CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

In a casino, a biker follows another man, pushing people out of his way along the way. The man in the lead goes through the mall and into the parking lot. The biker kicks the door open and follows...

In the parking lot, the biker is dead; Brass and Grissom look him over. Brass pulls a handful of casino chips out of his pocket and says that robbery wasn't the motive, and then notes that his eyes took the brunt of the violence. Grissom says that if you can't see, you can't fight back. His wallet, also left behind by the killer, has identification showing a name of Tony Sciarra, from Philadelphia.

Catherine and Warrick photograph the body, Brass says that Tony had just checked in to the hotel; Catherine notes the blood spatter which shows that the blows were low velocity, with very little cast off. Warrick comments that it's possible that Tony wasn't beaten with a weapon, perhaps it was hand-to-hand fighting. Catherine agrees, saying that size doesn't matter if you're out-numbered.

Sara and Nick watch the security tapes and see Tony leaving the casino; they go back and watch him at the craps table, and see the man beside him stealing chips from Tony's pile while Tony's not looking; he does this three times, and Tony notices it the third time. They yell at each other; Sara tells the security guard to get them a still shot of the "little guy's" face.

Dr. Robbins tells Grissom that Tony is missing six teeth; he found one in the back of his mouth, so the others must be at the scene. He confirms that bare hands were used, as there are no tool marks on the body, and comments that it's the most brutal beating that he's ever seen. Grissom notes that the neck bruises were made by a left hand; Dr. Robbins guesses that Tony was restrained by someone who kneeled on his chest. He comments that with a person on Tony's chest, holding his neck and hitting his face, it wouldn't leave much room for the rest of the gang to land their blows; Grissom points out that there may not have been any gang present.

Brass talks to a woman from housekeeping who says that she was in the bathroom, and saw the "little guy" washing his hands; she waited for him to leave and then called security. She indicates that he's now in the restaurant. Brass notes that his clothes are different from what he was wearing on the security tape, but then says that maybe he changed. They go up to his table; Brass sees blood on his neck and some in his hair; the officers arrest him; he says nothing, just staring at Brass as he's handcuffed and taken away.

In the interview room, Brass stares at Walter Darien, who stares back at him without saying anything. Brass asks why he attacked Tony, asking if Walter knew him, and why he left Tony's wallet and $500 in chips on the body, commenting that the fight must have been about something other than money, and suggesting that maybe it was a lovers' quarrel. Walter says that he's not soft; Brass asks what they said to each other in the casino when Walter stole Tony's chips; Walter says that he said, "Give me a reason." Grissom tells him that he wants to collect evidence from under his fingernails; when he touches Walter's hand, he pulls back, surprised at how hot Walter is. He asks if Walter has a fever and gets no answer. As he scrapes Walter's nails, Walter stares ahead, then snaps and attacks Grissom, throwing him up against the wall and choking him. Officers try to restrain him, and he throws them off, continuing to choke Grissom; the officers start using their night-sticks to beat him to the floor. Brass checks Walter's pulse as he lies on the floor; he's dead.

Catherine tells David to double check Walter's liver temperature; the Sheriff talks to Brass, telling him that this doesn't look good for them when a suspect dies in custody, and commenting that they're going to look like the bad guys again. Catherine looks at the bruises on Grissom's neck and asks if he's okay, and then asks what started the fight? Grissom tells her that he just scraped Walter's nails. She tells him that Walter's liver temperature was 101.5 degrees; Grissom says that since he's been dead for less than an hour, that means that it was at 103 when he was alive, and comments that he felt like he was on fire when Grissom touched him.

Sara and Nick examine Walter's car, which was found in the parking lot of the hotel; it's filled with junk, and his blue jeans and shirt that he was wearing in the casino are right on top. Sara comments that he didn't even try to hide them. The clothes test positive for blood; Nick wonders who could beat a person to death, change their clothes, wash up, then go to eat dinner? Nick then finds a box filled with casino chips and notes that there must be more than a few thousand dollars in there; Sara says that it wasn't about the money. She finds clothing with the tags still on them, and Nick finds a waitress uniform from the Roadside Diner with the name tag "Libby" on it, and burn holes in the fabric.

Dr. Robbins tells Grissom that the cause of death was cardiac arrhythmia, not the night-stick action. He tells Grissom that Walter's heart was large, weighing in at 550 grams, but otherwise he was fine, with no signs of infection or disease. He notes that there are no signs of long-term drug use, and nothing to explain the high body temperature, but then tells Grissom that 98.6 is just an average temperature, and some people run hot.

The Sheriff explains to Walter's sister, Beth, what happened. She says that she understands and has heard enough, that Walter was killed while in police custody. Grissom comes in and tells her that he was there when Walter died, and it wasn't as a result of the police officers' actions; she notes the bruises on his neck and asks if that is how Walter touched his life? She tells him that she doesn't care how Walter died, she's just glad that it's over, adding that he just saw things that he wanted and took them. Grissom tells her that he touched Walter and she comments that he was always hot, even as a child; she says that she always knew that he'd end up in jail or dead.

Grissom, Warrick and various officers arrive at the motel where Walter lived. Warrick comments that the hair found under Walter's nails was Tony's so the case is closed, and Walter's dead, and wonders why they're there? Grissom comments that that case is closed, but that the evil men do lives on after them. Inside, the rooms are packed with boxes; Warrick comments that Walter seems to have had a major case of OCD; Grissom says that by hoarding useless items may have made Walter feel safe. Grissom looks out the back window and then goes outside and uncovers a wheelbarrow with a cement leveller in it; Warrick looks around and finds a rectangle of cement in the garden and comments that it doesn't look like a patio.

At the Roadside Diner, the waitress says that she remembers Libby; she worked there for one day, eight years ago, and was the worst waitress they'd ever had; she was terrible, she burned herself and dropped dishes. Sara asks if they have any pay forms in storage for Libby, but the waitress says that she didn't stay around long enough to fill in the paperwork; she looks at a picture of Walter and doesn't recognize him.

At the motel, officers use a jackhammer to break up the concrete; they dig and find a skeleton. Brass arrives and talks to Grissom who notes that they've found a wedding band but they don't know if it's "Libby" or not, as the wedding band doesn't really answer that question. There are no clothes or tissues left on the skeleton; Grissom smells the skull and notes that it smells like dirt, so that means that it's been there for more than three years. They find a knife under the pelvic bone of the skeleton; Warrick asks about getting DNA from the knife, but Grissom says that since the tissues are gone from the body, any DNA on the knife would probably be gone too. Brass comments that Walter was a fighter and used his fists, a knife doesn't seem like his style; Grissom says that they really haven't known him that long.

Dr. Robbins says that the skeleton is female based on the pelvic bone, was about five foot four, and never gave birth. He estimates that she was in her late teens or early twenties based on the fact that her wisdom teeth hadn't erupted, and says that the cause of death was strangulation. He also notes that she has fractures on her face and arms; Warrick comments that it's like she was punched in the face and tried to protect herself. Dr. Robbins says that he got some tissues from inside her bones and pelvis, as well as her teeth, and has sent them for testing.

Catherine asks how Grissom knew that there was a body at the motel, and he admits that he didn't; he's reading Walter's record, and notes that for all that Walter did, this was his first arrest. Greg tells them that the DNA from the skeleton got no results on CODIS, but that there was a mixture of DNA from the pelvis, and that showed shared alleles from a male who was related to the deceased. Grissom comments that the woman never gave birth, and wonders how the tissue got there, saying that if it were from an outside donor, it would have degraded.

Nick has Archie run the standard measurements for the female Caucasian to make a blueprint of her face. Archie makes a face with a long skull, prominent nose and chin, then says that maybe the person was Nordic, and gives it blond hair and blue eyes, with light skin.

At the motel, they empty out all the boxes and things that Walter kept; Warrick photographs things and then tells the officers to take the boxes away. Catherine finds punch marks in the wall; Warrick goes through a box that has women's clothing in it, and a baseball cap that has a hair in it, and there's a skin tag on the hair. Catherine finds a suitcase in the closet; inside is a picture of a pregnant girl; the picture is ripped in half, but the other half is there, and shows a male who is not Walter. She shows the picture and clothing to Warrick and comments that the clothes are maternity clothes. There's identification there that shows the woman's name is Marissa Cleary.

Catherine tells Grissom that dental records confirm that the skeleton was Marissa Cleary, so Libby is still missing. Grissom comments that the skeleton never gave birth; Catherine comments that there are other ways for a baby to come out of a woman's body than just through the birth canal; she then notes that there was also a knife in the grave, and maybe that's how the child was removed. Grissom comments that Walter Darien never threw anything out, and wonders where the baby is.

They talk to Sean Cleary who tells them that it's been over eight years since he last heard from his wife. Catherine mentions his son, and he's shocked, as he never knew that the child was a boy, and he wants to know if his son is alive; they tell him that they don't know that yet. He tells them that he and Marissa got married young because she was pregnant; all they did was fight after they got married, and then one night she called him to say that she'd left him. He told her it was the best news that he'd had all year, and that was the last he heard from her. Brass comments that he never reported her missing and Sean says that he didn't think that she was missing; he thought that she'd stay away for a few days and then cool off and come back, but she never did, and then he got a letter from her. He shows them the letter, which says that he never wanted Marissa or the baby, and they don't want him either. It is signed Marissa.

At the lab, Greg tests the hair for DNA; the handwriting expert tells Catherine that the signature on the letter is not the same as the signature on Marissa's driver's licence. Catherine says that she thinks Walter did the forgery, but the expert points out that the printer used to print the letter is an ink jet, but all the printers found at Walter's place were dot-matrix.

Warrick goes through Walter's stuff; Sara looks at the envelope that Cleary got the letter in and notes that it's got a Henderson post mark.

Greg tells Grissom that the hair DNA was good, it's Marissa's son, and is only a few years old. Sara comes in with the news of the post mark and Catherine wonders why Walter would go so far out of his way to mail a letter; Grissom comments that he wouldn't.

They talk to Beth Darien again; she tells them that Walter treated everyone the same, even her. They show her the picture of Marissa; she comments that she doesn't know what it was that Marissa did to set Walter off, but it wouldn't have taken much. They imagine Marissa's tearful call to Sean, and then her crying in her room at the motel; Walter pounding on the wall, causing the marks that Catherine noted, and then him going into Marissa's room and strangling her. Beth removes her sweater and Catherine notes burn marks on her arms and asks if Walter did that to her? Beth says it was from a work-related accident, and Grissom asks if it was when she was a waitress, and calls her Libby. She says that she hasn't been called that in years, and wonders how he knew that she was a waitress; he tells her that they found her waitress uniform in Walter's car. As they talk, a school bus pulls up outside; a young boy comes in the house and calls Beth "mom". She tells him to get a snack. Grissom asks how old he is and she says that he'll be nine next month.

Catherine takes a DNA sample from Martin; Grissom takes DNA from Mr. Cleary. They run tests and find that Sean Cleary is the father of the boy, and Beth is not his mother. Beth tells them that she raised him; she had to. She explains that Walter brought the baby to her house one night and told her that the mother was a run-away, and didn't want the child, so she didn't ask any questions, she just took the child. Grissom asks how Martin got the scar on his head; she says that she doesn't know, and Grissom tells her that she didn't want to know. They tell her that they don't think that Walter wrote the letter to Sean Cleary; Beth tells them that she's not like Walter, and when she saw the picture in the suitcase that Walter brought with the baby, she didn't want him to suffer, so she wrote the letter. She tells them that the only good thing that Walter ever did was giving her Martin, and she doesn't know why he did it, but she's sure that it wasn't out of the goodness of his heart.

Grissom goes to the lab and looks over the boxes of Walter's stuff, puts on gloves and starts opening packages. He pulls out a shirt with what looks like blood stains on it.