CSI: Crime Scene Investigation s15e05 Episode Script

Ready? Quite the party.
All I want to do is relax.
Just wait for our poolside spa treatments.
All right, we have very big plans tonight.
What you got? Well, first of all, we are going to dinner at Marcienne's.
Steakhouse.
Awesome.
I called ahead.
The chef is going to prepare you your own special vegetarian dish.
Then we're going dancing at Tao, where I got us a VIP table.
Ooh fun.
Maybe we'll run into Kim and Kanye.
Yes.
Oh, waiter.
Excuse me.
Could we have a very nice bottle of champagne? Finn, it's, like, barely 9:00 in the morning.
Uh, with orange juice.
Mimosas sound so good.
You guys, we have a few hours before this conference starts.
We have to make the most of it.
Excellent.
I wonder what the guys are up to at the lab.
Ah, the smell of decomp in the morning.
Heard we got a goopy one.
Yep.
Think we, uh, drew the short straw this weekend, huh, Dave? Oh, come on, you guys.
Can't afford to send everybody to the conference.
Anyway, they're all boring.
Where'd you find the body? Abandoned construction site.
Real estate agent took one look inside this drum and called the cops.
Killer must have used something to dissolve the body.
I'll get this to Hodges.
Somebody didn't want this victim to be identified.
Well, the La Tijera gang has been known to dissolve the bodies of their victims.
Okay.
Let's dump it and see what we've got.
Girls are gonna be real sorry they missed this one.
Man, I needed this.
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! Wow, it's a really good turnout.
Yeah, way better than Boise last year.
I think, like, only three people showed up to my presentation.
Oh, Jane Snyder's here.
Hey, hey.
You guys want to get something to eat? I'm buying.
Oh, my gosh.
Sara? Yoo-hoo, Sara? Sarah, it is so good to see you.
How are you doing? Great.
How are you? Oh, fantastic.
I just signed a deal to host a new show on WNE, Crime Time in Primetime.
That's very clever.
Uh, these are my colleagues.
This is Julie Finlay and Morgan Brody.
Dr.
Jane Snyder, but most people just call me Dr.
Jane.
You probably know that.
I've read your book.
Oh, lucky you.
So if you have a copy, I'm happy to autograph it.
Oh, no.
Sorry, I forgot.
Well, I hope you're all coming to my presentation this afternoon, "Defending Your Evidence: How to Avoid Getting Skewered on the Stand.
" That is a great title.
I know it is.
You know, testifying is an art form.
Not all criminalists are good at it.
But I don't have to tell you that, do I, Sara? Dr.
Jane! Hey, Travis! Well, I'll see you guys later.
Bring the book.
I'll sign it for all of you.
All right, what is the story with you two? We were criminalists together back in San Francisco, and then she switched sides.
She became an expert witness for the defense.
Did she, uh, "skewer" you on the stand? No, no, no.
Not me, but a trainee of mine.
It was his first time on the stand, and he was nervous, and she made him seem completely incompetent.
She questioned his protocol, his ethics.
Guess that's why those defense attorneys pay her the big bucks.
Yeah, well, in exchange for a fat paycheck, she helped put a rapist back on the street, so That is quite a display you have there.
Thank you.
It's the latest in digital downloading software.
How does it work? Uh, let's say you witnessed a crime, captured part of it on your phone.
This software allows law enforcement to download your most recent photos and videos right on the spot.
No access to e-mails and texts.
No need to give up your phone.
Fascinating.
I wouldn't mind a demonstration.
I think Morgan and I are gonna go check out the new tape lifts.
Yeah.
I that's Bye.
Looking good, Finn.
Oh, thank you.
I was hoping you'd be here.
Getting off in a couple of hours.
Buy you a drink? Absolutely.
Based on the narrow sciatic notch of the pelvic bone, I can tell you our victim is male.
What about race? Or age? The, uh, frontal suture in the skull is closed, telling me that he's older than 18, but beyond that, I can't say.
As for race, if you'll take a look at the maxillary bones, you can see they have a parabolic shape, indicating European descent.
So, adult white male, shot with a medium-caliber pistol.
We found this bullet when we poured him through the sifter.
Looks like he was shot execution style.
Doc, you gonna be able to extract DNA from his dental pulp? No, there's a risk of bacterial contamination.
Our best chance for DNA is extracting marrow from the femur.
If we can get a profile, we'll run it through CODIS.
Maybe somebody's missing our goop man here.
I can't believe you signed us up for Snyder's presentation.
That was, like, two weeks ago.
How was I supposed to know you had some kind of history with Dr.
Jane? I think it'll be fun.
I went on YouTube, watched some of her videos.
I think she's gonna be pretty entertaining.
Looking for someone? A certain vendor, perhaps? Yes, his name is Mark, and he is meeting me here for a drink.
Well, please be careful.
Last time you picked up a guy No, no, no, no.
I have known him for a very, very long time.
Really? - Yeah.
How do you know each other? Well, I met him five years ago at a conference.
We spent some quality time together, and it's been an annual tradition ever since.
So, you only see him once a year? Well, he lives in Boston.
And the rest of the time, you just talk and text? It's not really that kind of relationship.
It's, um We're just having a good time.
That's what I wish I could do.
When a guy asks me out, I it's like I have to make a pro and con list before I say yes.
That's all right.
It sounds like you're looking for Mr.
Right.
There's nothing wrong with that.
Yeah, and I just think that relationships are really hard, and it's just easier sometimes to keep it fun.
Less of a chance of getting hurt.
Yeah, not so many disappointments.
Well, that's true.
But then you never get to make a real connection with someone.
I mean, to be with somebody who really gets you, who loves you for who you are-- I don't know.
I think it's worth the risk.
Especially when he's as hot as that.
Bye, girls.
We're not gonna see her for the rest of this The whole time-- she's gone, she's gone.
Reduced to a jar of goop.
Not how I'd want to end up.
Pretty sure our victim didn't want to end up that way, either.
No, I plan on being meticulously embalmed.
My chiseled features perfectly preserved for all of eternity, before being entombed alongside my mother in a marble mausoleum.
You've given this a lot of thought, haven't you? Haven't you? Oh, I don't know.
You know, cremate me.
Sprinkle me over a farm so I can be of use.
Have you figured out how this guy got turned into goop? Muriatic acid.
Killer probably assumed that it would dissolve the entire body, but didn't count on the fact that the decomp process itself gradually weakens the acid.
Unfortunately, you can find this stuff in any home improvement store in the country, so it doesn't really help us I.
D.
the killer.
DNA paid off.
Got an I.
D.
on our Vic.
Paul Carson.
Security guard from Henderson.
His wife reported him missing.
Said he left for work three days ago, never came back.
There's a BOLO out on his van.
Do we know where he worked? The Mediterranean.
Isn't that where the conference is? Yeah, and get this-- according to the hotel manager, Carson's key card was used just a few hours ago.
So, his killer could be at the hotel right now.
Come on.
Hey, Morgan.
Is anyone sitting here? It's all yours.
- Thanks.
Strobe lights? Really? I told you, she puts on a good show.
I am Dr.
Jane Snyder.
Thank you! I am so excited to be here to teach you how to defend your evidence.
First and foremost, the courtroom is a stage.
And it is your job to perform! Oh.
My.
God.
Vicki! It's all right.
It's over.
It's clear! It's clear.
I'll go get some help.
Vicki! Hey.
Just hang on, okay? This is CSI Sidle.
There's been a mass shooting at the Mediterranean Hotel forensic conference.
Roll paramedics and PD.
Code 3! Come on! Come on! Morgan Come on.
Come on.
Morgan.
.
Please, come on.
She's gone.
You're good.
You're good.
- Morgan.
Morgan Come on.
- Morgan, she's gone.
She's gone.
Morgan! Look at me! You okay? Are you hurt? - No.
What the hell just happened? How many shooters were there? Just one.
An assault rifle.
It looked like an AR-15.
So you saw him? He went out the back door.
I'm gonna call Finn.
Admit it, Russell Wilson is no Tom Brady.
You're just saying that because he's married to a supermodel.
No, I'm saying that because he has three Super Bowl rings.
And he's married to a supermodel.
Yeah, well, at least my team doesn't cheat.
Ouch.
You really know how to hurt a guy.
Aw, poor baby.
No? - No.
No! Are you - Yeah, I'm okay.
That doesn't look good.
Hold this really tight.
Oh, no! Hey, Russell.
Have you heard from the girls? Yeah, they're okay.
Police are on the scene.
Five dead.
More injured.
Is the shooter still in there? We're still getting reports of gunfire in other parts of the hotel.
We should get down there.
I tried.
Hotel's on lockdown.
They're not letting anybody in.
I'm gonna go meet Ecklie at PD.
All right, well, what can I do? Uh keep-keep working the Carson case.
I mean, one thing we know is that whoever killed him used his key card today at the hotel.
Yeah, so you think that his killer is the shooter.
Get an I.
D.
Maybe we can stop this guy.
Move.
Move! SWAT Two, up.
We got two down.
Dead.
Dead.
One.
All right, let's move.
Let's go ahead and set her up.
Hi.
SWAT leader just called me and told me that you refused to evacuate.
I told you to get out of there.
Shooter came in through a side door.
I'm hoping he left a print.
I grabbed supplies from the vendors Sara, the shooter is still in the building.
Look, you survived once today.
Please don't push your luck.
SWAT has cleared the room.
There's deputies posted.
There's no way he's getting back in here.
I can help, Russell.
Please, I need to do something.
All right, all right, all right.
Just be careful and get out of there as soon as you can.
I will.
Listen, I talked to Finn.
Her friend's in bad shape.
I know that.
I know, I know.
Engineering is on standby.
They'll get them out as soon as it's safe.
Okay.
Hey.
Thank you for getting Morgan out of there.
Yeah.
She didn't want to leave.
Yeah, I'm sure.
I told her I needed her back in the lab.
Look, she's using this new software she got from one of the vendors, where she can download footage from other people's cell phones.
Hopefully somebody caught an image of the gunman, 'cause hotel surveillance went down right before the shooting.
You're kidding.
- No.
A security guard from that hotel was murdered three days ago.
His-his key card was taken.
That's probably how the shooter gained access to the control room.
So he really planned this out.
Oh, yeah.
Most spree killers fantasize for years before they even pick up a gun.
Couldn't be a coincidence the guy hit a forensics conference.
I mean, maybe he's got a beef with law enforcement.
Yeah.
What is that? It's SWAT.
We're patched into their live feed.
Clearing floor by floor.
I'm sorry, ma'am, there's a gunman in the building.
I know there's a gunman.
He just shot my friend! Okay? You need to get us out of the elevator now.
We have to secure the area first.
Stay with him.
I'm doing the best that I can, but if I do not get him to the hospital soon, he is going to bleed to death.
They can't get in there until it's clear, ma'am.
I understand! Will you just hurry?! They said they can't fix the elevator until they get the gunman.
Which I'm sure is gonna be really soon.
Kind of romantic.
Here with you.
Dim lighting.
This whole bleeding from the stomach thing is kind of killing the mood, isn't it? You're losing way too much blood.
A tampon? Believe it or not, these things were really used in the 19th century to plug bullet holes.
Ooh.
Ooh - I'm sorry.
So you know sports and history.
Just basic first aid.
You're doing great.
Really wish that I had gone through with my choice to go to med school right about now.
I wish you did, too.
Why didn't you? I took a lecture with this guy Alec Jeffreys on DNA fingerprinting, and that was it.
I wanted to be a criminalist.
I slept through a lot of lectures.
Had a lot of fun, though.
Wish I knew you back then.
Oh, come on, I'm still fun.
Just wait till I get out of here.
I'll hold you to that.
It's gonna be okay.
Let's go, let's go.
Go! Hands! Show me your hands! Don't shoot.
Get on the ground! Okay.
On the ground now! He needs help! Now! On the ground! On the ground now! - Okay! Now! He needs help.
Don't shoot.
Now! Okay, okay, okay.
He shot Perry.
I thought he was going to shoot me, too.
Frame up on his face.
He's got dark hair.
According to Sara, our gunman had long blond hair.
Well, you gotta go with Sara.
She's a trained observer.
That's not our guy.
Let him go.
Cut him loose, that's not our guy.
Let's go! Move, let's go, let's go! The gunman could've shot that guy, but he didn't.
Why not? His lucky day.
Who knows? Oh, it's gotta be more than that.
It's gotta be something else.
Where come here, look-it.
The shooting began in Conference Room A, right? Yeah.
According to Sara, at 4:17 the shooter comes in through the side door here, shoots here, here and here, but never fires into this area.
Then he goes down the hallway here, past B and C, all the way to Conference Room D.
And then he shoots the place up.
Why? Why'd he skip those two rooms? Maybe nobody was in them.
No.
No, no, I checked.
All four rooms, at the time of the shooting, were filled.
I mean, that's what a spree killer wants, right, is a high body count? So why not shoot up the casino, for God's sake? Or at least the pool area? You're right.
He's upstairs, where the rooms are.
Doors are locked.
No crowds.
And no way out.
No, no.
No.
This guy is targeting these areas.
Right there.
You're saying he's looking for specific people.
This is not a random killing spree.
Our gunman has a hit list.
She was a mom.
I noticed a C-section scar when I did my initial exam.
That's Morgan's friend.
The one she tried to save.
Gave her CPR.
Size of a .
223.
Consistent with an AR-15.
America's favorite assault rifle.
Capable of firing That kind of firepower belongs in a war zone, not on our streets.
Our killer wanted to make sure that he hit his targets.
He didn't care who else he shot.
I wasn't aware that he was going after specific people.
Some of these victims were most likely collateral, but the rest were on his hit list.
I just need to figure out what they had in common so maybe we can figure out who he's going after next.
Heard you found Paul Carson's van.
Yeah, abandoned in an alley behind a strip joint off of Fremont Street.
Yeah, that part of town, nobody's quick to call the cops.
Well, the killer's smart.
Just like he thought he'd conceal Carson's I.
D.
by turning his body into goop.
Yeah, he didn't want anything to get in the way of his shooting up the hotel today.
His wife reported him missing three days ago.
We know that Carson went to work.
So I pulled hotel surveillance, and you can clearly see his van parked in his usual spot.
But then I noticed something.
Check out this guy in the hoodie.
You can't see his face, and it looks like he's walking past the van, yet he never exits frame.
So he broke into the back of the van, and then waited for Carson to get off work.
Drive! And forced him to drive to the abandoned construction site.
Shot him, dumped his body into the barrel.
Poured muriatic acid on him to dissolve the body.
Then got rid of the van.
And the only image we have of this guy we can't make out the face? No, but we might have his DNA.
I found this used tissue underneath the backseat.
According to Carson's wife, Carson was the only one who used the van.
I suppose that could've come from the shooter's pocket.
Have Henry run that, all right? Tell him to put it in the front of the line.
This eyewitness software is incredible.
No more scanning through endless hours of footage.
Yeah.
Finn's friend Mark was selling it.
You just punch in the time frame, and that's the only footage it downloads.
Hopefully one of the cameras caught the shooter.
Have you heard from Finn yet? She's still stuck in the elevator.
Well, I'm sure they'll get them out soon.
Yeah.
That's the door that the shooter came in.
Damn.
He's blocked behind a pillar.
All right, let me try another clip.
That must've been terrifying.
Yeah.
It was.
You know, you don't have to be here for this.
I can take care of it.
I want to be here.
You know, when I heard about what happened, I was really worried.
I just I'm-I'm just glad you're okay.
Thank you.
Can we, um, scroll forward frame by frame? I think we might get something.
That's him.
Okay, let me zoom in.
I'll isolate his face, run it through facial recognition.
Morgan got an I.
D.
-- Jeff Lasky.
I have a warrant for the guy's cell phone.
See if we can triangulate that.
That's just gonna tell us he's still in the hotel, right? If we tap into his Wi-Fi, we can track him down to within a few feet.
Suspect's name is Jeff Lasky.
He's on the ninth floor, heading east.
Copy that.
Ready? Go! There he is! Drop the gun! Drop the gun now! It's over, Lasky.
Drop the gun! Now! Drop the gun now! Shots fired! Shots fired! Suspect is down.
All right, move in.
Check him.
We got him.
All right, continue sweep.
Let's go! All right, get the bomb dogs in there and sweep the hotel.
Make sure this guy did not leave us any surprises.
Let's get Finn out of the elevator.
And give engineering an all clear.
They got him.
They're gonna get us out of here.
Mark, can you hear me? They're coming to get you right now.
Celine.
What? Dion.
Show later.
Oh.
Yeah.
I guess I'm more of a U2 kind of girl.
You know, uh, I saw them in Ireland.
Haven't been.
What? To a U2 concert? To Ireland.
It was amazing.
I, uh, was there on a Eurail pass, and I was hanging out at a bar in Dublin, and all of a sudden U2 walked right in and they started No! Oh, God! Mark? Come on, come on.
You can do it.
Breathe, breathe.
Mark, breathe.
Mark? He just crashed! I didn't get a pulse.
All right, we'll take it from here.
You got him? - Yeah.
Get a line in here! Breathe, Mark.
Phoenix PD did a search of Lasky's house.
Apparently he was obsessed with the man who murdered his wife and daughter three months ago.
Uh, Luke Reaser.
Luke Reaser? I heard about that case.
He raped them before he killed them, right? That was Lasky's family? Yeah, that's enough to put anybody over the edge.
Yeah, but Reaser was caught.
He's awaiting trial.
Why would Lasky go on a rampage today? Because Reaser should've been put behind bars a long time ago.
He raped and murdered a teenage girl back in 2012 in Texas.
Set the place on fire in order to cover his tracks.
The evidence wasn't strong enough to convict.
So, then he moves to Phoenix, where he murders Lasky's family.
You know, Morgan, three of the CSIs that were killed today, they were from the crime lab in Dallas.
Lasky must've blamed them for putting Reaser back on the street.
They're not the only ones he was gunning for.
Guess who testified for the defense.
Of course I'll talk to the press.
We need to give WNE the exclusive, though.
Now? I can take care of that.
He was after you.
I'll call you back.
The gunman, Jeff Lasky.
Ring a bell? What about Luke Reaser? You helped put that son of a bitch back on the street, and he went on to murder Lasky's family.
If I remember correctly, the prosecution didn't have that much evidence against Reaser.
And what they did have was mishandled.
No, no, no, no.
I talked to the lab in Dallas.
A DNA analyst transposed two numbers on a piece of paper.
It was a simple mistake, Jane.
And someone in the lab should have caught it.
A guilty man went free because of a typo.
It was sloppy work.
Who knows what other mistakes that lab made? You used to care about the truth.
Come on, Sara.
We're not on the same side anymore.
It's my job to poke the holes in the science.
And put on a show for the jury, right? Luke Reaser raped and killed Jeff Lasky's wife and five-year-old daughter.
Slit their throats and then dumped their bodies in the trash.
That's why Lasky went on this rampage.
because of you.
I didn't put the gun in Lasky's hand.
No, you kind of did.
Lasky sent you e-mails.
He sent you threats over a month ago.
You didn't report it.
I get threats all the time.
News flash, Sara, I'm a woman with strong opinions.
Some people just don't like me.
Uh-uh.
None of this would've happened if you had just gone to the police, Jane.
Why don't you put that in your press conference? Keep me posted, then.
Take a look at this.
SWAT found this man's body in the doorway of his room on the 15th floor.
Looks like he was shot when he opened the door.
Hotel security said it happened at 4:17.
That's when the shooting started in Conference Room A.
Lasky couldn't have been two places at once.
I think there had to be a second shooter.
You may be right.
Got DNA off of that used tissue I found in the security guard's van.
Jeff Lasky didn't kill him.
But DNA did come back with a match to this guy.
Cliff Ballard.
I've seen him before.
Yeah, this is the guy that SWAT found standing over a body in the hallway.
He was unarmed and acting scared, like he was just another hotel guest.
Well, that's why Sara only saw one shooter.
'Cause Lasky was shooting up the conference rooms while Ballard was shooting people upstairs.
Yeah, well, SWAT let this guy go.
He's still in the hotel.
SWAT's still searching the hotel.
No sign of Ballard.
Please tell me you found something.
Actually, Ballard was a CSI.
And he just got out of prison.
Served nine years for felony fraud.
Falsifying evidence.
Yeah, didn't he work out of the crime lab in Baltimore? Yeah.
Well, I remember when he was arrested.
It was this huge scandal.
Every case he worked on was called into question.
Well, maybe he blames his coworkers for turning him in.
No, no, 'cause then he would've shot up the lab in Baltimore.
No.
All of Ballard's work would have been audited by a team of forensic experts, right? Criminalists from all over the country, selected to evaluate his cases.
They're the ones who put him in prison.
Could be his targets.
Let me see if I can find out who was on that team.
I've been through all of Jeff Lasky's e-mails, his phone records, his texts, his Web history.
I can't find any evidence that he's working with Ballard.
All right, so what do we know about our two shooters? Lasky the grieving father, husband that wanted to get even with the murder of his family.
Ballard's the ex-con who, presumably, is going after the people who put him in prison.
Two different shooters two different agendas.
But with one big thing in common: They both hate law enforcement.
Now, we've been assuming that the shooters were working together, right? What if they weren't? So they both go on a rampage same time, same place? We've been looking for a connection between these guys and we haven't found one, so maybe their connection is the conference itself.
I mean, think about this.
Once a year, CSIs and cops from all over the country get together at this conference.
Now, if you had a beef with law enforcement, what better place to come than right here? I found that list of people who served on Ballard's audit.
That guy, right there.
That's the guy that Ballard was standing over in the hallway.
He must've killed him right before SWAT arrived.
Sara.
Oh, God.
She was on that team.
Notify SWAT.
I'll call Sara.
I'm on the 18th floor.
I got a text.
Cliff Ballard? He's in prison.
I got out in August.
Give me the phone.
All right.
Now the gun.
The text telling me to come up here it was from you, wasn't it? I wanted to get you alone.
This woman, Linda Gage? She was part of the review team.
You killed her, didn't you? She helped send me to prison.
Just like you.
It was not personal.
We were just asked to take a look at your work.
I was a good criminalist.
I know you were, Cliff.
You did a lot of good work over the years.
I put rapists and murderers behind bars.
They were all guilty.
They deserved what they got.
I'm sure they did, but you tampered with the evidence to get the results you wanted.
I didn't have a choice.
The detectives come to you.
They want a slam dunk.
Evidence isn't always like that.
It's a lot of pressure.
I've been there many times.
Convictions hinge on conclusive evidence, and if you don't have enough, you feel like a failure.
I had to do something.
I understand.
It's natural to want to help the case along, to You don't understand! If you did, you wouldn't have helped send me away! Cliff, wait.
You treated me like a criminal.
Destroyed my life! Move! You okay? You okay? You good? Thank you.
Yeah.
Shots fired, shots fired.
Suspect down.
Hey.
Hey.
Nurse said you were out of surgery and that you needed a visitor.
Yep.
I got to the Pearly Gates.
They sent me back.
I'm glad they did.
You saved my life.
Well, buy me dinner.
We'll call it even.
Deal.
So the doctor said that you're gonna need some time to recover.
And that you cannot fly back to Boston for at least two weeks, so I was hoping that maybe we could hang out.
You know, when you get back up on your feet.
You mean date? Yeah.
Like, uh, dinner and a movie and a good-night kiss.
Well, as you know, dating sometimes can turn into a real relationship.
I'm willing to risk it.
Me, too.
Hydrogen peroxide.
To clean off the blood.
Thank you.
We always wear gloves when we go to the crime scene.
You know? We're never there there when it when it actually happens.
I know.
Are you okay? I'm okay.
Ballard wanted you dead, and if SWAT hadn't been there But they were.
Finn called.
She said they still have that VIP table at Tao.
What do you think? Dancing tequila Yeah.
Tequila sounds pretty good, yeah.