CSI: NY (2004–2013): Season 6, Episode 15 - The Formula - full transcript

[commentator] Welcome, race fans.

We've got an
exhibition for you tonight.

Mano a mano, Santos versus Gray,

a dream exhibition featuring
two of the best of the sport.

Davi Santos takes it to Liza Gray.
She's eating his exhaust.

Unbelievable! Vintage Santos.

[crowd cheer]

Things are getting testy out there.
Who said this was just an exhibition?

Davi, this is a show, not a race.
Ease up, all right?

- What the hell is he doing?
- What he always does. Winning.

[man] Let's go! Let's go!



- Didn't I tell him to slow down?
- I'll tell him to cool it.

[whoops]

Come on!

Hey. Cool it out there with Gray.

This is supposed to be fun,
not a competition.

It's all the same to me.

Easy for you to say.
You don't own the car.

But I own the spotlight.

Don't push it.

[engine revs]

[commentator]
We have an accident on the track.

Everyone,
please remain calm and stay seated.

Let the emergency crew
do what they do best.

Well, all right. If anything changes
either way, give me a shout.



Thanks.

I've watched Davi Santos race
for years.

Get out.
I didn't know you were a motorhead.

The man's a legend.

Your legend's at T rinity General
right now in critical condition.

The drivers wear suits that protect
them from 700 degree Celsius heat.

The doctor says
Santos was well-protected,

but he seared his lungs
breathing in the flames.

Doesn't look good.

Formula FBZ cars are not only built
for speed, but safety.

They don't explode
like this unless someone makes 'em.

You're suggesting it was deliberate.

This was slipped under Santos' door
last night.

"Get in that car tomorrow,
you die."

According to the team owner,

it's the fifth threatening note
Santos got this month.

Santos received death threats,
decided to race anyway?

Guy's a showman.
Didn't wanna upset his fans.

It's the hottest ticket in the city.

Hotter than anyone expected.

[# The Who: Baba O'Riley]

# Out here in the fields

# I fight for my meals

# I get my back into my living

# Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah #

Mr Wells, any idea

who wrote these letter threats?

I hired investigators to find out
weeks ago. Nothing came of it.

You were in the pit area
before the explosion.

- Did you see anything unusual?
- No, sir.

I take precautions
to protect my drivers.

Everything I saw today was routine,

except what happened to Davi.

This was supposed to be
a simple exhibition

to start off the season.

The season will have to wait.

Someone tried to kill Santos
by sabotaging his car,

and we have to determine
what happened here.

Until then,
the New York 400 is on hold.

Davi and I go way back.

He was always the driver,
I was the crew chief.

Guess who got the girls?

After last season, we were supposed

to walk away from all this, retire,

but he talked me into coming back.

Now I'm standing here,
he's in the hospital

and I have no idea
what the hell happened here.

I know this isn't easy, Mr Bernard.

Is there anything else you can
tell me about the exhibition race?

It was for the fans, but Santos
seemed to make it more than that.

Davi and Liza Gray -
they're both competitors.

You put 'em in anything with wheels,

they're gonna drive hard.

That's why they're champions.

Can you think of anyone
who may be responsible?

Davi was the definition

of hell on wheels.

He'd drive around you, over you

or through you to get a win, so
he left a lot of enemies in his wake.

Thank you, Mr Bernard.

What do you think?

I think our best witness
is right there in front of us.

We need a closer look at this car.

That won't be easy.

Team Cietro's claiming
proprietary rights on the car.

These racing teams
pay millions to ensure

their competitors never find out
what's under the hood.

Well, that's unfortunate.

Because this car is our crime scene.

[Danny] OK, come on through.

Stop. Whoa.

Somebody did a bad thing
to a good fin cooler.

[Adam] You a racing fan?

Anything that rips it up at 200 miles
an hour you gotta respect.

You grow up in Montana,
you love race cars.

[Lindsay]
Maybe stock car. But open wheel?

- That's a whole other thing.
- [Adam] I know what you mean.

Paddle shift versus stick.
Front and rear wings.

And you have the LCD steering wheel

that you need
an engineering degree to operate.

- You race?
- PlayStation.

But, those games
are very realistic though.

All right, Speed Racer, calm down.
We got 1,200 fragments here.

What caused the explosion?

- I don't see any detonation device.
- No timers. No remote triggers.

And the soot doesn't indicate
any oxidising agent,

but it does indicate petrol gasoline.

These cars may be designed
by the NASA type,

but they run on the same type of fuel
as my dirty beater.

Saying that, the body of this car
was designed to be fireproof.

And in order for it to burn
like this,

it had to be covered in gasoline.

That sounds like a fuel leak.
No explosive.

There was no bomb added to this car.
The car itself was a bomb.

- Had to be a spark for the gasoline.
- [Danny] All right.

We'll have to reassemble
this race car,

figure out who rigged it.

I know how much money is at risk.

That has nothing to do
with this investigation.

If the mayor wants to discuss it,
he knows how to reach me.

The president of the Racing Coalition
made a call to City Hall.

They're threatening a breach
of contract against the city

if the New York 400
doesn't go tomorrow.

And they want your head
if it doesn't.

I know what the stakes are.

New York's been trying to land
a racing event for 50 years.

There's money and jobs on the line.

And in this economy, it would be
a shot in the arm for the city.

That may be true,
but Santos is our main concern.

I won't let this race
compromise this case.

- Any word on him?
- He's still in surgery.

Where are we
with the threatening notes he got?

That was my next stop.

- Talk to me, Hawkes.
- They're all handwritten.

I'm running a textural analysis
through the FBl database

from word usage
to punctuation to misspellings.

It comes down to how
you cross your T's and dot your l's.

I've processed these letters
front to back. No prints, no trace.

All the letters match?

Same handwriting, same ink used,
same paper stock.

- Common materials, nothing unique.
- Except for the messages.

"Guilt by association
is guilt nonetheless."

"You drive fast,
but hypocrisy will catch up to you."

And now,
"Get in that car tomorrow, you die."

Each one's becoming more serious,
more threatening.

Somebody wanted to be heard.

And now they have been.
Loud and clear.

Hold on.

This is a threat sent to a New York
congressman last year.

Same linguistic profile
as our letters.

[Stella] They identified the author
as Josh Weaver.

36-year-old
former political science professor.

Assault on a police officer,
sent threats to Congress.

Also sent threats
to Cietro Spirits.

The sponsor of Santos' racing team.

So what does a racing sponsor
and Congress have in common?

I can barely change my own tires,
much less blow up a car.

Don't play absent-minded professor
with me. I read your rap sheet.

I write letters. I don't act on 'em.

Really? 'Cos you seem
like the persistent type.

You wrote letters to Congress,
to Cietro Spirits.

When that didn't work,
you sent threats.

- When the threats didn't work...
- They're hypocrites, OK?

- Someone needs to wake 'em up.
- And that's your job.

You ever seen a family of four
mowed down by a drunk driver?

Can you even comprehend
that level of tragedy?

I know about your brother
and his family,

and how the driver walked away
with a clean bill of health

and an open bottle
on the passenger seat.

What you don't know is that bastard
was going home from the track

having just attended a race
that was sponsored by Cietro Spirits.

Well, what kind of message is that?

Huh?
Fast cars and, and, and hard drinks.

Did you know 53% of their business
comes from race fans?

I'll be honest with you.

The idea of blowing up
their prize car is lovely.

But I don't wanna add
to their death count.

Look, I'm not your guy, OK?

You want proof? Check with
my anger management group.

Anger management group?

That's where I was the night
of the race. You don't believe me?

No, I believe you got a temper
and you need a group.

What I don't understand is if you
weren't gonna do anything to Santos,

why send threats?

Look, I am one individual, OK?

If the most that I can do
is keep their mascot off the road,

that's a victory in my book.

[# DJ Hyper: Machine]

# I'm just a machine

# No one to help me

# I'm just a machine

# Do what you tell me

# Baby, abuse me

# I'm just a machine

# Heavy crash

# Every boy you don't see
I don't know where you've been

# I'll be waiting
for the secrets to begin

# No control when you're gone

# You're the virus in my system
Turn me on

# Turn me on
Turn me on #

We're putting Humpty Dumpty
back together again,

but not everything fits.

What you got?

In the specs, every wire is
accounted for except this yellow one.

[Adam] Still looking for a leak.

But the fuel cell is made of Kevlar,
so not only wouldn't it leak,

but it also could take a few bullets.

Check the fuel line instead.

[Adam] We got tool marks.

Someone definitely
sabotaged this line.

The edges are worn down
from friction.

Whatever tools they used to cause
this leak weren't meant for the job.

Maybe they did it to throw us off.

Or they didn't know
what they were doing.

Whatever happened,
someone sabotaged a fuel line.

It means our vic was driving around
in a big gas tank.

Yep. And maybe whoever left this
print behind could tell us about it.

I'm not surprised.
I'm a test driver for Team Cietro.

My prints are all over that car.

Including where
the engine meets the fuel line,

exactly where the tampering occurred.

It's not tampering. It's protocol.

Instead of doing road tests
before exhibitions, I do inspections.

You see anything wrong?

When I was done,
that fuel line was perfect.

Detectives,
I grew up idolising Davi Santos.

He's the reason I drive.
I take my role very seriously.

That's good
'cos your role just got a lot bigger.

With Santos out,
you're the new face at Team Cietro.

I've always wanted to race,
but not like this.

Davi's the last of a dying breed.

Most of us are scared
when we're behind the wheel. Not him.

That's what makes him
the best there is.

I finished my inspection seven hours
before the exhibition began

and that car was fine when I left it.

Now, if you'll excuse me,
I have practice.

[engine revs]

I don't get it.

You got 80 laps jammed into
that tiny car, 10-second pit stops.

Where do you go to the bathroom?

- You don't wanna know.
- You gotta be nuts.

My father calls these things,
"coffins on wheels."

These drivers push their limits,
always on the edge of danger,

always chasing a faster time.

Not me.

[Mac] Text from the Mayor's Office.

They're announcing news
about the New York 400 tonight.

They've been calling us, too.

The Racing Coalition is threatening
to sue everyone - NYPD, City Hall.

That's more about making money
than making things safe.

The show must go on.

This is where the car was kept

between the inspection
and the exhibition.

The tampering had to happen in here.

Looks like forced entry.

Crowbar action.

Looks like
they left something behind.

No sign of a burglary.
Whoever broke in came for the car.

And they had every tool necessary
to loosen the fuel line.

I'll get these processed. Maybe
we'll get lucky with one of them.

The fibre Mac found
is a flame retardant weave.

We're running tests.

There's also a residue on it,
a blend of motor oil.

Some race teams add
compound enhancers to their oil

to improve lap times.

Knowing the mixture of the additives
is where it gets interesting.

Each team has its own blend
like a fingerprint.

- Did you run it through GCMS?
- Yeah.

Found peaks for zinc phosphate
and molybdenum disulfide.

There's only one team that uses that
particular blend... Liza Gray's team.

- Ah.
- And check this out.

Two years ago with the Monaco 400,
Santos ran Liza Gray into the wall.

Cost them both the season.
He was suspended. She nearly died.

The exhibition is her first race
since the accident.

And there's something else.

[journalists yell questions]

Racing hard is one thing.

But if you're gonna try and kill me,
you better get it done.

'Cos if you don't,
I'm coming after you.

Now that looks like a rivalry.

Or a motive for revenge.

[# Them Crooked Vultures: Gunman]

# Gunman, bloodshot eyes

# Gunman, grain of sand

# Sisters could not speak #

[camera shutter clicks]

I saw your race in Monaco.

Hell of a wreck. Five surgeries.

Looks like you've recovered nicely.

I worked hard for everything I have.
This is the same.

Then you understand what Santos
is going through right now.

I do. And I sent my best to him
and his wife.

That's a different attitude to what
you were saying on the rehab trail.

Don't believe all you hear.
It's the business of motor sports.

It used to be about the car and
driver and now it's about the brand.

Is that right?

A strong brand is one more way
to stay ahead of the competition.

I can think of a few other ways.

T eam Cietro transporter was
broken into before your exhibition.

[Liza Gray] Santos has his share of
enemies, both on and off the track.

But you're the only one
who publicly vowed to go after him.

It's just racing.

It's like Yankees versus Red Sox,
Ferrari versus McLaren,

Gray versus Santos.

It sells tickets.

Guess that's why we found evidence
at the sight of the break-in.

Oil trace linked to your team

and a flame retardant fibre
that matches your racing uniform.

[Liza Gray] You got all that
off a fibre from my uniform?

It's the business of forensics.

I just wanted to get a closer look
under the hood.

How close of a look?

It's called Formula racing
'cos it's about the formula.

There are rules and regulations
that every team agrees to follow.

Including those who break and enter?

I just wanted to see his car.

In a way, Monaco was a crossroads
for both of us.

How so?

Davi Santos is a racing icon.

But ever since the accident,
he hasn't won a championship.

His times have been getting slower
and maybe he lost his edge.

But a driver like that,
desperation sets in.

I heard he was tweaking his engine.
So I took some photos.

I just wanted to see what
I was up against.

Now you know.
Now those photos belong to us.

[Mac] There's nothing else to say.

Lindsay's looking at Liza's mobile
to see if her story checks out.

What about the tools we got
from the transporter?

Hawkes is overseeing the team
processing them.

There are over 200 pieces.
It will take some time.

[phone rings]

Excuse me.

T aylor.

No comment.
It's an ongoing investigation.

Press?

I told the mayor
to postpone the race 48 hours.

Now the media's all over it.

Santos should be out of surgery
any minute now.

Good.

You know, Flack told me that, uh,
you used to watch him race.

Yeah, I did.
I still do when time permits.

Used to go to the speedway
with my father.

I got Mario Andretti's autograph
one year.

It's every boy's dream, isn't it? To
get behind the wheel of a race car?

Well, it was my dream, yeah.

- Really?
- Uh-huh.

I raced in the soapbox derby.

We came in third in
the lllinois state finals one year.

Little Mac Taylor,
the soapbox derby champ.

Now, didn't they just slap
four wheels on a box

and roll those babies downhill?

For me,
it was a little more than that.

- Oh.
- It was never about the vehicle.

It was a love for speed,
pushing a car as far as it could go.

That's what it was about.

Back then,
we all wanted to be Steve McQueen.

- To be young and na?ve again.
- Yeah.

But looking at what happened
to Santos,

it doesn't seem as innocent any more.

[mobile rings]

Bonasera.

OK. Thank you.

Good news. Santos has been moved
to lCU and he's conscious.

Get down there and talk to him.
Maybe he has some answers.

[tannoy]
Cardiac on-call to CCU, Suite Three.

I need to speak with Mr Santos,

trace through his sequence
of events before the explosion.

He may be the only one
who can shed some light on this.

Tania's been by his side
since he got out of surgery.

[heart rate monitor beeps louder]

[tannoy]
Emergency in lCU, Station 12.

- Mrs Santos.
- His heart stopped beating.

He was doing fine,
then his heart stopped beating.

- [woman] Start chest compressions.
- [man 2] Let's get a rhythm strip.

- [woman 2] Ready.
- [man 2] Make sure the airways...

[woman] Charge. Clear!

[man 3] This can't be happening.

Yes, it can.
This day is long overdue.

[man 2] One, two, wait!

[woman] Clear!

He looked fine. He looked healthy.

He was recovering.

Mrs Santos,
I'm truly sorry for your loss.

Yeah.

The idea of loss implies that Davi
belonged to me in the first place.

In a way,
his murder is poetic justice.

Why would you say that?

Dying was the only way
he would have retired.

What do you expect?
You know what this is.

We had an agreement.

Last season was
supposed to be your last.

Have you heard what they're saying?
That I lost my edge.

How can I retire with that?

Who cares about them?
You made a promise to me.

Honey, I always come home safely.

Haven't l?

Did your husband have enemies?

Yeah. None larger than himself.

Was there anything odd about his
routine leading up to the exhibition?

Yeah, I don't know if there's
any truth to him losing his edge.

But, after that crash in Monaco,
he wasn't the same.

- In what way?
- His behaviour became erratic.

You know, l, I asked him if he was
on anything, but he didn't tell me.

My husband
wasn't great at keeping promises

but, it was unusual
for him to keep secrets.

Is there anything else
you can tell me, Mrs Santos?

Something inside me always knew
that Davi's last day on the track

would be his last day on Earth.

But I never thought he'd
get taken away from me like this.

Here you go. These are
the specs you requested, darlin'.

- Thank you.
- What do we have here?

Well, it looks like
Liza Gray's story checks out.

I've got detailed pictures
of everything,

from the engine to the chassis base.

The fuel line hasn't
been tampered with.

So the car was sabotaged
after Liza Gray left.

Or she put the camera down
and did it herself.

But we have eyewitnesses who say

she gave an interview 1 5 minutes
after those photos were taken.

That's not enough time to rig a car
or even evaluate the photos.

There was a four-hour window before
the exhibition for whoever did it.

- Anything else?
- Yeah. But I don't know what it is.

Looks like a generator.

Right. I was hoping the specs
would shed some light on it.

But whatever it is, it's not in here.

So we've got
one extra piece to our puzzle.

This is what Liza was talking about

when she said
Santos was tweaking his engine.

Does it have anything to do
with that yellow wire?

I'll find out. If it's in the photos,
it should be in the garage.

All right, sweetie.
Back to the grease!

If Santos wasn't known
for racing cars,

he'd be known for his autopsy.

Sid said he's full of painkillers,
morphine,

at levels much higher than
the hospital would have given him.

It's no surprise considering
the injuries he had over the years.

Yeah. Several broken bones.

I don't know how
he got in and out of a car.

Now, most of the breaks have healed.

But each one tells a story.

This fractured skull and clavicle,
according to the records Sid pulled,

are from flying shrapnel
at the Singapore 400.

That's right.

[engines roar]

And this broken fibula.

Portugal 300. And the
shattered pelvis? That was in Rio.

So you're a super fan?

Just a fan.

[Hawkes] This should help shed
some light on things.

Now, Santos was wearing
a flame retardant racing suit.

But there's a second degree burn
on his lower backside.

Now, considering the level
of protection he was wearing...

..this burn could have
only been caused

by sustained exposure
to an extremely hot flame.

Whatever caused this
might be our ignition source.

According to this burn area,

it was located directly
behind the cockpit.

Well, judging from his body,

your star driver should have died
seven or eight times.

Explains Mrs Santos' reaction.

He spent a lot of hours
in the emergency room.

Being on painkillers couldn't have
made driving a car easy for Santos.

I'm guessing that was the reason
for his diminished performances.

Santos raced with an edge
his entire career.

Looks like he lost everything
trying to keep it.

Is this a thing of beauty or what?

Every piece is accounted for,

following
these specs and the burn pattern.

Great work.

We checked the area behind
the cockpit right here, Mac.

And this is where we discovered

that this is where
our mystery generator was located.

We checked with the Racing Coalition,
it's called a VlC engine.

Velocity lnjection Chamber.
I've read about it.

A nasty piece of work,
but it's still experimental.

Not every team is using it.

It wasn't in the specs.
It's not part of the formula yet.

Might be the future of hybrid engines
though. It recycles wasted energy.

When a car slows into a turn,

the VlC engine sucks kinetic
energy from the brakes.

It stores it,
so if the driver needs a boost,

he just has to press this button
right here on the steering wheel.

The VlC engine
takes the stored energy

and sends it back out to the wheels.

It's an instant turbo boost
at your fingertips.

- Press the button and...
- Boom!

I'm sorry... that was your moment.

I thought you were gonna, boom.
Nothing.

So how'd the VlC engine
cause the explosion?

It was rigged with our mystery wire.

Now, when Santos pulled out of the
pit stop, he pushed the boost button.

But what he didn't know was that
instead of getting a boost,

our VlC engine's rigged with our
mystery wire to short circuit.

It doesn't take a genius to know
that short circuit

plus gas vapours equals not good.

So when Santos didn't
get the boost he expected,

my guess is he just kept
pushing the button.

He never knew what hit him.

Boom.

T urns out our vic was killed
by a VlC engine.

So we have our murder weapon.
Now we need to find our murderer.

Whoever rigged this knew exactly
what they were doing.

Based on Liza Gray's photos,

they had a four-hour window before
the exhibition to do it.

Which means they were familiar
with the car.

That narrows down our suspect
list to Team Cietro.

Hey.

This is security footage from the
hotel that Team Cietro's staying at.

Wait 'til you see what was going
on during that four-hour window.

That's Mrs Santos.

Only that is not her room.

Room 1831
belongs to Dwight Bernard.

These two might not be the grieving
duo we thought they were.

Exactly.
Now this is 30 minutes later.

They take the elevator.

Mrs Santos

gets off on the 12th floor.

Dwight goes down to the lobby.

He doesn't return to the hotel for
over an hour. That fits our timeline.

Dwight Bernard had the opportunity.

And ability. As crew chief,
he knows that car as well as anyone.

That's not the only thing
he knows well.

You're responsible for the death
of Davi Santos,

a man you claimed was your friend.

- I was trying to help Davi.
- By rigging his car to explode.

Of course not.
I could never do that to him.

Or Tania.

What's the nature of your
relationship with Mrs Santos?

If you're implying that
we're anything more than friends,

you're wrong.

You're in no position
to be defensive.

Not after going
to Dwight's hotel room

the night of your husband's accident.

I told you.
Davi wouldn't listen to me.

I didn't want him racing, so I had no
other choice but to turn to Dwight.

You were supposed to retire.

You both were.

You know Davi.
There is no talking to him.

Isn't a crew chief supposed
to protect his driver?

[Dwight Bernard] Tania's my friend.

And she was right.

Davi's erratic behaviour
and his refusal to stop driving

not only endangered himself,
but everyone around him.

And something had to be done.

And you decided that something
was sabotaging his engine.

Guys like Davi understand
and respect one thing

and that's losing their edge.

I wasn't trying to kill him,
just throw him off his game.

With the new engine,
if it malfunctioned,

maybe Davi loses a few seconds
off his time.

Then he would know for sure
that he didn't have it any more.

But our plan was only
to slow him down,

not to kill him.

And Dwight swears
that's all he tried to do.

But, l, I'm not sure
what to believe any more.

All I did was rig that engine
to short circuit.

That's all that was supposed
to happen. Just a few sparks.

I, I'm not trying to make excuses.

I deserve whatever punishment
that I get.

But I've been around cars
my whole life.

And I'm here to tell you,

there is no way that what I did
caused that car to explode.

We both loved Davi so much.

And we were angry with him
for so long

for being selfish with his life.

It just seems like a cruel joke
that our attempt to save him

Ied to his death.

Something's not right.

Yeah, I see opportunity,
but I don't see motive.

Hey, guys.

They didn't do it.

What have you got?

Finished processing the tools we took
from the team transporter.

I found the wrench used
to sabotage Santos' car.

Tool marks were an exact match.

And that's not all.

Prints on the wrench

match Connor Wells,

team owner.

Davi Santos helped build T eam Cietro.
Why would you wanna get rid of him?

In the beginning,
it was the same for everyone.

All we wanted to do was race cars.

The sponsors, the money,
all of that changed things.

You've both been great for Team
Cietro. I appreciate all you've done.

But this talk about not retiring, is
that really in your best interests?

What hell are you talking about?

You're great, but you've become slow.
Read the signs. Reece is the future.

It's interesting you say that
because all the fans out there

are chanting my name.

Just like they say.
You either win or you go home.

So you followed Dwight,
watched what he did to the car.

I recognised an opportunity
and as a businessman, I acted on it.

Opportunity.

That's what you call murder?

I thought I was looking out for
the best interests of my company.

Life without racing is worse
than death for guys like us.

[Mac] But in the end,
this wasn't about racing at all.

You put Davi in harm 's way
for your own personal survival.

You bastard! He was your friend!
He made you rich!

[Mac] Get him outta here.

Oh, you are so loving this.
A little wish fulfilment?

I just thought maybe you'd like to
see what it's like behind the wheel.

Oh me, huh? Not you?

Just better bring your "A" game,
Bonasera.

Oh, I always do, Taylor.

Remember, these cars are worth
a few hundred thousand bucks,

so, if you break it, you buy it.

I hope you're insured.

[Max laughs]

- Thank you for this.
- It's the least I could do.

People look up to us,
but you guys are the real heroes.

So, go out there.
Have some fun. Burn some rubber.

[# Spoon: Trouble Comes Running]

# I was in a functional way

# And I have my brown sound jacket
Queen of call collect on my arm

# She was my calm-me-down...

- [woman 3] Hey, Mac. Are you ready?
- Ready.

# She was my good-luck charm

# She was my good luck

# Here it come running
Here it come running again

# Trouble come running
Here it come running again

# Well alright...

[engines rev]

# Here it come running
Here it come running again

# Ah, running again

# Running again

# Ah, running #