Unfriendly Skies: On a flight en route to Las Vegas from Atlanta, a first class passenger is killed. Brass, Grissom and his Graveyard shift are called in. But they find their time limit short when the sherif announces they have 12 hours to solve the case before the FBI takes over their investigation. The victim's fellow passengers are reluctant to cooperate, causing the team to suspect their involvement in his death.
Next, Sex, Lies and Larvae: A body covered in insects is found in the desert, causing Grissom and Sara to launch an investigation. With help from the entomological evidence, Grissom discovers the time of death. Unfortunately, the husband – who is also the prime suspect – claims to be out of town around time of death and appears to be getting away with his wife's murder, much to Sara's dismay. Meanwhile, Warrick and Catherine work the case of a house call where a valuable painting is stolen. In another case, a woman's car is found at the bus station with the driver missing, forcing Nick to launch a missing persons case.
Then, I-15 Murders: A middle-aged woman is abducted from a local supermarket. When inspecting the bathroom, Grissom finds a message on a stall door that makes him suspect that this has happened before. Despite their personal differences, Warrick and Sara have to work together when an apparent robbery goes wrong and a man finds his brother murdered in his apartment. Meanwhile, Kristy Hopkins (from the pilot episode) finds herself in trouble again after getting into a beef with a hotel security guard and she calls on Nick to rescue her.
Later, Fahrenheit 932: A man is awaiting trail for starting an arson fire that killed his wife and son. Claiming he is innocent, he calls on Grissom to help him. Now it is up to Grissom, Sara and Warrick to clear him, especially when they learn that Day Shift supervisor Conrad Ecklie did sloppy work. In another investigation, a teenage 'runner' is shot to death at close range and Nick and Catherine have to figure out who killed him and what circumstances had lead to his death.
Remaining episodes:
Boom
To Halve and to Hold
Table Stakes
Too Tough to Die
Face Lift
$35K O.B.O.
Gentle, Gentle
Sounds of Silence
Justice Is Served
Evaluation Day
Strip Strangler (Season 1 finale)
REVIEW REPLIES!
caitlin: Another great chapter!
Cant wait for Boom!
xx
Thanks for the review, Caitlin! I can't wait to write Boom myself. Thankfully, after this episode, I have Sex, Lies and Larvae, I-15 Murders and Fahrenheit 932 before I can actually write it. I'm so excited to write some Nick and Kady moments for that. You wanna suggest some?
stargirl276: I read the ending scene and listened to the song and I cried it was amazing! Well done can't wait for more :D
Wow. I was hoping that I wrote a touching chapter. Honestly, I didn't expect to make anyone cry. But it tells me that I'm doing something good in this. I'm appealing to my reader's emotions. Thanks for the review!
I own nothing aside from sweet little Kady. This episode will have some funny moments. This is actually one of my favourites. Have I ever mentioned that I love Nick and Warrick?
ENJOY! (Wow. There goes a page and a half on the opening author's note. Oh well. That's that.)
"McCarren approach Las Vegas nine-zero-nine, thirty thousand. Request emergency personnel. Over."
"Las Vegas nine-zero-nine, McCarren tower. Specify request. Over."
"Negative, McCarren. Advise on runway."
"Las Vegas nine-zero-nine cleared for V-O-R runway one-five approach. Over."
"V-O-R runway one-five approach. Roger. Request Las Vegas police."
"Understand. Police. Roger."
"MUMMY!"
Something really bad happened on that plane. Bad enough for police and emergency personnel to surround the plane. The lead investigator in this case is none other than Jim Brass himself.
"The luggage stays on the plane. We're going to treat this like a crime scene until we're told otherwise. Tim, Sam, talk to the coach passengers. See what you can't learn," Brass instructed before he noticed Grissom approach him, "Alright, look. I'm going to talk to the first class passengers – they're in the lounge. Let's meet back there in a half an hour, alright?"
"Alright," Officer Tim nodded before him and Sam left.
"So...dead guy in first class?" Grissom asked.
"Las Vegas Air. Always heard it was a good time," Brass remarked.
As soon as Brass and Grissom walked onto the plane, Brass couldn't help but clear his throat. Lying in the aisleway of first class is the dead body everybody was going crazy over moments before.
"Coroner pronounce?" Grissom questioned.
"About thirty minutes ago," Brass answered.
"Eyewitnesses?" Grissom pressed.
"Everyone in first class – nine passengers, one flight attendant," Brass responded.
"Where are they now?" Grissom wanted to know.
"Sequestered in the lounge. According to the Flight crew, the deceased had some sort of panic attack and died before they landed," Brass explained.
Grissom knelt down. He didn't fail to notice the mess in the aisle above the body. He also then began to examine the dead body. Moments later, Grissom was looking around the place and taking photos.
"Point of disturbance: cockpit door. Bloody handprint. Looks like foot impression. Ballpark shoe size...ten to eleven maybe," Grisom estimated.
"Deceased found lying between rows one and two," Brass added, causing Grissom to snap photos...before finding a disk on the floor, "What is that? Blood?"
"I want this whole plane taped off. Nose to tail and wing to wing," Grissom requested as he and Brass left the plane.
"Oh, it's going to take a lot of tape," Brass couldn't help but remark.
"I've got a dead body, a crime scene with wings. Something very wrong happened in this plane," Grissom retorted.
*music starts*
Crime
Scene
Investigation
Starring William Peterson
Marg Helgenberger
Gary Dourdan
George Eads
Jorja Fox
And Paul Guilfoyle
Created by Anthony E. Zuiker
Grissom had his hands in his pockets as he walked along the tarmac at the airport. Suddenly, a car pulled up. The flashes of the siren managed to attract Grissom's attention. When Grissom turned around, the occupant of the car climbed out. And it was none other than...
"Sheriff?" Grissom said in surprise.
"We've got a whale of an opportunity here, Gil. Dead body on an airplane – FAA has jurisdiction. But the Feds won't be here till sunrise. That gives us about twelve hours to be heroes," Brian told him.
"I don't follow you," Grissom confessed.
"Well, we either hand over the guy who did it when the Feds get here or we give them all the glory while we watch from the sidelines," Brian cleared up.
"I don't even know if we have a homicide yet. First reports indicate he had some kind of episode," Grissom shrugged.
"Give me a little credit. Even you wouldn't tape off one of these wide-bodies unless you knew you had something. Arrest would be good for you. It would be good for me, too. Good for Las Vegas," Brian stated.
"...You running for mayor?" Grissom asked.
Now the entire CSI gang has arrived at the scene. While Nick worked his area, Kady was sitting on one of the first class seats with a blanket so she didn't unintentionall contaminate evidence. Everyone had the same question on their minds: what in God's name lead to this man's sudden death?
Nick sighed before asking, "What about the passengers in coach? They see anything?"
"Brass said the curtain was shut. The Flight Attendant kept them separated. They disembarked through the rear," Sara explained.
"What do we know about the dead guy?" Warrick questioned.
"Tony Candlewell. Age 30. Communication Company Manager from Atlanta. Married. No record," Catherine answered.
"So? What do you think?" Grissom quizzed as he walked onto the plane.
"I don't know. But this sure must have looked scary at thirty thousand feet," Catherine remarked.
"All this damage by one guy? Had to be on drugs," Warrick said.
"Too much damage for one guy," Sara shook her head.
"So, more than one guy?" Nick summised before turning to Grissom playing with Kady, "What do you think, Griss?"
"Hmm? Oh. I think we got ten witnesses all singing the same song. Deceased went baserk. Unless we find something else in the evidence, that's what happened. Catherine...," Grissom started.
"I'll start the interviews," Catherine finished for Grissom.
"Thank you. Warrick, go with," Grissom instructed.
"Yeah," Warrick nodded.
"Brass has them all assembled in the lounge. Assume there's evidence on everyone. Nick, go with the coroner. Sara and I will work the plane. I know how you feel about Kady going to the morgue. So we'll look after her until either you, Catherine, Warrick or Brass get back," Grissom promised.
"Thanks, man," Nick sighed in relief as he kissed and hugged his young daughter, "See you later, butterfly."
"Bye, daddy," Kady waved as Nick left the plane.
"This is a mobile crime scene. It might now be here tomorrow," Grissom announced.
Inside the airport lounge, the first class passengers sit and wait impatiently. All they wanted to do was get out of there, enjoy their holiday in Vegas and keep what happened on the plane a secret. That's all they want. Is that too much to ask? Actually, the last part of that sentence is. Suddenly, one of the passengers, Kiera Berhle, stands up and catches the attention of the flight attendant, Shannon.
"Miss, my daughter has to go to the bathroom," Kiera told her.
"OK. I'll see what I can do," Shannon reassured her.
"Thank you," Kiera thanked in relief.
As she sat down, Shannon went off to find somebody to talk to about letting little Emily Berhle go to the bathroom for a couple of minutes. As she walked by, Vicki Mercer grabbed her arm and attention all at the same time.
"How are you holding up?" she asked worriedly.
"I'm still shaking," Shannon confessed, earning a reassuring smile from Vicki.
"Can I have your attention?" Brass requested as he, Catherine and Warrick walked inside, "I'm Jim Brass from homicide. This is Catherine Willows and Warrick Brown from Las vegas Criminalistics. They're here to gather evidence."
"You know you can't keep us here!" Lou Everett called out.
"Sir, we realize this is an imposition and we apologize for it. Nobody wants to see you on your way more than we do. We'll make this as quick and painless as we possibly can," Catherine promised in a calm and reassuring voice.
No one seemed to be objecting. So Warrick and Catherine turned around so they could work.
"Nice snow job," Warrick whispered to her.
"More flies with honey," Catherine remarked.
As Sara examined the body, she removed his wallet from his jacket and found the driver's license. It was a Georgia Driver's License. Well, no surprise. The plane was en route to Las Vegas from Atlanta. His license had all his personal information. License number, expiration date, address, birthdate, height, weight; literally everything about him. When she stood up, David was walking up behind her.
"Driver's license...library card...organ donor card," Sara listed the cards in his wallet.
"Stand-up guy," David said.
Sara than found a photo in his wallet, something that made her heart break over this case, "He has a family."
"Can you imagine getting that phone call? What a shame," David remarked.
"David, it's always a shame," Kady retorted.
"When did she get so smart?" David suddenly asked Sara.
"She's the daughter of two CSIs," Sara reminded David, "Why are you so surprised?"
"I saw him board. He seemed like an OK guy," Co-Captain Arrington told Grissom.
Begin flashback
"Here. Let me help you with that," Tony offered as he helped Kiera place her bags in the overhead storage.
"Oh, thank you. Thank you very much," she thanked in relief.
"Sure. No problem," Tony replied.
End flashback
"When did you become aware that there was a problem in the cabin?" Grissom questioned.
"1630 hours. About 35 minutes out. Shannon asked one of us to come out and address an issue with a passenger," Arrington recalled.
Begin flashback
"What's the problem, Shannon?" Captain Murdle asked.
Back in the cabin was a whole lot of commotion happening. Tony was irritated as he tried to open the lavatory door...one that is occupied.
"Come on! Hello! Other people have to go to!" Tony shouted.
"Do me a favour: go back to coach. Make sure no one comes forward. Thanks," Shannon instructed the other flight attendant.
"Come on! It's been 10 minutes!" Tony whined.
"Sir, is there some way we can assist you?" Murdle asked him.
"Yeah. You can help me open this door," Tony responded.
"There are two other restrooms towards the rear of the plane," Murdle reminded him.
"I paid $1200 to pee here, not in coach," Tony retorted.
"Sir? You need to take your seat," Murdle said to him.
End flashback
"How much time did you spend with him?" Grissom wanted to know.
"Two minutes," Murdle answered.
"In that time, did you notice anything that would explain his behavior?" Grissom pressed, causing Murdle to shake his head, "Was he drunk maybe? Or on drugs?"
"Not as far as I could tell. A little agitated. It's not like I haven't seen this kind of behavior before. Flying just makes people react in funny ways," Murdle shrugged.
"Is that a meat thermometer?" Nick asked as he watched Jenna stick a thermometer in the guy.
"Digital readout. Bigger numbers," Jenna explained before the thermometer beeped, "98.1."
"Guy should be colder than that. Body temperature drops two degrees in the first hur after death than one and a half degrees for each successive hour," Nick recalled.
"Well, he's been dead for two hours," Jenna reminded him.
"That would make his temperature at the time of death...101.6," Nick realized, "This guy had a fever."
"Let's see what else we got," Jenna said as she began examining the body, "Petecchial hemorrhaging behind the eyes. Suggesting suffocation of some sort. Horseshoe-shaped contusion on the left side of the neck."
"Looks like the heel of a boot," Nick remarked.
"Oh, I'll buy that – for now. Multiple contusions front and back. Broken hand," Jenna continued.
'Well, this guy's a study of contradictions," Nick whistled before looking at Tony's right hand, "He's got defensive wounds on his palms but the scrapes on his knuckles and the broken hand indicate aggression."
"Let me guess: you still think that Kady's too young to come down here so you left her at the crime scene with Grissom?" Jenna guessed.
"My daughter is three years old. She sees enough at crime scenes. I don't her seeing someone cutting up a dead body and examining its insides," Nick defended.
"There are some occassions where a crime scene is worse than the morgue, you know," Jenna retorted.
Right now on the plane, Grissom was taking a roll call to see who was sitting where. As he read out the names, Sara and Kady walked to the seat and placed an orange cone with their names on tape on the appropiate seat.
"Dr Kiera Behrle, 3E. Emily Behrle, 3F. Nate Metz, 2C," Grissom read as he placed a hand on the chair...causing it to fall backwards, "Nate Metz."
"Put your seat back and tray table in their upright position. I don't think so," Sara smirked.
"Let me guess who was sitting in 3C," Grissom pondered aloud as he read the flight list, "Tony Candlewell. The dead guy."
"Look. The guy was a real ass," Nate Metz himself told Catherine and Brass as they interviewed him.
"In what way?" Brass pressed.
"You know why I fly first class? Other than the fact that my company pays for it? Because I can work. I have to work," Nate answered the unasked question.
"And he wouldn't let you?" Catherine guessed.
"No. He, he, he kept kicking the back of my seat with his foot. You know, like in a movie theater when somebody's kicking your seat? Imagine that all the way from Atlanta to Las Vegas," Nate explained.
"Are you telling me this guy was kicking the back of your seat the entire flight?" Catherine asked.
"Maybe not the entire flight. You know, like, like Dallas to, to Las Vegas," Nate corrected. (Me: Hey! Nick: What? Me: They went over Dallas! Nick: So? Me: You don't remember where you were born? Nick: I'm from Austin, not Dallas. Me: You were born in Dallas. You grew up in Austin. And Austin isn't that far from Dallas. *sighs* For a CSI, you don't know your geography that well. Nick: How do you know that? Me: What? You think I got that A in Geography by copying someone else's work? No. I did not. I work very hard for the grades I get.)
Begin flashback
Nate is working on his laptop for his company when he felt his seatback jostle. Nate shrugged it off at first and just pushed on his seat, causing it to fall back a little bit. Well...until the seat jostled again.
"Hey, pal! Could you please stop kicking the back of my seat?" Nate pleaded.
"I wasn't doing anything!" Tony defended.
"You know exactly what you're doing. Stop it," Nate requested before resuming his work.
End flashback
"What did you do?" Brass wanted to know.
"I just...I ignored him. You know, I punched the seat a couple of times in anger and that's it," Nate answered before looking at Catherine, "Look, the guy set me off. It was either the seat or him."
"May I see your hands?" Catherine requested.
Nate held out his hands in a loose fist with his knuckles facing upwards. Something that Catherine and Brass immediately noticed was the fact that his right knuckles are red and skinned. One of the signs of defensive wounds. Is there something the guy isn't telling them?
"Your knuckles are pretty banged up," Brass pointed out.
Sara, Grissom and Kady are looking at the seats for any new evidence. With her kid latex gloves on, Kady moved one of the seatbelts in 4B and found something interesting. Even though she's three years old, she knows exactly what it was.
"Uncle Gil! Aunty Sara! I found blood!" Kady called out, causing Grissom and Sara to run towards her in a flash.
"Blood drops...away from the main event," Grissom stated before taking a swab sample, "Good eye, Kadelin. Good eye."
"Maybe that's where the action started," Sara suggested with a shrug as she pulled Kady into her arms.
"Could just be a bloody nose," Grissom reminded her.
"Wait. Who was sitting in 4B?" Kady asked her godfather.
"Lou Everett," Grissom read the cone.
YUM! OREOS! Oh, the goodness of an Oreo cookie. The joy of twisting the biscuits, licking the side with the cream on it, dunking it in a nice up of cold milk and then eating it all up. Mmmm... Heaven... Well, Lou Everett is in front of the candy machine trying to buy a packet of Oreo cookies. But the candy machine decided not to be very kind. When he gave the machine his money and pushed the button, the packet gets stuck.
"Lou Everett?" Brass said.
"Yeah," Lou sighed as he slammed his hands flat against the machine.
"How'd you get that slice around the chops?" Brass asked.
"The guy swung at me with a C.D. Put his finger in the hole and slashed me," Lou answered.
"What guy?" Warrick pressed.
"That crazy guy – the psycho. He was out of his mind!" Lou exclaimed.
Begin flashback.
Tony still had his foot on the back of Nate's seat. Once again, he pushed the seat forward. That move caused Nate to jerk forward into his laptop, which in turn, crashed to the floor in the aisle.
Angrily, Nate stood up and faced Tony, "What the hell is wrong with you? You know, you owe me another laptop, pal!"
Still angry, Nate picked up his busted laptop from the floor and shoved it into Tony's chest. Grumbling, Tony stood up.
"Move over!" he mumbled as he pushed the laptop – and Nate – aside. Sensing that there could be a fight, Shannon and Lou tried to break it up before it had the chance to escalate into one.
"Hey!" Shannon yelled.
"Hey, hey. We're in mid-flight, guys. That's enough," Lou said.
Tony grabbed the CD on his armrest. With his finger in the hole, he stood up and swung it at Lou Everett. The edge of the CD sliced Lou in the face. Screaming in pain, Lou hit his seat, spilling his drink in the process.
End flashback
"So what do you think? Bodily injury. Can I sure a dead man?" Lou inquired.
"I think you need some coffee," Brass remarked.
"What do you mean?" Lou demanded.
"A few cocktails on the plane, Lou?" Brass asked.
"Look, I get nervous when I fly. So what?" Luo sighed.
"Well, alcohol does different things to different people...at different altitudes," Warrick stated.
"Hey. I was fine. He went bananas. Why don't you just ask...ask the Flight Attendant?" Lou suggested.
"So, we were about 35 minutes out...when he started pressing his call button over and over. He was complaining of a headache," Shannon recalled.
"And did you give him anything?" Catherine questioned.
"Yeah. I gave him a packet of asprin and he popped it dry. No water," Shannon answered.
"And as far as you know, did he complain of a headache when he boarded?" Catherine quizzed.
"No," Shannon shook her head.
"So what made the worm turn?" Catherine wanted to know.
"Look, I've been flying for ten years. You know, I have seen it all. I've seen ferrets in suitcases, uh, fellatio in first class...passengers stir-frying on their tray tables. I am...who knows why anyone does anything?" Shannon retorted.
Grissom walked up to the conference room Brass and Catherine are interviewing Shannon in. Not wanting to disturb the interview, he lingered outside. Catherine eventually noticed him.
"Right. Well, thank you for your time," Catherine thanked.
"Thank you," Shannon returned before she and Brass walked away.
"So, any bites?" Grissom asked as he walked inside.
"Nada. You?" Catherine responded as she set up her things on the desk and started jotting down some notes.
"If nothing criminal happened on that flight...why isn't anybody talking to us?" Grissom pondered aloud.
"I'm going to go out on a limb here...and say...they're hiding something?" Catherine shrugged.
"Then we get to play hide-and-seek," Grissom smirked.
"I just got off the phone with Nick. The coroner did some carving on our dead guy. She found intercranial bleeding, thoracic hemorrhaging, a ruptured spleen and, for what it's worth, the guy also had a fever," Grissom explained to Sara as she went though a seat pocket, "You find something interesting?"
"Well, the guy in 4B was knocking them back pretty good," Sara remarked.
Grissom thought about something for a moment. Then he went back to seat $B, slides on a pair of latex gloves and holds up three little bottles from the front seat pocket. Sara and Kady continued their little search together. Then Kady found something. A large broken bottle in the front seat. She went to touch it, but Sara pulled Kady to her chest and stopped her actions. Instead, she picked up the broken bottle herself.
"Could be dried blood!" Sara announced.
Grissom placed the little bottles he had before down and headed towards Sara and Kady. When he looked at the bottle part himself, he noticed the dry red substance on the edge of the green glass.
"Victim had defensive wounds on his hand," Grissom recalled.
"Marlene Valdez was sitting in 2E," Sara read the cone.
"Look at me. My blouse is ruined," Marlene Valdez moaned as she sat down, "Just hope it washes out."
"We'll get you a new one," Max Valdez promised his wife.
"After I saved your life, you better," Marlene retorted.
"Mr Valdez, was your life in danger?" Brass asked.
"Well, you know...," Max started explaining.
"Of course his life was in danger!" Marlene interrupted, "That maniac was pacing up and down the aisles...all sweaty...his eyes glazed. I was sure he was going to hijack that plane."
Begin flashback
Shannon is desperately trying to restore order in the chaotic first class cabin. Tony sunddely stood up in his seat.
"Everyone needs to return to their seats," Shannon said.
"Get out of the way!" Tony ordered as he pushed her aside and headed to the front of the cabin before knocking on the door.
"Do something," Marlene whispered to her husband.
"We should just mind our own business," Max shrugged it off.
"Well, if you don't do something, I will," Marlene threatened with urgency.
Tony is looking out the front door window. Bravely, Max stood up and began approaching Tony.
"Uh...ex-excuse me, sir. Uh...who don't you just take a seat?" Max suggested nervously.
Tony's response? He placed his hand over Max's face and pushed him backwards, causing Max to fall into the beverage cart behind him.
End flashback
"The other half of the wine bottle...from 2E. So...Marlene in 2E slashes the victim. He's bleeding. Where does he go?" Grissom asked, looking at Sara.
"The lavatory," Sara answered.
Together, Sara, Grissom and Kady headed towards the front lavatory. Grissom pushed the lavatory door opened and looked inside. Sara is peering over his shoulder and Kady was looking at the seemingly clean bathroom from her position next to Grissom's knee.
"No evidence," Sara stated.
"No 'patent' evidence. But if there's blood present, there may be latent evidence," Grissom stated.
"One step ahead of you, every so often," Sara smirked as she handed Grissom the ALS.
"Thank you," Grissom thanked before he started checking the lavatory, "Well. Would you hand me the Christopher Columbus from my field kit? Thank you."
Kady handed Grissom the Christopher Columbus he wanted. With the Christopher Columbus, Grissom checked the tolet bowl. There, he found a source of protein. But it's not what you think it is...
"I take it that's not blood," Sara said.
"No...but there's protein in it. Kady, earmuffs," Grissom requested, causing Kady to block her ears and sing softly to herself.
"Oh, the mile-high club. That means the two passengers may have had no idea what was going on inside that cabin," Sara realized.
"You know, high altitude enhances the entire sexual experience. It increases the euphoria," Grissom stated.
"Well...it's good. I don't know if it's that good," Sara pondered, causing Grissom to look at her, "Cite your source."
"Hand me a swab, please," Grissom requested kindly.
"You're avoiding the question. 'Enhances sexual experience. Increases euphoria.' Cite your source," Sara pleaded.
"A magazine," Grissom answered.
"What magazine?" Sara demanded.
"Applied Psychodynamics in Forensic Science," Grissom recited.
"Never heard of it," Sara srugged.
"I'll get you a subscription," Grissom promised, "Now, cite your source."
"Oh...now you wanna go down that route?" Sara asked in disbelief.
"Yeah," Grissom nodded.
"Nah. Nevermind," Sara shook her head with a smile.
"You started it," Grissom retorted.
"Delta Airlines. Flight 1109. Boston-Miami. March '93. Ken Fuller. Hazel eyes that are nowhere near as beautiful as Kady's. Organich Chem Lab TA, BMOC...overrated...in...every aspect," Sara recalled, causing Grissom to look at her with that expression, "Could...we...get back to work, please?"
"Yeah. I think, due to your, uh...firsthand knowledge and experience in airplane bathrooms, you should do the swab," Grissom smirked before whisking Kady away.
"Fine," Sara shrugged.
"And where were you when this was all going on, Mrs Finn?" Catherine asked Vicki.
Currently, Catherine and Brass are interviewing the two passengers in the bathroom Grissom and Sara were referring to. But, just like the others, they didn't get that many answers. And the answers they got...well, most of them were full of pure BS.
"Uh, Mercer, Vicki Mercer. Um, I was in the bathroom," Vicki answered.
"In the bathroom? For how long?" Catherine pressed.
"For a while. I...I really don't fly very well," Vicki confessed.
"And where was your husband?" Warrick questioned.
"We're not married. We just work together," Carl corrected.
"Right. Where were you?" Warrick repeated his question.
"I was in my seat," Carl replied.
"So then you saw what happened?" Catherine guessed.
"I had my headphones on. I was listening to the air traffic control channel. Puts me right out," Carl answered.
"So you...slept through everything and you woke up next to a...dead body," Catherine summised in disbelief.
"Basically, yeah," Carl shrugged.
Sara continued to process the lavatory on the plane. She dusted everywhere: the doorframe, the basin edge and eventually, the underside of the cealing where she finds something interesting.
"Handprints. A stallion," Sara remarked.
"Alright. We're going to have to change tack here because what I said about getting more flies with honey – I was wrong," Catherine sighed as she took off her jacket and threw it on the couch before flopping next to it.
"This is incredible. Ten people and no one's talking. My theory: the killer is in the group and the rest of them are afraid," Warrick said.
Back in the plane, Sara, Nick and Kady are in the main aisle once again looking for evidence. Grissom is sitting somewhere writing in his folder. Sara and Kady are looking at something on the side of the passenger seat.
"That guy was wearing khakis, right?" Sara asked as she picked up the fibres with tweezers.
"Yaeh," Grissom nodded as he and Sara looked at the fibres with magnifying glasses, "Fibres drawn from his pants, maybe?"
"We get anything off this clothes?" Kady questioned her godfather.
"Daddy's working on it, sweetheart," was Grissom's answer.
"What have you got?" Nick asked Greg as he walked into the DNA lab.
"Well, what you got here is a nice bordeauz and a starbucks blend. No blood. No saliva," Greg answered.
"What about prints?" Nick questioned.
"Well, suede leather's a tough gig. It's too porous," Greg pointed out.
Then Nick noticed something on the back of the jacket. Something that looked familiar.
"Hey. Are you losing your touch there, Einstein?" Nick teased as he held the photos of Tony's back to the back of the suede jacket, "Coroner's photos of the dead guy's back. Multiple horseshoe-shaped bruises. Those are definitely shoeprints."
"Yeah. Looks like somebody stomped on your dead guy," Greg remarked, "Hey. Where's Kady?"
"I left her at the crime scene with Grissom," Nick answered.
"You did what?" Greg practically screeched, "I could've looked after her here, you know!"
"Sorry, Greggo. I promise you can look after her next time," Nick swore with a pat on his shoulder.
"Bring me the jacket. If I do heel impressions, I'll need something to compare it to. See you in twenty," Grissom spoke into his phone before hanging up.
"I need their shoes," Grissom announced to Catherine.
"Why you telling me?" Catherine immediately demanded.
"Because you're the people person, right?" Grissom responded.
"Well, why don't you tell them that? They're not giving me bupkus," Catherine retorted.
"Please?" Grissom pleaded.
Catherine looked up at Grissom...just as he started giving her the puppy-dog look. She roles her eyes.
"You know, that only looks cute when Kady's doing it, right?" Catherine laughed.
Grissom didn't care. He still did it. With a sigh, Catherone stood up from the office chair and handed Grissom her bag of snacks on the way out.
"OK, people! Listen up! Shoes...off!" Catherine requested...only to have no one make a move, "Now!"
That immediately caused everyone who was in first class to remove their shoes. From the sidelines, Grissom stood there watching. Just watching.
Now Grissom, Catherine and Warrick are back in that empty office comparing everyone's shoes to the shoeprints in the victim's suede jacket...that they don't have yet. Lucky bastard. I want one of those! Right now, they're up to printing Max Valdez's sneakers.
"I used to have a pair of these," Grissom remarked as he moved the shoes to the side.
"It all comes down to shoeprints," Warrick stated.
"Hey," Sara greeted as she walked into the room with Kady in her arms.
"Hi," Catherine returned before kissing Kady's cheek, "Hey, sunshine."
"Hi," Kady responded as she watched Catherine label the prints.
"Looks like a shoe sale. Uh, Nick sent these photo comparisons over from the lab," Sara announced as she handed the envelope to Catherine.
"Oh. Excellent," Catherine complimented.
"Max," Grissom said as he handed the print to Catherine.
"That looks good," Catherine remarked as she compared the two.
"Yeah. That's a match," Grissom agreed before noticing something, "That distinctive mark on the circular tread...hmm."
"Well, that's it, then," Catherine sighed.
"OK, folks! I've got some good news...and I've got some bad news," Catherine announced.
"The good news?" Nate asked.
"Well, the good news would be that seven of you may be...getting out of here very soon," Catherine started.
"What's the bad news?" Lou wanted to know.
"The bad news is that three of you may be staying in Vegas a lot longer than you planned. And that would be...Mr Lou Everett, Mr Max Valdez...and Dr Kiera Behrle. Would you...please come with me?" Catherine requested.
"Stevie, keep these guys on ice," Brass instructed Stevie as he let Lou and Max out of the interview room and saw Catherine, Kiera and Emily approaching, "I'm sorry, ma'am. This is as far as your daughter can go but we'll have an officer stay with her."
"Come on. It's been a rough night," Kiera moaned.
"Dr Behrle, we're going to be asking you some very sensitive questions – questions I know that I wouldn't want my daughter to hear," Catherine told her.
Brass knelt down to Emily's level and talked to her, "Hi. My name is Jim. What's your name?"
"Emily," Emily introduced herself.
As Catherine and Kiera watched, Brass and Emily shoke hands.
"Emily. Oh, that's a great name. Emily, I'm going to make you a deal, OK? We're going to borrow your mum for a little while," Brass started.
"I'll be right back, sweetie, OK?" Kiera promised before kissing Emily on her cheek.
"OK," Emily nodded.
"OK? And here's the good part. You get to borrow anything you see on me," Brass promised her.
"Can I borrow your gun?" Emily asked.
As Brass and Emily continued to talk, Catherine and Kiera casually strolled into the interview room.
"Well, you know, my gun...it's kind of...it's old, and it's heavy and...and it's stuck there. Anything else?" Brass questioned.
"How about your badge?" Emily requested kindly.
"You got a deal. And you know what? This is the best thing. You know why? Because anyone gives you any trouble, all you got to do is...flash this. There you go," Brass told her as he handed her his badge, "So, were you scared? *Emily nods* Did you see what happened? *Emily shakes her head* OK. OK. It's OK."
"Sweet kid – Emily," Brass remarked as he walked into the interview room and took a seat next to Catherine, "Uh, so, er...Behrle...how long have you been a phsician?"
"I prefer surgeon," Kiera corrected.
"OK," Brass nodded.
"I've been practicing for eleven years," Kiera answered.
"And what was the nature of your visit to, uh...to Las Vegas?" Brass asked.
"Emily. She wanted to see the white tigers," Kiera responded.
"How did you get that black eye?" Catherine quizzed.
"I caught it during the ruckus. The price you pay for being a Good Samaritan," Kiera shrugged.
"OK. I'm, uh...just a little confused. Your heel impressions were found on the back of the victim's suede jacket," Catherine announced as she showed Kiera the photo, "That's a little aggressive for a good Samaritan."
Begin flashback
"NO! NO!" Tony was yelling face down on the aisle floor.
"Hey! Stop it!" Kiera pleaded.
She grabbed Lou's arm, hoping to stop the fight. Sadly, that didn't work so well. He turned around and accidentally hit Kiera on the cheek. In surprise, she stumbled backwards, clutching her sore cheek.
"Oh," she moaned as she accidentally stepped on Tony's back to get everyone out of the way, "Get out of the way. Get out of the way! Give him some air. Sir?" She flipped Tony over and started giving him CPR, "One, two, three... One, two..."
End flashback
"If he had been in my ER, I might have been able to save him. But at thirty thousand feet, there's only so much you can do. Look...I did what I could," Kiera sighed.
"And you're satisfied with that?" Catherine asked.
"Why? Because I'm a doctor, I'm responsible for what happened on that plane?" Kiera scoffed.
"What did happen?" Brass wanted to know.
"I protected my daughter and I tried to save a guy's life. And, yes. I'm satisfied with that," Kiera nodded.
"Well, you've seen Cops, the TV Show. So you know our game. The first one to talk gets to make a deal," Brass stated.
"I don't need a deal," Kiera shook her head.
"No? Well, maybe your daughter, Emily, needs you to take one," Brass retorted.
"Mm-hmm...right...makes sense. OK. Thanks, Catherine," Grissom said before hanging up, "We have a ping-pong ball. We just need to find the paddles."
"Where are they?" Sara asked.
"Probably in the first compartment," Grissom guessed as Sara stood up and approached the overhead compartment over the front seat, "The doctor in 3E told Catherine that she performed CPR on the victim. Check the inside of the paddles. See if there's any bio gel on them."
Sara checked out the paddles and found nothing, "These look like they weren't even used. There was more lubricant in the bathroom. It's pretty negligent for a doctor. She's got to know every commercial airline carries defib paddles."
"Yeah. And if she didn't know, the Flight Attendant sure did," Grissom added.
"By the time I thought to grab the defibrillator, he was already dead," Shannon defended.
"But you are trained to use the paddles in the event of an emergency situation and this was an emergency situation," Catherine stated.
"Yes. But I'm trained to use them when a man is having cardiac arrest in his seat. Not flopping around in the aisle," Shannon retorted.
"So, whatever it was he was going through, it didn't look like a heart attack," Catherine repeated.
"Look. I'm going to be honest with you. I was scared. I mean...I thought this guy was going to take us all down," Shannon confessed.
Begin flashback
"Alright. Everyone needs to return to their seats," Shannon said.
"Get out of the way! I got to get off!" Tony yelled as he kicked at the door.
End flashback
"Alright. So let me get this straight. 2F is on the floor. His wife is in the aisle brandishing a broken wine bottle. What about 1A? He was closest to the action," Catherine pointed out helpfully.
"That would be Mr Cash. Um, he was in his seat," Shannon shook her head.
"Mr Cash," Warrick greeted.
"I was wondering when you guys were going to get around to asking me some questions," Preston sighed.
"So, what did you see?" Warrick asked.
"Not much," Preston answered.
"Sir, it's been a long night, and we don't have much time before our crime scene flies away," Grissom told him.
"I was in my seat," Preston said.
"You were sitting in 1A," Grissom stated.
"Sitting ringside. How did you not see what happened?" Warrick wanted to know.
That was when Preston took out his walking stick and opened it in front of them. That was when Grissom and Warrick realized why Preston couldn't see what happened on the plane. That was when they realized that Preston Cash is blind.
"The blind leading the blind," Grissom remarked.
"I'm not totally blind. I'm legally blind. My central visial acuity is 20/200," Preston explained.
"Take your seat!"
"You got to land the plane! I got to get off this plane!"
"Get him off the door! Get him down!"
"Can you identify the voices?" Grissom asked.
"First voice. 4B. Businessman. I could tell by the way he ordered drinks," Preston recalled.
"How do you mean?" Grissom pressed.
"JW black. Triple. Not double," Preston recited.
"That's Lou," Warrick realized.
"Second voice. Guy in 2F. Kind of far away," Preston went on.
"Max," Warrick identified.
"Third voice?" Grissom requested.
"Third voice. Row behind me. Two seats over. Mr Dot-Com. Guy must've typed 60 words a minute," Preston remarked.
"That's Nate," Warrick announced.
"Mr Cash, you got to help me. I got eight eyewitnesses with carious stories. I put them all in a mixing bowl, add eggs, milk, stick it in the oven and all I got is a limp souffle," Grissom pointed out.
"We need you to tell us everything you heard from the time the deceased banged on the cockpit door to the time he died," Warrick pleaded him.
"Then listen up," Preston instructed.
"I need to get off this plane! I have to get off this plane!"
"Get him off the door."
"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"
"Mummy! Mummeee!"
"No! No! No!"
"I never heard such silence," Preston sighed...which is followed by Grissom's pager beeping.
"I got two hours till I lose my crime scene to the Feds. Tell me you have something," Grissom begged Jenna.
"I know what set this guy off," Jenna announced.
"That's more than I got," Grissom remarked.
"We know our victim suffered from intercranial bleeding. I had that pegged as possible cause of death so I crack his skull open. And what do I find? A cantaloupe in a soup can," jenna began explaining.
"Tight fit," Grissom whistled.
"And not from one or two blows to the head. He was also running a high fever so I tested his spinal fluid. A normal protein level is between 15 and 45 milligrams. Candlewell's was 60. Did anybody mention this guy had a headache?" Jenna asked.
"Flight Attendant gave him two asprin. Why?" Grissom wanted to know.
"He was suffering from undiagnosed encephalitis," Jenna dropped the bomb.
"Swelling of the brain," Grissom realised.
"It can manifest like a heart attack. Slurred speech delirium, loss of consciousness. You throw in the altitude and the air pressure changes in the cabin and our guy was probably out of his mind," Jenna explained.
"Is that what killed him? Encephalitis?" Grissom questioned.
"It wasn't the one thing that killed him," Jenna shook her head, "Ruptured spleen, intercranial bleeding, petecchial hemorrhaging. And the guy's heart just stopped beating."
"A, B, C, D or all of the above. Standoff with the police – guy gets shot in the chest, runs back into his burning house inhaling smoke as he goes. The roof collapses. The air conditioning unit falls on his head. He dies. What killed him?" Grissom asked rhetorically.
Here comes my favourite bit. I love Nick and Warrick in this!
LEGGO!
The team each carried a dummy onto the plane. With time running out until the Feds take over, all they had to do now is re-enact what happened on the plane that lead to Tony's death.
"OK. Vicki Mercer and Carl Finn I believe are in the bathroom," Grissom announced.
"Mile high club," Warrick remarked as he and Catherine carry their dummies into the bathroom.
"If you ask me, it's their spouses that are the dummies," Catherine grumbled.
"Emily Behrle is in 3F," Grissom went on.
"Come to mama," Catherine remarked as she scooped Kady in her arms and placed her on Emily's seat covered in a blanket and sticking a tag on Kady's t-shirt.
"Preston Cash. 1A," Grissom finished his part of the list.
"Tony Candlewell. Dead guy!" Brass added as he raised his dummy.
"Right here. 3C. And for now, he's alive until he's dead," Grissom said as Brass set his dummy into the seat.
"So, you wanna tell us what we're doing here?" Brass asked.
"The physical evidence that Sara, Nick, Kady and I collected is contradicting the anecdotal statements that you, Catherine and Warrick got and my money's on the physical evidence," Grissom answered.
"So is mine. These passengers are lying," Catherine agreed.
"I mean, if this was an arson case, we'd burn down an empty house to prove our theory, right? Well, in this case, we're going to recreate the flight from...1630 hours on. You are in 4B," Grissom announced as he handed Brass a nametag with a name of one of the passengers written on it.
"Lou," Brass read.
"Lou – the angry businessman. How about that?" Catherine remarked.
"I want to be Shannon," Sara said, causing Grissom to hand over Shannon's card to Sara, "Good."
"The stewardess," Warrick teased.
"Excuse me – it's Flight Attendant," Sara corrected.
"Catherine – the doctor. 3E," Grissom said as Catherine took the card from him.
"Single mum. What an imagination you have," Catherine sighed sarcastically as she sat next to Kady, "Hey, baby girl."
"Max and Marlene. 2E and F. You two are married. Who wants to wear the pants?" Grissom asked Nick and Warrick.
"CSI-3 seniority, 'sweetie'," Nick smirked as he took the Max card from Grissom, earning giggles from Kady.
"Yeah, whatever. You're henpecked anyway. Oh, you find that funny huh?" Warrick playfully glared at Kady as he took the Marlene card from Grissom, "You're gonna get it later, Kadelin."
Kady continued to giggle and hid behind Catherine's jacket.
"Let me guess – you're the computer geek," Sara said.
"In the interest of clarity, yes. Nate in 2C," Grissom nodded as he sat in the seat...only to have it fall backwards. Warrick snickered at the sight...only to earn a glare from Grissom, "OK. Look, it's going to be sunrise in ten minutes. We're going to have to do a 'Run, Lola, Run' and play this in literal time. Up until the point that Captain Murdle escorted the dead guy back to his seat, the events are substantiated by the flight log and the eyewitness statements unless anybody knows something different."
"What time was that?" Catherine asked.
"1632 hours – exactly 33 minutes before they landed in Vegas. One minute later, the plane hit turbulence," Grissom announced.
"And, according to the Flight Attendant, that's when our stiff lost it and started hammering his call button," Brass added.
"So I walk over. Try to calm the guy down. But he won't quit," Sara said.
"Well, we know he's suffering from encephalitis. Ge's probably sweating and fighting back a migraine," Grissom stated.
"I know what my guy's doing in my seat – Lou. He's getting ticked off," Brass added.
"Yeah. But Candlewell is ticking off Nate in 2C even worse. I mean, this guy is perseverating. Uncontrollably kicking at the seat," Grissom retorted.
"That's when he winds up and breaks your seat," Brass pointed out.
"So, I get up, spin around. Confront the guy," Grissom did so.
"Now, Lou, in 4B, said he was the peacemaker," Warrick added.
"Peacemaker, my ass," Brass scoffed as he held up hte alcohol bottles, "He's got three empties in the pouch. Seat reeks of whiskey. The guy probably spilled Lou's drink."
"Very good," Catherine complimented.
"Way to go, Uncle Jim!" Kady cheered, causing Brass to smile.
"I was boss at CSI once. For a reason," Brass boasted, "Anyway, Lou gets up. He's angry. He takes a swipe at the guy. After knocking a few back a thirty-three thousand feet, you know, probably misses. And what does he get for his trouble?"
"A CD swipe across the chops," Warrick answered.
"Right. So he falls back. Well...maybe Lou...spills his own drink," Brass said.
"By this time, Candlewell's got to be out of his seat, right?" Grissom asked as he held the dummy.
"If I'm Max, I want no part of this. Plus, I don't have an aisle seat," Nick pointed out.
"Yeah. But you're lucky. Your wife is going to make sure that you get in the playing field," Brass retorted.
"Yeah. Go ahead, honey. Save my life," Warrick smirked in agreement.
"Right. Max gets up. Slides across Marlene. Excuse me, buttercup," Nick teased as he slid across Warrick.
"Candlewell's moving up and down the aisle now," Grissom said as he moved the dummy.
"I come over. Confront the dead guy. Then what? Who talked to 2F? To Max?" Nick questioned.
"I did. Max told the dead guy to sit down. He turned, he shoved Max into the food cart," Brass answered.
Grissom used the dummy to push Nick. As Nick fell to the ground, Kady started giggling. The music to Nick's ears made him smile...and playfully glare at Kady.
"What?" Kady asked innocently.
"Warrick – I mean, Marlene – that's when you got up and grabbed the broken wine neck," Sara quickly changed the suject.
"Saved Nick's butt. As usual," Warrick boasted as he stood up.
"There's a bottle of wine on the floor. You slash at Candlewell," Grissom started.
"Then he swipes him across the hand. Hense the defensive wound," Brass finished.
"Now our guy's bleeding. He turns and heads for the cockpit," Grissom went on as he took his dummy to the cockpit, "Bang, bang. He wants in the cockpit. But the door is locked. Captain Murdle gets on the horn. Calls first class twice. No answer. Why?"
"Shannon's vapor-locked," Sara answered.
"He can't get in the cockpit. What's next?" Grissom wanted to know, "He heads for the exit door. Blood underneath the latch handle shows that Candlewell tried to open it. And, if he gets the door open, they all die."
"Now it's a whole new ball game. It's every man for himself," Brass remarked as he headed to the front of the plan.
"Oh yeah," Nick agreed as he headed towards the front, "Butterfly, cover your eyes. Trust me. You do NOT want to see this."
"OK, daddy," Kady nodded as she covered her eyes.
"This is when they really get scared," Nick got back on track.
"And according to Preston, Max and Lou? They got to Candlewell first," Warrick piped in.
"The struggle ensued. Max ad Lou slammed into Preston. And at some point, Candlewell goes down. Now it's a free-for-all," Grissom announced.
"And my shoes end up on his back," Catherine said as she stepped on him.
"Mine too," Nick added as he did the same.
"Ditto," Brass nodded.
"He's messing with my man. So I get my licks in," Warrick smirked.
"Nate's knuckles were bruised. So he was in on it too," Grissom stated.
"We're in close quarters. So there's elbows flying everywhere," Brass pointed out.
"That's probably how the doctor got her black eye," Catherine mused.
"Right," Brass agreed.
"Hey, guys!" Sara called out, "If you jump a guy at the exit, he dies at the exit."
Everyone backed away from the dummy as they realized that Sara was trying to tell them.
"Yeah. And our guy was found five feet away with his head towards coach," Brass recalled.
"He tried to get away," Nick realized.
"But they didn't let him," Warrick added.
"And at this point, we're not individials anymore. We're a mob," Catherine piped in, "And you can't perform CPR on a man's back. Dr Behrle had to have rolled him over. Probably just to cover for herself."
"That makes us all murderers," Grissom proclaimed.
Nick walked to Kady and gently removed her nametag and her hands from her very beautiful hazel eyes.
"Hey. It's over now. We know what happened," Nick whispered to Kady as he held her and kissed her cheek.
"I want five of those passengers arrested for murder," Grissom requested the sheriff after he explained what had happened.
"Oh, that's four more than I anticipated," Brian remarked.
"We looked at the evidence and the evidence says five," Grissom told him.
"Let me get this straight. Five strangers get on a plane and then, together, they killed a man," Brian summised.
"On the surface, self-defence. They thought Candlewell was bring the plane down," Grissom explained.
"And he would have," Brian added.
"But he didn't. They stopped him and then they killed him. Not as individuals. But as a mob," Grissom retorted.
"Let's cut to the chase, Gil. Can you prove your case?" Brian asked.
"Not yet. I need more time," Grissom answered.
"Well, time's up," Brian announced as he climbed into his car, "I'm going to give these people their walking papers. If the Feds want to pursue it, let them."
"Don't do that," Grissom pleaded.
"Oh, come on. No jury's going to ever convict them," Brian scoffed.
"You don't know that, Brian," Grissom retorted.
"Look, if you or I were on that plane, we would do whatever it takes to save our lives," Brian told him.
"That's what a jury would say. That's not what the evidence says," Grissom shot back.
"That's exactly my point," Brian said before he drove off.
"Las Vegas Air has issued no formal comment other than to stand by the actions taken by the flight crew. Meanwhile, the first class passengers from the flight have been released and no charges will be filed. The airline provided a bus to their Las Vegas destinations. Our request for interviews were denied, leaving the events surrounding the death of Tony Candlewell a mystery."
In the break room, Nick and Sara were watching the news report on Tony's death. Snuggled up against her father was Kady sound asleep. Nick had both arms wrapped around her protectively. Warrick walked in behind them reading a newspaper. When he saw what they were watching, he grabbed the remote and turned the TV off, earning protests from Nick and Sara.
"Let it go, guys," Warrick sighed.
"Those people should be going to jail. Not some hotel on the Strip," Sara retorted.
"It's out of our hands. Our field ruling was overturned by the good old Sheriff and the Feds," Warrick announced.
"And you're OK with that? We processed evidence for twelve hours, laid out the whole case and now those passengers are going to suck martinis and eat shrimp cocktails? Where's the justice?" Nick demanded.
"Oh, you think this is about justice?" Warrick asked.
"Yeah. What else?" Nick retorted.
"It's about human nature – how people react when their lives are threatened," Grissom answered.
"I know you're not condoning what they did," Sara said.
"I'm not discounting it. I mean, think about it. Is there anyplace more vulnerable than being at thirty thousand feet in a tin can?" Warrick asked his friends.
"Feeling vulnerable is not a defense and where they were is irrelevant. They took a life," Sara reminded him.
"Because their lives were threatened," Warrick retorted.
"Their lives were threatened when Candlewell was at the emergency exit trying to open it. But the five feet between the exit and the aisles is what made teh difference between self-defense and murder," Nick shot back.
"Human nature again. I mean, adrenaline doesn't come with an off switch," Warrick remarked.
"I don't care what you say. I could never take a life," Sara proclaimed.
"If it was between him or me, I could. Nick, you're a father. What would you do? Would you go all the way or just sit back and let the guy open that exit and kill you and your daughter?" Warrick asked.
"I'm a father. It's my duty to protect my daughter. And if her life was threatened or something was stopping me from returning to my baby, then hell yeah. I'll go all the way," Nick swore as he tightened his hold on Kady.
"Well, it's wicked serious in here," Catherine remarked.
"Catherine, you're a parent like me. You and Lindsey are on that plane. How far do you go?" Nick asked her, although he already knew the answer.
"I'd be like you, Nick. I'd go all the way," Catherne immediately answered.
"You didn't even hesitate," Sara stated in surprise.
"That's right. Nicky and I have a young daughter each. Someone threatened to harm either one of them. Our protective instincts will immediately sky-rocket to an all-time high. If it involves the protection of our children, we would fight to the death to keep them safe," Catherine explained.
"See? We have four people, all with different opinions. Think of how the passengers must have felt," Warrick dared them.
"What do you think, Grissom?" Sara asked.
"I can't answer that question," Grissom confessed.
"That's a cop-out. It's a simple question. What would you have done if you had been one of those passengers?" Catherine wanted to know.
"It's not about that. You all have different opinions but you've taken the same point of view. You've put yourself in the shoes of the passengers. But nobody's put themselves in the shoes of the victim. That's the point," Grissom said.
"I'm sorry. What are you saying?" Sara demanded.
"Nobody stopped to ask Candlewell if he was alright. They just assumed. Because he was kicking the back of Nate's seat, that he was a jerk. Because he was pushing his call button, that he was bothering the Flight Attendant. Because he was trying to get into the lavatory, he was making a scene. Because he was going back and forth up and down the aisles, he was posing a threat," Grissom reminded them.
"He was a threat," Catherine recalled.
"No. He turned into a threat," Grissom corrected, "It didn't have to be that way. People make assumptions. That's the problem. You just did. And I think these passengers made the wrong assumption and now this guy's dead."
"Well, if that's your stance, how could it have ben prevented?" Warrick asked.
"If just one person had stopped and taken the time to look at the guy, to listen to him, to figure out what was wrong with him, it might now have happened. It took five people to kill him. It would have only taken one person to save his life," Grissom stated.
Nick sighed tiredly and looked at the little girl curled up in his hold against his chest fast asleep. He smiled to himself and gently stroked the soft curls that flowed around her adorable face. He kissed her head and inhaled the sweet aroma of strawberries and cream her shampoo gave. (AN: The strawberries and cream shampoo smell idea? I got that from The Mentalist. Don't know what I'm talking about? Watch the latest season finale. It's where Patrick finds out who Red John is and asks him to give him evidence that he killed his wife and young daughter. Red John then goes on to explain what his wife and daughter smelled like when he killed them. He said that Angela smelled clean - like soap - and that Charlotte smelled like strawberries and cream. Some kind of children's shampoo. Later, Patrick calls for Red John's attention and avenges Angela and Charlotte by shooting him to death.)
"Well, that was one hell of a case," Catherine remarked.
"Something I don't wanna repeat in a hurry," Warrick agreed.
"I just want to go home and forget about it," Sara sighed.
"We can go home," Grissom announced, causing everybody to suddenly look at him, "Our shift is over. We only hung around so we can see what would happen to those five passengers. Well, now we know. There's no reason for us to stick around. And I don't know about you, but I'd like to go home, have a nice relaxing bath and climb into bed for a nice sleep before working tonight."
"That's the best idea yet," Nick commented as he gently stood up and left the room.
Eventually, Grissom, Sara, Warrick and Catherine followed. They desperately wanted to go to the home they sometimes forget about because there are occassions where they practically lived in the lab and wouldn't see the insides of their own house for two, even three days straight.
True to his word, Grissom relaxed in the bath for a little while before changing into something comfortable and having a long awaited cat nap. Nothing was able to disturb him; not even a call from the sheriff himself.
Catherine did something she hadn't done in a long time and drove her daughter to school. When she got home, she practically dove into her bathtub filled with warm soapy water and aroma oils with a glass of wine and a good romantic novel she started reading a little while ago.
Warrick had a shower and changed into something a lot more confortable than what he wore to work. Afterwards, he collapsed on the couch with a bottle of beer in his hand and settled with watching college football games.
Sara dove into her bathtub like Catherine did, filled with warm soapy water and aroma oils. But unlike her friend, she was reading one of her recently bought crime novels and had the police scanner playing next to her.
When Nick got home, he stumbled into his bedroom and fell onto his bed with Kady on his chest. Without getting changed or tucking himself in, the two of them fell asleep on each other's arms.
Even Brass was glad the case was over. When he got home, he had a quick wash and fell asleep on his couch with the newspaper wide open on his chest which was covered by a white cotton singlet.
This case had pushed them to their limits. And needless to say, they were exhausted and wishing they didn't have to go to work that very night. What they need is a vacation.
Well, that is that. Next episode will be Sex, Lies and Larvae.
BYE! AND PLEASE REVIEW!
Oh! Do you think I should get some of the other seasons going as well?