CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

The episode opens at a construction site. One of the construction workers is walking through the site and discovers a body. He calls to his boss, "Boss! Boss, we've got a problem!"

Grissom arrives on scene to find that Brass is already there. The deceased appears to be a minor, no wallet was found on the body, so he remains a John Doe at this point. The coroner's investigators say it appears that the deceased has been dead at least 12hrs.

Grissom bends to examine the body and finds a piece of cloth clutched in the deceased's hands. Brass asks him if he plans to collect it, but Grissom says not just yet. Brass asks Gil if he has any ideas about what might have happened. Gil takes another look at the body, and noting that the victim's pants are around his knees, he states it was likely a crime of passion. But conversely, he goes on to say that due to the volume of brutality, it may also be an act of rage.

Brass speaks with the construction foreman, who tells him that local teens use construction sites like this as their private hangouts, assuming that since there are no locks they have free reign. Brass explains tot he man that it's their crime scene, so the site belongs to them know, and will for however long it takes.

Warrick and Sara arrive on scene to assist Grissom. Grissom asks them to take a look at the head wound and Warrick observes that its blunt force trauma and Sara notices that the wound was likely made by a hammer. Sara goes off to collect the hammers from the construction works, while Warrick takes a few blood swabs to make sure all the blood belongs to the victim. As he's further examining the body, Warrick finds a bloody footprint underneath part of the victim's jacket.

Nick arrives on scene at another crime to find David and Detective Vega already on scene. According to David, the victim, Marlene Mitchell, has apparently died from a gunshot wound to the chest. No exit wounds and no other apparent injuries. Detective Vega says he patted down all the friends and no one had a gun, but he dispatched a few uniforms to check around the neighborhood in typical hiding places for a gun. Mrs. Mitchell was gunned down while breaking up a fight, but no one claims to have heard anything. It turns out that the fight was between Mrs. Mitchell's new husband and her ex. The fight appears to have started because Todd, the ex, broke the restringing order prohibiting him to be within 100 yards of Mrs. Mitchell. Marlene came out to break up the fight and collapsed. Mr. Mitchell says he thought it was a heart attack until he saw the blood.

Back at the construction site, Grissom collects the piece of cloth that had been in the victim's hand. He lets the scent dog smell it and then Sara and the dog trainer follow behind the dog to see if he can pick up a trail. They end up in a mall and follow the dog until they end up out back at a dumpster. Sara investigates and gives the dog several different pieces of trash to see if he gets a hit. They discover a bag with a discarded sweater in it and its missing a piece of the fabric, likely the piece that was in the victim's hand.

Nick stands watch as Doc Robbins performs the autopsy on Marlene Mitchell. They recover the 9mm bullet. Nick checks the wound to see how deep it penetrated and they trajectory. Though the wound is shallow, Doc Robbins states that the angle of entry is pretty standard.

Warrick is in the layout room swabbing the individual hammers that Sara collected for blood. He finds one that tests positive. It belongs to Gregory Curtwell.

Archie and Sara watch footage from the mall, scanning dressing room footage to see if they get a glimpse of the girl that purchased the sweater. Turns out the girl pulled what Archie refers to as a 'swap-out', finding a new outfit and ripping the tags off, going into the dressing room and changing into the new items, and handing the attendant your old clothes when you leave.

Warrick comes in and tells them that the blood on the hammer and the sweater matches the victim. Brass and Warrick interview Gregory Curtwell. Brass asks him to explain the blood and the injuries the he has. Curtwell explains that the injuries come from working at a construction site. Warrick shows him a picture of the unknown girl, and Curtwell tells them that the picture is of his kid sister, Ashley. Sara interviews Ashley, and we learn that Gregory and Ashley's parents died 4 years earlier, and Gregory is Ashley's legal guardian. Ashley recalls her weekend and it turns out that she was on her way to the mall to get something to eat and cut through the construction site as a short cut. As she was walking through, Brian Haddick, a guy from her school comes out of no where and asks her to help him find his lost cat. She agrees and they go into the house to look for the cat and he attacks her. She states that it was like the more she shouted, the more he liked it. Sara explains to her that rape isn't about sex, its about power and violence. Sara asks Ashley if she saw who hit Brian. Ashley says she didn't see who hit him, just ran out when it started. Sara observes that she went to the mall for clothes coffee and earrings. Ashley says she only remembers getting new clothes and going home. Brass and Warrick assume that she's covering for her brother, who has an unconfirmed alibi, as he's the only family she has left.

Doc Robbins notes that the initial blows the victim, now identified as Brian Haddick, sustained were to his head. Grissom says this is consistent with Ashley's claims. The doctor reveals that whoever attacked Brian just kept going, even after severing his spinal cord and rendering him immobile, and continuing after he was dead. It turns out that Brian might have gotten a few hits in himself, as there are defensive wounds.

Grissom interviews Brian's parents and asks if they know Ashley. They reveal that Brian had started to get in trouble a few months back, but in the months prior to his death he was getting better.

Bobby Dawson tells Nick that there were no traces of GSR on Todd or Mr. Mitchell's hands, which Nicks observes could simply mean they washed their hands. Bobby agrees but also tells him that there is no trace on the bullet, it was in pristine condition. Because of the shallow penetration, and the fact that bullet is in tact, Nick wonders what slowed it down.

Warrick comes to Greg for info on the trace found on the victim's knuckles. No evidence of Ashley or Gregory on the victim's knuckles, so Sara, Warrick, and Grissom return to the scene. Further investigation and they discover that Brian was likely lying down when he was attacked. Grissom deducts that there might have been three separate attackers.

Nick asks for Catherine's help on his case. Catherine agrees and heads into the lab to do some make a gel block for ballistics tests, while Nick casts a few bullets for the test. Bobby Dawson does the separate test fires and they continue experimenting to see why the bullet penetrated only 4 inches. They determine that a bullet traveling 550 feet per second shot Mrs. Mitchell. With this knowledge they are able to calculate the distance. Turns out the shooter had to be about 1800 feet (6 football fields) away. They determine where the shot might have come from, and now they have to go knocking on doors to see if they can find the shooter.

Warrick determines that the footprint found at the crime scene likely came from a teen, as it's a skate shoe. Brass, Grissom, and Warrick go to Ashley and Brian's school to investigate, bringing together all the students wearing this particular shoe into the gymnasium. After one parent arrives, upset about what he considers and illegal search, all the students with parents present are allowed to go. One of the students that remain appears to have blood on his show, which Warrick notices. Warrick calls Brass over and he points out the blood. The teen's name is Ben, and Brass asks where his father is. Ben says he's probably at home drunk. The father is a belligerent drunk, and its apparent that he's pretty abusive towards his son, verbally if not physical.

Brass gets permission to test Ben's shoe and Warrick determines that the blood on the shoe comes from Brian Haddick. Ben states that it probably got there when he discovered Brian's body. They ask why he didn't report it, and Ben says he was trespassing and didn't want to get in trouble.

Warrick asks for permission to search the rest of the house and Mr. Lizzio, Ben's father gives it. Upon investigation Warrick finds several decimated watermelons and it appears that Ben might have been beating the watermelons with hammers as a form of practice for killing Brian. Brass interviews Ben and tells him that he's looking at hard time for his crime. Ben seems to not care, seeing the prison time as an escape from his father.

Greg, Sara, Grissom, and Warrick gather in the layout room to review more of the evidence. Grissom picks up a bag containing small circular bands, which Greg identifies as orthodontic bands, the kind that is used for braces. Grissom and Warrick discuss the marks on Brian's hand and wonder if maybe the guy that Brian hit had braces. Greg takes the bands and a tube of lip-gloss to DNA for testing. They find that the CDs and watermelon found at the scene probably came from the same person, Aaron Gilbert.

Detective Vega and Nick go to one of Mrs. Mitchell's neighbor's and she tells him that her neighbor, Johnnie, has a bad habit of firing his gun in his back yard. Turns out that the guy fired into the air and that bullet is what killed Marlene. Johnnie states that it was only target practice, and Nick tells him that's why its' illegal to fire a gun within the city limits.

Warrick, Sara, and Brass find Aaron at his school. and they take him and his younger brother Jared into custody. At the PD, Warrick interviews Jared, as he's their only suspect with braces.

Further investigation determines that Ashley wasn't attacked, she'd actually been paid to lure Brian to the construction site so the guys could beat him like they had the watermelon. Her lip-gloss had been found at Ben's house. Confronted with the evidence, Ashley admits that it was payback because Brian had left their crew thinking he was too good for them. Sara tells her that she will do everything in her power to make sure Ashley is tried as an adult. Ashley smiles and wishes her good luck, telling her that she cleans up nice for court and with her history (her two dead parents) she'll be the saddest little girl in the world and no jury would convict.