CSI: NY (2004–2013): Season 6, Episode 4 - Dead Reckoning - full transcript

A woman is cleared of murdering her cheating husband by DNA, despite the fact she confessed to being the murderer. As the team search for answers, the phantom murderess may be involved in 21 other crimes. However, the top suspect is only accountable for 3 of the 21 crimes, and is cleared of a fourth by that crime being committed at the exact same time as another. Who or what caused this? Meanwhile, Don's behaviour is called into question after he nearly gets himself killed by hesitating during the armed arrest of the suspect.

[woman grunts]

[Flack] Mac, this is Mrs Carter.

You're aware of the consequences
of what you're about to do?

Yes.

I imagine that this is
every detective's dream.

Every detective's dream is to have
people stop killing each other.

Start at the beginning, Mrs Carter.
Take your time.

I made Kevin his favourite dinner.

I lit the candles. I poured the wine.
Everything was perfect.

He'd been travelling a lot lately

and it felt like weeks
since he'd been home.



I wanted this night to be special.

T o rekindle our relationship.

And there it was.

I actually thought
that it was for me.

Do you know how stupid
that made me feel?

- Stupid enough to commit murder.
- He was warned.

I told him that if I ever caught
him cheating that I would kill him.

And I will never forget
the look on his face.

[Mrs Carter screams]

And then I got on top of him
and I started stabbing.

- 17 times.
- It was that many?

[Mrs Carter grunts]

I only stopped because I got tired.

I took a cab to the Ritz



because that's where he'd proposed
to me eight years ago.

I had a couple of glasses of wine.

And I got a room.

And that was my evening.

This morning I had breakfast.
Then I walked over to the precinct.

And I turned myself in.

[mobile rings]

Taylor.

DNA results came back. She's lying.

Got it.

[# 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 #.

What the hell is wrong
with you people?

- There was no one else there.
- You're lying, Deborah.

We found a partial DNA profile
of another woman

on the handle of the knife
used to kill your husband.

It could have been touched by any
number of people before that night.

I entertain a lot.

That woman's DNA was swabbed
from the bite mark

on a roll we took
off your dinner table.

Maybe you can explain to us

how another woman's DNA wound up
on bread that came out of your oven.

Maybe your staff was hungry(!)

- Yeah.
- [Mrs Carter] Sorry. It's priceless.

You have a confession, a motive,

a murder weapon
with my fingerprints over it

and you're still not satisfied.

Look, I'm gonna give you
one more chance to help yourself.

Someone else was in that room
with you. Who are you protecting?

I told you everything that I know.

- I want her name!
- There is no her.

OK. You want a name?

Amanda.

Bannister.

Park Avenue.

My attorney.

Maybe a few hours
in a six-by-eight cell

will improve your memory.

Get her out of here.

If you could go back to that moment,
just you and him in that apartment...

...would you do it again?

Would you stick the knife
in his chest?

[Mrs Carter grunts]

All 17 times.

Regrets are a waste of time,
Detective.

Right.

You can't change the past.

Stand up.

T urn around.

No matter how OK

you think you are,

when you close your eyes at night,
it's gonna haunt you.

Let's go.

[# Electronic pop music]

[clears throat]

The stomach contents confirm

that Mr Carter
did, indeed, ingest the dinner roll.

Just as his wife, Deborah, claimed.

We were lucky. Starches are broken
down quickly by the gastric acid.

But this survived
quite well in a full stomach.

See? Barely digested.

Looks like steak, asparagus,
salad and corn.

I've always been fascinated
at the way corn

withstands the acids of the stomach
and travels through...

Sid, please.

Of course. Yep.

If Kevin Carter swallowed
half that dinner roll,

then how can the DNA profile
we recovered from the other half

be that of an unknown female?

[grunts]

Bear down.

You got it. You can do it.

What are you doing? Don't stop.

I can't.

I mean, I'm done. I can't do it.
I can't take another step.

[woman 2] I'm not gonna let you quit.

Look, you don't have a choice,
all right. I'm done.

Jerry, bring his chair.

- Same time tomorrow.
- [Hawkes] Jerry, I'll take it.

Sure.

What are you doing here?
Where's Lindsay?

She's working. I volunteered
to come by and get you.

- Thanks.
- So what was that?

What?

You gotta try way harder if
you're gonna get out of this chair.

Doc, you know what?
I got a policy, buddy.

I don't take advice
unless I ask for it.

Yeah, well, I got a policy too.
I'm always upfront with my friends.

You should have been up
out of that chair weeks ago.

- You're not pushing yourself.
- What?

I'll give you five minutes of the
pain I feel every time I take a step!

I've treated trauma patients
that would trade places with you.

Look... you came here to take me
to work, right? Let's go.

There's a fireman that came
into emergency one day.

Big strong guy. Huh?

Hit a walk-off home run
at the department softball game.

Rounded the bases,
crossed home plate.

His team piled
on top of him in celebration.

Broke his back.

Never met anybody
with a heart like this guy.

It took a lot of sweat
and pain and perseverance

but, eventually, yeah,
he walked again.

Is that the end of that story?

He said pain is the payment
for each precious thing.

T ry harder, Danny.

Let's go. Come on, let's go!

[Danny whistles]

- Oh, hey, babe.
- Hey.

Hey, how was therapy?

Therapy was good.
What are we working on?

Kevin Carter's clothing. We're
looking for a trace of another woman.

Man!

How does eight years of marriage
end like that?

Love.

Wealthy guy. Comfortable lifestyle.

If she married the money,

she put that ring back in the box,
hang the jacket up,

sit down with her husband for a nice
porterhouse and a glass of Merlot.

Of course. It's so obvious.

She stabbed him in the chest 17 times
with a carving knife

because she loved him(!)

[Stella] How do you do it?

Crime scene cleanup by night,
lab tech by day.

And student loans.
It's the great motivator.

These are
the Carter crime scene photos.

[Haylen] I was searching for anything
that would lead me

to that second female suspect
who was in the room.

You realise there was nothing
recovered or analysed from the scene

that hinted to her identity.

Yes. So I switched focus.

I have cleaned up
a countless number of crime scenes.

And I always tried
to imagine what happened,

piece a story together
based on what was left behind.

And food is a major theme in murder.

There's a good half-pound
of asparagus there.

A normal portion for two people.

Same for the corn.
The salad, still in the bowl.

Looks like it hasn't been touched.

If you'll notice the way the dressing
sits in the curvature of the lettuce.

It was never tossed or lifted,
as if it was never served.

Steak, asparagus, salad and corn.

The pieces of beef are still whole.

I'm pretty certain
not one bite is missing,

which makes sense because
the dinner plates are still clean.

And the silverware.

So if nothing was consumed,
how is it that the stomach contents

is consistent with Kevin Carter
having eaten a full meal?

[Lindsay]
Anything from DNA on the dinner roll?

I made the mistake of asking

for local and national searches
in CODlS together.

As you know, the comparisons in
the national system are done monthly.

Ask for it before then?

1 4 people, 50 questions later,
it gets approved, if you're lucky.

So you were lucky.

According to the young lady on
the other end of the phone in Albany,

I'm persistent and charming.

Oh, and modest.

Ha! Let's see what we got.

Yes!

Based on Haylen's discovery,

Kevin Carter had already eaten
the exact same meal

that Deborah had waiting for him.

Sid's autopsy report said the food
in Kevin Carter's stomach

was ingested 1 0 to 1 5 minutes
before he died.

The garage where he parks his car
is a half a block from the building.

Had to take at least 15 minutes
to park the car, walk home,

take the elevator
up to his apartment.

The ring and the note.

He was having an affair.
It wasn't just a one-night stand.

It makes sense that she would know
what his favourite meal is.

So dinner with his mistress
out in public is too risky.

Instead, she cooks
and, conveniently, lives nearby.

And if that's true,

then the female profile
we recovered from the dinner roll

could have transferred
from Kevin's lips

moments after a kiss goodbye.

Only one problem.

It doesn't explain
how the same DNA profile

ends up on the handle of the knife.

Hey, guys.
Our case just got complicated.

As if it wasn't already.

[sighs]

Unknown female DNA?

It's a match to 21
case-to-case hits in Connecticut,

Jersey, upstate New York,
Long lsland.

Murder, burglary, robbery.

Kevin Carter's mistress
is a one-woman crime wave.

We now have case-to-case hits
linking DNA

from the Carter case to 21 felonies

across three states
in seven jurisdictions.

1 1 homicides,
8 burglaries, 2 robberies.

There's forensic evidence
in all these cases,

including several
different DNA profiles.

But the only profile in common
in all the cases

belongs to our mystery woman.

Three of the murders
occurred in New York.

One in the Bronx three days ago.

Drug-related home invasion.
Vic was shot with a.9mm automatic.

Our mystery woman's DNA
on spent shell casings at the scene.

[gunshot]

Early morning stabbing
in Queens at a club.

DNA on the rim of a glass
believed to be used by the perp.

The Carter homicide doesn't seem

to have anything else
in common with the other two.

No ballistic matches, commonality
from weapons, fingerprints.

Aside from DNA,
there are no forensic connections

to any of the 21 cases.

File are still coming in
from the other departments.

We're looking for dots to connect.

Any progress identifying
Kevin Carter's mistress?

The ring she bought him
was a peridot on a plain gold band.

It's cheap, simple. Can be purchased
at a million places in the city.

Also, it's pollen. More specifically,
pollen from pansies.

- This was on his clothing.
- [Mac] No flowers in the apartment.

[Danny]
It was transferred to Kevin's jacket.

I think the woman
he bought the flowers for,

who bought him the ring,
was the same woman

he had dinner with
before he was killed.

Pansies and peridot are gifts
for a first wedding anniversary.

One more thing. Carpet fibres.

These were all over
the vic's shoes and socks.

Microscopic analysis showed a high
degree of morphological integrity.

They were coated
with high concentrations

of a fluorochemical urethane,
which is a protectant.

Now all of this is consistent
with new carpet.

And the same brand
was recently installed

on two floors
in the building next to Carter's.

[Stella] We need to canvass
the apartment complex.

This Carter homicide just turned
into Son of Sam times five.

The mayor wants answers.
Commissioner's under fire.

Press is all over us.

Where are we with the investigation?

How did the media get this?

I have no idea and,
at this moment, don't really care.

I've got a press conference
in 30 minutes.

My guess is I'm gonna face
aggressive questions

about this mystery female killer.

Where are we, Mac?

There's no other forensic connection.

No print matched
to any of the scenes.

The MOs are different. She's
all over the place, geography-wise.

We have a murder suspect in custody
who confesses to the murder

but denies the existence
of this mystery woman.

DNA's a compelling connection.
What else do you need?

More than what we've got,

before I suggest
there's a serial killer in the city.

But what about the press?
I have to tell them something.

Come on, Chief.

I've seen you do that.

"No comment, I'm not at liberty
to discuss this" dance before.

[sighs]

Another body turns up,
they will have a field day.

They'll scream cover up. Say
that we should have warned people.

I just need some time.

Well, I'll see what I can do.

No promises, Mac.

- Sorry to bother you.
- I'm Detective Bonasera.

You know this man?

Hey, sorry to bother you.
Do you know this man?

Hey, sorry to bother you.
Do you know this man?

I swear if I see one more hairy guy
in a wife-beater and boxers,

I'm gonna lose my mind!

Sorry to bother you.

I'm Detective Bonasera.
This is Detective Flack.

You know this man?

Of course I know him.
He's my husband.

I can't believe this is happening.

That he's married to another woman.
That he's dead.

No one would blame you
for being angry.

[woman 3] Kevin owned
an import-export business.

He travelled a lot.
At least that's what he told me.

I passed the bar right after we got
engaged. Landed a job at a big firm.

1 6-hour days.
Neither one of us was home much.

[Stella] You give Kevin this, Zoya?

Last night was
our first wedding anniversary.

- I made him his favourite dinner.
- Steak, asparagus, corn and salad?

Yes. How do you know?

Did you leave the apartment
that night after Kevin left?

No. No, I cleaned up the dishes and
worked on some briefs until midnight.

God! I feel so stupid!

He said he was catching a red-eye to
San Francisco to meet with a client.

I had a ton of work to do
so I didn't complain too much.

- Is that her? His other wife?
- Uh-huh.

The one that killed him?

- You never seen her before?
- No. Never.

- Ever been to her apartment?
- Absolutely not.

Mrs Carter, we'd like to take
a DNA elimination sample.

From me? I don't understand.
You said she confessed.

Someone else was in the apartment
when Kevin was killed.

If it wasn't you,
the sample will prove it.

- You think she knew about Deborah?
- I don't.

This guy covered his tracks well.
Both of Kevin's parents are deceased.

His brother was killed in a
car accident in Seattle 10 years ago.

Used the same name but his brother's
social to create a second identity.

Married to two women
in the same apartment complex.

It's hard to believe
they never bumped into each other.

And if she is lying?

She's the second best one
we've had in here in 24 hours.

Zoya has a motive to lie.
And a motive for murder.

This puts an image on the number
of cases we're dealing with.

Yeah, not quite.
There are still boxes trickling in.

Here.
Incident reports from all 21 cases.

[Hawkes] These will help create
a profile on our donor.

Hopefully, we can find something
that links them other than DNA.

- It's just gonna take time.
- We will. One box at a time.

One file at a time.

I got here a bit early.

Danny, about yesterday.
If... If I came across rude...

Don't apologise.
You're just doing your job.

Look, I'm done whining.

I came here so you can help me
get out of this wheelchair.

I'll do whatever it takes
to make that happen.

I got a few precious things
I need to pay for.

[woman 2] You got it.

You're doin' great.

Hey! Got your message. What's up?

Zoya Carter's DNA
has no match in CODlS.

She is not our killer.

We're starting all over again.

Not exactly because
I might have something really good.

OK.

I found another forensic connection

in at least three
of our linked cases.

Now this World Send package

was recovered from a drug-related
home invasion murder in the Bronx.

Now I also found cocaine residue
on the inside of the package.

Now these were recovered

from a Westchester County
home invasion the next day

and a Greenwich, Connecticut
crime scene a day later.

Now cocaine residue
on all three of these packages

have the exact same
chemical fingerprint.

[Stella] Three different counties.

Three separate police labs
and no one connected the dots,

until Hawkes initiated
a wider CODlS search.

And it gets better.

All these crime scenes
are only 12 miles apart

and these packages were all delivered
by the same World Send employee.

By analysing times,
locations and MOs,

we've created a 3D geographic profile
for our mystery woman.

The highest peak represents
her most probable place of residence.

Checking for parolees?
Outstanding warrants?

Yes, sir.

Does your profile include
where she might strike next?

Nothing I'd hang my hat on.

The odd intervals
and variety of her crimes

make it difficult to predict.

We do know what she may look like.

Using genetic data extracted from
her DNA samples, witness accounts,

and forensics, I've created a basic
physiological profile of our killer.

We believe she's of European descent,
female, 20 to 30 years of age,

5'7" to 5'10", medium-build.

She has dark hair, dark eyes.

She's well groomed,
socially active, extremely athletic.

But I can't explain
the bizarre pattern

or the diversity of the victims.

In several cases it appears

that our suspect was working
with one or more accomplices.

But one thing is certain.

Her crime spree is increasing
in violence and frequency.

Isn't it unusual for a woman
to commit so many violent crimes?

It is. That makes
our suspect list very small.

Your profile narrows it even further.

Well, this might
narrow it down to one.

OK, now we've got three drug-related
home invasion homicide vics,

all linked
by our mystery woman's DNA.

Now each vic has a long rap sheet

for narcotics, trafficking
and possession.

All are linked forensically
by Lindsay

through cocaine residue
found on World Send packaging

recovered from the scenes.

All three packages were delivered
by this woman. Marcia Vasquez.

Locked up in 2001 at age 17
for possession of drugs and weapons.

She was sentenced
to five years' probation.

No DNA profile on CODlS.
No recent arrest activity.

She's now 25 years old,
lives in the North Bronx

and she's been
a World Send employee for six months.

Each package was delivered
the day before the murder.

[tyres screech]

[man] Hey! What are you doing!

[Flack] Watch out!

Got her! Got her! Got her!

Move!

Don't move!

Drop it! Put the knife down!

Shoot me! Shoot me or I'll kill you!

[Flack] Don't move!

- Drop it now!
- [Marcia] Stay back!

- Drop it now!
- Shoot me or I'll kill you!

Drop it! Do it now!

[Marcia] Shoot me or I'll kill you!

Why didn't you
just pull the damn trigger?

The truth is coming out. In this room
or in court, it's coming out!

You didn't act alone
so who you working with?

I told you. You're wasting your time!

I'm not saying nothin'!
I'm not writing nothin'!

I'm not giving you nothin'! Nothin'!

Well, we've got your DNA.

Yeah, I know you refused to give it

so we collected a sample
from your fingerprint card.

It connects you
to more than a dozen homicides.

- A dozen homicides?
- Yeah.

It puts you in the Carters' flat
the night of the murder.

I don't know nobody named Carter.

The only thing I know
is you're a damn coward.

[Stella] Who are you protecting?
Who else is involved?

- What the hell happened out there?
- Nobody got hurt.

That's not the answer
I was looking for.

He froze, Mac.

He couldn't pull the trigger.

She could have easily killed him.

- Don... Everything OK with you?
- Yeah, I'm fine.

I'm not convinced.

Well, why do you need to be?
Did I do something wrong?

It's what you didn't do.
Could have got you killed.

Am I being second-guessed
for not killing someone?

- I thought that was a good thing.
- It is. If it was a choice.

People are concerned about you.

Tell people I said thanks.
But I can take care of myself.

I wish that was true.

If it wasn't for Lindsay
saving your arse today,

we might be having this conversation
in an emergency room

or maybe not at all.

Unless you wanna make that official,
I got nothing else to say.

What are you working on?

Lindsay asked me to cross-reference.

Marcia's
pickup and delivery locations

with all of our case-to-case hits.

[Hawkes]
Ah, the tedious side of lab work!

- Dr Hawkes.
- Yeah.

Take a look at this.

It's impossible. She couldn't have
been two places at the same time.

[Stella] Remember these guys, Marcia?

You delivered them drugs,
waited till they sold their supply

and then went back
and murdered them for the money.

Robbing and killing drug dealers
is one thing.

But what about these people?
Can you explain this to me?

How do you know the Carters?

I already told you.
I don't know the Carters.

Come on, Marcia. It's over!

Who are you working with?
Are these contract killings?

Is that why
they're all over the place?

Something's bothering you.

Her mannerisms.

Her demeanour.

The photos of the three dead
drug dealers made her uncomfortable.

She turned 'em over, pushed 'em away.

The photos of Carter and the other
victims didn't affect her at all.

- Mac...
- It isn't her, is it?

No. Not unless she has the ability
to be two places at one time.

Haylen compared Marcia's movements

using the World Send tracking system
to the CODlS hits.

She couldn't have possibly been
at several of the crime scenes.

[sighs]

Somewhere along the way
we got it wrong.

We messed up.

The swab I took
from Marcia's print card

matched the profile
for the case-to-case hits.

I ran it myself.

But how is that possible? She clearly
wasn't at some of these crime scenes.

Not contamination. We're dealing
with different crime labs.

We're missing
something fundamental.

Until we figure out what that is,
I need you all

to go through
every aspect of these cases.

Something connects them
to this phantom DNA.

[Stella] OK. Here we go again.

[Stella] We collected a sample
from your fingerprint card.

It connects you
to more than a dozen homicides.

Stella, Chief Sinclair's
giving a press conference

announcing the arrest of the phantom
killer for the six o'clock news.

- Stop him from doing that.
- No problem. Where are you going?

Brooklyn.

No telling how many potential victims
there would have been.

Excuse me, sir.
I need to speak with you privately.

Excuse us.

Chief, you can't move forward
with this press conference.

Detective, this department and city
need a bit of good news.

We have the person responsible
for countless crimes in custody.

This arrest isn't
what it appears to be.

Marcia Vasquez
is not the phantom killer.

She is responsible for three
of the murders but not the rest.

I was told the DNA's a match
in all the cases.

Chief, you have never questioned
my judgement before.

- That's right.
- Don't do it now. Please trust me.

[bell rings]

[switches machine off]

Can I help you?

I'm hoping you can. Do you touch
all the cotton out of these boxes?

- Most of it, I guess.
- Do you ever wear gloves?

We're supposed to
but they make my hands all sweaty.

Am I in trouble?

I hope you're not
an inspector or something.

No.

Just a detective
with the New York Crime Lab.

[TV] Approximately one month ago,
White Tip Cotton won a city contract

to provide evidence swabs
for the NYPD Crime Lab

and several other departments.

Earlier today, a DNA sample was taken

from a female employee
of the company,

confirming
what our investigators suspected.

[reporters shout]

The cotton swabs
provided to our department

were inadvertently contaminated

by this female employee
during the packing process.

Although these swabs were sterilised
at the end of that process,

sterilisation is only effective in
eliminating bacteria, not human DNA.

There is no phantom murderer running
loose in the streets of the city.

[reporters shout]

Our investigators, led by detectives
Mac Taylor and Stella Bonasera.

Ied to the arrest
of two homicide suspects,

one of whom will be charged
with the murder of three individuals.

[reporters shout]

[Sinclair] Press conference over.

[lift bell rings]

I'm sorry.
This is a crime scene cleanup.

You're not allowed to be here.

He was my husband.

He cheated on me with another woman.

I'm sorry. Um...

Thought I had
the perfect man, perfect life.

They look like a happy couple, huh?

I don't know what I'll do.
How I'll move on from this.

[whispers] He was my life.

I'm glad she killed him.

So I didn't have to.

- Drop it!
- Shoot me!

Do it now!

[baby cooing]

[turns off baby alarm]