COLD OPEN:
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - NIGHT]
WHITE FLASH TO:
SCENE #01:
[INT. HOTEL BALLROOM - NIGHT]
(In the darkness of the deserted auditorium, the back stage door opens. Someone walks in. She's one of the event coordinators making final checks for the show the next day. She walks up to the lighting console and turns on the switches for the main stage lights. She smiles as they go on.)
(She steps down from the console platform and walks past the curtains to the stage itself. She walks along the red-carpeted catwalk and stops at the end. She takes a moment and looks out into the empty seats in front of her.)
(The camera slowly moves lower and angles upward where we see the event sign hanging in the background for the "International Organization of Little People / Fashion". That's not all we see hanging in the background. The camera continues to angle upward where we see the shadow of a figure hanging from the rafters.)
(The event coordinator is satisfied with the stage preparations. She turns around to leave and gasps as she sees the figure hanging high above the stage.)
FLASH TO WHITE:
SCENE #02:
[INT. HOTEL LOBBY -- NIGHT]
SARA: Is this some kind of convention?
GRISSOM: Little People Convention. Every year they come from all over the world to a designated city. Socialize, network. It's their Prom, Olympics, and New Year's Eve all rolled into one.
(SARA, GRISSOM and NICK make their way across the hotel lobby. All around them, dozens of Little People mill about, the lobby a bustling as with any other convention.)
(As they walk, a man in a wheelchair rides in the opposite direction toward them. He nearly runs into NICK.)
NICK: Oh, hey. Excuse me.
MAN IN THE WHEELCHAIR: Don't think so, square jaw.
(The MAN IN THE WHEELCHAIR leaves NICK wide-eyed and jaw hanging. GRISSOM and SARA continue along the ballroom unaware of NICK'S close encounter.)
SARA: Grissom, how do you know this?
GRISSOM: I get the newsletter.
CUT TO:
SCENE #03:
[INT. HOTEL AUDITORIUM - NIGHT -- CONTINUOUS]
BRASS: Lawrence Ames, clothing salesman from phoenix. He's 35, four foot, five inches tall.
(BRASS accompanies the CSIs into the crime scene. They make their way up the stairs leading to the stage. Off on the side talking with an officer is MELANIE GRACE, the event coordinator who discovered the body.)
BRASS: One of the, uh, convention organizers found him. She was checking out the stage. There's a fashion show tomorrow if you're interested. She looked up and saw him.
(The body hanging from above is slowly lowered.)
SARA: Guy does a suicide in a public place. He was trying to make a statement.
GRISSOM: Suicide?
SARA: It's a reasonable suspicion.
NICK: Suicide among any disability group is above average.
GRISSOM: Being a dwarf doesn't mean you're disabled, Nick. It means you're ... short.
(The body stops just inches from the ground.)
GRISSOM: I think we've got a little murder.
HARD CUT TO
END OF TEASER
ROLL TITLE CREDITS
(COMMERCIAL SET)
SCENE #04:
[EXT. RESIDENCE - DRIVEWAY -- NIGHT]
(CATHERINE slams the door to her Tahoe shut. She pockets the keys and with her CSI kits in hand, makes her way up the driveway. On the way, she's met by DET. DREW WOLF.)
DET. DREW WOLF: My favorite CSI. I was hoping you'd get the call out.
CATHERINE: Look who's back in town? So, what happened, Drew? You didn't like ... Idaho? Is that it?
DET. DREW WOLF: Had everything but you.
(CATHERINE laughs at the flattery.)
CATHERINE: Yeah, right. So, what have we got?
DET. DREW WOLF: One body, male caucasian. Looks like a home invasion. Listen, I'm headed next door. I'm going to talk to a neighbor who heard shouting, called 9-1-1. Keep me posted?
CATHERINE: Always did.
CUT TO:
SCENE #05:
[INT. RESIDENCE - NIGHT]
(Catherine walks into the large sunken living room. Standing guard over the body, preserving the crime scene, is FIRST OFFICER CLARK.)
CATHERINE: Hi.
(FIRST OFFICER CLARK turns to her and gags a little. He can't answer her. CATHERINE introduces herself.)
CATHERINE: Willows. (FIRST OFFICER CLARK gives CATHERINE his name.)
CATHERINE: You clear the place?
FIRST OFFICER CLARK: Just finishing.
CATHERINE: Okay.
(CATHERINE looks at the dead body. The man is lying face-up in the living room, blood spilled out in a pool under him from a wound in his head. CATHERINE takes out the camera and begins taking pictures. FIRST OFFICER CLARK, standing guard by the living room door, groans and looks green. He takes a deep breath.)
(CATHERINE'S cell phone rings. She puts her camera down and answers it.)
CATHERINE: Yeah? (pause) Hey, Warrick. (pause) Uh, yeah, it, uh ... some kind of home invasion gone bad. Don't run any lights. I'll just process till the coroner gets here. (pause) Okay. Cool.
(CATHERINE hangs up. FIRST OFFICER CLARK behind her swallows. The poor guy's turning green being in the same room with the dead body.)
FIRST OFFICER CLARK: We were just pulling out of the chili place when dispatch radio, uh, arrived on the scene at 1900 hours. My partner secured the perimeter. I've been in here ...
CATHERINE: This your first time on body watch?
(FIRST OFFICER CLARK gags and nods his head.)
CATHERINE: Well ... alive ... it's inside your bowels. Dead, it ends up on the floor.
(The camera moves to the mess under the dead body to emphasize CATHERINE'S point. FIRST OFFICER CLARK'S eyes move to the mess also. He begins to gag uncontrollably and puts and arm up to stop himself from contaminating the crime scene.)
(CATHERINE sees his distress and waves him out of the room.)
CATHERINE: Go. Go, go, go. Just get some air.
(The Young Officer takes off out of the room. CATHERINE chuckles. She goes back to processing the crime scene.)
(She moves to her print kit and begins dusting the floor. She looks around. She stands up and carrying her print kit, moves to another portion of the living room.)
(She dusts the sides of the cabinet doors and moves along the wall. CATHERINE looks down at her hands. The shadow inside the cabinet moves. CATHERINE looks up.)
(The figure inside the cabinet bursts out and grabs CATHERINE. In a cloud of fingerprint dust, the two struggle. He pushes her along the living room. CATHERINE continues to struggle.)
CATHERINE: (yells) Suspect on location! Suspect on location!
(He pushes her up against the wall. CATHERINE continues to fight back against the intruder. She manages to knock the intruder across the head, releasing his hold on her. For all that she's worth, CATHERINE fights back. The intruder knock's CATHERINE across the head and pushes her down. CATHERINE falls to the floor landing in the dead body's pool of blood.)
OFFICER: In here!
(The intruder runs out the back.)
(Two police officers with their weapons drawn enter the living room. WARRICK follows, his gun also draw.)
CATHERINE: Out back.
WARRICK: Catherine, are you all right?
(The two officers cautiously follow in the direction the intruder left. WARRICK lingers behind. He kneels next to CATHERINE.)
CATHERINE: He went out back. (to WARRICK) I'm all right. I'm okay.
(WARRICK leaves CATHERINE and follows the officers.)
(CATHERINE slowly gets up. Her hands covered with the victim's blood, her own blood spilling from the gash in her forehead.)
WARRICK: (background) Talk to me! Anything?
(WARRICK returns to the house, FIRST OFFICER CLARK behind him.)
WARRICK: He must have gotten out the back window.
(WARRICK turns around and holsters his gun. For a brief moment, he's silent and thoughtful. He looks up at FIRST OFFICER CLARK in front of him.)
WARRICK: (angry) You the First Officer on the scene?
(The officer nods his head.)
WARRICK: When you clear a place you clear it, do you understand?
FIRST OFFICER CLARK: Yes, sir, I'm sorry.
WARRICK: We lost a CSI two years ago because of the same mistake!
(Still on the floor, CATHERINE speaks up.)
CATHERINE: Warrick ... ease up. My fault. I sent him out.
WARRICK: (to the officer) Use your radio and call for backup.
(FIRST OFFICER CLARK turns away and pulls out his radio. WARRICK kneels down next to CATHERINE.)
WARRICK: (softly) Hey ...
CATHERINE: Hey.
WARRICK: Are you okay?
CATHERINE: Yeah. I'm all right.
(WARRICK reaches out a hand to get a better look at the cut on CATHERINE'S forehead. CATHERINE moves back a little.)
CATHERINE: Don't touch me.
(She holds out her bloodied hand.)
CATHERINE: I'm evidence.
CUT TO:
SCENE #06:
[INT. HOTEL - AUDITORIUM]
(SARA lifts some fibers off of the deceased and envelopes it. The body of the deceased is resting on the gurney, the rope is still around his neck. DAVID PHILLIPS waits to accompany the body back to the Lab for processing.)
SARA: I got some fibers here. Possibly secondary. (NICK is walking back up to the stage. He's carrying a cord of rope.)
NICK: This rope was identical to the rope around the victim's neck. It's used as a hand rail. (DAVID PHILLIPS prepares to cut the rope loose. GRISSOM stops him.)
GRISSOM: Wait, David. Got a hair in the knot.
(Quick CGI POV to the knot and the single strand of hair tied with the rope. End of CGI POV. Resume to present.)
SARA: Killer's in the rope.
GRISSOM: I want to preserve this as is, so cut higher.
DAVID PHILLIPS: Yes, sir.
(DAVID moves the knife up higher on the rope he was about to cut. He cuts the rope and the body falls back flat on the gurney. Camera lingers on the deceased's neck. GRISSOM uses his flashlight and looks up where the deceased was found.)
CUT TO:
SCENE #07:
[EXT. RESIDENCE -- NIGHT]
(CATHERINE puts on a pair of latex gloves.)
CATHERINE: Hey, um, hand me a swab, would you? (WARRICK turns around holding the swab out for CATHERINE.)
WARRICK: You know I could do this for you. CATHERINE: Not going to hurt any less.
(CATHERINE takes the swab. She stands in front of the mirror and takes a sample from her head wound. She groans with the effort. Behind her, WARRICK winces.)
WARRICK: That cut is deep.
(CATHERINE caps the swab tip and hands it to WARRICK.)
CATHERINE: Damn.
(CATHERINE turns back to the open van doors searching for some privacy.)
CATHERINE: All right, um, hey, uh, turn around.
WARRICK: Huh?
CATHERINE: Privacy.
(WARRICK moves to the left side and turns his back to CATHERINE effectively blocking her from the driveway view. She starts to remove her clothing.)
CATHERINE: The guy bodied me full-on. I don't want trace to miss one hair or one fiber.
(WARRICK holds open the evidence bag while CATHERINE puts her clothes in it.)
WARRICK: You decent?
(WARRICK turns around. The Coroner's office exits the home with the dead body on a gurney. They pass WARRICK and CATHERINE. WARRICK starts to put on his latex gloves while CATHERINE buttons up her work jumpsuit.)
WARRICK: Looks like we're up.
(WARRICK and CATHERINE head back into the house to collect the evidence.)
CUT TO:
SCENE #08:
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY ROOM -- NIGHT]
(The body is on the table. GRISSOM lifts the sheet covering the deceased's legs.)
GRISSOM: These scars are old. Tell me this wasn't bone-lengthening surgery.
ROBBINS: Probably done when he was a teenager. Surgical pins are inserted into the bone ...
(Quick CGI POV of the apparatus externally attached to the surgical pins inside the leg bones. Camera passes through the skin to the bone as the bones are broken and CGI fills in the bone growing back.)
ROBBINS: (v.o.) ... and linked to an external screw. Turn the screw, it cracks the bones. Osteogenic cells flood in.
(End of Quick CGI POV. Resume to present.)
ROBBINS: Callus forms to bridge the gap. The fractures heal and the bone gets longer. You have to break the bones every four to six hours a quarter millimeter at a time. Excruciating pain ... for an extra few inches.
GRISSOM: What people will endure to be normal.
ROBBINS: "What fools these mortals be."
GRISSOM: Hmm.
ROBBINS: So ...
GRISSOM: Hanging?
ROBBINS: At least. C.O.D. was asphyxiation due to strangulation. Give me a hand here.
(GRISSOM and ROBBINS lift up the body so that they can see the back. ROBBINS pushes the deceased's left ear up.)
ROBBINS: Bruise behind the ear is characteristic of a hanging.
(ROBBINS pushes the hair at the back of the head away.)
ROBBINS: This bruise is not.
GRISSOM: What is that, blunt force?
ROBBINS: Take a look at this.
(ROBBINS and GRISSOM move to the X-ray viewbox.)
ROBBINS: Separation of the first and second vertebrae prior to death.
GRISSOM: He was paralyzed?
ROBBINS: That's something that would only happen to a dwarf with pseudoachondroplasia. Physiology can make for cervical spine instability.
GRISSOM: So it's possible that whoever did this knew something about dwarf anatomy.
(Quick CGI POV to someone hitting the back of someone else's neck. Cut to a close up of the skeletal frame breaking between the first and second vertebrae. End of CGI POV. Resume to present.)
(Both GRISSOM and ROBBINS turn to look back at the body on the table.)
ROBBINS: Hmmm ...
CUT TO:
SCENE #09:
[INT. RESIDENCE -- NIGHT]
(Back in the house, WARRICK examines the large blood stain left behind by the deceased. CATHERINE follows more slowly. WARRICK moves on to the kitchen area. CATHERINE walks past the large blood stain on the floor. CATHERINE looks up at the cabinets along the wall where the suspect hid.)
(Quick flashback to the suspect pushing CATHERINE up against the wall and the two struggling.)
CATHERINE: Suspect on location!
(Flash to white. End of flashback. Resume back to CATHERINE.)
CATHERINE: He was drinking.
(WARRICK watches CATHERINE while he puts on his gloves.)
CATHERINE: It was beer. WARRICK: I'll go process the back.
(CATHERINE nods her head. WARRICK leaves the room.)
CUT TO:
[EXT. RESIDENCE - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS]
(WARRICK kneels at the back outside gate and lifts a footprint off of the door.)
(Quick flashback to the suspect hitting the door and boosting himself over the gate. Cut to the suspect falling over the back and getting away. End of flashback. Resume back to WARRICK.)
(WARRICK takes the print and stands. He heads back into the house.)
CUT TO:
[INT. RESIDENCE - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS]
(CATHERINE kneels in front of the living room cabinet door. She pulls off something and bags it. WARRICK enters.)
CATHERINE: Denim fiber from the cabinet. Could be nothing. And lots of smudges but no prints worthwhile.
WARRICK: Yeah, I didn't get any prints either but I did get a partial shoe tread from the back gate. And I don't think our dead guy lived here.
CATHERINE: Based on ...?
(WARRICK stares at the photograph on the refrigerator door. He pulls takes one
down and hands it to CATHERINE. She looks at it. It's a photograph of a black
man and a light-skinned woman. Both are smiling.)
WARRICK: These pictures. Got Detective Wolf looking for the homeowner's name
from the real estate records.
CATHERINE: So, our home invasion robbery may be not a home invasion after all.
(WARRICK nods.)
CUT TO:
SCENE #10:
[INT. HOTEL & CASINO - NIGHT]
(GRISSOM and SARA stand next to the machine that MELANIE GRACE is playing. SARA puts on a pair of latex gloves.)
SARA: So, would you mind if we tape-lifted your shirt? Combed your hair for evidence?
MELANIE GRACE: Evidence of what?
SARA: Well, the first person at a crime scene often turns out to be a viable suspect.
MELANIE GRACE: I'm the one the found his body. I'm the one that called it in.
SARA: If you're innocent it'll, rule you out.
(MELANI GRACE considers this and shakes her head slightly. She may not like it,
but she gives her consent.)
MELANIE GRACE: Go ahead.
(SARA digs into her kit to get her stuff out. MELANI GRACE continues to play
the machine. She glances over at GRISSOM.)
MELANIE GRACE: Does he ever talk?
SARA: Yeah. At, uh, random intervals.
GRISSOM: I was admiring your reaching tool.
MELANIE GRACE: I have one I use to wipe my tush with. Would you like to take a look at that, too?
(SARA smiles as she collects the samples.)
GRISSOM: Hey, if the world doesn't adapt itself to you, you have to adapt yourself to it, right?
MELANIE GRACE: Yeah. You know, you probably think I'm cold. Pulling slots after I found Lawrence up there. This is the convention. Everything moves at warp speed.
SARA: I'm done. Thank you.
(MELANI GRACE gets up and off of her seat. She starts to leave then turns around.)
MELANIE GRACE: You know, fifty-one weeks in your hometown with nothing but average-sized people. I have to fit a lifetime into this week. We all do. Business connections, gambling, romance.
GRISSOM: Excuse me. Did Lawrence have any problems in those areas?
MELANIE GRACE: Romance? Not at all. Lawrence was a pseudo. He could have his pick of any girl in here.
(MELANI GRACE leaves. SARA takes off her gloves and watches her walk away.)
SARA: What's a pseudo? GRISSOM: Dwarfs with pseudoachondroplasia have features and head size like normal people. Dwarfs with achondroplasia have shortened limbs and enlarged heads.
SARA: Different types of dwarfs, different social status? GRISSOM: Hey ... discrimination isn't just for tall people. (SARA looks at GRISSOM.)
CUT TO:
SCENE #11:
[INT. LAWRENCE AMES' HOTEL ROOM]
(GRISSOM removes the crime scene tape across the hotel room door. He opens the door and finds a young woman sitting on the bed. Her back is to the door. GRISSOM looks at SARA. He's surprised to find anyone in the room at all. They both are.)
GRISSOM: Excuse me.
(The woman turns around.)
GRISSOM: Isn't this, uh, Lawrence Ames's room?
JESSICA MARCUS: Yes.
GRISSOM: Who are you?
(JESSICA MARCUS sighs. She gets up off the bed and approaches them. GRISSOM seems surprised that she's just as tall as he is. He looks at SARA. They both catch themselves and look back at JESSICA MARCUS.)
JESSICA MARCUS: I'm his fiancée. We always got those looks. I'm five-seven, in case you were wondering.
SARA: Our concern isn't your height; it's your proximity. You're standing in a potential crime scene.
(GRISSOM puts his kit down and pulls out the nearest chair.)
GRISSOM: Would you please sit down here? We want to keep the contamination to a minimum.
(SARA is on her cell phone.)
SARA: (on phone) This is CSI Sidle. We need a uniform in room 312 right away. Thanks.
(SARA hangs up the phone. JESSICA MARCUS sits in the chair.)
GRISSOM: Didn't the police tell you not to come in here?
JESSICA MARCUS: Yes. But I wanted to be near Lawrence's things.
GRISSOM: And, um... these are Lawrence's things?
JESSICA MARCUS: Yes.
(GRISSOM notices the reaching tool on the bedside table next to the laptop and a stack of magazines. He looks up and immediate notices the gouge in the far wall. He takes a couple steps closer to the wall.)
GRISSOM: Sara?
SARA: Yeah?
(SARA moves in to examine the mark on the wall.)
SARA: Gouge is deeper at the bottom than the top.
GRISSOM: So the strike was made coming down.
(GRISSOM goes back to the reaching tool. He picks it up and looks at it. SARA
finds a piece of broken plastic on the floor near the wall. She picks it up.)
SARA: Grissom.
(They match the broken plastic to the reaching tool. GRISSOM takes the plastic
from SARA. SARA looks up at JESSICA MARCUS.)
SARA: Did you and Mr. Ames have an argument, say last night?
JESSICA MARCUS: No.
(SARA looks at JESSICA MARCUS.)
JESSICA MARCUS: You don't believe me?
(GRISSOM holds up the broken plastic.)
GRISSOM: Well, right now, we believe the evidence.
FADE TO BLACK.
(COMMERCIAL SET)
FADE IN.
SCENE #12:
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY]
(DAVID PHILLIPS prepares the electric razor. CATHERINE and WARRICK visually
look over the body.)
CATHERINE: What are the marks on his forearms?
(DAVID PHILLIPS turns around and glances at the multiple indentations CATHERINE'S looking at.)
(Quick CGI POV focuses on a single round indention on the deceased's arm. End of CGI POV. Resume to present.)
DAVID PHILLIPS: Hmm, can't say. But I do know that Teddy Henders died from blunt force trauma.
WARRICK: From what, do you think? A hammer, butt of a gun?
DAVID PHILLIPS: I was just going to see if I could figure that out.
(DAVID uses an electric razor and starts to shave the deceased's head to see what's underneath his hair. After clearing the contact area, he turns the razor off. CATHERINE leans in to look at the impression.)
CATHERINE: "Z"?
(Quick flashback to CATHERINE dusting a z-mover video game box at the crime scene. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
CATHERINE: There was a z-mover video game on the floor next to the vic. Murder by z-mover.
WARRICK: The neighbors heard shouting. Two guys break and enter and get into some kind of an alternation.
(Quick flashback to two men arguing inside the house. One man picks up the video game box and hits the other with it. Quick CGI POV impression of the letter "Z" imprinted on the bloody scalp. End of CGI POV. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
CATHERINE: One ends up killing the other.
DAVID PHILLIPS: And almost Catherine.
(CATHERINE is surprised by DAVID'S comment. She's not amused by it either. DAVID looks up at CATHERINE and smiles lightly.)
DAVID PHILLIPS: That had to be scary, huh?
CATHERINE: (flatly) I didn't have time to be scared, David.
(DAVID'S smile fades. He nods his head.)
DAVID PHILLIPS: Oh.
(Without a word, CATHERINE leaves the room. WARRICK watches her leave,
concerned for her. WARRICK takes off his gloves and looks back at DAVID.)
CUT TO:
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY]
SCENE #13:
[INT. HOTEL - LAWRENCE AMES' ROOM -- DAY]
(GRISSOM looks down at the champagne glass next to the bucket and bottle on the
table. He kneels in close and slowly picks it up. The champagne glass has some
drink still left on the bottom.)
GRISSOM: Is the lipstick on this champagne glass yours?
JESSICA MARCUS: No champagne for me. I'm ... pregnant. Only seven weeks.
SARA: Is this your computer, or Lawrence's?
JESSICA MARCUS: Lawrence's.
SARA: We're going to have to take it with us.
(JESSICA MARCUS nods. GRISSOM opens an evidence bag for the champagne glass.)
CUT TO:
SCENE #14:
[EXT. -- DAY]
(WARRICK finds CATHERINE standing outside, leaning against her car.)
WARRICK: Cath? You all right?
(WARRICK reaches CATHERINE.)
WARRICK: Don't let him get to you like that.
CATHERINE: I was scared ... and I still am.
(WARRICK puts his arms around CATHERINE.)
CATHERINE: Don't tell anyone, okay.
CUT TO:
SCENE #15:
[INT. CSI -- LAB]
NICK: Hey, Greg.
GREG: Hey.
NICK: Get anything off the rope?
GREG: Yeah, a few brown hairs around the knot. Only one with a skin tag,
though. And those fibers that Sara found on the body?
NICK: Yeah?
GREG: Polyester upholstery. Cheap rugs and tacky furniture.
(GRISSOM walks into the lab and looks at the samples on GREG'S table.)
GRISSOM: I need these hairs.
GREG: Uh, uh, no DNA tags on those.
GRISSOM: Doesn't matter.
(GRISSOM finds what he's looking for then leaves the lab as quick as he entered
it. NICK looks at where GRISSOM goes, his back to GREG.)
GREG: (grumbling) You know, I hate it when he does that. I like to make a
presentation, you know?
(NICK turns to look at GREG.)
NICK: So, present.
GREG: Eh, forget it. Scope's interesting.
(NICK looks into the scope. Scope View shows skin cells. Resume to present.)
NICK: All right, fresh epithelials.
GREG: Yeah, I found them on the rope near the anchor point. A minuscule
sample, but useable.
NICK: How long for DNA?
GREG: Well, give me something to compare it to. Get me the fiancée's blood.
NICK: Well, I can't just give you her blood. That takes a court order.
GREG: I'm open 24 hours.
CUT TO:
SCENE #16:
[INT. CSI -- LAB]
(In the lab, SARA goes through LAWRENCE AMES' laptop's contents.)
SARA: (reading) "Met you in a pseudo chat room. Do you remember me?" "I
remember you."
[THE FULL COMPUTER SCREEN READS:
"CHAT ARCHIVE INSTANT MESSAGE"
I met you in a pseudo chat room. do you remember me? I'm the one who liked
French films and Soderberg.
I remember you. Love Soder too.
You going to the Convention this year? I'd love to meet you. See if you can
pick me out. I'm four even. Perfect face. perfect body. All yours.
I'm dying to see your pic. C'mon
Count to three, Handsome.
]
SARA: (muttering) "...to the convention this year? "I'd love to meet you.
See if you can pick me out. Perfect face perfect body. Count of three,
handsome."
(SARA clicks on the attachment and the picture of an attractive dark-haired
woman appears on screen. SARA stands and leaves.)
CUT TO:
SCENE #17:
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERROGATION ROOM -- DAY]
SARA: Jessica, you knew Lawrence was having an on-line affair with another
woman didn't you?
BRASS: You logged on at times when Lawrence was at work. We checked his work
records.
JESSICA MARCUS: A lot of girls liked Lawrence. He was funny and smart and
sweet.
SARA: Danielle was different. She was his size. She was ... perfect.
NICK: We found your skin cells on the rope that hung Lawrence.
JESSICA MARCUS: You're making that up.
NICK: No, I'm not.
BRASS: Our court order ... your blood.
JESSICA MARCUS: I did not put a noose around my fiancé's neck.
NICK: Then explain how your skin cells got on the rope.
JESSICA MARCUS: I can't.
CUT TO:
SCENE #18:
[INT CSI -- LAB]
(GRISSOM is conducting a test on the strand of hair found in the rope. Using a
Tinius Olsen(tm) machine, GRISSOM tests the strength of the single strand until
it breaks.)
(SARA and NICK walk in.)
SARA: Hey. Confronted the fiancée; she stonewalled us.
NICK: Brass told her not to leave town.
(NICK turns to look at SARA)
NICK: He sounded a bit like Jack Lord, don't you think?
(SARA looks at NICK and smiles.)
GRISSOM: Well, she can go wherever she wants to. She didn't do it. Take a
look. Hair from the knot.
(SARA and NICK move to look through the microscope. They see the hair.)
SARA: They look thin.
GRISSOM: Diameter's 60% less than normal. Tensile strength is also way below
normal.
NICK: You have a cross section?
GRISSOM: (nods) Mm-hmm.
(GRISSOM adjusts the microscope. NICK and SARA look back at the sample.)
NICK: Hmm. No pigment at the central core. No color.
GRISSOM: Cartilage Hair Hypoplasia. C.H.H. It's characterized by fine,
brittle body hair. It's an extremely rare syndrome. It's a form of Dwarfism.
NICK: Okay. So, back to the midgets.
(GRISSOM looks sharply at NICK.)
GRISSOM: Nick ... "Dwarfs" or "Little People".
(NICK nods at the correction.)
GRISSOM: You'll need to know what to look for. So, I'll put together a list of
C.H.H. Attributes.
NICK: Well, you better do it fast. The convention's over in two days. After
that, the "Little People" go home and we lose all our suspects.
(Camera hold on GRISSOM.)
FADE TO BLACK.
(COMMERCIAL SET)
FADE IN.
SCENE #19:
[INT. HOTEL BAR -- NIGHT]
(MELANIE GRACE sits at a bar-side table with two other women. They're having
drinks. GRISSOM approaches them.)
GRISSOM: Ms. Grace? (to the woman nearest him) Excuse me. (to MELANIE GRACE)
I need your help.
MELANIE GRACE: What now? My DNA?
GRISSOM: No, actually ... your eyes.
CUT TO:
SCENE #20:
[INT. HOTEL BAR - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS]
(GRISSOM shows MELANIE GRACE the picture of "DANIELLE256".)
MELANIE GRACE: I'm sorry, I don't recognize her and a girl this pretty I would
remember. The guys would still be drooling.
GRISSOM: Well, according to the police, there's none named Danielle registered
at the hotel or at the convention.
MELANIE GRACE: You expected an internet handle to be a real name? (GRISSOM
shakes his head slightly.) Maybe the girl got cold feet. My first IOLP
convention -- I walk in, see 200 Dwarfs staring back at me and what goes through
my head? "There's no way I look like these people." I ran.
GRISSOM: But you went back.
MELANIE GRACE: Eventually. I guess I realized it's nice to see eye-to-eye with
someone.
GRISSOM: Mm.
MELANIE GRACE: I get the impression that's a little tough for you. "The freaks
have looked at her in a secret way and tried to connect their eyes with hers as
though to say, we know who you are. We are you.'" (GRISSOM smiles.)
GRISSOM: Faulkner.
MELANIE GRACE: Close. Another southern writer. Carson McCullers.
GRISSOM: I think we look for the differences in each other to prove that we're
not alone.
MELANI GRACE: What's yours? Your difference? (GRISSOM doesn't respond.)
Mine's the worst. Random gene. Anyone can have a dwarf. Sometimes I've even
seen terror in average-size people's eyes. I remind them that their little
carbon copies might not be such a copy after all.
GRISSOM: Well, mine's genetic, progressive and impossible to predict.
MELANI GRACE: And hard to notice ... unless you tell someone.
(GRISSOM nods and smiles slightly at the insight.)
CUT TO:
SCENE #21:
[INT. CSI -- LAB]
(CATHERINE enters the lab. WARRICK is already there working in his lab coat.)
CATHERINE: Got your beep. What'd you get?
WARRICK: Denim fibers at 400x.
(WARRICK motions to the microscope on the table behind him. CATHERINE peers
into it.)
WARRICK: The skin from the dead guy and the denim found in the cabinet were
both coated in the same substance.
(Microscope view of the denim strand. CATHERINE looks up at WARRICK.)
CATHERINE: You get a breakdown?
WARRICK: Yeah, partially hydrogenated soy bean oil, traces of beef fat, sugar
and potato starch.
CATHERINE: Cooking grease.
WARRICK: That would explain the marks on the guy's forearms. Grease burns.
(Quick CGI POV to a hand lifting the wire basket out of a deep fryer. The oil
splatters. Cut to a close up of the hot oil on skin. Flash to white. End of
CGI POV. Resume to present.)
CATHERINE: So there's a good chance the victim worked in a fast food joint.
(WARRICK nods. DET. DREW WOLF enters the lab.)
DET. DREW WOLF: I got a feeling they both did. The owner of the house has a
franchise of fast food places. Uh, fast and fresh burgers. I just got off the
phone with him from Hawaii. Alvin Jackson. Three stores in the Vegas area.
And he's on his yearly vacation.
CATHERINE: Something his employees would definitely know. Get any addresses?
DET. DREW WOLF: You bet.
WARRICK: Let's go check it out.
CUT TO:
SCENE #22:
[INT. CSI - AUDIO/VISUAL LAB]
(DANIELLE'S photograph is up on screen.)
SARA: We're looking for anything in the picture that might give us a way to
find her. Something in the background that determines location a useful
reflection, anything.
(ARCHIE takes a good look at the picture. He smiles and laughs a little.)
ARCHIE JOHNSON: Huh ... oh, I get it. This is like a test, right?
SARA: What do you mean?
ARCHIE JOHNSON: Individual hair shadows are amorphous when they should be
distinct.
(ARCHIE stands and moves to the screen where he points to "DANIELLE" right cheek
bone. A box frame on screen marks the points ARCHIE emphasizes.)
ARCHIE JOHNSON: In these two areas -- here and here-- they're on the same focal
plane but this one's sharp and this one's fuzzy.
SARA: This picture's a fake?
ARCHIE JOHNSON: A composite. A very good one.
SHORT TIME CUT TO:
SCENE #23:
[INT CSI - AUDIO/VISUAL LAB]
(GRISSOM watches the monitor as ARCHIE works his magic.)
GRISSOM: This explains why nobody ever saw her. She only exists in pixels.
Nat King Cole.
SARA: Excuse me?
GRISSOM: Archie would you separate the composite elements, please?
ARCHIE JOHNSON: Yup.
(ARCHIE de-composites the photograph.)
ARCHIE JOHNSON: The image was built out of these.
GRISSOM: Now if you could, pull up a photo of the victim, gray scale. There's
a theory in art that the Mona Lisa was really a feminized version of Leonardo Da
Vinci himself.
SARA: Concept suggests ... Deep down we're all narcissists?
GRISSOM: Yeah. What attracts us the most is ourselves.
SARA: (to ARCHIE) Scale to match the original picture with Danielle.
(BRASS walks in and stops to watch. SARA uses the mouse and matches LAWRENCE
AMES' composite pieces to DANIELLE'S composite pieces. Piece by piece. After
several matches, it becomes clear.)
SARA: Danielle is a virtual woman created to attract and lure Lawrence Ames ...
away from his fiancée, maybe?
BRASS: Boy, do I have good timing, or what? I did a little checking with the
phone company. In the past year, Lawrence Ames received over two hundred calls
from Melanie Grace.
SARA: The same woman that found him dead.
BRASS: He got call-blocking against her two months ago.
SARA: Well, that's interesting. That's the same time Danielle started sending
him instant messages.
(Camera holds on GRISSOM'S thoughtful look.)
CUT TO:
SCENE #24:
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERROGATION ROOM]
MELANIE GRACE: Yes, I called Lawrence. We met in a chat room. He also called
me. Did you look at my phone records? BRASS: He eventually blocked your calls.
The same week he got engaged to Jessica Marcus.
GRISSOM: It was at that time he began receiving messages from ... a perfect
woman ...
(GRISSOM holds out a single sheet with two photos on it, LAWRENCE AMES and
"DANIELLE".)
GRISSOM: ...who doesn't really exist.
MELANIE GRACE: You think that I would do that? Present myself to a man as
anything other than who I am?
BRASS: If it would break up his new engagement. So what happened? You went to
the convention you saw him with his tall girlfriend and you go to plan B?
MELANIE GRACE: (to GRISSOM) You think I'm capable of that? Killing because a
woman has some height on me? Pretending to be an ideal ... if you think that
... then I was wrong about you.
CUT TO:
SCENE #25:
[INT. HOTEL - MAIN LOBBY - VENDOR AREA -- DAY]
(NICK walks through the lobby, looking around. He's reading through some papers
in his hands. He gets some distance when the same man from the beginning of the
episode riding a wheelchair deliberately blocks his path. NICK tries to walk to
the left around the man in the wheelchair. The man turns his wheelchair to
block NICK. NICK looks up from his papers. He sees the man and tries to walk
around the man to the right. Again, the man turns his wheelchair to block
NICK.)
NICK: Hey. Do you mind, little man? I'm trying to work here.
MAN IN THE WHEELCHAIR: Really?
NICK: Yeah.
MAN IN THE WHEELCHAIR: You making any progress, CSI man?
NICK: Some.
MAN IN THE WHEELCHAIR: Uh-huh. Are we getting your A-game or your B-game?
(NICK smiles a little.)
NICK: Come again?
MAN IN THE WHEELCHAIR: You see us little people we're used to getting the short
end of the stick.
(NICK chuckles.)
MAN IN THE WHEELCHAIR: (sharply) You don't get to laugh at that.
(NICK stops smiling at all. The man in the wheelchair activates the wheelchair
and the seat starts to rise. NICK notices the impressive gadgetry. It lifts
him higher and higher till he's looking eye-to-eye with NICK.)
MAN IN THE WHEELCHAIR: What I want to know is are you treating this like a case
or like a joke?
NICK: Well, a man was killed; that's no joke.
(NICK meets the man's eyes. He's completely serious.)
NICK: (quietly) You got my A-game.
MAN IN THE WHEELCHAIR: Yeah?
NICK: Yeah.
(The MAN IN THE WHEELCHAIR is satisfied by what he sees in NICK'S eyes.)
MAN IN THE WHEELCHAIR: Carry on.
(The man lowers the wheelchair seat and leaves NICK as he continues on his way.
NICK watches him leave for a moment, then turns around. In the background at
the nearest vendor booth, we hear the salesman giving pitch to his customer.)
KEVIN MARCUS: This is very easy to articulate. Comes in several different
colors. You will enjoy this very, very much ...
CUT TO:
SCENE #26:
[INT. CSI -- LAB]
(GREG looks over his most recent test results. He sees GRISSOM walking
purposefully through the hallway. GREG grabs an empty file folder and exits the
lab with the test results to catch GRISSOM.)
GREG: Uh, Grissom.
(GRISSOM stops and turns around.)
GREG: There's, uh, something weird going on with the hairs from the ropes.
Well, not weird. More like... hair-raising.
(GRISSOM doesn't crack a smile.)
GREG: Sorry, bad one. Um, okay, at first I thought that maybe I was doing
something wrong -- running too many DNA samples, you know seeing things.
GRISSOM: Greg?
(GREG exhales.)
GREG: Uh, the dwarf hair has seven alleles in common with Jessica Marcus's skin
cells.
(This information surprises GRISSOM.)
GRISSOM: The two donors are related?
GREG: Profiles say so.
(GRISSOM'S cell phone rings. He answers it.)
GRISSOM: Grissom.
CUT TO:
SCENE #27:
[INT. HOTEL - LOBBY - VENDOR AREA -- DAY]
NICK: He looked like he fit your profile. So, I asked around. Two little
people confirmed he has C.H.H.
BRASS: Okay, thank you.
(BRASS and GRISSOM both make their way to vendor booth #107. KEVIN MARCUS is
showing his products to potential clients.)
BRASS: Kevin Marcus?
KEVIN MARCUS: Buying or browsing?
BRASS: Maybe a little bit of both.
GRISSOM: Rope for makeshift banisters, huh?
KEVIN MARCUS: That rag rope ... cuts the hands. Now you feel this nylon. Go
ahead feel that.
(KEVIN MARCUS holds out the rope for GRISSOM. GRISSOM kneels down and takes the
rope.)
KEVIN MARCUS: I do trade shows mail order ... I even sold to this convention.
(KEVIN MARCUS pulls out a brochure and holds it out to GRISSOM.)
GRISSOM: So what do you, buy from wholesalers and then repackage in your home?
KEVIN MARCUS: Yeah, Chicago.
BRASS: Well, that explains how your daughter's skin cells got all over the rope
that hung Lawrence Ames.
GRISSOM: Your daughter's name is Jessica, right?
(KEVIN MARCUS looks up and nods his head.)
BRASS: The lab also found your hair all over that rope.
KEVIN MARCUS: Well, I touch all the merchandise.
BRASS: Nice try, Kev. They hair was caught in the noose.
(KEVIN MARCUS doesn't say anything. GRISSOM watches him closely.)
CUT TO:
SCENE #28:
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERROGATION ROOM -- DAY]
NICK: Did you know your father killed Lawrence?
JESSICA MARCUS: That's what they told me, but I couldn't believe it. I still
can't.
INTERCUT TO:
SCENE #29:
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERROGATION ROOM -- DAY]
BRASS: So you created Danielle to break up your daughter's engagement.
KEVIN MARCUS: That's an interesting theory.
(KEVIN MARCUS smiles. Neither BRASS nor GRISSOM say anything.)
KEVIN MARCUS: What? You guys trace an online account to my credit card or
something like that? Oh, no, wait. Um, I use a free ISP. That means no name,
no trail, no case.
(BRASS looks at GRISSOM.)
GRISSOM: Mr. Marcus, in your business you deal with proportions, correct? You
provide Little People with what they need to compensate for their proportions
and to live with them. You know what Little People aspire to be. Your, uh,
logo is interesting.
(GRISSOM holds out a blue and white business card. On the left is the altered
Da Vinci's image and on the right is the business information: REACH U? / KEVIN
MARCUS / PRESIDENT / 3114 W. NILE ROAD, CHICAGO, IL 60603 / (312) 555-1247.)
GRISSOM: Da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man." In the perfect human form, arm span
equals height. You're very aware of what, uh people are looking for in a mate
aren't you?
CUT TO:
SCENE #30:
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERROGATION ROOM -- DAY]
JESSICA MARCUS: The night before he died, Lawrence and I had a fight about
Danielle.
(Quick flashback to LAWRENCE AMES in front of his laptop. Behind him is JESSICA
MARCUS.)
JESSICA MARCUS: Are still in contact with her?
LAWRENCE AMES: She e-mails or IM's. I don't answer. I love you.
(JESSICA picks up the reaching tool from the table and throws it across the
wall.)
JESSICA MARCUS: You're cheating on me!
(The reaching tool hits the wall and the plastic tip breaks. End of flashback.
Resume to NICK.)
JESSICA MARCUS: And I ran out of the house and I went to my dad. I was crying
and he told me to leave Lawrence but I couldn't because ... I ... I loved him.
And I'm having our baby. And I went back to our room and we made up.
(Through her tears, JESSICA smiles at the memory.)
JESSICA MARCUS: And the next night ... he said he was going out to meet a
friend.
(Quick flashback to LAWRENCE AMES dressed up and headed out the door. JESSICA
MARCUS leans down and gives him a kiss.)
LAWRENCE AMES: I'll be back in an hour, babe.
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
JESSICA MARCUS: And he never came back.
(NICK nods.)
INTERCUT TO:
SCENE #31:
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERROGATION ROOM -- DAY]
BRASS: So, what'd you have against the guy?
KEVIN MARCUS: What are you, blind? He was a dwarf. My wife and I ... Our
daughter ... a Genetic Miracle. One-in-four shot she'd be an average. And she
was a beautiful average.
GRISSOM: So your wife is also a dwarf.
KEVIN MARCUS: Yeah. Jessica didn't have to fight the world every day, like we
did. We freed her from all that. But that little bastard kept dragging her
right back down into it.
BRASS: So you killed him.
KEVIN MARCUS: I said I didn't like the guy. I didn't kill anybody.
(GRISSOM looks grimly at BRASS, then back to KEVIN MARCUS. GRISSOM and BRASS
leave the room. BRASS closes the door and takes a deep breath. He looks at
GRISSOM.)
BRASS: Can we prove it?
GRISSOM: Not yet. The rope was anchored to the lighting truss which was at
least five feet over his head.
BRASS: So?
(Inside the room, KEVIN MARCUS gets off his chair and puts his jacket back on.)
GRISSOM: He can barely lift his arms above his shoulders. He suffers from
Lumbar Lordosis Swayback ... which is typical of C.H.H. And it limits his
mobility even more.
BRASS: Hey, the guy put a rope around the victim's neck.
GRISSOM: Yeah, but how did he hang him?
FADE TO BLACK.
(COMMERCIAL SET)
FADE IN.
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) - DAY]
[EXT. ALVIN JOHNSON'S FAST FOOD PLACE - PARKING LOT - DAY]
SCENE #32:
[INT. TAHOE -- DAY]
(CATHERINE moves to open her passenger side door. DET. DREW WOLF leans into the
open window stopping her.)
DET. DREW WOLF: Listen, Catherine. Me and Warrick can handle this. (WARRICK
glances at CATHERINE.)
CATHERINE: I'm going in.
WARRICK: Well, the guy assaulted you. You don't have to put yourself through
this, you know.
CATHERINE: I don't, I'll be scared of the next guy and the one after that.
(CATHERINE shakes her head, no. She opens the car door and gets out of the car.
WARRICK gets out of the car also.)
CUT TO:
SCENE #33:
[INT. ALVIN JOHNSON'S FAST FOOD PLACE - DAY -- CONTINUOUS]
WARRICK: Shoe tread, denim fiber, a lot of cooking grease. Based on that
evidence, they all did it.
(WARRICK closes the file folder he's carrying and walks back to the DETECTIVE
and CATHERINE.)
DET. DREW WOLF: All right, so we take them one by one.
CATHERINE: Transfer works both ways.
(CATHERINE steps up toward the line of cooks behind the counter. She unzips her
bag and hands a stack of evidence paper sacks to WARRICK.)
CATHERINE: Warrick?
(CATHERINE also takes out a stack of clean tissue. She hands one to the YOUNG
MAN standing first in line.)
CATHERINE: Blow your nose.
YOUNG MAN: I don't gotta.
(The YOUNG MAN looks at CATHERINE. CATHERINE doesn't break eye contact. She
tilts her head up and holds the tissue out. The YOUNG MAN takes the tissue and
blows his nose.)
(WARRICK hands CATHERINE the open evidence sack. The YOUNG MAN hands the tissue
back to CATHERINE. She glances at it and puts it in the sack and puts it on the
counter. She moves on to the next man standing in line. She holds out a tissue
for him.)
CATHERINE: Guess.
(The man takes the tissue and nods his head. He blows his nose and hands the
tissue back to CATHERINE. She puts it in the evidence sack and moves to the
third man standing in line.)
(She holds out the tissue for the man, DWAYNE GALLO. DWAYNE GALLO looks down at
the tissue and doesn't move to take it.)
DWAYNE GALLO: I don't think so.
(He looks away.)
CATHERINE: Then I guess I'll just have to look for myself.
(CATHERINE moves back to her kit.)
DWAYNE GALLO: You want to look at my boogers, Lady, go ahead.
(WARRICK looks up.)
WARRICK: Hey!
(DWAYNE GALLO stares at WARRICK. CATHERINE gets the instrument from her kit.
She examines DWAYNE GALLO'S nose.)
CATHERINE: Nose hairs ... are nature's filter. Traps all kinds of things.
Dust, dirt ...
(Quick CGI POV of what CATHERINE sees. Attached to the inner nose hairs are
colored powder particles. End of CGI POV. Resume to present.)
CATHERINE: ... fingerprint powder.
(DWAYNE GALLO exhales and pulls his head away from CATHERINE.)
CATHERINE: You did it.
(Quick flashback to DWAYNE GALLO coming out of the cabinet and attacking
CATHERINE. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
CATHERINE: You inhaled the fingerprint dust I was using.
(He begins to speak. CATHERINE takes a step back.)
DWAYNE GALLO: We went up there to party 'cause the boss was out of town and I
saw the z-mover first
(DET. DREW WOLF sees CATHERINE take the step back and he moves in to apprehend
DWAYNE GALLO. He pushes DWAYNE GALLO down against the counter and maneuvering
his hands behind his back.)
DWAYNE GALLO: ... but Teddy ... Teddy ...
(Quick flashback as TEDDY HENDERS sees the box on the floor. He picks it up.)
TEDDY HENDERS: Sweet ... z-mover ...
(DWAYNE GALLO stands and grabs the box out of TEDDY HENDER'S hands.)
DWAYNE GALLO: I saw it first.
TEDDY HENDERS: What? ...
(DWAYNE GALLO pushes TEDDY HENDERS back. And like two children, they begin to
fight over the box.)
DWAYNE GALLO: I saw it first.
TEDDY HENDERS: It's mine.
DWAYNE GALLO: I saw it first.
TEDDY HENDERS: I called it.
DWAYNE GALLO: You want it, you bastard?!
(DWAYNE GALLO swings the box and hits TEDDY HENDERS on the back of his head.
TEDDY HENDERS falls to the floor dead. End of flashback. Resume to present.)
DWAYNE GALLO: I didn't mean to kill him. It was an accident. I mean, I ...
OFFICER: Get up.
DWAYNE GALLO: I didn't mean ...
(The officer escorts DWAYNE GALLO out of the diner. CATHERINE takes her gloves
off.)
DET. DREW WOLF: You all right?
CATHERINE: Yeah.
CUT TO:
SCENE #34:
[INT. HOTEL - THEATRE -- DAY]
(NICK and SARA return to the crime scene to look for some answers. They slowly
make their way up the stage to where the body was discovered.)
NICK: Hey, did you get anything else off that laptop?
SARA: No, a bunch of the files were corrupted. Archie's taking another run at
them.
(NICK looks around the stage and out at the audience. He sighs. SARA walks to
under the lighting. She looks up. NICK joins her.)
NICK: Victim was paralyzed, couldn't fight back. Kevin Marcus puts the rope
around his neck makes a slip knot.
SARA: And ties off the other end on the truss even though there is no way he
could have reached it.
NICK: No way he could've reached it.
(SARA turns her back and looks out at the empty audience seats. NICK sighs and
takes off his jacket. He kneels down on the ground. SARA turns around and
notices NICK.)
SARA: Nick, what are you doing?
NICK: Changing my perspective.
(On his knees underneath the lighting, NICK looks up and tries to grab the
lights above. An impossible feat.)
NICK: (groans) Oh, man. Can you imagine going through life at this height?
(SARA doesn't hesitate.)
SARA: They do okay. If the world doesn't adapt itself to you, you ...
NICK: ... adapt yourself to it.
(NICK nods. He looks back up at the lighting above. Then it occurs to him.)
(Quick Perspective to the sound of the wheelchair's motor as the seat begins to
rise. He imagines the rope being thrown over the truss. End of POV. Resume to
present.)
(Still on his knees, NICK calls back to SARA.)
NICK: Where's Grissom?
CUT TO:
SCENE #35:
[INT. HOTEL LOBBY -- DAY]
(Off to the side, GRISSOM leans against the column watching the conventioneers
mingling in the lobby. In the group across the room, he makes brief eye contact
with MELANIE GRACE who is also aware that he's there watching everyone.)
(SARA and NICK approach GRISSOM from behind.)
SARA: Grissom?
(GRISSOM turns around.)
NICK: We know how he did it.
CUT TO:
SCENE #36:
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERROGATION ROOM -- DAY]
(GRISSOM puts something on the table. Presumably it's a sample of the fibers that BRASS is talking about.)
BRASS: Your wheelchair was in the booth at the convention. The fibers from the seat cover to your wheelchair match the fibers we found on the victim. Uh, faux, fake sheepskin.
(KEVIN MARCUS looks up at his lawyer sitting next to him.)
BRASS: We also know how you got Mr. Ames into the theater.
(GRISSOM takes the single sheet of paper out from his file and puts it on the table in front of them.)
GRISSOM: Our lab retrieved a final instant message to Lawrence from Danielle.
(GRISSOM PUTS THE E-MAIL DOWN ON THE TABLE. IT READS:
LAWRENCE
UNKNOWN
10/15/02
T. MORGAS
"FILES RECOVERED FROM LAWRENCE AMES' LAPTOP"
MESSAGE ARCHIVE
If you love Jessica, meet me in the theatre, nine o'clock
(Quick flashback to LAWRENCE AMES on the theatre stage. He turns around and sees KEVIN MARCUS riding up in his wheelchair.)
LAWRENCE AMES: Mr. Marcus, what are you doing here? (End of flashback. Resume to present.)
BRASS: It's enough to convict you.
GRISSOM: May I ask a question? How did you get him into the wheelchair?
(KEVIN MARCUS laughs to himself.)
KEVIN MARCUS: Well ... I appealed to his vanity. I told him I needed a brochure model to sell my new chair.
(Quick flashback to the theatre. KEVIN MARCUS is seated in the wheelchair.)
LAWRENCE AMES: You don't want me near your daughter but you want me to hawk your chairs?
KEVIN MARCUS: I never said you weren't handsome. I mean, come on -- your face, your build -- a million chairs, "sold."
(KEVIN MARCUS gets up and out of the chair. He urges LAWRENCE AMES into it.)
KEVIN MARUCS: Great, come on. Hop in. Hop in, let me see you in there. Come on. Model for me.
(LAWRENCE AMES reluctantly sits down in the chair. Flash to white.)
KEVIN MARCUS: There you go. Wait, let me make an adjustment for you, here.
(KEVIN MARCUS goes behind the chair and while behind LAWRENCE AMES, strikes him on the back of his neck. Quick cut to a CGI POV close up of the skeletal frame breaking between the first and second vertebrae. End of CGI POV.)
KEVIN MARCUS: (v.o.) I paralyzed him.
(KEVIN MARCUS puts the rope around the man's neck and hanging on to the back of the chair, he hits the switch. The chair rises higher and higher till KEVIN MARCUS is able to reach the lighting truss. He throws the rope over and secures it. He lowers the chair and LAWRENCE AMES slowly hangs. KEVIN MARCUS looks up in success.)
(End of Flashback. Resume to present.)
KEVIN MARCUS: I couldn't let Jessica marry him. (he shakes his head) Any kid they have ... a fifty percent chance it would be a dwarf. You have to understand that.
(GRISSOM looks at BRASS. Disbelief written all over his face.)
GRISSOM: It's genetics.
BRASS: Mr. Marcus, I think you should know ... your daughter is already pregnant by Lawrence Ames.
(KEVIN MARCUS looks from BRASS to GRISSOM.)
CUT TO:
SCENE #37
(KEVING MARCUS and his officer escort turn the corner and walk through the hallway. As he passes the waiting room, JESSICA MARCUS stands. She looks at her father. He looks back at her. She turns away. He averts his face and continues to walk the hallway.)
(GRISSOM, SARA and NICK watch.)
GRISSOM: You know what's really sad? This wasn't just a murder. It was a hate crime.
(SARA turns to look at GRISSOM.)
GRISSOM: Kevin Marcus hated himself.
(GRISSOM walks alone down the hallway leaving SARA and NICK behind.)
CUT TO:
SCENE #38:
[EXT. SCHOOL - DAY]
(GRISSOM leans casually against the large column. He looks around and watches the students going about their daily business. An older SIGNING STUDENT (FEMALE) recognizes GRISSOM and walks up to him. She taps him on his shoulder to get his attention. GRISSOM turns around.)
SIGNING STUDENT (FEMALE): (spoken) Dr. Grissom, welcome back. GRISSOM: (signing) It's nice to see you.
SIGNING STUDENT (FEMALE): (signing) Where are you going?
GRISSOM: (signing) I'm taking a class in lip-reading.
SIGNING STUDENT (FEMALE): (signing) I think I should tell the teacher that you're a trouble-maker.
GRISSOM: (signing, laughing and shaking his head) No. See you around.
SIGNING STUDENT (FEMALE): (signing and spoken) Take care of yourself.
(The Signing Student pats him on his shoulder and leaves. GRISSOM smiles. He sticks his hands in his jacket pocket and takes a deep breath. He settles back against the column he's leaning against. The camera slowly pans away.)
FADE TO BLACK.
THE END.
Fait par Wella
