FADE IN
VARIOUS B/W FOOTAGE OF OLD LAS VEGAS, THE FIGHTS, CELEBRITIES
VARIOUS B/W FOOTAGE OF OLD LAS VEGAS, SHOWS
FADE INTO:
[EXT. VARIOUS LAS VEGAS CITY LIGHTS (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[EXT. O'NEILL RESIDENCE -- FRONT - NIGHT]
(Party guests climb up the front steps. Sam Braun is greeted at the entrance.)
DOORMAN: Good evening, Mr. Braun. Go right in.
(Sam Braun continues into the party.)
[INT. O'NEILL RESIDENCE -- FRONT - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS]
(Sam Braun mingles as he makes his way into the party.)
VOICE: How are ya?
SAM BRAUN: Good to see you. How've you been? Drop by the Tangier's. Dinner's on me.
(Camera pans over the table and we see a display of books, "Kisses & Kisses").
(Various cuts of the guests at the party. Most of them are from an older crowd.)
(Sam greets a dark-haired woman.)
SAM BRAUN: Hi.
WOMAN: Hi! How are you!
CUT TO:
(Sam shakes hands with a white-haired man.)
CUT TO:
(Sam passes a waiter and grabs a glass of wine off the tray.)
CUT TO:
INTERCUT WITH:
[INT. O'NEILL RESIDENCE - BEDROOM - NIGHT]
(The double doors open and Tim Duke, dressed as a waiter, walks in. He takes out a revolver and cocks the weapon.)
(Sam Braun walks up to the edge of the dance floor, his eyes on the woman dancing center stage with her partner.)
(In the dressing closet, Tim Duke walks through and puts the gun down on the counter. He opens a drawer.)
(The woman continues to dance with her partner as others watch and applaud.)
(The song ends.)
LOIS O'NEILL: Woo! I haven't been this out of breath since I bet Frank Sinatra I wasn't ticklish.
(The crowd watching laughs.)
LOIS O'NEILL: In a few minutes, there'll be cake and champagne, so stick around; the party's not over yet.
(Lois walks off the dance floor and Eve Girard meets up with her.)
EVE GIRARD: You've got eight minutes to change. I'll come help you.
LOIS O'NEILL: No, no, no. I'm fine. Go get the cake ready.
EVE GIRARD: Okay.
LOIS O'NEILL: And, Eve ... light the candles.
(Eve looks at her, nods and smiles. She turns to leave and bumps into Li'l Cherry.)
EVE GIRARD: Oh ... hi.
(Eve leaves; Li'l Cherry turns to Lois.)
LI'L CHERRY: Oh, hey, happy birthday. Um, I got to go soon ... I got to go do my show. So ...
(Lois turns and looks at Li'l Cherry.)
LOIS O'NEILL: For years, I did two shows a night, partied with the boys for hours, got a little sleep, played some tennis, gave interviews, got on stage and did it all over again. That's talent. You've got a look. Pace yourself, honey.
(The woman looks at Lois as Lois turns to head upstairs.)
CUT TO:
[INT. O'NEILL RESIDENCE - BEDROOM - NIGHT]
(The doors open. Brass, Grissom and Greg walk in.)
BRASS: Lois O'Neill's bedroom ... the stuff dreams are made of.
(Grissom points to the dead body in the walk-in closet.)
GRISSOM: Or nightmares.
(They head for the walk-in closet.)
GRISSOM: Did, uh, Miss O'Neill tell you about this guy?
BRASS: We don't know where she is. She disappeared about an hour ago. Her assistant went looking for her, found the victim. ID'd him as Tim Duke.
GREG: Gun left on the body ... isn't that how the mob used to do it?
BRASS: Well, back in the day, Lois O'Neill was famous for singing and dancing. She was also famous for being the girlfriend of Tony Constantine, one of the founding fathers of Vegas.
(Grissom snaps a couple of pictures of the dead body with the camera.)
GREG: Looks like a bank vault.
(Greg points to the gold-colored door at the end of the closet. Greg heads over to the door.)
GRISSOM: Well, the founding father has placed a high priority on home security. Have we been in there yet?
BRASS: No, it hasn't been cleared yet. I'll go get the combination.
(Brass turns and leaves.)
(Greg puts his kit down on the ground. He sees two dents on the door.)
GREG: Ricochet marks.
(Grissom walks over and snaps a couple of pictures.)
(Greg takes out a glove and finds something on the carpet.)
GREG: Possible bullet fragments.
(Grissom snaps another photo.)
GREG: Bullets here, body there ...
GRISSOM: Moving target, maybe.
(Brass returns with Eve Girard.)
BRASS: Gentlemen, this is Eve Girard, Miss O'Neill's assistant. Would you open the vault, please?
EVE GIRARD: Okay.
BRASS: I'll be downstairs.
(Eve walks over to the door and twists the combination lock. The lock clicks. She pushes the door open and steps aside.)
(Grissom turns his flashlight on and steps inside.)
GRISSOM: Thank you.
(He looks around. We hear whimpering coming from off screen. Grissom turns and
finds Lois O'Neill cowering on the floor under the counter.)
LOIS O'NEILL: Just get it over with.
EVE GIRARD: Lois!
(She rushes over to her.)
EVE GIRARD: Lois! Oh, my God!
(Eve helps Lois to her feet. She clings to Eve.)
LOIS O'NEILL: Oh ... I thought this was my last birthday.
SMASH CUT TO
END OF TEASER
ROLL TITLE CREDITS
(COMMERCIAL SET)
FADE IN.
[INT. O'NEILL RESIDENCE -- NIGHT]
(Lois is sitting on the sofa and sipping from a coffee cup.)
BRASS: In the middle of the party, you went upstairs to change. Isn't that
unusual?
(Lois laughs.)
LOIS O'NEILL: No, I ... I always wear one outfit to greet guests, another for
dinner and dancing, and another for dessert.
(The waiter brings Lois a glass of brandy. She adds it to her drink.)
LOIS O'NEILL: Thanks.
BRASS: So, uh, Tim Duke, the waiter ... did you know him before this?
LOIS O'NEILL: He worked the children's hospital dance a few weeks ago. He was
charming.
(She takes a sip from her drink.)
LOIS O'NEILL: I thought he could use the job.
BRASS: Right.
LOIS O'NEILL: I was changing. I'd ordered a drink brought up.
(Quick flashback to: A gun fires. Tim Duke grunts and falls to the floor.
Lois O'Neill is in her vault changing. She sees him crawling on the floor.)
LOIS O'NEILL: (v.o.) He was crawling, to get away.
(She closes the vault door. Outside, two shots ricochet off the door.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
LOIS O'NEILL: And then I heard another shot.
(She imitates the sound of a gunshot.)
LOIS O'NEILL: (cries) That's, uh ... that's when I knew it was a mob hit.
(Greg nods.)
LOIS O'NEILL: Look, if you find his family, I'd like to do something for them.
I mean, after all, if he hadn't come in just then, I'd be dead.
GREG: Who'd want to kill you?
(She turns and looks at Greg. She sees his name on his jacket.)
LOIS O'NEILL: Do you have a first name, Sanders?
GREG: Greg.
LOIS O'NEILL: Greg ...
(She turns and takes a book off the table next to her. She looks at Brass and
holds out her hand.)
LOIS O'NEILL: Do you ... ?
(Brass hands her his pen.)
LOIS O'NEILL: Thank you.
(Lois signs the book. Brass glances over at Greg and they both share a grin.)
(She hands him the book.)
LOIS O'NEILL: Hot off the press. I didn't hold back. I named names. After
all this time, I thought, who'd care?
GREG: Well, maybe you thought wrong.
CUT TO:
[INT. O'NEILL RESIDENCE - BEDROOM CLOSET -- NIGHT]
(Sara snaps a photo of the dead body. David Phillips finishes taking the liver
temperature.)
DAVID PHILLIPS: Based on liver temp, been dead one to two hours. It looks like
two shots -- to the chest, and a through-and-through to the head.
(She takes more photos.)
SARA: Not a lot of blood. Shot to the heart . Sometimes it collects in the
chest cavity rather than bleeding out.
(David finds a wad of bills in the dead man's pocket. He takes it out and
quickly looks at it, counting the amount.)
DAVID PHILLIPS: A thousand ... when I was a waiter back in college, if I had
three twenties in my pocket, it was a good night.
SARA: At Chuck E. Cheese, that was a good week.
(Sara finds a crack vial.)
SARA: Crack vial? Could explain the cash; maybe he was dealing.
(David nods.)
DAVID PHILLIPS: And these ...
(He opens the man's hand to show her the black burn on the man's fingertip.)
(Sara snaps a photo of it.)
(Quick flash to: Someone burns crack in a smoking pipe. He inhales and burns
his finger on the glass tube. End of flash.)
FLASH TO:
[INT. O'NEILL'S RESIDENCE - BEDROOM - NIGHT -- CONTINUOUS]
(Catherine stands in front of the bedroom side table up against the wall. She's
standing very still and staring at something. Sara exits the bedroom closet.)
SARA: Found a crack vial on him, and $1,000 in cash.
(Catherine turns and shows Sara the table full of framed photos.)
CATHERINE: Presidents, movie stars ... a drug-dealing waiter isn't the kind of
guy usually associated with Lois O'Neill.
On the other hand ... (She picks up a particular photo.) Tony Constantine.
(She picks up another photo of four showgirls. She looks at the photo and
chuckles.)
SARA: What?
CATHERINE: The Copa girls from the Sands. (points) That's Lois O'Neill.
(points) That's my mother.
(She puts the photo back down on the table and notices the note on the flowers
arrangement.)
CATHERINE: (reads) "Happy birthday to my beautiful doll! Love always, Tony"?
SARA: I thought he was dead.
CATHERINE: Dead, like Jimmy Hoffa. The only guys who know aren't telling.
CUT TO:
[INT. O'NEILL RESIDENCE - LOBBY - NIGHT]
(Nick goes over the itinerary with Eve Girard.)
NICK: This party is organized like an invasion plan. "6:15: Bar set up and
ready. 6:25: Lois greets guests in foyer. 7:15: Lois changes into her dinner
outfit." Talk about attention to detail.
(Eve holds out three video tapes for Nick.)
EVE GIRARD: From the security cameras on the perimeter of the building.
NICK: What about the interior cameras?
EVE GIRARD: With all the extra measures, Lois felt they weren't necessary.
Frankly, I think she just didn't want to be caught on tape first thing in the
morning.
NICK: Hmm. I'll need a list of all the guests who were here tonight.
(She hands him the list.)
EVE GIRARD: Guests and staff, their affiliation and recent accomplishments ...
Lois likes to personalize conversation. Everyone's still here.
NICK: (nods) You're thorough.
EVE GIRARD: Well, that's my job.
CUT TO:
[EXT. SECOND FLOOR BALCONY - NIGHT]
(Catherine steps out onto the balcony and looks around at the railing.)
(She looks down and sees a white cloth on the concrete.)
(Quick flash to: Someone in a tux walks out onto the balcony and slips over the
railing. He drops the white cloth as he leaves. End of flash.)
FLASH TO:
[INT. O'NEILL RESIDENCE - FOYER - NIGHT]
(Undersheriff Jeff McKeen talks with Grissom.)
UNDERSHERIFF JEFF MCKEEN: Grissom, do you have any idea who's in this crowd?
GRISSOM: I sure do.
(Looks at the guest list and notes. Nick stands on the side and watches.)
GRISSOM: "Under-Sheriff Jeff McKeen. Arrival: 6:38 pm. Wife: Amanda. Recent
accomplishment: Ran marathon for children's hospital, placed tenth in his age
group." Good job, Jeff.
UNDERSHERIFF JEFF MCKEEN: More than one of these VIPs has the governor's home
number, which is why my phone's been ringing with orders to let them go.
GRISSOM: Well, no one on this list came late or left early, so everyone here is
still a suspect, until they're not.
NICK: And based on our interviews so far, only a few people actually left the
room when Lois O'Neill was gone.
UNDERSHERIFF JEFF MCKEEN: Who?
NICK: Among others, her ... a pop star known as Li'l Cherry. She was due
onstage at Mandalay Bay half an hour ago.
UNDERSHERIFF JEFF MCKEEN: Keep her and anyone else who left the room. Let the
rest go.
(Grissom looks a little surprised by the order. He looks at Nick and nods.
Nick sighs.)
(Catherine walks up to Grissom and shows him the handkerchief in a plastic bag.)
CATHERINE: Found this handkerchief hanging off the balcony. I'll get it to
Hodges.
GRISSOM: Good. By the way ... Sam's here.
(Grissom points. Catherine turns around and sees Sam Braun sitting alone on the
couch.)
GRISSOM: He's one of the guests who was out of the room when the murder
occurred.
(She turns and looks at him.)
CATHERINE: Well, I should say hi to dear old Dad.
(Catherine walks over to Sam Braun.)
CATHERINE: Hi, Sam.
(He looks up and sees her.)
SAM BRAUN: Mugs.
(He automatically rises to his feet as Catherine sits down next to him. They
both sit down.)
CATHERINE: Sam, when you left this room tonight, where did you go? Upstairs?
SAM BRAUN: Just walked around downstairs, saying hello to the old ghosts. You
know, I introduced Lois and Tony, back when I was a floor manager. She was in
the line with your mother.
CATHERINE: (nods) Mm. Maybe Mom fell for the wrong gangster.
SAM BRAUN: Lily was a sweet girl. But Lois ... she had to be a star. A real
Coal Miner's Daughter from Rackville, Pennsylvania. But once she met Tony, she
never had to go back.
CATHERINE: You always were a sucker for a hot dancer, weren't you, Sam?
SAM BRAUN: Me and Lois -- I love her, but I like to be in the driver's seat.
Like this dancer I'm seeing now -- she's working tonight; that's why I came
stag.
CATHERINE: Must be serious. That's the first time you haven't asked me how
Mom's doing. She's fine, by the way.
CUT TO:
(Nick walks over to talk with Bobby Jensen.)
NICK: Mr. Jensen. I'm Nick Stokes. I'm with the Crime Lab. I'm familiar with
your daughter's case.
[Note: Reference to episode CSI-5X07: Formalities]
NICK: Sorry for your loss. You knew Mr. Constantine, right? (He nods.) Were
there any other friends of Mr. Constantine here tonight?
BOBBY JENSEN: Yeah, there were friends here. And enemies.
NICK: You want to elaborate a little bit more on those enemies?
BOBBY JENSEN: Stokes, you trying to get me in trouble?
NICK: Hey, man, I'm just trying to get to the bottom of what happened here
tonight. Several witnesses said they saw you leave the room. Alone.
BOBBY JENSEN: I went outside to have a cigarette-- told her I wouldn't smoke in
the house. Filthy habit. Trying to quit.
NICK: Mm.
(Grissom walks up to talk with Li'l Cherry. Her bodyguard stands nearby.)
LI'L CHERRY: (to phone) Frickin' cops won't let me go. Yeah.
GRISSOM: Miss Cherry?
LI'L CHERRY: (to phone) Bye-bye.
GRISSOM: I'm with the Crime Lab. I need to ask you a few questions.
(She scoffs, ignores him and starts dialing.)
LI'L CHERRY: (to phone) Hey, it's me. Are they freaking out backstage?
(Grissom grabs her wrist and pulls her phone away from her ear.)
GRISSOM: Excuse me ...
LI'L CHERRY: What the ... ?
GRISSOM: Please?
(She shuts her phone. He glances down and sees the burn on her finger.)
GRISSOM: Where did you go when Miss O'Neill left the ballroom early this
evening?
LI'L CHERRY: Uh, the bathroom.
GRISSOM: Do you recall what time you came back?
LI'L CHERRY: What, do you punch a clock every time you take a leak?
(He glances down and notices the bruises on her knees.)
GRISSOM: Did you know the victim, Tim Duke?
LI'L CHERRY: I don't know anybody, okay? My publicist made me come to this
thing. I guess Lo-Lois needed somebody with a pulse, so ...
(As she talks, he puts on some gloves.)
GRISSOM: May I take a look at your handbag?
LI'L CHERRY: I got a show to do. I've got two thousand people waiting for me
right now.
GRISSOM: We can get a warrant, but you'll get out of here faster if you let me
see the bag.
(She tries to run and is stopped by an officer.)
OFFICER: Hey! Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa!
(The bodyguard steps forward and punches the officer.)
(Li'l Cherry tries to run again. A second officer grabs her.)
BODYGUARD: Get your hands off of her!
OFFICER: (o.s.) Hey, you're under arrest for assaulting an officer.
BODYGUARD: (o.s.) I was doing my job.
(Li'l Cherry drops her bag.)
GRISSOM: Well ... now I don't need a warrant.
(He picks up her bag and finds the glass pipe inside.)
(Grissom looks at her, his lips twitching.)
FADE OUT.
(COMMERCIAL SET)
FADE IN.
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM -- NIGHT]
(Brass and Sofia Curtis interview Li'l Cherry, who is with her lawyer.)
LI'L CHERRY: I don't know how that crack pipe got in my purse, so ...
LAWYER: There. My client denies the pipe is hers, denies any drug use, doesn't
know the victim and has no prior relationship to Miss O'Neill. There's nothing
to discuss.
BRASS: The pipe was in your possession. Plus, you were displaying symptoms of
crack use publicly.
SOFIA CURTIS: And you were at a recent party where the victim, who also used
crack, was working.
BRASS: And now you admitted to leaving the ballroom after Ms. O'Neill.
LAWYER: Coincidences don't make a homicide.
SOFIA CURTIS: You recognized Tim Duke and you needed a fix.
(Quick flashback to: [BEDROOM CLOSET] The doors open. Tim Duke and Li'l
Cherry enter. She's badgering him for a fix.)
LI'L CHERRY: Come on ...
TIM DUKE: Look, I'm not holding. I told you before.
LI'L CHERRY: Come on, man. Look ... here, man. See?
(She finds the crack vial.)
TIM DUKE: What are you gonna give me?
(He grabs her. She pushes him back, takes a gun out of her bag and fires.)
LI'L CHERRY: Hey!
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
SOFIA CURTIS: You wiped down the gun with a handkerchief ...
LAWYER: No one has established that my client had a gun.
SOFIA CURTIS: And you didn't want to be seen leaving the bedroom, so you
climbed down the balcony to rejoin the party.
BRASS: Which is how you scraped your knees.
(Quick flashback to: [EXT. BALCONY] Li'l Cherry runs out onto the balcony and
climbs over the railing. End of flashback.)
(Li'l Cherry laughs.)
LI'L CHERRY: Okay, I'll admit I was outside. But ...
LAWYER: It's in your best interests not to ...
LI'L CHERRY: It's cool. Um ... it wasn't just, uh, Lois's birthday tonight, it
was also my bodyguard's birthday, and I scraped my knees giving him his present.
SOFIA CURTIS: You're going to need to cancel your shows for awhile. We're
holding you on possession of paraphernalia, and unlawful use.
LI'L CHERRY: What do I have to do to make you believe me?
BRASS: I already had my birthday.
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - NIGHT]
(Robbins and David Phillips look at the body under an x-ray. Warrick is
watching the monitor.)
ROBBINS: All right, areas of callus here. Old fractures ... ribs ...
WARRICK: This guy must've worked some pretty rough shifts. That must be the
bullet, right there.
ROBBINS: Yeah, I'll yank it in autopsy.
WARRICK: What's that happening all around the nose area?
ROBBINS: It's a nose cage.
(Quick flash of: The bridge of the nose on the patient is cut open.)
(Camera zooms in and we see an extreme close-up of a drill drilling holes.)
ROBBINS: (v.o.) Nose has been wired to the skull to hold it in place.
(CGI EFX has wire staples in the holes to hold the two pieces together. The
pieces are pulled together, sealing the gaps.)
(Camera zooms back out.)
(End of flash. Resume to present.)
ROBBINS: We find them sometimes in boxers, accident victims ...
WARRICK: You ever see one on a waiter?
CUT TO:
[INT. O'NEILL RESIDENCE - BEDROOM CLOSET - NIGHT]
(Sara is on the floor looking at the bloodstain on the floor when Greg walks in.
He's already reading the book.)
GREG: Wow! You know, Lois had her first sexual experience on her ninth-grade
field trip to the state capitol ... with the governor.
SARA: I found the bullet hole. Could you bring the Sawzall?
GREG: Well, you know, this place is a piece of Las Vegas history; you don't
want to just go and chop it up.
SARA: It's a crime scene, and there's evidence under the floor.
GREG: Yeah, but we don't know exactly where it is, so ...
(Greg pulls out a case and opens it. He lifts out the camera.)
GREG: ... I thought we'd let Hawkeye here do a little exploration for us.
SARA: Sure. I wouldn't want to damage priceless, 40-year-old carpeting.
GREG: No.
(Cut to: Greg sets the camera up and turns the light on. Sara inserts the tip
of the camera into the carpeting. She continues to push the camera deeper into
the carpeting. They see something on the monitor.)
SARA: What's that say? Pull it up.
(They see what appears to be the paper wrapping of a stack of bills.)
GREG: Ten grand brick. Benjamin bit the bullet.
SARA: "In God we trust." If she has a vault, why is she keeping cash under the
floor?
GREG: No more room under the mattress?
(Cut to: One floor below, Sara is standing on a ladder and looking at the light
fixtures in the ceiling.)
(Greg hands her a flashlight.)
GREG: Easy access in case you need to rewire.
(She reaches up into the hole in the ceiling and takes out several stacks of
bills.)
SARA: Or steal a million.
CUT TO:
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY LIGHTS (STOCK) - NIGHT]
[INT. CSI - A/V LAB - NIGHT]
(Nick is looking at the monitor when Warrick walks in.)
WARRICK: Hey.
NICK: Hey.
WARRICK: Mandy got an AFIS hit off the vic. His AKA is Tim Duke, but his real
name is Vincent Pullone, a one-time golden gloves wannabe.
NICK: That would explain the prior injuries.
WARRICK: Yeah, well, so does his rap sheet. The guy was busy: Multiple
assaults, theft ... is that the surveillance footage?
NICK: Yeah. I've been through the footage throughout the entire day. I've got
party, staffers going in and out the back door. But, get this - same time,
different entrance.
(Nick pulls up the footage. A car pulls up and Tim Duke exits the car.)
WARRICK: Well, that's our vic.
NICK: Yeah, a couple minutes late. Now, here ...
(He pulls up another section of the table.)
NICK: ... around the time of the murder, same car ... pulls up ... waits.
WARRICK: Freeze that. Can you get a plate number?
NICK: Yeah.
(Nick zooms in on the license plate and brings it into focus. The NEVADA
license plate is 295-OHU.)
WARRICK: Nice.
NICK: Nevada 295, ocean, henry, union.
WARRICK: "Nanci... mc... ma..."
NICK: McGinnigle ... McGonigle.
WARRICK: McGonigle?
NICK: McGonigle.
WARRICK: I'll run it through Brass.
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI - HALLWAY - DAY]
(Catherine and Hodges walk through the hallway.)
HODGES: Handkerchief is linen. Edging appears to be hand-stitched. Pretty
nice rag to be wiping a gun off with.
CATHERINE: Oh, so it was positive for gun oil.
HODGES: Yeah. And the diphenylamine test was also positive for oxidizers and
partially burned gunpowder. Uh, negative for prints or DNA.
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI - GRISSOM'S OFFICE - DAY]
(Grissom is in his office when Greg walks in.)
GREG: So, Mandy wasn't able to lift any prints off of the cash we found.
GRISSOM: Fingerprints are just oil, water and amino acids, Greg. They don't
last forever.
GREG: No kidding. You ever hear that expression "old money"? This stuff was
ancient -- some of it's signed by Eisenhower's treasury secretary. Series dates
all before 1965. Same with the grand we found on the vic.
GRISSOM: "Ancient?"
(Greg nods. Suddenly, there's a clattering somewhere nearby and off screen.
Grissom looks up somewhat surprised as he pulls his glasses off.)
LOIS O'NEILL: (o.s.) Set them down ... there.
(Out in the hallway, Lois O'Neill arrives with four waiters in tow. Three of
them carry a large platter of something to eat; the fourth carries a basket.)
(Grissom steps out of his office. Greg is just behind him.)
GRISSOM: Miss O'Neill! Nice to see you. What's all this?
LOIS O'NEILL: An army travels on its stomach. I wanted you and your people to
know how grateful I am for all you've done for me.
GRISSOM: Well, thank you. But, uh, we can't accept anything that might
influence the outcome of the case -- it's our policy.
LOIS O'NEILL: Oh, come on. Cold cuts ... a little shrimp salad ...
GREG: (wow) Shrimp salad ...
(Lois smiles and clicks her tongue at Greg.)
GRISSOM: I know what we can do. Have your boys take it down the street to the
St. Vincent homeless shelter. They need it more than we do.
LOIS O'NEILL: Well ...
(She huffs with disappointment. Grissom nods. Lois waves her hands and the
waiters take the platters and basket away.)
(She glances down and notices Greg holding her book.)
LOIS O'NEILL: Having fun with my book, Greg?
(Greg grins.)
GREG: Oh, yeah. That beach party ... hoo-hoo-hoo. Marilyn Monroe and the
president ... Swing-a-ding-ding.
(Lois gushes happily.)
(Grissom glances at Greg and Greg's smile falls a couple of notches.)
GRISSOM: By the way, Miss O'Neill, we made an interesting discovery under the
floor of your bedroom. I was hoping you could tell us about it.
LOIS O'NEILL: Under the floor ... ? You tell me.
GREG: Approximately one million dollars in cash.
(She laughs, surprised as she thinks about it.)
LOIS O'NEILL: What do you know. Tony always said I'd be taken care of.
GRISSOM: If you don't know anything about the money, maybe you know someone who
does.
GREG: Benny Dunbar, Jimmy the Crumb ...
(Grissom's brow furrows a little.)
LOIS O'NEILL: You'd have to ask Tony. Where is the money now?
GRISSOM: It's in our evidence vault.
LOIS O'NEILL: Oh. And, uh ... when will it be returned?
GRISSOM: We have to finish our investigation first.
LOIS O'NEILL: You do that. You know ... (sighs) The boys who want me dead
have been doing this a lot longer than you have. I need you to catch up. Fast.
Oh, and remember, when your tummy starts to rumble, I tried to help.
(Lois smiles, turns and walks out the hallway. Her bodyguard follows close
behind her.)
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI - A/V LAB - DAY]
(Nick and Archie are reviewing the video. On the monitor, they watch as the
waiter runs back to the car.)
NICK: There. There, that piece of paper, zoom in on that.
(The video stops. Archie zooms in on the piece of paper in the waiter's hand.)
ARCHIE JOHNSON: See if I can enhance that.
NICK: What is that, a bar code?
ARCHIE JOHNSON: Looks like a PDF417 ... two-dimensional bar code.
NICK: Can you decode it?
ARCHIE JOHNSON: Yeah. I think so.
(He enhances the image and reads the barcode.)
ARCHIE JOHNSON: Okay, it's an airline boarding pass, last night: Vegas to
Philadelphia, then on to Rome, and Sardinia.
(Archie pulls up the computer information.)
ARCHIE JOHNSON: Two passengers: Nanci McGonigle and Vincent Pullone.
NICK: Vincent Pullone was the vic's real name, and he arrived at the crime
scene in Nanci McGonigle's car.
JOHNSON: According to the airline global distribution system, she boarded the
flight, he didn't.
NICK: He was busy being dead.
CUT TO:
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY]
(Sara and Sofia Curtis interview Eve Girard.)
SARA: Your fingerprint was on the light fixture in the hallway. You knew about
the money.
EVE GIRARD: When the light fixture shorted out, Lois wanted it replaced right
away. I did it myself, and I found the money.
SOFIA CURTIS: How much did you take?
EVE GIRARD: One bundle -- 10,000. I-I still have most of it.
SOFIA CURTIS: Did you tell Miss O'Neill?
EVE GIRARD: No. And that was wrong. But it was also wrong of her to hire me as
a book editor and use me as a personal slave.
SARA: How well did you know Vincent Pullone?
SOFIA CURTIS: AKA "Tim Duke."
(She sighs heavily.)
EVE GIRARD: Not very well.
SARA: But well enough to give him a thousand dollars?
EVE GIRARD: We were dating. He needed the money.
SOFIA CURTIS: If you were dating. Why was he planning to fly to Sardinia after
the party with Nanci McGonigle?
EVE GIRARD: He didn't mention her.
SOFIA CURTIS: Someone in the house gave him the tickets.
EVE GIRARD: Well, not me.
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - DAY]
(Robbins is getting a bullet out and drops it into the metal dish. The metal
clanks. Grissom walks in.)
GRISSOM: Sounds like the bullet to me.
ROBBINS: Yeah. Deformed, medium caliber, consistent with a .38. Take a look at
the heart.
(Robbins shows Grissom the heart.)
ROBBINS: Bullet passed into the base of the right ventricle, crossed the
intraventricular septum and destroyed the av node.
GRISSOM: Heart stopped on impact.
ROBBINS: Right. Bullet then exited out the back of the left ventricle and
entered the vertebral spine, transecting the spinal cord.
(Quick CGI EFX: A gun is fired. The bullet travels through the air and hits
the waiter in his chest.)
TIM DUKE: Oh!
(The bullet continues in through the flesh and lodges in the heart. End of CGI
EFX.)
GRISSOM: Could the victim have crawled around after suffering that kind of
damage?
ROBBINS: Negative. He would have been paralyzed instantly.
GRISSOM: Could the shot to the head have occurred first?
ROBBINS: You are "O"-for-two. Check out the brain.
(Robbins picks up the metal dish with the brain inside and hands it to Grissom.
Grissom reaches in and picks up the brain. He slides his thumb along the slick
surface, looking for something.)
GRISSOM: There's no blood in the wound track.
ROBBINS: Nope.
GRISSOM: So his heart had already stopped pumping.
ROBBINS: From the absence of blood, I'd say that this shot was at least ten
minutes after the shot through the heart.
GRISSOM: Lois O'Neill claims that she saw the victim crawling away after she
heard the first shot.
ROBBINS: Well, maybe Lois' memory is a little flawed.
GRISSOM: Oh, no. She has a great memory.
FADE OUT.
(COMMERCIAL SET)
FADE IN.
[EXT. VARIOUS LAS VEGAS CITY LIGHTS (STOCK) -- NIGHT]
[INT. DOMENICI'S - NIGHT]
(Brass and Grissom walk in through the entrance and are greeted by the maitre
d'.)
MAITRE D': Welcome to Domenici's, gentlemen. Do you have a reservation?
BRASS: No, we're all set.
(Brass and Grissom walk in and head over to Lois O'Neill and Bobby Jensen.
They're talking and laughing. Lois turns and sees Brass and Grissom.)
LOIS O'NEILL: The gang's all here!
BRASS: We need to ask you some questions.
LOIS O'NEILL: Well, please, sit. I-I have no secrets from Bobby ... my guardian
angel.
BRASS: Yeah, we've met. Isn't that right, Bob?
BOBBY JENSEN: Uh, yeah, that's right.
LOIS O'NEILL: Please, sit. How often do you get invited to the best table in
town? (to Grissom) I know you must be hungry.
(Grissom and Brass sit down.)
GRISSOM: Miss O'Neill, we found some inconsistencies in your account of last
night's events.
LOIS O'NEILL: Wha ... ?
GRISSOM: You said that you saw Tim Duke crawling away after you heard the first
shot.
(She stops and recalls.)
LOIS O'NEILL: (sighs) Yes. (voice breaking) It was horrible.
GRISSOM: According to our autopsy, the first shot paralyzed him. He would've
been unable to move.
(She stares at him.)
LOIS O'NEILL: (stammering) Well ... it-it all happened in such a flash ...
(Quick flashback to: [BEDROOM CLOSET - NIGHT] A gun fires. The waiter grunts
and falls to the ground.)
VOICE: (o.s.) Hey!
(Lois closes the vault door.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
(Lois looks at them and shakes her head.)
BOBBY JENSEN: All right. She's the target. She told you all she knows.
(Clearly upset, Lois chuckles wryly.)
LOIS O'NEILL: This has been fun, but ... we have to go. Beauty sleep, you
know. Speaking of which ... when is that ugly yellow tape coming off my bedroom
door?
GRISSOM: Just as soon as we finish our work, I promise.
LOIS O'NEILL: Anymore questions ... just call.
(She smiles at him and moves closer to him. Grissom backs away and lets Lois
stand up. Brass also stands up to let Bobby Jensen get out of his seat.)
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI - BREAK ROOM -- NIGHT]
(Greg looks forlornly at his tuna sandwich takeout.)
GREG: Tuna ... and the homeless are dining on shrimp salad. Lucky Clydes.
(Greg takes a bite.)
SARA: "Lucky Clydes?" Is that lingo from Lois' book?
WARRICK: She say anything in that book about all that dough we found under her
floor?
(Warrick takes a seat at the table.)
GREG: Not exactly. But she does say back in '65, Vegas was getting a little
bit too hot for Tony C, so he had to take a powder for a while. And dig this:
while he was gone, the famous Pan Am heist was pulled off back east.
WARRICK: The famous Pan Am heist?
GREG: (nods) And, compadre, in the next chapter, Tony builds Lois the house.
Connect the dots, buddy boy.
(Sara chuckles.)
WARRICK: All right, this is what we got so far: we got a loser boxer, who's a
crack head, probably selling drugs -- and someone buys him two tickets to
Sardinia. Why?
SARA: Maybe somebody wanted Lois dead, knew that Tim had access and that he
needed the money for a drug habit?
WARRICK: Are you saying that he was a hit man and not an innocent bystander?
SARA: Well, it would make Lois' story correct - that she really was the target.
WARRICK: Yeah, but who killed him? And why?
GREG: Consider this nutty notion: Tony's not worm food, he's around; he finds
out that Lois went canary and wrote the book, so he hires some protection,
someone who'd be at the party.
SARA: Whether Tim Duke was a hit man or not, he could have been the target all
along.
WARRICK: Yeah, yeah. Then you go whack him when he's working around every VIP
in town. Sure.
SARA: Sure. Especially if Lois was an accomplice. Or, dare I say, the killer.
GREG: Well, I don't see homicide anywhere on her schedule.
(Sara laughs.)
GREG: Wait a sec ... that's Lois' dinner outfit, and that's the dress she was
wearing when we opened up the vault.
SARA: Let's test them both for blood and GSR.
(Greg nods.)
CUT TO:
[INT. O'NEILL RESIDENCE - BEDROOM CLOSET -- NIGHT]
(Sara is looking up the dress in the computer catalog.)
SARA: Looking under "formal" ...
(The dress picture and ID scroll onto the screen:
BIN #161
Gown: 75% Tracitate
25% Polyester
Lining: 100% Polyester
F# 4333_LP
Color Type )
SARA: Dress number 161.
(Catherine starts looking for the dress in the closet. She's more than
impressed by the clothes.)
CATHERINE: 130, 131, 132 ... got to admit, this is some kind of closet.
(Sara smiles at Catherine's obvious pleasure. She continues to look for the
dress.)
CATHERINE: Oh, let's see. It's 1-60 ... 1 ...
(Catherine finds the hanger.)
CATHERINE: Oh. 161 -- hanger's empty.
SARA: She got rid of the clothes?
CATHERINE: It's possible she sent them to the cleaners to get rid of blood and
GSR. We can get a warrant.
SARA: Well ... she wouldn't have sent her jewelry to the cleaners.
(Sara goes back to the computer catalog, finds the ring and clicks on it. The
image and information appears on the monitor:
JEWELRY
CANARY DIAMOND
DRAWER #19
Rec# 4782
Color Type: )
SARA: Got it. Drawer 19.
CUT TO:
(The jewelry drawer opens.)
CATHERINE: Oh. How apropos that she's named names.
(Catherine picks up the ring.)
CATHERINE: A canary diamond.
SARA: Want to bet the birdie sings in the key of GSR?
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI - TRACE LAB -- NIGHT]
(Hodges takes a sample from all over the ring. He puts the sample into the
machine and closes it.)
(He types on the keyboard and presses enter.)
(The machine makes the calculations and he sees the following results:
27.2% Antimony
23.8% Barium
31.0% Lead )
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI - CATHERINE'S OFFICE -- NIGHT]
(Catherine enters her office and finds her mom, Lily Flynn, inside lying on the
couch.)
CATHERINE: Mom? What are you doing? Where's Lindsey?
LILY FLYNN: She's on a sleep-over. (She sits up.) So kill me. And I had
dinner at Drai's with the girls. Filet to die for.
(She picks up the doggie bag and offers it to Catherine.)
CATHERINE: Drai's ... The girls like to spend.
(Catherine takes the bag and Lily sneezes.)
LILY FLYNN: Red wine always makes me two of the seven dwarfs: Sleepy and
Sneezy.
(She sniffs, opens her bag and pulls out a handkerchief.)
CATHERINE: Where did you get that hanky?
LILY FLYNN: A friend.
CATHERINE: A friend who was at Lois' party?
LILY FLYNN: (sighs) Now don't get mad, Catherine.
CATHERINE: You can't be seeing Sam?
LILY FLYNN: And why not?
CATHERINE: Oh, for one thing, he's a player.
LILY FLYNN: I don't expect monogamy from him.
CATHERINE: (groans) Oh. I can't believe this.
LILY FLYNN: And I am not promising that he'll get it from me, either.
(Catherine turns around and gets an envelope from behind her desk.) What are
you doing?
(She holds the envelope open.)
CATHERINE: Put it in the envelope.
LILY FLYNN: Why?!
(Lily puts the handkerchief in the envelope.)
CATHERINE: Because we haven't cleared Sam as a suspect.
LILY FLYNN: He can't be! He has been so wonderful to me these past few weeks.
CATHERINE: Oh, this has been going on for weeks, huh?
(Catherine sits down.)
LILY FLYNN: We have a history together, Catherine. We were young together.
Some day, maybe you'll understand.
(Catherine looks at her mother.)
CUT TO:
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY LIGHTS (STOCK) - NIGHT]
(A police siren blares.)
[EXT. STREET - NIGHT]
(Catherine walks up to the limo they've just pulled over. A couple of officers
step out onto the sidewalk. Catherine opens the back limo door and gets
inside.)
(She closes the door behind her.)
[INT. LIMO (PARKED) - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS]
(Catherine settles in the seat across from Sam Braun.)
SAM BRAUN: You want to see me, Muggs, all you need is a phone.
CATHERINE: You lied about being in Lois O'Neill's bedroom.
SAM BRAUN: I was in that bedroom once. In 1967. As a gentleman, I would
prefer not going into details.
CATHERINE: Your handkerchief puts you there when the waiter was shot.
(Sam pulls out a handkerchief from his jacket pocket.)
SAM BRAUN: One of these? Lois and I were going over old times. She got a
little weepy. What she did with it after that, I don't know. My housekeeper
made me a dozen for Christmas. I've only got half left.
CATHERINE: So quit giving them away.
(Sam chuckles.)
SAM BRAUN: Oh ... you're mothering me.
CATHERINE: You know, Sam, this is the second time that I thought that you might
be a killer.
SAM BRAUN: Come on, you know better.
CATHERINE: The thing is, I don't. It never occurred to me for a minute that
this is something that you wouldn't have done. And that wouldn't bother me,
except you're dating my mother.
SAM BRAUN: Look, I'm being good to Lil this time around. Give us a chance.
Give me a chance. You'll see.
CATHERINE: Making up for stabbing one girl by being kind to another. Hmm.
[Note: Reference to episode CSI-3X23: Inside the Box]
SAM BRAUN: If you weren't my daughter ...
CATHERINE: What? What would you do, Sam?
(Catherine gets up and leaves the limo. She closes the door behind her.)
(Camera lingers on Sam.)
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI - TRACE LAB -- NIGHT]
(Hodges uncaps a black indelible marker and tries to cover the gray hair on his
left side. He's using a glass cover as a reflective surface.)
(Grissom and Sara walk in. They stop and watch Hodges.)
GRISSOM: Vanity, thy name is Hodges.
(Startled, Hodges quickly caps the pen.)
HODGES: This isn't what it looks like. I actually like my gray hair. The few
that I have.
SARA: (smiling) Hodges, don't you know that gray hair can be very attractive?
(Grissom perks up and glances sideways at Sara. Hodges turns and smiles at
Sara.)
SARA: The ring?
(Dazed by Sara's smile, Hodges nods automatically.)
HODGES: The ring? (He shakes himself out of it and turns to get the results as
he reports.) The ring. The ring was positive for GSR.
(Hodges hands the results to Grissom to look at. Sara reads it over his
shoulder.)
SARA: That means Lois could be the shooter.
(Quick flashback to: Lois fires the gun.)
(Extreme close-up of: [THE RING] Black residue falls on the ring.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
GRISSOM: I guess we'll have to bring her in.
CUT TO:
[EXT. O'NEILL RESIDENCE - FRONT -- DAY]
(Brass and Grissom arrive at the front. Brass sees the crime scene tape is
gone.)
BRASS: One of your guys take the crime scene tape down?
GRISSOM: Sara and Catherine cleared the scene about two hours ago.
(They enter the house.)
[INT. O'NEILL RESIDENCE - FOYER - DAY -- CONTINUOUS]
(Brass, Grissom and an officer walk through the foyer.)
BRASS: (loudly) Miss O'Neill, Las Vegas Police.
(There's no answer.)
(Brass and Grissom continue into the foyer.)
BRASS: Miss O'Neill?
(At the base of the stairs, they hear music coming from upstairs. Grissom and
Brass head upstairs.)
[INT. O'NEILL RESIDENCE - BEDROOM - DAY -- CONTINUOUS]
(Brass pushes the bedroom doors open. He and Grissom walk inside. They
approach the bed. Lois O'Neill is on the bed, dead.)
FADE OUT.
(COMMERCIAL SET)
FADE IN.
[INT. O'NEILL RESIDENCE - BEDROOM - DAY]
(Robbins snaps a photo of Lois. Greg stands nearby, putting something into a
plastic bad.)
GREG: Wow, it's the end of an era.
ROBBINS: From the containment of the blood, it appears she was shot while lying
down.
GREG: Asleep ... or surprised by someone she trusted?
GRISSOM: Nick just found out that Tim Duke's airline tickets were purchased by
a credit card under the name of Double-X Associates.
GREG: That's Lois O'Neill's company.
GRISSOM: How do you know that?
ROBBINS: She was the double-kiss girl.
GREG: Yeah, you can't say her name without kissing twice. Lois O'Neill --
Kiss-Kiss. XX.
GRISSOM: Huh. Well, Nick also found out that the only two names authorized to
sign on that card were Lois O'Neill and Eve Girard.
(Grissom pauses.)
GRISSOM: She looks perfect, doesn't she?
ROBBINS: Except for these smudges on her eyelids.
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY -- DAY]
(Grissom dusts Lois O'Neill's eyelids for prints. He adds powder, turns the
light on, then adjusts the camera.)
(He snaps a photo of the print on her eyelid.)
CUT TO:
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) -- EVENING]
[INT. CSI - GRISSOM'S OFFICE - NIGHT]
(Greg bursts into the office. He kneels down and looks at Grissom between
shelve levels. Grissom looks up from the report he's reading.)
GREG: Grissom, you know I was looking into that Pan Am heist in '65?
GRISSOM: On your own time, I hope.
GREG: It's related to our case. I just got off the phone with the FBI Lab at
Quantico. Bobby Dawson sent them ballistics on the gun we found on Tim Duke.
GRISSOM: And?
GREG: It's a match to the gun that was used to kill a guard in the Pan Am
heist. So I sent them serials on the cash we found.
GRISSOM: Also a match to the Pan Am heist?
GREG: Right-o, Daddy-O.
GRISSOM: Congratulations, Greg.
(Greg nods. Grissom turns and heads back to his desk to sit down. Greg walks
over to his desk.)
GRISSOM: This is Doc Robbins' preliminary autopsy report on Lois O'Neill. When
he opened her up, he found that her body was riddled with advanced tumors.
GREG: Wow.
(Greg sits down.)
GREG: She knew she was going to die. That's why she wrote the book, 'cause she
knew that if she was gone, there'd be nobody left to tell the true story.
GRISSOM: You read it. Do you think that's how she wanted to go out?
GREG: No. But, uh ... looking beautiful -- yeah. In all the papers -- yeah.
Murdered ... only if she was the one who called the shots.
GRISSOM: (agrees) Yeah.
CUT TO:
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - INTERVIEW ROOM -- NIGHT]
(Bobby Jensen chuckles.)
BOBBY JENSEN: Oh, we had some good times.
GRISSOM: You knew she had cancer?
BOBBY JENSEN: No, she had guts. She staged her exit like a pro. The book, the
party ... she only made one mistake -- she hired an amateur.
BRASS: Tim Duke? Also known as Vincent Pullone?
BOBBY JENSEN: A wimp and a thief. Lois would give you all the cookies you wanted, but you stuck your hand in the cookie jar ... she'd chop it off.
(Quick flashback to: [BEDROOM CLOSET] Lois talks with Tim Duke.)
LOIS O'NEILL: Try to relax, honey. This'll be easy. I'll be on the bed, one shot. Don't be sloppy.
(She opens the vault and goes inside.)
(Tim turns around, opens the nearest drawer and starts pocketing the jewelry inside. Lois returns with the gun and finds him stuffing his pocket with her jewelry.)
LOIS O'NEILL: What the hell?
TIM DUKE: What do you care? You're going to be dead anyway.
LOIS O'NEILL: Nobody steals from me.
(She cocks the gun and fires.)
(Tim Duke falls to the ground instantly. Lois turns around and fires two shots
at the vault door.)
(She wipes the gun.)
(End of flashback. Resume to present.)
GRISSOM: Why'd she ask Duke, not you?
BOBBY JENSEN: She didn't want to involve an old friend.
GRISSOM: Until yesterday.
BRASS: Yesterday afternoon, Lois O'Neill wired $250,000 to your sister in
Sarasota. Now you were Tony C's driver. The only one he trusted to bodyguard
Miss O'Neill. You took care of her right until the end.
BOBBY JENSEN: Well, who else do I have to take care of?
BRASS: My guess is she wired you the money, but being a friend you refused. So she sent it to your sister instead.
(He wipes his mouth and chuckles softly.)
BOBBY JENSEN: She sent it to my sister. You know, you've got a choice between checking out all shriveled up, in a hospital, or at home, looking like a million bucks. Any guy who'd do that for a good friend, he's okay by me.
(Quick flashback to: [BEDROOM] Lois is on the bed.)
LOIS O'NEILL: If you see Tony, tell him I love him.
(He cocks the gun.)
BOBBY JENSEN: Doll ... you're going to see him before I do.
(She looks at him and kisses the air twice.)
(He fires.)
FLASH TO WHITE:
(Lois' hand gently falls to the bed as Bobby Jensen watches. He closes his eyes
and tosses the gun on the bed.)
(He uses his thumbs, closes her eyes and cradles her face in his hands.)
CUT TO:
END OF FLASHBACK.
[INT CSI - FORENSIC AUTOPSY - NIGHT]
(Robbins is at his desk. He slips a photo of Lois O'Neill in a sheet protector in a binder.)
DISSOLVE TO:
[INT. RESTAURANT - NIGHT]
(Sam and Lily are at dinner. He reaches over and wipes the corner of her mouth with a napkin. She smiles back at him.)
(Sam turns around and sees Catherine walking toward them. He stands up and pulls a chair for her. She sits down and joins them.)
(Sam raises his hand and motions for a waiter to pour her a drink.)
(Catherine looks at Lily, then at Sam.)
DISSOLVE TO:
[INT. CSI - LOCKER ROOM - NIGHT]
(Greg opens his locker and takes his hat out. He puts it on his head, closes his locker and heads out.)
DISSOLVE TO:
[INT. CSI - GRISSOM'S OFFICE - NIGHT]
(Grissom picks up Greg's book from his desk. He opens it and looks at the inscription inside.)
TO GREG
THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
LOIS O'NEILL
XX
DISSOLVE TO:
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY LIGHTS (STOCK) - NIGHT]
DISSOLVE TO:
VARIOUS B/W FOOTAGE OF OLD LAS VEGAS CITY LIGHTS
BLUR OUT
FADE TO BLACK
THE END.
