CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

I heard you got some head.

Just came in. How'd you know?

I arranged house seats for David to see Celine, so he pages me the minute you get anything perishable.

Sellout.

Oh ... formaldehyde.

Yeah, it fixes tissue, but it destroys DNA.

No ID through CODIS. Quite a bit of leaf litter.

Puncture wound above the orbital plate.

That looks like animal activity.

Heavy decomp. It's going to be... virtually impossible to determine time of death. This neck wasn't severed. It was disarticulated. No skill involved.

Oh-oh. I take that back.

That took skill.

The unkindest cut of all.

There's more plant material here than geological.

Hair roots and scalp are relatively clean.

So the vic wasn't buried?

You tell me.

I will. Leaves and needles and dirt - that's as good as a map.

Any idea when Grissom'll be back?

- Any idea when Grissom'll be back? - Nope. It's going to be a while.

Jackpot, Nevada. Where the hell is that?

Order's up, sweetie.

Good morning. I'm with the Las Vegas Crime Lab, and I ...

- Good morning. I'm with the Las Vegas Crime Lab, and I ... - Hey, Alan! This guy's here about the head.

Bet a wolf got him.

There's no wolves around here dumbass. Bears.

Ten bucks says satanic cult.

Lieutenant Alan Brooks. This is my brother Leland.

How do you do? Gil Grissom, Las Vegas Crime Lab. May I?

Have a seat. Things must be pretty slow in Vegas to get one of you guys out here so quick.

Well, the Elko County Sheriff made the request. We were happy to respond. It's an interesting case.

Mmm, not particularly.

It was probably some hiker or transient who got lost, took a badluck fall.

Must have been a heck of a fall. His head's in a plastic jar.

Listen, I filed the report. I sent in the head. Five'll get you ten, there's not much left of that body out there but coyote turds.

Look, nobody from this community's been reported missing. And I just don't have the resources to go searching for what might be left.

Well, you do now.

There'd better be a whole lot more of you out there.

Have a good one, Marty.

Lieutenant, the preliminary autopsy revealed a single, straight, 2-inch cut on the victim's jaw. It was a blade mark. So, there's not just a body out there, there's also a killer.

Of all the plant life gathered from the head, the conifers are the key. The one on the left - abies zasiocarpa. The one on the right is picea engelmannii, engelmann spruce.

Spruce and fir trees. Typical mountain forest.

Typical for 9,000 feet above sea level. The wood fragments are either cottonwood or aspen. And aspens only grow in areas that have been cleared.

Fire, roads or ... logging.

After a major forest fire, manzanita bushes grow like weeds for decades.

No manzanita leaves here.

Which means that the head was on a damp north-facing slope, at least 9,000 feet up, cleared, but not recently exposed to fire.

Grissom.

Is the service actually bad out there or are you just keeping your phone off?

I'm sorry. I should've called.

This trip wouldn't have anything to do with you ducking case reviews, now would it?

How can you think that? You wouldn't mind taking care of those forms, would you?

Oh, your job, my pay. Why would I care?

I'll make it up to you.

Yeah, you had better.

Hodges ID'd your leaf litter.

Good. Thanks. I owe you one.

Trouble with the wife?

Yeah. She hates it when we're apart.

So your dog found the head?

Well, Tripper's not exactly a Chihuahua. Goes where he wants, comes back for dinner. Sometimes he brings dinner back.

Tripper! Come on, buddy, dinner.

Oh, what is it this time, a rabbit or a possum?

Is he okay?

Well, he got a little lethargic after chewing on that head. Took him to the vet, ran some tests. He got better.

I just want to keep him that way. Where there's a head there's got to be hands and feet, and sooner or later, he'll dig 'em up.

Or what's left of 'em. No offense, Sylvia, but he's not exactly a scent hound.

All animals can smell rotting flesh. Studies have shown that when domestic pets bring back human body parts, usually the remains are within a half- mile radius.

They do studies on that?

It occurs more than you think. Have you noticed any buzzards or vultures around?

All the time.

- All the time. - Thanks.

So, are we done here?

- This slope faces north, doesn't it? - Yeah.

You know that old expression, "heads will roll"? It's true - especially downhill.

Barry, drop the doughnut. You're gonna earn your pay today.

Afraid you're gonna trip over something?

I'm hoping. Bodies make good fertilizer. You often see fresh, greenshoots near a gravesite.

Must be nice to know the answer to every little thing.

I prefer questions actually.

And I don't, I suppose. Remember that waitress, Doris?

She's got an ex-husband likes to smack her around every once in a while. High school's got a dozen meth- heads who like boosting motorcycles and then drag racing 'em down main street, when they think nobody's watching.

Fire chief's a closet pyro, and so forth. See, I don't have a lot of time to ask questions about buzzards and such.

That's an aspen tree, in case you were wondering.

- That's an aspen tree, in case you were wondering. - Lieutenant! Over here.

Step away from there, would you please, fellas? Don't disturb the scene.

Carabid beetles. Second instar maggots.

Formica obscuripes.

Let me guess. You like bugs?

Yeah, I do. They're perfect. They always do their jobs.

This body's been here 4 to 7 days.

How deep would you say this hole is, Lieutenant?

I'd say about 4 feet, depending on ... how he's stuffed in there.

Takes a fair amount of dedication to dig a hole this deep up here, don't you think?

Unless the killer had help.

Maybe.

It's like you said: he was cut.

This blood's not from a cut. The drops imply directionality. The stellated circles imply... perpendicular impact.

This spatter is in direct line with the victim's carotid. It's arterial spurt.

Are you saying he was alive when he was buried?

I think that the cut we found on his jaw ... was a lure to draw predators.

This wasn't just murder. It was torture.

Hey, Einstein, we're going to stand here all day or what?

You'll have to be patient, Lieutenant. The scene hasn't been released yet.

You know, this may be a variation on an old native American form of punishment. The body was bound and buried up to its neck. Tree sap was poured over the head to attract ants.

Punishment for what?

You see? That's a good question.

It's about time, Dale.

You are the coroner, I presume.

Mr. Grissom. Dr. Dale Sterling. I sent you the head. How can I help?

Well, we can't touch the body until you authorize it.

He's dead. You're authorized.

Thanks, Doc. That's nice work. Can we get it out now?

- Thanks, Doc. That's nice work. Can we get it out now? - There may be evidence in the gravesite. We need to preserve it.

Okay, so what do you want to do, call your lab? Have them send the right gear, the right guys, what?

The site's already been compromised. We'll make do with what we have here. Now, for each foot of dirt that's removed, go on a separate bag. I'll sift through it later.

All right. Out of the way, Doc. Pardon me.

Hold on. Make sure your shovels don't get within 6 inches of that body.

Can we please get on with getting him out of there? We're losing light.

I was in the 99th percentile on the MCATs. I could have gone to med school. I chose to be a vet.

Well, veterinary school's harder to get into than medical school. That's not what I was looking at.

This is you and that gal from the diner.

Doris. We were married. High school sweethearts. Didn't work out.

I know how to cut. I could ... I could do the autopsy righ there.

Only a licensed pathologist can perform an autopsy. All we're allowed to do is search for evidence on the body.

And then what?

Then it goes to Vegas. Tonight. We'll need someone to drive the body.

Barry, it's your lucky day. Get your car. Come on.

Our medical examiner will send you his report. You'll need to sign the death certificate as to cause and manner of death.

No wallet... and no ID.

What have you got there?

- What have you got there? - Well, I'm not sure yet.

No ligature marks.

Well, he wasn't tied up?

- Well, he wasn't tied up? - Apparently not.

Well, no one just lets themselves get buried alive.

- Well, no one just lets themselves get buried alive. - Well, maybe the killer had a gun on him.

Well, you can't dig a hole and hold a gun on an unbound victim all at the same time.

Well, maybe the hole was dug earlier?

That would imply premeditation.

Or more than one killer.

Maybe the victim was drugged.

Sylvia Rogers' dog got sick after chewing on the victim's head, correct?

That's right.

Did you do blood work?

I sent it off to a lab in Reno. Still waiting for the results.

Call the lab. Have them do a full drug and tox panel on the blood.

Maybe whatever was in this man's body is also in the dog's.

Hold on a second, fellows.

Say cheese.

Oh, what the hell was that for?

Souvenir.

Why, is that French for 'evidence'? Straight drive, Barry. Stay out of the casinos.

You got it, boss.

You boys have a good night.

Man. It was one hell of day.

You need a place to sleep?

I need a place to work.

Did I miss a memo or something?

Oh, no. Grissom's on a safari.

He's got you pushing his paperwork, huh?

Oh, no. I'm trying to avoid that. His headless D.B. had a Western LVU bookstore receipt in his pocket. Grissom just unraveled it.

Really?

Wow! Some of these books are a hundred bucks a pop. Tuition, plus room and board - that's at least another 10k.

You got to have money to go to college these days.

Yeah, well, I missed that boat. So, most of these are freshman textbooks. Core curriculum.

Well, that's at least 2000 students. Maybe you'll get lucky with the victim's prints.

Oh, wait. Hang on. "Chiaroscuro Theory and Technique". It's a sophomore-level fine arts text.

Freshman in a sophomore course?

Narrows the field.

Actually, we're here about your roommate, Ross Jenson. Do you know where we can find him?

I actually haven't even seen him since last Friday. I had Weezer tickets, and we were supposed to go, but... he blew me off.

Gone almost a week. That's normal?

Yeah, he's an art student, you know. He goes off a lot, and for days sometimes.

I've been studying my ass off for this American History midterm, but feel free to have a look around.

That's not mine. I don't know what that is.

Relax, buddy. This is a homicide investigation.

Are these Ross's shoes?

I don't know.

What do you got?

Aspen leaf. A little piece of the countryside. Has Ross spent a lot of time up in northern Nevada?

Yeah, he liked the scenery up there.

We're gonna have to take that computer and a few things back to the lab.

Yeah. Came in here last week. Handsome boy. Nice clothes. Just passing through.

There's fried chicken, me ...

Coffee's about all I can handle right now. Maybe some other time, okay?

Guess you weren't his type.

Wasn't he the guy driving that gutless little four-banger?

- Wasn't he the guy driving that gutless little four-banger? - What kind of car was it?

Don't know. Kid's car. Something to drive around the city. It's no good for hills. Black, or blue, maybe.

- Lieutenant? - Yeah.

The victim was on his way out of town. We know he didn't get very far. So where's his vehicle?

Anybody here seen a black or blue mystery vehicle?

Well, I'd say that car's long gone by now.

If the killer was a local, he could have ditched the car somewhere near here.

Do you have a local suspect?

It's a theory.