- You're Iate. - Thursday night. Traffic on the Strip.
Like every night. We're on a deadline. Go.
(Siren)
Man versus gravity.
Man Iost.
I think that was his point.
- Hello, Bob. - Hey, Brian.
Grissom, what are you doing here?
- What do you think? - I didn't aIert Homicide.
Dispatch called. The body's on county property.
Well, we're not looking at a crime here.
Bob explained it to me on the phone.
His guy was alone up there
He jumped. This is suicide.
- Then why are you here, Sheriff? - Look, er...
Roger Valenti was an unhappy guy.
Money problems, family problems...
He took the easy way out.
It's a tragedy, but it is not a crime.
Suicide, huh?
I don't khow Brian
On the day you decide to end your Iife,
why would you go to work?
1,400 new beds means 1,400 criminals off the street. That old jail's maxed.
The prison population's increased by 10% in one year.
If this pIace isn't buiIt soon, you do the math.
You Iook Iike the Sheriff, but you taIk Iike the Mayor.
Mr Harris, do you get an extra bonus for early completion?
20 grand a day. I'm 10 days ahead.
Wow. $200,000. You must work your guys pretty hard, huh?
- Where was Valenti's work station? - He had the whole floor to himself.
Valenti was usually my first guy up.
He would drill the holes for the safety cables.
No-one walks a new slab until the cables are looped around the perimeter.
(Car horns and sirens)
TerminaI veIocity is 9.8 metres per second squared.
He would have hit the ground in under five seconds.
- Did this belong to Mr Valenti? - Well, like I said, he was the only one up here.
This drill has shorted out.
Do you think he jumped before or after he got the shock of his Iife?
GFCI wouId have prevented shock.
What is GFCI?
The Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupter.
Big words meaning he won't get electrocuted.
You see, if there's an electrical imbalance,
then the GFCI trips the circuit and the tooI's supposed to shut itseIf oft.
But if the third prong of the plug is compromised, the interrupter won't work.
Will it, Bob?
The third prong grounds the drill.
Without it, the interrupter's useless.
These prongs don't usually snap oft by themselves.
Are all your workers this careless with their tools?
Do you mind telling me what you're doing?
These cutters may have been used to tamper with the grounding prong.
What happened to good old dusting for prints?
When your crime scene is 12 storeys up...
..I don't wanna take any chances.
I'm gonna Iock in these prints.
Hey, O'Riley. We got the 419.
Dylan Buckley. 14 years old.
The paramedics pronounced
The coroner's on his way
Was he home alone?
Not alone. Not his home.
Catherine Willows, Nick Stokes. Crime Lab.
Dr Leigh Sapien.
This is her residence
CATHERINE: Oh good
Then you can fill us in.
- We were in the middle of a session. - You're a therapist?
- Psychiatrist. - And why were you seeing Dylan?
Doctor-patient privilege.
Privilege doesn't extend post mortem.
We can get a warrant for your records.
No need. Dylan suffered from reactive- attachment disorder.
Issues with his mother. I'd been treating him for 16 months.
It's ten o'cIock at night.
Is this your home?
I see my patients whenever they need me.
On weekends, at night, at the office or here.
Why don't you...just tell us what happened?
Dylan had an argument with his mother. He needed to unload.
He was complaining about his curfew
blaming his mother for problems at school
Suddenly he began to convulse
I tried to stabilise his head but it was a grand mal seizure
Dylan was an epileptic.
He hit his head.
And when the convulsions stopped, he was dead.
Did you try to revive him?
Of course Standard CPR
Cleared his airway, worked his chest.
I...take it this wasn't his first convuIsion?
He was diagnosed with epilepsy at age three.
W-What are you doing?
Catherine, we need to get a tape Iift here, pIease.
Look, I diaIIed 911.
I'm not hiding anything.
Well...
I can see that.
Ouick. Name three human bones that can withstand a 12-storey drop.
The bones of the inner ear - malleus, incus, stapes.
High cellular density, completely protected by the skull. Why?
They appear to be the only bones not fractured or broken.
I wanna see the entry and exit wounds.
He wasn't shot. This guy fell off the new jailhouse. Are we on the same case?
- He fell after he was electrocuted. - News to me.
I didn't find any physicaI evidence of eIectrocution.
Faulty drill.
There should be burn marks on one of his palms.
Negative on the burn marks
In most eIectrocution cases, capiIIaries rupture,
haemoglobin leaks into the perivascular tissue.
Right. Creating a fern-Iike pattern on the chest.
His body contradicts your crime scene.
I don't care what his body says. This guy was eIectrocuted.
It was not an accident.
What?
I don't know what I'm Iooking for.
Signs of charring or melting. You've done this before.
yeah but
we always go back to the body.
The body tells the story.
And, in this case, the body says there was no crime and you're not Iistening.
Why?
Now and then we have to break the rules.
Start with the conclusion and work our way backwards.
Like when we don't agree with the coroner's report?
Like, for instance,
in the 1800s... when surgery was Russian roulette
and patients were dying on the tables.
- Germs? - UntiI Louis Pasteur theorised
that something we could not see was attacking the patients.
- Relevance? - Bodies tell us stories
because we interpret them how our predecessors taught us to.
Not seeing something doesn't mean that it's not there.
Wires are crossed.
Polarity's been reversed.
This confirms that someone tampered with Valenti's drill.
The rubber soles of his boots should have protected him from electrical shock.
That's why you're safe in a car during a Iightning storm - you're insuIated by the rubber tyres.
Rubber's an insulator, but metal's a conductor.
What form of metaI hides in pIain view
at a construction site?
SARA: A hall
SARA: Hey
How's that palm print Grissom got off those cutters?
Good. I'm running it through AFIS right now.
Good thing is, the jailhouse is a union gig,
and all the union guys are already in the database.
What I did for the print was I Iined up
the ridge detaiI from the partiaI that I found on each handIe.
Nice.
(Sighs) So...
you think that guy fried before he fell?
I don't know. We found a naiI in his boot.
It couId have pierced the protective rubber.
It might have aIIowed eIectricity to course through his body.
Bobby Dawson's taking odds.
2 to 1, Grissom's wrong.
5 to 1, he gets suspended for shutting down that jailhouse.
- 10 to 1... - Fired.
(Beeping)
GRISSOM: Sounds like you got a match
WARRICK: Hey Gris
How Iong have you been there?
Yeah. Yeah, we do.
The um... It's a former union guy,
turned night-shift project manager.
Robert Harris.
Does that name mean anything?
Yeah.
Especially if you bet against me.
My prints are on the cutters because they're on everything at the site. I'm the project manager.
There's no mystery here.
You are, but you don't actually use all the tools, right?
I'm vigiIant about safety.
I'm aIways inspecting the equipment, tooIs...
Look, this is what's going to happen here.
The construction site is going to reopen and the investigation goes away.
Sure. After the Iab processes aII the evidence.
Excuse me.
For the record, I don't Iike being put in the middIe.
Who does?
I did a IittIe homework on the guy who took a nose dive after he was eIectrocuted.
Three days ago he was voted union rep.
Demanded more overtime pay. Pressed for a walkout.
- Motive? - Right.
Oh, in case you're interested,
Bob Harris was the Sheriff's best man.
- What was that about? - Oh... We're in a bowling league together.
- Can we wrap this up? - Sure.
Someone tampered with Roger Valenti's drill.
And I have onIy one suspect.
I read the coroner's preIim.
There is nothing in it about electrocution.
That's why it's a "prelim".
Mr Harris, were you against Valenti's union activities?
Of course not. I'm a union man myseIf.
You're fishing, GiI. We're done here.
Moving on.
Mrs Buckley, do you have someone to drive you home?
- Mrs Buckley? - Yes?
Do you have someone to drive you home?
Oh, er... Thank you, I'II be aII right.
- Mrs Buckley? - Yeah.
I'm Nick Stokes, Crime Lab. I've been assigned your son's case.
- Crime Lab? - It's... protocoI.
We were... just having pizza together.
He seemed fine and...
I dropped him off at Dr Sapien's and...
My husband passed away three years ago and now my...
..my baby's gone.
I understand.
If you'II excuse me, I need to go and make arrangements.
Sure.
I'm sorry for your Ioss.
Thank you.
My youngest just turned 14.
Tough age.
Cause of death?
CraniaI cerebraI injuries. Comminuted fractures of the occipitaI bone.
Injuries consistent with a grand maI seizure?
First blush, yes.
Waiting on toxicology. In the meantime,
check out his torso.
NICK: He's covered in bruises
Possibly from being thrashed during the seizure?
Possibly.
I found tan fibres on his boxers.
You, too, huh? His body's covered in them.
Fibres on his body, his underwear, but not on his shirt and pants. Why?
Maybe it's as simple as he wasn't wearing his shirt and pants.
Then, at some point, he was with his shrink... in his underwear.
Exactly what kind of therapy was this?
- GiI Grissom? - Yes.
I have information...about Roger VaIenti.
Call Jim Brass at Homicide.
I was the union rep before Roger. The waIkout was my idea.
Bob Harris...
threatened me and my family.
I wouIdn't betray the union, so I gave up my position at the IocaI.
Roger...picked up where I Ieft off.
Why are you telling me this?
Because it could have been me.
Cheese...
milk...
..sweaters.
What do these things have in common?
Goat cheese. Goat milk.
- Goat...sweaters? - Angora.
Ding, ding, ding! Fibres from the Iady shrink, fibres from the boy.
Both are angora
Angora is processed goat hair?
Mm-hm.
Sheared, washed, spun and dyed. Angora is 100% goat.
You didn't know that, Nick?
- Must be a chick thing. - (Laughs)
(Yawns)
I need to see the body again.
- No can do. Released six hours ago. - Final report?
Another 24, but there's nothing to support Valenti was electrocuted.
- Doc, please. - You want to look at my notes.
So, what have you got?
I mean, anything unusuaI, even the mundane.
His troponin enzymes are elevated.
They become elevated after ventricular fibrillation,
which could be caused by electrocution.
Sure, but troponin is found in all victims of cardiac arrest.
Most of whom have not been zapped.
Work with me, will you?
Er...Vic also had an elevated concentration of iron in his blood.
Six, seven times normaI.
- Life-threatening? - No.
What else?
Well, it fits the bill of "mundane". His skin looked jaundiced.
Post mortem deoxygenation?
Dead or alive, your vic's epidermis is yellow.
- Tell me about his testicles. - What?
OK, I'm working with you. Er...
I...I don't remember.
I mean...genetics can be fascinating
and there are things I take note of.
But I didn't focus on his genitaIs.
Thanks, doc.
You're welcome.
RADIO: Let's cool off with a blast from the past
Here's Chubby Checker and Limbo Rock
What are you guys doing?
Waiting for an assignment.
- you got a new case for us? - A new case?
We heard the Sheriff put the brakes on the investigation.
I didn't say that, did I?
Well, I think I er... smell something burning in the DNA Lab.
- Love to stay and chat, but... - Greg?
I hope that's not the crossword puzzIe.
What about the naiI we puIIed out of VaIenti's boot?
- Dusted? - No, cos...
Process the nail, please. If you get a print...
I'II compare it to Bob Harris's ten card.
Anything else?
Yes. MetaI cutters.
I need you to prove or disprove whether they were used to sever the grounding prong.
OK.
And you're with me.
(Music builds)
Mr Gesek!
You're conducting.
- I didn't hear you come in. - VivaIdi. Four Seasons.
Vivaldi, Valenti.
Both ItaIians. It's Iike...being in Venice.
Why are you here? Do I need a Iawyer?
Have you prepped him yet?
I was about to commence draining when I got distracted.
Yeah, I know - Venice. I need to see his testicIes.
I knew there was something weird about you.
Excuse me!
You can't just come in here and Iook at my guy's goods.
If I Iet you see him, I have to Iet everybody see him.
- But... perhaps we can work something out. - What? Do you want us to pay to see him?
That's a good idea, but no.
I'm starting a business: Crime Scene CIeanup. I'II want some referraIs.
I'II put you on a Iist.
Testicular atrophy.
They're the size of peas.
Poor guy.
Yeah, that's rough. And the significance of this evidence?
Haemochromatosis.
Valenti had elevated levels of iron in his blood.
yellow pallor Shrunken testicies
He's been ingesting trace amounts of iron over a Iong period of time.
Why'd he eat iron?
Trace amounts are odourless, tasteless. He probably didn't know.
- You're saying he was poisoned? - No.
Iron moIecuIes take a Iong time to buiId up.
Could have been his diet, repeated blood transfusions, excessive smoking.
Possibly hereditary abnormalities.
So, where does this get us?
One step closer. Mr Gesek...
Stick a syringe in his carotid, all the way to his clavicle.
You want his blood?
One pint. To go.
- Warrick. - Hey.
- I got a thumbprint oft that naiI. - CooI.
Only a partial. Print Lab's running a comparison.
Whatever happened with those metaI cutters?
Serrations didn't match up. They weren't used on the grounding prong.
- What's in the envelope? - Roger Valenti's blood.
Grissom wants it packaged in plastic.
I don't know. Don't ask.
You want Iunch?
Later.
- Hey, Catherine? - Yeah.
You ever been in therapy?
Who hasn't?
Didn't save my marriage.
you were OK sharing your problems with a complete stranger?
You rather I teII them to you?
Somebody order a warrant?
- Yeah. - Mustard and relish. Hold the onions.
I hope it's a generaI.
Epilepsy. Eyewitness physician dials 911.
Coroner's quiet. You're Iucky to get a Iimited.
What do you mean? We've got fibres on a 14-year- old and the shrink's clothing.
Which would have got you nothing.
But I did a check on the doctor. She once had her Iicence suspended.
Sex with a patient. Teen's parents filed a complaint with the APA.
Sex with a minor? Suspension's a joke. She should have icst her licence, minimum.
Yeah, well, this time maybe she will.
OK, Gris.
Valenti's blood.
Packaged. Ready to go.
Thank you.
You wanna fill me in here? I mean...
This wasn't covered in any science class I took.
Well, iron is a conductive mineral.
I wanna know if there was enough iron in VaIenti's bIood...to conduct eIectricity.
- That's far out - Yeah, well...
We'II see.
Plug in the blood.
Angora fibres? What does that have to do with anything?
Excuse me, I don't appreciate being treated Iike a suspect.
Then maybe you should wait outside.
Do you consider me a suspect? Because that's how I'm feeIing.
Fine
Don't answer me. It's your choice.
Funny thing about choices.
Once you make 'em, you have to Iive with 'em.
Dylan Buckley was just a boy.
He trusted you.
And you abused that trust.
Linen closet. Top shelf.
Was that blanket here?
On the floor, with you and Dylan under it?
DR SARIEN: It's gonna be OK.
That's it. That's it.
NICK: He was a 14-year-old kid
What's the matter with you?
He resisted. You persisted. Then what?
I don't know the basis of your aIIegations, but I have never crossed the Iine.
That's not what your rap sheet says.
Rap sheet?
Sex with an underage patient.
I-I was a resident. He was 17. We were in...
Look, no criminaI charges were fiIed. It shouId have been expunged from my record.
It doesn't make you any Iess guiIty.
Lady, I'm not a saint,
but I am not a kiIIer or a chiId moIester.
Dylan Buckley was an epileptic.
He had a seizure. He hit his head.
That's the truth.
You don't Iike it? You can Ieave.
We got what we came here for.
- What's going on with you? - I'm on a case.
We're on a case.
Right.
Hey, is that from the deli?
Egg salad sandwich. You want half?
- No. Can I have your pickIe? - Yeah.
You can have it.
Oh, that's a nice one.
You've turned my pickle into a light bulb.
- I'm eIectrocuting it. - You sure are.
That would explain that smell.
This is how I cooked hot dogs in coIIege.
Check out the burn marks.
There are none.
Just Iike VaIenti's body. No evidence of eIectrocution.
Pickles are high in sodium content.
Sodium is conductive, just Iike iron.
The flow of electricity through a body generates heat.
Burns are the physicaI evidence of that. But...
if the body ofters no resistance to the flow of electricity -
no heat, no burn marks.
Roger Valenti's body offered up no resistance because of the excess iron in his blood.
SARA: it conducted electricity
Making his body one big wire. Path to ground.
In through his hand from the driII, out through the naiI in the boot.
No burn marks... but he was still electrocuted.
So you've just proved murder.
I wouIdn't break out that champagne just yet.
Don't go shooting the messenger. Thumbprint from the naiI.
Bob Harris's prints were not on the murder weapon?
They were not on the naiI.
I think someone stuck a naiI in the victim's boot and it wasn't Bob Harris.
So you made a suspect out of an innocent man.
Obviously that wasn't my intent.
Oh, good. Maybe you'II wanna bring that up in the newspaper articIe.
What are you talking about? What article?
The one I'm arranging for your pubIic apoIogy.
- I'm not making an apoIogy. - Oh, yes, you are.
You don't go after a friend of mine, sully his reputation and then walk away.
Actions have consequences, GiI. Even yours.
I heard the Sheriff chewed you a new one.
- You get my message? - You want me to check out your Deep Throat.
(Printer beeps)
Well, that was fast.
Ian WoIf. Union of EIectricaI Workers, LocaI 37.
He wanted to make sure that I stayed on Harris for the murder of Roger VaIenti.
- Doesn't that tell you something? - I told him to talk to you.
I'II check out the guy.
(Sighs)
Gil, why do you do this to yourself?
- What? - The guy's dead
Could have been suicide. Accident.
You always gotta push it.
It's just Iike any other case.
You know what I think?
Adrenaline.
you need the rush
But that's just me.
OK. Thank you, David.
No sweat.
Hey, he asked for it.
How many swabs does it take to process a blanket?
I'm thorough.
The Iab tested DyIan BuckIey's bIood for creatine kinase
which would be elevated post-seizure.
But Dylan Buckley's levels were normal.
I just got my own copy of the report.
Dr Sapien Iied.
You're racing me, Nick. We're driving the same car.
Nick!
Nick, I'II have you removed from the case.
You're confronting suspects before the evidence is processed.
You're flying solo, cutting me out.
What's going on?
OK.
There are some people you're supposed to be able to trust, you know.
I was nine and she was a Iast-minute baby-sitter.
AII I can remember doing afterwards is sitting in my room in the dark,
staring at the door, waiting for my... mom to get home.
I've never toId anyone before.
I'm sorry.
It's what makes a person, I guess.
I'm sorry, Catherine.
Check me out. So what? The worst thing I've done is get a speeding ticket.
And take a pipe to Valenti's head four days before he died.
It wasn't on the foreman's report. VaIenti's widow toId me.
WOLF: Guys get in beefs all the time
BRASS: But he died Harris had nothing to do with it
Despite your efforts to make it seem that way.
Look, I'm not saying another word tiII I taIk to a union Iawyer.
I pay my dues and these guys pIay hardbaII.
He's guilty.
Let's not make the same mistake twice.
FYI: 80 swabs in six hours? Not reaIistic, aII right? Even for me.
I thought you'd Iike the chaIIenge. What are we Iooking at here?
Lots of epithelials. There were skin cells shed all over the blanket.
Dylan Buckley's. Dr Sapien's.
You're two-thirds of the way there.
I aIso isoIated a set of ceIIs from another individuaI. Identity unknown.
But, when it's important to Nick here, I push further.
7 of the 13 markers match your dead kid.
Familial DNA?
Father's dead. Means we're Iooking at mom.
A naked kid under a blanket at a shrink's late at night... and his mother's there.
Your case just entered a whole new dimension of weird.
- Where's Mandy? - Cross-eyed from running our partiaI.
I didn't wanna Iose any time so I took over.
The database is 70,000.
- it could take a while - If I narrow the scope?
- To one. - We got a suspect?
Ian WoIf. Like the animaI, not the authors.
PartiaI overIay - perfect match. Now we just gotta pIace him at the crime scene.
Warrick's on it. I got a warrant for his tooI beIt. MetaI cutters incIuded.
(Door opens)
Doc? The kid in his underwear - tell us about the Y-incision.
Leftovers from my anniversary dinner.
- Congratulations. - Thanks.
The same tan fibres I found on the outside I found on the inside.
Mouth, nasaI passages, both Iungs.
- He was wrapped in that blanket. - Mm-hm. Head to toe.
Mrs Buckley, we know that your son didn't have a seizure.
We also know that you were at Dr Sapien's house with Dylan
the night that he died
He was in his underwear, wrapped in a blanket,
fighting for every breath.
I Ioved my son.
That's what every parent says.
This...
This was therapy. I had tried everything eIse.
Taken him to so many specialists, but I couldn't reach him.
So we...
We tried the...
(Sighs) We
I have to teII them.
It's caIIed rebirthing.
Rebirthing?
It's a technique used to treat extreme behaviouraI disorders.
The idea is to turn back the clock, wipe the slate clean.
Allow the child to re-bond with his mother.
What is the blanket for?
It represents the birth canaI.
So you wrapped Dylan up...
beat the hell out of him and...
hocus-pocus, he's supposed to Iove you again?
Rebirthing may not be a recognised therapeutic procedure, but it's not illegal.
Last time I checked, murder is.
I begged her to do it.
AII other methods of therapy had faiIed.
Dylan was becoming more belligerent, withdrawn. Even dangerous.
I just wanted my son to Iove me. That's aII.
- Dylan was a willing participant. - He was 14.
DR SARIEN: I instructed Dylan to lie down on the floor
in the foetal position
As part of the process,
I asked him if he wanted to be reborn to his mother. He said yes.
Now we're going to close the womb.
Twist.
So, then what happened?
Things got out of hand? He changed his mind?
Somewhere in the middle of an angora birth canal?
It is time to be reborn.
That's it. Push harder. Push harder!
- Try to get out. - (Fights for breath)
A IittIe harder. Come on, DyIan.
DYLAN: I can't breathe. I'm gonna die!
Do you wanna be reborn or do you wanna stay in there and die?
Let me outta here, please. Mom, please! I want this to stop!
- Maybe we should. - No. This is what happens. We can't stop now.
Trust me. This is a normaI response.
- I thought it was part of the process. - It is.
She said that that's what he was supposed to say.
That babies don't want to come out. That's why it's such an ordeaI for the woman.
So, you pushed on him, Iike a mother in Iabour?
Come on! Push harder!
Stop it! I can't breathe!
Push harder!
That's it!
(Panting) OK.
Honey?
Dylan? Honey?
When we opened the blanket, his eyes were closed.
I thought he was pretending to be asIeep.
So much for your...therapy.
Excuse me.
And that's why we tried to hide it. We knew you wouldn't understand.
WARRICK: The twin moons of Venus
Overlap to one.
WARRICK: The striations match
Wolf stuck a nail in Valenti's boot
compromised the drill, and cut the grounding prong with his own cutters.
- That seems Iike a Iot of work to kiII a guy. - Not for an eIectrician.
I'm gonna find Brass.
Hey, Gris...
I think I can speak for both of us when I say I'm sorry that we Iet you down.
- We quit before we should have. - Yeah. You did.
(Workmen shout)
Mr Wolf!
We got you for murder
Premeditated.
You know this from my cutters?
They're just part of the story.
GRISSOM: you spiked Roger's boot with a nail compromised the insulation
You reversed the polarity in his drill.
you cut the grounding prong
planted evidence
And killed a man.
You're under arrest.
SHERIFF: Grissom!
It's aII you, man.
Thank you.
Sheriff.
Well, you got the bad apple.
Yeah. How about that?
Just in time for my big public apology.
I may be changing the tenor of that piece somewhat.
You won't be the goat, but you won't be the hero, either.
Good. I'II Ieave that to you.
That's why we will continue to work well together.
Grissom.