CSI: Crime Scene Investigation s05e23 Episode Script
Iced
Freshman dorm, coed.
Two DB's on the third floor Trip Wilmont and Paula Levine.
Both 18.
Hey, Grissom, when you went to college did you live in the dorms ? Surely, you jest.
You know, they say a BA is worth a million dollars in extra income over a lifetime.
Yeah, but the present cost of college tuition is about the same amount.
So you're saying college isn't worth the expense ? I guess it depends on what you learn.
So this is Trip's dorm room.
When he missed a big B-ball game this afternoon, his coach called his R.
A.
His R.
A.
got the kid next door to jimmy the lock.
Paramedics pronounced and took off.
The coroner's en route.
Music, alcohol, candles.
Kid was a regular Romeo.
"For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo".
* *Two last lines of Romeo and Juliet.
Condom wrapper.
So much for safe sex.
Sara, do me a favor and open the window, please.
Sure.
You feeling okay, David ? Take a look at the skin coloration on both victims.
Their bodies are slightly pink.
And you're thinking "pink" skin tones are a common effect of carbon monoxide fumes.
That vomit's also consistent with exposure to C.
O.
We'll need a sample of that vomit.
Okay, I'll be right there.
My testimony's up in the Hoyt case.
I gotta go.
I see no common source for C.
O.
, so you'll have to use the detector.
You're running point.
I knew something was wrong.
Trip lived for basketball, and it was the semis, so there's no way he'd miss a game.
Yeah, I saw Susan banging on his door, so I used my pocket-knife to jam it open.
Had you done that before ? Yeah.
All the time.
Whenever Trip would get drunk and lock himself out, he would bang on my door.
So you and Trip were friends ? Me and Trip ? I'm not really the type of guy that Trip Wilmont would hang out with.
So I guess that's a no ? Yeah.
But we had Spanish 102 together.
Sometimes he'd roll over to my dorm, and I'd help him with his homework.
Did you help him, or did you do it for him ? Look, it's not the Spanish Inquisition.
For a jock, it could have been a lot worse but, no, we weren't friends.
No trace of carbon monoxide.
There's a trace of semen on the door handle.
This one, too.
Trophy condoms.
Trophy condoms ? When a stud scores, he announces his victory by putting his spoils on his neighbor's doorknob.
Well, my bet is Trip scored a lot.
Everyone okay ? Excuse me.
Spontaneous toilet combustion ? Or a college prank.
You think this has anything to do with the case ? We got to check it out.
Guess you should start processing.
- Conrad.
- Hey, Detective.
Homicide called you guys over an hour ago.
No one's responded.
Not even the coroner.
Have you tried Grissom or Catherine ? Catherine's on a case, I think.
Grissom Oh, that's right.
Grissom's in court.
And Sofia's still on her Task Force leave.
Both shifts are tapped.
- Did you check ? - I checked the board.
No one's available except for you.
I'm the Assistant Lab Director.
I know.
But you're still qualified to process a scene, right ? Yes, I am.
I'll dust off my kit.
Meet you there.
Hey, Doc.
Two dead bodies.
Both were in perfect health.
I am so hoping that you have more in your report than that.
There are two toxins which can turn a body pink postmortem.
We already ruled out carbon monoxide.
Which leaves one.
Cyanide ingestion.
Interesting fact about cyanide.
Not everyone can smell it.
Right.
It's a genetic quirk.
Unfortunately, I don't have that ability.
"The Nose" has arrived.
Hodges has the genetic quirk ? It's a blessing and a curse.
Stomach contents of both decedents.
Hodges, start your sniffer.
Hints of stale beer and Cheese Whiz.
But I don't smell any cyanide.
- Thank you.
- Anytime.
Well, all due respect to "The Nose," I would still like to send a sample of blood to Tox.
- It's already done.
- Is there anything else ? Nothing on or in the body indicates cause of death.
Nothing consistent with homicide whatsoever.
Two college kids die under mysterious circumstances.
Let's treat this as a homicide till we know otherwise.
Finally.
- Yeah, well three hours.
- All right.
Thanks.
Crime scene's getting cold.
Had to refill my powders.
I found a rental car agreement in the glove box.
James Billmeyer.
New Jersey.
He's not registered at the hotel.
Probably stopped by to lose a few bucks.
Did the coroner step in the blood ? No.
We're still waiting on him.
That shoe print belongs to Mrs.
Vivoldi.
She called it in.
We've been waiting on you to take her statement.
- Let's do it.
- Yes, let's do it.
Thanks.
Ma'am, sorry to keep you waiting.
I'm Detective Vartann.
This is Conrad Ecklie from the crime lab.
Do you mind if we ask you a few questions ? I'd mind if you didn't.
I am the one who found the body.
Yes.
At the time, were you walking to or from the hotel ? I'd had just finished lunch with the girls.
We say "girls," but we're, you know, women.
I don't find being called a "girl" derogatory.
That's good.
To or from ? I was walking to the car.
The SUV ? A gift from Oscar.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
Are you married ? - Divorced.
- Oh.
And you ? Ma'am, so you were walking to your car Walking to the car, and I think I stepped into gum or something That's when I called 911.
Which was about two hours ago.
I'm sorry, ma'am.
We've been very busy.
I'm going to need your shoes.
We'll get them back to you.
Even wash off the blood.
I just talked to Paula yesterday afternoon.
She was on her way to the library.
She had a biology final this morning.
She shouldn't have been in a boy's room.
None of this makes any sense.
Trip was a serious athlete.
He would never sleep around the night before Sleep around ? It's not like your daughter was Trip's girlfriend.
Ms.
Sidle I need to know.
Did Trip take advantage ? Did he force himself on Paula ? My son would never force himself on anyone.
Trip could have any girl he wanted.
Mrs.
Levine, the coroner found no evidence of assault.
Did Paula ever mention Trip to you ? I know she liked a boy on the basketball team.
I never knew his name.
I guess it was Trip.
I just want to know what happened to them.
So do I.
You know, this land used to be part of the Bennett estate.
Bill Bennett ? Guy who owns the Sahara ? We used to come out here when we were in high school.
Used to be, like, a seven-acre lover's lane.
I thought you said you were a dork in high school.
I was a dork in high school.
I'm still a dork, but I had dimples.
I got a little action.
Yeah, I don't doubt that.
Hey, Dave.
The path to the body was made by the paramedics.
They pronounced and took off.
ID'ed has Kevin Staniland, age 30 from Reno.
I figured before I processed the body, you'd want to photograph the crop circle.
Crop circle ? Well, it's a circle in the middle of a field.
What would you call it ? I guess it's a crop circle.
The guy has a blindfold on.
Pin the tail on the donkey gone wrong ? - Lividity is fixed.
- Lividity's fixed ? So this wasn't a body dump ? He died there ? The only pathway is from the paramedics.
How'd he end up in the middle of the circle ? I have an idea.
I'll keep it to myself.
How's it going ? I swabbed every square inch of this toilet.
So far, no evidence of explosive powders or a detonation device.
Well, I spoke with maintenance.
It is an isolated incident.
There are no other reports of exploding johns.
How about methane gas ? Maybe there's a natural reserve under the dorm.
Theoretically, pressure could have built up, broken a sewer pipe and shot up through the toilet.
I already checked.
There's no methane gas in this region of Clare County.
Well, there's got to be some logical explanation.
Well, if dorm food is as bad as I can remember, we should consider explosive diarrhea.
Crop circles ? Come on, Super Dave.
Wasn't the Alien Autopsy embarrassing enough ? Given the circumstances, alien was not an unreasonable conclusion at the time.
You need to get a girlfriend.
I'm engaged, but thank you.
Could you just check out his pants ? There's grass stains on his knees.
That's odd, because the grass around the victim was undisturbed.
His tighty whiteys were soaked in urine.
Don't know if it's pre- or post-mortem.
Now, that's alien.
What is that ? I've got to document this.
Hang on.
We have ourselves a tapeworm, gentlemen.
This guy's been eating meat or fish infected with tapeworm cyst.
Yeah, that cyst grows up to be nice fat tapeworm that attaches itself to the intestinal wall and suck out all your nutrients.
Yeah, and since this guy's already dead, the tapeworm needs to find a new host.
- Only two ways out.
- I'm glad it picked the mouth.
Well, the tapeworm could have made the guy sick, but it didn't kill him.
- Want to talk about semen ? - Okay.
Okey-doke.
The semen on the vic's doorknob and the neighbor's doorknob is consistent with Trip's DNA.
So, what I'm thinking is that Trip put a trophy condom onto his neighbor's door and then transferred a trace of his reproductive material back onto his own doorknob.
You've You've heard of trophy condoms ? Sara, I went to college.
Ladies, I just spoke with Western LVU's Student Affairs Officer.
Apparently, Trip's next-door neighbor, Zack Capola, filed several grievances against him.
I'm headed over there now.
- I'll drive.
- You always do.
So, crop circles and tapeworms, you got quite a case.
You have C.
O.
D.
? I have T.
O.
D.
, about midday yesterday.
Cause of death is less definitive.
Cuts and abrasions are superficial.
There's no obvious anatomical defect.
And at this point, I'm going to have to check the default cardiac arrhythmia.
A young man's heart stops, and you don't know why ? Tox and vitreous lytes are all normal.
That's all you're getting from me.
This is bunk.
I was told my grievances were confidential.
They said my name wasn't even on the form.
Why was confidentiality so important ? Ask him.
You look like you were a jock in college.
- Me ? - Him ? Whatever.
Look, if it had gotten around that I had ratted out Trip, the whole basketball team would have come down on me.
You are a straight-A student.
We've reviewed your academic records.
The distractions must've pissed you off.
You had problems with his loud music, banging on the wall, used condoms hanging on your doorknob.
A handful of used condoms would have pissed you off, too.
Look, what are you getting at ? We're trying to figure out what happened to Trip and Paula.
Earlier you said he wasn't such a bad guy.
Because I didn't see a need to badmouth the dead.
But you want the truth, he was an ass, okay ? Well, Conrad, can I help you ? Where have you been ? I posted three bodies and then I took a time-out.
- A time-out ? - A personal hour.
A few weeks ago, my Siamese had kittens.
I went by the house to check on 'em.
They're just about weaned.
You want one ? I'm allergic.
So tell me about James Billmeyer.
Guy found at the Tangiers.
I'm just about to post him.
Per my prelim, there was an abraded laceration to the right occipital scalp, and a penetration of the epithelium, but not the galea.
It's not what killed him, but I'll know the full story once I open him up.
I saw David put him in here.
So where is he ? I'm not sure.
Maybe he's taking a time-out.
- David probably moved him.
- He had no reason to.
A few years back, a body was prematurely sent to a mortician.
Remember that ? This is weird.
Maybe someone in your department mislabelled the corpse ? It's highly unlikely.
Fine.
When you find him, get back to me.
Sir ? We have a situation.
I know.
A body disappeared.
No, no.
Mr.
Billmeyer didn't disappear.
He's missing.
There's a difference.
Sir, this isn't my fault.
You prepped him for autopsy, right ? - Yes, sir.
- Walk me through that.
Walk you through what ? Everything you did to Mr.
Billmeyer.
Okay, I brought him into the washroom, photographed the body, took hair and fingernail cuttings, emptied his pockets, removed clothing, washed his body, tagged him.
I put him into the cooler and I haven't seen him since.
- What ? - I was just thinking, David.
I've lost my keys, sunglasses, even a wallet.
Sir, this really isn't my fault.
- But I've never lost a body.
- I didn't do anything.
Find him, Phillips, or this goes on your record.
- What would you like me to do ? - Get out ! Get out.
Out ! Six-one, brown hair and eyes, about 200 pounds.
Are you sure ? All right, thanks.
I've checked every mortuary and funeral home in the city, no luck.
Right, 'cause you never authorized a transfer.
David, are you familiar with the Latin word necrostuprum ? Body snatcher ? We didn't mislabel or misplace the body.
Someone took it.
If you wanted to steal a body, wouldn't it be a lot easier to go to a hospital or university facility ? Absolutely, which means somebody wanted this particular body.
Some of the leading theories on crop circles include extraterrestrials, wind vortexes, earth energies, and of course, hoaxes.
But in 1985, farmers near one U.
S.
military base suspected the source of a recent incident to be the downwash from a helicopter's rotor blades.
The spinning of the blades caused the chopper to rise forced the air downward, in effect, bending the grass below.
For every action, there is an opposite but equal reaction.
Since I'm a sceptic when it comes to aliens and Earth energies, so we started with the chopper.
- Hey, Archie.
- Hey.
Nellis sent over the radar surveillance.
Current feed goes back 48 hours.
This is where your decedent was located.
Decedent's T.
O.
D.
was approximately 12:00 noon, yesterday.
Using echo and Doppler shift we can determine an object's speed.
Freeze the frame, Archie.
Found your chopper.
It's holding steady.
Airplanes can't do that.
Let's see who owns it.
Hey, I got your 911.
Don't you work days ? Ecklie keeps moving me around.
Your pink college kids were both blotto.
Yeah, there were beer bottles at the scene.
That's not a surprise.
You want a surprise ? Check this out.
Now, I know you and Greg tested the scene for carbon monoxide, - but did you check for carbon dioxide ? - No.
I've been a CSI eight years.
I have never processed a CO2 scene.
I mean, you'd need a ton of that gas to cause serious damage.
It's a first for me, too.
I found traces of blood in Trip's vomit.
CO2 levels are usually 0,03%.
His levels were 8%.
Lethal.
CO2 replaces oxygen on haemoglobin molecules.
At 8%, those kids would've literally suffocated on a cellular level.
Still doesn't explain why they were pretty in pink.
Carbon dioxide, unlike carbon monoxide, doesn't affect skin coloration.
So what did ? What are we expecting to find here ? Someone went to a lot of trouble to steal James Billmeyer Maybe there's a clue in his personal effects.
So you're a CSI now ? If I were, I would have printed the cooler.
Really ? Maybe you should just put together a list of everyone who had access to the morgue.
Law enforcement personnel, CSIs, paramedics, funeral home personnel, maintenance workers, hospital workers, janitors people that get lost in the building Yeah, that sounds good.
Two pairs of socks, two pairs of underwear, two T-shirts.
That tells me the guy was going to be staying in Vegas for two days.
Your powers of deduction are remarkable, Detective.
Thank you.
"Jacinda Hendler, call me.
" Written on an airline napkin.
Decedent probably met her on the flight, possibly hours before he died.
You think ? I'll run it down.
Yeah, I know Jamie.
He's a sweet man.
He was supposed to call me.
What happened to him ? - He died.
- I'm sorry.
Why'd you contact me ? Well, your name was in his pocket.
Napkin.
We We met on the plane.
And there was only one blanket, so we shared it, and I got a little frisky, and Anyway, there was a kid sitting two seats away, so So you gave him your number to meet up later ? Do you have any idea who may've killed him ? Or who might want his body in its current condition ? No.
Jamie told me that he-he was flying in to party with some pals from high school in Seven Hills.
Said he'd invite me over.
Figured he blew me off.
It-it happens.
I mean I have a healthy self-esteem.
Good for you.
What exactly are we looking for ? Most sources of carbon dioxide come from factories, cars and volcanoes, not something we're gonna find in a dorm room.
Maybe somebody pumped the gas in through a vent.
Sex journal.
Lists of girls dates and sexual activities.
Boys and their conquests.
I've never even heard of some of these.
- Really ? - Never mind.
Would you help me move the bed, please ? There's a fresh hole in the wall.
Splinters are on the inside.
Someone drilled in from the other side.
Hi, Zack.
- Mind if we come in ? - Why ? You're a car buff ? I guess.
Yeah, me, too.
I always wanted a Testarossa.
What about you ? What's your dream car ? I don't know.
Zack, can you explain this hole in your wall ? I didn't even know there was one.
I think maybe we should step outside.
Your room is now a crime scene.
Are you Morgan Wendel ? We're from the Crime Lab.
We have information that put your chopper at a crime scene yesterday, around noon.
You're here about Kevin.
That's right, yeah.
I'll tell you everything, but I want immunity.
All right, Kevin ! I want you to prepare to jump ! Without a parachute ? That's my stunt ?! No way ! Dude, the name of the show is "Going All the Way.
" You signed a contract.
Now, do it ! Jumping out of chopper's not going all the way It's suicide ! Listen, man, you don't have a choice, Kevin.
You already ate raw meat, you stuck your face in a beehive.
You don't go all the way, you don't get nothing ! - Come on, Kevin ! - No ! - What are you doing ?! - Wait a minute.
Dude, dude, check this out, get a shot of this.
Get his crotch.
Get his crotch.
Come here.
Our first contestant peed his pants.
Re-a-li-ty ! You can't fake this.
- Now, Kevin - Go, baby ! Keep going, keep going.
But here's the thing.
We're only four feet up.
Joke's on him.
Let's check it out.
He's not moving.
Turn off the camera.
Turn off the camera ! Turn Kevin thought that he was being pushed out of a helicopter a thousand feet in the air, but See you later, Kevin ! He's not moving.
Come on, let's get out of here ! Did you have a warrant for that tape ? The pilot gave us the name of the cameraman, who supplied the tape voluntarily.
Look, I assured Kevin all our stunts were safe.
And they were.
Besides, he signed a waiver.
I'm not guilty of anything.
When you saw that he wasn't moving, you just took off.
That sounds like guilt to me.
You scared him to death.
He had a heart attack.
So the signing of a waiver doesn't make it any less criminal.
When the jury sees that tape, you'll be going all the way to jail.
Second-degree murder.
I hope this is a fire drill.
We found our body.
Looks more like he found us.
Doc, I want you to process the body ASAP.
Yeah, Conrad, I'll get right on it.
Yes the guy we left on the bench.
Right.
Hello, Conrad.
I thought you were in court.
We had a one-hour recess I'm on my way back now.
And this must be Mr.
Billmeyer.
I'm so glad he's back.
Very funny.
You might want to have Hodges analyse that cigar.
And the print tech is free.
He could spray the party hat with ninhydrin.
I think I remember how to do my job, Gil, thank you.
I love it when you wear your gloves.
I swear, I don't know how that hole got there.
And if you think that I had anything to do with Trip's death, you're wrong.
I was in L.
A.
for four days.
I had just gotten back, and I saw Susan banging on his door.
Trip, are you in there ? Open up.
If you can hear me, open the door, please ! Hey, are you all right ? Yeah, Trip missed a game.
I thought something's wrong.
Hey, man, we're coming in.
Can anyone verify that you were in L.
A.
? The whole dorm can verify it.
I was visiting my boyfriend.
It was his birthday.
We went to the auto show.
Does anyone else have access to your room ? No, I've got the only key, but like I said, it's easy enough to break in.
What happened to your finger ? I'm not sure.
I had just gotten back from my trip, and I saw something on the floor, so I picked it up.
It kind of burned me or something.
And that didn't seem weird to you ? I'm in college.
A lot of things seem weird to me.
This thing that burned your finger, where is it now ? I tossed it.
Excuse me.
I don't see anything but a couple pieces of balled up paper and a soda can.
- Nothing incendiary.
- It was there.
I don't know what to tell you, man.
All right, Zack, we are not going to take you into custody, but we are going to need access to your room for the rest of the day.
I'm late for Ancient History.
- Can I go ? - Sure.
And this this nice officer he's gonna be your "study buddy.
" Thanks.
Well, what are you thinking ? Name a chemical compound that can burn skin and can also disappear into thin air.
The only thing I can think of is dry ice.
And dry ice releases carbon dioxide as it sublimates.
Yeah, but can you put enough dry ice in Zack's room to raise the amount of carbon dioxide in Trip's room to a lethal level ? Is that a dare ? Level's only 1,2.
We need more dry ice.
It took 30 pounds of dry ice to reach the lethal level of saturation.
On the floor, where the sleeping bag was.
Carbon dioxide is one and half times heavier than air.
You know, it's conceivable that if Trip and Paula had been sleeping in his bed, they might still be alive.
I think I know why the bodies turned pink.
- Really ? - Dry ice is cold.
The dry ice significantly lowered the temperature in both rooms, and the drastic decrease in temperature can turn a dead body pink.
We see it all the time when we pull dead bodies from frozen rivers.
Nice, Greg.
You know, if Zachary is telling the truth, and he simply burned his finger on a remnant of dry ice, who put it there ? I'll have P.
D.
run a credit card check on everyone in the dorm, see if anyone recently purchased a large quantity of dry ice.
Your decedent smells like a pine tree.
Whoever stole him probably sprayed his body with disinfectant to cover up the stench.
You got cause of death ? Yeah, he died of a heavy heart.
Heart weighed 500 grams instead of 300.
Hypertensive Cardiovascular disease.
So his heart stopped, he keeled over, hit his head on the pavement.
Do you think he was aware of his condition ? I know he was.
I sent blood to Tox, he was taking Atenolol.
A heart that size, he was a walking time bomb.
Anything else ? Yup, our guy chugged a beer, after he died.
Lungs were full of foam.
So somebody poured it down his throat ? Wouldn't be my post-mortem beverage of choice, but to each his own.
So did you get any prints off that cooler drawer ? Three.
Two were yours, one was David's.
See you later.
Anything ? Just so you know, I moved all your trace evidence up to the top of my pile.
Well, thank you.
Why don't you quit blowing smoke and tell me about the cigar ? Low in nicotine, high in furfural.
I compared it to other tobacco samples from the exemplar collection.
It's consistent with the Perdomo Reserve brand.
I took the liberty of calling a cigar society.
They referred me to the Vegas distributor.
Spoke to him directly.
Perdomos are very high-end.
He only made one sale this past month.
It was to a guy in Seven Hills.
Smells like my grandfather.
- Am I interrupting ? - Actually, yeah.
Conrad was about to pat me on the back.
What do you got for me, Neil ? Lifted four clear prints from the party hat.
They all came back to Preston Hayburn, from Henderson.
He's a paramedic.
Would've had access to the morgue.
- Good work, Neil.
- Good work.
- I have a number.
- Me, too.
The woman he met on the plane said he was heading to party in Seven Hills.
I'll start there and then I'll head to Henderson.
I found this toilet behind my apartment complex.
It's volunteered for an experiment.
It's moving.
I put dry ice in the bowl.
So you're thinking that the killer might have put his excess dry ice in the dorm toilet.
When the ice was flushed, it would've lodged in the drain trap.
As the ice sublimated and gas was released, it would've built up, causing the toilet to explode.
Good theory.
I spoke with Brass.
Zack's alibi checks out.
He was in L.
A.
all week.
And P.
D.
checked credit card records.
No one in that dorm bought dry ice on credit.
There's only two retail outlets in 20 miles that sell it, and no one's purchased a large quantity of dry ice in the last few weeks.
Well, I think I explained the explod-o-potty.
Gregg, maybe the dry ice wasn't purchased.
I mean, we are looking at a university.
Science department would probably keep the stuff on hand.
Science major would have access.
I was his R.
A.
The guy lived for basketball, beer and girls.
Didn't want much to do with dorm activities.
Have you seen this before ? Trip kept record of his relationships with women.
Your name is in here.
Three times.
On February 2nd, you hooked up for the first time.
Looks like second base.
On February 9th, you rounded third, and on February 18th, he got a grand slam.
He wrote that down ? We had sex, I admit it.
No big deal.
I didn't tell you guys because I'm not exactly proud of it, okay ? Trip and Paula died from of carbon dioxide gas.
We already know that you have access to dry ice, and as a materials science grad student, you are familiar with the chemical properties.
This is crazy.
Last week, you checked out 40 pounds of dry ice from the campus lab.
My thesis is on metallurgy.
I use dry ice to test the physical constrains of certain metals.
I also spoke to your advisor who told me that your experiments require two pounds of dry ice, at most.
He broke your heart.
He led you on, he let you believe it was serious, and after you went all the way, you were history.
Look, this has been a wild ride, but if I gave you the impression that I want a relationship, then I was an idiot.
I had been consulting my female advisees not to take that kind of crap.
You knew Zack was in L.
A.
, so you broke into his room during the day and drilled a hole in the wall.
Later that night, you returned.
Trip and Paula were asleep, passed out from the alcohol.
When the ice evaporated, the gas engulfed the room, killing them.
I didn't know Paula was there, and I never meant to kill Trip.
So drilling the hole in the wall and leaving the ice behind was an accident ? No, no, look.
Trip's room is 16 feet by nine feet.
I used exactly the right amount of ice just to make him sick.
If he had been in the bed three feet above the ground and not on the floor I just wanted him to miss his basketball game.
Trip only slept on the floor when he had girls over, and he never had sex before a big game.
He shouldn't have been on the floor.
Your science was perfect, your instincts were not so good.
And you miscalculated one huge factor: the sex drive of a college jock.
Who is it ? L.
V.
P.
D.
- Can I help you ? - Are you Charlie Jackson ? Do you know a James Billmeyer ? Yeah, we went to high school together.
Are you aware that he passed away ? Yeah, yeah, it was a big blow.
We were close.
You mind if we come in ? Yeah, come in.
Youh smoke Perdomo Reserve ? Yeah, on special occasion.
Why ? Do you know a Preston Hayburn ? Paramedic from Henderson.
Yeah, he, James and I were tight.
We went to high school together.
What's this about ? Cut the act, Charlie.
We know that Preston had access to the morgue.
We believe he stole James Billmeyer's body, maybe brought it here.
But what we don't know is why ? All right, James was dying.
He had a bad heart, everybody knew it, so we flew him out here for one last bash, and Preston got called to the Tangiers and it was Jamie.
The poor guy died in the parking lot.
And then what ? You decided to throw him a dead man's party ? Well, we already bought the booze.
He was my best friend, you know ? It's a class D felony to steal a corpse with the intent to sell or mutilate.
I'm not really sure how to classify "partying with the dead.
" Look, I know how it looks, but if you knew Jamie it's what he would've wanted.
And we did return him.
You're still under arrest.
Obstruction of justice and conspiracy to commit theft.
You're looking at one to four years, Charlie.
He would have done it for me.
Two DB's on the third floor Trip Wilmont and Paula Levine.
Both 18.
Hey, Grissom, when you went to college did you live in the dorms ? Surely, you jest.
You know, they say a BA is worth a million dollars in extra income over a lifetime.
Yeah, but the present cost of college tuition is about the same amount.
So you're saying college isn't worth the expense ? I guess it depends on what you learn.
So this is Trip's dorm room.
When he missed a big B-ball game this afternoon, his coach called his R.
A.
His R.
A.
got the kid next door to jimmy the lock.
Paramedics pronounced and took off.
The coroner's en route.
Music, alcohol, candles.
Kid was a regular Romeo.
"For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo".
* *Two last lines of Romeo and Juliet.
Condom wrapper.
So much for safe sex.
Sara, do me a favor and open the window, please.
Sure.
You feeling okay, David ? Take a look at the skin coloration on both victims.
Their bodies are slightly pink.
And you're thinking "pink" skin tones are a common effect of carbon monoxide fumes.
That vomit's also consistent with exposure to C.
O.
We'll need a sample of that vomit.
Okay, I'll be right there.
My testimony's up in the Hoyt case.
I gotta go.
I see no common source for C.
O.
, so you'll have to use the detector.
You're running point.
I knew something was wrong.
Trip lived for basketball, and it was the semis, so there's no way he'd miss a game.
Yeah, I saw Susan banging on his door, so I used my pocket-knife to jam it open.
Had you done that before ? Yeah.
All the time.
Whenever Trip would get drunk and lock himself out, he would bang on my door.
So you and Trip were friends ? Me and Trip ? I'm not really the type of guy that Trip Wilmont would hang out with.
So I guess that's a no ? Yeah.
But we had Spanish 102 together.
Sometimes he'd roll over to my dorm, and I'd help him with his homework.
Did you help him, or did you do it for him ? Look, it's not the Spanish Inquisition.
For a jock, it could have been a lot worse but, no, we weren't friends.
No trace of carbon monoxide.
There's a trace of semen on the door handle.
This one, too.
Trophy condoms.
Trophy condoms ? When a stud scores, he announces his victory by putting his spoils on his neighbor's doorknob.
Well, my bet is Trip scored a lot.
Everyone okay ? Excuse me.
Spontaneous toilet combustion ? Or a college prank.
You think this has anything to do with the case ? We got to check it out.
Guess you should start processing.
- Conrad.
- Hey, Detective.
Homicide called you guys over an hour ago.
No one's responded.
Not even the coroner.
Have you tried Grissom or Catherine ? Catherine's on a case, I think.
Grissom Oh, that's right.
Grissom's in court.
And Sofia's still on her Task Force leave.
Both shifts are tapped.
- Did you check ? - I checked the board.
No one's available except for you.
I'm the Assistant Lab Director.
I know.
But you're still qualified to process a scene, right ? Yes, I am.
I'll dust off my kit.
Meet you there.
Hey, Doc.
Two dead bodies.
Both were in perfect health.
I am so hoping that you have more in your report than that.
There are two toxins which can turn a body pink postmortem.
We already ruled out carbon monoxide.
Which leaves one.
Cyanide ingestion.
Interesting fact about cyanide.
Not everyone can smell it.
Right.
It's a genetic quirk.
Unfortunately, I don't have that ability.
"The Nose" has arrived.
Hodges has the genetic quirk ? It's a blessing and a curse.
Stomach contents of both decedents.
Hodges, start your sniffer.
Hints of stale beer and Cheese Whiz.
But I don't smell any cyanide.
- Thank you.
- Anytime.
Well, all due respect to "The Nose," I would still like to send a sample of blood to Tox.
- It's already done.
- Is there anything else ? Nothing on or in the body indicates cause of death.
Nothing consistent with homicide whatsoever.
Two college kids die under mysterious circumstances.
Let's treat this as a homicide till we know otherwise.
Finally.
- Yeah, well three hours.
- All right.
Thanks.
Crime scene's getting cold.
Had to refill my powders.
I found a rental car agreement in the glove box.
James Billmeyer.
New Jersey.
He's not registered at the hotel.
Probably stopped by to lose a few bucks.
Did the coroner step in the blood ? No.
We're still waiting on him.
That shoe print belongs to Mrs.
Vivoldi.
She called it in.
We've been waiting on you to take her statement.
- Let's do it.
- Yes, let's do it.
Thanks.
Ma'am, sorry to keep you waiting.
I'm Detective Vartann.
This is Conrad Ecklie from the crime lab.
Do you mind if we ask you a few questions ? I'd mind if you didn't.
I am the one who found the body.
Yes.
At the time, were you walking to or from the hotel ? I'd had just finished lunch with the girls.
We say "girls," but we're, you know, women.
I don't find being called a "girl" derogatory.
That's good.
To or from ? I was walking to the car.
The SUV ? A gift from Oscar.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
Are you married ? - Divorced.
- Oh.
And you ? Ma'am, so you were walking to your car Walking to the car, and I think I stepped into gum or something That's when I called 911.
Which was about two hours ago.
I'm sorry, ma'am.
We've been very busy.
I'm going to need your shoes.
We'll get them back to you.
Even wash off the blood.
I just talked to Paula yesterday afternoon.
She was on her way to the library.
She had a biology final this morning.
She shouldn't have been in a boy's room.
None of this makes any sense.
Trip was a serious athlete.
He would never sleep around the night before Sleep around ? It's not like your daughter was Trip's girlfriend.
Ms.
Sidle I need to know.
Did Trip take advantage ? Did he force himself on Paula ? My son would never force himself on anyone.
Trip could have any girl he wanted.
Mrs.
Levine, the coroner found no evidence of assault.
Did Paula ever mention Trip to you ? I know she liked a boy on the basketball team.
I never knew his name.
I guess it was Trip.
I just want to know what happened to them.
So do I.
You know, this land used to be part of the Bennett estate.
Bill Bennett ? Guy who owns the Sahara ? We used to come out here when we were in high school.
Used to be, like, a seven-acre lover's lane.
I thought you said you were a dork in high school.
I was a dork in high school.
I'm still a dork, but I had dimples.
I got a little action.
Yeah, I don't doubt that.
Hey, Dave.
The path to the body was made by the paramedics.
They pronounced and took off.
ID'ed has Kevin Staniland, age 30 from Reno.
I figured before I processed the body, you'd want to photograph the crop circle.
Crop circle ? Well, it's a circle in the middle of a field.
What would you call it ? I guess it's a crop circle.
The guy has a blindfold on.
Pin the tail on the donkey gone wrong ? - Lividity is fixed.
- Lividity's fixed ? So this wasn't a body dump ? He died there ? The only pathway is from the paramedics.
How'd he end up in the middle of the circle ? I have an idea.
I'll keep it to myself.
How's it going ? I swabbed every square inch of this toilet.
So far, no evidence of explosive powders or a detonation device.
Well, I spoke with maintenance.
It is an isolated incident.
There are no other reports of exploding johns.
How about methane gas ? Maybe there's a natural reserve under the dorm.
Theoretically, pressure could have built up, broken a sewer pipe and shot up through the toilet.
I already checked.
There's no methane gas in this region of Clare County.
Well, there's got to be some logical explanation.
Well, if dorm food is as bad as I can remember, we should consider explosive diarrhea.
Crop circles ? Come on, Super Dave.
Wasn't the Alien Autopsy embarrassing enough ? Given the circumstances, alien was not an unreasonable conclusion at the time.
You need to get a girlfriend.
I'm engaged, but thank you.
Could you just check out his pants ? There's grass stains on his knees.
That's odd, because the grass around the victim was undisturbed.
His tighty whiteys were soaked in urine.
Don't know if it's pre- or post-mortem.
Now, that's alien.
What is that ? I've got to document this.
Hang on.
We have ourselves a tapeworm, gentlemen.
This guy's been eating meat or fish infected with tapeworm cyst.
Yeah, that cyst grows up to be nice fat tapeworm that attaches itself to the intestinal wall and suck out all your nutrients.
Yeah, and since this guy's already dead, the tapeworm needs to find a new host.
- Only two ways out.
- I'm glad it picked the mouth.
Well, the tapeworm could have made the guy sick, but it didn't kill him.
- Want to talk about semen ? - Okay.
Okey-doke.
The semen on the vic's doorknob and the neighbor's doorknob is consistent with Trip's DNA.
So, what I'm thinking is that Trip put a trophy condom onto his neighbor's door and then transferred a trace of his reproductive material back onto his own doorknob.
You've You've heard of trophy condoms ? Sara, I went to college.
Ladies, I just spoke with Western LVU's Student Affairs Officer.
Apparently, Trip's next-door neighbor, Zack Capola, filed several grievances against him.
I'm headed over there now.
- I'll drive.
- You always do.
So, crop circles and tapeworms, you got quite a case.
You have C.
O.
D.
? I have T.
O.
D.
, about midday yesterday.
Cause of death is less definitive.
Cuts and abrasions are superficial.
There's no obvious anatomical defect.
And at this point, I'm going to have to check the default cardiac arrhythmia.
A young man's heart stops, and you don't know why ? Tox and vitreous lytes are all normal.
That's all you're getting from me.
This is bunk.
I was told my grievances were confidential.
They said my name wasn't even on the form.
Why was confidentiality so important ? Ask him.
You look like you were a jock in college.
- Me ? - Him ? Whatever.
Look, if it had gotten around that I had ratted out Trip, the whole basketball team would have come down on me.
You are a straight-A student.
We've reviewed your academic records.
The distractions must've pissed you off.
You had problems with his loud music, banging on the wall, used condoms hanging on your doorknob.
A handful of used condoms would have pissed you off, too.
Look, what are you getting at ? We're trying to figure out what happened to Trip and Paula.
Earlier you said he wasn't such a bad guy.
Because I didn't see a need to badmouth the dead.
But you want the truth, he was an ass, okay ? Well, Conrad, can I help you ? Where have you been ? I posted three bodies and then I took a time-out.
- A time-out ? - A personal hour.
A few weeks ago, my Siamese had kittens.
I went by the house to check on 'em.
They're just about weaned.
You want one ? I'm allergic.
So tell me about James Billmeyer.
Guy found at the Tangiers.
I'm just about to post him.
Per my prelim, there was an abraded laceration to the right occipital scalp, and a penetration of the epithelium, but not the galea.
It's not what killed him, but I'll know the full story once I open him up.
I saw David put him in here.
So where is he ? I'm not sure.
Maybe he's taking a time-out.
- David probably moved him.
- He had no reason to.
A few years back, a body was prematurely sent to a mortician.
Remember that ? This is weird.
Maybe someone in your department mislabelled the corpse ? It's highly unlikely.
Fine.
When you find him, get back to me.
Sir ? We have a situation.
I know.
A body disappeared.
No, no.
Mr.
Billmeyer didn't disappear.
He's missing.
There's a difference.
Sir, this isn't my fault.
You prepped him for autopsy, right ? - Yes, sir.
- Walk me through that.
Walk you through what ? Everything you did to Mr.
Billmeyer.
Okay, I brought him into the washroom, photographed the body, took hair and fingernail cuttings, emptied his pockets, removed clothing, washed his body, tagged him.
I put him into the cooler and I haven't seen him since.
- What ? - I was just thinking, David.
I've lost my keys, sunglasses, even a wallet.
Sir, this really isn't my fault.
- But I've never lost a body.
- I didn't do anything.
Find him, Phillips, or this goes on your record.
- What would you like me to do ? - Get out ! Get out.
Out ! Six-one, brown hair and eyes, about 200 pounds.
Are you sure ? All right, thanks.
I've checked every mortuary and funeral home in the city, no luck.
Right, 'cause you never authorized a transfer.
David, are you familiar with the Latin word necrostuprum ? Body snatcher ? We didn't mislabel or misplace the body.
Someone took it.
If you wanted to steal a body, wouldn't it be a lot easier to go to a hospital or university facility ? Absolutely, which means somebody wanted this particular body.
Some of the leading theories on crop circles include extraterrestrials, wind vortexes, earth energies, and of course, hoaxes.
But in 1985, farmers near one U.
S.
military base suspected the source of a recent incident to be the downwash from a helicopter's rotor blades.
The spinning of the blades caused the chopper to rise forced the air downward, in effect, bending the grass below.
For every action, there is an opposite but equal reaction.
Since I'm a sceptic when it comes to aliens and Earth energies, so we started with the chopper.
- Hey, Archie.
- Hey.
Nellis sent over the radar surveillance.
Current feed goes back 48 hours.
This is where your decedent was located.
Decedent's T.
O.
D.
was approximately 12:00 noon, yesterday.
Using echo and Doppler shift we can determine an object's speed.
Freeze the frame, Archie.
Found your chopper.
It's holding steady.
Airplanes can't do that.
Let's see who owns it.
Hey, I got your 911.
Don't you work days ? Ecklie keeps moving me around.
Your pink college kids were both blotto.
Yeah, there were beer bottles at the scene.
That's not a surprise.
You want a surprise ? Check this out.
Now, I know you and Greg tested the scene for carbon monoxide, - but did you check for carbon dioxide ? - No.
I've been a CSI eight years.
I have never processed a CO2 scene.
I mean, you'd need a ton of that gas to cause serious damage.
It's a first for me, too.
I found traces of blood in Trip's vomit.
CO2 levels are usually 0,03%.
His levels were 8%.
Lethal.
CO2 replaces oxygen on haemoglobin molecules.
At 8%, those kids would've literally suffocated on a cellular level.
Still doesn't explain why they were pretty in pink.
Carbon dioxide, unlike carbon monoxide, doesn't affect skin coloration.
So what did ? What are we expecting to find here ? Someone went to a lot of trouble to steal James Billmeyer Maybe there's a clue in his personal effects.
So you're a CSI now ? If I were, I would have printed the cooler.
Really ? Maybe you should just put together a list of everyone who had access to the morgue.
Law enforcement personnel, CSIs, paramedics, funeral home personnel, maintenance workers, hospital workers, janitors people that get lost in the building Yeah, that sounds good.
Two pairs of socks, two pairs of underwear, two T-shirts.
That tells me the guy was going to be staying in Vegas for two days.
Your powers of deduction are remarkable, Detective.
Thank you.
"Jacinda Hendler, call me.
" Written on an airline napkin.
Decedent probably met her on the flight, possibly hours before he died.
You think ? I'll run it down.
Yeah, I know Jamie.
He's a sweet man.
He was supposed to call me.
What happened to him ? - He died.
- I'm sorry.
Why'd you contact me ? Well, your name was in his pocket.
Napkin.
We We met on the plane.
And there was only one blanket, so we shared it, and I got a little frisky, and Anyway, there was a kid sitting two seats away, so So you gave him your number to meet up later ? Do you have any idea who may've killed him ? Or who might want his body in its current condition ? No.
Jamie told me that he-he was flying in to party with some pals from high school in Seven Hills.
Said he'd invite me over.
Figured he blew me off.
It-it happens.
I mean I have a healthy self-esteem.
Good for you.
What exactly are we looking for ? Most sources of carbon dioxide come from factories, cars and volcanoes, not something we're gonna find in a dorm room.
Maybe somebody pumped the gas in through a vent.
Sex journal.
Lists of girls dates and sexual activities.
Boys and their conquests.
I've never even heard of some of these.
- Really ? - Never mind.
Would you help me move the bed, please ? There's a fresh hole in the wall.
Splinters are on the inside.
Someone drilled in from the other side.
Hi, Zack.
- Mind if we come in ? - Why ? You're a car buff ? I guess.
Yeah, me, too.
I always wanted a Testarossa.
What about you ? What's your dream car ? I don't know.
Zack, can you explain this hole in your wall ? I didn't even know there was one.
I think maybe we should step outside.
Your room is now a crime scene.
Are you Morgan Wendel ? We're from the Crime Lab.
We have information that put your chopper at a crime scene yesterday, around noon.
You're here about Kevin.
That's right, yeah.
I'll tell you everything, but I want immunity.
All right, Kevin ! I want you to prepare to jump ! Without a parachute ? That's my stunt ?! No way ! Dude, the name of the show is "Going All the Way.
" You signed a contract.
Now, do it ! Jumping out of chopper's not going all the way It's suicide ! Listen, man, you don't have a choice, Kevin.
You already ate raw meat, you stuck your face in a beehive.
You don't go all the way, you don't get nothing ! - Come on, Kevin ! - No ! - What are you doing ?! - Wait a minute.
Dude, dude, check this out, get a shot of this.
Get his crotch.
Get his crotch.
Come here.
Our first contestant peed his pants.
Re-a-li-ty ! You can't fake this.
- Now, Kevin - Go, baby ! Keep going, keep going.
But here's the thing.
We're only four feet up.
Joke's on him.
Let's check it out.
He's not moving.
Turn off the camera.
Turn off the camera ! Turn Kevin thought that he was being pushed out of a helicopter a thousand feet in the air, but See you later, Kevin ! He's not moving.
Come on, let's get out of here ! Did you have a warrant for that tape ? The pilot gave us the name of the cameraman, who supplied the tape voluntarily.
Look, I assured Kevin all our stunts were safe.
And they were.
Besides, he signed a waiver.
I'm not guilty of anything.
When you saw that he wasn't moving, you just took off.
That sounds like guilt to me.
You scared him to death.
He had a heart attack.
So the signing of a waiver doesn't make it any less criminal.
When the jury sees that tape, you'll be going all the way to jail.
Second-degree murder.
I hope this is a fire drill.
We found our body.
Looks more like he found us.
Doc, I want you to process the body ASAP.
Yeah, Conrad, I'll get right on it.
Yes the guy we left on the bench.
Right.
Hello, Conrad.
I thought you were in court.
We had a one-hour recess I'm on my way back now.
And this must be Mr.
Billmeyer.
I'm so glad he's back.
Very funny.
You might want to have Hodges analyse that cigar.
And the print tech is free.
He could spray the party hat with ninhydrin.
I think I remember how to do my job, Gil, thank you.
I love it when you wear your gloves.
I swear, I don't know how that hole got there.
And if you think that I had anything to do with Trip's death, you're wrong.
I was in L.
A.
for four days.
I had just gotten back, and I saw Susan banging on his door.
Trip, are you in there ? Open up.
If you can hear me, open the door, please ! Hey, are you all right ? Yeah, Trip missed a game.
I thought something's wrong.
Hey, man, we're coming in.
Can anyone verify that you were in L.
A.
? The whole dorm can verify it.
I was visiting my boyfriend.
It was his birthday.
We went to the auto show.
Does anyone else have access to your room ? No, I've got the only key, but like I said, it's easy enough to break in.
What happened to your finger ? I'm not sure.
I had just gotten back from my trip, and I saw something on the floor, so I picked it up.
It kind of burned me or something.
And that didn't seem weird to you ? I'm in college.
A lot of things seem weird to me.
This thing that burned your finger, where is it now ? I tossed it.
Excuse me.
I don't see anything but a couple pieces of balled up paper and a soda can.
- Nothing incendiary.
- It was there.
I don't know what to tell you, man.
All right, Zack, we are not going to take you into custody, but we are going to need access to your room for the rest of the day.
I'm late for Ancient History.
- Can I go ? - Sure.
And this this nice officer he's gonna be your "study buddy.
" Thanks.
Well, what are you thinking ? Name a chemical compound that can burn skin and can also disappear into thin air.
The only thing I can think of is dry ice.
And dry ice releases carbon dioxide as it sublimates.
Yeah, but can you put enough dry ice in Zack's room to raise the amount of carbon dioxide in Trip's room to a lethal level ? Is that a dare ? Level's only 1,2.
We need more dry ice.
It took 30 pounds of dry ice to reach the lethal level of saturation.
On the floor, where the sleeping bag was.
Carbon dioxide is one and half times heavier than air.
You know, it's conceivable that if Trip and Paula had been sleeping in his bed, they might still be alive.
I think I know why the bodies turned pink.
- Really ? - Dry ice is cold.
The dry ice significantly lowered the temperature in both rooms, and the drastic decrease in temperature can turn a dead body pink.
We see it all the time when we pull dead bodies from frozen rivers.
Nice, Greg.
You know, if Zachary is telling the truth, and he simply burned his finger on a remnant of dry ice, who put it there ? I'll have P.
D.
run a credit card check on everyone in the dorm, see if anyone recently purchased a large quantity of dry ice.
Your decedent smells like a pine tree.
Whoever stole him probably sprayed his body with disinfectant to cover up the stench.
You got cause of death ? Yeah, he died of a heavy heart.
Heart weighed 500 grams instead of 300.
Hypertensive Cardiovascular disease.
So his heart stopped, he keeled over, hit his head on the pavement.
Do you think he was aware of his condition ? I know he was.
I sent blood to Tox, he was taking Atenolol.
A heart that size, he was a walking time bomb.
Anything else ? Yup, our guy chugged a beer, after he died.
Lungs were full of foam.
So somebody poured it down his throat ? Wouldn't be my post-mortem beverage of choice, but to each his own.
So did you get any prints off that cooler drawer ? Three.
Two were yours, one was David's.
See you later.
Anything ? Just so you know, I moved all your trace evidence up to the top of my pile.
Well, thank you.
Why don't you quit blowing smoke and tell me about the cigar ? Low in nicotine, high in furfural.
I compared it to other tobacco samples from the exemplar collection.
It's consistent with the Perdomo Reserve brand.
I took the liberty of calling a cigar society.
They referred me to the Vegas distributor.
Spoke to him directly.
Perdomos are very high-end.
He only made one sale this past month.
It was to a guy in Seven Hills.
Smells like my grandfather.
- Am I interrupting ? - Actually, yeah.
Conrad was about to pat me on the back.
What do you got for me, Neil ? Lifted four clear prints from the party hat.
They all came back to Preston Hayburn, from Henderson.
He's a paramedic.
Would've had access to the morgue.
- Good work, Neil.
- Good work.
- I have a number.
- Me, too.
The woman he met on the plane said he was heading to party in Seven Hills.
I'll start there and then I'll head to Henderson.
I found this toilet behind my apartment complex.
It's volunteered for an experiment.
It's moving.
I put dry ice in the bowl.
So you're thinking that the killer might have put his excess dry ice in the dorm toilet.
When the ice was flushed, it would've lodged in the drain trap.
As the ice sublimated and gas was released, it would've built up, causing the toilet to explode.
Good theory.
I spoke with Brass.
Zack's alibi checks out.
He was in L.
A.
all week.
And P.
D.
checked credit card records.
No one in that dorm bought dry ice on credit.
There's only two retail outlets in 20 miles that sell it, and no one's purchased a large quantity of dry ice in the last few weeks.
Well, I think I explained the explod-o-potty.
Gregg, maybe the dry ice wasn't purchased.
I mean, we are looking at a university.
Science department would probably keep the stuff on hand.
Science major would have access.
I was his R.
A.
The guy lived for basketball, beer and girls.
Didn't want much to do with dorm activities.
Have you seen this before ? Trip kept record of his relationships with women.
Your name is in here.
Three times.
On February 2nd, you hooked up for the first time.
Looks like second base.
On February 9th, you rounded third, and on February 18th, he got a grand slam.
He wrote that down ? We had sex, I admit it.
No big deal.
I didn't tell you guys because I'm not exactly proud of it, okay ? Trip and Paula died from of carbon dioxide gas.
We already know that you have access to dry ice, and as a materials science grad student, you are familiar with the chemical properties.
This is crazy.
Last week, you checked out 40 pounds of dry ice from the campus lab.
My thesis is on metallurgy.
I use dry ice to test the physical constrains of certain metals.
I also spoke to your advisor who told me that your experiments require two pounds of dry ice, at most.
He broke your heart.
He led you on, he let you believe it was serious, and after you went all the way, you were history.
Look, this has been a wild ride, but if I gave you the impression that I want a relationship, then I was an idiot.
I had been consulting my female advisees not to take that kind of crap.
You knew Zack was in L.
A.
, so you broke into his room during the day and drilled a hole in the wall.
Later that night, you returned.
Trip and Paula were asleep, passed out from the alcohol.
When the ice evaporated, the gas engulfed the room, killing them.
I didn't know Paula was there, and I never meant to kill Trip.
So drilling the hole in the wall and leaving the ice behind was an accident ? No, no, look.
Trip's room is 16 feet by nine feet.
I used exactly the right amount of ice just to make him sick.
If he had been in the bed three feet above the ground and not on the floor I just wanted him to miss his basketball game.
Trip only slept on the floor when he had girls over, and he never had sex before a big game.
He shouldn't have been on the floor.
Your science was perfect, your instincts were not so good.
And you miscalculated one huge factor: the sex drive of a college jock.
Who is it ? L.
V.
P.
D.
- Can I help you ? - Are you Charlie Jackson ? Do you know a James Billmeyer ? Yeah, we went to high school together.
Are you aware that he passed away ? Yeah, yeah, it was a big blow.
We were close.
You mind if we come in ? Yeah, come in.
Youh smoke Perdomo Reserve ? Yeah, on special occasion.
Why ? Do you know a Preston Hayburn ? Paramedic from Henderson.
Yeah, he, James and I were tight.
We went to high school together.
What's this about ? Cut the act, Charlie.
We know that Preston had access to the morgue.
We believe he stole James Billmeyer's body, maybe brought it here.
But what we don't know is why ? All right, James was dying.
He had a bad heart, everybody knew it, so we flew him out here for one last bash, and Preston got called to the Tangiers and it was Jamie.
The poor guy died in the parking lot.
And then what ? You decided to throw him a dead man's party ? Well, we already bought the booze.
He was my best friend, you know ? It's a class D felony to steal a corpse with the intent to sell or mutilate.
I'm not really sure how to classify "partying with the dead.
" Look, I know how it looks, but if you knew Jamie it's what he would've wanted.
And we did return him.
You're still under arrest.
Obstruction of justice and conspiracy to commit theft.
You're looking at one to four years, Charlie.
He would have done it for me.