CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000–2015): Season 9, Episode 3 - Art Imitates Life - full transcript

He's got my purse!

Call the cops,call 911

My phone was in the purse

Ma'am,excuse me, I
need to use your phone

Lady

Lady?

I got here as fast as I could

My DFO in Anthem took longer
to clear than I expected,

but that's what happens when you don't
have enough bodies to cover the bodies

she forget to fall down?

Lividity's fixed in her ankles and feet



Suggests she died in this position

I don't know if you saw the
weather report last night,

but there was dry lighting in this area

A low voltage strike

could have caused her arm muscles
to contract around the pole

And then what?

Cadaveric spasms in
her shoulder and hand

keeps the body in position
until rigor sets in?

It's just a theory

I'll tell Robbins to look
for signs of electrocution

Hi,guys The callout was
a 419 Where's the body?

Ask her

Excuse me,ma'am Ma'am?

Nick can't help us



He just got a call
out at the Monte Carlo

In other words, we're
pulling another double

Why should today be any different?

There's no burn marks on the arm or
hand where she was touching the pole

Well,there's no scoring or
blackening on the dome, either

No indication of a lightning strike

The bulb's burned out Maybe
there's a short in the wiring

Liver temp's 98,but
ambient's pushing a hundred

So the body could have warmed
up after death? No TOD

Sorry

Rigor's starting to break

I'll take her prints

Her phone looks new

Hasn't even been personalized yet

Who was she talking to?

MovieFone

She carrying ID?

She's not carrying anything

Well,if someone was going to rob
her, why not take the whole purse?

Why waste time emptying the contents?

So,lucky us the lamppost lady's
fingerprints are in the system

She has a record?

It's not that system It's the
health care providers database

Name's Carla Peretti
She's an LPN at Desert Palm

- Captain Brass is running background
- Good

- Where is everyone?
- They're in the break room waiting

- Waiting for what?
- For you

I know you got the memo;
I put it on your desk

My name's Patricia Alwick

I'm a peer counselor for the
Police Employees Assistance Program

I deal primarily with law enforcement,

which means I know that none of you wants
to listen to me, so I'll keep it short

With the death of Warrick Brown,
you've lost a colleague and a friend

I'm here to help you through it

Our conversations will be
informal and confidential

Are the sessions mandatory?

No No,they're not,
but keep this in mind

Right now, you might feel okay and that
you can handle things fine on your own,

but sometimes, if you're not looking,
grief can sneak up and bite you

I've been doing this a long time
I know what I'm talking about

Ms Alwick will be up in room 4-E

If you'd like to make an appointment,
call her at extension 2922

All right,guys, we're
done Thanks for coming

- What,no gun?
- Sorry

Well,maybe later,then

Thanks

Hello

Would you like to make an appointment?

No I'm new here Hence
the new guy manuals

Excuse me

You know,joing an established team,
particularly under these circumstances

it's not going to be easy for you

Do you think I should quit?

It may not be easy on
your colleagues,either

Well,there's nothing
I can do about that

Of course there is
I'm happy to discuss

Look,I'm
this is day one

I don't know these
people, they don't know me

It's going to work out
however it works out

You seem a bit defensive

- Don't do that,okay?
- Do what?

"You seem a bit defensive "

Both my parents are
shrinks I don't do the talk

Both your parents are psychiatrists

- Interesting
- Interesting

Are you Riley Adams?

Yeah,that's me

I'm Gil Grissom, your
supervisor We're very busy

- Would you come with me,please?
- Yeah

Good luck

Another transit patron called it in

He was pissed the guy was taking up the
whole bench, so he tried to shove him over,

which didn't work too well,
him being dead at the time

Hey,everybody

- Oh,hi, I'm David
- Riley

He's all yours

No wallet

No cash or keys either

- Body's in full rigor
- Roll him

I saw that

and I'm not ever going to forget it

What does lividity tell you?

That he was lying here when he died

How do you know that?

'Cause I'm a CSI level two

And this is part of your
proficiency evaluation

Yeah,but it's pass-fail

Lividity's fixed along
the posterior aspect

Pressure marks are consistent
with the bench slats

Do we know how long he's been here?

Bus driver's certain the guy wasn't here an hour
and a half ago when he made his previous stop

You see any problem with that?

Yeah,full rigor takes
12 to 24 hours to set

And if he's been here less than 90
minutes, how does he end up in full rigor?

Well,he looks like he was on a run

Maybe he had a heart attack
and went into spontaneous rigor

Intense physical activity rapidly
depletes muscle fibers of ATP,

which gives them the energy
they need to contract

If there's not enough
ATP at the time of death,

the muscles can lock up and
immediately go into rigor

What's bugging you?

This is the second case of rapid-onset
rigor mortis we've had in the last 24 hours

That's pretty weird

Even for Vegas

Brass checked Carla Peretti's apartment

No forced entry or any
signs of disturbance

She was last seen alive leaving Desert
Palm Hospital at the end of her shift

Anybody know where she was going?

Well,apparently,it could have been a lot of
places She was working a bunch of jobs on the side

model,club dancer,
convention booth babe

You know,typical Vegas
pretty girl stuff

Autopsy report Cause
of death: cardiac arrest

That's coroner speak for "I
can't explain what killed her "

Yeah

No signs of conductivity burns, no
evidence of nuclear streaming in the tissue

There's no indications of
electrocution whatsoever

There's other ways for
the muscles to seize up

You know, maybe she was epileptic

Mm,sorry,no epilepsy
drugs in her system

People go off their meds all the
time That's how they get seizures

Uh,she had no medical
history of epilepsy

But the disease doesn't leave
any physical record in the body

The tox panel ruled
out poisons and OD's

She had a small amount
of zolpidem in her system,

but that stuff's in most
over-the-counter sleep aids these days

It's nothing that would kill her

No organ damage No disease,no trauma

This was a perfectly
healthy young woman

Yeah,till she dropped
dead without dropping

Well,I always thought it was cool that
teeth fluoresced, but veneers didn't

How'd you get them?

Somebody bet me that I couldn't jump
into a lake with a rope swing in my mouth

- And that pulled the teeth out?
- No

But it sure did hurt my neck

On the way home, I hit a fire hydrant

And you bumped the steering
wheel with your mouth

No,I was on my bike at the time

I flew over the hydrant and smashed
into the crossbar of a chain link fence

- With your mouth
- My shoulder

Broke my clavicle

Okay,then how'd you lose the teeth?

This one was a root canal

This one,a post and a crown

And this one I,uh
I was in college

I woke up one morning, and it was
gone I don't know what happened to it

- Al Robbins
- Riley Adams

Pardon the latex

Okay What do we got?

Uh,somebody who liked to party

Prelim tox showed traces of
meth,E and heroin in his system

Doesn't sound like someone who
would go for a run at midnight

I doubt this guy could've run a
hundred feet without stopping to rest

He had pulmonary edema

Fluid's backed up in the lungs
Sometimes suggests drug abuse

Is that C O D ?

I doubt it The edema wasn't acute

Far as I can tell, C
O D is cardiac arrest

Same as the lady in the park

Yeah,which brings us to
something interesting

The victim's liver

Note the slight reddish
and pinkish coloration

Very similar to Carla Peretti

Assuming the cases are connected,

the condition of the victims' livers
might suggest an alternate CO D

Gaseous asphyxiation

I'll have Hodges do a blood gas assay

We walked the photo of the jogger around
the local methadone clinic and got lucky

Name's Harley Soon He has a sheet

Drug abuse,solicitation,
some other petty stuff

Juvie record,too, but that's sealed

- Thank you,Detective
- No problem

You doing a headspace assay?

Yes,which is, I believe,your job

Where have you been?

I was just,uh nowhere

You want me to finish up?

I'm almost done

- hold on a second
- What?

You added the liberating agent

Yes

You added the sulfuric

You skipped over the sodium dithionite?

Yes,I think I did

I think I must have done
it with all of these

It's probably better
to redo the whole assay

Um,listen,I can get it

Should have been doing it to begin with

Don't worry about it I
know it's been a long day

Every day's a long day

PRIORITY 419

I have to go Thank you

5:30 a m I don't pick up "those
people," if you know what I'm saying

I don't care how
nicely-dressed they are

that's illegal

Yeah,which is why I stopped
and told him to hop in,

but he just stood there
like that,stock still

Creeped me out, I
don't mind telling you

You're gonna love this

I've heard of dying with your
boots on,but,uh, this is ridiculous

Businessman with an empty briefcase

No wallet or I D Consistent
with the other vics

We got a serial killer,Greg, and he's
working at a pace of one body per day

Great Something to
look forward to tomorrow

Damn! This thing is heavy

He's got lead in the sole of his shoe

Must be what was
keeping him on his feet

There's a coating of dust on here

His fingernails have been recently
trimmed, but they're filthy at the beds

And he's got dirt in his ears

His feet and ankles are
all scabbed and crusty and

his toenails are growing
back into his toes

This guy's been cleaned up, but
I'll bet you he lived on the street

Yep Head lice They're all dead

Good I hate those little bastards

So we've got three victims, all
stripped of their identities

A homeless guy dressed
like a businessman,

a hustler druggie dressed like a runner,

and a nurse dressed like herself

What do they have in common?

Tox found traces of
zolpidem in all three

Other than that, we're comparing all the
trace evidence from the victims' clothing

and personal effects, but
so far, nothing probative

PD is circulating photos of
the businessman around shelters

and soup kitchens in the
area, but there's no I D yet

This girl's an LPN

Maybe her hospital's the connection

According to Harley Soon's medical records,
he was never treated at Desert Palm

Well,Carla Peretti is the one
victim who had a mainstream life

That means e-mails,
phone calls,documents

If there's anything that connects these
people, the way to find it is through her

Looks like she was an art student

- The naughty drawer
- What?

Hydroponic, medical grade, put-you-on-your-ass,
send-you-to-dreamyland weed

Nurses always get the good stuff

take it you're aware of the
lab's random drug testing policy?

Oh,yeah I've got a bottle of clean
urine in my locker, just in case

I'm kidding

Good one

Here,I'll bag it

Check this out

An original of Carla

- Bizarre She looks kind of
- Dead?

Yeah,a little

What's that say? J Skaggs?

Never heard of him

Me,neither

I bet somebody has

What do you know

He's a local

Jerzey Skaggs?

Jerzey? Skaggs?

Jerzey Skaggs?

- Who are you?
- Homicide

This might look good in my living room

You can't afford it

Your arm down, and wake up Wake up!

What do you want?

- Do you know Carla Peretti?
- Who?

Carla Peretti

Oh,yeah yeah,she was one of
my models She's a lovely girl

It's a cheap imitation of my work

Well,you'll have to take it up with the
coroner, because she's dead for real

- I'm sorry to hear that
- You paint these guys?

No Never saw those
guys before in my life

You know,Harley Soon used to crash at
a buddy's apartment in the neighborhood

Relax

And he seems to be kind of your type

So maybe you,uh

maybe you bumped into him at
the grocery store or something

I don't go out I don't
shop I don't bump

But you do paint dead people

I paint people who look dead, and you would
weep if you knew how much I make doing that

If you haven't noticed, our culture
seems to be obsessed with sex and death

I've noticed

Let me save you some time,
'cause I know what's on your mind

I don't kill my models I don't
even bang them much anymore

Occasionally,of course,but

oh,I find not with the same gusto
and verve as in days gone by

You bang Carla Peretti?

I'm not doing women

Mind if I look around?

I'd like to paint you nude

I don't do nude

- Where would I pin the badge?
- Exactly

Ms Alwick

Dr Grissom

Were you looking for me?

No,just getting some more tea

I was hoping we might
get a chance to chat

I'm right in the middle of a case

I know,I understand that you're dealing
with a lot,but,um,if you do find the time

Thank you,I appreciate that

This,uh,may be outside your
field of expertise,but

lately,I've been having
some problems with Hank

Grissom

Oh,hi,Patricia

Nice to see you again,David

The headspace assay came back and showed
levels of carbon monoxide in all the vics,

as well as the dead lice
on the businessman's head

Excuse me

Mostly simple hydrocarbons and sulfur
dioxide,along with the carbon monoxide

That's consistent with
gasoline engine exhaust

Yeah,and since the lice
on the homeless guy died,

it suggests that he was completely
surrounded by exhaust fumes,

not suffocated with a mask or a tube

Or locked in a sealed
car,for that matter

there wouldn't have been
enough room to pose them

Lividity says the victims died in the
positions in which they were discovered

So,what does that mean,that the killer
is using some sort of gas chamber?

I think so

He lures someone back to his
place,slips them a sedative,

then redresses and positions the
bodies inside a sealed container

Waits for the carbon
monoxide to go to work

Once the bodies are in full rigor,he's
got about ten hours to place them

and have them discovered

We know the recipe, let's find the cook

I believe I just sighted
Aeronautes saxatalis

Aeronautes saxatalis,the
white-throated swift

They hardly ever range this
far south this time of year

The elderly couple was
suffering from Alzheimer's

They were on a little field trip from their
assisted care facility day before yesterday

Staff didn't even realize they
were missing till bed check

What,no surveillance cameras
on the bird-watching path?

No,but the unis did turn up a crackhead

who said he saw an average-height white
male in a white panel van near the trail,

about an hour before dawn

Caught in their quotidian routines,these
haunting figures, frozen in time,

seem to mock the mundane blandness that
screams silently beneath the sizzle of Sin City

What is this?

Local art blog

Our psycho is the hot topic

They call him the "Mannekiller "

perhaps,finally,by using the flesh of human
beings to replicate the flesh of human beings

this madman who moves silently among
us has crossed art's final frontier

This is Langston Weller,signing
off from mindscanvas com

This site's been getting hammered

Check out the comments

"You're a one-man argument
against free speech "

"This is murder,pure and
simple,and you're a moron "

"Hitler was right
kill the artists first "

At least nobody's buying this crap

"Vibrant images "of life culled
from the raw stuff of death

These are works of art "

Apparently,there are some
who share this aesthetic

The dust found inside the businessman's
shoes was actually undyed jute fibers

The same fibers were also found on
tape lifts from the other vic's clothes

Killer's probably covering
his vics in woven jute

i e,burlap at some
point during the process

Thanks,Greg

You bet

Dr Grissom,may I have a word with you?

Yes,of course

Come in

I wonder why it is that you hold
what I do in such obvious contempt

Excuse me?

The last time we spoke,you mentioned
that you were having problems with Hank

Now,out of concern for you and because I take
my job very seriously,I started asking around

And was met by a mixture of bafflement
and smirks by most of your staff,

until David Hodges took pity on me
and informed me that Hank was your dog

I apologize

It was a serious question

Oh,really?

For the last few weeks,my
dog's been listless

Barely eats

And I just,uh,wondered if you thought it was possible
that pets could take on the emotions of their owners

Well

companion animals were bred
to respond to human beings

At some level,I do believe that they
resonate with what their owners are feeling

So,what are you feeling?

I've just been

a little distracted lately

Uh,having a hard time
focusing on the details

That's normal

Not for me

I wondered,uh,if you knew,
typically, how long this lasts

There's no typical

Days,weeks,sometimes years

The important thing
is to acknowledge it

But you do have to talk about it

And if not with me,then
with somebody else

And soon

Jim,got something?

Yeah,Harley Soon's juvie record

I got the court
administrator to unseal it

He was arrested five years ago in a drug raid
on a party at the art studio of Jerzy Skaggs

So,how do you like my studio?

This is ridiculous

No,what's ridiculous is you
denying that you knew Harley Soon

Party was five years ago

The kid was 16 at the time

You should have been
busted for that,too

Listen to me everybody who
was anybody came to my parties

And many like yourself,who
are nobody at all

You know,I just I can't remember
everybody who came to my parties

All right,so you reconnected
with Harley Soon

and you're connected with Carla Peretti

A lot of people you
know are turning up dead

You're telling me these
are actual dead people?

Come on,it's been all over the news

I don't I don't watch TV

And I only use the
Internet to make money

Man,that is wild

Death just mocking life

Are you done?

You know,these look familiar

Yeah,I bet they do

No,no,no,no,not the not
the people,the poses

Somebody somebody showed me
drawings like these,months ago

These people remind me of
those wretched sketches

Excuse me,Mr Skaggs

If I could have a moment,would you
mind taking a quick look at these?

I can't stand looking at inferior art

It just

it sears into my consciousness
like bad Mexican food

Who was he?

No,I don't remember,but he was,you know,babbling
about some insipid municipal sculpture

competition he was hoping to win

Open to the public

Oh,okay,so he was an artist

No,he was some kind of contractor,subcontractor,
sub-subcontractor,sub-sub-subcontractor

I think my my studio
was,uh,being renovated,

and it was you know,it was a big job

There was lots of lots
of manual labor involved

I need a name

He was a laborer why
would I know his name?

Because you hired him

I didn't hire him

One of those contractors hired him

And no,I don't remember his name

I I barely remember your name

What is your name?

Eight months ago, the city
sponsored a competition to

create a series of bronze lifelike
statues for its parks and public spaces

"Las Vegas: for the rest of your life"

Yeah,and all the applications
were submitted digitally

This is what the Parks
Department sent over

Hey,take a look at this one

It's a submission from
an Arthur Blisterman

Look at this

Jackpot,huh?

The rules stated that

the sculpture should recreate the
ethnic and socioeconomic diversity

that make the city so vibrant and alive

This guy was following
them to the letter

Yeah,except that he was
substituting bronze with human flesh

Guys,there's a,uh,sculpture
number six here

We only found five bodies

Oh,God

He's not done

So we got Blisterman's house staked out

The neighbors haven't
seen him for weeks

Now,the guy's unmarried,got
no criminal record

He's an independent plumbing contractor,

so he makes his own schedule,and
he's not answering his phone

No,he has a white panel van

We got a broadcast out

He's got to have some kind of work space or
studio,somewhere he can come and go unnoticed

Look,there's nothing on record

We've released a picture,we've notified the
schools and Child Services to be on alert

Right now,that's all we can do

Why do you think people make art?

Self-expression

Yeah,but I think also to

provoke or elicit a reaction

Maybe the killer's into
the controversy of it

I think one of these blog
posters might be our guy

Maybe

Click on that photo link

What?

There's no yellow tape

No bystanders

No crime scene

Let me the check the metadata

This photo was taken at 5:49 a m

The body wasn't
reported till after 7:00

I guess our "artist" couldn't resist
a snapshot of his first installation

"Anonymous" is Blisterman

How much trouble am I in?

Well,that remains to be seen

But the way I see it,you encouraged
a serial killer to kill on your blog

I did no such thing Did I?

We'll leave that up to
a jury of your peers

I swear to God,I didn't
want to hurt anybody

I didn't do anything

Except shooting your mouth off

Sometimes that's all it takes

Look,right now,you're going to
do exactly what I tell you to

Of course

What do you want me to do?

The killer's been posting to your blog
from different IP addresses around town

So,you're gonna go on this computer,get on your
blog,and post another reply to Mr Anonymous

You're going to get him to
respond and when he does,

you're going to keep him talking until
our people can run an IP trace route

and find out
where he is now

you understand?

No

Just start typing

Right

What do you want me to say?

Just tell him he's a genius,all right?

Tell him that,uh,Michelangelo's
got nothing on him

Whatever,just think of something

Come on Come on!

Right

I'll be right back

Keep typing

Ma'am?

My boy,my Charlie

He's only nine years old

He didn't come home from school today

We had a fight this morning and I thought that
he was at his dad's house we're divorced

and then the school told me about
some kind of alert that was happening

Right Do you have any idea
where he might be going?

No,no

Okay

Detective Vartann,I got him

I got him talking

LVPD!

Please remain calm

I'd like everybody to
stay right where they are

Where's the kid?

What kid?

Get up!

Get him out of here

What-What kid?

Hey,hey! Hey!

I didn't do anything

Come on!

There was tan dust on the
guy's hands like the other vics

Burlap fibers

Does it help?

I don't know

Blisterman didn't put
himself in a burlap sack

You know,maybe these
fibers are environmental

Like they're present in whatever
space he's keeping his victims in

You know,there's a lot of converted warehouses
and industrial properties near this library

If Blisterman already has the
kid,he'd probably stay close to home

We've got city plans for
the area around the library

Maps,building usage permits

Okay,check every
structure,every single one

He's willing to talk,but only to
someone who "understands his work "

I'm ready to slap him around

I figured you could show some restraint

I'll try

Mr Blisterman

Can you please turn the
monitor so I can see it?

Could you tighten up
the frame up a little?

The composition is

It's a bit weak

Thank you

Look I'm here to talk about the child

I'm happy to talk

I like to talk,but I want my words
to be heard the way I speak them

I want the world to see the
words coming from my lips,

so there can be no misinterpretation

Nobody's going to
misinterpret anything you say

But if you don't start cooperating

Don't,don't rush me

I want to talk about
what I want to talk about,

and I don't want to be rushed,please

That's the trouble with modern
life,it's too much urgency

It's too much speed

Now I'm sweaty

Do you have a handkerchief?

Thank you

Aesthetics have always
been very important to me

Life wouldn't be worth
living without beauty

It's what makes us human

What about the people you've murdered?

They were human

Yeah,but

they were nothing until
I de them extraordinary

How about the child?

Has he become "extraordinary"?

I have been alone my entire life

I have tried and tried to achieve
some recognition for my work,

and I have been repeatedly
and cruelly ignored

And this has made me feel
very bad about myself

Arthur

You're going to be put to
death if you don't help us

I'm not scared of dying

I just don't want to be forgotten

I think I found it

"487 Franklyn Street "

It's a warehouse,formerly deeded to a company that
manufactured natural fiber bags and shipping materials

go I'll call it in

I want something of who I was left
behind so people will speak my name,

and know who I was,after I'm gone

Believe me

No one will ever forget you

You've made it

You're a legend

If I tell you where the boy is,you're
going to turn the camera off,and then

I'll be sad

I won't turn the camera off

I'm sorry

Without the boy,the piece is incomplete

487 Franklyn Street

You're far too late to save him

Anyway

I got what I wanted

You'll rember me

Won't you?

What the hell is that?

Sounds like a motor

Take that hall

All right,yeah,I got him

Patrol,this is CSI Sanders

We need paramedics

breathe! Breathe!

Hey,it's okay

You're all right now