01x09 - Unfriendly Skies
Posted: 12/22/00 05:55
COLD OPEN:
[EXT. VARIOUS LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY]
BLUR TO:
[EXT. AIRPLANE (MOVING) - SUNSET]
(Through various cuts and dissolve sh*ts, the camera follows the aircraft in flight as we overhear the conversation between the PILOT and the TOWER.)
Pilot: (V.O.) McCarren approach Las Vegas nine-zero-nine, thirty-thousand. Request emergency personnel. Over.
Tower: (V.O.) Las vegas nine-zero-nine, McCarren tower. Specify request. Over.
Pilot: (V.O.) Negative, McCarren. Advise on runway.
Tower: (V.O.) Las Vegas nine-zero-nine cleared for V-O-R runway one-five approach. Over
Pilot: (V.O.) V-O-R runway one-five approach. Roger. Request Las Vegas police.
(The camera moves in through the clouds and pushes up close to the aircraft window. From the outside, we see darkened figures inside and a lot of movement. We hear thumping. We see the shadows of a commotion happening on the plane.)
Tower: (V.O.) Understand "police." Roger.
Emily Berhle: (V.O.) Mommy!
(Inside the moving aircraft, through the darkened window, we hear a little girl's screams. Something is happening inside that plane.)
CUT TO:
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - TARMAC - NIGHT]
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - NIGHT]
(The plane sits on the runway surrounded by police cars and emergency personnel.)
(BRASS instructs his officers on what to do at the scene.)
Brass: The luggage stays in the plane. We're going to treat this like a crime scene until we're told otherwise. Tim, Sam, talk to the coach passengers. See what you can't learn.
(GRISSOM walks up to BRASS.)
Brass: All right, look, I'm going to talk to the first class passengers -- they're in the lounge. Let's meet back there in a half an hour, all right?
Officer Tim: All right.
(The officers leave. GRISSOM and BRASS walk up the stairs to check out the inside of the plane.)
Grissom: So ... dead guy in first class?
Brass: Las Vegas Air. (b*at) Always heard it was a good time.
CUT TO:
[INT. PLANE - FIRST CLASS - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS]
(BRASS and GRISSOM walk onto the plane. BRASS clears his throat. In the aisle, is the body.)
Grissom: Coroner pronounce?
Brass: About thirty minutes ago.
Grissom: Eyewitnesses?
Brass: Everyone in first class -- nine passengers, one flight attendant.
Grissom: Where are they now?
Brass: Sequestered in the lounge. According to the Flight crew, the deceased had some sort of panic att*ck and d*ed before they landed.
(GRISSOM kneels down to look at the mess in the aisle above the dead body. He looks at the dead body.)
(Cut to: GRISSOM takes the camera and looks around the plane.)
Grissom: Point of disturbance: Cockpit door. Bloody handprint. (He snaps a picture, then kneels down.) Looks like foot impression. Ballpark shoe size ... ten to eleven maybe.
(He snaps another picture.)
(He and BRASS turn around back to the body.)
Brass: Deceased found lying between rows one and two.
(GRISSOM snaps several photos. He reaches out and picks up a disk on the floor and looks at it.)
Brass: What is that? Blood?
CUT TO:
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - NIGHT -- CONTINUOUS]
(BRASS and GRISSOM exit the plane and make their way down the stairs.)
Grissom: I want this whole plane taped off ... nose to tail and wing to wing.
Brass: Oh, it's going to take a lot of tape.
Grissom: I've got a dead body, a crime scene with wings. Something very wrong happened in this plane.
HARD CUT TO END OF TEASER ROLL TITLE CREDITS
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FADE IN.
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - NIGHT]
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - TARMAC - NIGHT]
(GRISSOM walks along the tarmac, his hands in his pocket. A car pulls up behind him, flashes on its siren to get GRISSOM'S attention and stops in front of him. GRISSOM turns around. The Sheriff, Brian Mobley, gets out of the car.)
Grissom: Sheriff?
Sheriff Brian Mobley: We've got a whale of an opportunity here, Gil. Dead body on an airplane -- FAA has jurisdiction. But the Feds won't be here till sunrise. That gives us about twelve hours to be heroes.
Grissom: I don't follow you.
Sheriff Brian Mobley: Well, we either hand over the guy who did it when the Feds get here or we give them all the glory while we watch from the sidelines.
Grissom: (shrugs) I don't even know if we have a homicide yet. First reports indicate he had some kind of an episode.
Sheriff Brian Mobley: Give me a little credit. Even you wouldn't tape off one of these wide-bodies unless you knew you had something. (b*at) Arrest would be good for you. It would be good for me, too. Good for Las Vegas.
(GRISSOM looks carefully at the SHERIFF.)
Grissom: You running for mayor?
CUT TO:
[INT. LAS VEGAS AIR AIRPLANE - FIRST CLASS - NIGHT]
(The CSIs are on the plane and examine the scene in front of them.)
Nick: (sighs) What about the passengers in coach? They see anything?
Sara: Brass said the curtain was shut. The Flight Attendant kept them separated. They disembarked through the rear.
Warrick: What do we know about the dead guy?
Catherine: Tony Candlewell, age 30. Communications Company Manager from Atlanta, married ... no record.
(GRISSOM walks onto the plane and looks at everyone.)
Grissom: So? What do you think?
Catherine: I don't know but this sure must have looked scary at thirty thousand feet.
Warrick: All this damage by one guy? Had to be on dr*gs.
Sara: Too much damage for one guy.
Nick: So, more than one guy? (NICK turns to look at GRISSOM.) What do you think, Gris?
Grissom: I think we got ten witnesses all singing the same song. Deceased went berserk. Unless we find something else in the evidence, that's what happened. Catherine ...
Catherine: I'll start the interviews.
Grissom: Thank you. Warrick, go with.
Warrick: Yeah.
Grissom: Brass has them all assembled in the lounge. Assume there's evidence on everyone. Nick, go with the coroner. Sara and I will work the plane. This is a mobile crime scene. It might not be here tomorrow.
(With their assignments, NICK, CATHERINE and WARRICK leave the plane. GRISSOM takes out a pair of gloves to get to work.)
CUT TO:
[INT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT -- LOUNGE - NIGHT]
(Inside the airport lounge, the disembarked first class passengers sit and wait.)
(KIERA BERHLE stands up and catches SHANNON, the Flight Attendant's attention.)
Kiera Berhle: (to SHANNON) Miss, my daughter has to go to the bathroom.
Shannon (flight attendant): Okay. I'll see what I can do.
Kiera Berhle: Thank you.
(They sit back down. SHANNON walks off to find someone.)
(As SHANNON walks by, VICKI MERCER grabs her arm and her attention.)
Vicki Mercer: How are you holding up?
Shannon (flight attendant): I'm still shaking.
(VICKI MERCER gives her a reassuring smile; SHANNON walks away.)
(BRASS, followed by CATHERINE and WARRICK, walk into the Airport Lounge.)
Brass: Can I have your attention? I'm Jim Brass, from homicide. This is Catherine Willows and Warrick Brown from Las Vegas Criminalistics. They're here to gather evidence.
Lou Everett: You know you can't keep us here.
Catherine: (calmly and reassuring) Sir, we realize this is an imposition, and we apologize for it. Nobody wants to see you on your way more than we do. We'll make this as quick and painless as we possibly can.
(They look at the passengers. No one else objects. WARRICK and CATHERINE turn around to get to work.)
Warrick: (quietly) Nice snow job.
Catherine: More flies with honey.
CUT TO:
[INT. LAS VEGAS AIR AIRPLANE - FIRST CLASS - NIGHT]
(SARA reaches into the deceased's jacket and takes out his driver's license. It reads: )
GEORGIA DRIVER'S LICENSE {PHOTO}
NUMBER: 167121417
EXPIRES: 06-18-2003
CANDLEWELL, TONY
8975 LOCKRIN LN.
ATLANTA, GA 30311
SEX: M
BIRTHDATE: 06-18-1975
EXAM DATE: 06-15-1998
DOUNTY: 060
HEIGHT: 6-02
WEIGHT: 225
POST: 4 49
FEE: 8.00
RESTRICTIONS
CLASS: C
ENDORSEMENTS
TYPE: REG
{SIGNATURE} ]
(SARA goes through the wallet contents. DAVID PHILLIPS walks up behind her. She stands up.)
Sara: Driver's license ... library card ... organ donor card.
David Phillips: Stand-up guy.
(She finds a photo.)
Sara: He had a family.
David Phillips: Can you imagine getting that phone call? What a shame.
(She sighs, closes the wallet and hands it to DAVID.)
Sara: David ... it's always a shame.
CUT TO:
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - TARMAC - NIGHT]
(The Coroners wheel out the body on a gurney across the tarmac GRISSOM interviews the PILOT and CO-PILOT.)
Co-Captain Arrington: I saw him board. He seemed like an okay guy.
(Quick flashback to: On board, pre-flight, TONY CANDLEWELL helps DR. KIERA BERHLE with putting her bags up on the overhead storage.)
TONY CANDLEWELL Here, let me help you with that.
Kiera Berhle: Oh, thank you. Thank you very much.
(CO-CAPTAIN ARRINGTON watches the exchange from the front of the plane.
Tony Candlewell: Sure. No problem.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: When did you become aware that there was a problem in the cabin?
Captain Murdle: Sixteen-thirty hours, about 35 minutes out. Shannon asked one of us to come out and address an issue with a passenger.
(Quick flashback to: The cockpit door opens; CAPTAIN MURDLE sees SHANNON, the flight attendant, standing there.)
Captain Murdle: What's the problem, Shannon?
(Back in the cabin, there's some commotion as TONY CANDLEWELL tries to get the lavatory door open.)
Tony Candlewell: Come on! Hello! (b.g.) Other people have to go to!
(CAPTAIN MURDLE heads for the back of the area.)
Shannon: (to the other flight attendant) Do me a favor: Go back to coach. Make sure no one comes forward. Thanks.
(The other flight attendant heads for the back of the cabin. TONY CANDLEWELL continues to struggle with the lavatory door.)
Tony Candlewell: (shouting) Come on! It's been ten minutes!
Captain Murdle: Sir ... is there some way we can assist you?
Tony Candlewell: Yeah. You can help me open this door.
Captain Murdle: There are two other rest rooms towards the rear of the plane.
Tony Candlewell: I paid $1,200 to pee here, not in coach.
Captain Murdle: Sir? You need to take your seat.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: How much time did you spend with him?
Captain Murdle: Two minutes.
Grissom: In that time did you notice anything that would explain his behavior?
(CAPTAIN MURDLE shakes his head.)
Grissom: Was he drunk maybe, or on dr*gs?
Captain Murdle: Not as far as I could tell. A little agitated. It's not like I haven't seen this kind of behavior before. Flying just makes people react in funny ways.
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - NIGHT]
(NICK watches DR. WILLIAMS puts a meat thermometer in the deceased to take a body temperature reading.)
Nick: Is that a meat thermometer?
Dr. Jenna Williams: Digital readout. Bigger numbers. (It beeps.) 98.1.
Nick: Guy should be colder than that. Body temperature drops two degrees in the first hour after death then one and a half degrees for each successive hour.
Dr. Jenna Williams: Well, he's been dead for two hours.
Nick: That would make his temperature at the time of death ... 101.6.
(realizing) This guy had a fever.
(She looks at the body.)
Dr. Jenna Williams: Let's see what else we got.
(She checks his pupils.)
Dr. Jenna Williams: Petecchial hemorrhaging behind the eyes ... suggesting suffocation of some sort. Horseshoe-shaped contusion on the left side of the neck.
Nick: Looks like the heel of a boot.
Dr. Jenna Williams: Oh, I'll buy that -- for now. Multiple contusions front and back. Broken hand.
Nick: Well, this guy's a study in contradictions.
(NICK lifts up the deceased's right hand.)
Nick: He's got defensive wounds on his palms but the scrapes on his knuckles and the broken hand indicate aggression.
(NICK sighs.)
CUT TO:
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - TARMAC - NIGHT]
[INT. LAS VEGAS AIR AIRPLANE - FIRST CLASS - NIGHT]
(As GRISSOM takes roll call, SARA puts orange cones with their names on tape on the appropriate seat.)
Grissom: Dr. Kiera Behrle, 3-E. Emily Behrle, 3-F. Nate Metz, 2C.
(GRISSOM puts his hand on the chair and the chair falls backward. It's broken.)
Grissom: Nate Metz.
Sara: Put your seat back and tray table in their upright position. I don't think so.
Grissom: Let me guess who was sitting in 3C. (GRISSOM checks the flight list.)
Tony Candlewell. The dead guy.
CUT TO:
[INT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - EMPTY OFFICE -- NIGHT]
(CATHERINE and BRASS interview NATE METZ.)
Nate Metz: Look, the guy was a real ass.
Brass: In what way?
Nate Metz: You know why I fly first class? Other than the fact that my company pays for it? Because I can work. I have to work.
Catherine: And he wouldn't let you?
Nate: No, he, he, he kept kicking the back of my seat with his foot. You know, like in a movie theater when somebody's kicking your seat? Imagine that all the way from Atlanta to Las Vegas.
Catherine: Are you telling me this guy was kicking the back of your seat the entire flight?
Nate: Maybe not the entire flight. You know, like, like Dallas to, to Las Vegas.
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, NATE METZ is working on his laptop when his seat back jostles. NATE METZ pushes back on his seat and it falls back a little bit. His seat jostles again.)
Nate: (irritated) Hey, Pele, could you please stop kicking the back of my seat?
Tony Candlewell: I wasn't doing anything.
Nate: You know exactly what you're doing. Stop it.
(With his foot resting on the back of NATE'S seat, TONY CANDLEWELL jostles the seat back.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Brass: What did you do?
Nate Metz: I just ... I ignored him. You know, I punched the seat a couple times in anger and that's it.
(He looks up at CATHERINE.)
Nate Metz: Look, the guy set me off. It was either the seat or him.
Catherine: May I see your hands?
(He holds out his hands in a loose fist, knuckles up. His right knuckles are red and skinned.)
Brass: Your knuckles are pretty banged up.
(NATE turns to look at BRASS.)
CUT TO:
[INT. LAS VEGAS AIR AIRPLANE - FIRST CLASS CABIN - NIGHT]
(SARA and GRISSOM are looking at the seats. GRISSOM moves aside the seat belt and finds something.)
Grissom: Blood drops ... away from the main event.
(GRISSOM takes a swab sample.)
Sara: Maybe that's where the action started.
Grissom: Could just be a bloody nose.
Sara: Who was sitting in 4B?
(GRISSOM grabs the cone on the seat.)
Grissom: Lou Everett.
CUT TO:
[INT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - NIGHT]
(LOU EVERETT is in front of the candy machine. He puts his money in, pushes the button and waits for the OREO cookie pack to come out. It gets stuck.)
Brass: Lou Everett?
(LOU slams the flat of his hand on the machine glass.)
Lou Everett: Yeah.
Brass: How'd you get that slice around the chops?
Lou Everett: The guy swung at me with a C.D. Put his finger in the hole and slashed me.
Warrick: What guy?
Lou Everett: That crazy guy-- the psycho. He was out of his mind.
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, TONY CANDLEWELL has his foot up against the back of NATE METZ' seat. He pushes the seat forward. NATE METZ jerks forward into his laptop. The laptop falls into the aisle.)
Nate Metz: (stands up angry) What the hell is wrong with you? You know, you owe me another laptop, pal.
(NATE picks up the laptop and shoves the thing into TONY CANDLEWELL'S chest. TONY gets up and mumbles.)
Tony Candlewell: (mumbles) Move over!
(He pushes the laptop aside and shoves NATE METZ backward. The flight attendant and LOU EVERETT both try to break it up before it escalates.)
Shannon: Hey!
Lou Everett: Hey, hey. We're in mid-flight now, guys. That's enough.
(CAMERA SLOW MOTION: TONY grabs the CD on his armrest, stands up and swings it at LOU EVERETT. LOU shouts in pain and hits his seat, spilling his drink.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Lou Everett: So what do you think? Bodily injury ... can I sue a dead man?
Brass: I think you need some coffee.
Lou Everett: What do you mean?
Brass: A few cocktails on the plane, Lou?
Lou Everett: (sighs) Look, I get nervous when I fly. So what?
Warrick: Well, alcohol does different things to different people ... at different altitudes.
Lou Everett: Hey, I was fine. He went bananas. Why don't you just ask ... ask the Flight Attendant?
CUT TO:
[INT AIRPORT LOUNGE - EMPTY OFFICE -- NIGHT]
(CATHERINE and BRASS interview SHANNON, the flight attendant.)
Shannon: So, we were about 35 minutes out ... when he started pressing his call button over and over. He was complaining of a headache.
Catherine: And did you give him anything?
Shannon: Yeah, I gave him a packet of aspirin and he popped it dry, no water.
Catherine: And, as far as you know did he complain of a headache when he boarded?
Shannon: No.
Catherine: So what made the worm turn?
Shannon: Look, I've been flying for ten years. You know, I have seen it all. I've seen ferrets in suitcases, uh, fellatio in first class ... passengers stir-frying on their tray tables. I mean ... who knows why anyone does anything?
(GRISSOM walks up to the conference room. He lingers outside. CATHERINE sees him.)
Catherine: Right. Well, thanks for your time.
Shannon: Thank you.
(SHANNON and BRASS both leave the room.)
(When they leave, GRISSOM walks into the room.)
Grissom: So, any bites?
(CATHERINE puts her things on the desk and starts writing notes.)
Catherine: Nada. You?
Grissom: If nothing criminal happened on that flight ... why isn't anybody talking to us?
Catherine: I'm going to go out on a limb here ... and say ... they're hiding something?
Grissom: Then we get to play hide-and-seek.
FADE TO BLACK.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FADE IN.
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - TARMAC - NIGHT]
[INT. LAS VEGAS AIR - FIRST CLASS - NIGHT]
(GRISSOM hangs up the phone. SARA goes through a seat pocket as he reports what he's found to her.)
Grissom: I just got off the phone with Nick. The coroner did some carving on our dead guy. She found intercranial bleeding, thoracic hemorrhaging a ruptured spleen. And, for what it's worth the guy also had a fever. (b*at) You find anything interesting?
Sara: Well, the guy in 4B was knocking them back pretty good.
(GRISSOM thinks for a moment. He goes back to seat 4-B, grabs a glove and takes about three little bottles out from the front seat pocket. He holds them up.)
(SARA, meanwhile, finds a large broken bottle in the front seat. She looks at it.)
Sara: Could be dried blood.
(GRISSOM puts the little bottles down and heads for SARA to look at the bottle part she's holding.)
(Extreme camera close up to the red dried substance on the edge of the broken green glass. Resume to normal view.)
Grissom: Victim had defensive wounds on his hand.
(SARA glances at the seat number.)
Sara: Marlene Valdez was sitting in 2E.
CUT TO:
[INT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - INTERVIEW OFFICE -- NIGHT]
(MARLENE VALDEZ points to her blouse. She sits down next to her husband, MAX.)
Marlene Valdez: Look at me. My blouse is ruined. Just hope it washes out.
Max Valdez: We'll get you a new one.
Marlene Valdez: After I saved your life, you better.
Brass: (to MAX) Mr. Valdez was your life in danger?
Max Valdez: Well, you know ...
Marlene Valdez: (interrupting) Of course his life was in danger. That maniac was pacing up and down the aisles ... all sweaty ... his eyes glazed. I was sure he was going to hijack that plane.
(Quick flashback to: SHANNON tries to restore order to the cabin. TONY CANDLEWELL is up in his seat.)
Shannon: Everyone needs to return to their seats.
Tony Candlewell: Get out of the way!
(He pushes her aside and heads for the front of the cabin. He bangs on the door.)
Marlene Valdez: (whispers) Do something.
Max Valdez: (brushes it aside) We should just mind our own business.
Marlene Valdez: (urgently) Well, if you don't do something, I will.
(TONY CANDLEWELL looks out of the front door window. MAX VALDEZ gets up out of his seat and approaches TONY.)
Max Valdez: Uh... ex-excuse me, sir. Uh... why don't you just take a seat?
(TONY puts his hand over MAX'S face and pushes him backward. MAX falls into the beverage cart behind him.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
(GRISSOM and SARA are both kneeling in front of the beverage cart mess in the aisle. GRISSOM holds the bottom half of the wine bottle.
Grissom: The other half of the wine bottle ... from 2E. So ... Marlene in 2E slashes the victim. He's bleeding. Where does he go?
(GRISSOM looks at SARA.)
Sara: The lavatory.
(He turns his head toward the lavatory.)
(Cut to: The lavatory door opens. GRISSOM sands in the doorway and looks inside. SARA peers over his shoulder.)
Sara: No evidence.
(SARA turns and heads back to her bag.)
Grissom: No "patent" evidence. But if there's blood present there may be latent evidence.
(She returns with the ALS and hands it to him.)
Sara: One step ahead of you, every so often.
Grissom: Thank you.
(GRISSOM starts to check the lavatory.)
Grissom: Well. Would you hand me the Christopher Columbus from my field kit? Thank you.
(SARA returns and hands it to him. GRISSOM checks the bowl.)
[SCOPE POV of "protein"]
Sara: I take it that's not blood.
Grissom: No... but there's protein in it.
Sara: Oh, the mile-high club. That means the two passengers may have had no idea what was going on inside that cabin.
Grissom: (rote) You know, high altitude enhances the entire sexual experience. It increases the euphoria.
Sara: (thinks about it for a moment) Well ... it's good. I don't know if it's that good.
(At her comment, GRISSOM slowly turns to look up at SARA. SARA sees GRISSOM'S reaction and has to ask.)
Sara: Cite your source.
Grissom: Hand me a swab, please.
Sara: You're avoiding the question. "Enhances sexual experience. Increases euphoria." Cite your source.
Grissom: A magazine.
Sara: What magazine?
Grissom: "Applied Psychodynamics in Forensic Science."
Sara: Never heard of it.
Grissom: I'll get you a subscription.
(SARA doesn't say anything.)
Grissom: (calmly) Now, cite your source.
Sara: Oh ... now you want to go down that route?
Grissom: Yeah.
Sara: (smiles and shakes her head) Nah. Never mind.
Grissom: You started it.
Sara: Delta Airlines, Flight 1109, Boston-Miami, March '93, Ken Fuller. Hazel eyes, Organic Chem Lab TA, BMOC ... overrated ... in ... every aspect. (GRISSOM looks at SARA.) Could ... we ... get back to work, please?
Grissom: Yeah. I think, due to your, uh ... firsthand knowledge and experience in airplane bathrooms, you should do the swab.
(GRISSOM steps out of the lavatory and walks past SARA back into the main cabin.)
Sara: Fine.
CUT TO:
[INT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - NIGHT]
(CATHERINE and WARRICK interview VICKI MERCER and CARL FINN, the two passengers in the bathroom.)
Catherine: And where were you when this was all going on, Mrs. Finn?
Vicki Mercer: Uh, Mercer, Vicky Mercer. Um, I was in the bathroom.
Catherine: In the bathroom? For how long?
Vicki Mercer: For a while. I ... I really don't fly very well.
Warrick: And where was your husband?
Carl Finn: We're not married. We just work together.
Warrick: Right. Where were you?
Carl Finn: I was in my seat.
CATHERINE So, then you saw what happened?
Carl Finn: I had my headphones on. I was listening to the air traffic control channel. Puts me right out.
Catherine: (disbelieving) So, you ... slept through everything and you woke up next to a ... dead body.
Carl Finn: (leans back and shrugs) Basically, yeah.
CUT TO:
[INT. LAS VEGAS AIR -- AIRPLANE - LAVATORY - NIGHT]
(SARA dusts the walls.)
(Dissolve to: SARA dusts the door frame leading into the lavatory.)
(Dissolve to: SARA dusts the basin edge.)
(Dissolve to: SARA dusts the underside of the ceiling where she finds something.)
Sara: Handprints. (b*at) A stallion.
CUT TO:
[INT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - EMPTY OFFICE -- NIGHT]
(CATHERINE takes off her jacket and throws it onto the couch.)
Catherine: All right, we're going to have to change tack here because what I said about getting more flies with honey -- I was wrong.
(CATHERINE flops onto the couch.)
Warrick: This is incredible. Ten people and no one's talking. My theory: The k*ller is in the group and the rest of them are afraid.
CUT TO:
[EXT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - NIGHT]
(Camera lingers on the group of first class passengers sitting in the airport lounge.)
[INT. LAS VEGAS AIR - AIRPLANE - FIRST CLASS CABIN - NIGHT]
(GRISSOM and SARA are in the main aisle looking for evidence. GRISSOM sits writing in his folder. SARA is kneeling looking at something on the side of the passenger seat.)
Sara: That guy was wearing khakis, right?
(SARA picks some fibers off of the bottom of the seat.)
Grissom: Yeah.
(She holds it up and examines it with her magnifying glass. GRISSOM turns around and looks at it with his magnifying glass.)
Grissom: Fibers drawn from his pants maybe?
Sara: We get anything else off the clothes?
(GRISSOM looks at SARA.)
Grissom: Nick's working on it.
(She puts her magnifying glass down and takes out a bindle.)
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI - DNA LAB - NIGHT]
(GREG SANDERS is putting the deceased's clothes on a dummy. NICK walks into the lab.)
Nick: What have you got?
Greg Sanders: Well, what you got here is a nice bordeaux and a starbucks blend. No blood. No saliva.
Nick: What about prints?
GREG SANDERS; Well, suede leather's a tough gig. It's too porous.
(NICK sees something.)
Nick: Hey. Are you losing your touch there, Einstein?
(NICK picks up the photos of the deceased's back and holds it up to the back of the suede jacket.)
Nick: Coroner's photos of the dead guy's back. Multiple horseshoe-shaped bruises. Those are definitely shoeprints.
Greg Sanders: Yeah. Looks like somebody stomped on your dead guy.
CUT TO:
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - TARMAC - NIGHT]
(Walking away from the plane, GRISSOM talks on his cellphone.)
Grissom: Bring me the jacket. If I do heel impressions I'll need something to compare it to. See you in twenty.
(He hangs up.)
CUT TO:
[INT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - EMPTY OFFICE - NIGHT]
(CATHERINE is in the office going over her notes and absently eating a snack. GRISSOM lingers in the doorway.)
Grissom: ... I need their shoes.
Catherine: Why you telling me?
Grissom: Because you're the "people" person, right?
Catherine: Well, why don't you tell them that? They're not giving me bupkus.
Grissom: Please?
(CATHERINE looks up at GRISSOM and stares at his puppy-dog eyes as he gives her the Look. She gives in and gets up off of the empty office chair. She passes him on her way out the door and hands him her bag of snacks.)
Catherine: (o.s.) Okay, people. Listen up. (b*at) Shoes ... off.
(CATHERINE, the "people" person, walks up to the group and looks around. Not one of them moves.)
Catherine: Now.
(Finally, they move to take their shoes off. GRISSOM stands off to the side and watches.)
CUT TO:
[INT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - EMPTY OFFICE -- NIGHT]
(Camera slowly pans across the rows of shoes, yellow labels with the owner's name on them. At the end of the row, the camera rests on MAX VALDEZ' sneakers on the print paper.)
(GRISSOM presses down on them to get a print.)
Grissom: I used to have a pair of these.
(He moves the shoes to the side.)
Warrick: It all comes down to shoeprints.
(WARRICK is also working on getting shoe prints. SARA walks into the room.)
Sara: Hey.
Catherine: Hi.
(SARA walks further into the room where CATHERINE is labeling the prints.)
Sara: (looking around) Looks like a shoe sale. Uh, Nick sent these photo comparisons over from the lab.
(SARA hands the envelope to CATHERINE. She opens it and looks at the photos.)
Catherine: Oh. Excellent.
(GRISSOM turns and hands the shoe print to CATHERINE to compare it with the photo.)
Grissom: Max.
(CATHERINE compares the photo with the print.)
Catherine: That looks good.
Grissom: Yeah, that's a match. Okay.
(CATHERINE moves to the next print. SARA looks over and nods.)
Grissom: That distinctive mark on the circular tread... hmm.
(CATHERINE straightens and sighs.)
Catherine: Well, that's it then.
CUT TO:
[EXT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - MAIN WAITING ROOM -- NIGHT]
(CATHERINE walks out of the office and to the waiting first class passengers.)
Catherine: Okay, folks. I've got some good news ... and I've got some bad news.
Nate Metz: The good news?
Catherine: Well, the good news would be that seven of you may be ... getting out of here very soon.
Lou Everett: What's the bad news?
Catherine: The bad news is that three of you may be staying in Vegas a lot longer than you planned. And that would be ... Mr. Lou Everett, Mr. Max Valdez ... and Dr. Kiera Behrle. Would you ... please come with me.
(GRISSOM watches the passengers' reactions carefully. Hold on GRISSOM.)
FADE TO BLACK.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FADE IN:
[EXT. VARIOUS LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[INT. AIRPORT HALLWAY - NIGHT]
(BRASS opens the interview room door. LOU EVERETT and MAX VALDEZ walk out of the room.)
Brass: Stevie, keep these guys on ice.
(Coming down the hallway are CATHERINE, KIERA BERHLE and her daughter EMILY.)
Brass: I'm sorry, ma'am. This is as far as your daughter can go but we'll have an officer stay with her.
Kiera Berhle: Come on. It's been a rough night.
Catherine: Dr. Behrle, we're going to be asking you some very sensitive questions -- questions that I know that I wouldn't want my daughter to hear.
(BRASS kneels down to EMILY'S level and talks with her.)
Brass: Hi. My name is Jim. What's your name?
Emily Berhle: Emily.
(They shake hands while CATHERINE and KIERA BERHLE watch.)
Brass: Emily. Oh, that's a great name. Emily, I'm going to make you a deal, okay? We're going to borrow your mom for a little while.
Kiera Berhle: (to EMILY) I'll be right back, sweetie, okay?
(She kisses EMILY.)
Kiera Berhle: Okay.
Brass: Okay? And here's the good part. You get to borrow anything you see on me.
Emily Berhle: Can I borrow your g*n?
(As BRASS talks with EMILY, CATHERINE and KIERA both casually walk into the interview room.)
Brass: Well, you know, my g*n ... it's kind of ... it's old, and it's heavy and ... and it's stuck there. Anything else?
Emily Berhle: How about your badge?
Brass: You got a deal, and you know what? This is the best thing. You know why? Because anyone gives you any trouble all you got to do is ... flash this. There you go.
(BRASS hands the badge to EMILY. She takes it.)
Brass: So, were you scared?
(EMILY nods.)
Brass: Did you see what happened?
(EMILY shakes her head.)
Brass: Okay. Okay. It's okay.
(BRASS nods to the officer standing there.)
CUT TO:
[INT. AIRPORT SECURITY ROOM - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS]
(It's 11:29P. BRASS walks into the room. KIERA BERHLE and CATHERINE are there waiting for him. He closes the door and takes a seat next to CATHERINE.)
Brass: Sweet kid -- Emily. Uh, so, er ... Behrle ... how long have you been a physician?
Kiera Berhle: I prefer surgeon.
Brass: Okay.
Kiera Berhle: I've been practicing for eleven years.
Brass: And what was the nature of your visit to, uh ... to Las Vegas?
Kiera Berhle: Emily. She wanted to see the white tigers.
Catherine: How did you get that black eye?
Kiera Berhle: I caught it during the ruckus. The price you pay for being a Good Samaritan.
Catherine: Okay.
(CATHERINE reaches for the photo of the suede jacket and stands up. She moves in closer toward )
Catherine: I'm, uh ... just a little confused. Your heel impressions were found on the back of the victim's suede jacket.
(CATHERINE shows KIERA BERHLE the photo.)
Catherine: That's a little aggressive for a Good Samaritan.
(KIERA BERHLE looks up at CATHERINE.)
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, KIERA BERHLE rushes from her seat to stop the other passengers from fighting.)
Tony Candlewell: No! No!
(TONY CANDLEWELL is already face down on the aisle floor.)
Kiera Berhle: Hey, stop it!
(She grabs LOU EVERETT's arm. He turns around and accidentally hits KIERA BERHLE on the cheek. She clutches a hand to her cheek and takes a step backward.)
Kiera Berhle: Oh...
(She takes a step forward and accidentally steps on TONY CANDLEWELL'S back. She pushes everyone aside to make room.)
Kiera Berhle: Get out of the way. Get out of the way! Give him some air. Sir?
(She flips him over and starts performing CPR.)
Kiera Berhle: One, two, three ... one, two ...
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Kiera Berhle: If he had been in my E.R., I might have been able to save him, but at thirty thousand feet, there's only so much you can do. Look ... I did what I could.
Catherine: And you're satisfied with that?
Kiera Berhle: Why? Because I'm a doctor I'm responsible for what happened on that plane?
Brass: What did happen?
Kiera Berhle: I protected my daughter and I tried to save a guy's life. And, yes, I'm satisfied with that.
Brass: Well, you've seen cops the tv show, so you know our game. The first one to talk gets to make a deal.
Kiera Berhle: I don't need a deal.
Brass: No? Well, maybe your daughter Emily needs you to take one.
CUT TO:
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - TARMAC - NIGHT]
[INT. LAS VEGAS AIR - AIRPLANE - FIRST CLASS CABIN -- NIGHT]
(SARA sorts through the bagged evidence. GRISSOM is on his cell phone at the back of the plane.)
Grissom: Mm-hmm. (pause) Right. (pause) Makes sense. Okay. Thanks, Catherine.
(GRISSOM hangs up.)
Grissom: We have a ping-pong ball. We just need to find the paddles.
(Without elaborating, GRISSOM looks at SARA. She catches on.)
Sara: Where are they?
Grissom: Probably in the first compartment.
(SARA stands up and heads for the front seat overhead compartment.)
Grissom: The doctor in 3E told Catherine that she performed CPR on the victim. Check the inside of the paddles. See if there's any bio gel on them.
(SARA takes out the unit and checks the paddles.)
Sara: These look like they weren't even used. There was more lubricant in the bathroom. It's pretty negligent for a doctor. She's got to know every commercial airline carries defib paddles.
Grissom: Yeah, and if she didn't know, the Flight Attendant sure did.
CUT TO:
[INT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - OFFICE -- NIGHT]
(CATHERINE re-interviews SHANNON, the Flight Attendant.)
Shannon: By the time I thought to grab the defibrillator he was already dead.
Catherine: But you are trained to use the paddles in the event of an emergency and this was an emergency situation.
Shannon: Yes, but I'm trained to use them when a man is having cardiac arrest in his seat, not flopping around in the aisle.
Catherine: So, whatever it was he was going through it didn't look a heart att*ck.
Shannon: Look, I'm going to be honest with you. I was scared. I mean ... I thought this guy was going to take us all down.
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, SHANNON tries to restore order.)
Shannon: All right, everyone needs to return to their seats.
(TONY CANDLEWELL pushes SHANNON aside and tries to get into the cockpit. He bangs on the door with his hands, kicks at the door with his feet.)
Tony Candlewell: Get out of the way! I got to get off!
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Catherine: All right, so let me get this straight. 2F is on the floor. His wife is in the aisle brandishing a broken wine bottle. What about 1A? He was closest to the action.
Shannon: (shakes her head) That would be Mr. Cash. Um, he was in his seat.
CUT TO:
[INT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - MAIN LOBBY AREA - NIGHT]
(WARRICK and GRISSOM approach PRESTON CASH.)
Warrick: Mr. Cash.
Preston: I was wondering when you guys were going to get around to asking me some questions.
Warrick: So, what did you see?
Preston Cash: Not much.
Grissom: Sir, it's been a long night, and we don't have much time before our crime scene flies away.
Preston Cash: I was in my seat.
Grissom: You were sitting in 1A.
Warrick: Sitting ringside, how do you not see what happened?
(PRESTON CASH takes out his walking stick and opens it in front of them. WARRICK and GRISSOM'S jaws drop as they realize that he's blind.)
Grissom: The blind leading the blind.
Preston Cash: I'm not totally blind. I'm legally blind. My central visual acuity is 20/200.
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, PRESTON CASH sits up in his chair, alarmed at the commotion happening in the aisle in front of him.)
Shannon: (o.s.) Take your seat!
(All PRESTON CASH "sees" is white light with some shadow movements in front of him. He hears thumping.)
Tony Candlewell: (o.s.) You got to land the plane! I got to get off this plane!
(He hears a metal container hit the floor.)
Lou Everett: (o.s.) Get him off the door! Get him down!
(A woman screams. There are more sounds of shuffling and commotion in front of him.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: Can you identify the voices?
Preston Cash: (sighs) First voice. 4B. Businessman. I could tell by the way he ordered drinks.
Grissom: How do you mean?
Preston Cash: JW black, triple, not double.
Warrick: That's Lou.
Preston Cash: Second voice, guy in 2F, kind of far away.
(WARRICK sits down on his haunches in front of PRESTON CASH.)
Warrick: Max.
GRISSOM; Third voice?
Preston Cash: Third voice, row behind me, two seats over. Mr. Dot-com. Guy must've typed 60 words a minute.
Warrick: That's Nate.
Grissom: Mr. Cash, you got to help me. I got eight eyewitnesses with various stories. I put them all in a mixing bowl, add eggs, milk stick it in the oven, and all I got is a limp souffle.
Warrick: We need you to tell us everything you heard from the time the deceased banged on the cockpit door to the time he d*ed.
Preston Cash: Then listen up.
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, the commotion begins and PRESTON CASH sits up in his seat.)
(There's thumping in front of him as TONY CANDLEWELL hits the closed cockpit door.)
Tony Candlewell: (o.s.) I need to get off this plane! I have to get off this plane!
Lou Everett: Get him off the door.
Kiera Berhle: Get out of the way! Get out of the way!
Emily: Mom-my! Mommeee!
Tony Candlewell: No! No! No!
(There's more commotion in front of him. The little girl screams. Then all is quiet.)
(PRESTON CASH gets to his feet as he listens, but there's nothing but silence.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Preston Cash: I never heard such silence.
(GRISSOM'S pager beeps.)
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - NIGHT]
(GRISSOM walks into the autopsy room.)
Grissom: I got two hours till I lose my crime scene to the Feds. Tell me you have something.
Dr. Jenna Williams: I know what set this guy off.
Grissom: That's more than I got.
Dr. Jenna Williams: We know our victim suffered from intercranial bleeding. I had that pegged as possible cause of death so I cr*ck his skull open, and what do I find? A cantaloupe in a soup can.
Grissom: Tight fit.
Dr. Jenna Williams: And not from one or two blows to the head. He was also running a high fever so I tested his spinal fluid. A normal protein level is between 15 and 45 milligrams. Candlewell's was 60. Did anybody mention this guy had a headache?
Grissom: Flight Attendant gave him two aspirin. Why?
Dr. Jenna Williams: He was suffering from undiagnosed encephalitis.
(She gives GRISSOM the report. He looks at it.)
Grissom: Swelling of the brain.
Dr. Jenna Williams: It can manifest like a heart att*ck: Slurred speech delirium, loss of consciousness. You throw in the altitude and the air pressure changes in the cabin and our guy was probably out of his mind.
Grissom: Is that what k*lled him -- encephalitis?
Dr. Jenna Williams: It wasn't the one thing that k*lled him. Ruptured spleen, intercranial bleeding petecchial hemorrhaging. And the guy's heart just stopped b*ating.
Grissom: A, B, C, D or all of the above. Standoff with the police -- guy gets sh*t in the chest, runs back into his burning house inhaling smoke as he goes. The roof collapses the air conditioning unit falls on his head, he dies. What k*lled him?
FADE OUT
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FADE IN.
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - TARMAC - NIGHT]
(The team each carries out a dummy from the cars and into the airplane.)
[INT. LAS VEGAS AIR - AIRPLANE - FIRST CLASS CABIN - NIGHT]
(Inside the airplane, GRISSOM and the rest of the team re-enact the events of that night.)
Grissom: Okay, Vicki Mercer and Carl Finn. I believe are in the bathroom.
(WARRICK and CATHERINE carry their dummies into the plane and toward the bathroom.)
Warrick: Mile high club.
Catherine: If you ask me, it's their spouses that are the dummies.
Grissom: Emily Behrle is in 3F.
(NICK puts the dummy he's carrying into 3F.)
Grissom: Preston Cash, 1A.
(BRASS raises his dummy.)
Brass: Tony Candlewell, dead guy.
Grissom: Right there, 3C. And for now, he's alive until he's dead.
(BRASS sets his dummy into seat 3C, then turns to GRISSOM.)
Brass: So, you want to tell us what we're doing here?
(Everyone gathers around to listen to the explanation.)
Grissom: The physical evidence that Sara, Nick, and I collected is contradicting the anecdotal statements that you, Catherine, and Warrick got and my money's on the physical evidence.
Catherine: So is mine. These passengers are lying.
Grissom: I mean, if this was an arson case, we'd burn down an empty house to prove our theory, right? Well, in this case we're going to recreate the flight from... 1630 hours on. You are in 4B.
(GRISSOM hands BRASS a card with a name on it.)
Brass: (reads) Lou.
Catherine: Lou -- the angry businessman. How about that?
Sara: I want to be Shannon. Good.
(GRISSOM hands SARA the card.)
Warrick: The stewardess.
Sara: Excuse me -- it's "Flight Attendant".
Grissom: Catherine-- the doctor, 3E.
(GRISSOM hands the card to CATHERINE.)
Catherine: Single mom. What an imagination you have.
Grissom: Max and Marlene, 2E and F. You two are married. Who wants to wear the pants?
Nick: CSI-3 seniority, "sweetie".
(NICK snatches the card from GRISSOM. WARRICK reaches over for his card.)
Warrick: Yeah, whatever. You're henpecked anyway.
Sara: Let me guess -- you're the computer geek.
Grissom: In the interest of clarity, yes. Nate in 2C.
(GRISSOM takes a seat. The broken seat falls backward. WARRICK snickers at the sight. GRISSOM glares at WARRICK.)
Grissom: Okay, look, it's going to be sunrise in ten minutes. We're going to have to do a run, lola, run and play this in literal time. Up until the point that Captain Murdle escorted the dead guy back to his seat the events are substantiated by the flight log and the eyewitness statements unless anybody knows something different.
Catherine: What time was that?
Grissom: 1632 hours -- exactly 33 minutes before they landed in Vegas. One minute later, the plane hit turbulence.
Brass: And, according to the Flight Attendant that's when our stiff lost it and started hammering his call button.
Sara: So, I walk over ...
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, TONY CANDLEWELL is in his seat, pressing the call button repeatedly.)
Sara: (V.O.) ... try to calm the guy down, but he won't quit.
(Cut to: SHANNON walks up the aisle checking the overhead compartments.)
(Cut to: TONY CANDLEWELL has a hand to his forehead and is in pain.)
Grissom: (V.O.) Well, we know he's suffering from encephalitis. He's probably sweating and fighting back a migraine.
(End of flashback. Resume to BRASS.)
Brass: I know what my guy's doing in my seat -- Lou. He's getting ticked off.
Grissom: Yeah, but Candlewell is ticking off Nate in 2C even worse. I mean, this guy is perseverating.
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, TONY CANDLEWELL is in his seat, kicking NATE METZ'S seat back and irritating him as he's trying to work.)
Grissom: (V.O.) Uncontrollably kicking at the seat.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Brass: That's when he winds up and breaks your seat.
Grissom: So, I get up, spin around ...
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, NATE METZ throws the broken laptop into TONY CANDLEWELL'S lap.)
Grissom: (V.O.) ... confront the guy.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Warrick: Now, Lou, in 4B, said he was the peacemaker.
Brass: Peacemaker, my ass. (BRASS reaches for the pocket in front of him and pulls out the alcohol bottles.) He's got three empties in the pouch.
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, LOU EVERETT stands up.)
Brass: (V.O.) Seat reeks of whiskey.
(End of flashback. Resume to BRASS.)
Brass: The guy probably spilled Lou's drink.
Catherine: (impressed) Very good.
Brass: I was boss at CSI once. For a reason.
(BRASS takes a breath and stands up getting into character.)
Brass: Anyway, Lou gets up. He's angry. He takes a swipe at the guy. After knocking a few back at 33,000 feet you know, probably misses. And what does he get for his trouble?
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, TONY CANDLEWELL swings the CD at LOU EVERETT and LOU crying out in pain at the cut. End of flashback. Resume to WARRICK.)
Warrick: A CD swipe across the chops.
Brass: Right. So he falls back ... Well ... maybe Lou ...
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, LOU falls back and his drink splashes.)
Brass: ... spills his own drink.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: By this time, Candlewell's got to be out of his seat, right?
(GRISSOM stands up and grabs the CANDLEWELL Dummy and picks it up.)
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, TONY CANDLEWELL pushes SHANNON out of the way and heads for the cockpit door.)
Nick: (V.O.) If I'm Max, I want no part of this.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Nick: Plus, I don't have an aisle seat.
Brass: Yeah, but you're lucky. Your wife is going to make sure that you get in the playing field.
Warrick: (to NICK) Yeah, go ahead, honey. Save my life.
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, At his wife's urging, MAX VALDEZ gets up from his seat and heads for the commotion in the aisle.)
Nick: (V.O.) Right. Max gets up ...
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
(NICK gets up from his seat and heads for the aisle.)
Nick: ... slides across Marlene. Excuse me, "buttercup".
Grissom: (holding the dummy) Candlewell's moving up and down the aisle by now.
Nick: I come over confront the dead guy. Then what? (turns around) Who talked to 2F? To Max?
Brass: (from his seat) I did. Max told the dead guy to sit down. He turned, he shoved Max into the food cart
(As he talks, GRISSOM pushes NICK with the dummy's hand.)
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, TONY pushes MAX and he falls backward into the beverage cart in the aisle.)
Brass: (V.O.) ... Max landed on the ground.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Sara: Warrick -- I mean, "Marlene" -- that's when you got up and grabbed the broken wine neck.
(WARRICK gets up from his seat.)
Warrick: Saved Nick's butt, as usual.
Grissom: There's a bottle of wine on the floor.
(Quick flashback to: MARLENE gets up from her seat and picks up the bottle. She swings.)
Grissom: (V.O.) You slash at Candlewell ...
(End of flashback. Resume to GRISSOM who holds up the Dummy's hand in self-defense. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Brass: Then he swipes him across the hand. Hence the defensive wound.
Grissom: Now our guy's bleeding. He turns and heads for the cockpit.
(GRISSOM takes the Dummy and acts out what happened.)
Grissom: Bang, bang. He wants in the cockpit ...
(Quick flashback to: TONY hits the flat of his hand against the cockpit door leaving the blood from the wound on the door and door frame.)
Grissom: (V.O.) ... but the door is locked.
(TONY turns around. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: Captain Murdle gets on the horn calls first class twice. No answer. Why?
Sara: Shannon's vapor-locked.
Grissom: He can't get in the cockpit. What's next?
(GRISSOM looks around, then stretches the dummy's hand toward the door.)
Grissom: He heads for the exit door. Blood underneath the latch handle shows that Candlewell tried to open it.
(Quick flashback to: TONY reaches for the exit door and tries to open it.)
Grissom: (V.O.) And, if he gets the door open, they all die.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Brass: Now it's a whole new ball game. It's every man for himself.
(BRASS heads for the front)
Nick: (nods and heads for the front) Oh, yeah.
(Quick flashback to: MAX and LOU reach TONY and grab him to get him away from the exit door. Everyone else watches.)
Nick: (V.O.) This is when they really get scared.
Warrick: (V.O.) And, according to Preston, Max and Lou they got to Candlewell first.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: The struggle ensued. Max and Lou slammed into Preston
(Quick flashback to: TONY is being man-handled and yelling, "no!". End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: ... and, at some point, Candlewell goes down. Now it's a free-for-all.
(Watching from the sidelines and not really participating, SARA watches the others re-enact what happened mid-flight. She walks closer as they continue.)
Catherine: And my shoes end up on his back.
Nick: Mine, too.
Brass: Ditto.
Warrick: He's messing with my man, so I get my licks in.
Grissom: Nate's knuckles were bruised ... so he was in on it.
Brass: We're in close quarters, so there's elbows flying everywhere.
Catherine: That's probably how the doctor got her black eye.
Brass: Right.
(SARA sees something.)
Sara: Hey, guys! If you jump a guy at the exit, he dies at the exit.
(GRISSOM stands up when he realizes what SARA'S saying.)
(Everyone backs away from the TONY dummy.)
Brass: Yeah. And our guy...
(BRASS picks up the TONY dummy and carries him down the aisle ... toward SARA.)
Brass: ... was found five feet away ... with his head towards coach.
(He puts the dummy on the ground.)
(Quick flashback to: TONY heads back down the aisle. The others follow and continue to att*ck him.)
Nick: (V.O.) He tried to get away.
Warrick: (V.O.) But they didn't let him.
Catherine: (V.O.) And, at this point we're not individuals anymore -- we're a mob.
Emily: Mommy! Mommy!
(After a moment of constant kicking and stomping, the passengers stop and step away. TONY doesn't move.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Catherine: And you can't perform CPR on a man's back. Dr. Behrle had to have rolled him over ...
(Quick flashback to: KIERA BERHLE rolls TONY over and checks for a pulse.)
Catherine: (V.O.) ... probably just to cover for herself.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: That makes us all murderers.
(WARRICK nods in agreement. Camera cuts to various camera views of CATHERINE, NICK, SARA and BRASS to get their reaction.)
CUT TO:
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - TARMAC - DAY]
(GRISSOM reports their findings back to SHERIFF BRIAN MOBLEY. They both stand in front of the SHERIFF'S car on the tarmac looking back at the airplane.)
Grissom: I want five of those passengers arrested for m*rder.
Sheriff Brian Mobley: Oh, that's four more than I anticipated.
Grissom: We looked at the evidence, and the evidence says five.
Sheriff Brian Mobley: Let me get this straight. Five strangers get on a plane and then, together, they k*ll a man.
Grissom: On the surface, self-defense. They thought Candlewell was bringing the plane down.
Sheriff Brian Mobley: And he would have.
Grissom: But he didn't. They stopped him, and then they k*lled him -- not as individuals, but as a mob.
Sheriff Brian Mobley: Let's cut to the chase, Gil. Can you prove your case?
Grissom: Not yet. I need more time.
(The SHERIFF gets into the car.)
Sheriff Brian Mobley: Well, time's up. I'm going to give these people their walking papers. If the Feds want to pursue it, let them.
Grissom: Don't do that.
Sheriff Brian Mobley: Oh, come on. No jury's going to ever convict them.
Grissom: You don't know that, Brian.
Sheriff Brian Mobley: Look, if you or I were on that plane we would do whatever it takes to save our lives.
Grissom: That's what a jury would say. That's not what the evidence says.
Sheriff Brian Mobley: That's exactly my point.
(He drives off.)
CUT TO:
[INT./EXT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - DAY]
(The first class passengers line up to get on the bus. They take their seats inside. GRISSOM stands to the side and watches the board. MAX VALDEZ heads for the bus and glances up at GRISSOM. NATE METZ also pauses as he looks at GRISSOM. They board the bus.)
(CATHERINE exits the building and stands next to GRISSOM. Together, they watch the bus leave. As it pulls away, LOU EVERETT glances back at them. The bus turns around and DR. KIERA BERHLE watches them as they leave the airport.)
Reporter (woman): (V.O.) Las Vegas Air has issued no formal comment other than to stand by the actions taken by the flight crew. Meanwhile, the first-class passengers from the flight have been released ...
[INT. CSI - BREAK ROOM - DAY]
(SARA sits in the breakroom watching the newsreport on the television. WARRICK walks into the room reading the newspaper.)
Reporter (woman): (V.O.) ... and no charges will be filed. The airline provided a bus to their Las Vegas destinations. Our request for interviews were denied, leaving the events surrounding the death of Tony Candlewell a mystery.
(On the set, the passengers board the bus. NICK pulls up a chair. They, too, glance at the television. WARRICK picks up the remote and turns the seat off.)
Sara: Hey.
Nick: Whoa.
Warrick: Let it go, guys.
Sara: Those people should be going to jail not some hotel on the Strip.
Warrick: It's out of our hands. Our field ruling was overturned by the good old Sheriff and the Feds.
Nick: And you're okay with that? We processed evidence for twelve hours laid out the whole case and now those passengers are going to suck martinis and eat shrimp cocktails? Where's the justice?
Warrick: Oh, you think this is about justice?
Nick: Yeah. What else?
Grissom: It's about human nature -- how people react when their lives are threatened.
Sara: I know you're not condoning what they did.
Warrick: I'm not discounting it. I mean, think about it -- is there anyplace more vulnerable than being at thirty thousand feet in a tin can?
Sara: Feeling "vulnerable" is not a defense and where they were is irrelevant. They took a life.
Warrick: Because their lives were threatened.
Nick: Their lives were threatened when Candlewell was at the emergency exit trying to open it, but the five feet between the exit and the aisles is what made the difference between self-defense and m*rder.
Warrick: Human nature again. I mean, adrenaline doesn't come with an off switch.
(Behind them, CATHERINE and WARRICK enter the break room.)
Sara: I don't care what you say. I could never take a life.
Warrick: If it was between him or me, I could. Nick?
(NICK shakes his head and sits back.)
Nick: I don't know.
Catherine: Well ... it's wicked serious in here.
Sara: Yeah, well, we were just talking about m*rder and whether we would commit it. I couldn't, Warrick could and Nick's on the fence. We're taking an exit poll.
Nick: Catherine, you're a mother. You and Lindsey are on that plane. How far do you go?
Catherine: All the way.
Sara: (surprised) You didn't even hesitate.
Catherine: That's right. If it involves the protection of my child I fight to the death.
Warrick: See? We have four people here, all with different opinions. Think of how the passengers must have felt.
Sara: What do you think, Grissom?
Grissom: I can't answer that question.
Catherine: That's a cop-out. It's a simple question. What would you have done if you had been one of those passengers?
Grissom: It's not about that. You all have different opinions but you've taken the same point of view. You've put yourself in the shoes of the passengers, but nobody's put themselves in the shoes of the victim. That's the point.
Sara: I'm sorry. What are you saying?
Grissom: Nobody stopped to ask Candlewell if he was all right. They just assumed, because he was kicking the back of Nate's seat, that he was a jerk -- because he was pushing his call button that he was bothering the Flight Attendant -- because he was trying to get into the lavatory he was making a scene -- because he was going back and forth up and down the aisles, he was posing a thr*at.
Catherine: He was a thr*at.
Grissom: No. He turned into a thr*at. It didn't have to be that way. People make assumptions. That's the problem. You just did. And I think these passengers made the wrong assumption and now this guy's dead.
Warrick: Well, if that's your stance how could it have been prevented?
Grissom: If just one person had stopped and taken the time to look at the guy to listen to him, to figure out what was wrong with him it might not have happened. It took five people to k*ll him. It would have only taken one person to save his life.
(Various camera cuts of CATHERINE, WARRICK, NICK and SARA.)
(SARA looks back at GRISSOM.)
FADE TO BLACK.
End
[EXT. VARIOUS LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY]
BLUR TO:
[EXT. AIRPLANE (MOVING) - SUNSET]
(Through various cuts and dissolve sh*ts, the camera follows the aircraft in flight as we overhear the conversation between the PILOT and the TOWER.)
Pilot: (V.O.) McCarren approach Las Vegas nine-zero-nine, thirty-thousand. Request emergency personnel. Over.
Tower: (V.O.) Las vegas nine-zero-nine, McCarren tower. Specify request. Over.
Pilot: (V.O.) Negative, McCarren. Advise on runway.
Tower: (V.O.) Las Vegas nine-zero-nine cleared for V-O-R runway one-five approach. Over
Pilot: (V.O.) V-O-R runway one-five approach. Roger. Request Las Vegas police.
(The camera moves in through the clouds and pushes up close to the aircraft window. From the outside, we see darkened figures inside and a lot of movement. We hear thumping. We see the shadows of a commotion happening on the plane.)
Tower: (V.O.) Understand "police." Roger.
Emily Berhle: (V.O.) Mommy!
(Inside the moving aircraft, through the darkened window, we hear a little girl's screams. Something is happening inside that plane.)
CUT TO:
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - TARMAC - NIGHT]
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - NIGHT]
(The plane sits on the runway surrounded by police cars and emergency personnel.)
(BRASS instructs his officers on what to do at the scene.)
Brass: The luggage stays in the plane. We're going to treat this like a crime scene until we're told otherwise. Tim, Sam, talk to the coach passengers. See what you can't learn.
(GRISSOM walks up to BRASS.)
Brass: All right, look, I'm going to talk to the first class passengers -- they're in the lounge. Let's meet back there in a half an hour, all right?
Officer Tim: All right.
(The officers leave. GRISSOM and BRASS walk up the stairs to check out the inside of the plane.)
Grissom: So ... dead guy in first class?
Brass: Las Vegas Air. (b*at) Always heard it was a good time.
CUT TO:
[INT. PLANE - FIRST CLASS - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS]
(BRASS and GRISSOM walk onto the plane. BRASS clears his throat. In the aisle, is the body.)
Grissom: Coroner pronounce?
Brass: About thirty minutes ago.
Grissom: Eyewitnesses?
Brass: Everyone in first class -- nine passengers, one flight attendant.
Grissom: Where are they now?
Brass: Sequestered in the lounge. According to the Flight crew, the deceased had some sort of panic att*ck and d*ed before they landed.
(GRISSOM kneels down to look at the mess in the aisle above the dead body. He looks at the dead body.)
(Cut to: GRISSOM takes the camera and looks around the plane.)
Grissom: Point of disturbance: Cockpit door. Bloody handprint. (He snaps a picture, then kneels down.) Looks like foot impression. Ballpark shoe size ... ten to eleven maybe.
(He snaps another picture.)
(He and BRASS turn around back to the body.)
Brass: Deceased found lying between rows one and two.
(GRISSOM snaps several photos. He reaches out and picks up a disk on the floor and looks at it.)
Brass: What is that? Blood?
CUT TO:
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - NIGHT -- CONTINUOUS]
(BRASS and GRISSOM exit the plane and make their way down the stairs.)
Grissom: I want this whole plane taped off ... nose to tail and wing to wing.
Brass: Oh, it's going to take a lot of tape.
Grissom: I've got a dead body, a crime scene with wings. Something very wrong happened in this plane.
HARD CUT TO END OF TEASER ROLL TITLE CREDITS
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FADE IN.
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - NIGHT]
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - TARMAC - NIGHT]
(GRISSOM walks along the tarmac, his hands in his pocket. A car pulls up behind him, flashes on its siren to get GRISSOM'S attention and stops in front of him. GRISSOM turns around. The Sheriff, Brian Mobley, gets out of the car.)
Grissom: Sheriff?
Sheriff Brian Mobley: We've got a whale of an opportunity here, Gil. Dead body on an airplane -- FAA has jurisdiction. But the Feds won't be here till sunrise. That gives us about twelve hours to be heroes.
Grissom: I don't follow you.
Sheriff Brian Mobley: Well, we either hand over the guy who did it when the Feds get here or we give them all the glory while we watch from the sidelines.
Grissom: (shrugs) I don't even know if we have a homicide yet. First reports indicate he had some kind of an episode.
Sheriff Brian Mobley: Give me a little credit. Even you wouldn't tape off one of these wide-bodies unless you knew you had something. (b*at) Arrest would be good for you. It would be good for me, too. Good for Las Vegas.
(GRISSOM looks carefully at the SHERIFF.)
Grissom: You running for mayor?
CUT TO:
[INT. LAS VEGAS AIR AIRPLANE - FIRST CLASS - NIGHT]
(The CSIs are on the plane and examine the scene in front of them.)
Nick: (sighs) What about the passengers in coach? They see anything?
Sara: Brass said the curtain was shut. The Flight Attendant kept them separated. They disembarked through the rear.
Warrick: What do we know about the dead guy?
Catherine: Tony Candlewell, age 30. Communications Company Manager from Atlanta, married ... no record.
(GRISSOM walks onto the plane and looks at everyone.)
Grissom: So? What do you think?
Catherine: I don't know but this sure must have looked scary at thirty thousand feet.
Warrick: All this damage by one guy? Had to be on dr*gs.
Sara: Too much damage for one guy.
Nick: So, more than one guy? (NICK turns to look at GRISSOM.) What do you think, Gris?
Grissom: I think we got ten witnesses all singing the same song. Deceased went berserk. Unless we find something else in the evidence, that's what happened. Catherine ...
Catherine: I'll start the interviews.
Grissom: Thank you. Warrick, go with.
Warrick: Yeah.
Grissom: Brass has them all assembled in the lounge. Assume there's evidence on everyone. Nick, go with the coroner. Sara and I will work the plane. This is a mobile crime scene. It might not be here tomorrow.
(With their assignments, NICK, CATHERINE and WARRICK leave the plane. GRISSOM takes out a pair of gloves to get to work.)
CUT TO:
[INT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT -- LOUNGE - NIGHT]
(Inside the airport lounge, the disembarked first class passengers sit and wait.)
(KIERA BERHLE stands up and catches SHANNON, the Flight Attendant's attention.)
Kiera Berhle: (to SHANNON) Miss, my daughter has to go to the bathroom.
Shannon (flight attendant): Okay. I'll see what I can do.
Kiera Berhle: Thank you.
(They sit back down. SHANNON walks off to find someone.)
(As SHANNON walks by, VICKI MERCER grabs her arm and her attention.)
Vicki Mercer: How are you holding up?
Shannon (flight attendant): I'm still shaking.
(VICKI MERCER gives her a reassuring smile; SHANNON walks away.)
(BRASS, followed by CATHERINE and WARRICK, walk into the Airport Lounge.)
Brass: Can I have your attention? I'm Jim Brass, from homicide. This is Catherine Willows and Warrick Brown from Las Vegas Criminalistics. They're here to gather evidence.
Lou Everett: You know you can't keep us here.
Catherine: (calmly and reassuring) Sir, we realize this is an imposition, and we apologize for it. Nobody wants to see you on your way more than we do. We'll make this as quick and painless as we possibly can.
(They look at the passengers. No one else objects. WARRICK and CATHERINE turn around to get to work.)
Warrick: (quietly) Nice snow job.
Catherine: More flies with honey.
CUT TO:
[INT. LAS VEGAS AIR AIRPLANE - FIRST CLASS - NIGHT]
(SARA reaches into the deceased's jacket and takes out his driver's license. It reads: )
GEORGIA DRIVER'S LICENSE {PHOTO}
NUMBER: 167121417
EXPIRES: 06-18-2003
CANDLEWELL, TONY
8975 LOCKRIN LN.
ATLANTA, GA 30311
SEX: M
BIRTHDATE: 06-18-1975
EXAM DATE: 06-15-1998
DOUNTY: 060
HEIGHT: 6-02
WEIGHT: 225
POST: 4 49
FEE: 8.00
RESTRICTIONS
CLASS: C
ENDORSEMENTS
TYPE: REG
{SIGNATURE} ]
(SARA goes through the wallet contents. DAVID PHILLIPS walks up behind her. She stands up.)
Sara: Driver's license ... library card ... organ donor card.
David Phillips: Stand-up guy.
(She finds a photo.)
Sara: He had a family.
David Phillips: Can you imagine getting that phone call? What a shame.
(She sighs, closes the wallet and hands it to DAVID.)
Sara: David ... it's always a shame.
CUT TO:
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - TARMAC - NIGHT]
(The Coroners wheel out the body on a gurney across the tarmac GRISSOM interviews the PILOT and CO-PILOT.)
Co-Captain Arrington: I saw him board. He seemed like an okay guy.
(Quick flashback to: On board, pre-flight, TONY CANDLEWELL helps DR. KIERA BERHLE with putting her bags up on the overhead storage.)
TONY CANDLEWELL Here, let me help you with that.
Kiera Berhle: Oh, thank you. Thank you very much.
(CO-CAPTAIN ARRINGTON watches the exchange from the front of the plane.
Tony Candlewell: Sure. No problem.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: When did you become aware that there was a problem in the cabin?
Captain Murdle: Sixteen-thirty hours, about 35 minutes out. Shannon asked one of us to come out and address an issue with a passenger.
(Quick flashback to: The cockpit door opens; CAPTAIN MURDLE sees SHANNON, the flight attendant, standing there.)
Captain Murdle: What's the problem, Shannon?
(Back in the cabin, there's some commotion as TONY CANDLEWELL tries to get the lavatory door open.)
Tony Candlewell: Come on! Hello! (b.g.) Other people have to go to!
(CAPTAIN MURDLE heads for the back of the area.)
Shannon: (to the other flight attendant) Do me a favor: Go back to coach. Make sure no one comes forward. Thanks.
(The other flight attendant heads for the back of the cabin. TONY CANDLEWELL continues to struggle with the lavatory door.)
Tony Candlewell: (shouting) Come on! It's been ten minutes!
Captain Murdle: Sir ... is there some way we can assist you?
Tony Candlewell: Yeah. You can help me open this door.
Captain Murdle: There are two other rest rooms towards the rear of the plane.
Tony Candlewell: I paid $1,200 to pee here, not in coach.
Captain Murdle: Sir? You need to take your seat.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: How much time did you spend with him?
Captain Murdle: Two minutes.
Grissom: In that time did you notice anything that would explain his behavior?
(CAPTAIN MURDLE shakes his head.)
Grissom: Was he drunk maybe, or on dr*gs?
Captain Murdle: Not as far as I could tell. A little agitated. It's not like I haven't seen this kind of behavior before. Flying just makes people react in funny ways.
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - NIGHT]
(NICK watches DR. WILLIAMS puts a meat thermometer in the deceased to take a body temperature reading.)
Nick: Is that a meat thermometer?
Dr. Jenna Williams: Digital readout. Bigger numbers. (It beeps.) 98.1.
Nick: Guy should be colder than that. Body temperature drops two degrees in the first hour after death then one and a half degrees for each successive hour.
Dr. Jenna Williams: Well, he's been dead for two hours.
Nick: That would make his temperature at the time of death ... 101.6.
(realizing) This guy had a fever.
(She looks at the body.)
Dr. Jenna Williams: Let's see what else we got.
(She checks his pupils.)
Dr. Jenna Williams: Petecchial hemorrhaging behind the eyes ... suggesting suffocation of some sort. Horseshoe-shaped contusion on the left side of the neck.
Nick: Looks like the heel of a boot.
Dr. Jenna Williams: Oh, I'll buy that -- for now. Multiple contusions front and back. Broken hand.
Nick: Well, this guy's a study in contradictions.
(NICK lifts up the deceased's right hand.)
Nick: He's got defensive wounds on his palms but the scrapes on his knuckles and the broken hand indicate aggression.
(NICK sighs.)
CUT TO:
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - TARMAC - NIGHT]
[INT. LAS VEGAS AIR AIRPLANE - FIRST CLASS - NIGHT]
(As GRISSOM takes roll call, SARA puts orange cones with their names on tape on the appropriate seat.)
Grissom: Dr. Kiera Behrle, 3-E. Emily Behrle, 3-F. Nate Metz, 2C.
(GRISSOM puts his hand on the chair and the chair falls backward. It's broken.)
Grissom: Nate Metz.
Sara: Put your seat back and tray table in their upright position. I don't think so.
Grissom: Let me guess who was sitting in 3C. (GRISSOM checks the flight list.)
Tony Candlewell. The dead guy.
CUT TO:
[INT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - EMPTY OFFICE -- NIGHT]
(CATHERINE and BRASS interview NATE METZ.)
Nate Metz: Look, the guy was a real ass.
Brass: In what way?
Nate Metz: You know why I fly first class? Other than the fact that my company pays for it? Because I can work. I have to work.
Catherine: And he wouldn't let you?
Nate: No, he, he, he kept kicking the back of my seat with his foot. You know, like in a movie theater when somebody's kicking your seat? Imagine that all the way from Atlanta to Las Vegas.
Catherine: Are you telling me this guy was kicking the back of your seat the entire flight?
Nate: Maybe not the entire flight. You know, like, like Dallas to, to Las Vegas.
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, NATE METZ is working on his laptop when his seat back jostles. NATE METZ pushes back on his seat and it falls back a little bit. His seat jostles again.)
Nate: (irritated) Hey, Pele, could you please stop kicking the back of my seat?
Tony Candlewell: I wasn't doing anything.
Nate: You know exactly what you're doing. Stop it.
(With his foot resting on the back of NATE'S seat, TONY CANDLEWELL jostles the seat back.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Brass: What did you do?
Nate Metz: I just ... I ignored him. You know, I punched the seat a couple times in anger and that's it.
(He looks up at CATHERINE.)
Nate Metz: Look, the guy set me off. It was either the seat or him.
Catherine: May I see your hands?
(He holds out his hands in a loose fist, knuckles up. His right knuckles are red and skinned.)
Brass: Your knuckles are pretty banged up.
(NATE turns to look at BRASS.)
CUT TO:
[INT. LAS VEGAS AIR AIRPLANE - FIRST CLASS CABIN - NIGHT]
(SARA and GRISSOM are looking at the seats. GRISSOM moves aside the seat belt and finds something.)
Grissom: Blood drops ... away from the main event.
(GRISSOM takes a swab sample.)
Sara: Maybe that's where the action started.
Grissom: Could just be a bloody nose.
Sara: Who was sitting in 4B?
(GRISSOM grabs the cone on the seat.)
Grissom: Lou Everett.
CUT TO:
[INT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - NIGHT]
(LOU EVERETT is in front of the candy machine. He puts his money in, pushes the button and waits for the OREO cookie pack to come out. It gets stuck.)
Brass: Lou Everett?
(LOU slams the flat of his hand on the machine glass.)
Lou Everett: Yeah.
Brass: How'd you get that slice around the chops?
Lou Everett: The guy swung at me with a C.D. Put his finger in the hole and slashed me.
Warrick: What guy?
Lou Everett: That crazy guy-- the psycho. He was out of his mind.
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, TONY CANDLEWELL has his foot up against the back of NATE METZ' seat. He pushes the seat forward. NATE METZ jerks forward into his laptop. The laptop falls into the aisle.)
Nate Metz: (stands up angry) What the hell is wrong with you? You know, you owe me another laptop, pal.
(NATE picks up the laptop and shoves the thing into TONY CANDLEWELL'S chest. TONY gets up and mumbles.)
Tony Candlewell: (mumbles) Move over!
(He pushes the laptop aside and shoves NATE METZ backward. The flight attendant and LOU EVERETT both try to break it up before it escalates.)
Shannon: Hey!
Lou Everett: Hey, hey. We're in mid-flight now, guys. That's enough.
(CAMERA SLOW MOTION: TONY grabs the CD on his armrest, stands up and swings it at LOU EVERETT. LOU shouts in pain and hits his seat, spilling his drink.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Lou Everett: So what do you think? Bodily injury ... can I sue a dead man?
Brass: I think you need some coffee.
Lou Everett: What do you mean?
Brass: A few cocktails on the plane, Lou?
Lou Everett: (sighs) Look, I get nervous when I fly. So what?
Warrick: Well, alcohol does different things to different people ... at different altitudes.
Lou Everett: Hey, I was fine. He went bananas. Why don't you just ask ... ask the Flight Attendant?
CUT TO:
[INT AIRPORT LOUNGE - EMPTY OFFICE -- NIGHT]
(CATHERINE and BRASS interview SHANNON, the flight attendant.)
Shannon: So, we were about 35 minutes out ... when he started pressing his call button over and over. He was complaining of a headache.
Catherine: And did you give him anything?
Shannon: Yeah, I gave him a packet of aspirin and he popped it dry, no water.
Catherine: And, as far as you know did he complain of a headache when he boarded?
Shannon: No.
Catherine: So what made the worm turn?
Shannon: Look, I've been flying for ten years. You know, I have seen it all. I've seen ferrets in suitcases, uh, fellatio in first class ... passengers stir-frying on their tray tables. I mean ... who knows why anyone does anything?
(GRISSOM walks up to the conference room. He lingers outside. CATHERINE sees him.)
Catherine: Right. Well, thanks for your time.
Shannon: Thank you.
(SHANNON and BRASS both leave the room.)
(When they leave, GRISSOM walks into the room.)
Grissom: So, any bites?
(CATHERINE puts her things on the desk and starts writing notes.)
Catherine: Nada. You?
Grissom: If nothing criminal happened on that flight ... why isn't anybody talking to us?
Catherine: I'm going to go out on a limb here ... and say ... they're hiding something?
Grissom: Then we get to play hide-and-seek.
FADE TO BLACK.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FADE IN.
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - TARMAC - NIGHT]
[INT. LAS VEGAS AIR - FIRST CLASS - NIGHT]
(GRISSOM hangs up the phone. SARA goes through a seat pocket as he reports what he's found to her.)
Grissom: I just got off the phone with Nick. The coroner did some carving on our dead guy. She found intercranial bleeding, thoracic hemorrhaging a ruptured spleen. And, for what it's worth the guy also had a fever. (b*at) You find anything interesting?
Sara: Well, the guy in 4B was knocking them back pretty good.
(GRISSOM thinks for a moment. He goes back to seat 4-B, grabs a glove and takes about three little bottles out from the front seat pocket. He holds them up.)
(SARA, meanwhile, finds a large broken bottle in the front seat. She looks at it.)
Sara: Could be dried blood.
(GRISSOM puts the little bottles down and heads for SARA to look at the bottle part she's holding.)
(Extreme camera close up to the red dried substance on the edge of the broken green glass. Resume to normal view.)
Grissom: Victim had defensive wounds on his hand.
(SARA glances at the seat number.)
Sara: Marlene Valdez was sitting in 2E.
CUT TO:
[INT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - INTERVIEW OFFICE -- NIGHT]
(MARLENE VALDEZ points to her blouse. She sits down next to her husband, MAX.)
Marlene Valdez: Look at me. My blouse is ruined. Just hope it washes out.
Max Valdez: We'll get you a new one.
Marlene Valdez: After I saved your life, you better.
Brass: (to MAX) Mr. Valdez was your life in danger?
Max Valdez: Well, you know ...
Marlene Valdez: (interrupting) Of course his life was in danger. That maniac was pacing up and down the aisles ... all sweaty ... his eyes glazed. I was sure he was going to hijack that plane.
(Quick flashback to: SHANNON tries to restore order to the cabin. TONY CANDLEWELL is up in his seat.)
Shannon: Everyone needs to return to their seats.
Tony Candlewell: Get out of the way!
(He pushes her aside and heads for the front of the cabin. He bangs on the door.)
Marlene Valdez: (whispers) Do something.
Max Valdez: (brushes it aside) We should just mind our own business.
Marlene Valdez: (urgently) Well, if you don't do something, I will.
(TONY CANDLEWELL looks out of the front door window. MAX VALDEZ gets up out of his seat and approaches TONY.)
Max Valdez: Uh... ex-excuse me, sir. Uh... why don't you just take a seat?
(TONY puts his hand over MAX'S face and pushes him backward. MAX falls into the beverage cart behind him.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
(GRISSOM and SARA are both kneeling in front of the beverage cart mess in the aisle. GRISSOM holds the bottom half of the wine bottle.
Grissom: The other half of the wine bottle ... from 2E. So ... Marlene in 2E slashes the victim. He's bleeding. Where does he go?
(GRISSOM looks at SARA.)
Sara: The lavatory.
(He turns his head toward the lavatory.)
(Cut to: The lavatory door opens. GRISSOM sands in the doorway and looks inside. SARA peers over his shoulder.)
Sara: No evidence.
(SARA turns and heads back to her bag.)
Grissom: No "patent" evidence. But if there's blood present there may be latent evidence.
(She returns with the ALS and hands it to him.)
Sara: One step ahead of you, every so often.
Grissom: Thank you.
(GRISSOM starts to check the lavatory.)
Grissom: Well. Would you hand me the Christopher Columbus from my field kit? Thank you.
(SARA returns and hands it to him. GRISSOM checks the bowl.)
[SCOPE POV of "protein"]
Sara: I take it that's not blood.
Grissom: No... but there's protein in it.
Sara: Oh, the mile-high club. That means the two passengers may have had no idea what was going on inside that cabin.
Grissom: (rote) You know, high altitude enhances the entire sexual experience. It increases the euphoria.
Sara: (thinks about it for a moment) Well ... it's good. I don't know if it's that good.
(At her comment, GRISSOM slowly turns to look up at SARA. SARA sees GRISSOM'S reaction and has to ask.)
Sara: Cite your source.
Grissom: Hand me a swab, please.
Sara: You're avoiding the question. "Enhances sexual experience. Increases euphoria." Cite your source.
Grissom: A magazine.
Sara: What magazine?
Grissom: "Applied Psychodynamics in Forensic Science."
Sara: Never heard of it.
Grissom: I'll get you a subscription.
(SARA doesn't say anything.)
Grissom: (calmly) Now, cite your source.
Sara: Oh ... now you want to go down that route?
Grissom: Yeah.
Sara: (smiles and shakes her head) Nah. Never mind.
Grissom: You started it.
Sara: Delta Airlines, Flight 1109, Boston-Miami, March '93, Ken Fuller. Hazel eyes, Organic Chem Lab TA, BMOC ... overrated ... in ... every aspect. (GRISSOM looks at SARA.) Could ... we ... get back to work, please?
Grissom: Yeah. I think, due to your, uh ... firsthand knowledge and experience in airplane bathrooms, you should do the swab.
(GRISSOM steps out of the lavatory and walks past SARA back into the main cabin.)
Sara: Fine.
CUT TO:
[INT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - NIGHT]
(CATHERINE and WARRICK interview VICKI MERCER and CARL FINN, the two passengers in the bathroom.)
Catherine: And where were you when this was all going on, Mrs. Finn?
Vicki Mercer: Uh, Mercer, Vicky Mercer. Um, I was in the bathroom.
Catherine: In the bathroom? For how long?
Vicki Mercer: For a while. I ... I really don't fly very well.
Warrick: And where was your husband?
Carl Finn: We're not married. We just work together.
Warrick: Right. Where were you?
Carl Finn: I was in my seat.
CATHERINE So, then you saw what happened?
Carl Finn: I had my headphones on. I was listening to the air traffic control channel. Puts me right out.
Catherine: (disbelieving) So, you ... slept through everything and you woke up next to a ... dead body.
Carl Finn: (leans back and shrugs) Basically, yeah.
CUT TO:
[INT. LAS VEGAS AIR -- AIRPLANE - LAVATORY - NIGHT]
(SARA dusts the walls.)
(Dissolve to: SARA dusts the door frame leading into the lavatory.)
(Dissolve to: SARA dusts the basin edge.)
(Dissolve to: SARA dusts the underside of the ceiling where she finds something.)
Sara: Handprints. (b*at) A stallion.
CUT TO:
[INT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - EMPTY OFFICE -- NIGHT]
(CATHERINE takes off her jacket and throws it onto the couch.)
Catherine: All right, we're going to have to change tack here because what I said about getting more flies with honey -- I was wrong.
(CATHERINE flops onto the couch.)
Warrick: This is incredible. Ten people and no one's talking. My theory: The k*ller is in the group and the rest of them are afraid.
CUT TO:
[EXT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - NIGHT]
(Camera lingers on the group of first class passengers sitting in the airport lounge.)
[INT. LAS VEGAS AIR - AIRPLANE - FIRST CLASS CABIN - NIGHT]
(GRISSOM and SARA are in the main aisle looking for evidence. GRISSOM sits writing in his folder. SARA is kneeling looking at something on the side of the passenger seat.)
Sara: That guy was wearing khakis, right?
(SARA picks some fibers off of the bottom of the seat.)
Grissom: Yeah.
(She holds it up and examines it with her magnifying glass. GRISSOM turns around and looks at it with his magnifying glass.)
Grissom: Fibers drawn from his pants maybe?
Sara: We get anything else off the clothes?
(GRISSOM looks at SARA.)
Grissom: Nick's working on it.
(She puts her magnifying glass down and takes out a bindle.)
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI - DNA LAB - NIGHT]
(GREG SANDERS is putting the deceased's clothes on a dummy. NICK walks into the lab.)
Nick: What have you got?
Greg Sanders: Well, what you got here is a nice bordeaux and a starbucks blend. No blood. No saliva.
Nick: What about prints?
GREG SANDERS; Well, suede leather's a tough gig. It's too porous.
(NICK sees something.)
Nick: Hey. Are you losing your touch there, Einstein?
(NICK picks up the photos of the deceased's back and holds it up to the back of the suede jacket.)
Nick: Coroner's photos of the dead guy's back. Multiple horseshoe-shaped bruises. Those are definitely shoeprints.
Greg Sanders: Yeah. Looks like somebody stomped on your dead guy.
CUT TO:
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - TARMAC - NIGHT]
(Walking away from the plane, GRISSOM talks on his cellphone.)
Grissom: Bring me the jacket. If I do heel impressions I'll need something to compare it to. See you in twenty.
(He hangs up.)
CUT TO:
[INT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - EMPTY OFFICE - NIGHT]
(CATHERINE is in the office going over her notes and absently eating a snack. GRISSOM lingers in the doorway.)
Grissom: ... I need their shoes.
Catherine: Why you telling me?
Grissom: Because you're the "people" person, right?
Catherine: Well, why don't you tell them that? They're not giving me bupkus.
Grissom: Please?
(CATHERINE looks up at GRISSOM and stares at his puppy-dog eyes as he gives her the Look. She gives in and gets up off of the empty office chair. She passes him on her way out the door and hands him her bag of snacks.)
Catherine: (o.s.) Okay, people. Listen up. (b*at) Shoes ... off.
(CATHERINE, the "people" person, walks up to the group and looks around. Not one of them moves.)
Catherine: Now.
(Finally, they move to take their shoes off. GRISSOM stands off to the side and watches.)
CUT TO:
[INT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - EMPTY OFFICE -- NIGHT]
(Camera slowly pans across the rows of shoes, yellow labels with the owner's name on them. At the end of the row, the camera rests on MAX VALDEZ' sneakers on the print paper.)
(GRISSOM presses down on them to get a print.)
Grissom: I used to have a pair of these.
(He moves the shoes to the side.)
Warrick: It all comes down to shoeprints.
(WARRICK is also working on getting shoe prints. SARA walks into the room.)
Sara: Hey.
Catherine: Hi.
(SARA walks further into the room where CATHERINE is labeling the prints.)
Sara: (looking around) Looks like a shoe sale. Uh, Nick sent these photo comparisons over from the lab.
(SARA hands the envelope to CATHERINE. She opens it and looks at the photos.)
Catherine: Oh. Excellent.
(GRISSOM turns and hands the shoe print to CATHERINE to compare it with the photo.)
Grissom: Max.
(CATHERINE compares the photo with the print.)
Catherine: That looks good.
Grissom: Yeah, that's a match. Okay.
(CATHERINE moves to the next print. SARA looks over and nods.)
Grissom: That distinctive mark on the circular tread... hmm.
(CATHERINE straightens and sighs.)
Catherine: Well, that's it then.
CUT TO:
[EXT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - MAIN WAITING ROOM -- NIGHT]
(CATHERINE walks out of the office and to the waiting first class passengers.)
Catherine: Okay, folks. I've got some good news ... and I've got some bad news.
Nate Metz: The good news?
Catherine: Well, the good news would be that seven of you may be ... getting out of here very soon.
Lou Everett: What's the bad news?
Catherine: The bad news is that three of you may be staying in Vegas a lot longer than you planned. And that would be ... Mr. Lou Everett, Mr. Max Valdez ... and Dr. Kiera Behrle. Would you ... please come with me.
(GRISSOM watches the passengers' reactions carefully. Hold on GRISSOM.)
FADE TO BLACK.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FADE IN:
[EXT. VARIOUS LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[INT. AIRPORT HALLWAY - NIGHT]
(BRASS opens the interview room door. LOU EVERETT and MAX VALDEZ walk out of the room.)
Brass: Stevie, keep these guys on ice.
(Coming down the hallway are CATHERINE, KIERA BERHLE and her daughter EMILY.)
Brass: I'm sorry, ma'am. This is as far as your daughter can go but we'll have an officer stay with her.
Kiera Berhle: Come on. It's been a rough night.
Catherine: Dr. Behrle, we're going to be asking you some very sensitive questions -- questions that I know that I wouldn't want my daughter to hear.
(BRASS kneels down to EMILY'S level and talks with her.)
Brass: Hi. My name is Jim. What's your name?
Emily Berhle: Emily.
(They shake hands while CATHERINE and KIERA BERHLE watch.)
Brass: Emily. Oh, that's a great name. Emily, I'm going to make you a deal, okay? We're going to borrow your mom for a little while.
Kiera Berhle: (to EMILY) I'll be right back, sweetie, okay?
(She kisses EMILY.)
Kiera Berhle: Okay.
Brass: Okay? And here's the good part. You get to borrow anything you see on me.
Emily Berhle: Can I borrow your g*n?
(As BRASS talks with EMILY, CATHERINE and KIERA both casually walk into the interview room.)
Brass: Well, you know, my g*n ... it's kind of ... it's old, and it's heavy and ... and it's stuck there. Anything else?
Emily Berhle: How about your badge?
Brass: You got a deal, and you know what? This is the best thing. You know why? Because anyone gives you any trouble all you got to do is ... flash this. There you go.
(BRASS hands the badge to EMILY. She takes it.)
Brass: So, were you scared?
(EMILY nods.)
Brass: Did you see what happened?
(EMILY shakes her head.)
Brass: Okay. Okay. It's okay.
(BRASS nods to the officer standing there.)
CUT TO:
[INT. AIRPORT SECURITY ROOM - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS]
(It's 11:29P. BRASS walks into the room. KIERA BERHLE and CATHERINE are there waiting for him. He closes the door and takes a seat next to CATHERINE.)
Brass: Sweet kid -- Emily. Uh, so, er ... Behrle ... how long have you been a physician?
Kiera Berhle: I prefer surgeon.
Brass: Okay.
Kiera Berhle: I've been practicing for eleven years.
Brass: And what was the nature of your visit to, uh ... to Las Vegas?
Kiera Berhle: Emily. She wanted to see the white tigers.
Catherine: How did you get that black eye?
Kiera Berhle: I caught it during the ruckus. The price you pay for being a Good Samaritan.
Catherine: Okay.
(CATHERINE reaches for the photo of the suede jacket and stands up. She moves in closer toward )
Catherine: I'm, uh ... just a little confused. Your heel impressions were found on the back of the victim's suede jacket.
(CATHERINE shows KIERA BERHLE the photo.)
Catherine: That's a little aggressive for a Good Samaritan.
(KIERA BERHLE looks up at CATHERINE.)
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, KIERA BERHLE rushes from her seat to stop the other passengers from fighting.)
Tony Candlewell: No! No!
(TONY CANDLEWELL is already face down on the aisle floor.)
Kiera Berhle: Hey, stop it!
(She grabs LOU EVERETT's arm. He turns around and accidentally hits KIERA BERHLE on the cheek. She clutches a hand to her cheek and takes a step backward.)
Kiera Berhle: Oh...
(She takes a step forward and accidentally steps on TONY CANDLEWELL'S back. She pushes everyone aside to make room.)
Kiera Berhle: Get out of the way. Get out of the way! Give him some air. Sir?
(She flips him over and starts performing CPR.)
Kiera Berhle: One, two, three ... one, two ...
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Kiera Berhle: If he had been in my E.R., I might have been able to save him, but at thirty thousand feet, there's only so much you can do. Look ... I did what I could.
Catherine: And you're satisfied with that?
Kiera Berhle: Why? Because I'm a doctor I'm responsible for what happened on that plane?
Brass: What did happen?
Kiera Berhle: I protected my daughter and I tried to save a guy's life. And, yes, I'm satisfied with that.
Brass: Well, you've seen cops the tv show, so you know our game. The first one to talk gets to make a deal.
Kiera Berhle: I don't need a deal.
Brass: No? Well, maybe your daughter Emily needs you to take one.
CUT TO:
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - TARMAC - NIGHT]
[INT. LAS VEGAS AIR - AIRPLANE - FIRST CLASS CABIN -- NIGHT]
(SARA sorts through the bagged evidence. GRISSOM is on his cell phone at the back of the plane.)
Grissom: Mm-hmm. (pause) Right. (pause) Makes sense. Okay. Thanks, Catherine.
(GRISSOM hangs up.)
Grissom: We have a ping-pong ball. We just need to find the paddles.
(Without elaborating, GRISSOM looks at SARA. She catches on.)
Sara: Where are they?
Grissom: Probably in the first compartment.
(SARA stands up and heads for the front seat overhead compartment.)
Grissom: The doctor in 3E told Catherine that she performed CPR on the victim. Check the inside of the paddles. See if there's any bio gel on them.
(SARA takes out the unit and checks the paddles.)
Sara: These look like they weren't even used. There was more lubricant in the bathroom. It's pretty negligent for a doctor. She's got to know every commercial airline carries defib paddles.
Grissom: Yeah, and if she didn't know, the Flight Attendant sure did.
CUT TO:
[INT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - OFFICE -- NIGHT]
(CATHERINE re-interviews SHANNON, the Flight Attendant.)
Shannon: By the time I thought to grab the defibrillator he was already dead.
Catherine: But you are trained to use the paddles in the event of an emergency and this was an emergency situation.
Shannon: Yes, but I'm trained to use them when a man is having cardiac arrest in his seat, not flopping around in the aisle.
Catherine: So, whatever it was he was going through it didn't look a heart att*ck.
Shannon: Look, I'm going to be honest with you. I was scared. I mean ... I thought this guy was going to take us all down.
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, SHANNON tries to restore order.)
Shannon: All right, everyone needs to return to their seats.
(TONY CANDLEWELL pushes SHANNON aside and tries to get into the cockpit. He bangs on the door with his hands, kicks at the door with his feet.)
Tony Candlewell: Get out of the way! I got to get off!
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Catherine: All right, so let me get this straight. 2F is on the floor. His wife is in the aisle brandishing a broken wine bottle. What about 1A? He was closest to the action.
Shannon: (shakes her head) That would be Mr. Cash. Um, he was in his seat.
CUT TO:
[INT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - MAIN LOBBY AREA - NIGHT]
(WARRICK and GRISSOM approach PRESTON CASH.)
Warrick: Mr. Cash.
Preston: I was wondering when you guys were going to get around to asking me some questions.
Warrick: So, what did you see?
Preston Cash: Not much.
Grissom: Sir, it's been a long night, and we don't have much time before our crime scene flies away.
Preston Cash: I was in my seat.
Grissom: You were sitting in 1A.
Warrick: Sitting ringside, how do you not see what happened?
(PRESTON CASH takes out his walking stick and opens it in front of them. WARRICK and GRISSOM'S jaws drop as they realize that he's blind.)
Grissom: The blind leading the blind.
Preston Cash: I'm not totally blind. I'm legally blind. My central visual acuity is 20/200.
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, PRESTON CASH sits up in his chair, alarmed at the commotion happening in the aisle in front of him.)
Shannon: (o.s.) Take your seat!
(All PRESTON CASH "sees" is white light with some shadow movements in front of him. He hears thumping.)
Tony Candlewell: (o.s.) You got to land the plane! I got to get off this plane!
(He hears a metal container hit the floor.)
Lou Everett: (o.s.) Get him off the door! Get him down!
(A woman screams. There are more sounds of shuffling and commotion in front of him.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: Can you identify the voices?
Preston Cash: (sighs) First voice. 4B. Businessman. I could tell by the way he ordered drinks.
Grissom: How do you mean?
Preston Cash: JW black, triple, not double.
Warrick: That's Lou.
Preston Cash: Second voice, guy in 2F, kind of far away.
(WARRICK sits down on his haunches in front of PRESTON CASH.)
Warrick: Max.
GRISSOM; Third voice?
Preston Cash: Third voice, row behind me, two seats over. Mr. Dot-com. Guy must've typed 60 words a minute.
Warrick: That's Nate.
Grissom: Mr. Cash, you got to help me. I got eight eyewitnesses with various stories. I put them all in a mixing bowl, add eggs, milk stick it in the oven, and all I got is a limp souffle.
Warrick: We need you to tell us everything you heard from the time the deceased banged on the cockpit door to the time he d*ed.
Preston Cash: Then listen up.
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, the commotion begins and PRESTON CASH sits up in his seat.)
(There's thumping in front of him as TONY CANDLEWELL hits the closed cockpit door.)
Tony Candlewell: (o.s.) I need to get off this plane! I have to get off this plane!
Lou Everett: Get him off the door.
Kiera Berhle: Get out of the way! Get out of the way!
Emily: Mom-my! Mommeee!
Tony Candlewell: No! No! No!
(There's more commotion in front of him. The little girl screams. Then all is quiet.)
(PRESTON CASH gets to his feet as he listens, but there's nothing but silence.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Preston Cash: I never heard such silence.
(GRISSOM'S pager beeps.)
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - NIGHT]
(GRISSOM walks into the autopsy room.)
Grissom: I got two hours till I lose my crime scene to the Feds. Tell me you have something.
Dr. Jenna Williams: I know what set this guy off.
Grissom: That's more than I got.
Dr. Jenna Williams: We know our victim suffered from intercranial bleeding. I had that pegged as possible cause of death so I cr*ck his skull open, and what do I find? A cantaloupe in a soup can.
Grissom: Tight fit.
Dr. Jenna Williams: And not from one or two blows to the head. He was also running a high fever so I tested his spinal fluid. A normal protein level is between 15 and 45 milligrams. Candlewell's was 60. Did anybody mention this guy had a headache?
Grissom: Flight Attendant gave him two aspirin. Why?
Dr. Jenna Williams: He was suffering from undiagnosed encephalitis.
(She gives GRISSOM the report. He looks at it.)
Grissom: Swelling of the brain.
Dr. Jenna Williams: It can manifest like a heart att*ck: Slurred speech delirium, loss of consciousness. You throw in the altitude and the air pressure changes in the cabin and our guy was probably out of his mind.
Grissom: Is that what k*lled him -- encephalitis?
Dr. Jenna Williams: It wasn't the one thing that k*lled him. Ruptured spleen, intercranial bleeding petecchial hemorrhaging. And the guy's heart just stopped b*ating.
Grissom: A, B, C, D or all of the above. Standoff with the police -- guy gets sh*t in the chest, runs back into his burning house inhaling smoke as he goes. The roof collapses the air conditioning unit falls on his head, he dies. What k*lled him?
FADE OUT
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FADE IN.
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - TARMAC - NIGHT]
(The team each carries out a dummy from the cars and into the airplane.)
[INT. LAS VEGAS AIR - AIRPLANE - FIRST CLASS CABIN - NIGHT]
(Inside the airplane, GRISSOM and the rest of the team re-enact the events of that night.)
Grissom: Okay, Vicki Mercer and Carl Finn. I believe are in the bathroom.
(WARRICK and CATHERINE carry their dummies into the plane and toward the bathroom.)
Warrick: Mile high club.
Catherine: If you ask me, it's their spouses that are the dummies.
Grissom: Emily Behrle is in 3F.
(NICK puts the dummy he's carrying into 3F.)
Grissom: Preston Cash, 1A.
(BRASS raises his dummy.)
Brass: Tony Candlewell, dead guy.
Grissom: Right there, 3C. And for now, he's alive until he's dead.
(BRASS sets his dummy into seat 3C, then turns to GRISSOM.)
Brass: So, you want to tell us what we're doing here?
(Everyone gathers around to listen to the explanation.)
Grissom: The physical evidence that Sara, Nick, and I collected is contradicting the anecdotal statements that you, Catherine, and Warrick got and my money's on the physical evidence.
Catherine: So is mine. These passengers are lying.
Grissom: I mean, if this was an arson case, we'd burn down an empty house to prove our theory, right? Well, in this case we're going to recreate the flight from... 1630 hours on. You are in 4B.
(GRISSOM hands BRASS a card with a name on it.)
Brass: (reads) Lou.
Catherine: Lou -- the angry businessman. How about that?
Sara: I want to be Shannon. Good.
(GRISSOM hands SARA the card.)
Warrick: The stewardess.
Sara: Excuse me -- it's "Flight Attendant".
Grissom: Catherine-- the doctor, 3E.
(GRISSOM hands the card to CATHERINE.)
Catherine: Single mom. What an imagination you have.
Grissom: Max and Marlene, 2E and F. You two are married. Who wants to wear the pants?
Nick: CSI-3 seniority, "sweetie".
(NICK snatches the card from GRISSOM. WARRICK reaches over for his card.)
Warrick: Yeah, whatever. You're henpecked anyway.
Sara: Let me guess -- you're the computer geek.
Grissom: In the interest of clarity, yes. Nate in 2C.
(GRISSOM takes a seat. The broken seat falls backward. WARRICK snickers at the sight. GRISSOM glares at WARRICK.)
Grissom: Okay, look, it's going to be sunrise in ten minutes. We're going to have to do a run, lola, run and play this in literal time. Up until the point that Captain Murdle escorted the dead guy back to his seat the events are substantiated by the flight log and the eyewitness statements unless anybody knows something different.
Catherine: What time was that?
Grissom: 1632 hours -- exactly 33 minutes before they landed in Vegas. One minute later, the plane hit turbulence.
Brass: And, according to the Flight Attendant that's when our stiff lost it and started hammering his call button.
Sara: So, I walk over ...
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, TONY CANDLEWELL is in his seat, pressing the call button repeatedly.)
Sara: (V.O.) ... try to calm the guy down, but he won't quit.
(Cut to: SHANNON walks up the aisle checking the overhead compartments.)
(Cut to: TONY CANDLEWELL has a hand to his forehead and is in pain.)
Grissom: (V.O.) Well, we know he's suffering from encephalitis. He's probably sweating and fighting back a migraine.
(End of flashback. Resume to BRASS.)
Brass: I know what my guy's doing in my seat -- Lou. He's getting ticked off.
Grissom: Yeah, but Candlewell is ticking off Nate in 2C even worse. I mean, this guy is perseverating.
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, TONY CANDLEWELL is in his seat, kicking NATE METZ'S seat back and irritating him as he's trying to work.)
Grissom: (V.O.) Uncontrollably kicking at the seat.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Brass: That's when he winds up and breaks your seat.
Grissom: So, I get up, spin around ...
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, NATE METZ throws the broken laptop into TONY CANDLEWELL'S lap.)
Grissom: (V.O.) ... confront the guy.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Warrick: Now, Lou, in 4B, said he was the peacemaker.
Brass: Peacemaker, my ass. (BRASS reaches for the pocket in front of him and pulls out the alcohol bottles.) He's got three empties in the pouch.
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, LOU EVERETT stands up.)
Brass: (V.O.) Seat reeks of whiskey.
(End of flashback. Resume to BRASS.)
Brass: The guy probably spilled Lou's drink.
Catherine: (impressed) Very good.
Brass: I was boss at CSI once. For a reason.
(BRASS takes a breath and stands up getting into character.)
Brass: Anyway, Lou gets up. He's angry. He takes a swipe at the guy. After knocking a few back at 33,000 feet you know, probably misses. And what does he get for his trouble?
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, TONY CANDLEWELL swings the CD at LOU EVERETT and LOU crying out in pain at the cut. End of flashback. Resume to WARRICK.)
Warrick: A CD swipe across the chops.
Brass: Right. So he falls back ... Well ... maybe Lou ...
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, LOU falls back and his drink splashes.)
Brass: ... spills his own drink.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: By this time, Candlewell's got to be out of his seat, right?
(GRISSOM stands up and grabs the CANDLEWELL Dummy and picks it up.)
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, TONY CANDLEWELL pushes SHANNON out of the way and heads for the cockpit door.)
Nick: (V.O.) If I'm Max, I want no part of this.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Nick: Plus, I don't have an aisle seat.
Brass: Yeah, but you're lucky. Your wife is going to make sure that you get in the playing field.
Warrick: (to NICK) Yeah, go ahead, honey. Save my life.
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, At his wife's urging, MAX VALDEZ gets up from his seat and heads for the commotion in the aisle.)
Nick: (V.O.) Right. Max gets up ...
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
(NICK gets up from his seat and heads for the aisle.)
Nick: ... slides across Marlene. Excuse me, "buttercup".
Grissom: (holding the dummy) Candlewell's moving up and down the aisle by now.
Nick: I come over confront the dead guy. Then what? (turns around) Who talked to 2F? To Max?
Brass: (from his seat) I did. Max told the dead guy to sit down. He turned, he shoved Max into the food cart
(As he talks, GRISSOM pushes NICK with the dummy's hand.)
(Quick flashback to: Mid-flight, TONY pushes MAX and he falls backward into the beverage cart in the aisle.)
Brass: (V.O.) ... Max landed on the ground.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Sara: Warrick -- I mean, "Marlene" -- that's when you got up and grabbed the broken wine neck.
(WARRICK gets up from his seat.)
Warrick: Saved Nick's butt, as usual.
Grissom: There's a bottle of wine on the floor.
(Quick flashback to: MARLENE gets up from her seat and picks up the bottle. She swings.)
Grissom: (V.O.) You slash at Candlewell ...
(End of flashback. Resume to GRISSOM who holds up the Dummy's hand in self-defense. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Brass: Then he swipes him across the hand. Hence the defensive wound.
Grissom: Now our guy's bleeding. He turns and heads for the cockpit.
(GRISSOM takes the Dummy and acts out what happened.)
Grissom: Bang, bang. He wants in the cockpit ...
(Quick flashback to: TONY hits the flat of his hand against the cockpit door leaving the blood from the wound on the door and door frame.)
Grissom: (V.O.) ... but the door is locked.
(TONY turns around. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: Captain Murdle gets on the horn calls first class twice. No answer. Why?
Sara: Shannon's vapor-locked.
Grissom: He can't get in the cockpit. What's next?
(GRISSOM looks around, then stretches the dummy's hand toward the door.)
Grissom: He heads for the exit door. Blood underneath the latch handle shows that Candlewell tried to open it.
(Quick flashback to: TONY reaches for the exit door and tries to open it.)
Grissom: (V.O.) And, if he gets the door open, they all die.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Brass: Now it's a whole new ball game. It's every man for himself.
(BRASS heads for the front)
Nick: (nods and heads for the front) Oh, yeah.
(Quick flashback to: MAX and LOU reach TONY and grab him to get him away from the exit door. Everyone else watches.)
Nick: (V.O.) This is when they really get scared.
Warrick: (V.O.) And, according to Preston, Max and Lou they got to Candlewell first.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: The struggle ensued. Max and Lou slammed into Preston
(Quick flashback to: TONY is being man-handled and yelling, "no!". End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: ... and, at some point, Candlewell goes down. Now it's a free-for-all.
(Watching from the sidelines and not really participating, SARA watches the others re-enact what happened mid-flight. She walks closer as they continue.)
Catherine: And my shoes end up on his back.
Nick: Mine, too.
Brass: Ditto.
Warrick: He's messing with my man, so I get my licks in.
Grissom: Nate's knuckles were bruised ... so he was in on it.
Brass: We're in close quarters, so there's elbows flying everywhere.
Catherine: That's probably how the doctor got her black eye.
Brass: Right.
(SARA sees something.)
Sara: Hey, guys! If you jump a guy at the exit, he dies at the exit.
(GRISSOM stands up when he realizes what SARA'S saying.)
(Everyone backs away from the TONY dummy.)
Brass: Yeah. And our guy...
(BRASS picks up the TONY dummy and carries him down the aisle ... toward SARA.)
Brass: ... was found five feet away ... with his head towards coach.
(He puts the dummy on the ground.)
(Quick flashback to: TONY heads back down the aisle. The others follow and continue to att*ck him.)
Nick: (V.O.) He tried to get away.
Warrick: (V.O.) But they didn't let him.
Catherine: (V.O.) And, at this point we're not individuals anymore -- we're a mob.
Emily: Mommy! Mommy!
(After a moment of constant kicking and stomping, the passengers stop and step away. TONY doesn't move.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Catherine: And you can't perform CPR on a man's back. Dr. Behrle had to have rolled him over ...
(Quick flashback to: KIERA BERHLE rolls TONY over and checks for a pulse.)
Catherine: (V.O.) ... probably just to cover for herself.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
Grissom: That makes us all murderers.
(WARRICK nods in agreement. Camera cuts to various camera views of CATHERINE, NICK, SARA and BRASS to get their reaction.)
CUT TO:
[EXT. MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - TARMAC - DAY]
(GRISSOM reports their findings back to SHERIFF BRIAN MOBLEY. They both stand in front of the SHERIFF'S car on the tarmac looking back at the airplane.)
Grissom: I want five of those passengers arrested for m*rder.
Sheriff Brian Mobley: Oh, that's four more than I anticipated.
Grissom: We looked at the evidence, and the evidence says five.
Sheriff Brian Mobley: Let me get this straight. Five strangers get on a plane and then, together, they k*ll a man.
Grissom: On the surface, self-defense. They thought Candlewell was bringing the plane down.
Sheriff Brian Mobley: And he would have.
Grissom: But he didn't. They stopped him, and then they k*lled him -- not as individuals, but as a mob.
Sheriff Brian Mobley: Let's cut to the chase, Gil. Can you prove your case?
Grissom: Not yet. I need more time.
(The SHERIFF gets into the car.)
Sheriff Brian Mobley: Well, time's up. I'm going to give these people their walking papers. If the Feds want to pursue it, let them.
Grissom: Don't do that.
Sheriff Brian Mobley: Oh, come on. No jury's going to ever convict them.
Grissom: You don't know that, Brian.
Sheriff Brian Mobley: Look, if you or I were on that plane we would do whatever it takes to save our lives.
Grissom: That's what a jury would say. That's not what the evidence says.
Sheriff Brian Mobley: That's exactly my point.
(He drives off.)
CUT TO:
[INT./EXT. AIRPORT LOUNGE - DAY]
(The first class passengers line up to get on the bus. They take their seats inside. GRISSOM stands to the side and watches the board. MAX VALDEZ heads for the bus and glances up at GRISSOM. NATE METZ also pauses as he looks at GRISSOM. They board the bus.)
(CATHERINE exits the building and stands next to GRISSOM. Together, they watch the bus leave. As it pulls away, LOU EVERETT glances back at them. The bus turns around and DR. KIERA BERHLE watches them as they leave the airport.)
Reporter (woman): (V.O.) Las Vegas Air has issued no formal comment other than to stand by the actions taken by the flight crew. Meanwhile, the first-class passengers from the flight have been released ...
[INT. CSI - BREAK ROOM - DAY]
(SARA sits in the breakroom watching the newsreport on the television. WARRICK walks into the room reading the newspaper.)
Reporter (woman): (V.O.) ... and no charges will be filed. The airline provided a bus to their Las Vegas destinations. Our request for interviews were denied, leaving the events surrounding the death of Tony Candlewell a mystery.
(On the set, the passengers board the bus. NICK pulls up a chair. They, too, glance at the television. WARRICK picks up the remote and turns the seat off.)
Sara: Hey.
Nick: Whoa.
Warrick: Let it go, guys.
Sara: Those people should be going to jail not some hotel on the Strip.
Warrick: It's out of our hands. Our field ruling was overturned by the good old Sheriff and the Feds.
Nick: And you're okay with that? We processed evidence for twelve hours laid out the whole case and now those passengers are going to suck martinis and eat shrimp cocktails? Where's the justice?
Warrick: Oh, you think this is about justice?
Nick: Yeah. What else?
Grissom: It's about human nature -- how people react when their lives are threatened.
Sara: I know you're not condoning what they did.
Warrick: I'm not discounting it. I mean, think about it -- is there anyplace more vulnerable than being at thirty thousand feet in a tin can?
Sara: Feeling "vulnerable" is not a defense and where they were is irrelevant. They took a life.
Warrick: Because their lives were threatened.
Nick: Their lives were threatened when Candlewell was at the emergency exit trying to open it, but the five feet between the exit and the aisles is what made the difference between self-defense and m*rder.
Warrick: Human nature again. I mean, adrenaline doesn't come with an off switch.
(Behind them, CATHERINE and WARRICK enter the break room.)
Sara: I don't care what you say. I could never take a life.
Warrick: If it was between him or me, I could. Nick?
(NICK shakes his head and sits back.)
Nick: I don't know.
Catherine: Well ... it's wicked serious in here.
Sara: Yeah, well, we were just talking about m*rder and whether we would commit it. I couldn't, Warrick could and Nick's on the fence. We're taking an exit poll.
Nick: Catherine, you're a mother. You and Lindsey are on that plane. How far do you go?
Catherine: All the way.
Sara: (surprised) You didn't even hesitate.
Catherine: That's right. If it involves the protection of my child I fight to the death.
Warrick: See? We have four people here, all with different opinions. Think of how the passengers must have felt.
Sara: What do you think, Grissom?
Grissom: I can't answer that question.
Catherine: That's a cop-out. It's a simple question. What would you have done if you had been one of those passengers?
Grissom: It's not about that. You all have different opinions but you've taken the same point of view. You've put yourself in the shoes of the passengers, but nobody's put themselves in the shoes of the victim. That's the point.
Sara: I'm sorry. What are you saying?
Grissom: Nobody stopped to ask Candlewell if he was all right. They just assumed, because he was kicking the back of Nate's seat, that he was a jerk -- because he was pushing his call button that he was bothering the Flight Attendant -- because he was trying to get into the lavatory he was making a scene -- because he was going back and forth up and down the aisles, he was posing a thr*at.
Catherine: He was a thr*at.
Grissom: No. He turned into a thr*at. It didn't have to be that way. People make assumptions. That's the problem. You just did. And I think these passengers made the wrong assumption and now this guy's dead.
Warrick: Well, if that's your stance how could it have been prevented?
Grissom: If just one person had stopped and taken the time to look at the guy to listen to him, to figure out what was wrong with him it might not have happened. It took five people to k*ll him. It would have only taken one person to save his life.
(Various camera cuts of CATHERINE, WARRICK, NICK and SARA.)
(SARA looks back at GRISSOM.)
FADE TO BLACK.
End