Rock music
Are you all right?
I'm barred.
I've got, like, $10,000 in chips,
and I cannot cash it.
Look, if I kept an eye on you two,
could you please just go in there and just claim my money?
Sure, we can do that for you, but you don't have to keep your eye on us.
We're honest people.
I'm sure you are, but, come on, if I'm gonna be giving you ten grand in chips,
I just gotta know that you're coming back.
We could give you a deposit.
What kind of deposit?
$2,000 would give me peace of mind.
You do that,
I will give you back your deposit plus another thousand.
I'm sorry, sir, I can't cash this for you.
What? Why?
They're worthless.
(Car starts)
(Gunshot)
(Tyres screech)
The guy was running one of the oldest scams in Vegas.
Would have got away with it too, until the getaway driver put a nickel in the guy's jukebox.
Those are the Ortons from Florida.
Are you sure about that?
The couple ID'd the deceased as the con man.
That's the Ortons' money
It's mine now.
- Surveillance? - Not in the garage.
Banana skids and fresh blood. That helps.
Oil slick doesn't hurt us either.
Hey, Jim.
- Got these from the cage. - Thanks, Sam.
The chip clip. Haven't seen that one in a while.
Striking resemblance to Judas.
How's that?
Both lost their lives over a worthless bag of chips.
Punk rock music on hi-fi
Hey, Sanders. No punk rock.
What about Black Flag?
Are you nuts?
Whoa! Careful.
- Livestock. Hissing roaches from Madagascar. - Sorry.
These babies run 2 1/2 miles an hour.
- I don't doubt it for a minute. - 5th Annual Entomological Convention. Duluth.
Cockroach racing finals.
You're roach racing?
Actually, I'm giving a tutorial in preserving mass crime scenes.
The sideshow is racing these guys.
To have a chance to run against legendary roaches
like Cocky Balboa, The Drain Lover, Priscilla, Queen Of The Gutters. It's huge.
- What do you feed those guys? - Dog food.
- And who's supervising Night shift? - You are.
Me? I am on the red-eye to Reno.
The Braun family is opening a new casino. I am Sam's date.
That's tonight?
I told you once. Memoed you twice.
Man, these guys are primed.
You better get somebody.
A-slash? Acting supervisor.
What about Nick? He's got seniority.
Or Sara. She'd jump at the chance.
If it was about seniority, I'd ask Nick.
For staying up three straight days, I'd ask Sara.
- Instead, I want you. - And if I ask why?
Your curiosity would be better served on the case.
The shooting death of a con man at the Tropicana. Our guys are already there.
Hang on.
Have you told Nick and Sara about this?
No.
I got one left
Smile.
- Lovely. - Hey.
- Nice of you to show up. - We're done here, brother.
I'm sorry. I got detained.
- You did a one-to-one on these treads? - Yeah, I just finished.
- Put together an evidence list? - No.
- You gotta do it. You were late. - I don't think so. I gotta go back with the body.
Sara, can you get back to the lab and put a rush on this analysis?
- Who died and made you boss? - He's not exactly dead.
Grissom gave you the shift tonight.
Anything you wanna say?
Yeah.
Good luck.
Get a speeding ticket?
Side roads. So...
this is our con artiste
Vincent Thomas Avery. ID'd him from his prints.
- Tell you anything? - No mystery in cause of death.
Gunshot wound to the outer ear.
Left ear at that
Probably when he was getting into the car.
He knew the driver.
Soot deposition on the skin surrounding the entry wound tells the story.
The bullet entered the external auditory meatus fracturing the skull base
- The hardest bone of the skull. - You got any pictures of that?
Hot off the fluoroscope.
Haven't had the pleasure yet.
Hello! There is your bullet.
Deformed projectile on the right side of the calvarium.
- Can you fish that out for me? - You bet.
Wait a minute.
There's something in his stomach
Something tells me this isn't filled with white sugar.
- How many more are there? - I'd say about 50 balloons
The green dye you see here is probably from lime-flavoured gelatine.
Makes them much easier to swallow.
He's a mule.
Why is a guy trafficking in big-pay drugs wasting his time on some nickel-and-dime chip scam?
Hey. I got the horsepower on your vic.
Vincent Avery. Age 28. Con man out of Atlantic City.
Enough petty thefts and grand larcenies on his record to choke a hippo.
Hey, Jim.
What do you make of that void? Nail?
Either that or a spot on your lens.
Don't say that.
Hey!
You making a cake? What's the hold-up on my pills?
Process.
Just because you got passed over, don't take it out on me.
He didn't pass me over.
- Really? What would you call it, then? - Grissom.
Ah.
Coal.
Wood
And coconut shells.
Activated carbon. Activated charcoal pills.
Best antacid in the world. Coats the stomach and absorbs impurities.
It's great if you're a mule transporting drugs.
Our con man's a mule?
We found balloons of cocaine in his stomach cavity.
Without the pills one bite of a chocolate bar
would produce enough gastric acid to eat away the balloon
causing him to OD.
- Then he went out and got shot. - Speaking of which,
I found airline stubs in Avery's shirt.
- What? - Vincent Avery was 4A,
Ellie Rebecca was 4B.
Strange, right, using two first names?
What's strange is going into the evidence locker after post and finding nothing left.
Don't make me feel bad for doing my job.
If it was your job, you couldn't feel bad.
Well, I think I hear some coffee perking.
What do you want from me? I'm working the case. The case is hot.
It's my case. Tonight, I'm the primary.
I have to process it. If you have a problem with that, you can clock out now.
Am I clear?
Clear.
It couldn't be.
Corner of Paradise and Main
- Hey. - Hey.
You have a daughter?
Where are you going with this?
Her prints are on airline stubs relating to tonight's homicide.
There's got to be more than one Ellie Brass in the world.
Ellie Rebecca Brass?
DOB 9/24/82.
Essex County, New Jersey. Last known address: 554 Applegate Way.
OK, you told me.
- I got to bring her in. - PD brings in suspects. I'll put Vega on it.
You're hands-off?
Of course.
Just go in, right in there.
I'm fine.
So, we're gonna pick up right where we left off, huh, Ellie?
You still documenting the money from the con man?
Every serial number. Evidence.
Did you know that 97% of all 100-dollar bills have traces of cocaine on them?
I was the one that told you that.
Oh, yeah.
Hey, Ronnie.
Do you know what the intaglio script is?
The engraving on Ben Franklin's collar?
I don't see it on this bill.
Do you?
Everyone I sleep with dies.
Excuse me?
I slept with this sailor once, when I was 14.
He died overseas somewhere.
What was your relationship to Vincent Avery?
There was no relationship. I barely knew him.
You knew him enough to fly to Baja with him.
He invited me for the weekend.
I figured as long as he didn't chop me up,
I'd have some fun.
Mind if I smoke?
- Yeah. - Plain sight.
It's a dummy chip. No casino logo.
Exactly the same kind of chips Vincent Avery used to scam the casinos.
Before he got shot.
So, you two fly down to Baja,
pose as a married couple,
bring back a stomach-load of blow,
and then you run chip scams?
Who's taking your drug profits?
Man, I wish I knew what you were talking about.
- Someone catch you two working on the side? - I wasn't even there.
- Where were you? - Home.
- In the bathroom. - She was passing pellets of cocaine.
I'm outta here.
Sit down!
Thank you.
With your permission, we need to take some X-rays.
So long as you're the one doing them.
We'd also like to look at your car.
- I lent it to my boyfriend. - What is his name?
You know, you have this whole Lenny Kravitz thing going on.
- I'm not one for brothers, but... damn! - His name.
Keith Driscoll.
- Now you tell me to get involved. - Evidence against her isn't good.
Hey, listen. Nothing places her at the murder.
She mules drugs for a guy who ends up dead ten hours later?
A BS chip scam? A lousy alibi?
Vega's on it. He'll find your boyfriend. If I know my daughter, that's your shooter.
Brass, it's a big city.
Boyfriend could disappear.
But, hey, it's your kid.
Left scope is a government-issued $100 bill.
Right scope is the money from your tourists.
It confirms what you saw with the naked eye.
On a genuine bill "The United States Of America" is written in micro-letters on the border
of Ben Franklin's portrait.
On the Ortons' bill, the intaglio script is blurred out.
Microprinting. A trick the Treasury uses to thwart photocopying a US bill.
What about pigmentation? Treasury seals and serial numbers... are the same colour, right?
They are on the bill on your left.
So the numbers on the right didn't hold the green ink
No printer on the market can make a true green.
Blue and yellow hues always bleed in.
Our monetary system depends on it.
Who do we notify? The Treasury?
Secret Service Branch. They have a field office in Vegas.
I'll put these back in the evidence room.
Wait till the Ortons find out what we do with counterfeit money.
Nothing.
Told you I was clean.
So, you gave up your drugs to your boss, huh?
Boss?
Do you realise, every time you ingest one of those pellets,
you risk dying of an overdose?
Only if I eat. Releases gastric acids. Blah, blah, blah.
So, you can just not eat.
You see, the thing with me is, I'm... mind over matter.
I can imagine a hamburger and... I'm full.
Will you fill me up, Warrick?
I don't think I can handle this.
- I gotta call Grissom. - Then call him.
But?
- I didn't say anything. - I heard it, bro, a "but" in there.
You know how Grissom is. If you ask him for the keys to the car,
he's gonna ask you if you've done your homework.
Yeah. That's what I was thinking.
It's like a multiple-choice question. You know? You go with your first choice.
- Sack up. - Sack up.
(Cellphone rings)
So did Warrick tell you to call me?
You think you're my only friend in the PD?
I'm just telling you to be careful.
Am I supposed to hold my breath and count to ten?
Hey, look. We all get a little crazy when our kids are involved.
Look, I'm on the job. It's standard police work.
Enjoy Reno. I got this.
OK. Hey, but listen, if you find the boyfriend,
don't go it alone
Don't worry, I won't.
Dispatch. Navaho 4-1-9-7.
In pursuit of a '78 red Camaro. Suspect wanted for questioning.
(Tyres screech)
(Car horn blares)
Which one's Keith Driscoll?
I was just hitchhiking. I told the guy to let me out.
Get lost.
OK come on! Out!
- Easy, man! - I'm only gonna ask you once.
- What are you and Ellie into? - What do you mean?
You got her muling drugs from Mexico. You got her mixed up in a homicide.
You got it backwards, man. She turned me on to coke so I could stud for her.
You can't just shoot me, man.
(Sirens)
Brass.
Yo, Jim.
- We got it. - Everything's cool.
This guy was gonna kill me, man. He pulled his gun.
I'm sure the officer felt his life was in danger, sir.
We wanna question you about the murder of Vincent Avery.
- I'm not riding with him. - You're right, you're not.
What do you mean, you can't give it back? It's all we have for our vacation.
Well, it's counterfeit. We have to take it out of circulation.
What?
Mr Orton, you don't look so surprised.
Matt? Honey?
I went to the gas station. The attendant said the hundred I had was phoney.
So I went to our branch bank here
and I tried to exchange it, but they couldn't do it.
I mean, why would anybody turn in bad money if they can't get reimbursed for it?
Because it's in violation of Title 18, Section 473
of the United States Code,
punishable by up to 15 years for knowingly passing on bad money.
- Oh, my God! - I just didn't wanna get stuck holding the bag.
Do you have a $20 bill?
Our wallets are up in the room.
I may have something.
Hm. You see the ghost?
Right there on the right.
- Oh, yeah. - They're embedded to prevent forgeries.
You should see Lincoln on the five. He looks really stressed out.
I wish I had met you last week.
A special agent from Secret Service wants to talk to you about the final deposition of this case.
Warrick Brown?
Special Agent Beckman, Treasury Department.
Treasury Department?
We wanted to be sure CSI's on the same page on this counterfeit case.
- Counterfeit? - Our lab wants to analyse that money too.
- What money? - I didn't wanna interrupt you.
- On a federal case. - Agent Beckman,
I'm Sara Sidle Could you excuse us for a minute?
Warrick, you gotta turn on your pager, man. I got Brass's daughter's car in the garage.
- I'm dealing with something. - That's why I didn't bring this to you.
Vega says we won't be able to hold the suspect for more than a half-hour.
Did Sidle hold back information?
I didn't not tell him.
- I ran with the case. I do it with Grissom. - Well, I'm not Grissom!
Guys.
I didn't say it.
Sara, brief Special Agent Beckman on the funny money. Nick, garage.
THE CHAMBERS BROTHERS: Time Has Come Today
Young hearts can go that way
Can't put it off another day
I don't care what others say
They say we don't listen anyway
Time has come today
Oh, the rules have changed today
I have no place to stay
Hey!
Thinking about the subway
Hey!
The love has flown away
Hey!
My tears have come and gone
Hey!
Oh, my Lord, I have to roam
Hey!
I have no home
Hey!
I have no home
Hey!
Tyre plug.
That's a nail in sheep's clothing.
Treads from the crime scene.
The void on the one-to-one matches the void on Ellie's left rear tyre.
Siamese twins.
Proves one thing. This was the getaway car used in the murder.
Yeah.
We printed the vehicle your client was found driving.
It puts the car at the scene of Avery's murder less than 12 hours ago.
Come off it. The car's not even registered to him.
No. The girl he bought tickets to Baja for.
He bought tickets for Avery as well.
The tickets were bought with your credit card, but we have no proof he ever went down there.
- He's generous - Till Avery made him mad.
You wanna talk about the gun your captain pulled on my client?
An unarmed man. That's got PD brutality written all over it.
Vega?
Safety precaution only.
- We're done. - Let's go.
You suspect them of a high-end counterfeit operation?
No, but it did get me thinking.
If something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't.
Take a look. This is the money that we got from the con man.
See the serial numbers? Each one is different.
- Just like real money. - That's what threw Ronnie and I off the scent.
This couple didn't make one bill and run 100 copies with the same serial number.
They had to burn separate plates for each number.
Much harder to catch.
The very high end.
The Duffys are major counterfeiters.
You mean the Ortons.
My investigators tell me they're the Duffys from Las Vegas County.
Orton's their assumed names.
How long have you known that?
I went on the T-Department database.
They've each done time for fraud. And, yes, high-end counterfeiting.
- You federal guys are sneaky. - Access.
So, what do you wanna do with the money?
It's your money now. Well, the Treasury's.
Thanks. I'll take it from here.
Find the operation and shut it down.
Hey!
- I'm still part of this. - Not really.
But you're making me look good, so if you wanna tag along...
- I don't tag along. - Suit yourself.
We got bad news from the garage
Give it to me.
The tyre evidence puts Ellie's car at the murder scene.
- We'll be pressing charges for Avery's murder. - Come on. You know she didn't kill him.
- Keith Driscoll did. - Maybe so, but we don't have Driscoll.
- What? - Vega had to let him go after your gun episode.
Oh, I get it. Vega thinks she'll eventually rat out Driscoll.
- That's what you cops think. - Let me tell you something about my daughter.
Never happen.
- Are they arresting me? - I'm gonna bail you out.
You can stay at my place.
I have a place.
You have a place?
Keith and I do. We share everything.
Ellie, why do you do this to yourself? You're better than that.
You're better than him.
No, I'm not.
(Phone rings)
Grissom's office. CSI. Warrick speaking.
Warrick it's Vega I got a 444
Officer involved shooting? Who?
One guess
You've just bounced off the glass ceiling.
Excuse me?
Brass buys his daughter a get-out-of-jail-free card and her boyfriend ends up on a gurney.
Ecklie, you're Day shift, and you're here because...?
- I'm dedicated. - Yeah. Picture that.
- What happened? - Driscoll shot in the throat.
First officer here found Brass in the apartment, woozy. Keith Driscoll on the floor, lights out.
- Where's his daughter? - No-one knows. I got guys looking for her.
- Check his weapon? - Waiting on you guys.
There's one round missing.
It's just you and me talking now, Jim.
Off the record
You went to the apartment?
Yeah.
- You notify Dispatch? - It was a personal visit.
- But you went looking for Keith Driscoll. - No.
I went looking for Ellie.
Where is she?
- Where is she? - She's not here. Hey, you got a warrant?
Everything's a blur after that.
Do you remember drawing your gun?
No.
You're leaving something out.
Hey, you got a warrant?
Ellie, are you here?
- I'm not leaving anything out. - Your daughter lives there.
She probably saw what happened. We're gonna pick her up eventually.
Careful. She spits.
One shot?
15 bullets left in Brass's gun. There should be 16.
What cop doesn't empty his magazine? They're trained to shoot to kill.
Hey!
Look where I just located this blood.
- The back of the grip. - Novices get their hands pinched in the slide.
Slide bite
Man.
Brass didn't shoot this guy.
I need you to show me your hands.
You're testing for gunshot residue? It's a little late for that.
Your hands, Captain.
Satisfied?
I'm gonna need to take your badge.
It's not your job to take my stripes.
In this case, it is.
- Detective Vega. - No.
AB Dick 4910. 11 x 14 offsets.
This is the Rolls-Royce of printers. The closest thing to what the government uses.
Multiple ink s.
Disaperf computer paper.
Heavy rag. 25% content. Makes for durability.
Mr Duffy, can Agent Beckman and I see your burn plates, please?
Press, ink, paper, burn plates.
Only question now is
where's the money...
...Mr and Mrs Duffy?
There isn't any.
Oh, come on. You can print a million dollars a day with this operation. Where is it?
- There is no money. - Excuse me?
I don't get this. Beckman...
Congratulations, Sidle.
- You passed. - Passed?
Duffy is their code alias.
This is Special Agent Conners, Special Agent Tessari. We're all with Service.
- I don't... - We put bait money in the hands of bad people.
In this case, a reputed con.
To see how the money leads to law enforcement.
- What if Vincent Avery wasn't murdered? Murder wasn't on the agenda
However, in light of unpredictable events, the sting still upheld.
It came to you and you didn't take. You should be very proud.
Wow. I don't feel that at all.
It never feels right when it work s.
Only feels wrong when it doesn't.
First, I have the saliva sample taken from Captain Brass's badge.
Better known as Ellie's DNA.
Take a good look at her markers.
Second, blood sample from Jim Brass.
They're nothing alike.
From parent to child, seven of thirteen markers should match up. Minimum.
In this case, there's not one marker in common.
I don't have Ellie's mother's DNA on file,
- but my guess is... - Was she adopted?
Whew!
What about the blood on Brass's gun?
Not Brass's. Not Ellie's.
Not Ellie's?
No, or her boyfriend Keith Driscoll.
You still got a shooter out there.
With a pinch on his hand.
All right. Where's that manifest?
Vincent Avery.
2034.
Marty Gilmore.
(Siren)
Hold it, hold it.
The game's over, Marty.
The hitchhiker.
- You know this guy? - Yean we met
When the three of you got back from Baja.
You conned the Captain.
I gotta shake your hand.
- This a joke? - No, on the real.
You shot Driscoll.
- With his firearm. - That was you in the other room.
I think I killed him.
- Nope. He killed you. (Gunshot)
Urgh!
So, you offed Driscoll to take over his drug op.
What about Ellie?
She's supposed to be in jail for shooting Avery at the casino.
- Urgh! - You eat something?
I took a laxative.
Oh, God. He's gonna OD.
Can we get a medic?
Brass!
Yeah.
I need Rescue
826 Herrick Lane. Overdose. Send an ambulance.
Oh, my God. I'm gonna die.
No, worse. You're gonna live.
Brass! Hang on.
I only took it to get Ellie's DNA off of it.
That's it.
A man's gotta do...
What is it, Rick?
We were checking out the blood from your gun.
- We compared your DNA to her DNA. - Yeah?
You never said anything about her being adopted.
She's not.
Call it the mailman.
Ellie doesn't know.
Ellie?
How did you find me?
I'm a detective.
I heard you never went back to Driscoll's apartment that night.
It's true.
I could have sworn I heard you in that other room.
No, Dad.
I was never there. Never.
I guess I've been doing that since you've been born.
I mean, I know I was never around, but...
You know, no matter where I am...
...no matter what I'm doing...
...I always think that you're there.
Even if you're not.
Come back to me, Ellie.
Dad...
it's way too late.
I've got to catch a flight to Jersey.
Midnight.
Mom says...
I can stay with her... a while.
Sure. OK.
You need a ride to the airport? I can get you there fast.
Thanks.
I'm taking the shuttle, so...
Oh, yeah. Right. OK.
Catch you later.
- Hey, Sara. - Hey.
Hey.
I'm short on cash. Can you loan me a hundred?
Funny. Very funny.
Oh! Look, shift's over.
Guess you're one of us again.
Hey Griss!
- How did it go? - The seminar was fine.
Every one of my roaches got stage fright.
They came in fourth, third, second...
and dead last.
How about you? How did you do?
Well, the job is fine. It's the other stuff, the personalities.
I love mankind, it's people I can't stand?
- Who's that? Einstein? - Linus.
Charlie Brown. Figures.
Is that why you put me in charge?
You think I like dealing with people?
Remember you asked me what I was in high school?
Yeah. You said "a ghost".
When I leave CSI, there won't be cake in the break room. I'll be gone.
So I wanted to see if you could step in.
Tell me
All of it. From the top.
From the top?
I don't know where to start.
It was wild.