Criminal Minds (2005–…): Season 6, Episode 14 - Sense Memory - full transcript

♪ Can you smell it, baby? ♪

♪ Can you smell the funk? ♪

♪ Can you smell it, baby? ♪

♪ Can you smell the funk? ♪

♪ Does it make you feel good? ♪

♪ Can you feel that sound? ♪

♪ Can you smell it, baby ♪

♪ When I'm broken down? ♪

You refuse to notice
the disgusting state

of the world in which you live.

You close yourself off
rather than facing the reality



that you are all just animals
pretending to be something more.

Are you on duty?

Are you on duty?

No, I'm not.

It's freezing out here.

I said no.

Please?

I said I'm not on...

10 years in L.A., and I still forget

that the temperature
drops 20 degrees at night.

I usually don't even take a taxi.
It's just the Metro...

- Get in.
...stopped. What?

It's okay. Get in.

Thank you.



I can't believe I stumbled on to a taxi.
It must be my lucky night.

Very lucky.

Hey, Cheryl.

Sean.

I was gonna call you back.
I just... I got busy on a case.

Lan Doyle vanished from prison.

INTERPOL can't find him.

What are you saying?

He's off the grid, Emily.

Am I in danger?

We all are.

Serge, you scared me.

Where you been?

Why are you wet?

Were you out running
around in the rain?

I sure did miss you, Sergio.

You're just the handsomest
kitten I've ever seen.

I sure miss you when I'm gone.

Is this how you got out, buddy?

Hey, Brianna. It's Emily.

Yeah, I just got back now.

It was good. Thanks.

Um, did you leave the fire escape window
open for Sergio to get out?

Okay.

No, I just...
It was open, and I was wondering

how it got that way. It's fine.

No. No, there's no water damage.

Um, it's fine.

Thank you so much for taking care
of him while I was gone.

Uh, you want to have brunch
this weekend?

Okay, cool. I'll give you a call.

Okay, bye.

Buddy.

Ohh.

Ucchh.

Hi. It's Emily. Leave a message.

"Hunting is not a sport.

In a sport, both sides should know
they are in the game."

Comedian Paul Rodriguez.

Where's Prentiss?

I don't know. Her car wasn't here
when I rode in this morning.

I'm gonna give her a call, get her ETA.

Hey.

Somebody have a long night?

Somebody want to mind
their own business?

Garcia.

Oh. Spin the wheel,
and it is sunny Los Angeles, people.

Two times in one year, huh?

Remind me again
why it's called the City of Angels.

It was originally called The Town
of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels.

That was a rhetorical
question, wasn't it?

This is a weird one.

As opposed to?

Ah, withhold your
judgment, mon ami.

Okay, three women, all abducted
from different parts of the city

and murdered within
the last couple of weeks.

Shelly Onto, 23-year-old bank teller,
15 days ago.

Vickie Hagerg,
39-year-old art teacher,

six days ago.

And Linda Dean,

a 28-year-old hostess
at a bar, two days ago.

All from different parts of the city,

all different socioeconomic statuses.

All three were held approximately 24 hours

before being dumped
in a public space.

He's not hiding what he's doing.

And here's one weird part.

They all look like floaters.

Mm-hmm. All three women
were drowned.

Their bodies weren't
found anywhere near water?

No, they weren't.

They were drowned somewhere else
and transported to the dump site.

Garcia, you're right. This is weird.

- Oh, but there's more.
- They weren't drowned in water.

Methanol?

Each woman had it in her lungs

and was alive before she went into it.

No water, just methanol.

Drowning's a tough way to kill someone.

Slow. The unsub wants
his victims to suffer,

and he's got the space and privacy
in which to do it.

And if you have yet to hit
your daily allotment of skeeve

before breakfast,

each woman had an identical
removal of flesh

taken from the bottom
of her right foot.

Methanol and skin.

What the hell's he doing with them?

Methanol is, compositionally speaking,

the simplest of the alcohols.

It's actually ubiquitous
in the environment.

There are small traces of its vapor
in the atmosphere,

but atmospheric methanol
is easily oxidized by sunlight.

Is it toxic?

Ingesting 10 milliliters of it
will cause permanent blindness,

and as little as 30
is potentially fatal.

These victims had between 5
and 6 ounces in their lungs.

You know, if they
were immersed in it,

they would have died even without
ingesting or inhaling it.

When absorbed through the skin,

it depresses the central
nervous system

to an unsustainable degree.

- Well, what's it used for?
- What isn't it used for?

A solvent, an antifreeze.

In World War II, the Germans
used it for rocket fuel.

It's used in wine-making.

Its most commonplace use, however,
is in the creation of other chemicals.

Methanol can become
plastic, plywood, paint,

explosives, permanent-press textiles.

It's essentially the chemical used

to separate other chemicals
from each other.

Can it be bought? Is it tracked?

California's got some of the strictest
environmental laws in the country.

I'm sure it's regulated.

Yeah, but methanol
is also used in making biofuels,

which quite a few people
have been doing at home.

I'd imagine the sale of it
is fairly commonplace.

But he needs enough
in which to immerse a body.

All the victims were nude,

but there's no evidence of
sexual assault on any of them.

And the skin was removed
from the bottom of the foot.

Unless we're talking
about a foot fetishist,

you actually can't get further
away from sexual areas.

Yeah.
Impotent sadists like Robert Napper

typically take their frustration
out on their victims.

You'd think there'd
be a lot more overkill.

And what he's doing
is very specific, very focused.

What about the skin patch?
Is this a trophy of some sort?

I have no idea. Skin, independent
of any other substance,

would wither and die
rather quickly.

Well, that might be the thing

that's forcing our unsub
back out on the hunt.

Considering the wide divergence
of abduction and dump sites,

this guy could be anywhere.
L.A. Is over 500 square miles.

Uh, 498.3.

And the fact that no one has seen him
either abduct or dispose

says he knows the city
and its patterns well.

Day and night.

It's all the same.

I float around the city

bombarded by the smells
of guinea pigs like you

who've been swayed to toxify themselves
for corporate whoremongers,

desensitizing your bodies
to the odor, the filth,

the wretched stench
of chemical consumption.

- Agent Hotchner?
- Yes, sir.

I'm Detective Bailey.
I'm the primary,

at least until the city
starts a task force.

It's S.O.P. In L.A.

This is Agent Rossi.
Thank you for inviting us.

- I hope you can help us.
- We'll do what we can.

Doc's waiting.

We got nothing here.

Two of the three women
weren't even reported missing

when we found them.
He's dumping their bodies

24 hours after abducting them.

It takes longer than that

for a missing persons report
to clear the system.

And I have no idea if there are more.

Let's hope not.

I've experimented with the process

and still been unsatisfied.

I need it on my desk
first thing in the morning.

The issues are with the subjects.

No, no, no, no,

No, uh-uh. 91037 Wilshire.

How would we ever
recapitalize from that? How?

And if you want a future
in this company,

you're gonna have to step it up.

Uh, did you not hear me?
91037 Wilshire.

Out. Get out of my cab now.

- Excuse me?
- Out.

I'm gonna report this.

The driver's going crazy.

He's getting out of the cab.

- Get out!
- Okay...

Get out! Get out!

Okay. Okay!

Get out of my cab! Get out!

Okay. Calm down!

The victims were clearly drowned,

but there was absolutely
no water in their system.

100% methanol.

It was completely seeped in their skin.

They soaked in it for some time.

I'd say they spent
most of the time submerged,

though not completely.

So maybe the soaking
serves a purpose other than drowning.

It could be.

- God.
- What about the wounds,

the missing pieces of skin?

Were the edges clean like the unsub
knew what he was doing?

Actually, on the first two victims,
the edges of the wounds were jagged,

as if the instrument was shaking
while the skin was cut.

But on the latest victim,
it's much cleaner,

much more defined.

His confidence and skill level
are increasing.

I don't imagine
you need any medical training

for something like that.

No, just something sharp enough.

Doctor, was there
any methanol in the wound?

- Excuse me?
- In the wound itself,

was there evidence of methanol?

Only trace amounts.

So the skin was removed after the body
was taken out of the chemical.

Postmortem.
It's not about torture or pain.

Oh, one other thing.
I noticed in the toxicology report

that Ms. Dean had a good
amount of chloroform in her blood.

It turns out
the other victims did as well.

If he were using chloroform,

wouldn't she have burning
around her nose and mouth?

Usually. None of them
showed any signs of it,

but there is burning
inside her nostrils.

She breathed the chloroform in.

What if he aerosolized
to turn it into a mist?

That could do it.

That's pretty extensive preplanning.

Repulsive.

Nasty, stinking, rotten,

filthy creatures.

Guys, as I feared,
methanol can be easily purchased

from any chemical supply house
in Southern California.

It's not controlled. You can buy it
in large quantities or small quantities.

Now, I've charted the abduction
and disposal sites.

Linda Dean was taken from Hollywood.

Her body was dumped in Echo Park.

Shelly Onto was last seen
in the Garment District.

Her body was dumped
in Sherman Oaks.

And finally, Vickie Hagerg
was taken in Torrance, south of the city.

Her body was left in Westlake.

It's a huge geographical area.

The only area the unsub hasn't hit yet
is east of downtown,

which means we can either eliminate it
or it's the one place left.

So we're back to nothing.

No, not necessarily.
I looked at the crime scene photos.

These sites are true dump sites.

I mean, there's no concealment,
no staging.

He literally just dumps
the bodies there like garbage

once he's done with them.

The randomness could be orchestrated,
or it could be simple opportunity.

Either way, he's very mobile.

All of the dump sites,
including the most recent one,

Are between the 110
and 405 freeway

and the 5 and 10 north and south.

Linda Dean's family said she always

took the red line home
from work at night,

but the subway in L.A.
Stops running at 1 a.m.

She clocked out of work
at 5 past 1:00.

L.A. At 1 a. M?
She probably didn't walk home.

No. And Kingsley's a mile away.

All the victims had breathed in
aerosolized chloroform,

and to do that
he needs an enclosed space.

Chloroform's a lot more controlled
than methanol.

I'll have Garcia track
any large quantity purchases or thefts

from chemical supply houses.

So we're looking for a vehicle,

one that could be
in any area of Los Angeles

at 1:00 in the morning
and not attract attention.

I hate to say it,
but that could be a police car.

Or a taxi.

Hi.

I am going to...
Where is my address?

Hey, how do you say this...

Ca-hoo-enga?

Cahuenga.

Does it connect...

Can I just give this to you?

Thank you.

It really...

No, it's okay. I got you.

I got you.

Uh, sir?

Sir, there's something...

Sir, there's something...

Sir...

Sir, please open the door!

Sir... Sir, please op...

Sir, I can't get out!
Please, open the door!

Live from Quantico, VA,
it is the Divine Miss Penelope.

Los Angeles, you're our first
and favorite caller.

Talk to me.

Okay, woman,
you do know you're crazy, right?

Mm-hmm. But like you always say,

don't hate the playa,
hate the game.

Okay, playa, my bad.

Listen, I need you to check
and see which cab companies

serve the Hollywood area
where Linda Dean was abducted.

That won't even break a sweat.

There are seven... Bell, Beverly Hills,

Checker, City, Independent, United,
and the Yellow Cab Company.

Can you narrow that down
and find out who picked up fares

near Vaughn's Bar and Grill
in the the last 72 hours?

That's gonna take a minute or two,
but still no cause for perspiration.

I shall lovingly hit you back
when I have something, okay?

Thanks, playa.

You know it.

There's seven companies.
Garcia's running them down.

good.

Most taxis here run out of cab stands.

It's not like New York,
where they're running all over the place.

That should help
narrow down the choices. Excuse me.

Ahh...

What do you got?

Okay, I checked all seven cab companies

that service the Hollywood
and Vermont area,

and none of the drivers
reported picking anyone up

between 11:00 and 2:00
the night Linda went missing.

And they know that for sure?

Yeah. They seemed really certain.

Well, one of the drivers may have
picked someone up off the meter.

Do the cabs have GPS?

Yeah. Taxis are tracked
more than Gaga's Twitter.

What does that mean?

I'll explain it to him, Garcia.

Yeah, teach him to worship
the other Lady G, boss.

Ta and ta.

So there were no taxis in the area.

Add 5 tablespoons of salt.

Once the animal skin
has boiled long enough

to render all the fat possible,

strain it into the double-boiling pot
with the nitric acid.

Allow the solution to cool.

This should create a clear,
beautiful mixture

with a natural scent.

What about a gypsy cab?

They roam around
in unregistered vehicles

with fake insignias that look legit.

There are 2,300
registered cabs in the city

and at least as many unregistered.

No one pays any attention
when they get into a cab.

If he's unregistered,
he's not gonna sit outside taxi stands

and wait to pick up fares
in the traditional way.

Which makes him either harder to find.
This guy could be anywhere.

Detective, can you gather everyone?
We'd like to give the profile.

- Yeah.
- Thank you.

What is it, Reid?

When I was in school,
we used to use methanol

to separate chemicals from each other.

Whatever we did, we'd clip a sample
of the source material

to label and keep next to the output.

What kind of samples?

Square samples 2 inches by 2 inches.

I think this guy's a scientist
and he's experimenting.

You're awake.

You're gonna live forever.

We wanted to get a preliminary
profile to you as soon as possible

because of the type of unsub
we're dealing with here.

We believe he's a male Caucasian,

driving an unregistered gypsy cab.

He uses the vehicle to abduct the women.

His victims have been between
the ages of 20 and 40,

and we think that he's
in the same age bracket.

Add to that his use of methanol
for whatever reason

and the aerosolization
of chloroform,

and we believe that we're looking
for a very intelligent unsub.

Which is not unusual.

True psychopaths often have
above-average intelligence.

This type of unsub
will not have injected himself

into the investigation
as we often see.

He will not be following
the investigation very closely.

In fact, he may
not even be concerned

about whether
he's leaving any evidence.

So how come we can't find him?

Because of what he's doing to them.
He's submerging them in liquid,

which is washing away any forensic
evidence which might be there,

and then he's wrapping
the bodies in plastic.

There is something about him
which will be helpful.

He's extremely antisocial.

We've all heard neighbors say

after an unsub is caught
how surprised they all are.

That will not be the case
with this guy.

Couple his explosive
antisocial nature with taxi driving,

and someone will have
made contact with him.

They will remember.

We suggest going public
with the information as soon as possible

that he's an unregistered taxi driver

and that he's had confrontations
with people in the city.

Thank you very much.

Someone has had a confrontation

with this man,
most likely involving his taxi,

which is not registered.

Now, if you have, please contact...

You guys got a press
conference up fast.

And we'd like to warn
everyone in the community,

especially women who travel alone...

- People need to know.
- The body's this way.

A couple of mountain bikers found her.

Same story.

Yeah.

She's still unidentified,
but like I said,

most of this guy's victims
weren't even reported missing.

Garcia, what we're looking for
is a combination of purchases.

Ooh, combinations of lists
are my life's work and forte,

o tall and smart one. Go.

Items used to set up a laboratory...

beakers, glass tubing,

a vessel large enough to hold a woman,

enough methanol to submerge her.

Yeah. Added to?

Addresses where large
amounts of methanol

have been delivered
alongside chloroform.

I shall contact you forthwith.

I will eagerly be awaiting your call.

Dr. Reid, where'd the guy go
who gave the press conference?

He's with the reporters. Why?

Because we already
got someone calling

who says she talked to the guy.

I don't know if he's the guy,
but he was out of control.

His cab was unregistered,

and he actually made me,
a paying customer, get out.

Okay, was that all that happened?

I was on the phone
when I first got in the cab.

Uh, yeah, he was listening
to something.

What do you mean?

Some dumb recording
of himself talking.

What was he saying
on the recording?

I don't know. I tried to get
his cab number down,

but I was really flustered.
I only got the last 2 digits.

Okay, ma'am, these two officers
will take down all your information.

They're probably gonna ask you
to look at some photos.

How long is that gonna take?

I'm not really sure, ma'am,

but you may actually
help save someone's life.

Okay.

All right, if he's listening
to recordings of himself,

he's not only antisocial,
he's probably delusional as well.

Thank you.

Agent Hotchner.

I'll call you back.

A young girl, Anisa Gold,

just went missing this afternoon.

Her roommate says she was
going to a job interview, never arrived.

She never returned home, either.

He probably has her, right?

Probably.

We're with the FBI.
You mind if we take a look

inside your cab for a minute?

It doesn't have anything
to do with you, sir.

We just want to have a conversation.

Well... Okay. Shoot.

Thank you.

- Prentiss, hop in the back.
- Okay.

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

So why a cab?

He could control the woman better
if he had a van or something.

Yeah, but a woman probably
wouldn't get into a van voluntarily.

A cab enables him to blend in
when he's on the hunt.

He doesn't choose his victims
until they get inside.

Right. So what is it
about these passengers?

Well, I doubt it's anything visual.

He'd get a better look
at his victims from the street

as opposed to the back of his cab.

Partition.

They aren't touching each other.
Probably isn't based on that.

Hearing? Something they say?

Prentiss.

What's going on with you?

With me?

I've been watching you
the last couple of days,

and something is obviously
bothering you.

Derek, because I like you,
I'm going to ask you not to do this.

Please.

Ugh. It smells back here.

Hey.

Could it be smell?

What?

Could smell be
what's attracting him to his victims?

Distillation extraction.

Well, I hope you know what you just said
because you lost me.

Methanol can be used
to create scents or aromas.

If you soak something in it for hours,
it draws out the essential oils.

Emily, let me call you right back, okay?

The natural essence of a woman
is innocent and intoxicating.

It must be preserved
by any means necessary.

The mixtures from
subjects 1 through 4 were flawed,

but subject 5 is more fearful.

Her pheromones
will yield better results.

Oh, no.

Please...

Subject 5, shh...

Please...

Please, just let me go.

I'm not number 5. My name's Anisa.

Please let me go.

Let you go?

I've perfected the process.

Everything is ready.

Please. Please, no. I...

Unless the victims all wore
excessive amounts of perfume,

it would take a hell of nose
to detect smell through a taxi window.

Not necessarily.

People with the olfactory
disorder hyperosmia

have an oversensitivity to smell.

They typically pick up scents
that other people can't.

I don't think he'd be going
after their perfume. It's already artificial.

So they probably weren't wearing
anything on their skin.

Something about their
natural scent compels him?

Smell's a powerful trigger for memory.

He might be trying to bring back
the memory of somebody he lost.

Excuse me.

You have something?

Yeah, this is wonderful
and totally uncommon.

I have exactly one address

at which every piece of equipment
you listed was delivered to.

We have an address.

Subject number 5,

this part is up to you,

but, as you know,
I've done several of these, well...

extractions, and...

it will be better for you
to just take a deep breath

as soon as you're submerged.

Fighting will only
prolong your discomfort.

But, again, It's totally up to you.

All right, here we go.

Oh, God, no.

- No, please, don't do this.
- Shh.

No! No, please...

Don't! No!

Morgan and Prentiss, take the back.

He's got eyes on us.

FBI!

He's running!

Reid and Prentiss, search the house.

There!

FBI!

Please help me!

Help me!

- Clear!
- Are you okay?

Yes, just get me out.

I got it.

You're okay.

You're okay.

It's all right.
We're gonna get you out of here.

Thank you.

- It's okay.
- Thank you.

Damn it!

We lost him.

Split up.

Stop.

Back up.

Got him.

No.

No!

...rotted vegetables,
rotted fruit, rotted meat,

rotted lives.

It's not that it's hidden.
It's everywhere.

You don't notice
because you don't want to.

You close yourself off to it,
pretend it isn't there

because it's easier than facing it...

facing the reality
that you're all just animals

Pretending to be something more.

"Nothing revives the past so completely

as a smell that was once
associated with it."

Novelist Vladimir Nabakov.

Reid?

Emily, you are not going to believe this.

No?

They're showing Solaris
tonight, the original,

in the theaters. You want to go?

Did Morgan put you up to this?

What?

Did Morgan tell you to call me?

Morgan would have no idea
what Solaris is.

So, uh, you just called me
out of the blue.

Well, I mean,
the original one's in Russian,

so really, you and I are the only ones
that can really enjoy it.

Isn't Solaris, like, four hours long?

It's five. The best sci-fi
meditation film of all time.

But for some reason,
they never really show it in the theaters.

You want to go with me?

Sorry, handsome.
I'm gonna have to pass.

I'm just gonna hang out
with Sergio tonight.

Oh, shoot. I didn't realize that...

Relax, Reid.

Sergio is my new cat.

But, um, thank you.

For what?

For being you.

Aw, thanks.
I don't know how to be anyone else.

Yeah.

That's what I love about you.

Bye.

Monsieur Kent.

Merci.

Ecco. Ecco la.

- Qu'est-ce qui se passe?
- Va presto.

Qu'est-ce qui se passe?

I want to talk to Sean.

They got her.

Drop the phone.
Get on the ground now.

Based on their shoes and shades,
I'd say CIA.

Could be Ml5, ICC, INTERPOL.

Hey! I'm not gonna tell you again.
On the ground now!

Hold on.

Kill me or arrest me,

but I will not lay on the ground
like a dog.

I gotta go.

Stay on top of this.
I'll speak to you soon.

Serge?

Sergio, buddy.

Hey.