Hey. How did you guys get out?
( barking )
What's the matter, boys? Easy. Hey... ( indistinct radio chatter ) ( helicopter whirring ) ( camera shutter clicking )
Have you been inside?
What have you got?
There you go, Detective. Thanks. Little tired this morning. Pulling a double. Yeah. Join the club. Good morning, Catherine. Good morning, Gil. So, this is Tony Braun's house. Son of Sam Braun. GRISSOM: He was Steve Wynn before Steve Wynn. Yeah, you bet your ass. Sam came to Vegas when Vegas was dying. Built three casinos in a year. Had ties to Bugsy Siegel.
Wish I had Tony Braun's gardener working for me. Guy sniffed it out from the jump. Blinds were drawn shut. Side gate unlocked. Dogs let out. "A" plus "B" plus "C" equals 9-1-1.
All seems very neat and peaceful, doesn't it?
Chasing the dragon. A pinch of "H," heat the foil, inhale the fumes.
With a Xanax back. 100 pills. Prescription filled yesterday. So the rumors about ol' Tony boy are true. Drug overdose. It sure seems that way. If only life were that simple. Captioning Sponsored by PARAMOUNT PICTURES
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SIDLE: Eight rolls. Two copies. Case is hot. Put a rush on it. Okay.
Lose an earring? Looks like somebody did.
He's got adhesive residue on his wrists. He was restrained. Some sort of tape. Well, that would be the obvious. Braun had company. Welcome... or unwelcome? Where's the purge? Car blows its engine, there's an oil leak. A guy ODs, where's the body fluid-- urine, vomit, excrement? Did somebody clean him up?
SIDLE: Interesting love bites on the chest. Curious, isn't it?
And he's posed.
When did you know this was a homicide, and not an OD? Initially? Yeah. When I saw the TV on.
( barks ) I'll tell you one thing-- if those were my dogs I wouldn't be leaving this gate open. Yeah, you're talking about a dog owner on heroin. How responsible can he be? Gardener said it was the first time in five years that he'd found this gate unlocked. What's so different about this morning? Last morning of Tony Braun's life? Well, either somebody inside the house opened it, or somebody had a key, because this lock hasn't been forced. There's no pry marks. No metal shavings. So... why was the gate open?
BROWN: A heroin addict's confetti. Nothing like going on a binge.
Black tar heroin. This is the difference between a Cadillac and a Pinto. How would you know? It's my job. I count at least six balloons, and that's just in the bedroom. The dealer must have come down the chimney. It's like Christmas in July here.
Not that Braun even needed any more drugs. Yeah, looks like the guy had a pill for everything. Can you get a print off those balloons? I can get a print off the air.
Any luck? I have gone through every garbage can in the house. What about the cans outside? First thing I checked. Zip.
( rattling )
( handle rattling )
Hey, Doc. Leg fell asleep. ( clicks ) I always wondered which one of us coroners would get to carve Tony.
His lifestyle was no secret-- sex, drugs and a big bankroll. No needle marks on his arms. The guy plays golf; short-sleeved shirts. Checked between the toes... groin area. Whatever he did went up his nose. His nasal cavity looks like raw hamburger.
These abrasions around his mouth? What? Hard to shave when you're stoned? Or they're pressure marks. For example, if someone places a pillow or object against someone's nose and mouth in the climate of struggle.
Petechial hemorrhaging? Also suggestive of suffocation. Not always. For as much as pathology is an absolute science, it isn't. Vessels can rupture under innocent circumstances, such as a violent cough. These three, circular, red marks on his chest? They're not bug bites. No neurotoxins present, but that's not to say some overanxious paramedic trying to save a legend's life didn't cause them in the moment. CPR wasn't performed. Then I don't know what they are. It's hard to OD just inhaling heroin. I know he was restrained which leads me to believe that someone forced him to ingest lethal amounts of heroin and Xanax. ( indistinct radio chatter ) Excuse me.
Boy, are you lucky my lawyer's on a golf course. I've been standing out here, in the heat for hours, answering these stupid questions. Here's your answer, okay? This is my house. Okay? This is half my house anyway. Who's this? BRASS: It's Braun's squeeze. She's an ex-stripper, too. Perhaps you two met in a professional capacity. These are my things... And, uh... where has she been the past 12 hours? Uh... let's see. Oh, my God! "Out." When Tony's drug dealer showed up, she split. She slept at a friend's house. She didn't like the way Tony acted when he was cruising on magic carpets. Listen. If anything is missing from this house, I'm going to add you to my lawyer's "to sue" list. Why don't you just put the camera away before you get arrested, okay? You can't arrest me in my own house. Right now, your house is our crime scene... and we can do whatever we want, and that includes fingerprinting you. Why? Didn't do anything. Thumb to pinkie. I just lost my boyfriend, okay? You're a woman. I'm just looking out for my end here, you know? Things start to disappear. If Tony were here right now, he'd tell you himself, "Just make sure Janine's taken care of." That's a lawyer's call. Hey, I'm in the will. Of course you are.
Can I help you? Yeah. Is Sam Braun in? He's not seeing anyone today. Would you let him know that Catherine Willows is here to see him? ( keyboard clacking )
Just one second, please.
Mugs?
I remember the first time I saw you. You didn't have any clothes on. Yeah, well, that was a long time ago. I would've taken you home right then, if I could have. I know, but you were married, and I was a baby. It would have never worked. Hey, Sam... how you holding up? Hey, Dad, I got the press clogging up Valet. Should I call Security, or just handle it, or what? I'll take care of it. You go back to the pit. Make sure nobody's robbing us blind.
You know, back in, uh... in '67, I was in my 20s and... I was drinking in a dive in downtown Buffalo. At the end of the bar was this pro quarterback drinking double scotches, two at a time, midnight to 7:00 in the morning. It's Sunday-- game day, mind you. So you know what I did? Called my bookie, bet against him. Guess what? I'll be damned if he didn't throw six touchdown passes. ( laughing ): Yeah... Sounds like Tony.
You know, even when Tony was juicing, he could run circles around these college, Harvard types.
And I'm not saying that just 'cause he was my kid. Tony was the best damn casino exec this town has ever seen. Just between you and me... I couldn't hold a candle to him.
Now he's dead.
Overdose. Sam... The bigger the pedestal, the bigger the target.
Nobody shoots at that target without going through me. Well, that's business. What about personal?
What do you mean? Did you ever talk to Tony about any of his girlfriends? Which one? I mean, they were all trying to pick the gold out of his teeth. Janine Haywood. She's the worst... and he loved her the most. Can you believe it? Yeah, I do.
If I know her type, now that she has the gold, she'll be going after the silver.
Okay, on the left, Braun prints we got from the coroner. And, on the right, gold digger prints I got from Janine Haywood. Here's where it gets interesting. I took six prints off this bottle. And? They all belong to one person. Good thing or... bad thing? It's good if you're us... ( keyboard clacking ) bad if you're Janine Haywood.
Have you seen Brass? Not tonight, no. Why? Oh, print off air. Orange balloon. Cyanoacrylate. Dead bang, drug dealer. Ooh! Ooh! Watch it! Evidence. Where did you get it? Cracker box. It was all stuck together, muckety-muck. I don't want to ruin any potential prints, but I saw this TV dinner commercial, and it hit me. I'm going to put it in the freezer.
Did you try this coffee? Uh-uh. The last cup I had tasted like motor oil. Oh, don't touch it. That's my pot!
Your pot? Yeah, you know, from my own private stash. Blue Hawaiian-- 40 bucks a pound. Only grown a couple times a year on the Big Island, hand-picked to perfection. Good. You're using my water, so I guess that makes it community coffee. You want a cup, Nick? No, thanks. What's the matter with your leg? I don't know, man. Something back at that house must have bit me. Oh, is that alcohol on a bug bite? That's like butter on burns, man. Wives' tale. Yeah, this is the guy who told me to put hemorrhoid cream on my acne. It worked, didn't it?
This is pretty good.
Let me see the bite before you get gangrene. Chigger bite. Yeah? Probably picked it up walking through the ferns in Braun's backyard. See if Catherine's got some clear nail polish. It'll seal it off from the air, keep it from itching.
Whatever happened with that doggy door? Something definitelytwo-legged went through it. Got mostly partials. Print Lab's working on it now. Be sure to check it against Janine Haywood's prints.
Braun's stomach contents. No food. Plenty of drugs. Xanax? And heroin. I thought he inhaled it. Inhaled and ingested. He ate it? Got there somehow. Where are all the undissolved pills? Didn't find any. Most OD's die before digestion's complete, right? My guess, someone mashed up the Xanax, dissolved them in red wine, which I did find. Okay, so what do we know that we can write home about? Well, Braun was a heroin addict using heavy just before he died, which means he was probably meek as a lamb. Wouldn't have taken much to bind his hands with duct tape. And make him drink hemlock. It's a lot easier to pour liquid down a guy's throat than it is to make him swallow 100 pills. It wasn't 100 pills. How many? Educated, unofficial guess: no more than 50.
Based on your pupes, I could take you in right now. Hey, man, I'm in mourning. It's tears you see. I lost a customer. It's like losing my job, kind of. You're Braun's grocery store. But I deliver. When did you last deliver? Night before he croaked. About 9:00. Ask his woman. She's fine, too. Well, she told us, as soon as you got there, she left. Oh, she didn't go that fast. I dropped off some balloons, Braun paid me, she gave me a tip. What, shave the soul patch? ( laughs ) No. 30 Xanadus. Xanax? I told you, I dropped them down the bathroom sink. First time I heard that. Look, I took two, gave Tony two, and I accidentally dropped 15 or 20 down the sink. It was an accident. You know, an accident? Haven't you ever spilled a drink? Not lately. We found 50 Xanax in Tony's stomach. Don't pin that on me. I'd left. I'll tell you what you left-- your fingerprints all over the prescription bottle. I went to the pharmacy, waited in line, picked up the prescription, signed for it, brought it back to the house. Tony did nothing for himself except work and get high. Got you a brand-new Mercedes, didn't it? Yes, it did. And it'll buy me the dress I wear at Tony's funeral, too. Look, when you left your half a house, where did you go? A friend's. Well, let's get her on the line. She's out of town. Well, let me guess-- she's incommunicado. That means you can't reach her? Yeah.
Oh, mind the dummy.
It's been 24 minutes, Greg. When's this thing going to be done? Well, with all due respect, sir, it's not a baked potato. It's Braun's blood, and, with all the impurities in his system, it might take a little extra time. Did I ever tell you. I used to live in New York? Is this going to be a short story or a novel? ( machine beeps ) Excuse me.
You know, heroin has a nine-minute half-life. After that, it metabolizes into morphine. What's the six-MAM count? 158 nanograms per mil. Definitely not lethal. The same with your Xanax. Quarter-mil tabs, 100 micrograms per liter. Again, not lethal. There's addicts walking around Times Square with more drugs in their system. So Braun should still be walking around.
And the point of your New York story was...? Oh, I was just going to tell you about another way to take heroin-- a suppository up the coolee. You just stand on your head, and then you let gravity... Forget it.
Braun didn't die of a drug overdose, accidental or otherwise. I figured. So why did I bring the dummy?
Braun's shirt. Robbins opened him up-- his lungs were compressed. Remember Burke and Hare, the two 19th century, Scottish body snatchers who made a living intoxicating innocent victims and suffocating them? Sold their cadavers to teaching hospitals? Got away with it, too, until a medical student discovered his fiancee on a slab. Is this part of the Sherlock Holmes Fan Club kit? Janine Haywood said that she left the house when the drug dealer arrived. I think she came back. So Braun would have been on his third or fourth balloon by then.
Would have been easy to tape his wrists mash up 50 pills... and force-feed him a Xanax cocktail. So everything was going great until the gardener showed up. Then I think her plan turned to panic. It takes time to OD-- time Janine didn't have.
Burke would kneel on his victim's chest-- right?-- covering his mouth and nostrils. But, when you're doing drugs, you're a slob. And, when you're being manhandled, you're even sloppier.
Like this.
He was Burked. ( phone ringing )
Hello. ( staticky voice ) Where? Brass, you're breaking up.
Said he was in Blue Diamond, digging something up. ( sirens wailing )
Hey... Hey, what's going on? Anybody ever tell you to call before you dig? I got permission to be here. Oh, is that right? From who? A dead man? You got a name? My name's Curt Ritten. Look, Tony Braun was a friend of mine, right? This is his property. He calls me about a month ago. He says, "If anything should "happen to me, you start digging. You take care of what's mine at all costs." That's what I'm doig. BRASS: Do me a favor. Put down the shovel. Okay. Stand over there. Okay. Maybe Janine had a helper.
Hey, guys, you might want to check out the basement.
"A sable cloud turns forth its silver lining to the night." That's a lot of motive.
And a lot of silver.
Okay, three rolls of tape found in the truck owned by Curt Ritten. Nice. Let's see if that's where my print came from. No match! Oh, listen to you. Would you rather hit a home run in the fourth or the bottom of the ninth? Let me ask you something. Braun collected silver-- coins, bullion-- 23 tons of it. Why bury it in Blue Diamond? 'Cause he was smart. In the past 20 years, the value of silver's gone to nothing, and a commodity broker's going to charge you a storage fee per troy ounce. And there's only one thing worse than losing seven to eight percent on silver a year, and that's losing nine to ten percent because of some stupid storage fee. What good's collecting silver coupons when you're dead? Depends on who's doing the clipping.
Oh, we got a positive association-- roll to tape-- Curt to Tony. You arresting me for digging? No. Burglary, theft and conspiracy, to start. Tony asked me to move his silver collection up to his ranch in Wyoming. I'm doing what I was told. Mr. Ritten... it appears that we may have physical evidence connecting you to the murder of Tony Braun. Look, I had nothing to do with the drugs. I swear to you, I haven't messed around with that stuff in a long time. I was always telling Tony, as a friend, to get off of it-- to walk away. How'd you know where the silver was buried? Because I built the vault for him. I'm a contractor. That's what I do. Ever work on his house? No. We did... we did talk about me building a basement for him once. It never got off the ground. Oh, so, you've been to his house? We were friends. I've been to his house plenty of times. I was there a couple weeks ago. We were watching the Notre Dame game together. Did you ever leave anythng there? Did you ever bring anything over to his house? Yeah, I brought a six-pack and some chips-- sour cream. Tools of the trade, Curt. Construction items-- hammer, duct tape? No. Why would I do that? I got no idea what you're talking about. Yeah, well, whatever you don't tell us, we'll find it.
That's the quickest warrant I ever got. Yep. Braun family. Long arms.
I thought you said that Ritten's wife lives in Carson City. She does. They both do. He just stays here when he's working. Or digging up silver.
( shower door clicking open )
Mrs. Ritten?
Criminalistics.
VEGA: Police officer.
( shrieks ) Geez! You scared me. How'd you get in here? I don't have to ask you that question. How can this be, Mandy? We found the duct tape in the guy's truck. SIDLE: You're telling us the prints on that tape aren't his or hers? Well, if their names are Curt Ritten and Janine Haywood, the answer is, "No. It's not their prints." This is ridiculous. This thing must have a virus. Maybe you have the wrong suspects. Well, that's easy for you to say. All you do is scan prints all day and hit "enter." Look, I'm not your beast of burden. Sara, this is your thing. Mandy... give me something dandy. I'll give you something dandy. Your doggie-door prints. Good-bye. I have to go on a break now.
See what I mean? Your prints came back unknown, too? No. Came back Walt Braun. Who is he? He's Tony Braun's brother. He's a pit boss at the Tangiers, which is why his prints were on file-- gaming card. He's family. Why's he using the doggie door and not the front door? ( chuckling ): Go figure. The more evidence that shows up, the more this case doesn't make sense. We got two suspects in custody, and neither of their prints are on the duct tape. Or on the doggie door... but the brother's are. Mm-hmm. So, call the print lab. It's been done. They're not Walt Braun's prints on the tape. Came back unknown. Hey. I've got Detective Vega rounding up Walt Braun. Apparently, this Janine Haywood really got around. When she wasn't at Braun's house playing girlfriend, she's over at "Vault Boy's" flat playing mistress... which gives neither of them a credible alibi. Flimsy alibis don't prove murder. What else have we got? Nothing probative. BRASS: Then I let the girlfriend go. Curt Ritten goes back to lockup until he posts bail. Look, forget Curt. Forget Janine. Forget the suspects. It's simple. We got to figure out how a piece of duct tape from a roll we found in Curt Ritten's truck ended up wrapped around the wrists of our victim. Without Curt's prints on it.
( speaking indistinctly ) Curt, we're out of here. Oh, you're going to take this, too, huh? CURT: Bonnie... I come down here with a check to bail my husband out, and you say to him, "We're out of here"? No, honey, you're out of here! CURT: Bonnie, take it easy. BONNIE: Take it easy?! How many men do you need, huh? Hey, at least I can take care of mie. I've stuck by you through the bankruptcies, the flings, the lies, and I have had it, okay? So, you choose. Me or her? Sorry, Janine. Yeah... Heard that before.
JANINE: Call me. BRASS: Bail processing is this way.
Been there. MAN: You came down here to ask me about a doggie door? I could've just told you over the phone. It's a quirk. I always like to discuss fingerprints in person. Tony and I went to dinner. How long ago? A while back. Be more specific. Uh... about a month and a half ago. We ate at Piero's, talked a little business, I dropped him off. TONY: Walt, come in for a second, will you? My key still works here. How come it doesn't work on the front door? I changed the locks. WALT: And, so, I used the doggie door walked through the house, opened the door, let Tony in. Guy with that kind of money doesn't have a security alarm? When you're a Braun, there's nothing you can't replace. You can't replace your brother. What's the matter with your leg? I don't know. Something must've bit me. Mind if I take a look? What are you, a dermatologist? I'm an entomologist, actually. I-I know all about bugs. Sure. Can you tell me what to put on it? It's killing me. Chigger bites.
You might want to try some nail polish, keep it from itching. Would you mind if I took a photograph for my bite collection? Whatever rubs your Buddha.
We're almost done. Mr. Braun, uh... where do you live? Shoshone Hi-Rise-- J.W. Brown Road. VEGA: And you work here? Yeah. I'm a glorified pit boss. In the, uh... last 48 hours, have you been anywhere else besides those two places? WALT: No. My life's pretty routine.
It might just get a little more routine.
GRISSOM: Nick, I need your leg. Show me your bite. Oh, it's no worries. I got some cream. Hey. All right. It's no big deal, really.
What time did you log in at the Braun house? 9:15 that morning. How long after that did you start processing the backyard? About a half hour. You're not the only one with chigger bites. Who is this? Walt Braun. It's now 9:30 at night. Approximately 36 hours ago, you were bitten. Three hours earlier than that, Tony Braun was murdered. Chiggers run a predictable course. A chigger attaches itself to a hair follicle, injects a digest enzyme into the skin which ruptures the surrounding cells allowing the chigger to suck them up, leaving behind a red, itchy bump. So...? Walt Braun lied. We now have an entomological timeline that places him at the house on the day his brother was murdered. I don't know, Boss. I mean, ask yourself the question: Are doggie-door prints and chigger bites enough to get a man for murder?
What have we got? Well, I got motive. According to the family lawyer, the drug addict... Now, Jim, that's just a little callous. I'm calling it what it is. I know you're friends with the family, but the guy used heroin. He was a drug addict who stood in line to inherit the old man's fortune. What about the brother? Walt's out of the picture. He is? He's left out in the cold. Yeah. Tony promised he'd take care of him. Whateer he got, he'd split 50-50... all in... silver included... up until about a month ago. But Tony changed his mind, which changed the will. WILLOWS: So, wait a second-- Janine, the stripper claims that half of everything is hers, so that's actually more than just wishful thinking? Bet Walt wasn't too happy about that. It's 50-50 going 75-25 the wrong way. Curt was digging up the silver to protect Janine's interest. So, what's right in front of us that we're missing? What evidence do we have that's still open? I got the references off of Walt Braun. Gave the samples to Greg. SIDLE: Couple of things on the list that haven't been processed yet: tape lifts, adhesive residue. I got the earring back. Where'd you find that? Living room, near the body. We have to deal with that earring. We got to test it against Janine. You want to swab me, go ahead, but I can save you the Q-Tip. That's really not my style. Ms. Haywood... you have pierced ears. Yeah. He doesn't understand. I don't wear studs. Haven't worn studs since, like... God, seventh grade. Mm-hmm. Can I see that picture? Thanks. See? This is an earring back. It goes to a stud earring. I don't wear studs. I'm more of, like, a dangle gal. I like chandeliers. They move with you. They're on wires. They don't have a back. Are you finished? Open your mouth.
Don't bite down. Wouldn't want you to swallow it. GRISSOM: How about your girlfriends-- or Tony's girlfriends-- Any of them wear studs? Look, rule number one: No women allowed in the house. Tony had a wandering eye, he had a wad of cash. Who needed that drama? What about the maid? No. Rule number two: Heavyset, over 50, no makeup, no jewelry, no English. Wow. You got this whole thing down, don't you? Yeah. This is my house. I didn't do anything wrong. And I inherited Josie, and she cleans real good. How often does she vacuum? Every day. Except on her day off. Hmm. The day Tony died. Hmm. Well, if the maid is as good as Janine says she is... Then the earring back was lost that day.
There. Well, maybe not. The earring back-- not Janine's. But it was in the ear of a female. So, I guess rule number one was broken. There was a woman in the house. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Whoever's prints are on the duct tape is missing an earring back. Who's the only other woman in the story? She lives in Carson City. She's here now. She has access to Curt's truck. We saw the fight in the police department. "Hell hath no fury..." It's not mine. I don't wear earrings. GRISSOM: It's funny. Just recently, I had a little education in earrings, and I noticed that you have pierced ears. Yeah. So what? If you don't wear earrings for a while, the holes will close up. BRASS: Will you volunteer us a DNA sample? It will confirm your story or confirm ours. I'm not giving you anything. It's okay, Jim. We have enough. You should have let your husband rot in jail. We lifted your thumbprint from the check that you posted for his bail. GRISSOM: We compared it to a set of unknown prints that we found on some duct tape at the crime scene. WILLOWS: Just like a pair of earrings-- identical. So you were at Tony's house the morning he died... along with Walt Braun, whose prints we found on the doggy door.
( Tony groaning )
GRISSOM: You know, sometimes, doing the job that we do, our biggest break comes from the most innocent circumstance. It was the maid's day off, but not the gardener's. That's the thing about murder-- you never think to have a backup plan. The dogs led the gardener right to you... ( dogs barking ) so you had to wing it.
The gardener came to the window... ( dogs barking ) but he didn't see you... so you removed the tape from Tony's wrists... and made it look like an OD. WILLOWS: What I don't get is you and Walt Braun didn't move in the same circles. How'd the two of you hook up?
News flash, sweetheart: Can't make a deal if you keep your mouth shut.
That's the thing about my father: He could never give advice, but he had a million stories. "Scorpion and the Frog." Scorpion needed to get across the creek, and asked the frog for a ride. Frog says, "I can't trust you. You're a scorpion." Scorpion says, "Sure, you can." Hops on the frog's back.
Midway across, the scorpion stings the frog. Frog looks at him. "Why would you do that? Now we're both gonna die."
Scorpion says... "I can't help it. I'm a scorpion."
If Tony hadn't thrown a party... the two of us would never have been standing at that bar. Hey, Janine, you're lookin' good.
You're looking at my brother's trophy? No, my husband's bimbo. Walt Braun. Bonnie Ritten.
And an opportunity presented itself.
Tony had erased you from the will, and Bonnie wanted the people that hurt her to pay.
Ain't love grand?
You know, this... this could've all been his. His and Tony's. It's not your fault. Sure, it is.
I committed the cardinal sin. I loved one son more than the other. It's human nature. We can't deny our feelings. But you can hide it. And I didn't. And my sons... I made them, I raised them... and one kills the other. Hey, Sam... you still got me.
You know, I should've married your mother. Well, considering I was six months old when you guys lit the flame... a lot of time has passed. You had plenty of chances. Just wasn't in the cards, Catherine.
Just wasn't in the cards.
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