CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

In an office building, a security guard checks people's identification and gives directions; a delivery person comes in with flowers which he takes and gives to the other guard, then goes out to get dinner for them both. The second guard puts the flowers on the desk, and then notices a briefcase sitting on the floor. He looks at it and picks it up and it explodes.

Grissom and Catherine arrive at the scene, Brass tells them that there are some wounds, and one fatality, Jake Richards, the guard. Catherine and Grissom look at the body, and note that both his ears have been blown off by the blast, which means that he was looking directly at the bomb when it went off, and Grissom says that means it was either something strange or completely commonplace. They smell sulphur in the air, and find gun powder. Catherine notes the point where the bomb went off and says that since the guard's clothes are burnt but not torn, it means that it was a low velocity propellant; they don't know who did it, or why, or if he'll do it again, but time will tell.

The emergency workers take away the injured people; Grissom tells Catherine, Sara and Warrick that there are thousands of pieces and they have to find them and put them back together. Warrick takes pictures of the crowd, Sara looks through the debris, and Catherine collects metal pieces.

Nick is with a friend at a hotel, he says that he has to work early tomorrow; his friend wants to stay out, and points out two lovely ladies. Nick leaves, and as he gets into his car, he sees Kristy talking to a man who is grabbing her arm; she wants Nick to tell the guy to leave her alone. The man leaves; Nick asks if she's okay and she says she's fine. He offers her a ride home. He talks to her in the driveway of her house; she says that she's changing her life, going back to school to study communications. He says good, and she invites him in for a drink. He says no, but she convinces him to come in.

At the office building, they continue searching the site, Catherine finds a cog with FP engraved on it. The security guard, Dominic Kretzker, introduces himself to Grissom and tells him that he admires his work. He knew the victim, and says that a two minute time difference and it would have been him all over the news tomorrow morning. Grissom asks if he wants to be on the news, and Dominic says yes, but then realizes what Grissom means and says he doesn't want to be on the news that way. He then admits that he knows a lot about bombs. Grissom asks him to help in the investigation and Dominic is happy about it, but says don't tell the day shift because they'll get real jealous. Grissom tells an officer to keep an eye on the guy. Inside, Catherine shows the FP piece to Grissom and says that whoever did this is playing with them, and Grissom adds, "or he wants to get caught."

The next morning, Nick calls Kristy for a late breakfast and drives to her house where he sees officers. He asks what's going on and an officer tells him that it's a 419 - a dead prostitute named Kristy. Nick is shocked; the officer asks if Nick is okay, and he says he's fine, and he has to go.

Dominic explains how to make a pipe bomb to Warrick and Brass in an interview room, Warrick comments that he ~does~ know a lot, and Brass asks where he learned this. Dominic tells them that they don't teach this in school, he learned it on the Internet. A public defender arrives, telling Dominic not to say anything more. Dominic says that they've been good to him; Warrick suggests that Dominic should roll with the lawyer, so he shakes both their hands and leaves with the lawyer.

Sara looks over all the bomb pieces collected from the scene and asks how the victim could still be in one place; Catherine explains that there's a vacuum created when the bomb goes off. She wonders if Dominic had anything to do with it and Catherine says that it's too soon to know. Grissom comes in with a piece of the timing device, saying that the bomb was time-delayed; he asks Sara what's orange and melts, as there's something on the piece, and he wants her to find out what it is. Nick comes in and wants to talk to Grissom and says that it can't wait.

Grissom comments that Nick said he wasn't dating Kristy; Nick says that he wasn't, until last night, then tells Grissom that he knows what Ecklie will find in the house - his finger prints and DNA. He tells Grissom that he saw Kristy last night on the Strip and broke up a fight that she was having with some guy named Jack. Catherine comes in and tells Nick that she's sorry to hear about his friend; he's shocked that she knows already and asks if Ecklie told her, but she heard it from the day-shift coroner. Nick wants to talk to Ecklie to explain, but Grissom tells him that innocent people don't give statements, and Nick should keep his mouth shut. He tells Nick to go for a walk, suggesting that he might see Jack, and if so, he should identify him, but not approach him. Grissom tells Catherine that if Nick is arrested it means immediate dismissal. Catherine goes to the morgue and talks to Dr. Robbins, who is doing the autopsy on Kristy. She notes the ligature marks around Kristy's neck; Dr. Robbins says that she struggled, and he doesn't know if Ecklie has found the murder weapon. Catherine asks if he's printed the body; he hasn't and is worried that he might find Nick's prints, but Catherine tells him that if he does, then he does, but he should get whatever evidence is there.

Grissom has clocks all over his desk with alarms, he's looking for the one used in the bombing. Sara comes in and picks one up, telling him that it's the best choice, based on reports she's been reading. Warrick comes in and comments that Catherine wants him to find the tool used to engrave the FP, and says that it's impossible, then asks what they're doing? Grissom tells him that he has to find the tool by a process of elimination; Sara says they're going to blow up some homes, and Warrick feels like he got the wrong end of the investigation. He goes to the lab and checks various ways to engrave, and compares them to the FP found on the bomb piece.

Ecklie knocks on Grissom's door, Catherine comes along and tells him that Grissom is out, but she'd like to talk to him about his case. Ecklie says Nick's prints were all over the house; Nick comes up and talks to Ecklie, who wants a DNA sample, which Nick agrees to give with no warrant necessary. He also gives Ecklie the licence number for Jack, which he got from a security tape at the hotel. Ecklie tells him that it's interesting, but that he's not really going to follow it up. Nick and Ecklie argue over the case, and Ecklie says that he doesn't like it, but the evidence is pointing at Nick. He doesn't want to think that a CSI could commit murder, but he also wouldn't have thought that a CSI would sleep with a prostitute. Catherine stops the argument and takes Nick away, telling him not to make things harder.

Grissom and Sara are out in the desert, and they know that the bomb was in a briefcase, they are now testing for the type of pipe used and have three samples for testing. They blow them up and have them filled with different colored paper to see how far it travels, and determine that the bomber used galvanized steel like a muffler or tail pipe. Brass tells them to check Dominic's house because he tracked down the sale of the popular clock for bombs and Dominic has bought seven of them recently.

Grissom and Brass go to Dominic's house, he has a scanner and knew they were coming. Grissom tells him that they know he purchased the same clock; Dominic comments that it makes a nice detonator. He takes them inside and shows them his clocks, and tells them that he makes bombs all the time. Brass finds some sulphur, and also finds a piece of the bomb from the office building. Dominic explains that he's keeping it for sentimental reasons, saying that it was where he worked. His lawyer comes in and tells him to stop talking; Dominic says that he has nothing to hide. Brass arrests him and cuffs him; Dominic is worried about being seen on the news in cuffs and asks Grissom to put a jacket over his hands. As the officers lead him out, Grissom comments to Brass that he doesn't know if Dominic is brilliant or insane; Brass says that if he's guilty, he's putting on a hell of a show.

In the lab, Sara tests the orange substance and finds that it's polyethylene terathalate, which she seems confused about.

In the morgue, Nick views Kristy's body; Dr. Robbins tells him that there's no family, and Nick says he'll give her a proper burial. Dr. Robbins suggests that maybe that's not prudent, but Nick isn't concerned about his job, he's more concerned about Kristy.

In the cells, Grissom talks to Dominic and tells him that the evidence raises serious questions about his involvement, adding that since Dominic has a lawyer, Grissom can't really talk to him about the case. Dominic says that he's one of the good guys, and that he's just like Grissom; Grissom leaves, Brass meets him and tells him that there's been another bombing at a car rental dealership.

They go to the scene; the manager was working and there was one fatality, but no one heard anything. Grissom finds a mousetrap, which was the trip to set off the timer on the bomb. Sara talks to the manager who is wearing an orange jacket, which she takes as evidence. Grissom asks why and she tells him that it's polyethylene terathalate, or polyester, and it's orange.

Grissom tells Dominic that he's free to go; Dominic knows that the second bomb wasn't a remote detonation, or else he'd still be a suspect. Dominic offers to help, but then realizes that he can't, and tells Grissom that it's been a pleasure and a privilege to work with him. Grissom tells him that he doesn't need to be a hero, and he shouldn't be so trusting.

Catherine tells Brass that she ran priors on Jack, and he has an '88 conviction for sexual assault. O'Riley interviews him and Jack admits that he had a fight with Kristy and was going to her place to apologize and he saw her with a guy; they were fighting, he was pushing her around and getting violent, so he took off. He says that the guy was the one that he'd seen earlier on the Strip, Nick something, and adds that he took off because he's no hero. They let him go. Outside the room, Ecklie says that Jack sounds believable; the Sheriff agrees; Catherine asks him not to arrest Nick yet, asking for 12 hours with access to the evidence and crime scene. The Sheriff agrees to this, but tells her that after that time, they'll arrest Nick with all that that implies.

Greg tells Catherine that he's worried about Nick; she asks to see the evidence in the case, and examines the semen sample from the condom. She discovers that they're all heads and no tails. She tells Grissom that this means that the sex took place around 2 a.m., and Kristy's time of death was around 6 a.m.; Grissom says that it doesn't mean that Nick wasn't there at the time of death. Sara tells Grissom that the head office for the car rental where the second bomb was is in the building where Dominic works, and that there's a disgruntled employee named Norman Stirling.

They go to Stirling's house; he admits that he used to work at Thrift-Rite car rental, and that he sued them but didn't get his job back. Brass points out that they got a restraining order against him after he threw some furniture around in their head office. They find orange jackets hanging in the garage, the same as the manager of the rental place was wearing. They take the jackets, and Brass arrests him; he tells his son to call his mother.

Catherine goes to Kristy's house and examines things. She notices the ties on the drapes, which are braided ropes, and compares the pictures of the ligature marks around Kristy's neck, and knows what the weapon was. She takes the rope to Greg and wants him to extract DNA from epithelial on the rope, he tests and finds some, which he then tests for DNA.

Catherine goes to talk to Nick in the lunch room; she tells him that they should go to police station. Nick thinks that the DNA didn't pan out; Catherine tells him that never has she seen such a clean match, and it proves that Jack killed Kristy. Nick is relieved, thanks her, and hugs her.

Warrick tells Grissom that he matched an electric etcher used to make the FP on the bomb piece; it's only used for training purposes, is sold in bulk, and a Las Vegas school district bought them. There is one school that used them, and Stirling's son goes to that school. They talk to Stirling and his son, Tyler, and ask if he was aware of dad's law suit. He says yes, it was all his mom and dad talked about ... until she left. He says he misses her; Mr. Stirling asks if there's something they should be talking about. Tyler says that his dad worked there for 30 years, they treat him nice and then fire him at end of day. Brass asks what FP is, and Tyler tells them it's 'Fair Play.' Mr. Stirling tells them that he used to yell that, that he was owed fair play. Mr. Stirling is horrified at what his son has done, and wants to know where he learned how to make bombs; Tyler tells him that he learned it on the Internet; he asks if his father is mad at him, adding that he did it for him. Grissom asks if Tyler made any more bombs; Mr. Stirling tells him to please tell them.

At Dominic's home, he listens to the police scanner and hears the bomb report at a school, giving the locker number, and he runs out before hearing that it's a triggered bomb and time-delayed. He arrives at the school and runs through the halls; he finds the locker and opens it, and finds a box. He picks it up and carries it outside; Grissom and other officers arrive and see him with the bomb. Grissom tells him to put it down; Dominic says that it's safe, but Grissom tells him that it's active. Dominic looks down at the bomb, and it explodes.

O'Riley arrests Jack and walks him down the hall at the station; Nick sees him and wants to know why he did it, telling him that Kristy was changing her life and getting out of the business. Jack says that she was going back to college to recruit more girls, she wasn't changing. Nick says that he's not about to believe the john who killed her, and Jack informs Nick that he's not a john, he was her pimp, and she was leaving him, going to set up her own business. He tells Nick that "this isn't Pretty Woman, she's not Julia Roberts and you're not Richard Gere."

In his office, Grissom reads the paper and smiles. He folds the paper and notes that the article is above the fold; he tears it out and pins it on the board, above the placard reading "One of our own." It's a newspaper article with the headline, "Local Hero Gives Life" and is about Dominic.