CSI: Miami s04e23 Episode Script

Hundreds of fans are coming out to celebrate fashion designer Patricia Novak's new summer line, stars arriving in true South Beach style from surf to turf.
Stepping off the boat we have heiress Nikki Beck and her boyfriend Brandon Hess, of the band Two Minute Mile.
Nikki, Nikki, over here! Show us that thousand watt smile, Nikki.
Hey guys, great to see you.
Nikki, are you going to be working the catwalk today? You know it.
And after the show, I'm throwing a party for a couple hundred of my dearest friends.
And check out who's right on Nikki's tail.
Manhattan's favorite socialite, April Goodwin.
April, April, over here! Over here.
Oh, they're kissing.
Oh, wow.
Look at that, they're kissing.
Oh, my God.
Look, her dress fell.
So, look, come to my place.
Bring your headshot, we'll talk about how I can make you a star.
Nikki wants mojitos in blue glasses or I stop payment on your checks.
No, I use the same trainer.
Guy is great, you should check him out.
I'll give you his number.
Oh, my God.
What is she doing here? Hey, none of that.
I can't be in this room.
I need some air.
Nikki.
Alone.
Nikki? Nikki? So, that's Nikki Beck.
Yes, quite the young celebrity.
It looks like she was electrocuted in the middle of her own party.
Well, she was famous for being famous.
All eyes trained on her every move.
All except her last one.
Electrocution by bathtub is always hard to call, Horatio.
Death comes from ventricular fibrillation.
A heart attack.
And no visible signs of trauma.
Whoa.
Wait a minute.
Something in her throat.
Looks like a pill.
She didn't have time to digest it before she died.
Alexx, get that to toxicology, please.
No problem.
Thank you.
Unique murder weapon tanning lamp.
UV fluorescent bulbs.
Looks like they're all broken.
Aren't these outlets supposed to trip in order to prevent an electrical shock? They did.
Just not fast enough.
Unfortunately, she had something working against her.
Bath salts, when they're dispersed into the water, the particles get charged.
So the salt conducted the electricity.
Oh, I got a hair.
It's not Nikki's color.
Maybe it's her killer's.
Hey, guys, check this out.
Some blistering on her skin.
Concentrated around a pale linear mark.
Isn't that normal for water electrocution? Yeah, shows where the water level was at time of death.
How can she have a linear mark when she was wearing her robe? Exactly.
This girl was re-dressed after she was electrocuted.
Maybe a cover up? Well, let's ask the guy who's used to controlling Nikki's image.
Her manager.
I did it.
I put her robe back on.
That doesn't look so good, Chad.
Re-dress screams cover-up.
I didn't kill her.
When I found Nikki in the tub, she was already dead.
Hey.
You flaking on your own party? Oh, my God, Nikki.
Nobody needed to see her that way.
So you slipped back in the crowd, but you decided not to call 911? I know how it works.
You call it in, suddenly you're like the prime suspect.
You seem to be overly conscious of how things look, Chad.
I had a client once, his autopsy photos ended up on the internet.
No such thing as a private death anymore.
Looks like a pattern with you.
Your clients passing away.
Say what you will, but I'm not a murderer.
I was only protecting Nikki.
Hey.
Hi.
Your mother ever tell you there's more to a woman than meets the eye? Nikki Beck.
Hair extensions, capped teeth collagen in her lips.
She also had a spray-on tan.
Good eye.
And you told me you might have nerve damage.
Actually, you're right, I don't.
And I'm glad word didn't get around that I did.
Why would it? Wait up.
Were you testing me? To find out if I was the mole? This isn't easy for me.
Ryan?! Me? Of all people, me? Look, the lab is on the line.
Horatio told me it was the only way.
Alexx, I'm sorry.
I just found out that Nikki used a spray-on tan.
So a tanning lamp doesn't make a lot of sense.
Maybe, uh, maybe it was a plant.
Someone brought it to make it look like an accident? Well, if so, I may have the very person who did it.
Check out the hair you found at the scene.
Yeah, the medulla's thick.
It's greater than half the shaft, so it's not human.
It's animal hair.
And one with a very unique substance on its coat.
Lauryl glucoside.
And is that rosemary oil and grapefruit extract? It's organic flea shampoo.
For those who can afford the very best.
But whose dog barely ever touches the ground.
No way.
You think I killed Nikki? So that's not your tanning lamp, Miss Goodwin? Please.
I prefer the actual sun.
We found a dog hair next to the bathtub where Nikki was murdered.
I have a warrant to extract hair from your dog to make a comparison.
babydoll doesn't like strangers.
Fine, I was trying to help Nikki.
I wasn't aware the two of you were that close.
We were "frenemies".
"Frenemies"? Friends in real life, Enemies in the press.
We just played their game, gave them what they wanted.
What exactly were you trying to help her with? Nikki just got out of rehab.
And she couldn't deal.
Hi.
Did anyone see you? We're cool.
Oh, my God, your wardrobe malfunction idea was the best.
What's wrong? Give it here.
I put you in rehab and I can put you right back.
All right, take it.
It's interesting that you would say that, because our medical examiner found a pill in her throat.
I swear, I took the pill away from her.
Then how would she get another one right before she died? That bitch.
Who are you referring to? Her assistant, Melinda Carson.
April's lying.
I did everything Nikki wanted, but I drew the line at drugs.
Then where'd she get them? Are you kidding? Drugs are exchanged at these parties more than phone numbers.
I take it Nikki didn't know about your past.
My past? You were arrested for identity theft three years ago on your last job.
That was a misunderstanding.
I can't get anything done unless I pretend to be the person I'm working for.
I do her banking.
Buy her airline tickets.
Is there any chance that Nikki found out you were using her identity and things got out of control? That's just great.
Now you're accusing me of murder, too.
Unless you'd like to substantiate that with any proof, I have a funeral to arrange.
Eric, there's something I wanted to talk to you about.
Marisol.
Is she okay? She's fine; she and I are getting married today.
We don't have the luxury of time, Eric, and it would make her happy.
The other thing that would make her happy is for you to be there.
I don't know.
I understand.
But, Eric, it would mean a lot.
Yeah.
I'll think about it.
H, the pill from Nikki's throat had a word stamped on it.
Her saliva deteriorated a portion of it.
Ghost is that a street term? Didn't sound familiar, so I scraped a sample, ran it through tox.
What'd you find? It's a designer drug, knockoff of ecstasy.
So new, it's not even on the government's controlled substance list.
And one of the ingredients is ephedrine, used in cold medicine.
Yes, but it is also used in the production of methamphetamine, isn't it? Whoever was going to manufacture this was going to need to buy a lot of it.
And also going to need an ID to purchase it.
That's right, I'll run it through Narco, see if we get any red flags; I'll let you know.
Let's do that.
Professor Danville.
We're here to investigate the murder of Nikki Beck.
Well, how does this concern me, officer? You created the pill that we found lodged in her throat.
Our narcotics division is aware of your website.
Yes, I set it up to post my research.
I have a grant to create drugs.
Is that so? I just test formulas, I don't make drugs, or distribute them.
Then why did you recently purchase a large quantity of ephedrine from surfglide pharmacy? It's part of my work, buy it all the time.
But this last batch was stolen.
And you didn't report it.
Where did you keep the batch? Well, it was in the filing cabinet, top drawer.
Wait a minute, don't touch that.
The ephedrine was right there.
Yeah, you use toothpicks? No.
Why? Well, someone does.
Eric, get that to the lab.
I hear congratulations are in order.
Listen, I wanted to tell you.
I was just afraid of how you'd react.
How did mami and papi take it? You didn't even tell them? This is exactly why.
I knew they'd react the same way you are.
Look, Mari, you should be concentrating on getting better right now.
Why do you always focus on the negative? That's one of the things I love about Horatio.
He makes me think about the positive.
You barely know him.
No, you barely know him.
He is not the same man you see at work.
Don't you think it'd be wise to slow down right now? I want to have a life like everybody else.
What if the cancer comes back? What if it doesn't? I need to start living for the future.
Until Horatio, I didn't know if I had one.
So you'll be at the ceremony? I'm sorry.
Hey.
Hi.
Are you looking for the toothpick results? Yeah, Valera was supposed to have something for me.
She was kind of swamped, so I told her I'd jump in and help you out.
Okay.
Is everything okay? Yeah, fine.
I mean, I know we didn't spend that much time together, but enough to know when something's bothering you.
I'm just dealing with some personal things.
I'll, um I'll work it out.
Thank you.
So, uh, what's the word on the toothpick? Oh, uh, well, I extracted enough DNA for a profile and CODIS found a match.
You want to check out your donor? Dario Sanez.
Think that's your drug dealer? Well, if he's not, he's definitely cooking it.
Thanks.
Miami-Dade PD.
Did you just see that, Eric? Okay.
Dario Sanez! Dario! Officer.
Check the house, Eric.
Check the house.
There's somebody back there.
Policia? Please, help us.
What's your name, ma'am? Isabella.
Isabella, were you making drugs in that house? Yes, we worked for him.
We were prisoners.
So you lived in there? Where are you from, ma'am? El Salvador.
These men they come.
They take women in the middle of the night.
Is that what happened to you? No, I let them take me.
You let them take you? Why? They have my sister.
These women, they don't last long.
And she's already sick.
What's your sister's name? Lucia.
I hope I'm not too late.
Please find her.
I'm going to do my best.
Hey, Joey, you paged me? Yeah.
Um, I thought there were no prints on the murder weapon.
That's a first for me a tanning lamp used as a murder weapon.
I was about to ship the tanning lamp off to the evidence locker when my UV light hit it.
There, on the back.
See those tiny dots? Oh, yeah.
What are they? You're looking at a datadot.
Like a name tag, but with numbers.
Company that makes them assigns a unique pin number to each registered owner.
The dots are applied with a liquid adhesive containing a UV trace.
So how do they help us? I traced the owner through the company's home page, and guess what? Registered to Brandon Hess.
Nikki Beck's boyfriend.
Joseph, you just confirmed my theory.
This didn't belong to her.
Looks like they've been joined by grief.
Yeah, at the hip.
Oh, look you brought a friend this time.
Hey, I meant to ask you, who are you wearing? MDPD.
I'll have to google them.
I'm glad to see you're helping each other through this.
This is hard on all of us.
But we totally have each other's backs.
And fronts, apparently.
April, you're gonna have to give us a second while we ask Brandon a few questions.
So buzzkill.
Ring me at home, Bran.
See ya.
So, what's up? How would you describe your relationship with Nikki? Great girl.
Our time together was hot.
And she was there for me when Two Minute Mile was breaking up.
My group.
Two minute mile? Sorry, boy bands aren't really my thing.
We've sold 28 million copies.
Whatever.
I'm going solo.
Why are you asking me about all this? Because it was your tanning lamp that was used to electrocute Nikki.
My tanning lamp? Datadots confirm that it's yours, Brandon.
Yeah.
My accountants tagged all my stuff with those, for insurance.
Then how did it end up at Nikki's? I don't know.
We used to borrow each other's stuff all the time.
Can I go? For now.
We don't have enough to hold him.
We need to go back to the one thing we do have: the murder weapon.
Yeah.
Eric you okay? Yeah.
I'm just thinking about this woman, Isabella.
Hard to see a woman take chances with her life like that, not knowing what the future is.
It's a good thing she has people that care about her.
Yeah.
Anything off the word on that pill? No.
Think that's the guy's nickname? The dealer? Maybe it's a way to contact him.
OKay.
Well, even if the letters correspond to numbers, "ghost" is only five digits, not enough for a phone number.
But it is enough for a short code.
What about a text message? Hey, punch in the specified five-digit code and you get an automated response.
Why don't we place our own order? Let's give it a shot.
We got him.
3rd and Palm.
There you go.
Call narco, have him picked up.
Mr.
Cervantes, you've done quite well for yourself.
You think my business will shut down just 'cause you got me in here? I got a diversified corporation.
And multinational.
You kidnap young woman from El Salvador and get them to work for you as slaves.
You kidding me? They want to come.
Work a few years, pay off some debts.
Then they're free to go.
After their bodies are destroyed by the poison you have them working in.
You have to think outside the box to stay ahead.
If I don't find Lucia, my friend, I'm going to put you in a box.
Do you understand me? Like I said, I got a corporation to run.
I don't sweat personnel changes.
Who handles that for you? Talk to middle management.
I don't know a thing.
After I find Lucia, I'm going to shut down your corporation forever.
Officer.
Hey.
Let me ask you something.
Do you have any plans after work tonight? Yes, I heard about the wedding.
No, I'm not going.
I'm really happy for them.
Don't you think we should do something for them? Well, they said they didn't want to make a fuss, but I got them something anyway.
Would you do me a favor? Would you put my name on the card? I already put your name on the card.
You did? Yes.
Thank you so much.
You're fantastic.
So, what do we got going on here? A partial print showed up on the bottom of one of the bulbs when Kayle was processing the lamp.
But there's not enough ridge detail to match it to a ten-card.
No.
I thought if I pulled enough partials, I'd be able to Frankenstein a print.
That could take forever.
How are you at poker? What, you want to bluff? Who do you have in mind? April Goodwin.
Frank ran the background on her.
It turns out she has a secret of her own the Goodwin family's broke.
Really? Well, I just spoke to Nikki's assistant, Melinda.
I wonder if April knew about Nikki's deal to do a reality show without her.
Reality show? It was supposed to be together, but Nikki didn't want to share the spotlight.
I'd call that motive.
What? Am I supposed to guess what this is? It's your fingerprint off a bulb from the tanning lamp that killed Nikki.
You know, for someone in your position, April, lying doesn't look so good.
I'm in a "position"? You were the last person to see Nikki alive.
Your fingerprint is on the murder weapon, which you said you had never seen.
Of course I lied.
You kept calling it a weapon.
It was just a gift.
You gave it to Brandon? I always give gifts to my friends.
I just sent Nikk flowers for her party today.
I have nothing to hide.
Except for your family's financial situation.
We did some research on you.
Are the Goodwins millions of dollars in debt? Didn't your father just apply for a real estate license? He's trying.
That makes you the sole breadwinner for your entire family.
How would you like to carry that name and not have a dime behind it? I'll do whatever it takes to support my family.
Including kill Nikki? How'd you feel when you found out that Nikki was dropping you to do her own reality show? What are you talking about? No way.
It was supposed to be about both of us.
She was going to dump me? You saying you didn't know? I didn't.
You guys want me, I'll be on my boat.
I can see myself out.
She's a pretty good actress.
She's not that good.
She only does reality TV.
I believe her.
Well, if you're right, then we still don't know who Nikki's killer is.
Horatio, I called in a few favors over at narco.
Asked for any houses they suspected of cooking meth.
How many were there? Cook houses, over three times that.
What about the place we just hit? Okay.
Same dealer, same equipment.
Which house had the same amount? Here, this one.
Just over 4,000.
It's over near Higgins park.
That's a quiet neighborhood.
Not for long.
Excuse me.
Put the gun down slowly.
You're under arrest for the manufacture of illegal drugs.
Are you alone? Yeah, man.
Just me.
Check the van, Eric.
Okay.
Calmate, okay? Todo esta bien.
Estamos aqui para ayudarlas.
Conocen a una muchacha que se llama Lucia? No le hacimos vio por varios dias.
She's not here.
Where's Lucia? Don't know no Lucia, man.
Let me jog your memory, my friend.
Lucia.
Oh, her? I got rid of her, man.
She was useless.
She kept fainting from the fumes.
I sold her.
To who? I don't know.
Check the bag.
The cash is in there.
Here it is.
I'm going to process it to see what I can get off it.
Cuff him.
I mean, we've been through everything.
What are we missing? Look at this picture.
Yeah.
This is Nikki's bathroom.
What am I looking at? The flowers.
Oh, yeah.
April said she had them delivered to the party.
Exactly.
Flowers don't wilt that fast.
Unless they were in high humidity.
When Nikki's body was found, the hot water had steamed up the room.
By the time we got there, the moisture had evaporated.
We didn't miss something.
We just couldn't see it.
So what exactly are we looking for? Anything the moisture isn't sticking to.
Footprints, handprints.
When you see something, just circle it with the chalk.
So if someone walked in here while it was humid, their footprints would appear under new moisture.
The outlines will.
It's like if you take your finger and draw it across a window and then you breathe on it.
Moisture can't stick to the grime left behind, and so you only see the mark when everything around it is wet.
Okay, so most of the prints around the tub were wiped out by the water and crime scene activity.
I got some bare feet prints here.
Probably Nikki's.
These are male shoe prints.
They go from the tub out the door.
Well, that covers Nikki's manager's story, right? He came in here, re-dressed her And these high heels would back April's story.
She came to the tub, took the pill from Nikki.
Then whose footprints are these? Look like a woman's.
Flat soles.
Sensible shoes.
Someone working the party.
Melinda, her assistant.
She claims she never came in here.
These come from the door.
They go to the tub.
And then they go from the tub to the vanity.
That's where the tanning lamp was.
These footprints are spread apart, like she braced herself.
if this is Melinda's handprint, she could have thrown in the lamp, and fell back when Nikki splashed her.
But that only suggests she was in the room.
It doesn't prove she killed Nikki.
No.
But I know what will.
Melinda's been lying to us all along.
I didn't tell you because I didn't want Nikki to look bad.
So now you admit you were there.
Nikki wanted a fix.
What Nikki wants, Nikki gets.
So all that rehab was a waste.
Just give me the damn pill.
I left her in that tub, flying high.
Actually, that's not true.
I just got off the phone with Nikki's manager.
Turns out, she was gonna drop you out of her reality show, not April, like you told us.
That's true.
Mel, I got some news about the show.
It's the network.
They don't think you're right for the demo.
Nikki.
You promised me I could play myself.
Sorry.
At least you still have this job.
Not anymore.
I quit.
Seriously, Mel, where are you going to go? You leave, you're over.
But that's not where it ended, is it? You killed Nikki, didn't you, Melinda? You're over.
No.
You are.
No.
I didn't kill Nikki.
The murder weapon had fluorescent UV bulbs.
So? So they shattered when you threw the tanning lamp into the water.
Stand up, Melinda.
Ultraviolet waves are invisible.
The bulbs are lined with a phosphor UV coating which allows it to glow under ultraviolet light.
When Nikki had a seizure, she splashed the water in the tub on everything, including you.
the water carried those phosphor shards onto your clothing.
When the water evaporated, it left the glass behind.
Did you know she got $100,000 just to show up at a premiere? Never even stayed for the movie.
And all she paid me? She didn't deserve the life she had.
She didn't deserve to die, either.
Eric.
Hey.
Look, I got to run.
Can it wait? I heard you're not going to the ceremony today.
Where'd you hear that? Everyone kind of heard.
Everyone needs to mind their business.
Well, Marisol could say the same to you.
You haven't been through what I've been through with her.
Okay? Do you trust her? Yes, of course.
And I know you trust Horatio with your life.
So don't you trust these two to make this decision? Look I've been taking care of Marisol ever since she got sick.
I don't think she's ready for this.
But this is not your decision.
She didn't even invite our family.
That's not the way we do things.
It's her wedding day, Eric.
She probably didn't want to hear that speech, did you think of that? No.
She just really wants to be happy.
And I know her brother wants that, too.
I got to do trace on these $100 bills.
Eric, what did we get? I found iodine crystals on one of the bills used to buy Lucia.
lodine.
It's possible that Cervantes' men used it in their kitchen.
I don't think so.
I found this bill in the middle of an unwrapped bundle.
Cervantes' men never touched it.
Okay.
Wait a minute.
Wait a minute, Danville had iodine on his hands, didn't he? He's got Lucia.
I just develop the drug formula.
I can't help what people do with it.
This is not about the drugs.
I'm talking about Lucia; where is she? Who? The woman you purchased from your partners.
Where is she? I haven't touched her, I swear.
I am certain she's gonna have a different story.
So for the last time, take me to her, right now.
Danville said she was locked in a back room.
Lucia? Lucia, it's okay, honey.
It's all right.
Isabella sent me.
Isabella? That's right.
Isabella.
Lucia you're free.
come on.
You're free, honey.
Ladies.
I don't know how to thank you.
Well, there's no need, ma'am, there's no need.
All my sister wanted was to come to America, to be happy.
Now she can.
Now, I want you to go with this lady.
She's gonna help you.
And this is my card.
If you need anything, you'll call me.
Okay? Thank you.
All right, ladies, good luck.
How's that for a wedding present? The best kind.
We all pitched in.
Wow.
This is a good year, too.
We hope you have a lot more to come.
Congratulations.
Thank you, pal.
You'll tell the others? I will.
You look beautiful.
You don't look so bad yourself.
Any doubts? Nope.
You? No way.
Listen, I don't think Eric's going to show.
I beg to differ.
Hey, sis.
Eric.
Thanks, little brother.
Sir.
Wouldn't have missed it.
You ready? I sure am.
I got a clear shot.
I can get the hit and get away clean.
I've got it all mapped out.
Just give me the okay.