Archie sat in the AV lab, playing with the digital readouts. Catherine sat behind him in silence, waiting for him to play back the film they found in the warehouse. Archie clicked his fingers.

"Got it. Just setting it up for the screen now."

Greg wandered in and sat down next to Catherine.

"I dropped the duct tape off at Trace and Hodges basically laughed in my face. He said any residue that was found on Michelle's wrist would probably just link back to the brand, not a specific roll. Please tell me that I was never such an ass when I was in the lab."

Catherine smiled at him as the screen flickered into life. The medical set appeared with Michelle sat on the gurney, the brightly coloured coat that Catherine had found with the costumes draped across her shoulders. She was flicking through what looked like a script and sharing a joke with someone off camera.

A clapperboard appeared in front of the camera, snapping shut as someone yelled 'Action'. Michelle threw the script out of shot, paused and then slipped the coat off her shoulders. She looked up at someone stood near the camera and smiled nervously.

"Doctor, are you sure that this is a safe procedure?"

A slim man in scrubs, a white coat and medical mask wandered into shot with a clipboard and a scalpel palmed behind his back.

"Of course, Miss Fairweather. Trust me, I'm a doctor."

Greg turned to Catherine with a scowl.

"First of all, I thought her name was Michelle Winters."

"It was. This all looks like some kind of amateur horror movie."

Archie glanced over his shoulder at them.

"Or some kind of weird snuff film. She does end up dead, remember?"

Greg pointed at the doctor prowling across the room towards Michelle, the scalpel glinting in the hand behind his back.

"Second, that's the guy that charged me. How much do you want to bet that's Elijah Boreman?"

On screen, Michelle raised her hands in what was supposed to be fear although it looked more like she was attempting to suppress a fit of giggles.

"Doctor, I'm scared… Please! I've changed my mind. I don't want to have any surgery. I just want to go home."

The doctor shook his head and thrust at her with the scalpel, ripping open her shirt as what was obviously fake blood squirted towards the camera. Michelle fell back on to the gurney, sprawled across the multicoloured coat.

Boreman grabbed a roll of duct tape from the counter on the far side of the room and bound Michelle's wrists and ankles. She lay there, groaning dramatically and obviously still acting. Somewhere in the distance, a phone started ringing followed by what sounded like a murmur and then a door slamming. Catherine raised an eyebrow.

"Did you hear that? Someone else was there."

Greg nodded.

"It's probably that weird Karl guy. He's Elijah's assistant so he'd be the one answering the phones."

They returned their attention to the screen. The doctor was making a show of picking tools from the counter. He picked up what looked like a hunting knife, intentionally inspecting it in front of the camera so that it glinted as he approached the gurney. Michelle visibly tensed up as she caught sight of it.

Suddenly, there was blood everywhere and Michelle's screams proved she was not acting anymore. Both Catherine and Greg had to look away as Archie cleared his throat, obviously shocked by what he was seeing. When the doctor withdrew, her clothes had been sliced to pieces and she was obviously struggling to stay conscious. Catherine swallowed hard as the doctor slowly pulled the metallic needle from the pocket of his white coat. Greg glanced at her, an almost scared look in his eye.

"Didn't you say that someone tried to lobotomise Michelle?"

She nodded slowly as they watched the doctor cross in front of the camera, blocking their view of what the man was doing to Michelle. Her screams gave away the pain that he was inflicting as she thrashed about on the gurney. After a few seconds, she went still and the doctor's laugh echoed through the AV lab. Catherine could barely control her disgust as the doctor moved out of shot still laughing, leaving Michelle a twitching, bloody heap on the table.

"Archie, turn it off."

He quickly obliged and when he turned around, his face was pale. He cleared his throat and could barely look at either Catherine or Greg.

"I'll see if I can isolate the door and the voice but I'll need a sample to compare it too."

Catherine thanked him and stood, squeezing his shoulder reassuringly as she left, Greg following her without a word.

Grissom was watching Karl pacing up and down the interview room through the one way glass when Catherine, O'Riley and Warrick entered. Catherine had a grim look on her face as she stopped beside him.

"Are you alright?"

She sighed heavily, shaking her head slightly.

"Once again, I've been amazed at what people will do to each other. I checked out the video from the studio. It shows someone dressed up as a doctor attacking Michelle. We think it was probably Elijah Boreman but it seems like Karl may have been there too. We'll need a voice sample to confirm it though. Greg's dropped the other evidence off at the lab. I told him to put a rush on it."

Grissom nodded slowly as Warrick sighed and headed for the door with O'Riley. A couple of minutes later, they were seated across the table from Karl who looked incredibly nervous.

O'Riley slid a file across the table. Karl looked up at them questioningly. Getting no response from either man, he opened the file. Seeing Michelle's autopsy photos and the wounds that had been inflicted on her, he retched and slammed the file shut. Warrick leant back in his chair and folded his arms.

"Don't look away so fast, Karl. That's what you did to Michelle Winters."

Karl's eyes widened to the size of saucers as he shook his head fervently.

"No! No, no, no! I never laid a finger on Michelle! I didn't do a thing to her."

"Funny, because we took a film from the warehouse that shows someone attacking Michelle."

Karl's mouth snapped shut so Warrick decided to call his bluff.

"A film that I think shows you attacking Michelle. It definitely has your voice on it."

O'Riley leant forward, his glare intense.

"25 to life with what you've done. Minimum. Considering how Michelle was tortured though, I'm sure you'll get the death penalty."

Karl jumped to his feet, his hands in front of him in a sign of surrender.

"I swear, I didn't know what he was going to do."

Warrick locked eyes with him.

"You didn't know what Elijah was going to do?"

Karl nodded and sank back into his chair.

"There was blood everywhere and I knew we didn't have that much fake stuff. Not after 'Mutants Take Vegas'. We used loads for that movie."

Warrick rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you just start from the beginning? When did you first meet Michelle?"

Karl shrugged, staring at the closed file in front of him.

"Mark brought her round to the studios nearly a month ago. I think he was just showing her off in front of Elijah. They're always competing with each other, that whole sibling rivalry thing I guess. Elijah hated it when his parents adopted Mark when they were kids. He thought that they always favoured Mark over him, like he was some kind of golden boy. He hates Mark to be honest."

Warrick glanced up at the observation window as he questioned Karl.

"Mark was adopted?"

"Yeah, when they were about seven or eight I think. I went to school with Elijah and he changed when Mark arrived, became really withdrawn and stuff."

Warrick jotted down notes as O'Riley signalled for Karl to carry on.

"Well, when he brought Michelle round, she kept saying how she'd love to be an actress but she knew how hard it was cos she lived in LA. Elijah said she should be in one of his movies, which I thought was really weird because he's normally really strict on his casting. He doesn't let just anyone be in his films. Anyway, after they left, Elijah was talking about her for hours. He kept saying how perfect she was, how beautiful she was, all of that. It went on for days, like he was obsessed or something, especially when she started working there a couple of days later."

"Obsessed?"

"Yeah, he decided she should be in his new movie. The one you got the film of."

"What was the movie about?"

"It was kinda loosely based on the whole 'Stepford Wives' thing, you know? It was this horror movie about this doctor who basically lobotomised these pretty young girls so they didn't think for themselves and did everything he told them to. Eventually, they become like his army or something and they take over the world. Stupid, I know, but you gotta pay the bills."

O'Riley shook his head in disbelief.

"Except you decided to make this horror movie real. You attacked Michelle Winters and tried to lobotomise her."

"No! I swear I didn't! It was Elijah. Before we started filming that scene, Michelle admitted that Mark had left her but that she was doing this film and sticking around Vegas so she could be around him and change his mind. That got Elijah mad, like really mad. He stormed into the office and started shouting at me about how Mark was going to pay for what he did to Michelle, stringing her along like that, and that he would have Michelle for himself. I knew he liked her so I just thought he was blowing off some steam. I guess I was wrong…"

Karl stood and wandered over to the glass, staring at his reflection.

"I set up the camera and everything for the surgery scene, put the blood packs on Michelle. She was really excited, giggly actually, and Elijah seemed to have calmed down so I didn't think anything more of it. We started the scene but the phone started ringing so I left. It was a static shot anyway so I didn't need to worry about the camera. I answered the phone and it was Mark. I told him that we were filming so Elijah couldn't talk. When I told him that Michelle was there, he went mental. He started screaming at me and told me I had to get Elijah right away. When I went back on to the set, Elijah was stood in the doorway. There was blood, so much blood everywhere. But Michelle sat up, she looked like she was in a bit of pain, but she sat up."

Warrick couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"A bit of pain? She'd been stabbed six times and had a needle shoved in to her eyes."

Karl spun round on his heel and slammed his fists in to the table.

"I didn't know that! When Elijah came back, he said that I should go out and buy more make-up remover because Michelle was covered in the fake blood. She didn't say anything so how was I supposed to know? I went out, got the stuff but when I got back, no one was there. When I went into the office, the lock box was open on the desk and Elijah's gun was missing."

O'Riley stood up, his face just inches from Karl's.

"You mean that you saw that there was too much blood, Michelle was in pain, the gun was missing and that Elijah and her had disappeared but you still didn't call the police?"

Karl's fists were clenched and he looked like he might punch the detective. After a few seconds, he sighed heavily as his shoulders slumped.

"I know it looks bad. It is bad. I should have known. But Elijah rang my cell and told me that Michelle had decided to go home and that he was dropping her off at the coach station. When I came in to work this morning, he was fine."

"But Michelle wasn't."

Karl sat back down.

"I just can't believe Elijah would do something like this. I mean, he's always been a little 'out there', you know, and withdrawn. But he's no murderer."

Warrick grabbed his notes and the file from in front of Karl with a look of contempt.

"At least until Michelle. Excuse me."

Warrick left the interview and paused, taking a few deep breaths to steady himself before entering the observation room. Grissom and Catherine looked at him with grim faces.

"Well, I don't believe he really did do anything to hurt Michelle and from what you've said about that film, Catherine, I'm sure it was Elijah Boreman."

Grissom shrugged.

"Not long ago I would have said that about Mark. Unfortunately, that means that I overlooked key evidence. For example, the gun we found with Michelle's body. We need to run the serial number and see if it was registered to Elijah."

Catherine nodded as she looked back through the glass.

"Also, the fact that the blood sample had no markers in common with Mark Boreman is irrelevant if he was adopted. It could still be Elijah. In fact, I agree with Warrick here. I'm almost certain that he did it."

The trio turned their attention back to the interview where O'Riley was wrapping things up with a few more questions.

"So, you know Mark Boreman then?"

Karl shrugged.

"Only because he comes by the studios every once in a while, usually just to wind up Elijah. That's the only reason he ever brought Michelle round. He was already seeing someone else and Elijah knew it."

"Who was he seeing? Do you know her name?"

"It was some ex-model type. Older woman, you know? Married though, which Elijah didn't like. Think her name was Joanna something. That was it, Joanna Davenport."

Nick and Sara waited patiently beside their Tahoe while Brass and a uniformed officer cleared the house. On his way out, he tacked a search warrant to the front door and left the uniform on the porch. Nick and Sara met him halfway up the drive.

"The house is clear. Afraid I've got to leave you in Officer Watson's capable hands. Got a problem at the station apparently. Careful of the front step. I almost took a header when I tripped on that. Catch you two later."

Nick and Sara entered the house, pausing in the hallway. Nick turned to her with a smile.

"Upstairs or down?"

She grinned and marched straight up the stairs. Nick wandered into the living room.

"Take it I've got down then."

The room looked like any normal young guy's house. There were a few half-eaten takeaways stuffed in to the overflowing bin next to the old looking sofa. Nick took a closer look at the widescreen tv and the X-Box and PS2 hooked up to it, letting out a whistle of appreciation. Heading towards a door in to the dining room, he was distracted by framed photos on the mantle piece.

A dull thud sounded from outside and Nick shook his head as he yelled to Officer Watson.

"Hey, Brass told you to be careful of that step!"

He heard faint laughter and turned his attention back to the photos. He counted twelve of Mark in romantic clinches within Joanna Davenport. Arching an eyebrow, he picked up the closest one to him. It was of Mark and Joanna on an exotic looking beach with their arms wrapped around each other and huge grins on their faces.

Suddenly, a loud crash sounded from upstairs. Nick replaced the photo and turned around.

"Sara? You okay up there?"

A series of thuds sounded from above him and he moved back towards the hallway.

"Sara? Officer Watson?"

Nick drew his gun, feeling his adrenaline start pumping as he headed towards the door. A loud creek sounded from nearby and he froze, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. Feeling as if someone was nearby, Nick began to turn before he felt a sharp pain across the back of his head and everything faded to black.