05x02 - Luck Be a Lady

[bunniefuu]

[Scene: ME's Office. Crypt. Bug pushes a body out of the elevator. Jordan walks in with four cups of coffee.]

JORDAN: Bonjour!
BUG: Practice the English, would you?

JORDAN: This little caffeine place just opened up around the corner. No Carmel blendeds, no half-decafs. Just a little guy named Jean Paul who makes solo espresso.

BUG: You're awfully perky this AM.

JORDAN: Garret's back. The sweet Indian summer has settled over the city. It's one of those mornings you wake up knowing it's going to be a great day.

BUG: No, not for everybody, apparently.

JORDAN: Point taken. What's his story?

BUG: Travelling salesman. Found him parked in a rental car, still clutching his half eaten chicken sandwich. He probably just choked on it.

JORDAN: Yeah, probably.

BUG: Except? Come on, Jordan, just say it. Except?

JORDAN: There's a slight ligature mark on his neck which could indicate strangulation. Or maybe his collar's just a little too tight.

(Bug takes a cup of coffee.)

BUG: Grazie.

JORDAN: Oh. Prego.

[Cut to Garret's Office. Garret is having trouble opening the door with the punch code lock. Lily walks up to him.]

LILY: It's 3727 pound. Remember? Dr. Slokum just thought it'd be easier.

(Garret walks into his office. He sees a gift basket and flowers on his desk. Jordan walks in with the coffee.)

JORDAN: (Speaks Italian.) Espresso, signori. (Speaks more Italian.)

(She hands a cup to Garret, then one to Lily.)

LILY: Ah, merci.

JORDAN: Look, okay, I know you didn't want to make a big deal. So we cancelled the funk band and the gogo dancers, but I honestly can not express to you how happy we all are to have you back.

GARRET: Thanks. Lily, call maintenance, will you? I want all punch code door locks gone from this morgue by the end of the day.

[Cut to Trace Evidence. Nigel, Bug and the salesman's body are there. Nigel is looking through the salesman's cards in his wallet.]

NIGEL: One Bram Rittenour from Buffalo, New York. Chamber of commerce, travelling sales association. Ooh, carpet salesman of the year 1989.

BUG: Is there anything sadder than being carpet salesman of the year?

NIGEL: How about still carrying the card in your wallet 16 years later. Poor Bram. Victim of his own lunch.

BUG: You know, it's statements like those that truly reveal your limited grasp of scientific method.

NIGEL: Excuse me?

BUG: Prejudging on insufficient data. Ligature mark on his neck. Strangulation is a strong possibility.

NIGEL: But there's no signs of a struggle.

BUG: Yeah, well, there never is if it's done right.

NIGEL: One contact lens. Tinted blue. He must've lost the other one and put his glasses on.

BUG: This guy is a middle-aged salesman from Buffalo. What good are blue eyes gonna do him?

(Lily walks in.)

LILY: Guys? Mrs. Rittenour just arrived. If it's all right, she'd like to have a moment alone with her husband.

NIGEL: Yes, of course.

(A young, sexy woman walks in.)

BUG: I'm sorry for your loss.

NIGEL: Sorry.

(Nigel, Bug and Lily walk out of the room and into the Break Room. Jordan is there.)

BUG: That's it. I'm definitely getting tinted contacts, like, today.

LILY: You guys are so cynical. Just because a lady has a nice figure, does not make her immune to falling in love.

(They look at the TV.)

NIGEL: Did you hear about this? Some biker's been leading four cruisers on a pursuit for the last two hours at Reading.

(Garret walks in.)

JORDAN: Why do I feel like I'm looking at my next call?

BUG: I'm on it. I owe you from Thursday, remember?

LILY: Traffic is a mess out there too. There's some sort of world economic thing going on at Chancellor Square all week. Is anyone making toast?

JORDAN: I tell you what. If it ends vehicular, I got it. If it's g*nsh*t, he's yours.

GARRET: I'll take him. I could use a long drive.

(Garret leaves the room.)

JORDAN: First day. He's just getting his morgue legs back.

NIGEL: I hear he's writing a novel.

JORDAN: Yeah, I wouldn't mention that.

LILY: Why does it smell like toast?

(An alarm goes off.)

BUG: (to Lily) Call 911. Now.

JORDAN: It's coming from trace.

(Jordan, Nigel and Bug run into Trace. Bram's body is on fire.)

NIGEL: Oh my god.

JORDAN: Hey!

BUG: She's covered the sprinklers.

(Jordan goes over to the woman.)

WOMAN: Stay away from me!

JORDAN: Put down the blow torch.

WOMAN: They'll find me. I can't go to jail.

JORDAN: What are you talking about?

WOMAN: They'll find me. They'll k*ll me.

JORDAN: No, no one's going to hurt you, okay? (The woman opens the window.) Just get down from there and we'll talk. I promise. No one's going to hurt you. Get down from the window and talk to me. Get down from there and talk, okay?

WOMAN: It doesn't even matter. I'm already dead.

(The woman jumps out of the window.)


OPENING CREDITS


[Scene: Outside the ME's Office. Jordan and Bug are crouching next to the girl's body.]

BUG: Oh, this is sad.

JORDAN: She didn't want to do this. Someone was forcing her.

BUG: Well, whoever it was, they knew what they were doing. She doused the body with industrial methyl benzene. Very pro.

(Woody walks up to them.)

WOODY: Bug. Whatta we got?

BUG: Uh, jumper, morgue, fire.

WOODY: We ID'd the body yet?

BUG: No, Jordan was just about to, um... I'll see what I can find out.

(Bug walks away.)

JORDAN: So this is the deal now? We're just gonna pretend we don't know each other?

WOODY: What? Us?

JORDAN: Yeah.

WOODY: Jordan, I don't know what kind of problems you have, but I seriously suggest that you get over them and move on with your life. I'm great, I'm fine.

JORDAN: Really?

WOODY: Yeah, never been better. I'm five days into this total vegetable juice fast. Lifting weights, working out. Getting all the toxins out of my system. Wide open to a whole new world of possibilities. (His phone rings.) Excuse me. (He answers it.) This is Hoyt. Yeah, I'm here.

(He walks away. Bug comes back.)

JORDAN: Wow, that was weird.

BUG: Yeah, so's this. Turns out our grieving widow was an employee at the Montecito Resort and Casino.

JORDAN: In Las Vegas? (She dials her cell.) Hello, hi, uh, Danny McCoy, please. Could you tell him it's Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh calling?

[Scene: Highway 111 - Reading. A biker is laying on the ground. Garret and a police officer walks up to the body.]

OFFICER: We've been chasing this guy for hours. I mean, that bike could go. He clocked in at over 95. Then all of a sudden he stops and dismounts. No one fired a sh*t, I swear. I mean, we all drew our weapons.

GARRET: Relax. If no one fired, there won't be any holes in him. Just tell me what happened.

OFFICER: He was having trouble breathing. He raised his hands, he dropped to his knees, and then he just fell back and d*ed.

GARRET: Anything else?

OFFICER: Yeah, he said something just before he closed his eyes. "Good ride." Kind of smiled when he said it.

[Scene: Jordan's Apartment. Jordan is asleep in bed. There's a knock on the door. She wakes up and covers her head with a pillow. She gets up and opens the door. Danny McCoy is standing there.]

JORDAN: One phone call and you just hop on a plane?

DANNY: Nice jammies.

JORDAN: Yeah, ducks. Thanks.

DANNY: I would've picked you for the extra-large t-shirt type.

JORDAN: No, no. Ducks. Quack. Yeah.

DANNY: They're very nice. Not what I expected, but nice.

JORDAN: You didn't just come all this way to check out my ducks.

DANNY: No. That photo you emailed me of Bram Rittenour.

JORDAN: Don't tell me. He's not really a mild-mannered carpet salesman from Buffalo?

[Time lapse. They are watching a surveillance tape.]

DANNY: Our facial recognition software matched the photo you sent, to this video surveillance footage of Rittenour. Or-or whoever he really is, meeting with Jimmy Ning 10 days ago at the Jacaranda.

JORDAN: Who's Jimmy Ning?

DANNY: Uh, the worst bad guy in Vegas. And as a sideline Ning has been known to finance some pretty spectacular heists. Usually involving gems or fine art.

JORDAN: So Rittenour meets with Ning in Vegas, then a week and a half later he's dead in Boston.

DANNY: Which leads us to Bridgette Sparks. A Montecito showgirl. One night she stole 40 grand from Ning's house, the next day she was gone. We all thought she was buried in the desert somewhere. Just like everyone else who crosses Ning.

JORDAN: Okay, but she runs off to Boston.

DANNY: Then Ning finds her and makes her a deal.

JORDAN: Set a corpse on fire to hide evidence of a m*rder.

DANNY: Yeah. So all roads lead to Ning. And Ed Deline would like to assist in anyway possible to get Ning out of Vegas and into a nice cosy correctional facility.

JORDAN: And thus, Danny McCoy, at my door.

DANNY: You guys got a detective assigned to the case?

JORDAN: Yeah, uh, we sure do.

[Time lapse. Elevator. Woody is there. Danny walks in.]

DANNY: Traffic out there is a bitch.

WOODY: It's that global conference thing over at Chancellor Square. Danny McCoy.

DANNY: Woody.

(They laugh.)

WOODY: What are you doing in Boston? Oh, no, no, no. This is not about that jumper from Vegas?

DANNY: Yeah, looks like we're working together once again, my friend.

WOODY: No, not together. Me police, you un-police. Thanks for the offer but I got this one.

DANNY: Whoa, whoa. I thought we cleared all this territorial crap last year.

WOODY: Let me guess. Big bad scary Ed Deline called up the chief and screamed down his neck?

DANNY: No, big bad scary Ed called the commissioner, who called the chief, who called your captain.

WOODY: Believe it or not, Danny, the Boston PD is not at the beck and call of some casino boss. And while you may be very capable when it comes to tossing drunks out of buffet lines, this is about real police work, as in badge, as in... (His phone rings.) Hold on a second, I gotta take this. Hello. Yes, sir. Yes, sir, I'm with him right now. Very well, sir.

(He hangs up. The elevator doors open.)

DANNY: After you.

[Scene: ME's Office. Autopsy. Jordan and Nigel walk in.]

JORDAN: John Doe formally known as Bram.

NIGEL: His ID was bogus?

JORDAN: Yeah. No big surprise. Hey, how far did you get before the fire?

NIGEL: We'd just started removing the clothes. We got shoes, wallet, spectacles and contacts.

(Jordan picks up the shoe and smells it.)

JORDAN: They smell like accelerant.

NIGEL: No, we definitely removed those before Lily and the widow entered the room. So was Danny McCoy of any help?

(Jordan swabs the shoe.)

JORDAN: Yeah, yeah. He stopped by last night. He seems pretty convinced that this thing has roots in Vegas.

NIGEL: Stopped by? As in, uh, just in the neighbourhood kind of a thing?

JORDAN: Run this through the gas chromatograph would you, please?

(Woody and Danny walk in.)

WOODY: Hey, Nige. What's up?

NIGEL: Hey.

(Danny walks over to Jordan.)

DANNY: Hey. Get those ducks back to sleep last night?

JORDAN: Yeah, I read them a bedtime story and they conked out pretty fast.

NIGEL: Hey, guys. Have a looksee. It's aircraft fuel on the bottom of his shoes. Phenylenediamine is an antioxidant, the alkylamine of phosphate is a corrosive inhibiter. Different airports require specific additives depending on their locations.

WOODY: So he was recently at an airport?

NIGEL: Yeah. Specifically Barnstable. Due to the proximity of the oceans, it's the only one in the greater Boston area that requires both.

[Cut to Forensic Laboratory. Garret is at one of the computers. Lily walks in.]

LILY: I can't find a single living relative for Graydon Holt.

GARRET: That's because he landed on the planet five and a half years ago. Social and license were both issued on the same day.

LILY: He changed his name?

GARRET: I ran dental x-rays. Looks like we've got a hit. (A photo of a man with short hair and a moustache shows up.) Graydon Nicholas the III.

LILY: I can't believe that that's the same guy.

GARRET: Patent attorney. Worked at his father's law firm at St. Paul, Minnesota. Reported missing five and a half years ago.

LILY: How did that guy turn into that guy? (She compares the old photo of him with the photo now of him with long scruffy hair and beard.) Better contact his family.

(Lily leaves. Garret walks into Autopsy. There are four bikers standing around Graydon's body with their heads bowed.)

GARRET: Can I help you?

BIKER #1: Whoa. We're here for Graydon's body.

(One of the bikers grabs Graydon's body and throws him over his shoulder.)

GARRET: Wait, wait, wait. He's scheduled for autopsy.

BIKER #2: That won't be necessary, chief. We got it.

GARRET: You can't do this. Wait a minute, you're breaking the law.

BIKER #1: Look, I don't want to hurt you. We're taking Graydon, so just step out of the way.

(The bikers leave.)

[Scene: Barnstable Airport Hangars. Jordan, Nigel, Woody and Danny arrive outside.]

JORDAN: We know this is the right hangar because...?

WOODY: Airport manager said she rented it out a month ago. Four guys have been going in and out every day since. The funny thing, they don't own an airplane.

DANNY: I'm going around back.

WOODY: I'm with you.

JORDAN: We'll get our kits.

WOODY: Use channel 3. I'm in first. (Woody and Danny run around to the back door. It's locked. Woody bangs on the door.) Police! Open up! Go ahead, Danny. You wanna break the door down using your Kung Fu or something? (Danny grabs Woody's g*n and fires at the security keypad.) Hey, hey, hey! I got get in a lot of trouble for that. (to his walkie talkie) 10-57 situation under control.

(They walk inside.)

DANNY: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Biometric laser security, man. They're gonna know we were here.

WOODY: No prob. I'll leave them a business card.

(The front doors open. Jordan and Nigel are standing there. They all walk to the centre of the hangar where there's office furniture set up.)

NIGEL: Four of them all right.

JORDAN: And they are thinking large.

(They all start searching.)

DANNY: Definitely looks like a heist is in the works. Look at this. 7:45, 7:50, 8:00. They're timing it out.

WOODY: Looks like it was going down tomorrow night. I got plane tickets leaving for Los Angeles, New York, Montreal. All leaving Boston at midnight tomorrow. (He turns to Jordan who is searching a van.) What you got in there, Jordan?

JORDAN: Uh, not much. (She throws a garbage bag out the back door and chopped up bodies fall out.) Except for the bodies.


[Scene: ME's Office. Autopsy. Jordan, Nigel and Bug are there. They have laid out the chopped up bodies.]

JORDAN: No haemorrhaging at the wounds.

BUG: Ditto.

JORDAN: I've got a double att*ck to the cranium, large calibre at close range.

BUG: Again, ditto.

JORDAN: So they were ex*cuted then hacked post mortem, probably for disposal.

BUG: I'll keep checking the bags. Maybe the k*ller left some DNA.

NIGEL: I got IDs. Okay, the older chap is an Al Bergman. He worked at a place called Ipolita's in Chancellor Square. And the other guy is a Sal Lupini who is employed by a McSoileys Pub out at Southie. No arrests, no warrants. Upstanding citizens, both.

BUG: Hello, hello, hello, hello.

JORDAN: Oh, you got something?

BUG: A blue contact lens.

[Time lapse. Jordan is digging at Bram's face with tweezers. Nigel walks in.]

NIGEL: Any news on the mysterious Mr. Doe?

JORDAN: This guy's face is like an Easter egg hunt. Two cheek implants and an artificial bridge to the nose. Whoever he was, he worked really hard to become a nobody.

NIGEL: Well, I've run dental and DNA. No hits on either.

JORDAN: Bug had it right the first time. The guy wasn't m*rder*d. He really did just choke on his chicken.

[Time lapse. Conference Room. Jordan, Woody, Nigel, Bug and Danny are there. Woody is writing on a board.]

WOODY: Okay. John Doe kills Al, kills Sal. Hacks up their bodies and stores them in a hangar. Why? What do they all have in common?

NIGEL: Their names rhyme? I'm just saying.

BUG: Yeah, that's it, genius. The next victim should be named Cal.

DANNY: Where's Jimmy Ning?

WOODY: John Doe chokes and gets lit up by our showgirl.

DANNY: Jimmy Ning should be on the board.

WOODY: This is a board for facts, Vegas boy. Not speculation.

DANNY: Ning sent in the showgirl. He should be on the board.

WOODY: Maybe, possibly.

DANNY: Not maybe.

WOODY: Just not a fact.

JORDAN: John Doe met with Ning in Vegas a week and a half ago.

WOODY: Who's side are you on here?

DANNY: Mine.

JORDAN: No, it's not about sides.

BUG: Oh, for the love of Buddha, people. Would it k*ll you to write Ning on the board?

DANNY: Not in green. Sal Lupini's in green. It implies a connection.

WOODY: Maybe you'd prefer to do this yourself.

DANNY: Yeah, I would. (He grabs a black pen and writes on the board.) Jimmy Ning sets a plan in motion to culminate tomorrow night. Some kind of a heist. Probably involving gems or fine art.

WOODY: Speculation.

DANNY: What, you think they're planning a clam dig?

BUG: Oh, children, children. Look, is there one thing that we can all agree on? Anyone? (Jordan and Nigel raise their hands.) Yes, the lady in the back. (to Nigel) And not you.

JORDAN: Doe's ID. Discovering his identity is key.

BUG: Yes, good. Go with that.

JORDAN: Okay, well, someone went to the trouble of torching a body, uh, who choked to death on a chicken salad sandwich.

BUG: Which tells us one true thing. It's not about what he did, it's about who he is.

[Cut to Garret's Office. Garret is sitting at his desk. He takes a bottle of liquor out of his desk drawer and pours some into his coffee. He puts the bottle back. He looks at some photos of bikers at a bar. He enlarges the photo and gets the name of the bar off a sign. Lily walks in.]

LILY: I just spoke with Graydon Nicholas's parents. They'll be in on the next flight in from St. Paul.

GARRET: Okay.

LILY: Of course they were anxious to know the cause of death.

GARRET: Nothing yet. I've rescheduled autopsy for tomorrow.

LILY: Why?

GARRET: I'm chief ME, Lily. I don't need a reason.

(He walks into the corridor. Lily follows.)

LILY: They're gonna be in the office first thing tomorrow morning. The poor people haven't heard from their son since the day he disappeared. I don't know what was more upsetting. Finding out that he was dead or realising that he had been alive all this time.

GARRET: He isn't here.

LILY: What?

GARRET: Some guys came and took him. I'll get him back.

LILY: Garret. You have to report this.

GARRET: Two days on the job and I lose a body after having all of Slokum's security locks removed. I'll get him back.

[Scene: Pappy's Cantina. Garret walks in. He sees Graydon's body held up by a rope, sitting on a motorbike. Four bikers are standing around him.]

BIKER #1: Unless you're here to pay your respects, we'll have to ask you to leave.

GARRET: The body of Graydon Nicholas is the property of the state of Massachusetts and like it or not, he's going to be autopsied and buried according to the wishes of his family.

BIKER #1: Look around. This is his family, man. And come daylight, we're going to bury him according to his own damn wishes.

GARRET: You want me to call the cops?

BIKER #1: Yeah. Tell 'em to bring it on be. There's a lot of bikers here. We ain't gonna give him up easy.

GARRET: I'll let them know.

BIKER #1: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Just whoa. You do this now and a lot of people are gonna get hurt. Come on, just let us have this one night. One night so that we can honour our friend. I'll bring the body back first thing in the morning. You have my word. You know, some men, they're pushed onto the wrong path in life. Until one day they wake up and they ask, "how did I get here?". You know what I'm saying? Graydon might have been raised a lawyer but he d*ed a biker. He made that choice. And I'm asking you to respect that.

GARRET: I want him back in my morgue the first thing tomorrow morning.

BIKER #1: The first thing. All right. Hey, you wanna know something about Graydon? (He picks up a brown paper bag.) Take a look at that. Found it with his stuff.

[Scene: ME's Office. Corridor. Danny is there.]

DANNY: (on phone) I appreciate your help, sir. Thank you. (He hangs up. Jordan walks up to him.) Hey.

JORDAN: Hey. I didn't even know you were still here.

DANNY: I was just thinking about one of our vics, Sal Lupini, working at McSoiley's Pub.

JORDAN: Yeah. I kind of bumped on that too.

DANNY: I just spoke with the manager and he said he was renting his green card. His real name was Juan Floravista.

JORDAN: Illegal.

DANNY: Yeah.

JORDAN: Anything else?

DANNY: Uh, just that he had a second job working for his cousins. (They walk into the elevator.) So can I give you a lift?

JORDAN: Thanks, I've got a car.

DANNY: Can I give you a lift to your car?

JORDAN: It's right outside.

DANNY: Okay. Yeah, I should probably get back to the hotel.

JORDAN: Yeah, you know, we probably shouldn't...

DANNY: No, probably not.

JORDAN: On the other hand it's kind of a nice night for a drive.

[Scene: Barnstable Airport Hangar. Jordan and Danny pull up in the car. They get out.]

DANNY: When you said go for a drive, I was thinking margaritas, a live band, maybe , I don't know, throw a mattress in the back of the El Camino.

JORDAN: Hold that thought. Look, we know that John Doe was in the back of that truck. There's gotta be trace in there that can tell us who he is.

DANNY: There were two officers stationed outside that door this afternoon.

JORDAN: This is supposed to be a preserved crime scene.

DANNY: Wait here.

(He walks towards the door. Jordan follows.)

JORDAN: No.

DANNY: What do you mean no?

JORDAN: Why should I wait? Because you're the boy and I'm the girl?

DANNY: Yeah, because I'm the boy and I said to wait. Now wait right here. Please.

JORDAN: Are you kidding?

DANNY: Jordan, please, wait.

(Jordan stops. He opens the door and walks inside.)

JORDAN: He always gets to be the boy.

(Jordan follows him in. He gives her a look. He turns on the lights and the hangar is completely empty.)


[Scene: Barnstable Airport Hangar. CSU have arrived. Jordan, , Nigel, Woody and Danny are there.]

WOODY: (on phone) Did you see their badges? Just answer the question. Did you see their stinkin' badges?

JORDAN: Not a print to be found.

DANNY: They had all that equipment packed up in a heartbeat.

(Woody hangs up.)

WOODY: All right. That was one of the Uni's on watch. Three males, Caucasian, 30s, flashed badges saying they were with CSU. Relieved the officers of their post.

JORDAN: These guys have cajones.

NIGEL: Guys?

JORDAN: Whatta you got?

NIGEL: A very cool program, actually. Not quite legal but it's effective nonetheless. It tracks incoming calls back to their cell tower. Now, 17 of the last calls made to this location was from Las Vegas. Listed to a Duxos Industries.

DANNY: Jimmy Ning's shell company. I've been telling you all along this whole thing's been coming from Vegas, haven't I?

WOODY: If that guy's gonna mess with my town, torch a morgue, stage some heist from 2000 miles away. Well, I'm bringing it to him.

JORDAN: So, what, you're just gonna drop everything and jump on a plane?

WOODY: Plane, train, I'll parachute in if I have to. I'm going to Vegas.

[Scene: Las Vegas. Montecito Resort and Casino. Woody walks in. Sam walks up to him.]

WOODY: Samantha Marquez.

SAM: Hey, Woody.

(He kisses her on the cheek.)

WOODY: Girl, you look amazing.

SAM: Walk with me. I had my security guys put a file together. Everything you've ever wanted to know about Jimmy Ning. See this? He left China ten years ago with 20 million in stolen bonds. They've been trying to get him back ever since to stand trial for treason.

WOODY: No luck?

SAM: No. But I hear the Chinese ambassador's been working over time to make a deal for his extradition.

WOODY: Any idea what he was up to out of Boston?

SAM: No, but if I were you I'd station armed militia around every gem dealer and art museum in town. As you know, the Montecito would be eternally grateful to see Ning behind bars. So if there's anything I can do to help.

WOODY: Just get me in the man's face.

[Scene: ME's Office. Garret's Office. Garret is there rolling up a roll of toilet paper. The toilet paper has handwritten words on it. Lily walks in.]

LILY: Mr. Nicholas just called from the airport Holiday Inn. I told him we needed a few more hours. Garret, this has gone on long enough. If a body is missing...

GARRET: I found him.

LILY: You did? Where is he?

GARRET: Maybe where he belongs.

LILY: Garret, you're not making any sense.

GARRET: A man grows up and becomes an attorney. Then one day he decides he's not that person anymore. Why? Because he made a choice. Maybe not a choice you or I can understand but a choice. He didn't just drift through. He didn't stay a doctor because that's what his parents wanted. He looked in the mirror and chose his own destiny.

LILY: You mean a lawyer?

GARRET: Lawyer. That's what I said.

LILY: You said doctor.

[Cut to Forensic Laboratory. Jordan, Nigel and Bug are there.]

NIGEL: Okay, I have one trick yet up my sleeve. 3D laser scan of John Doe's skull. Now, the program rebuilds his facial construction, approximating what the man would have looked like...

JORDAN: Before he had all that plastic surgery.

NIGEL: With each new line of data, it runs a comparison on every photo on the NCIC.

JORDAN: You keep working on Doe, I'm gonna go back to our two vics. There's gotta be something that connects those two. (The bikers walk in with Graydon.) Hey. How's it going?

[Cut to Garret's Office. Garret is there. Nigel comes to the door.]

NIGEL: Dr. M? There's some friends of yours here to see you.

(The bikers walk in.)

GARRET: Come with me. (The bikers follow Garret through the corridor. Jordan, Nigel and Bug decide to follow as well. They pass Lily who decides to join. Garret and the bikers walk into Autopsy and they place Graydon on a table.) You said first thing in the morning. It's 20 minutes after 3:00.

BIKER #1: The bikers morning.

[Cut to Forensic Laboratory. Jordan, Nigel, Bug and Danny are there. Jordan is looking through a microscope. Nigel and Bug are staring at the computers.]

BUG: It's kind of like watching a fire.

NIGEL: You know, you really don't have to hang around just to sit here staring at the screen.

BUG: Yeah, you're right. I could be at home staring at another screen. In the morning, you guys.

DANNY: Yep.

JORDAN: See ya, Bug. (Bug leaves.) One of our vics, Juan Floravista, there's definitely something up with his hair. Like he was working around strong chemicals. Now, if I run it through the ICPMS...

(She puts the hair in a machine.)

NIGEL: White phosphorus. Not something you'd expect to find in your average pub. Irish or otherwise.

JORDAN: Yeah, you find that in dry cleaners.

DANNY: The manager at the pub said that he worked a second job for some cousins somewhere.

NIGEL: Floravista Cleaners? Chancellor Square?

JORDAN: Which is where our other vic worked at a restaurant. Isn't that where that summit's going on?

NIGEL: Yeah. World Economic Forum. 22 countries, 4 days.

DANNY: Security would be tight. No one in or out except for employees with security clearance.

NIGEL: Chancellor Square, ladies and gentleman. Courtesy of the Boston zoning commission database. 30 shops, banks, jewellery stores, hotels, all connected by subterranean corridors and kitchens.

DANNY: The basement. That's the blueprint that was tacked to the wall at the hangar.

JORDAN: Whatever Ning's up to, it's happening at Chancellor Square. And it's happening tonight.


[Scene: ME's Office. Conference Room. Garret, Lily and Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas are there.]

MR. NICHOLAS: He was a difficult teen. Always sneaking out and riding those damn motorcycles. I can't tell you how humiliating this has been. To raise a son, push him along through law school, and then to discover his entire disappearance was a hoax.

LILY: Uh, your son d*ed of a cerebral colloid cyst. Medical records show he was diagnosed a little over 6 years ago.

MR. NICHOLAS: 6 years? You're telling me he was diagnosed before he left St. Paul?

MRS. NICHOLAS: He never said a word.

GARRET: Well, he knew it was inoperable and he knew it would be fatal. So he made a choice. To take the time he had left to live a life he loved.

MR. NICHOLAS: Being in a g*ng and riding motorcycles and running from the police?

LILY: Well, um, it's been a long day. I'm sure you're both anxious to start the arrangements to transport his body.

GARRET: That's not a very good idea. See, Graydon left a will.

(He pulls out the toilet paper from a paper bag.)

LILY: On toilet paper?

GARRET: Written in a bathroom stall in a biker bar under the influence of a great deal of tequila. So it states. In it he specifies how he wanted his remains to be laid to rest and it wasn't in the family plot.

MR. NICHOLAS: I don't care what it says on some roll of toilet paper. My son will be buried as we see fit. This would never hold up in court.

GARRET: Now you see, you're not in court. You're in a morgue, you're in my morgue.

LILY: What Dr. Macy means to say is that I think...

GARRET: Graydon knew he was going to die. He chose how he wanted to be remembered. And I for one intend to respect that. You've come a long way. Why not find out who your son really was.

[Scene: Las Vegas. Montecito swimming pool. Woody and Sam are there.]

WOODY: I'm telling you, I love this town. I'm glad to see they haven't changed the dress code. Look how small these bathing suits are.

SAM: Vegas is Vegas.

WOODY: That's what I love about it. The weather, the women. Did I mention the women?

SAM: You are just bouncing off the walls today.

WOODY: Vegetable juice, Sam. Nothing but 100% pure vegetable juice for the last 7 days and I've never had so much energy. You sure we're gonna find him here?

SAM: Hot's his usual spot. Jimmy Ning likes to do his business post side.

WOODY: There he is. 12 o'clock.

SAM: Hm, that's interesting. One of his bodyguard's doesn't hang out at the Montecito pools.

WOODY: Really?

SAM: Yeah, he's a real charmer. You know, kind that beats up his girlfriend for the exercise.

WOODY: He doesn't look like that bad of a guy. Maybe you could, you know, go up, get caught up with him.

SAM: Yeah.

(Woody walks up to Jimmy Ning. Sam goes and flirts with the bodyguard.)

WOODY: Mr. Ning. Hi. Could I have a moment of your time?

JIMMY: Not unless you got a badge.

WOODY: Actually I do. It's from the Boston police department. Come on. Home of 2004 world series champs.

JIMMY: I was there once many years ago. Too cold.

WOODY: We know what you're planning out at that airport hangar and we're not gonna let you get away with it.

JIMMY: If you had any dirt on me, you'd be reading me Miranda, right?

(Jimmy tries to walk away but Woody stops him.)

WOODY: You're right, you're right. I am way out of my jurisdiction. Out here I'm not even a cop.

JIMMY: You're right. Out here you're just another mook in Vegas.

(One of his bodyguards punches Woody in the face and pushes him into the pool. Jimmy and his bodyguards walk off. Sam rushes over to him and helps him out.)

WOODY: Please tell me that was worth it.

SAM: He's got an office at the Viceroy. Suite 1900.

[Scene: Viceroy Hotel. Jimmy Ning's Suite. Woody and Sam open the door using a swipe card.]

WOODY: Where do you even get a thing like that?

SAM: I know a guy.

WOODY: Who knows a guy.

SAM: What are we looking for?

WOODY: I'll know it when we find it. But let's find it fast. I don't want to end up a skeleton buried under some cactus with cute little wolf pups gnawing at my bones.

SAM: There are no wolves in the desert. There are coyotes though.

WOODY: We know from his calls that Ning was conducting all of his business in Boston from this room. Hey, are you sure this was the only shirt available in the entire gift shop?

(He's referring to the bright pink t-shirt he's wearing with the words "The Last Virgin in Vegas" printed on it.)

SAM: It's the only one I saw. (He turns around and on the back reads "Be gentle". They search the room. Sam sits on Woody's shoulders and looks in a pot plant on top of a cupboard. She pulls out a flash drive.) Jackpot.

WOODY: What is it? What is it? (Woody puts Sam down.) It's a computer flash drive. Let's go find out what's on it.

SAM: Now can you just take this without a warrant?

WOODY: Not as a cop. But out here I'm just another mook in Vegas.

[Scene: ME's Office. Forensic Laboratory. Nigel is pacing up and down. A database match is finally found for John Doe.]

NIGEL: Sweet bullocks of Borneo!

[Scene: Chancellor Square. A large group of protestors are in front of a building. Jordan and Danny are there.]

JORDAN: So where do we start?

DANNY: The protestors' signs are in Chinese. I'm gonna check it out.

(Jordan's phone rings. She answers it.)

JORDAN: Nige?

NIGEL: John Doe is Jukka Johannsen.

JORDAN: Who?

NIGEL: I Googled him. He's the highest paid hit man in the business. He's the legend of the trade.

JORDAN: So you're telling me Ning hired a hit man?

NIGEL: Apparently he supposedly d*ed in '98 but merely transformed himself into mild-mannered carpet salesman.

JORDAN: If Ning hired a hit man than this was never really about a heist.

NIGEL: No, no, no, this is about a hit.

JORDAN: Okay, you call PD and FBI. I'll try to notify somebody here on the ground.

DANNY: The ambassador of China is here. He just finished giving a speech.

JORDAN: He's the target, Danny. China wants to extradite Jimmy Ning. The ambassador's been leading the charge. They're gonna assassinate the ambassador of China.


[Scene: Chancellor Square. Continued from before.]

JORDAN: (on phone) Anything you can find, Nige. As fast as you can find it. (to Danny) We gotta tell secret service, Danny.

DANNY: The ambassador just left the stage. He just left the room. This is going down now.

JORDAN: Danny...

DANNY: If we tap some agent on the shoulder and say assassination, we're gonna be hauled out for questioning for two days. We gotta get inside.

JORDAN: (on phone) Yeah.

NIGEL: According to the official schedule, the ambassador is to attend a dinner at 8:00 at Ipolita's Restaurant on the opposite end of the block. They're gonna be transporting him through the basement corridors.

JORDAN: It's 8:04 now. How the hell do we get in there?

NIGEL: There's one access point half way up the north side of the block. It's a narrow stairwell. Go down one flight, through the boiler room, up one flight, you'll be in Ipolita's kitchen.

(Jordan and Danny run to the narrow stairwell.)

JORDAN: Why isn't there a uniform posted at this entrance?

DANNY: The surveillance camera's been disabled. (They walk down the stairs and through the boiler room. Danny finds a dead guard on the ground.) They k*lled the guard.

(Danny takes a baton off the guard and they continue up the stairs and into the kitchen. The ambassador and his bodyguards walk in. Danny sees a chef pull out a g*n. He hits the chef with the baton and punches him in the face. Another chef pulls out a g*n. Jordan grabs a pizza paddle and hits the chef with it.)

SECRET SERVICE: Secret Service! Freeze! Hands in the air!

(Jordan and Danny raise their hands.)

DANNY: (whispers) Nice.

JORDAN: (whispers) Thanks.

[Scene: Las Vegas. Casino. Jimmy Ning is at the Craps table. Sam walks up to him.]

SAM: Mr. Ning.

JIMMY: Hello.

JIMMY: Looks like you're on quite a roll.

SAM: What can I say? I've always been lucky with the dice.

(Woody walks up to him.)

WOODY: Good for you. I'm sure you'll be winning lots of cigarettes in the long years to come.

POLICE: Jimmy Ning. You're under arrest for the m*rder for hire of Juan Floravista and Al Bergman.

JIMMY: This is ridiculous. You've got nothing.

WOODY: Except for the phone records, leisures and money transfers to Boston. Lot of material turned up in the search.

JIMMY: You searched my place without a warrant?

WOODY: Actually, we did have a warrant based on your computer files. Seems that one of your flash drives turned up in metro lost and found. You really gotta be more careful where you leave you stuff. (They take Jimmy away.) Can I get you a drink?

SAM: Raw vegetable juice?

WOODY: Seven days is long enough. I was thinking of something a little stronger.

[Scene: Pappy's Cantina. Graydon's funeral is taking place. Biker #1 is reading from the roll of toilet paper.]

BIKER #1: "And when I see the Reaper coming, I will not stop to greet him. Like a rabbit on the blacktop, I will race him down the road. For in my soul I am a hellhound, and a hellhound I must die. So won't you bury me with a hog I love in a place that I call home."

(Garret hands Graydon's ashes to Graydon's parents and they empty the ashes into a bag attached to his motorbike. The motorbike lowers into a hole in the floor.)

[Scene: Jordan's Apartment. Jordan is in bed. There's a knock at the door. She gets out of bed and opens the door. Danny is standing there.]

DANNY: I have to catch an early flight so I thought I'd stop by and say goodbye to the ducks. Or... sheep?

JORDAN: Uh, lambs, technically. They came three in a pack.

DANNY: So what's in the third?

JORDAN: You'll just have to come back sometime and find out.

DANNY: Or you could come to Vegas.

JORDAN: Now? Just like that?

DANNY: Yeah, they make these things. These big metal rooms that sort of sh**t across the sky. You're in Boston one night and Vegas the next.

JORDAN: Too spontaneous, you know? It's just not me.

(He kisses her.)

DANNY: There's another plane tomorrow.

[Scene: Las Vegas. Hotel Room. Woody and Sam are asleep in bed together. Woody wakes up and notices a ring on his finger.)


To be continued in LAS VEGAS...