ACT TWO
FADE IN:
EXT. SUNSET VIEW APARTMENTS - NIGHT
Brass crosses the parking lot to an officer standing with Mr. And MRS. JACOBS. They're young and look shell-shocked.
BRASS
I was told one
of you saw something?
Brass takes a notepad and pen from his jacket pocket.
MRS. JACOBS
There was
an ambulance earlier tonight.
Brass stares at her as if she's joking but she's quite serious.
BRASS
You are aware
that seeing an
ambulance, even in an apartment
complex, isn't
that unusual?
MRS. JACOBS
This was.
There weren't any lights
and I saw the paramedic leave that
woman's apartment.
She points at Capri's apartment.
BRASS
What time was
this?
MRS. JACOBS
Around
ten.
Brass scribbles notes.
BRASS
What color was
it?
MRS. JACOBS
Blue and
white.
BRASS
Did you get the
name of the company?
She shakes her head.
BRASS (CONT'D)
How
about a license plate?
Another head shake. Brass retrieves a business card and hands it to her. She takes it.
BRASS (CONT'D)
Okay.
If you see anything else--
MRS. JACOBS
You know
how they have numbers on
the side? I guess the number of the
ambulance, or something.
BRASS
Yeah?
MRS. JACOBS
This one
had three fourteen, and
the four was crooked and didn't
look
like the same writing as the
other numbers.
Brass quickly jots that down.
BRASS
Thank you. If
you recall anything
else, let me know.
Brass walks away, making a phone call.
BRASS (CONT'D)
Hey
Riley, I talked to the couple.
Naw. It was nothing. She said she
saw an ambulance out here, but aside
from a crooked number
I'm not done
talking to witnesses. I'll let you
know if
anyone else can tell us
something substantial.
Brass hangs up, walking toward another officer and witness.
INT. CSI VEHICLE - NIGHT (RE-ENACTMENT)
SUPER: November 6, 5:00 AM
In the dark, Catherine is huddled on the middle seat, wrapped in a coat and blanket. Greg is curled into the passenger seat.
On each exhaled breath they exhale a white puff of steam. Frost has begun to form along the edges of the windows.
Catherine adjusts her position. The sound of her coat against the vinyl is loud in the closed vehicle.
GREG
Are you sure
we should wait until sunrise?
CATHERINE
Yes.
GREG
Wouldn't it
make more sense to
start back now? While it's cooler?
It's
going to--
CATHERINE
No, Greg,
it wouldn't. I don't feel
like wandering down a road we're not
even sure is a road with only a flashlight.
GREG
They don't
even know where we are.
Catherine doesn't respond. Somewhere far off a coyote howls. Greg rests his head against the back of the seat.
He's almost asleep when nearby a pack of coyotes erupt with howls and yaps. Greg sits up straight, looking outside. His breath fogs up the window.
GREG
(CONT'D)
(scared)
We should start back now.
The coyotes stop, as if his statement made no sense.
CATHERINE
Yes.
Let's wander around, in the dead
of night, with the coyotes,
Greg.
GREG
You know it's
going to get over one
hundred today.
The coyotes suddenly burst into their eerie chorus. Greg lunges across the vehicle and fumbles for the switch to lock all doors. The sound of the locks engaging is loud, despite the nearby canine choir. Catherine now joins the chorus with her laughter.
GREG (CONT'D)
What?
CATHERINE
Good
thinking, Greg. Lock all the
doors. There might be a mutant
coyotes with opposable thumbs out
there. It might open the
door for
the other coyotes and get us!
Greg shoots her a glare, but she can't see it in the dark.
INT. INTERVIEW ROOM A - NIGHT
Jackie and Catherine sit across from each other. On the table beside Jackie sits a stack of file folders with the LVPD logo on them. Jackie is reading one. To her left a video camera watches Catherine, an unbiased observer.
Catherine doesn't look uncomfortable about reversed role of suspect/interviewer. Jackie doesn't look up from the folder as she begins the interview.
JACKIE
Please state
your name.
CATHERINE
CSI
Catherine Willows.
Jackie flips to a page in the folder.
JACKIE
What was your
relationship with
Capri Martinez?
CATHERINE
There wasn't
any.
JACKIE
Does that mean
you didn't know her?
CATHERINE
No. I didn't
have a relationship with her.
JACKIE
What were your
feelings toward her?
Jackie flips to another page.
CATHERINE
I didn't
want her in a position
where lives were at risk.
JACKIE
Did you want
her dead?
CATHERINE
No. I just
wanted her gone, I
wanted my fellow CSI, and myself,
to be
safe, and I wanted EMS to be
able to find locations of
emergencies.
Capri was keeping that from happening.
JACKIE
November of
last year, you had a
confrontation with Capri. Let's
talk
about that.
INT. DISPATCH CENTER RECEPTION - DAY (RE-ENACTMENT)
SUPER: November 8, 10:45 AM
Catherine and Nick rush through the door and stop short. Greg sits in a chair. All of his exposed skin is a sickly yellow or red or black, and in some spots blistered.
Soot and dirt covers his clothes. EMT Casey kneels next to him, working carefully to push an I.V. needle into his arm. Standing at the call center door is a second paramedic.
CATHERINE (O.S.)
..AND
IF THAT WASN'T ENOUGH, THE
DAMNED THING STALKED US MOST OF THE
FUCKING DAY!
NICK
(to
Catherine)
I got Greg. Go.
INT. DISPATCH CENTER - DAY (RE-ENACTMENT)
In the center of the room Catherine is confronting Capri Martinez. The dispatcher has a darkening black eye.
Catherine looks just as bad as Greg and is outraged. Two men are holding her back. A man and woman are holding Capri back.
CATHERINE
YOU NEVER
CHECKED THE DIRECTIONS!
YOU'RE JUST COVERING YOUR ASS WITH
THAT
LIE! TO DO IT TO ME IS ONE
THING, BUT GREG... HE DEFENDED YOUR
SORRY EXCUSE OF A DISPATCHER ASS
SINCE YOU STARTED! HE
TRUSTED YOU!
YOU ACT LIKE THE WORLD OWES YOU
SOMETHING. THE
ONLY THING THE WORLD
OWES YOU IS A MATCHING BLACK EYE!
CAPRI
I am going to
sue you for this one!
Catherine pulls free, tearing several blisters in the processes. Pain doesn't stop her from grabbing Capri and slamming her against the wall. She pins Capri with her arm against the dispatcher's throat.
CATHERINE
If you
breathe even one word to a
lawyer, I will destroy you. This
was my town before you were even a
thought, little girl! You
push me
any further, and I will run you out
of town like the
bitch you are. Do
you feel
me?
Capri doesn't answer right away. Slowly she nods. Catherine falls back. She turns, staring at Grissom. He puts his arm around her, leading her away.
BACK TO SCENE
Jackie closes the folder.
JACKIE
I'm curious why
you didn't go
straight to the hospital when you
reached help
that day.
CATHERINE
I wanted her
to see, for once, what
happened from one of her 'mistakes.'
JACKIE
What would you
have done if she
hadn't quit that day?
CATHERINE
Pester her
supervisor every day,
point out every little mistake she
made, until he fired her.
Jackie sits the folder in a box by the table.
JACKIE
Thank you. I'll
call if I have any
more questions. Have a good night.
CATHERINE
No questions
about where I was when
Capri was murdered?
JACKIE
You were at 164
Rose Hip Circle.
You suggested the death was a
suicide. The
officer on scene tells
me you decided it rather quickly,
but
held off on your report until
the M.E. could confirm your
findings.
Good procedure followed. And now
you're free to
return working on
that case, Mrs. Willows.
Catherine gets up and leaves.
INT. CSI - CORRIDOR - NIGHT
In the hall Nick and Greg are still waiting. She sits down between them but in a chair closer to Greg.
NICK
How was it?
CATHERINE
As good as
an I.A. interview can be.
The three watch Jackie. She's on her cell phone, talking to someone. Catherine lays her hand on Greg's leg.
CATHERINE
(CONT'D)
(gentle)
How are you holding up, Greggo?
GREG
(emotionless)
Fine.
CATHERINE
I'll
notify her next of kin.
We'll need to--
GREG
She doesn't
have any family.
How am I going to tell...
Greg chokes up. Catherine moves her hand to his shoulder, giving it a squeeze.
Nick is starting to realize there's something going on with Greg that he doesn't know about.
CATHERINE
I'm here if
you need to talk. Okay?
Greg nods.
Catherine gets up and leaves. Nick watches Greg, but doesn't speak.
INT. APARTMENT 152 - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Catherine is working his way through the room. He stops at the couch. There's a half finished dinner plate and cup of soda. Bride and wedding magazines are spread across the couch.
He notices an open notebook and snaps a picture before picking it up to read it.
It's a list of things to do before the big day. Many of the words have been written correct but backwards. Next to a couple of them, in someone else's handwriting, the words have been corrected.
LANGSTON'S VIEW
Ghostly figures of Capri with her faceless fiancée appear on the couch. He's holding her as they plan their big day. They are in love and happy.
BACK TO SCENE
He sets the notebook down and walks into the kitchen.
INT. APARTMENT 152 - KITCHEN - NIGHT
The supper utensils, pots and pans are in the sink drying rack. On the table there are textbooks and homework for business classes at the community college.
On several essays there are the same mistakes as were on the list, and the hand that corrected the list has corrected all of these mistakes. The mistakes are indicative of a dyslexic individual.
LANGSTON
She was
dyslexic.
Langston continues searching.
INT. APARTMENT 152 - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Riley spots a brown hair teetering on the edge of a vent. She carefully collects it with a pair of tweezers and holds it up to the light. Will it lead to a killer?
EXT. DESERT ROAD - DAY (RE-ENACTMENT)
SUPER: November 6
Greg and Catherine walk side by side. Catherine has her sidearm. Greg carries an overstuffed backpack. They are hot, tired, and badly sunburned. Greg watches mirages of water come and go ahead of them.
CATHERINE
Greg?
He doesn't respond.
CATHERINE
(CONT'D)
(distant)
Greg, look at me. Greg?
Greg turns his head. A giant vulture hops along next to him watching him with cold eyes. The desert beyond is formed with odd angles in Technicolor -- at any moment Beetlejuice could jump out of the sand riding a giant worm.
GREG
Is your name
Frank?
The vulture doesn't answer.
CATHERINE
(distant)
No,
Greg, it's Catherine. Open your
eyes and look at me.
Greg jerks awake.
SUPER: 6:00 PM
Overhead dusk has sent soft pastel colors shooting across the sky. Greg closes his eyes and tries to wet his lips.
GREG
What happened?
I remember we were
walking and then... I got nothing.
CATHERINE
You
passed out.
GREG
For how long?
CATHERINE
A couple
hours. How are you feeling?
GREG
Hungry,
thirsty, would do anything
for a cold shower. How about you?
She smiles.
CATHERINE
Same. Do
you think you can walk
some more? Until it gets dark?
Greg nods. She grabs his wrist and helps him to his feet. The two start walking again.
INT. AUTOPSY A - NIGHT
Riley enters to find Catherine and Doctor ROBBINS waiting. Catherine and Robbins' conversation drops when Riley enters, a very suspicious action. She says nothing as she stops next to Catherine.
The body of Capri Martinez lies on the table between them. She has several hickies that would have been covered by clothes.
CATHERINE
Go ahead.
ROBBINS
There are four
gunshot wounds to
the chest. That didn't kill her
though. It
slowed her down. I also
noticed she had a needle mark in
her
arm, the only one on her body.
I sent blood to Henry and he came
back fast with the tox results. She
had a lethal injection of
insulin.
RILEY
Was she
diabetic?
ROBBINS
Not according
to her medical records.
RILEY
How did you get
those so fast?
Robbins continues, avoiding the question.
CATHERINE
What about
the ligature marks?
ROBBINS
They are from
the tubing. She asphyxiated
before she bled out or the insulin
could kill her. Whoever attacked this
young woman was very,
very angry.
RILEY
Any sexual
trauma?
ROBBINS
While she did
have sex before she
died, there were no signs of trauma.
RILEY
She has a lot of
hickies. Someone
liked her.
ROBBINS
(distant)
Yes,
someone did.
Riley notices Robbins glance at Catherine. The older CSI says nothing.
ROBBINS
(CONT'D)
Unfortunately, I had to send saliva
and sperm swabs
to DNA.
RILEY
Unfortuantely?
CATHERINE
Did Bobby
give you the ballistics
report yet? It wasn't a .44 was it?
RILEY
Why would you
ask that?
ROBBINS
I don't have
the ballistics report
back. I don't know what--
RILEY
What is going on
here? What aren't
you two
telling me? Doc practically
apologized for sending DNA for
analysis.
You're asking about the caliber of
the gun, as if
you have someone in
mind. I cannot work this case blindfolded.
CATHERINE
We
can't answer that. I can't risk
you becoming bias on this case.
RILEY
You're
trying to clear someone of
this, aren't you?
CATHERINE
I can't
answer that, Riley.
She sighs, but she also understands.
RILEY
Should I tell
you to leave?
CATHERINE
Probably.
Don't overlook anything
in this case.
He leaves. Riley doesn't speak right away, and neither does Robbins. She looks up at him.
RILEY
Was there more?
He nods.
RILEY (CONT'D)
Continue.
FADE OUT.
END OF ACT TWO
