARK CHOKING]
- Chris, no.
[GUN COCKS]
MAN [DISTORTED]: Drop it, Dr. Roby.
WILLOWS [RECORDED]:
You've reached Catherine Willows.
- Please leave a message.
- [BEEPS]
ROBY: He's six foot, gray
suit. He's got a Beretta.
- Tell Joshua!
- [CHOKING]