CSI: Crime Scene Investigation s15e17 Episode Script

This dress is sick.
You'd totally rock it.
It looks a little short.
Trust me, guys like when you show a little bit of skin.
I don't know, it's not really me.
Cara, you can't wear baggy jeans and skater shoes your whole life.
It's $400! Relax.
I swiped Dad's credit card.
Lexi Come on.
I'm giving you a makeover.
People are staring at me.
You're hot.
Own it.
What's up, Lex? Hey.
Your sister? Yeah, that's Cara.
My buddy Pete.
Hey.
Um, so, Axel and I are gonna split for a while, so you just stay with Pete? Can't we all just hang out together? Don't worry, I'll be back in an hour.
So Do you want to go somewhere? I should probably wait here.
It's kind of crowded.
I know a place we can hang, just the two of us.
Come on.
Let's go.
Nobody should have to die like this.
Lot of blood drops on the floor over here, so I don't think he puked himself to death.
Pretty big gash.
I-It looks like somebody cut his throat and just left him to bleed out in the toilet there.
The body is still warm.
The rigor hasn't even started.
He's been dead less than an hour.
Hang on a second.
You see something? Looks like some type of bug carcass.
Could have fallen off the killer.
I'll scoop it up, get it back to the lab.
Yeah, now.
There's no wallet.
But we got a cell phone.
Maybe we could get an I.
D.
Locked.
Use his thumb.
Got to love technology.
According to the phone's I.
D.
, the victim's name is Pete Corday.
His camera app was open.
Some of these pictures were time-stamped right before he was murdered.
Maybe he got a shot of the killer.
It's him and a girl.
Looks like he's having a pretty good time.
Mm.
Right up until someone ended it.
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! Talked to the janitor who found the body.
He said he got suspicious when he saw the "Closed for Cleaning" sign on the restroom door.
Killer was trying to buy more time till the body was found.
Got blood in the sink-- he must've cleaned up in here.
So the victim's throat was slashed over the toilet to catch the blood.
Then the knife was washed off in the sink, put the sign on the door.
Smart.
You know, he was with this girl right before he was murdered.
I figure either she was involved, or at the very least she's a witness.
Any idea who she is? No.
Finlay's pulling surveillance now.
Seeing if we can track her movements.
I mean, maybe somebody knows her.
Well, that's a Dempsey's bag.
Judging by the size, I would say jewelry or makeup.
We could show her photo to the store clerks.
If she paid with a credit card, - we might be able to get a name.
- Russell.
Yeah? Got a lead on our mystery girl.
The credit card that she used earlier today belongs to a guy named John Nolan.
Nolan.
Why do I know that name? He's the director of the crime lab in San Diego.
Right.
She used his credit card here in Vegas? Did he report it stolen? Not yet, but according to Nolan's assistant, he's here in town for a family wedding.
Nick's talking to him now; says he knows him.
Nolan offered him a job a few years ago.
Hey, John sorry to drag you down here.
I thought you were investigating the murder of a young man.
We are, and a person of interest has been using your credit card.
Do you recognize that girl? Oh, my God.
It's Cara.
Cara? She's my 13-year-old daughter.
Do you, uh do you know the victim, Pete Corday? No, I've never seen him before.
Who is he? from Phoenix.
He's got a couple of misdemeanors for drug possession.
Why would she be hanging out with a guy like that? Where is she, Nick? Can I see her? We don't know where she is.
What? When's the last time you saw her? Uh at 10:00 this morning.
She wanted to go to the mall with Lexi.
Lexi? Yeah, my oldest daughter.
She's 17.
They don't get to see each other very often.
Why is that? Well, after the divorce, Lexi wanted to live with her mother here in Vegas.
I was dead set against it.
Tori, my ex.
She'd rather be a friend than a parent.
Have you talked to either one of them since this morning? No, I was at a lunch with out-of-town guests.
They didn't show up.
I texted them-- they never answered.
Okay, what about the ex-wife? Or family members? No one's heard from them.
Give me their phone numbers.
We'll ping their cells, we'll track them down.
Of course.
And I need a current picture of Lexi.
It's a picture that was taken at the rehearsal dinner yesterday.
I'm gonna find your girls.
If anyone can, it's you.
Hey, boss.
Yeah? What do you got for me, David? Hadrurus Arizonensis.
Otherwise known as the giant desert hairy scorpion.
Nick found a piece of the molted exoskeleton next to Pete Corday's body in the restroom.
You were able to trace it? Unfortunately no.
The giant desert hairy scorpion is quite common in Nevada.
You know, last spring my cousin Karen went to go put on her running shoes for her daily jog.
Didn't know one was hiding in there; it stung her big toe.
Was she okay? Oh, yeah.
But the venom is no more harmful than a bee sting.
Ah.
Hey, Doc.
Hey.
I just finished Pete Corday's autopsy.
He died from exsanguination due to massive sharp-force trauma.
Can you tell us anything about our killer from the wound? Depth and angle indicate a right-handed individual with considerable strength, in all likelihood male.
That rules out the Nolan sisters.
Okay.
So what do we know? Cara Nolan was with Pete Corday right before he was killed.
And now both she and her sister are missing.
You think Corday's killer has the girls? If they saw his face, maybe he took them to keep them quiet.
And if that's the case, we need to find them, fast.
Hey.
Hey.
Were you able to pull up the footage from outside the bathroom? That camera was not working.
Figures.
Yeah.
So I retraced the girls' steps.
We know that they bought makeup at Dempsey's at 12:53.
'Cause that camera was working.
And look what I found.
Oh, that's our victim, Pete Corday.
Who's the other guy? Obviously, a close personal friend of Lexi's.
I'm putting him through facial recognition right now.
He has a rap sheet.
Axel Vargas, age 25.
Drug possession, burglary pandering? He's a pimp? No, worse.
Look at that.
Federal charge-- tried to take an underage girl into Mexico.
That sounds like sex trafficking.
Maybe that's what he's got planned for Lexi and Cara.
What's that tattoo on his neck? Let me zoom in.
A scorpion.
Nice tattoo on your neck.
You like scorpions? They're cool.
Keep any as pets? No.
Why? We found a piece of a scorpion exoskeleton on the body of a murder victim.
Your buddy, actually.
Pete Corday.
We know you were with him, Lexi and Cara Nolan at the mall this afternoon.
Now he's dead and they're missing.
It's got nothing to do with me.
You have a history of forcing young girls into prostitution.
You'd get top dollar for Lexi and Cara, so what happened? Did Pete decide he wanted to keep the girls for himself? Or maybe he decided he wanted a cut.
I didn't kill Pete.
Where are the girls? I'm telling you, I don't know.
I met Lexi a week ago at a bar.
She wanted me to meet her at the mall today, so I went.
We hooked up in a dressing room, and I split.
Where'd you go? Work.
I'm a bartender at McCarthy's.
Cops picked me up in the middle of a shift, too, and I missed a whole day's pay.
I'm gonna need to talk to your boss and verify when you showed up.
Nick said Nolan's putting on a brave face, but, obviously, he's upset.
Well, we've both been there.
Father's worst nightmare.
Our girls made it.
Hopefully, his will, too.
Listen, I want the department to do everything in its power-- resources, personnel, I don't care-- whatever it takes to bring those girls back and close this case.
Absolutely.
Oh, and do me a favor.
John's a good guy.
As a professional courtesy, let's give him access, keep him up to date.
Yeah, I'll make sure everybody knows.
Thanks.
Any luck tracking down Lexi and Cara's cell phones? Thankfully, they're still transmitting.
I've triangulated their location to somewhere in North Las Vegas.
All right.
Can you get any closer? I'm trying.
There they are-- off the 215 near Sahara.
Signals aren't moving.
Could be where the girls are being held.
Or where their bodies were dumped.
I'll call for backup.
Big search area.
Yeah, but their phones are still transmitting.
They should be right around here.
I got one.
Screen's broken.
Here.
Their phones were tossed.
Yeah, but I don't see any bodies.
It means the girls could still be alive.
It opened up to a video.
Looks like it was taken inside a vehicle.
Where are you taking us? Please, just let us go.
Shut up.
My sister's only 13.
She's just a kid.
You don't need both of us.
Just please, let her go! You stupid bitch! Ooh.
Give me the phone, or I will slit her throat.
Lexi! No! Lexi got her captor on camera.
Couldn't see much of his face, but no scorpion tattoo.
That wasn't Axel Vargas.
Then who was it, and what does he want with these girls? Nick! Nick? Just heard the suspect was released.
What the hell's going on? Yeah, his alibi checked out.
But he was with Lexi and Cara right before they disappeared.
He has to be on the top of the suspect list.
Yeah, I just saw the video that Lexi shot in the abductor's vehicle.
It's not Axel Vargas behind the wheel.
Do-do you have any idea who the guy was? Actually, I was hoping you could help us out there, John.
You've been running that San Diego office for a long time now.
You must have made some enemies along the way? Can you think of anyone who who might want to snatch up your girls to hurt you in some way? God, I don't know.
I A family member of someone you recently put away.
Or someone who was recently released from prison? Something like that? We-we just brought down a biker gang that killed a city supervisor.
That's good.
Have your lab send that file over right away, and we'll look into it.
In the meantime, I want to take a look at that video.
If this is about me, maybe I'll recognize the guy.
Where are you taking us? Please just let us go.
My sister's only 13.
She's just a kid.
You don't need both of us.
Just please, let her go! You stupid bitch! Give me the phone, or I will slit her throat.
- Lexi! - No! I'm sorry you had to see that, John.
Do you recognize him? No.
What if they're dead already? I mean, he had a knife.
He's already killed one person today, right? You shouldn't even be thinking like that.
Not when there's a chance they're still alive.
We'll work it till we find 'em.
It looks like Lexi was trying to send this clip to somebody.
She entered this phone number, but it didn't go through.
Well, it's a silent call for help.
Whose number is that? It's mine.
She was trying to send it to me.
You weren't in her contact list? I guess not.
Lexi and I haven't had much of a relationship since she moved here to live with her mother.
Well, you were the first person she thought of to reach out to when she was in trouble.
That's got to mean something.
Okay, all right, where are we? Did you find out anything about the motorcycle gang that Nolan helped take down? Yeah.
Most of them are in prison.
San Diego P.
D.
verified the whereabouts of the others.
Is there anyone else who might have had a grudge against Nolan? Well, Nolan's lab just cracked a series of Mexican cartel murders along the border, but he hasn't received any threats lately.
No, I think if somebody wanted to get back at him, why would they come all the way here to Vegas? Right.
All right, all right, look, maybe this has absolutely nothing to do with him.
The guy's got two beautiful daughters, right? They're young, they're attractive, they're in the mall.
The mall is like a hunting ground for sexual predators.
Maybe this was a a crime of opportunity.
Well, I looked at all the surveillance video from the mall.
Cara and Lexi left through the west doors, but they were alone.
Okay, but that doesn't mean that the kidnapper wasn't already following them, right? I mean, he could have been laying in wait outside, and then forced them into a car.
Hey.
I was looking through Lexi's text messages, and I found something interesting.
Seems she has an admirer who likes to send her pictures of his genitals.
I'll take your word for it.
Well, she told the guy to stop, the images kept coming.
When she threatened to share the pics with the cops, the perv wrote back, "You bitch, you're just like your mother.
" He knows Tori Nolan.
Did you run the number? Yeah.
Came back to a used car salesman named Dennis Hayes.
Let's bring him in.
Police are trying to track him down.
In the meantime, Sara's gonna talk with Tori Nolan.
Please, let her go! You stupid bitch! Give me the phone, or I will slit her throat.
Lexi! No! Is that Dennis Hayes? I'm not sure.
I-I've only met him a couple of times.
How do you know him? He was a friend of my ex-boyfriend.
Oh, my God.
Do you think he did this? Do you think he took my girls? That's what we're trying to figure out.
Mrs.
Nolan, we found some pretty graphic photos and texts that Dennis sent to Lexi.
What was the nature of their relationship? She barely knew him.
He came to our house for a party once.
Lexi wasn't feeling well, and she went up to bed.
I decided to go check on her about a half an hour later, and she was passed out on the bed.
And Dennis was on top of her trying to take her clothes off.
What did you do? Well, I pulled him off of her, and I told him to get the hell out of my house.
You called the police.
No, I didn't.
Why not? Because we had been drinking.
And taking E.
Lexi wanted to try it, and I let her.
I didn't want the cops to find out.
I didn't want them to take her away from me.
You didn't report Dennis Hayes, and now, he may have abducted both of your daughters.
Do you have any idea where he could have taken them? I wish I did.
What the hell kind of mother are you? Mr.
Nolan You brought that monster into our daughter's life.
And now he's taken her and Cara! I didn't know.
I should never have let you have custody of Lexi.
She didn't want to live with you.
Hey, your daughters are missing, and this is not gonna help us find them.
Let's just focus on bringing Lexi and Cara home.
Please.
All right.
We still haven't found Hayes.
Please, tell me you got something.
As a matter of fact, I do.
I've been analyzing the video that Lexi took, and from the dashboard, I can tell that the vehicle they were abducted in was a 1986 Chevrolet Suburban.
Does Dennis Hayes drive one of those? No, but I mean, he's a used car salesman.
He has access to all kinds of vehicles.
All right, I'll call the dealership, and, uh, I'll see if they have a '86 Suburban in inventory.
What is it? Where is she? In the Dumpster.
One of the construction guys accidentally threw out some lighting fixtures, so foreman came back to retrieve 'em, found the body.
She one of the girls? Yeah, that's Lexi, the older sister.
Not the way we were hoping to find her.
No, it's not.
Ecchymosis.
Means she suffered blunt force trauma to the head.
Fresh cuts on the bottoms of her feet.
Looks like she tried to run away.
Any sign of Cara? She's not in here.
Then there's a chance she might still alive.
Hey, I thought Nick was working this one.
He's at the morgue.
He wanted to be the one to process Lexi's body.
I found a necklace.
There's not much blood in the dumpster.
She was killed somewhere else and dumped here.
They said they searched the house under renovation.
No sign of Cara.
No evidence the girls were ever held there.
What about the other houses in the neighborhood? Unis are still canvassing.
One neighbor did report hearing a metallic squeaking sound around 10:30.
Hinges on the doors of the dumpster, maybe? By the time she looked out the window, all she could see were taillights speeding away.
Some type of SUV.
But if the killer opened these doors, he would've had to have touched the latch.
I'll dust for prints.
I don't think you should be in here.
I had to see her.
I'm really sorry.
Her fingernails are broken.
She put up a fight.
That's Lexi.
Strong.
Fearless.
Yeah, just like her old man.
That's probably why we butted heads so much.
You know, when she was 12, she wanted to camp out all night for concert tickets and I wouldn't let her.
She snuck out of the house and I found her at 2:00 in the morning at the venue with her friends.
I dragged her home.
She didn't talk to me for a week.
This is my fault.
No.
No, it isn't.
I should've fought harder to keep her after the divorce.
But she was so unhappy.
She was acting out, skipping school.
I didn't I didn't know what else to do.
Don't put yourself through this, man.
What happened to Lexi is not your fault.
It's not your fault.
You're right.
I shouldn't be here.
Hey, Nick.
Just finishing up here.
Damn shame.
Nick, sometimes, despite our best efforts, we don't get the result we want.
Yeah.
You have any news on her sister? No.
We're still trying to track down Dennis Hayes.
What's her cause of death? She had a significant longitudinal fracture on the back of the head.
Crushing blows causing massive cerebral hemorrhaging.
And does the injury indicate what type of weapon was used? Her head was smashed into a very hard, flat surface.
Okay.
I found traces of stone in the wound.
And the fingernail scratches around the ligature marks indicates that she tried to get away.
Any evidence of sexual assault? No physical findings.
She had consensual sex earlier in the day.
DNA can sort out any multiple donors.
And what is that bite on her shoulder? Is that a sting, some type of insect? Based on the redness and the inflammation, I think you're right.
Hey, do you think it could be a scorpion sting? I don't know.
Why? I found a piece of exoskeleton on the dead body in the restroom.
Same guy Cara Nolan was with.
Will you extract some tissue from around the sting and have it analyzed right away? You got it.
How's Nolan? He's holding it together as best he can.
This is a guy who sees dead bodies in autopsy every day, but when it's your own kid laying there Oof.
I can't even imagine.
John's a good guy.
He doesn't deserve this.
Didn't he send you an autographed Chargers jersey a few years ago? Yeah, Dan Fouts.
One of the best passing quarterbacks in the NFL.
It was his attempt to lure me to that San Diego office.
You ever regret that? Not taking the job out there? No.
I mean, it wasn't a promotion or anything like that.
Yeah, but the money had to be better than here.
Uh, not really.
I mean, San Diego's an expensive town to live in.
Besides, this is my home.
I got all my friends here.
This is where my family is.
And look, the Chargers got a good football team, but they're no Dallas Cowboys.
Those are my boys.
Go Cowboys.
Hey, Russell.
Mm.
Doc confirmed that the sting on Lexi Nolan's shoulder was from a scorpion.
Same type as the exoskeleton that Nick found? No.
This wasn't a giant hairy scorpion.
The histopath report identified chlorotoxin and maurotoxin, consistent with a deathstalker scorpion.
They common to Nevada? Indigenous to Israel.
Well then how is she stung by one of these? It had to be intentional.
Some people keep them as pets, which is crazy-- deathstalkers are highly aggressive.
When they sting their victims, the venom rushes into the bloodstream, causing increased heartbeat, blood pressure, and, if enough venom is released, convulsions and death.
Well, now, doc said that Lexi Nolan died from blunt force trauma, right? Yes, but I think the scorpion sting may have contributed to her death.
See, Lexi had cuts on the bottom of her feet.
If she tried to run, with that venom in her system, she wouldn't have gotten very far.
Allowing her killer to catch up to her.
So do we know if Dennis Hayes has a thing for scorpions? He's not our guy.
Police tracked him down to a motel in Nebraska.
He's been there three days.
So we know that whoever killed Lexi Nolan had access to a deathstalker scorpion.
And if they're not native to Nevada, then where'd the guy get one? Hey, turns out there are seven places in Nevada that sell deathstalker scorpions.
Seven places too many, if you ask me.
I guess some people get a kick out of owning something that can kill you.
Deathstalkers only live two to six years, so I got a list of everyone who purchased one from 2008 to now.
We cross-reference this with everyone who drives a 1986 Chevrolet Suburban, and we might get our guy.
Great minds think alike.
Here-- Kieran Clark.
LVPD.
Kieran Clark, LVPD.
Clear inside.
All clear.
Nobody's here.
That means no Cara.
This is Clark's address, but it doesn't look like he lives here.
Terrariums.
A lot of them.
Oh! Oh, God.
Guess he's not just into scorpions.
Hey, Morgan.
Check this out.
Stalker photos.
Cara Nolan was only in town for the past few days.
What, has he been stalking her the whole time? Wait a minute.
That's somebody else.
That's not Cara Nolan.
Who is it, then? Another victim? I don't know.
But whoever she is she's a dead ringer for Cara.
I already heard.
You didn't find Cara.
No.
Not yet.
But we know who took her and we know why.
A guy named Kieran Clark.
There was a-a shrine in that barn.
It seems as though the suspect has an obsession with a young woman.
We haven't identified her yet, but she looks just like Cara.
He took my two girls because Cara reminded him of someone? That's what it looks like, yeah.
But only a matter of time Before we get Cara back.
Is that what you're gonna try and sell me? John, I'm not trying to sell you on-on anything here, but I'm sure as hell not ready to quit.
We're gonna find her.
No doubt we will.
Just like we found Lexi.
I'm sorry about Lexi.
But hey, you can't just fold and throw in now.
Come on.
I'm no tourist, Nick.
I've run a crime lab for 17 years.
Cara's been missing for 24 hours, and that lunatic already killed Lexi.
You and I both know how this thing's probably gonna end.
I'm not about to quit.
And you're not, either.
You hear me? Hey, look at me.
I will find her.
Okay, what do we know about Kieran Clark? He's known as the Bug Guy.
He goes around to schools and kids' birthday parties, educating them about insects and reptiles.
It's terrifying that he works around children.
And the young woman in these photos, the one he's obviously obsessed with? According to the police report, her name is Jennifer DeMarcus.
She used to work at a pet shop in Henderson.
That's where they met.
She had one date with Clark before she realized he was a head case, and then she told him that she wasn't interested.
Let me guess-- he wouldn't take no for an answer.
He kept coming around the pet shop, and then he started parking his car in front of Jennifer's apartment at night.
She called the police on him several times.
Did she get a restraining order? Left town.
Moved back to Georgia.
Put as much distance between her and Clark as she could.
Clearly, he's still obsessed with her.
So, what do you think? Kieran goes to the mall, sees Cara looking very much like Jennifer, and he decides to grab her.
Except Cara was with Pete Corday, so Clark had to get rid of him first.
And by the time he was done with Pete, Cara was with Lexi, so he had to take them both.
Right.
The stone particles that Nick found in Lexi Nolan's head wound were coated.
I identified a mixture of ethanol, alkylalkoxysilane and isopropyl acetate.
Oxysilane? That sounds like a sealant of some kind.
Actually, it's an impregnating sealant, used to protect concrete from water and staining-- uh, primarily walkways, driveways.
There was no evidence of sealant in the Dumpster where Lexi's body was found, which means it had to come from where she was actually murdered.
Lexi tried to escape.
She was still feeling distress from the scorpion sting.
Maybe she was near a driveway when Kieran Clark caught up to her and smashed her head into it.
The sealant in Lexi's wound wasn't entirely cured, meaning that it was probably applied within the last couple of days.
Okay.
All right.
Let's do a search within a five-mile radius of where Lexi's body was found.
We're looking for somebody who recently had their concrete driveway sealed.
Hey.
Hi.
I heard you got something.
Yeah.
Lexi's body was found right here.
Two miles away, on Harvard Drive, this house had their driveway sealed on Wednesday.
Now, we know that when Lexi ran she didn't get very far, so Clark's got to be holding Cara somewhere nearby.
I should get out there.
Wait for backup.
I will.
LVPD! Get over here.
Kieran Clark! No! Let me go! Drop the knife.
Don't come any closer.
Put the knife down.
I'll slit her throat.
Hey, me and you, we can work this out.
But you don't need to hurt her.
What I need is for you to leave.
Now, we both know that's not going to happen.
Go! I will kill her.
I know about the girl from the pet store.
Jennifer-- I mean, isn't that the girl you liked? I love her.
Okay.
All right.
But she's not her.
Her name is Cara Nolan.
She's 13 years old.
She's never done anything to hurt you.
I know when you saw her at the mall, you thought "That's Jennifer.
" But take a closer look.
It's not her.
She's a child, and she she needs to go home.
You're wrong.
She's mine.
Let her go.
I can't let you take her.
It's okay.
It's all right.
I'm a friend of your dad's.
Thank you.
It's gonna be all right.
How's she doing? Physically, she's okay.
She's been through a hell of an ordeal, but she's alive because of you.
You never gave up.
Thank you for bringing her back to me.
You're welcome.
You know, Nick I've been thinking about the choices I made.
Working weekends and evenings.
Missing school plays, soccer games.
Sometimes going days without seeing my girls.
For years, I've been putting other people's families ahead of my own.
I don't want to do that anymore.
So, what are you saying? You're gonna hang it up? Well, Cara needs me.
Now more than ever.
It would be a big loss for your crime lab.
Not with you there.
John, we've talked about this.
I've already got a job.
I'm not asking you to just join the team.
I'm asking you to run it.
You want me to take over the crime lab in San Diego? I know it would be in good hands with you at the helm.
That's a big job.
You don't have to answer me right now.
Just promise me you'll think about it.
Thank you, Nick.