CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000–2015): Season 9, Episode 19 - The Descent of Man - full transcript
Belgian tourist Pierre Delongue nearly died in his umpteenth sky dive, his equipment wasn't up to scratch, yet his team and its instructor are reputed for scrutiny. Nick's team works out what everybody is hiding and what happened. Langston's team is puzzled by the fate of a cult leader's corpse, found abandoned in the desert.
PIERRE:
Okay, we're rolling.
Let's go.
[PIERRE SPEAKING FRENCH]
Whoo!
MINK: Yahoo!
SCHUYLER: Whoo!
PIERRE:
Come back, come back.
- Now, come together.
MINK: Whoo-hoo!
PIERRE: And break.
MINK: Bye-bye. Whoo!
[PIERRE GRUNTING]
[GRUNTING]
Ah! Ah!
[SCREAMING]
[CRASH]
[PIERRE GROANING]
Buddy, are you all right?
Are you alive?
All right, don't move.
Pierre. Oh, my God.
Where the hell is the ambulance?
Go, go call an ambulance. Go.
SCHUYLER:
Okay, help, somebody.
Pierre, baby, baby, are you okay?
It's all right, sir,
do you feel your legs?
I'm gonna check his airway.
His airway's good.
Sir, I'm gonna take your helmet off.
[PIERRE GROANING]
Careful. It's okay, sir.
Do you know where you are?
Let's get that airway.
Let's get that airway package.
Let's get the backboard.
Do you understand me, sir?
[PIERRE GROANING]
We're crime scene investigators,
sheriff.
NICK: We don't normally get called out
on something like this.
SHERIFF:
But I'm telling you, this is a crime.
Look, I know the jumper, all right?
Pierre Delongue and I served together
in the French Foreign Legion.
What? It's a real thing.
Pierre's logged over 1,500 jumps.
He's absolutely fanatical
about preparation and safety.
His school hasn't had a single citation
of any kind.
You know what? He's too careful
to have something like this
happen by accident.
NICK:
All right.
We're gonna need
to talk to some witnesses.
SHERIFF:
I'll round them up.
NICK:
What do you got, Riley?
A helmet videocam.
I think it's still on.
You gonna help us out here?
NICK: Ma'am, we just need to know
what happened.
SCHUYLER: I'm sorry. I'm just--
I'm really emotional about this.
I just need a moment.
NICK:
It's okay. Take your time.
Did Pierre give any indication
that there was anything
wrong during the jump?
I don't know what happened.
You know, we made this jump,
like, a hundred times.
Everything was going perfect.
We formed the star,
backflipped, 360'd,
reformed exactly as planned.
We deployed,
- but he just kept falling.
PIERRE: Ah!
Everything was perfect, it was like...
Well, did you ever do it?
Well, I've done a little paragliding.
Oh, you should try the real thing,
you know?
Bodies linked in air.
And the earth coming at you
like the fist of death,
and the wind is, like,
it blows up your leg holes.
Pierre lived for that.
Bonjour.
They told me Pierre
have an accident.
- Yeah. Who are you?
- I'm Max Girard,
Pierre's partner.
Pierre and I, we have a jump school
there.
Is he dead?
He's at Desert Palm, man.
He's in pretty bad shape.
At least we can take comfort in the fact
that he died doing what he loved.
He's not dead yet.
Pierre and I are brothers.
Not really brothers, but like brothers.
We come here together from Belgium,
we build this business.
What happened to your leg?
Same thing that happened to my car.
It's nothing.
I will go to see my partner.
MINK: I wanna go, too.
SCHUYLER: So do I.
Sir, we may need to talk to you later.
Where can we find you?
At the hospital.
At Pierre's side.
Hey, les deux, into the car.
SCHUYLER:
Okay, go. Go, go, go.
So what do you think?
I think if you jump out
of a plane enough times,
that one day, one way or another,
your luck's gonna run out.
[VULTURE SCREECHING]
[VULTURES SQUAWKING]
When I first noticed Cathartes aura,
the common turkey vulture,
I assumed they were scavenging
some large desert mammal.
When I got closer--
Imagine my dismay.
[CAMERA CLICKS]
COP: And exactly what were you doing
out here all alone, sir?
MAN:
I'm a landscape photographer.
I used to be a bird-watcher,
but I gave it up. Too much death.
[FLIES BUZZING]
RAY:
The DB is a white male,
probably in his 30s.
Exposed flesh on the face, neck,
arms, legs appears to be scavenged.
The eye sockets are empty
and bloody.
Birds of prey always go for the eyeballs
first.
Yes. They're moist, nutritious,
easily reachable,
well before the hide has a chance
to ripen and burst.
The victim's clothing suggest a person
of a religious or ascetic nature.
The legs are folded
in the lotus position.
He may have been meditating
when he died.
Amongst the various animal tracks
consistent with the predation,
there is a single set of shoe
impressions leading to the body.
I swear, I never got any closer
than this.
Will you lift your feet, please?
Officer, you walked in
to check out the body
and walked out
using your own steps?
I took a class.
There is a single set
of barefoot human tracks.
I will document them,
determine whether they belong
to the victim.
There appear to be no other tracks,
but judging from the sandy
quality of the terrain,
it is possible someone walked in
and covered their tracks
on the way out.
Such a lonely place to die.
What place isn't, my friend?
What place isn't?
We find at least a couple guys
like this
out in the desert every year.
The sands tends to call out
to the spiritually inclined.
It's all very biblical
and very dusty.
RAY:
He had plenty of water.
So I guess he didn't die
of dehydration.
Hm.
Pistachios. My favorite nut.
Salty and easy to open.
Speaking of which, shall we?
Indeed.
Nice ink.
"Holy Steven."
"Spread the word. I am come."
And you is gone.
- Hey.
- Hey.
How's the jumper?
Well, you could ask his pelvis,
which you will find in his rib cage.
His neck is broken,
his legs are broken,
his ribs and fingers are broken.
Basically, all of him is broken.
- Is he still in surgery?
- Yeah.
Okay. Here's what I got.
This is Pierre's rig,
and this is an identical,
properly-packed chute.
We know the EMS team cut Pierre
out of his rig before they moved him.
But the canopy is only connected
to the harness on one side.
That would've tangled the chute.
Main chute rip cord's here,
cutaway harness here.
Both were deployed.
Okay, hold on. What's a cutaway?
Okay, the cutaway mechanism's
designed
to release the canopy
from the harness entirely.
It's not meant to be deployed
in mid-air
unless this main chute here
is tangled.
So if it was deployed,
why didn't the main chute
detach completely?
Because of this pull-up cord
right here.
It's designed to crimp these straps
together on the chute while packing it.
It's then released before the jumper
puts on the harness.
But on Pierre's chute,
a little piece of it's broken off,
preventing the three-ring mechanism
from releasing the riser.
So what you're saying is
it's simple equipment failure?
If that were the only thing wrong,
yeah, I would be.
But Pierre's reserve chute
was still packed.
It failed to deploy, even though
he pulled the reserve handle.
How do you know that?
Because of this little cable.
It's supposed to have a crimped
cap on the end, like this.
Without it, wire goes through reserve
chute's D-ring without activating it.
PIERRE:
Ah!
I'm telling you,
the odds against a double failure
like this are astronomical.
I thought these guys were fanatical
about checking their own equipment.
They're supposed to be.
I'll swab these release mechanisms
for touch DNA
and see if anybody else
put their paws on Pierre's stuff.
I'm thinking somebody...
- ...messed with his chute.
- Messed with his chute.
Yeah.
ROBBINS: All of the animal bites
were postmortem.
I found teeth impressions,
probably coyotes,
as well as beaked birds of prey.
But they didn't get very far.
He wasn't dead very long.
When I got there, rigor was still full.
ROBBINS:
Interesting.
Amoeboid-shaped bleed
on the cerebrum.
Spans the junction of the motor cortex
and the sensory cortex.
It runs deep.
Yeah, hematoma's
definitely large enough to be COD.
Corresponds to this injury here.
That doesn't look like an animal bite.
More likely blunt force trauma.
You're saying someone cracked him
on the top of his head?
Fall would have caused trauma
to the forehead,
back or side of the head.
This injury's right on top.
He was sitting cross-legged
when he died.
It's virtually impossible to fall and hit
the top of your head from that position.
[PHONE RINGING]
Excuse me.
- This is Langston.
BRASS: Hey, professor.
Yeah, I was running a check
on Holy Steven.
He wasn't hard to find.
He likes to preach
at downtown shelters.
Anyway, his name is not Steven,
by the way.
It's Mark Von Grovestreet.
- Why'd he change it?
- I have no idea.
Anyway, I have an address.
You might like to come along.
[CHANTING]
Hi. Las Vegas Police.
I'm Detective Jim Brass.
This is Ray Langston
from the crime lab.
Welcome. Welcome, welcome.
Welcome, siblings.
Welcome to The Church
of the Holy George.
- And you are..?
- He.
George.
GEORGE: Here, please.
RAY: Thank you, George.
What happened to The Church
of the Holy Steven?
Have you not heard the word?
No, The Steven
is the divine Second Coming.
He is the mouthpiece and messenger
and clarion of God.
- He's also dead.
- Yeah.
You don't seem too surprised
to hear that. Why is that?
I had a vision that it was so.
BRASS:
Oh, really? Okay.
So when was the last time
you saw him?
I mean, other than your dream.
[CHANTING]
RAY:
George.
[LAUGHS]
Yes, The Steven and I
wandered in the desert
for three days and two nights.
On the third day,
The Steven instructed me
to return to spread his word
as my own
to the people
of the cities and towns.
And he bestowed his staff upon me,
and then he continued on
into the desert alone.
I held his rod and staff,
and I saw that it was good.
But then I wept,
for I knew that Steven's quest
was for reabsorption
into the total animal soup of time.
You mean you knew
that The Steven was going to die?
Oh, no, there is no death,
only transmogrification.
Well, that's a relief.
[LAUGHING]
So when did all this happen?
- What's today?
- Friday.
Yes. We left on Saturday,
and then I returned on Tuesday.
And that's when you
renamed your church.
I did. You saw. Yes, I did.
Is that the staff there?
Oh, yes it is. Indeed, it is.
Wow, this is just like Sunday school.
Here's the Gospel according to Jim.
I think you took that staff
and clubbed the Holy Steve
like a baby harp seal
so you could become
the number one sky pilot
and take over this whole operation.
- You do?
- Yes, I do.
Yes.
Yes, I did.
I raised the staff, as Abraham to Isaac,
but there was no angel
to stay my hand so...
- I smote him.
- You smote him.
You realize that's a confession?
You understand that?
Yes, yes.
- Are you going to arrest me?
- Yes, I am.
Yes. Yes.
[INHALES DEEPLY & EXHALES]
Okay, testing, testing.
What did one dehydrated Frenchman
say to the other?
"What do you want me to do,
pee air?"
[SCHUYLER LAUGHING]
- Okay, let's go.
SCHUYLER: Pierre, you're so funny.
It all looks like
standard operating procedure.
PIERRE:
Hello, mon 'ti chou.
Hello. Hey, baby.
Okay.
[PIERRE SPEAKS FRENCH]
Looks like a little bit of tension
between the two ladies there.
NICK:
Mm-hm.
MINK:
Whoo!
Hold on, freeze it, right there.
Look at their hands.
Either one of those chicks
could have deployed
Pierre's cutaway release
right there in free fall,
after he'd already
checked his rig on the plane.
You ever think about skydiving?
- Not anymore.
- Keep playing it.
MINK: Whoo!
SCHUYLER: Whoo!
[PIERRE GRUNTING & SCREAMING]
I think it's about time
I had a little chat with the ladies.
Pierre, Max, Mink and me,
we were like--
We were like one big happy family.
Closer, even.
We trusted each other
with our lives every day.
We all loved each other so much.
Pierre loved to make me laugh.
He was so funny.
Pee air.
Get it, Pierre?
SCHUYLER:
He was a wild man.
Big where it counts. In his heart.
I mean, I don't even know
what I'm doing here.
My fiancé is dying,
and I just don't understand
what all of you people want from me.
"Fiancé"? Wait. She called him that?
She called him her fiancé?
She doesn't even speak French.
He was never gonna marry her.
That pathetic, deluded bitch.
She called me a bitch?
- That--
- Bitch.
She thinks that I don't know
what she was doing.
Sneaking around,
trying to take him away from me.
I am the one he loved.
He was just doing her out of pity.
Pity? She said that?
Unbelievable.
What a slut.
You know what I think?
I think maybe you killed Pierre
out of jealousy.
- What?
- You heard me.
Really?
MAX:
Don't let either of them fool you.
In my opinion, they could have
decided to kill him together.
Just to get off on watching him die.
They're both conniving, diseased,
- camel-hooved 'ores.
- 'Ore?
- Whores.
- Whores.
Well, it's cozy,
For a morgue.
What do you have for me, Wendy?
I got the results from the staff
of Holy Steven.
I recovered epithelials on the handle,
in the normal grip positions.
All the DNA was either from Steven
himself or from his disciple, George.
- What about the business end?
- Nothing, actually. That's what's weird.
There was no blood from the victim,
no epithelials
so honestly, I don't think
he used that to whack him.
Why would he confess to killing
Steven with it?
I don't know.
- I wanna show you something.
- Okay.
Take a look at this.
The Gospel according to Steven.
Greetings, siblings.
Today we learn the lesson
of the barista
who taught me, Steven, this lesson.
I did not want whipped cream
on my half-caf venti mocha latte.
But when it arrived so
and I mentioned it,
the barista said,
"Dude, we're slammed here.
Can't you just spoon it out?"
And I realized I could, and I did.
And thus, I freed myself
of the conflict
that would afflict all the other
good people in line.
So remember, siblings,
in all things,
be supple of thought
and pliant of deed.
The central tenets of his faith
seem to be based
on the concept of acquiescence.
Well, I suppose there are worse things
to base a religion on.
I suppose so.
- You don't think he did it.
- No.
But I think the power of Steven
may have compelled him.
So according to this, you said that
you struck The Steven with his staff.
You smote him.
- That isn't true, is it?
- Yeah-- No.
What did you hit him with?
It says here a large rock.
- Yes.
- No, wait a minute, a branch of a tree.
- Yes.
- No, a hockey stick.
Yes.
- You didn't really kill Steven, did you?
- No.
So why did you confess to murder?
Well, I try to live my life
according to the 17th
Proclamation of The Steven.
From his second sermon
at the Starbucks.
Oh, I missed that one.
"It is better to be agreeable
than to be right."
That's not religion, that's marriage.
[LAUGHS]
That's very...
So you didn't kill Steven?
- Yes. No.
- You did?
- Yes.
- You killed him?
- No.
- Are you clinically insane
or just incredibly annoying?
What would you prefer?
Look, would you mind submitting
to a psychological evaluation?
- No.
- I don't even know why I asked.
CATHERINE:
So in other words, he's crazy?
RAY:
Or crazy like a fox,
or there was evidence of someone else
at the scene and I didn't find it.
Well, you've got no murder weapon
and no other suspects.
I mean, maybe your vic
just fell over and bumped his head.
It's been known to happen.
I'm going over to PD
to wait for the DHS psychologist.
- I'll fill him in on agreeable George.
- Okay.
- Hey, Catherine.
- Yeah?
I just got a double 420 in Seven Hills.
You interested?
- Let's do it.
- All right.
[SIREN WAILS]
Okay, we got two dead bodies.
The wife discovered the two victims
when she returned from L.A.
from visiting her sister.
- Her name is Gretchen Javid.
- Oh, you're not listening to me.
I am telling you, my husband
was never without his bodyguard.
Sir, my husband was never
without his bodyguard.
And his bodyguard is missing.
Please, somebody help her out.
Get her some medication.
You need to stay calm, ma'am.
I'm having an anxiety attack.
Help me, please.
BRASS: Officer Akers was
the first respondent on the scene.
Okay, so...
Victim number one is Ismail Javid.
He's the owner of the house.
And victim number two is his
business partner, Allen McKenna.
Now, they own a company
called Isfahan Marble and Tile.
They did the new lobby
at the Marrakesh.
I've seen it. It's grotesque.
This is worse.
ANDY: When I arrived,
I found no sign of forced entry.
Nothing disturbed in the house.
No sign of a struggle.
And they still had their wallets,
so robbery doesn't seem to be--
[GAGS]
Excuse me. Sorry.
Must have been something I ate.
Well, I don't need you
puking on my crime scene, Andy,
so go ahead and take off.
I've got it covered here.
Thanks.
Hey. I don't see any external
wounds or injuries,
and they're just coming out of rigor.
So they've probably been dead
since early last night.
Maybe a little longer.
Whatever killed them
looks like it hurt.
Yeah, both their necks are flushed.
That's usually a characteristic
of heart attack.
DAVID:
Simultaneous coronary seizures?
That's kind of unlikely, don't you think?
GREG:
Very.
Maybe they were poisoned.
I'll take that stuff to Tox.
So I ran the DNA
from the female skydivers
against the sample
that you took from the...
- Cutaway handle?
- Yes, thank you.
And anyway, neither one
of them was on it.
In fact, the only DNA that I did find
was from Pierre himself.
- Really?
- Mm-hm.
RAY: [ON PHONE] Langston.
- Hey, yeah, Ray,
I'm just wondering when
you're gonna be getting back here.
Because callouts
are starting to pile up.
Well, I'm all done here.
I should be back at the lab
in 15, 20 minutes.
Oh, perfect because I really--
[ANDY GRUNTING]
Ray? Ray, what's going on?
SCHUYLER: This is Dispatch.
We need paramedics.
I'll take care of him.
He was in coronary arrhythmia,
very close to full arrest.
- Is there a history of heart disease?
- None.
Hey, Andy. How you feeling?
Fine. Just get somebody to take
these wires off, and I'll go home.
That's not going to happen
anytime soon, son.
Andy, I need you to walk me through
exactly what you did
when you reported
to the 420 in Seven Hills.
I responded to the call.
Arrived first,
ahead of EMS.
Wife met me at the door.
Led me to the backyard.
GRETCHEN:
Let me through. Let me through.
ANDY: I checked the vics for pulse,
but they were gone.
So I taped the scene off
and I waited for you guys
to show up.
Were you wearing gloves?
No. There was no reason to.
Was there?
Something at the scene induced
heart attacks in both my victims.
I think Akers was exposed to it, too.
Think it came from something
they both touched?
- I do.
MAN: Out of the way, please.
SCHUYLER:
Clear the way, coming through.
I am telling you....
I'm having an anxiety attack. Help me.
CATHERINE:
That was the victim's wife.
Jim, we need to quarantine
the crime scene in Seven Hills.
I think there's a contact toxin
involved.
Include the entire house
and adjacent yards.
And no one enters
without HAZMAT.
So I found a very faint
powdery trace
on all the surfaces I examined.
It's a digitoxin.
A naturally-occurring
organic compound.
It's a cardiac glycoside.
Used in heart medication.
In small doses it is beneficial
to healthy heart function,
but in higher doses
it causes arrhythmia,
and in extreme concentrations,
such as those found
in the tissues of both vics, death.
But fortunately,
it becomes inert fairly quickly.
Okay, so that explains
why Officer Akers and Mrs. Javid
survived the exposure.
GREG: We have to go back
and check the yard.
Is there a reagent
that can detect the digitoxin?
Yeah, a diluted solution
of perchloric acid
exposed to UV light
will induce fluorescence.
Try saying that ten times fast.
HODGES: The glycosides
are completely contained
within the backyard.
CATHERINE: What does that dispersal
pattern suggest to you?
Well, that the house was targeted,
the toxins were dropped from above.
Yeah, yeah, that's what we think.
Well, you had said that the victims
looked like they were caught
completely unaware.
What kind of aircraft can fly that low
and that quiet
without them even noticing?
GREG: Way ahead of you, Hodges.
Ultralights.
They're extremely maneuverable and
able to fly very slow without stalling.
If they used one of these,
they conceivably could have
gained altitude, then cut the engine,
and glided silently
very low across the yard.
Then after the drop, the pilot
could have restarted the engine
and landed just about anywhere.
We know that the TOD
was sometime the night before last.
Greg, get me a latitude
and longitude for the yard.
- I got an idea.
GREG: Okay.
[BEEPING]
Okay,
I've got tracking data
from the tower at McCarran
for over flight of latitude 36-10-27,
longitude 122-15-10 at 2238 hours
the day before yesterday.
GREG:
There's one ultralight in the area.
There's the house.
And that's where the craft
dropped off radar
when it descended
and dropped the digitoxin.
I wonder how they knew
the vics would even be there.
Bodyguard
must have tipped them off.
Did the craft transponder
relay any registration info?
I'm not getting anything.
Can you widen the view
and show me where they went?
[BEEPING]
He headed towards Denim Field.
Also the apparent point of origin.
That must be where he landed.
Let's check out the perspective view.
Whoever was piloting it
brought it in on this ancillary runway.
GREG:
Private airstrip.
No security.
CATHERINE:
Wait. Go back.
There.
NICK: [ON PHONE] Stokes.
- Hey, Nicky,
your jumper case got tangled up
in mine.
[SIRENS WAILING]
MAX:
Hey, Pierre?
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
BRASS
Bonjour, Max.
How's the patient?
They say maybe
he never walk again.
Never speak.
Imagine.
BRASS:
Ouch.
Can you hear me, Pierre?
COMPUTER:
Yes.
Good.
Look, I got a problem,
and I think maybe you two guys
can help me out.
I already told you all that I know
about Pierre's accident.
No, it's not about the accident.
It's about the fact that your glider
was used in a poison dump
to kill a couple of guys
the night before last.
Hey, I'm sure I have no idea
what you are talking about.
Well, maybe not.
But I bet Pierre
might have something to say about it.
There is nothing to tell.
Is that right, Pierre?
I get the feeling that you
really want to tell us what happened,
in every detail. Right?
COMPUTER:
Yes.
Pierre, be very careful
what you say, my friend, huh?
Yeah. Be very careful.
But tell us what happened,
word by word.
I don't care how long it takes,
I can wait.
COMPUTER:
Was night.
Cell ring.
Max.
He want me to fly.
Okay. Okay.
There was a man, a very bad man,
he want me to fly him at night.
He say he want to make
aerial photography.
He offer me $5,000,
but I did not believe him.
I say no, I have no license
to fly at night.
But then he get meaner.
He threaten to hurt my family.
He knows my children's name,
where we live, tout ça.
So I agree to meet him at airport.
But I was so nervous,
I got in car accident.
[CRASH]
Pierre. Pick up, pick up.
[MINK LAUGHING]
[PHONE RINGING]
- Hello?
MAX: Pierre.
For the love of God,
just meet this guy at the airfield,
take him up in the ultralight,
follow directions,
and don't ask any questions.
- I pay you $5,000.
- I can do this for you, my friend.
Yes, my friend.
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
- Pierre.
- Pierre has business to attend to.
MAX: Pierre had no idea
what was going on.
He said take it down. Now.
[LAUGHING]
Two million bucks in the bank.
Now.
It's starting to rain?
MAX: He knew he had done something
terribly wrong.
He was very upset.
But I told him to calm himself.
I told him we had to do our jobs
and keep silent.
You realize this makes you
an accomplice.
You know that, right?
I understand.
But I really had no idea
what was going to happen.
Did one of the killers
mess with your parachute?
Did he tamper it in any way?
COMPUTER:
No.
It... was...
Me.
Because you couldn't bear
what you'd done,
- and you decided to kill yourself.
- Yes.
You didn't want
to be thought of as a coward,
so you rigged your own chute to fail.
But even that failed, isn't that so?
Yes.
[MAX CRYING]
BRASS:
Max.
I need a name.
SCHUYLER: [ON TV]
A professional bodyguard
and a second, unidentified man
were arrested early this morning
for the alleged killing of Ismail Javid
and Allen McKenna, co-owners
of Isfahan Marble and Stone,
just two days ago.
There is speculation
that the second man,
a Kurdish crop duster,
who was reputedly obsessed
with the movie North by Northwest,
was hired by the owner of rival Iranian
marble importers to kill the men,
possibly in a dispute over contracts
in the dwindling housing market.
Authorities have declined
to make a statement at this time.
NICK:
Well, there's a story for you.
I think I'll sell it to Hollyweird,
get rich.
RILEY: I thought we had a trade
embargo on Iranian imports.
We do, but those guys
just ship the product
to a second neutral country
in the area like the UAE,
transship it here,
resell it to themselves at cost.
It's technically legal
and Commerce turns a blind eye.
And then they kill each other here
over construction contracts.
- Those Persian dudes are tough.
- They were once an empire
that stretched
halfway across the known world.
The Greek playwright Aeschylus
wrote about the territorial ambitions
of the Persian Empire against Greece
in his great cycle of tragedy and war,
The Persians,
fifth century, B.C.
I will definitely put that
on my reading list.
- Anyone wanna grab some breakfast?
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Are you always thinking about food?
None of you has read Aeschylus?
- I've been meaning to.
- Well, you should.
He was a writer of tremendous power,
great beauty.
His death was--
RAY:
As an old man in 456 B.C.,
Aeschylus,
the great body of his work behind him,
left Athens for the last time,
where he traveled to Sicily,
seeking solitude in the wilderness
in which to contemplate
the meaning of his life.
Though he had fought and survived
the endless bloody wars
against the Persian kings
Darius and Xerxes,
it was here, in silent meditation,
that a beautiful act of a most violent
nature brought him to Elysium
and eternal paradise.
You really gonna put that
in your report?
Birds of prey drop shelled animals
onto boulders to get at the meat.
Now, from the air,
Holy Steven's head
must have looked like
just another rock.
You can Google it
if you don't believe me.
- The DNA on the shell was a match.
- What are the odds, right?
Before it happened,
I would have said slim,
but since it did happen,
a hundred percent.
CATHERINE: Seems like a lot of things
keep falling out of the sky, right?
Poison, people, turtles.
RAY: Tortoises.
CATHERINE: Whatever.
Maybe I should start
wearing a helmet.
Or at least carrying an umbrella.
Okay, we're rolling.
Let's go.
[PIERRE SPEAKING FRENCH]
Whoo!
MINK: Yahoo!
SCHUYLER: Whoo!
PIERRE:
Come back, come back.
- Now, come together.
MINK: Whoo-hoo!
PIERRE: And break.
MINK: Bye-bye. Whoo!
[PIERRE GRUNTING]
[GRUNTING]
Ah! Ah!
[SCREAMING]
[CRASH]
[PIERRE GROANING]
Buddy, are you all right?
Are you alive?
All right, don't move.
Pierre. Oh, my God.
Where the hell is the ambulance?
Go, go call an ambulance. Go.
SCHUYLER:
Okay, help, somebody.
Pierre, baby, baby, are you okay?
It's all right, sir,
do you feel your legs?
I'm gonna check his airway.
His airway's good.
Sir, I'm gonna take your helmet off.
[PIERRE GROANING]
Careful. It's okay, sir.
Do you know where you are?
Let's get that airway.
Let's get that airway package.
Let's get the backboard.
Do you understand me, sir?
[PIERRE GROANING]
We're crime scene investigators,
sheriff.
NICK: We don't normally get called out
on something like this.
SHERIFF:
But I'm telling you, this is a crime.
Look, I know the jumper, all right?
Pierre Delongue and I served together
in the French Foreign Legion.
What? It's a real thing.
Pierre's logged over 1,500 jumps.
He's absolutely fanatical
about preparation and safety.
His school hasn't had a single citation
of any kind.
You know what? He's too careful
to have something like this
happen by accident.
NICK:
All right.
We're gonna need
to talk to some witnesses.
SHERIFF:
I'll round them up.
NICK:
What do you got, Riley?
A helmet videocam.
I think it's still on.
You gonna help us out here?
NICK: Ma'am, we just need to know
what happened.
SCHUYLER: I'm sorry. I'm just--
I'm really emotional about this.
I just need a moment.
NICK:
It's okay. Take your time.
Did Pierre give any indication
that there was anything
wrong during the jump?
I don't know what happened.
You know, we made this jump,
like, a hundred times.
Everything was going perfect.
We formed the star,
backflipped, 360'd,
reformed exactly as planned.
We deployed,
- but he just kept falling.
PIERRE: Ah!
Everything was perfect, it was like...
Well, did you ever do it?
Well, I've done a little paragliding.
Oh, you should try the real thing,
you know?
Bodies linked in air.
And the earth coming at you
like the fist of death,
and the wind is, like,
it blows up your leg holes.
Pierre lived for that.
Bonjour.
They told me Pierre
have an accident.
- Yeah. Who are you?
- I'm Max Girard,
Pierre's partner.
Pierre and I, we have a jump school
there.
Is he dead?
He's at Desert Palm, man.
He's in pretty bad shape.
At least we can take comfort in the fact
that he died doing what he loved.
He's not dead yet.
Pierre and I are brothers.
Not really brothers, but like brothers.
We come here together from Belgium,
we build this business.
What happened to your leg?
Same thing that happened to my car.
It's nothing.
I will go to see my partner.
MINK: I wanna go, too.
SCHUYLER: So do I.
Sir, we may need to talk to you later.
Where can we find you?
At the hospital.
At Pierre's side.
Hey, les deux, into the car.
SCHUYLER:
Okay, go. Go, go, go.
So what do you think?
I think if you jump out
of a plane enough times,
that one day, one way or another,
your luck's gonna run out.
[VULTURE SCREECHING]
[VULTURES SQUAWKING]
When I first noticed Cathartes aura,
the common turkey vulture,
I assumed they were scavenging
some large desert mammal.
When I got closer--
Imagine my dismay.
[CAMERA CLICKS]
COP: And exactly what were you doing
out here all alone, sir?
MAN:
I'm a landscape photographer.
I used to be a bird-watcher,
but I gave it up. Too much death.
[FLIES BUZZING]
RAY:
The DB is a white male,
probably in his 30s.
Exposed flesh on the face, neck,
arms, legs appears to be scavenged.
The eye sockets are empty
and bloody.
Birds of prey always go for the eyeballs
first.
Yes. They're moist, nutritious,
easily reachable,
well before the hide has a chance
to ripen and burst.
The victim's clothing suggest a person
of a religious or ascetic nature.
The legs are folded
in the lotus position.
He may have been meditating
when he died.
Amongst the various animal tracks
consistent with the predation,
there is a single set of shoe
impressions leading to the body.
I swear, I never got any closer
than this.
Will you lift your feet, please?
Officer, you walked in
to check out the body
and walked out
using your own steps?
I took a class.
There is a single set
of barefoot human tracks.
I will document them,
determine whether they belong
to the victim.
There appear to be no other tracks,
but judging from the sandy
quality of the terrain,
it is possible someone walked in
and covered their tracks
on the way out.
Such a lonely place to die.
What place isn't, my friend?
What place isn't?
We find at least a couple guys
like this
out in the desert every year.
The sands tends to call out
to the spiritually inclined.
It's all very biblical
and very dusty.
RAY:
He had plenty of water.
So I guess he didn't die
of dehydration.
Hm.
Pistachios. My favorite nut.
Salty and easy to open.
Speaking of which, shall we?
Indeed.
Nice ink.
"Holy Steven."
"Spread the word. I am come."
And you is gone.
- Hey.
- Hey.
How's the jumper?
Well, you could ask his pelvis,
which you will find in his rib cage.
His neck is broken,
his legs are broken,
his ribs and fingers are broken.
Basically, all of him is broken.
- Is he still in surgery?
- Yeah.
Okay. Here's what I got.
This is Pierre's rig,
and this is an identical,
properly-packed chute.
We know the EMS team cut Pierre
out of his rig before they moved him.
But the canopy is only connected
to the harness on one side.
That would've tangled the chute.
Main chute rip cord's here,
cutaway harness here.
Both were deployed.
Okay, hold on. What's a cutaway?
Okay, the cutaway mechanism's
designed
to release the canopy
from the harness entirely.
It's not meant to be deployed
in mid-air
unless this main chute here
is tangled.
So if it was deployed,
why didn't the main chute
detach completely?
Because of this pull-up cord
right here.
It's designed to crimp these straps
together on the chute while packing it.
It's then released before the jumper
puts on the harness.
But on Pierre's chute,
a little piece of it's broken off,
preventing the three-ring mechanism
from releasing the riser.
So what you're saying is
it's simple equipment failure?
If that were the only thing wrong,
yeah, I would be.
But Pierre's reserve chute
was still packed.
It failed to deploy, even though
he pulled the reserve handle.
How do you know that?
Because of this little cable.
It's supposed to have a crimped
cap on the end, like this.
Without it, wire goes through reserve
chute's D-ring without activating it.
PIERRE:
Ah!
I'm telling you,
the odds against a double failure
like this are astronomical.
I thought these guys were fanatical
about checking their own equipment.
They're supposed to be.
I'll swab these release mechanisms
for touch DNA
and see if anybody else
put their paws on Pierre's stuff.
I'm thinking somebody...
- ...messed with his chute.
- Messed with his chute.
Yeah.
ROBBINS: All of the animal bites
were postmortem.
I found teeth impressions,
probably coyotes,
as well as beaked birds of prey.
But they didn't get very far.
He wasn't dead very long.
When I got there, rigor was still full.
ROBBINS:
Interesting.
Amoeboid-shaped bleed
on the cerebrum.
Spans the junction of the motor cortex
and the sensory cortex.
It runs deep.
Yeah, hematoma's
definitely large enough to be COD.
Corresponds to this injury here.
That doesn't look like an animal bite.
More likely blunt force trauma.
You're saying someone cracked him
on the top of his head?
Fall would have caused trauma
to the forehead,
back or side of the head.
This injury's right on top.
He was sitting cross-legged
when he died.
It's virtually impossible to fall and hit
the top of your head from that position.
[PHONE RINGING]
Excuse me.
- This is Langston.
BRASS: Hey, professor.
Yeah, I was running a check
on Holy Steven.
He wasn't hard to find.
He likes to preach
at downtown shelters.
Anyway, his name is not Steven,
by the way.
It's Mark Von Grovestreet.
- Why'd he change it?
- I have no idea.
Anyway, I have an address.
You might like to come along.
[CHANTING]
Hi. Las Vegas Police.
I'm Detective Jim Brass.
This is Ray Langston
from the crime lab.
Welcome. Welcome, welcome.
Welcome, siblings.
Welcome to The Church
of the Holy George.
- And you are..?
- He.
George.
GEORGE: Here, please.
RAY: Thank you, George.
What happened to The Church
of the Holy Steven?
Have you not heard the word?
No, The Steven
is the divine Second Coming.
He is the mouthpiece and messenger
and clarion of God.
- He's also dead.
- Yeah.
You don't seem too surprised
to hear that. Why is that?
I had a vision that it was so.
BRASS:
Oh, really? Okay.
So when was the last time
you saw him?
I mean, other than your dream.
[CHANTING]
RAY:
George.
[LAUGHS]
Yes, The Steven and I
wandered in the desert
for three days and two nights.
On the third day,
The Steven instructed me
to return to spread his word
as my own
to the people
of the cities and towns.
And he bestowed his staff upon me,
and then he continued on
into the desert alone.
I held his rod and staff,
and I saw that it was good.
But then I wept,
for I knew that Steven's quest
was for reabsorption
into the total animal soup of time.
You mean you knew
that The Steven was going to die?
Oh, no, there is no death,
only transmogrification.
Well, that's a relief.
[LAUGHING]
So when did all this happen?
- What's today?
- Friday.
Yes. We left on Saturday,
and then I returned on Tuesday.
And that's when you
renamed your church.
I did. You saw. Yes, I did.
Is that the staff there?
Oh, yes it is. Indeed, it is.
Wow, this is just like Sunday school.
Here's the Gospel according to Jim.
I think you took that staff
and clubbed the Holy Steve
like a baby harp seal
so you could become
the number one sky pilot
and take over this whole operation.
- You do?
- Yes, I do.
Yes.
Yes, I did.
I raised the staff, as Abraham to Isaac,
but there was no angel
to stay my hand so...
- I smote him.
- You smote him.
You realize that's a confession?
You understand that?
Yes, yes.
- Are you going to arrest me?
- Yes, I am.
Yes. Yes.
[INHALES DEEPLY & EXHALES]
Okay, testing, testing.
What did one dehydrated Frenchman
say to the other?
"What do you want me to do,
pee air?"
[SCHUYLER LAUGHING]
- Okay, let's go.
SCHUYLER: Pierre, you're so funny.
It all looks like
standard operating procedure.
PIERRE:
Hello, mon 'ti chou.
Hello. Hey, baby.
Okay.
[PIERRE SPEAKS FRENCH]
Looks like a little bit of tension
between the two ladies there.
NICK:
Mm-hm.
MINK:
Whoo!
Hold on, freeze it, right there.
Look at their hands.
Either one of those chicks
could have deployed
Pierre's cutaway release
right there in free fall,
after he'd already
checked his rig on the plane.
You ever think about skydiving?
- Not anymore.
- Keep playing it.
MINK: Whoo!
SCHUYLER: Whoo!
[PIERRE GRUNTING & SCREAMING]
I think it's about time
I had a little chat with the ladies.
Pierre, Max, Mink and me,
we were like--
We were like one big happy family.
Closer, even.
We trusted each other
with our lives every day.
We all loved each other so much.
Pierre loved to make me laugh.
He was so funny.
Pee air.
Get it, Pierre?
SCHUYLER:
He was a wild man.
Big where it counts. In his heart.
I mean, I don't even know
what I'm doing here.
My fiancé is dying,
and I just don't understand
what all of you people want from me.
"Fiancé"? Wait. She called him that?
She called him her fiancé?
She doesn't even speak French.
He was never gonna marry her.
That pathetic, deluded bitch.
She called me a bitch?
- That--
- Bitch.
She thinks that I don't know
what she was doing.
Sneaking around,
trying to take him away from me.
I am the one he loved.
He was just doing her out of pity.
Pity? She said that?
Unbelievable.
What a slut.
You know what I think?
I think maybe you killed Pierre
out of jealousy.
- What?
- You heard me.
Really?
MAX:
Don't let either of them fool you.
In my opinion, they could have
decided to kill him together.
Just to get off on watching him die.
They're both conniving, diseased,
- camel-hooved 'ores.
- 'Ore?
- Whores.
- Whores.
Well, it's cozy,
For a morgue.
What do you have for me, Wendy?
I got the results from the staff
of Holy Steven.
I recovered epithelials on the handle,
in the normal grip positions.
All the DNA was either from Steven
himself or from his disciple, George.
- What about the business end?
- Nothing, actually. That's what's weird.
There was no blood from the victim,
no epithelials
so honestly, I don't think
he used that to whack him.
Why would he confess to killing
Steven with it?
I don't know.
- I wanna show you something.
- Okay.
Take a look at this.
The Gospel according to Steven.
Greetings, siblings.
Today we learn the lesson
of the barista
who taught me, Steven, this lesson.
I did not want whipped cream
on my half-caf venti mocha latte.
But when it arrived so
and I mentioned it,
the barista said,
"Dude, we're slammed here.
Can't you just spoon it out?"
And I realized I could, and I did.
And thus, I freed myself
of the conflict
that would afflict all the other
good people in line.
So remember, siblings,
in all things,
be supple of thought
and pliant of deed.
The central tenets of his faith
seem to be based
on the concept of acquiescence.
Well, I suppose there are worse things
to base a religion on.
I suppose so.
- You don't think he did it.
- No.
But I think the power of Steven
may have compelled him.
So according to this, you said that
you struck The Steven with his staff.
You smote him.
- That isn't true, is it?
- Yeah-- No.
What did you hit him with?
It says here a large rock.
- Yes.
- No, wait a minute, a branch of a tree.
- Yes.
- No, a hockey stick.
Yes.
- You didn't really kill Steven, did you?
- No.
So why did you confess to murder?
Well, I try to live my life
according to the 17th
Proclamation of The Steven.
From his second sermon
at the Starbucks.
Oh, I missed that one.
"It is better to be agreeable
than to be right."
That's not religion, that's marriage.
[LAUGHS]
That's very...
So you didn't kill Steven?
- Yes. No.
- You did?
- Yes.
- You killed him?
- No.
- Are you clinically insane
or just incredibly annoying?
What would you prefer?
Look, would you mind submitting
to a psychological evaluation?
- No.
- I don't even know why I asked.
CATHERINE:
So in other words, he's crazy?
RAY:
Or crazy like a fox,
or there was evidence of someone else
at the scene and I didn't find it.
Well, you've got no murder weapon
and no other suspects.
I mean, maybe your vic
just fell over and bumped his head.
It's been known to happen.
I'm going over to PD
to wait for the DHS psychologist.
- I'll fill him in on agreeable George.
- Okay.
- Hey, Catherine.
- Yeah?
I just got a double 420 in Seven Hills.
You interested?
- Let's do it.
- All right.
[SIREN WAILS]
Okay, we got two dead bodies.
The wife discovered the two victims
when she returned from L.A.
from visiting her sister.
- Her name is Gretchen Javid.
- Oh, you're not listening to me.
I am telling you, my husband
was never without his bodyguard.
Sir, my husband was never
without his bodyguard.
And his bodyguard is missing.
Please, somebody help her out.
Get her some medication.
You need to stay calm, ma'am.
I'm having an anxiety attack.
Help me, please.
BRASS: Officer Akers was
the first respondent on the scene.
Okay, so...
Victim number one is Ismail Javid.
He's the owner of the house.
And victim number two is his
business partner, Allen McKenna.
Now, they own a company
called Isfahan Marble and Tile.
They did the new lobby
at the Marrakesh.
I've seen it. It's grotesque.
This is worse.
ANDY: When I arrived,
I found no sign of forced entry.
Nothing disturbed in the house.
No sign of a struggle.
And they still had their wallets,
so robbery doesn't seem to be--
[GAGS]
Excuse me. Sorry.
Must have been something I ate.
Well, I don't need you
puking on my crime scene, Andy,
so go ahead and take off.
I've got it covered here.
Thanks.
Hey. I don't see any external
wounds or injuries,
and they're just coming out of rigor.
So they've probably been dead
since early last night.
Maybe a little longer.
Whatever killed them
looks like it hurt.
Yeah, both their necks are flushed.
That's usually a characteristic
of heart attack.
DAVID:
Simultaneous coronary seizures?
That's kind of unlikely, don't you think?
GREG:
Very.
Maybe they were poisoned.
I'll take that stuff to Tox.
So I ran the DNA
from the female skydivers
against the sample
that you took from the...
- Cutaway handle?
- Yes, thank you.
And anyway, neither one
of them was on it.
In fact, the only DNA that I did find
was from Pierre himself.
- Really?
- Mm-hm.
RAY: [ON PHONE] Langston.
- Hey, yeah, Ray,
I'm just wondering when
you're gonna be getting back here.
Because callouts
are starting to pile up.
Well, I'm all done here.
I should be back at the lab
in 15, 20 minutes.
Oh, perfect because I really--
[ANDY GRUNTING]
Ray? Ray, what's going on?
SCHUYLER: This is Dispatch.
We need paramedics.
I'll take care of him.
He was in coronary arrhythmia,
very close to full arrest.
- Is there a history of heart disease?
- None.
Hey, Andy. How you feeling?
Fine. Just get somebody to take
these wires off, and I'll go home.
That's not going to happen
anytime soon, son.
Andy, I need you to walk me through
exactly what you did
when you reported
to the 420 in Seven Hills.
I responded to the call.
Arrived first,
ahead of EMS.
Wife met me at the door.
Led me to the backyard.
GRETCHEN:
Let me through. Let me through.
ANDY: I checked the vics for pulse,
but they were gone.
So I taped the scene off
and I waited for you guys
to show up.
Were you wearing gloves?
No. There was no reason to.
Was there?
Something at the scene induced
heart attacks in both my victims.
I think Akers was exposed to it, too.
Think it came from something
they both touched?
- I do.
MAN: Out of the way, please.
SCHUYLER:
Clear the way, coming through.
I am telling you....
I'm having an anxiety attack. Help me.
CATHERINE:
That was the victim's wife.
Jim, we need to quarantine
the crime scene in Seven Hills.
I think there's a contact toxin
involved.
Include the entire house
and adjacent yards.
And no one enters
without HAZMAT.
So I found a very faint
powdery trace
on all the surfaces I examined.
It's a digitoxin.
A naturally-occurring
organic compound.
It's a cardiac glycoside.
Used in heart medication.
In small doses it is beneficial
to healthy heart function,
but in higher doses
it causes arrhythmia,
and in extreme concentrations,
such as those found
in the tissues of both vics, death.
But fortunately,
it becomes inert fairly quickly.
Okay, so that explains
why Officer Akers and Mrs. Javid
survived the exposure.
GREG: We have to go back
and check the yard.
Is there a reagent
that can detect the digitoxin?
Yeah, a diluted solution
of perchloric acid
exposed to UV light
will induce fluorescence.
Try saying that ten times fast.
HODGES: The glycosides
are completely contained
within the backyard.
CATHERINE: What does that dispersal
pattern suggest to you?
Well, that the house was targeted,
the toxins were dropped from above.
Yeah, yeah, that's what we think.
Well, you had said that the victims
looked like they were caught
completely unaware.
What kind of aircraft can fly that low
and that quiet
without them even noticing?
GREG: Way ahead of you, Hodges.
Ultralights.
They're extremely maneuverable and
able to fly very slow without stalling.
If they used one of these,
they conceivably could have
gained altitude, then cut the engine,
and glided silently
very low across the yard.
Then after the drop, the pilot
could have restarted the engine
and landed just about anywhere.
We know that the TOD
was sometime the night before last.
Greg, get me a latitude
and longitude for the yard.
- I got an idea.
GREG: Okay.
[BEEPING]
Okay,
I've got tracking data
from the tower at McCarran
for over flight of latitude 36-10-27,
longitude 122-15-10 at 2238 hours
the day before yesterday.
GREG:
There's one ultralight in the area.
There's the house.
And that's where the craft
dropped off radar
when it descended
and dropped the digitoxin.
I wonder how they knew
the vics would even be there.
Bodyguard
must have tipped them off.
Did the craft transponder
relay any registration info?
I'm not getting anything.
Can you widen the view
and show me where they went?
[BEEPING]
He headed towards Denim Field.
Also the apparent point of origin.
That must be where he landed.
Let's check out the perspective view.
Whoever was piloting it
brought it in on this ancillary runway.
GREG:
Private airstrip.
No security.
CATHERINE:
Wait. Go back.
There.
NICK: [ON PHONE] Stokes.
- Hey, Nicky,
your jumper case got tangled up
in mine.
[SIRENS WAILING]
MAX:
Hey, Pierre?
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
BRASS
Bonjour, Max.
How's the patient?
They say maybe
he never walk again.
Never speak.
Imagine.
BRASS:
Ouch.
Can you hear me, Pierre?
COMPUTER:
Yes.
Good.
Look, I got a problem,
and I think maybe you two guys
can help me out.
I already told you all that I know
about Pierre's accident.
No, it's not about the accident.
It's about the fact that your glider
was used in a poison dump
to kill a couple of guys
the night before last.
Hey, I'm sure I have no idea
what you are talking about.
Well, maybe not.
But I bet Pierre
might have something to say about it.
There is nothing to tell.
Is that right, Pierre?
I get the feeling that you
really want to tell us what happened,
in every detail. Right?
COMPUTER:
Yes.
Pierre, be very careful
what you say, my friend, huh?
Yeah. Be very careful.
But tell us what happened,
word by word.
I don't care how long it takes,
I can wait.
COMPUTER:
Was night.
Cell ring.
Max.
He want me to fly.
Okay. Okay.
There was a man, a very bad man,
he want me to fly him at night.
He say he want to make
aerial photography.
He offer me $5,000,
but I did not believe him.
I say no, I have no license
to fly at night.
But then he get meaner.
He threaten to hurt my family.
He knows my children's name,
where we live, tout ça.
So I agree to meet him at airport.
But I was so nervous,
I got in car accident.
[CRASH]
Pierre. Pick up, pick up.
[MINK LAUGHING]
[PHONE RINGING]
- Hello?
MAX: Pierre.
For the love of God,
just meet this guy at the airfield,
take him up in the ultralight,
follow directions,
and don't ask any questions.
- I pay you $5,000.
- I can do this for you, my friend.
Yes, my friend.
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
- Pierre.
- Pierre has business to attend to.
MAX: Pierre had no idea
what was going on.
He said take it down. Now.
[LAUGHING]
Two million bucks in the bank.
Now.
It's starting to rain?
MAX: He knew he had done something
terribly wrong.
He was very upset.
But I told him to calm himself.
I told him we had to do our jobs
and keep silent.
You realize this makes you
an accomplice.
You know that, right?
I understand.
But I really had no idea
what was going to happen.
Did one of the killers
mess with your parachute?
Did he tamper it in any way?
COMPUTER:
No.
It... was...
Me.
Because you couldn't bear
what you'd done,
- and you decided to kill yourself.
- Yes.
You didn't want
to be thought of as a coward,
so you rigged your own chute to fail.
But even that failed, isn't that so?
Yes.
[MAX CRYING]
BRASS:
Max.
I need a name.
SCHUYLER: [ON TV]
A professional bodyguard
and a second, unidentified man
were arrested early this morning
for the alleged killing of Ismail Javid
and Allen McKenna, co-owners
of Isfahan Marble and Stone,
just two days ago.
There is speculation
that the second man,
a Kurdish crop duster,
who was reputedly obsessed
with the movie North by Northwest,
was hired by the owner of rival Iranian
marble importers to kill the men,
possibly in a dispute over contracts
in the dwindling housing market.
Authorities have declined
to make a statement at this time.
NICK:
Well, there's a story for you.
I think I'll sell it to Hollyweird,
get rich.
RILEY: I thought we had a trade
embargo on Iranian imports.
We do, but those guys
just ship the product
to a second neutral country
in the area like the UAE,
transship it here,
resell it to themselves at cost.
It's technically legal
and Commerce turns a blind eye.
And then they kill each other here
over construction contracts.
- Those Persian dudes are tough.
- They were once an empire
that stretched
halfway across the known world.
The Greek playwright Aeschylus
wrote about the territorial ambitions
of the Persian Empire against Greece
in his great cycle of tragedy and war,
The Persians,
fifth century, B.C.
I will definitely put that
on my reading list.
- Anyone wanna grab some breakfast?
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Are you always thinking about food?
None of you has read Aeschylus?
- I've been meaning to.
- Well, you should.
He was a writer of tremendous power,
great beauty.
His death was--
RAY:
As an old man in 456 B.C.,
Aeschylus,
the great body of his work behind him,
left Athens for the last time,
where he traveled to Sicily,
seeking solitude in the wilderness
in which to contemplate
the meaning of his life.
Though he had fought and survived
the endless bloody wars
against the Persian kings
Darius and Xerxes,
it was here, in silent meditation,
that a beautiful act of a most violent
nature brought him to Elysium
and eternal paradise.
You really gonna put that
in your report?
Birds of prey drop shelled animals
onto boulders to get at the meat.
Now, from the air,
Holy Steven's head
must have looked like
just another rock.
You can Google it
if you don't believe me.
- The DNA on the shell was a match.
- What are the odds, right?
Before it happened,
I would have said slim,
but since it did happen,
a hundred percent.
CATHERINE: Seems like a lot of things
keep falling out of the sky, right?
Poison, people, turtles.
RAY: Tortoises.
CATHERINE: Whatever.
Maybe I should start
wearing a helmet.
Or at least carrying an umbrella.