FLASH IN:
[EXT. VARIOUS LAS VEGAS CITY LIGHTS (STOCK) – NIGHT]
[INT. RESIDENCE -- NIGHT]
(The city is lit outside the window. The camera pulls back and passes a
crackling fire inside the large, spacious living room. A cat meows and runs
across the wood-paneled floor, disappearing behind the large bookshelf.)
(The camera continues through the spacious room. There are bookshelves, couches
and modern-styled lamps. Up against the wall there are filled vases. Paper
crunching is heard and a light shines down from above. The camera continues
around the room.)
(The camera swings around and lingers on a LAS VEGAS GLOBE newspaper on the desk
with the headline, “Another Body Found!”)
(The paper crunching continues. Camera swings around the miniature desk and
pulls back from the miniature chair. Light shines from above as Grissom lifts the lid to the room.)
(He stares at the latest diorama.)
[INT. CSI – GRISSOM’S OFFICE / HALLWAY – NIGHT – CONTINUOUS]
(Grissom reaches down and lifts the miniature room out of the box. We’re
looking up from the room at Grissom. He carries the diorama and heads out of his office.)
(He rushes carefully through the hallway. He glances to the side and shouts.)
GRISSOM: Catherine, layout room, right away!
(He continues toward the layout room.)
CATHERINE: (o.s.) Where’re you going?
(The elevator bell dings. Grissom continues toward the layout room.)
[INT. CSI – LAYOUT ROOM – CONTINUOUS]
(He sets the diorama down on the table.)
CATHERINE: (o.s.) Gil, where's the fire?
(Catherine appears next to Grissom as they both look at the latest miniature.)
TOP VIEW DOWN: This miniature has a person sitting on a long, black sofa.
GRISSOM: It's been sitting in my office for the last four weeks.
CATHERINE: But ... we caught the ’miniature serial killer’; he confessed.
GRISSOM: Yeah, I watched him blow his brains out. But I think the package was
postmarked after he killed himself.
CATHERINE: So maybe he arranged to have it sent postmortem.
(Grissom turns the diorama.)
GRISSOM: The three other murders, the miniature was left at the scene. This one was addressed to me.
(Grissom uses the magnifying glass and examines the room.)
CATHERINE: So, now it's personal?
GRISSOM: The victim appears to be a Caucasian female with lots of books. It
could be an office, somebody's living room ... or a modern hotel lobby. When I was gone, did anybody work a scene like this?
CATHERINE: No ... at least not on our shift.
(Grissom notes the miniature newspaper on the table.)
CATHERINE: I'll check with days and swing, and see if anybody caught a case
that matches.
(Catherine turns to leave, but Grissom stops her.)
GRISSOM: Never mind.
CATHERINE: Why not?
GRISSOM: Take a look at the early edition.
(Grissom hands Catherine the magnifying glass. The date is SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2007.)
CATHERINE: It's dated the day after tomorrow.
GRISSOM: This murder hasn't happened yet.
SMASH CUT TO
END OF TEASER
ROLL TITLE CREDITS
(COMMERCIAL SET)
FADE IN:
[INT. CSI – LAYOUT ROOM -- NIGHT]
(Grissom snaps photos of the diorama. He snaps a photo of the three vases and
of the newspaper on the miniature desk, of the coffee table with miniature tea set and of the woman on the couch. He continues snapping photos.)
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI – BREAK ROOM -- NIGHT
(Sara, Nick and Warrick watch the video.)
ERNIE DELL: (from video) My name is Ernest Edward Dell. I was born in 1946
in Ames, Iowa. My life's been hard, but I don't complain. I never expected better.
(On the video, he takes a sip of his cup.)
ERNIE DELL: (from video) I'm good with my hands. I make things. I fix things. I'm a handyman. That's what I am.
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI – LAYOUT ROOM – NIGHT]
(VARIOUS DISSOLVES OF: Grissom puts the photos on the board lining the wall.)
ERNIE DELL: (v.o.) I'm not the sociable type. I-I know that. You spend any
amount of time around people, you get your heart broke -- treachery, hypocrisy ... the promise of love.
[VIDEO]
ERNIE DELL: (from video) A man has a right to an honest day's pay. Me, I
service the machinery of death so that people can eat. If that makes me evil,
then so be it.
(They pause the video.)
SARA: The ‘Miniature Killer’ murdered three people over a period of roughly six
months. Ernie Dell was either directly or indirectly related to all of them.
WARRICK: What's with the bloody dolls?
SARA: We're not sure. There's a different perspective of that same image in all
of the miniatures. (She hands Warrick an enlarged photo.) We're thinking it
could be some kind of signature.
(The video resumes.)
ERNIE DELL: (from video) Look into the mouth of a person and you'll find lies
wriggling there like maggots waiting to grow wings. The world has ... has gone
mad. A man could kill from sunup to sunset, and still his work would never be
done.
(Ernie takes the gun, puts it under his chin and fires. Sara, Nick and Warrick
flinch. Sara pauses the video.)
NICK: Remember the Blue Paint killers? Maybe Ernie Dell had a partner. Like
an apprentice, an accomplice, something like that.
WARRICK: Or a disciple.
SARA: You guys make models when you were kids?
NICK: Tanks and airplanes.
WARRICK: Classic cars.
SARA: These miniatures are obsessively precise, half-inch scale models of the
crime scenes. They probably took weeks of focused effort to create. I don't
think the killer's into team sports.
WARRICK: Izzy Delancy ... he was a rock star. You know, famous brings out the
nut jobs. Maybe we're just looking at a copycat.
SARA: The miniatures were never released to the press. No photos, nothing.
You can't copy what you can't see.
NICK: Other people had access to those files. Maybe it was a cop. Or somebody
in the lab. It's been known to happen.
WARRICK: Yeah, so, Ernie Dell takes the rap for three murders, and then eats a
.38. Why?
SARA: I think he was trying to protect someone -- someone he cared a lot about.
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI – LAYOUT ROOM]
(SCOPE VIEW: Of the purse. Grissom checks the inside of the purse and finds it
empty.)
(Catherine walks in.)
CATHERINE: Prints and DNA are going over the package and wrapping paper.
GRISSOM: They won't find anything.
CATHERINE: Return address was an empty lot. Any clue as to who the victim is?
GRISSOM: No, I even went through her little purse.
(Catherine puts her glasses on and looks at the miniature.)
CATHERINE: Well, she's not wearing a wedding ring. She's probably single. Her
eyes appear to be bloodshot. Petechial hemorrhaging, maybe?
(Grissom notices something on the pillows.)
GRISSOM: Look at this.
CATHERINE: Blue smudges on the pillow. Blue mascara on the victim.
(Catherine leans forward and looks through the miniature’s window and visualizes
the woman lying down on the couch.)
CATHERINE: Our vic gets comfortable, grabs a little shut-eye ...
(Someone leans over her and smothers her with a pillow. She struggles and
stops.)
CATHERINE: ... and never wakes up.
(The people in the miniature vanish. Catherine straightens and looks at
Grissom.)
CATHERINE: She's going to be smothered.
GRISSOM: It would seem so.
CATHERINE: If you interpret this headline literally, the doll is the victim.
That's different than the others.
GRISSOM: Methods change. Killers evolve.
(It sounds familiar to Catherine.)
GRISSOM: What?
CATHERINE: Keppler said something like that once. (She looks at Grissom.) He
did come down on the right side.
(Grissom nods. He looks at the books on the shelf.)
GRISSOM: These books are all arranged by subject matter: art, religion,
science ... The victim is apparently well-educated.
(Grissom looks on the shelf and sees a framed photo of Izzy carrying his baby.)
CATHERINE: That's from the Izzy Delancy miniature. What's it doing here?
GRISSOM: I don't know.
(Grissom picks up the framed photo and looks at it. He turns it over and sees
the doll image.)
GRISSOM: There's something on the surface. Looks like brush strokes.
(Catherine shines the light on it and reveals the word: YOU.)
(Grissom goes straight for the pillow on the couch – the same pillow form the
Penny Garden miniature. He puts it on the table next to the framed photo. On
the shelf he picks out the window covering from the Mannleigh miniature and puts
that on the table as well. Under the light it reveals:
YOU WERE WRONG )
(We hold on Grissom.)
CUT TO:
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) – DAY]
[INT. FILE STORAGE WAREHOUSE -- DAY]
(Sara walks along the rows of file boxes. Greg turns the corner and walks over
to her. He’s in a suit.)
GREG: Hey, Sara, I heard we got another miniature. Is that true?
SARA: Yeah, looks like Ernie Dell was covering for someone.
(Sara pulls a file box off the side and hands it to Greg. She grabs another for
herself.)
GREG: No kidding?
(They head out with the two boxes.)
SARA: Hey, you were the one who checked for next of kin after his suicide,
right?
GREG: SOP. Snail mail, email, bank accounts, police records, Google. All I
got was he's a widower. Received his wife's Social Security benefits.
(They put the two boxes down on the table.)
SARA: He had to be connected to somebody.
(Sara cuts the tape on the box while Greg puts on his gloves.)
SARA: It's kind of early for court.
GREG: Finally rescheduled my deposition for the civil suit.
(Sara opens the file box.)
GREG: You know, Demitrius James's family is suing the city for 3.5 million.
SARA: That's going to be a long deposition.
(They go through the items in the box. Under the shirts, Sara finds a stack of
video tapes. The top one is labeled SUMMER ’87.)
SARA: Home movies.
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI – HALLWAY / LAYOUT ROOM -- NIGHT]
(The hallways are sparse while the janitors mop the floor. In the layout room,
Grissom is still going over the latest diorama with a magnifying glass. He
looks at the books on the shelves and the flowers in the vases. He goes back to
the books on the shelves.)
(He pulls out a particular book and looks at it. He puts it down, then notices
the black cat resting on the bookshelf. Grissom picks up the black cat and
looks at it.)
(Hodges knocks on the door before entering.)
HODGES: Hey, boss. We're ordering out for breakfast.
GRISSOM: (interrupts) You have a cat, don't you, Hodges?
HODGES: Mr. K. Kobayashi-Maru. It's in reference to ...
GRISSOM: Do you ever take him out of the house?
HODGES: My little Kobe? No way. Vegas is coyote country.
GRISSOM: So if this is a house cat, then this must be somebody's home.
(He looks at the cat and notices the white around the mouth.)
HODGES: Tsk, tsk. Looks like he's been in the milk.
GRISSOM: Yeah. Maybe the victim has as well. The previous murders have all
involved the vic's habits and routines. So maybe this time, it's a little
something extra in her afternoon tea.
(Grissom and Hodges leans forward to look at the tea set on the coffee table.)
HODGES: So they're going to be poisoned.
(Flash to: The woman finishes her tea and lies back on the couch. She puts a
pillow over her face. The cat sips the milk on the tea tray and jumps on the shelf.)
GRISSOM: (v.o.) She lays down for her usual nap, the cat sneaks a sip, and
neither one ever wakes up again.
(End of flash.)
GRISSOM: It doesn't matter how she dies if we can't figure out who she is or where she is.
(Hodges glances at his watch.)
HODGES: Well, you can't figure that out on an empty stomach. If you don't like this restaurant, there's plenty of others to choose from.
(Grissom looks at the DELIVERY ZONE on the back of the menu from Hodges.)
(Grissom puts the menu down and looks at the diorama. On the bottom of the
coffee table, Grissom picks up two miniature order menus for the KRISPY WOK and
the TANDOORI TEMPLE.)
GRISSOM: I choose these two.
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI – A/V LAB -- NIGHT]
(The fax prints the KRISPY WOK menu. Grissom looks at the delivery area on the
back of the menu. He marks the area on the computer map in green.)
(He prints out another KRISPY WOK menu and marks that area on the computer map.
He does so with the additional KRISPY WOK delivery areas.)
(He prints out a TANDOORI TEMPLE menu and does the same for that eating area.
He marks it on the map in red. He does the same for the other TANDOORI TEMPLE
menus and delivery areas.)
(He finds the area where the two eating places overlap and marks it CROSSING
DELIVERY.)
CUT TO:
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) – DAY]
[EXT. SIDEWALK -- DAY]
(Brass briefs the officers.)
BRASS: We're looking for a building whose exterior looks exactly like this.
(He gives them a photo of the exterior of the miniature. The officers spread
out to canvass the area. Brass makes a call on his cell.)
WARRICK: (from phone) Talk to me.
BRASS: (to phone) So what are we looking at, Rick? We've got a modernist
structure with cement beams, steel rails, frosted glass.
INTERCUT WITH:
[ANOTHER SIDEWALK]
(Warrick is walking and talking on the phone.)
BRASS: (from phone) Something like that.
WARRICK: (to phone) Probably, but whatever it is, it should match exactly.
The killer's hyper-specific.
BRASS: Well, maybe that'll work in our favor.
(Warrick hangs up. Nick is looking at the buildings around them.)
NICK: Now, even if we find a match, we could already be too late.
WARRICK: Hey.
(Warrick whacks Nick on the arm to get his attention and points to the building
directly in front of them. It’s exactly like the miniature.)
(Nick checks it against the photo.)
WARRICK: Let's check it out.
(Warrick starts running toward the building. Nick motions for the officer to
follow them.)
NICK: C’mon. C’mon.
[INT. BUILDING – LOBBY – DAY – CONTINUOUS]
(Nick, Warrick and the officer enter the lobby and walk up to the manager behind
the front counter.)
NICK: Nick Stokes, LVPD. We're looking for a woman that lives in this building.
She looks like this. (Nick shows him the photo of the miniature.) Have you ever seen her?
(The manager looks at the photo and scoffs.)
MANAGER: That looks like a doll.
NICK: Yeah, well, it's actually a death threat. Time is of the essence here.
Can you help us out? Anyone in the building look like this? No?
WARRICK: She's got a cat.
MANAGER: Well, that narrows it down to about a hundred tenants.
(Warrick puts a photo of the miniature down.)
WARRICK: That's her home.
(The manager looks at the photo and recognizes it immediately.)
MANAGER: 1106. That's Ms. Tallman's place.
[INT. HALLWAY TO 1106 -- CONTINUOUS]
(The manager leads Nick, Warrick and the officer to 1106.)
DISPATCH: (over radio) All units responding to 3-5-0-4, 3-5-0-4. CSI Brown
and Stokes have ID’d the building. Please respond.
(The manager points to the door. They stop and listen. Behind the door, they
hear music playing. Nick knocks loudly on the door.)
NICK: Mrs. Tallman? Las Vegas Police. You need to open your door, please.
(There’s no answer.)
NICK: Mrs. Tallman?
(There’s no answer. Nick looks at Warrick. Everyone moves. Nick reaches for
his gun and stands on the side of the door. Warrick motions toward the door.)
WARRICK: (to manager) Open it and stand clear.
(The manager unlocks the door and steps aside. Nick opens the door and Warrick
steps through, his gun out in front of him.)
[INT. TALLMAN APARTMENT – DAY]
(Warrick, Nick and the officer enter the apartment cautiously.)
TOP VIEW DOWN: It is the apartment, although no one is sleeping on the sofa.
(Nick notices that the sofa is empty. Music continues blasting through the
apartment. The fire is burning in the fireplace. Nick sees a newspaper on the
desk and the books on the shelf.)
(He hears a door open and close. Nick raises his gun as a woman returns. She
sings along with the loud music, turns and sees the men in her apartment.)
(She screams.)
(Warrick puts his gun down and looks over at Nick.)
NICK: Please, ma'am, calm down. We're with the Crime Lab.
BARBARA TALLMAN: This isn't a lab. This is my home. You must be confused.
NICK: No, we're not confused. We're here for your protection.
(Nick motions to the music. Warrick turns it off.)
WARRICK: Ms. Tallman ...
BARBARA TALLMAN: Dr. Tallman.
WARRICK: Dr. Tallman ... I need you to take a look at this.
(He shows her the photos of her apartment.)
BARBARA TALLMAN: Did you make this for me? That's very sweet.
WARRICK: It's a death threat.
BARBARA TALLMAN: Who would want to kill me?
NICK: Doctor, do you normally take a nap around the same time every day
covering your face and eyes with the pillow?
BARBARA TALLMAN: (sleepily) Yes, at 4:00 p.m. I ... I have tea and cookies
every day when I wake up. Have you been watching me?
WARRICK: No, Miss, no, but we think someone else has. Doctor, your life is in
danger. We need you to get dressed and come with us, please.
BARBARA TALLMAN: Am I in trouble?
NICK: No, ma'am. No, not anymore. This officer will help you get your things,
okay?
BARBARA TALLMAN: No, no, no. I'll go get my things.
(She starts to leave, then turns around.)
BARBARA TALLMAN: I want you to know that you young men are refreshingly polite.
WARRICK: Thank you.
(Dr. Tallman leaves. Warrick turns and looks at Nick.)
WARRICK: Is she on something?
NICK: She may have already been poisoned.
(The cat jumps on the table and starts drinking from the tea set.)
WARRICK: We'll get her to the hospital.
NICK: We should collect blood for tox.
WARRICK: And any open food or drink.
(Nick turns and shoos the cat away.)
NICK: Hey, get out of there! (The cat meows.) The killer did plan every
detail.
WARRICK: Except for us showing up.
FADE OUT.
(COMMERCIAL SET)
FADE IN:
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY (STOCK) – LATE DAY]
[INT. CSI – A/V LAB]
(The video DATE/STAMPED MARCH 7, 1988, is on the monitor. Greg, Archie and Sara
watch the video. On the video, Ernie speaks with the engineer of the small
train. The children run toward the train.)
SARA: That's got to be Ernie Dell's wife.
(They climb into the train. Ernie waves the engineer.)
ARCHIE: Quite the bash.
(The train starts to move.)
ARCHIE: They must love kids.
(The next video scene is of the family around a table full of kids. Ernie and
his wife stand behind a little boy seated at the head of the table. Everyone
sings "Happy Birthday To You.”)
ARCHIE: Is that Ernie's son?
GREG: There's no record of a son, but it sure looks like it.
(On the monitor, the little boy glares at his birthday cake.)
SARA: One, two, three, four, five birthday candles in 1988 would make him
around 24 now.
(On the monitor, the little boy can’t seem to blow out the candles. Everyone
laughs. The little boy sweeps the cake off the table and onto the ground.)
ARCHIE: Hmm. Don't look like a very happy birthday.
(The little boy jumps off his seat and runs. Mrs. Dell runs to console him.)
GREG: Did you get the boy's name?
ARCHIE: Cake never made it on camera.
SARA: How about audio?
ARCHIE: It sucks. '80s video cam with built-in, non-directional mic, pulls in
nothing but wind and train noise.
SARA: So let's process it.
ARCHIE: This is processed.
(On the monitor, Ernie Dell is with his son and eats some of the cake off his
son’s fingers.)
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI – HALLWAY -- DAY]
(Nick walks through the hallway with Grissom and fills him in.)
NICK: We ran tox on Ms. Tallman's blood as well as her milk and cookies. She
was negative on everything from pharmaceuticals and illicits, to herbicides,
pesticides and heavy metals. You sure she was going to be poisoned?
GRISSOM: No, but I'm pretty sure she was scheduled to die today. In each of
the previous cases, the killer was at the scene to commit the murder. So maybe
he was planning to show up at the condo.
NICK: Well, it'd be kind of rude not to greet him, don't you think?
CUT TO:
[INT. TALLMAN RESIDENCE – LIVING ROOM -- DAY]
(“Barbara Tallman” walks into the living room with the tea set. She sets it
down on the coffee table and sits on the sofa. She lifts her lapel and speaks
into the mic.)
OFFICER KAMEN: I'm ready for my close-up.
(Officer Kamen glances at the camera set up on the top of one of the shelves.)
(In another room, Sofia watches the monitor. Officer Kamen stretches out on the
couch for her afternoon nap.)
OFFICER KAMEN: (from mic) This definitely beats walking the beat.
SOFIA: Feed's good. Officer Kamen, how's your read?
(On the monitor, Officer Kamen nods.)
OFFICER KAMEN: Time to go to sleep.
(On the monitor, Officer Kamen picks up the couch pillow and puts it over her
head as Barbara Tallman does.)
[INT. TALLMAN BUILDING – LOBBY – DAY -- CONTINUOUS]
(Brass sits in the lobby reading the paper.)
BRASS: (to radio) All units, this is Brass. All right. Maintain a low
profile. That means I don't want to see a uniform within three blocks of this
place, okay?
[INT. STORAGE ROOM – CONTINUOUS]
(Sofia watches Officer Kamen pretend to sleep.)
BRASS: (from radio) Be vigilant, but be cool.
(She takes a sip of her coffee cup as she waits.)
[INT. TALLMAN BUILDING – LOBBY – DAY -- CONTINUOUS]
(The lobby door opens and a delivery man walks in with a package. He goes to
the front desk and signs in. Officer Mitchell is behind the desk pretending to
be the manager.)
OFFICER MITCHELL: Where you headed?
WORLD SEND DELIVERY MAN: Eleven.
(The delivery man signs in.)
WORLD SEND DELIVERY MAN: Oh, sorry. Ten.
OFFICER MITCHELL: Go on up.
(The delivery man walks past Brass on his way to the elevators. The elevator
bell dings off screen in the background.)
(A second, older man walks in. He’s wearing a dark coat and carrying a large
briefcase.)
MAN: Hold the elevator.
WORLD SEND DELIVERY MAN: What floor?
MAN: Eleven.
(The elevator doors close.)
BRASS: (to radio) Someone's coming up.
[INT. STORAGE ROOM – CONTINUOUS]
BRASS: (from radio) White male with a suitcase.
(On the monitors, the man gets out of the elevator on the eleventh floor. He
heads toward the apartment.)
(The man puts his suitcase down on the floor in front of the apartment.)
SOFIA: (to radio) We got a possible.
[INT. HALLWAY – CONTINUOUS]
(Sofia and a couple of officers burst out of the storage room.)
SOFIA: LVPD. Up against the wall.
PEYTON TALLMAN: What?
(The officer turns and pushes Peyton Tallman up against the nearby wall.)
OFFICER: She said hands against the wall.
SOFIA: What's your business here, sir?
(Sofia checks his wallet.)
PEYTON TALLMAN: Nothing. I mean, this is my sister's place. I'm Peyton
Tallman. Where's Barbara? Did something happen to her?
(His NEVADA DRIVER LICENSE reads:
TALLMAN, PEYTON
2672 W. 6TH ST.
LAS VEGAS, NV 89109 )
SOFIA: This officer will explain everything to your satisfaction. Get him out
of here.
PEYTON TALLMAN: What?
(The officers lead Peyton Tallman down the hallway.)
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI – HALLWAY – DAY]
(Grissom walks through the hallway and is on the phone with Brass.)
BRASS (from phone): Peyton Tallman's ID checks out. And you know ... and I
kind of doubt the killer's going to make a miniature crime scene of his own
sister's house.
GRISSOM: (to phone) And we have nothing to link him to the other three
murders?
BRASS: (from phone) He wants to see his sister. I'll let you know how that
goes down.
GRISSOM: Okay. Thanks.
(Grissom hangs up and enters –
[INT. CSI – GRISSOM’S OFFICE – DAY – CONTINUOUS]
(The latest miniature is on his desk. He sits down, looks at it and sighs.
Grissom looks at the three vases. He zooms in on the middle vase.)
[INT. STORAGE ROOM – CONTINUOUS]
(It’s night. Sofia is watching Officer Kamen on the monitors. She looks at her
watch.)
SOFIA: (to radio) Okay, that's it. Killer's not gonna show. (to officers)
Let's call it a night.
[INT. CSI – GRISSOM’S OFFICE – DAY – CONTINUOUS]
(Grissom pulls the lamp in closer for a better look. The flowers in the vases
immediately melt and fall apart. Grissom thinks about it.)
[INT. TALLMAN RESIDENCE – LIVING ROOM – LATE DAY]
(The front door opens. Sofia walks in.)
SOFIA: All right, I know you must be exhausted from your brutal day in the
field, but it's time to go.
(Officer Kamen doesn’t move.)
SOFIA: Officer Kamen?
(Sofia knocks the pillow away from her face. Officer Kamen’s dead open eyes
stare back at her.)
(Sofia gasps.)
CUT TO:
[INT. TALLMAN RESIDENCE – LIVING ROOM – LATE DAY]
(A camera flashes as David Phillips snaps photos of Officer Kamen. Sofia stands
on the side watching and upset.)
DAVID PHILLIPS: She's pale. No sign of trauma. COD'll have to wait till
autopsy. Sorry.
SOFIA: Not as sorry as I am.
(Grissom steps into the room.)
(He puts his kit down near the door. Sofia turns around and he doesn’t say
anything. Grissom looks around the room and sees the shelf where the black cat
was found. He heads over to the shelf while putting on his gloves.)
(He pulls the books away and finds the dead cat.)
(Grissom shakes his head.)
FADE OUT.
(COMMERCIAL SET)
FADE IN:
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT – BRASS’S OFFICE]
(Brass walks into the office. Barbara and Peyton Tallman are sitting at his
desk.)
BRASS: Look, I know we’ve all had a tough day, but the sooner we get done here,
the sooner we can all go home.
BARBARA TALLMAN: (sniffles) Why? So my little Tripper can run out to greet
me?
PEYTON TALLMAN: Barbara.
BRASS: I'm sorry about your cat, ma'am. We lost an officer.
BARBARA TALLMAN: How much did you love her?
PEYTON TALLMAN: Barbara, please.
BRASS: When my guys went to your house, they said you were a little out of it,
but you're thinking clearly now, right?
BARBARA TALLMAN: Well, having your home invaded can be a little bracing.
PEYTON TALLMAN: Captain, how can we help?
BRASS: Can you tell me why anyone would want to kill you?
BARBARA TALLMAN: No.
PEYTON TALLMAN: But you can. Well, Barbara was a high regarded
psychotherapist.
BARBARA TALLMAN: Is. That hasn't changed.
BRASS: Is or was?
BARBARA TALLMAN: I'm retired.
BRASS: You seem a little young to be retired.
BARBARA TALLMAN: I got tired of it.
BRASS: Can you tell me why one of her patients would want to kill her?
BARBARA TALLMAN: No.
PEYTON TALLMAN: Well, no, it's-it's possible. She, um ... she counseled a lot
of at-risk adults, um, halfway house kids, pro bono.
BARBARA TALLMAN: I also treated suburban sexual dysfunction for $300 an hour.
PEYTON TALLMAN: She helped a lot of people.
BRASS: Did you work out of your home?
BARBARA TALLMAN: For the last few years.
BRASS: Treat any sociopaths?
BARBARA TALLMAN: That's not a term for which there's any diagnostic criteria.
You're not looking for one of my patients.
BRASS: Well, maybe I am. Maybe I'm looking for a 20-something-year-old male,
last name of Dell.
BARBARA TALLMAN: Won't say.
PEYTON TALLMAN: She can't say. It's doctor-patient confidentiality.
BRASS: But you're retired.
BARBARA TALLMAN: Well, you know where I live. Are you done yet?
BRASS: No, we're not done yet. At least, I'm not done yet. All right, look,
let's start again, all right? Let's ... Maybe we started off on the wrong foot,
all right? Look, I'm asking you as a professional, as a psychotherapist, please
... help me out here.
(He puts the photos of the miniature crime scenes out on the table.)
BRASS: Okay? Tell me ... what am I looking for?
(She looks at them, putting her hand out over the photos. She moves stiffly and
awkwardly, but nothing too much out of place.)
BARBARA TALLMAN: Repetition ... attention to detail indicates obsessive-
compulsive disorder. Obvious antisocial personality.
BRASS: Uh, yeah, four bodies -- I'd call that antisocial.
BARBARA TALLMAN: Most murderers lack impulse control, inability to plan ahead,
but ... this one's different.
BRASS: Different how?
BARBARA TALLMAN: He conceives murder ... visualizes it. Then he takes all that
horror that he's imagined. He compresses it into these little rooms. These
models literally indicate repressed rage. And when you start taking that apart,
all that rage comes flying out ... and you will have let the monster out of the
box.
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI – LAYOUT ROOM]
(Grissom snips the shirt off one of the miniature dead bodies. Hodges stands in
the doorway watching. Grissom doesn’t look up.)
GRISSOM: Stop hovering, Hodges. You're in or you're out.
HODGES: In.
(Hodges steps into the room.)
HODGES: So, she wasn't poisoned, huh?
GRISSOM: No. Hand me a scalpel.
(Hodges hands Grissom the scalpel. Grissom cuts the miniature dead body open,
performing an autopsy of sorts on it. He opens the body.)
GRISSOM: Tweezers.
(Hodges hands Grissom the tweezers. Grissom removes the body’s lungs.)
HODGES: Nice lungs.
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI – TRACE LAB]
(Hodges takes a sample of the gas inside the miniature lungs with a syringe. He
tests the sample.)
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI – A/V LAB]
(Grissom is in the A/V lab watching the video of Officer Kamen sleeping. His
phone rings. He answers it.)
GRISSOM: (to phone) Grissom.
INTERCUT WITH:
[INT. CSI – FORENSIC AUTOPSY – DAY]
(Tripper is cut wide open on the autopsy table.)
ROBBINS: (to phone) Yeah, Gil, uh, got a good idea on COD for your asphyxiated
officer.
(On the other table, Robbins stands in front of the table with Officer Kamen on
it.)
ROBBINS: (to phone) Internal organ color nailed it on both the autopsy and
necropsy as ...
(Grissom is reviewing the GCMS test results: CARBON MONOXIDE.)
GRISSOM: Carbon monoxide poisoning.
ROBBINS: You know, nobody likes when you do that. So, how did CO get into the
room?
GRISSOM: That I don't know.
(Grissom hangs up and goes back to watching the video of Officer Kamen sleeping.
He sees something and rewinds the tape. The fire in the fireplace flares.)
CUT TO:
[SCOPE VIEW]
(Grissom pushes the scope through the living room and past the miniature body on
the couch.)
INTERCUT WITH:
[INT. TALLMAN RESIDENCE – LIVING ROOM]
(Nick and Warrick enter the room and put their kits down near the fireplace.
Nick turns on his flashlight and checks under the flue.)
[LAYOUT ROOM]
(Grissom checks under the flue and finds the rigged timer. He thinks about it.)
[INT. TALLMAN RESIDENCE – LIVING ROOM]
(Nick looks up under the flue and finds the rigged timer.
(Quick flash to: [THE FLUE] The flue is open. The timer activates and shuts
the flue, dropping the charcoal on the fire.)
NICK: (v.o.) The timer goes off, activating the motor, which closes the flue
and drops powdered charcoal onto the flames, producing carbon monoxide.
(In the living room, Officer Kamen sleeps on the sofa. The fumes fill the
room.)
NICK: (v.o.) Fumes have nowhere to go but out into the apartment, into Officer
Kamen.
(End of flashback.)
[INT. CSI – LAYOUT ROOM]
NICK: And the cat.
(Nick reports to Grissom.)
NICK: You know, this timer was geared to run for weeks. It could have easily
been put in place a month ago.
GRISSOM: That's why the killer felt safe enough to send me the miniature. He
never intended to be at the scene. There was no danger of being caught.
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI – HALLWAY – DAY]
(Greg catches up with Sara and shares his findings with her.)
GREG: Hey, Sara, check this out. I was digging through Mannleigh Chicken's
employee health insurance records ...
SARA: 45 million Americans without health coverage, and a chicken
slaughterhouse provides medical benefits?
GREG: Izzy Delancy's animal rights PSA forced the company to clean up its act
in all departments. Anyway, Ernie Dell had one dependent listed: a son.
SARA: "Lionel Dell." Unbelievable.
GREG: Yeah, the man loved his trains. Lionel changed his name to Mitchell
Douglas after he turned eighteen, and get this. He did time in a halfway house
after getting busted for fentanyl.
SARA: Which connects him to the fentanyl-dealing sexagenarian, Penny Garden.
Where's young Dell now?
(They walk out of camera frame.)
CUT TO:
[INT. MITCH DOUGLAS’S WORKPLACE -- DAY]
(Sara and Greg walk up to Mitch Douglas.)
SARA: Lionel Dell?
MITCH DOUGLAS: My name is Mitch Douglas.
SARA: I'm Sara Sidle. I'm with the Crime Lab. I was wondering if you knew
this woman.
(She shows him a crime scene photo of Penny Garden.)
SARA: She used to sell fentanyl.
MITCH DOUGLAS: Want me to pee in a cup?
SARA: What about this guy? He's dead, too. He was found face down in a chicken
stun bath in a place your dad used to work.
MITCH DOUGLAS: He worked a lot of places. I met a lot of people.
(Mitch uses a device on the canister. Sara watches him.)
SARA: Did you know Izzy Delancy?
(Sara shows him another crime scene photo.)
MITCH DOUGLAS: Yeah. His music sucks. What do all these stiffs got to do with
me?
SARA: What was your relationship like with your father?
MITCH DOUGLAS: Before or after he blew his brains out?
SARA: Let's start with ... before.
MITCH DOUGLAS: You ever step in a pile of crap, but you're wearing boots, so
you can't just scrape it off. You got to dig it out with a stick, but even that
doesn't work, so you just end up tossing the boots in the trash? It was kind of
like that.
SARA: And after?
MITCH DOUGLAS: Much better. You gonna arrest me?
SARA: (shakes his head) We're just talking.
MITCH DOUGLAS: I'm not.
(He goes back to work.)
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI – GRISSOM’S OFFICE -- DAY]
(Camera passes by all the miniature crime scene set up in plastic cases in
Grissom’s office. Grissom is at his desk looking at photos of the most recent
miniature. Sofia knocks on the door.)
SOFIA: Did you know Officer Kamen?
GRISSOM: No.
SOFIA: Me, neither. I was watching her die, and I didn't even realize it.
GRISSOM: Look, Sofia, there weren't any carbon monoxide sensors in the
apartment, so no one could have known.
SOFIA: Yeah.
GRISSOM: And in fact, if I hadn't have gone away, we'd have had another month
to work with; you'd have never been in that position.
SOFIA: It doesn't make you feel any better either, does it? You know, the
scene's been released. Ms. Tallman was pretty insistent. We offered to leave a
uniform with her, but she wasn't having it.
(Grissom picks up the photo and looks at it again. He sighs.)
SOFIA: So, what are you looking for? The miniature's complete.
GRISSOM: It's not perfect, though. Officer Kamen was not the intended victim.
SOFIA: Well, she was dressed like her. She died in the right position. So did
the cat.
GRISSOM: I'm still not sure it's perfect enough.
(The phone rings. Grissom answers it.)
GRISSOM: (to phone) Grissom. (pause) Yeah. (pause) Okay.
(He hangs up and looks at Sofia.)
GRISSOM: Now, it's perfect.
(He looks at the photo.)
CUT TO:
[INT. TALLMAN RESIDENCE – LIVING ROOM – DAY]
(TOP VIEW DOWN: Barbara Tallman is dead on the sofa. DISSOLVE IN officers and
other crime scene personnel.)
(Nick snaps photos of the real BARBARA TALLMAN dead on the sofa.)
FADE OUT.
(COMMERCIAL SET)
FADE IN:
[INT. TALLMAN RESIDENCE – LIVING ROOM – DAY]
(Nick snaps photos of Barbara Tallman. Catherine checks a hand-held meter, then
picks up the pillow.)
CATHERINE: It's deja vu all over again.
NICK: Not entirely. There's some kind of liquid. It looks like it fell and
splashes on the floor ... and the body ... and it looks like ... the ear.
(Camera ZOOMS into the liquid in Barbara Tallman’s ear.)
(Catherine looks around and sees some liquid at the base of the vase on the
table.)
CATHERINE: This could be the source.
(Quick flash of: The killer smothers Barbara Tallman with a pillow.)
CATHERINE: (v.o.) Killer returns to ... complete the miniature the old-
fashioned way.
(As the killer leaves, he backs into the vase and knocks it over.
CATHERINE: (v.o.) And things get a little messy. But in the end ...
(The killer picks up the vase and fixes everything as best as possible.)
(End of flash.)
CATHERINE: -- he puts everything right back where it belongs.
CUT TO:
[EXT. LAS VEGAS CITY LIGHTS (STOCK) – NIGHT]
PEYTON TALLMAN: (v.o.) What happened to my sister was not just some isolated
tragedy.
[EXT. -- NIGHT]
(Peyton Tallman is holding a press conference.)
PEYTON TALLMAN: There have been four other murders, four deaths which could
have been prevented had the public been warned by the people sworn to protect
us. Barbara Tallman was the latest victim of a serial killer ... the LVPD has
known about for months.
REPORTER JANINE SHARELL: What do they call him?
[INT. CSI – BREAKROOM – NIGHT]
(The television is on the WFIN 19 LIVE news coverage of the press conference.
The caption on the bottom of the screen reads: BREAKING NEWS, BROTHER OF SERIAL
KILLER VICTIM SPEAKS.)
PEYTON TALLMAN: (from tv) They call him the ‘Miniature Killer,’ because he
makes little models of his victims posed in the places where they die.
(Hodges and Grissom are watching the news coverage.)
HODGES: I feel for the guy, but he just made our job a lot harder.
GRISSOM: It was inevitable. With the murder, the amount of information that
could leak rose exponentially.
PEYTON TALLMAN: (from tv) I'm a private person, but if this prevents just one
tragedy, then it's worth it.
(Hodges gives Grissom the test results.)
HODGES: Trace report on the second crime scene or ... or should I say second
murder? Crime scene is the same.
(The results show:
: C:DatabaseWiley275.L
: 99
: CHLORINE BLEACH, NaCIO )
HODGES: Haven't finished processing all the samples, but the water from the
vase is consistent with the water found on the victim's clothing.
GRISSOM: There's chlorine bleach in the samples. Why put bleach in vase water?
HODGES: I knew you'd ask that. Well, I had this girlfriend who was a florist
...
GRISSOM: The one with the water retention problem.
HODGES: You remembered. Anyway ... she said that if you add a few drops of
bleach to your water, it kills bacteria, and gives your flowers a nice long
life, but add too much ... the flowers die.
(Greg walks in.)
GREG: Grissom, we may have caught a break on Barbara Tallman. She did pro bono
work at Lionel Dell's halfway house.
(Grissom removes his glasses at the news.)
CUT TO:
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT – INTERVIEW ROOM -- NIGHT]
(Sofia and Sara interview Mitch Douglas.)
MITCH DOUGLAS: Okay, so maybe I met her. So what?
SOFIA: So, she's dead. That's four stiffs associated with you, Lionel. Five,
if you count Ernie.
MITCH DOUGLAS: I don't.
SARA: You know, you keep saying that you hated your dad, but I'm not buying it.
(Sara shows him the photos of the miniature crime scenes.)
SARA: You go through your life alone. You're good with your hands. You have
weird hobbies. You make little things. And when that gets tricky ... you call
your father.
SOFIA: Maybe Ernie didn't know you were a killer. Police start poking around,
asking questions, showing him pictures. And when Ernie sees these ... he knows
exactly what his little boy's become.
SARA: To the rest of the world, a monster, but to him ... just a little boy
knocking over his birthday cake.
SOFIA: So he confesses to crimes you committed, shoots himself in the head;
it's a dead end for us.
SARA: New start for you.
MITCH DOUGLAS: If only. Let me tell you about Ernie. What he cared about in
this life was ... his wife, his trains, and his kids. In that order.
SARA: Kids? You're an only child.
MITCH DOUGLAS: (chuckles) Again, if only. If you're looking for a love
connection, then ... then you should maybe go talk to one of the chosen ones.
SOFIA: What are you talking about?
MITCH DOUGLAS: Fosters. My parents had, like ... dozens. They'd come and go,
some before I was born. My mom loved kids. Dad loved Mom. I guess as soon as
I came around ... the love ran out. And then Mom dies ... the kids leave ...
and Ernie's left with me.
(He looks at them.)
MITCH DOUGLAS: Ernie didn't take a bullet for me. (shakes his head) But it's
a beautiful thought.
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI – FORENSIC AUTOPSY -- NIGHT]
(Robbins goes over the preliminary findings with Catherine.)
ROBBINS: I pulled these fibers out of her nasal passages.
CATHERINE: Well, they appear to be consistent with the sofa pillow cushion at
the scene.
ROBBINS: COD was asphyxiation. Now ... what is wrong with this brain?
(He picks up the brain from the metal bin and shows it to Catherine.)
CATHERINE: Other than the fact that it's out of its skull? Pigmentation's
unusual.
ROBBINS: Bingo ... or keno or whatever you prefer. Pronounced lack of
pigmentation near the midbrain, along with ... clearly diminished substantia
nigra. She had Parkinson's.
CATHERINE: Nick and Warrick did say that she was a little ... spacey when they
met her, but they didn't mention any shaking.
ROBBINS: Her disease was advanced. She was on some pretty heavy meds.
CATHERINE: Would they have shown up on a poison tox panel?
ROBBINS: No, but those kinds of medications can cause abnormal thinking and
behavior. Takes somebody with a very strong will to keep it hidden.
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI – HALLWAY / CATHERINE’S OFFICE]
(Grissom is heading into one of the labs when Catherine catches him.)
CATHERINE: Hey! How'd it go with the sheriff?
(Grissom steps into Catherine’s office.)
GRISSOM: Media's all over him. Which means he's all over the undersheriff,
who's all over Ecklie, who's blaming me for not going public with the Izzy
Delancy miniature like he told me to.
(Catherine shows him the test results.)
CATHERINE: Well, I got the final trace report on the bleach water that spilled
at the scene, but ... the fluid in the ear was biological. Water and proteins.
GRISSOM: Lipocalin, lactoferrin, lysozyme. Tears.
CATHERINE: (nods) Mm-hmm.
GRISSOM: The victim was crying?
CATHERINE: The smudges are from the pillow. There were no tear tracks. I
don't think the victim was crying. I think the killer was.
(Quick flash of: Peyton Tallman removes the pillow from Barbara’s face. He
cries.)
CATHERINE: (v.o.) When you cry, your tears sometimes can pick up skin cells
from your cheek.
(XCU: A single tear runs down his cheek and falls into Barbara’s ear cavity.)
END OF FLASHBACK
[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT – INTERVIEW ROOM]
(Catherine interviews Peyton Tallman. She shows him the test results.)
CATHERINE: The DNA in your tears that were found on your sister's body proves
that you were there. I imagine it was the hardest thing you've ever done. But
you did it.
PEYTON TALLMAN: You should've seen Barbara when she was young. She was fierce.
And fearless. She protected me. She was the smartest, the funniest, best
friend I could ask for in life. The Parkinson's just robbed her of everything.
She'd take medication; she'd go away. She'd get off medication. She'd become
lucid again, only in agony. She wanted to die in her own home.
CATHERINE: There's no ... assisted suicide protection in Nevada.
PEYTON TALLMAN: She said this was the perfect opportunity. She could get what
she wanted, and ... everyone would blame the ‘Miniature Killer.’
CATHERINE: I understand. You're under arrest.
CUT TO:
[INT. CSI – A/V LAB]
(On the monitor is the video footage from the birthday party held on MARCH 7,
1988. Then entire train is filled with kids.)
(Sara and Grissom are watching the video tapes.)
SARA: We reran the footage several times to get a head count. Assuming that
they're all Dell foster kids, there's 13 of them.
GRISSOM: At this birthday party?
SARA: Yeah. Lionel only remembered the first names, and only a few of those.
Getting the DHS records is going to be tough. Judges hate giving them out
unless we can demonstrate a pressing need ... and even then, they're spotty.
And a lot of a foster kids change their names when they age out.
GRISSOM: Ernie Dell confessed and killed himself to protect someone he loved.
And that someone has murdered five people.
(The kids on the video look like they’re having fun – girls and boys.)
GRISSOM: Eenie, meeny, miney, mo. Catch a monster by the toe.
(On the video, one of the boys elbows another boy. A dark-haired girl stops
him. The boy being elbowed turns and looks at the monitor.)
(The video ends.)
FADE TO BLACK.
THE END.
