You all right? I'm barred. I got, like, $10,000 in chips, and I cannot cash it. Look, if I... if I kept an eye on you two, could you please just go in there and just... claim my money? Uh... sure, we could do that for you, but you don't have to keep your eye on us. We're honest people. I'm sure you are, but, come on. If I'm going to be giving you ten grand in chips, I just got to know that you're... coming back. We could give you a deposit. What kind of deposit? $2,000 would give me peace of mind. No, no. You do that, I will give you back your deposit, plus another $1,000?
I'm sorry, sir. I can't cash this for you. What? Why? They're worthless.
( gunshot ) ( tires squealing ) Guy was running one of the oldest scams in Vegas. Would have got away with it, too, until the getaway driver put a nickel in the guy's jukebox. There's the Ortons, from Florida.
The, uh... couple I.D.'d the deceased as the con man.
That's the Ortons' money. It's mine now. Surveillance? Not in the garage.
Banana skids and fresh blood-- that helps. Oil slick doesn't hurt us either. Hey, Jim. Got these from the cage. Thanks, Sam.
The Chip Clip. Haven't seen that one in a while. Striking resemblance to Judas. How's that? Both men lost their lives over a worthless bag of chips. Captioning Sponsored by PARAMOUNT PICTURES
♪ Who... are you? ♪ Who, who, who, who? ♪ Who... are you? ♪ Who, who, who, who? ♪ I really wanna know ♪ Who... are you? ♪ Oh-oh-oh ♪ Who... ♪ Come on, tell me who are you, you, you ♪ ♪ Oh, you!
( muffled punk rock playing ) ( loud punk rock ) Hey, Sanders, no punk rock. What about Black Flag? Are you nuts?
Whoa! Careful. Livestock. Hissing roaches from Madagascar. Sorry. These babies run two and a half miles an hour. I don't doubt that for a minute. Fifth Annual Entomological Convention in Duluth. Cockroach Racing Finals. You're roach racing? Actually, I'm giving a tutorial in preserving mass crime scenes. The sideshow is racing these guys. Ah. I mean, to have a chance to run against legendary roaches like
Cocky Balboa, The Drain Lover, Priscilla, It's huge.he Gutters. What do you feed those guys? Dog food. And who's... supervising night shift? You are. Me? I am on the red-eye to Reno. The Braun family is opening a new casino. I am Sam's date. That's tonight? I told you once, memoed you twice. Man, these guys are primed.
Better get somebody. "A" slash? Acting supervisor? What about Nick? He's got seniority. Or Sara-- she'd jump at the chance. If it was about seniority, I'd ask Nick. If I needed someone to stay up for three straight days, I'd ask Sara. Instead, I want you. And if I ask why? Your curiosity would be better served on the case. The shooting death of a con man at the Tropicana. Our guys are already there. Hang on. Have you told Nick and Sara about this? No.
STOKES: I got one left. Smile.
Lovely. Hey.
Hey. Nice of you to show up. Yeah, we're done here, brother. Yeah, I'm sorry, I got detained. I guess you did a "one-to-one" on these treads already Yeah, I just finished it. Put together an evidence list? No. You got to do it, buddy. You were late. Ah, I don't think so. I got to go back with the body.
Sara, can you get back to the lab and put a rush on this analysis? Who died and made you boss? He's not exactly dead.
Grissom gave you shift tonight.
Anything you want to say? Yeah. Good luck.
Get a speeding ticket? Side roads. So... this is our con artiste? Vincent Thomas Avery. I.D.'d him from his prints. Tell you anything? No mystery in cause of death. Gunshot wound to the outer ear. Left ear at that, huh? Probably when he was getting into the car.
All right, go, go, go! He knew the driver. Soot deposition on the skin surrounding the entry wound tells the story. Bullet entered the external auditory meatus, fracturing the skull base. Cracked the hardest bone of the skull. You got any pictures of that? Hot off the fluoroscope. Haven't had the pleasure yet. Whoa. There is your bullet. Deformed projectile in the right side of the calvarium. Can you fish that out for me? You bet.
Wait a minute.
There's something in his stomach.
Something tells me this isn't filled with white sugar.
How many more are there? I'd say about 50 balloons. Green dye you see here is probably from lime-flavored gelatin. Makes them much easier to swallow. He's a mule. Why is a guy trafficking in big-pay drugs wasting his time on some nickel-and-dime chip scam? Hey, I got the horsepower on your vic. Vincent Avery, age 28. Con man out of Atlantic City. Got enough petty thefts and grand larcenies on his record to choke a hippo. Hey, Jim... what do you make of that void? Nail? Either that or a spot on your lens. Don't say that.
SIDLE: Hey. You making a cake? What's the holdup on my pills? Process.
Just because you got passed over, don't take it out on me. He didn't pass me over. Really? What would you call it, then? Grissom. Ah.
Coal... and wood... and coconut shells.
Activated carbon. Activated charcoal pills. Best antacid in the world. Coats the stomach and absorbs all impurities. It's great if you're a mule transporting drugs into the States. Our con man's a mule? We found balloons of cocaine in his stomach cavity. SIDLE: Without the pills, one bite of a chocolate bar would produce enough gastric acid in his stomach to eat away the balloon. Causing him to O.D. Then he went out and got shot. Speaking of which, I found airline stubs in Avery's shirt. What? Vincent Avery was Four-A, Ellie Rebecca was Four-B. Strange, right, using two first names? No, what's strange is going into the evidence locker after post and not finding anything left. Hey, don't make me feel bad for doing my job. If it was your job, you couldn't feel bad.
Well, I think I hear some coffee perking.
What do you want from me? I'm working the case. The case is hot. It's my case. Tonight, I'm the primary. I have to process it. If you have a problem with that, you can clock out now.
Am I clear?
Clear.
It couldn't be.
Hey. Hey. You have a daughter?
Where you going with this? Her prints came up on airline stubs relating to tonight's homicide.
Well, there's got to be more than one Ellie Brass in the world. Ellie Rebecca Brass. DOB 9/24/82. Essex County, New Jersey. Last known address 554 Applegate Way.
Okay, you told me. Well, I got to bring her in. You know that. PD brings in suspects. I'll put Vega on it. You're hands off? Of course.
Just go right in here.
I'm fine.
So, we're going to pick up right where we left off, huh, Ellie?
You still documenting the money from the con man? Every serial number-- evidence. Did you know that 97% of all $100 bills have traces of cocaine on them? I was the one that told you that. Oh, yeah.
Hey, Ronnie, you know what the intaglio script is. Engraving on Ben Franklin's collar?
I don't see it on this bill. Do you?
Everyone I sleep with dies.
Excuse me? I slept with this sailor once when I was 14. He died overseas somewhere.
What was your relationship to Vincent Avery? There was no relationship. I barely knew him. You knew him enough to fly to Baja with him. He invited me for the weekend. I figured, as long as he didn't chop me up, I'd have some fun.
Mind if I smoke?
Yeah. Plain sight.
It's a dummy chip. No casino logo. Exactly the same kind of chips Vincent Avery used to scam the casinos.
Before he got shot. BROWN: So, you two fly down to Baja, pose as a married couple, brought back home a stomach load of blow, and then you run chip scams? Who's taking your drug profits? Man, I wish I knew what you were talking about. Someone catch you and Vincent working on the side? Shoot him? I wasn't even there. Where were you? Home. In the bathroom. Yeah, she was passing pellets of cocaine. I'm out of here.
Sit down.
Thank you. With your permission, we need to take some X rays. As long as you're the one doing them. We'd also like to take a look at your car. I lent it to my boyfriend. What is his name? You know, you have this whole Lenny Kravitz thing going on.
I'm not one for brothers, but damn. His name.
Keith Driscoll. BRASS: Now you're telling me to get involved. You were behind the glass. This evidence against your daughter doesn't look good. Hey, listen, nothing places her at the murder. She mules drugs for a guy who ends up dead ten hours later? A BS chip scam? A lousy alibi? Vega's on it. He'll find her boyfriend. If I know my daughter, that's your shooter. Brass. It's a big city. Boyfriend could disappear. But, hey, it's your kid.
Left scope is a government- issued $100 bill. Right scope is the money from your tourists. Scope confirms what you saw with the naked eye. SIDLE: On a genuine bill, the words "United States of America" are written in microletters on the border of Ben Franklin's portrait. On the Ortons' bill, the intaglio script is blurred out. It's called microprinting. A little trick Treasury uses to thwart photocopying a U.S. bill. What about pigmentation? Treasury seals and serial numbers are the same color, right? They are... on the bill on your left. So the numbers on the right didn't hold the green ink. No printer on the market can make a true green. Blue and yellow hues always bleed in. Our monetary system depends on it.
Who do we notify? Treasury? Secret Service branch. They've got a field office in Vegas. I'll put these back in the evidence room.
Wait till the Ortons find out what we do with counterfeit money.
Nothing. Told you I was clean. So you gave up your drugs to your boss, huh? Boss? Do you realize, every time you ingest one of those pellets, that you risk dying from an overdose? Only if I eat. Releases gastric acids, blah, blah, blah... So you can just not eat? Well, you see, the thing with me is I'm mind over matter.
I can imagine a hamburger, and I'm full.
Will you fill me up, Warrick?
I don't think I can handle this. I got to call Grissom. Then call him. But? I didn't say anything. I heard it, bro-- a "but" in there. You know how Grissom is. If you ask him for the keys to the car, he's going to ask you if you've done your homework. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. It's like a multiple choice question. You know? Go with your first choice. Sack up. Sack up.
( phone ringing ) BRASS: So, what, did Warrick tell you to call me? What, do you think you're the only friend I've got in the police department? I'm just telling you, be careful. What am I supposed to do? Hold my breath and count to ten? Hey, look, we all get a little crazy when our kids are involved. Look, I'm on the job. It's standard police work. Enjoy Reno. I got this. Okay. Hey, but listen. If you find the boyfriend, don't go it alone. ( tires squealing ) Don't worry, I won't.
Dispatch, Navajo 4-1-niner-7. In pursuit of a '78 red Camaro. Suspect wanted for questioning.
( siren wailing )
( starter grinding )
Which one's Keith Driscoll? I was just hitchhiking. I told the guy to let me out. I begged him. Get lost.
I'm only going to ask you once. Easy, man. What are you and Ellie into? What do you mean? You got her muling in drugs from Mexico. You got her mixed up in a homicide over at... No, you got it backwards, man. She turned me on to coke so I could stud for her.
Hey, you can't just shoot me, man.
Brass!
Yo, Jim. We got it. Everything's cool. Hey, this guy was going to kill me, man. He pulled his gun. I'm sure the office felt his life was in imminent danger, sir. We're detaining you for questioning related to the murder of Vincent Avery. I'm not riding with him. You're right. You're not.
What do you mean, you can't give it back? That's all the money we have for our vacation. Well, it's counterfeit. We have to take it out of circulation. What? Mr. Orton, you... you don't look so surprised. Matt? Honey? I went to the gas station. The attendant told me the hundred I gave him was phony, so I went to our branch bank here and I tried to exchange the bad money for the good, but they said that we couldn't do it. I mean, why would anybody turn in bad money if they can't get reimbursed for it? Because it's in violation of Title 18, Section 473 of the United States Code, punishable by up to 15 years for knowingly passing on bad money. My God! I just didn't want to get stuck holding the bag. Do you have a $20 bill? No. Our wallets are up in the room. Uh... I may have something.
You see the ghost?
Right there on the right? Oh, yeah. Government embeds them in all bills. Protects against forgeries. You should see Lincoln on the five; he looks really stressed out. Wish I had met you last week. A special agent from Secret Service is going to want to talk to you about the final deposition of this case.
Warrick Brown? Special Agent Beckman, Treasury Department. You're subbing in tonight, right? Treasury Department? Wanted to be sure CSI's on the same page on this counterfeit case. Counterfeit? Our lab's going to want to analyze that money, too. What money? You were with Brass' daughter. I didn't want to interrupt you. On a federal case? Agent Beckman? I'm Sara Sidle. We spoke on the phone. Could you excuse us for a minute? STOKES: Warrick, you got to turn on your pager, man. I got Brass' daughter's car in the garage. Hold up, Nick. I'm dealing with something here. You see? This is exactly why I didn't bring this to you. Hey, Vega says we won't be able to hold the suspect more than a half hour. Did Sidle hold back information on this counterfeit money? I didn't not tell him. Look, I ran with the case. I do it with Grissom all the time. Well, I'm not Grissom!
Guys... I didn't say it.
Sara, brief Special Agent Beckman on the funny money. Nick, the garage. ( rock music fades up ) ♪ Time has come today ♪ Young hearts can go their way ♪ ♪ Can't put it off another day ♪ I don't care what others say ♪ They say we don't listen anyway ♪ ♪ Time has come today ♪ Hey
♪ Oh ♪ The rules have changed today ♪ Hey ♪ ♪ I have no place to stay ♪ Hey ♪ ♪ Thinking about the subway ♪ Hey ♪ ♪ My love has flown away ♪ Hey ♪ ♪ My tears have come and gone ♪ Hey ♪ ♪ Oh, my God, I have to run ♪ Hey ♪ ♪ I have no home ♪ Hey ♪ ♪ I have no home ♪ Hey... ♪
Tire plug. That's a nail in sheep's clothing.
Treads from the crime scene. The void on the one-to-one matches the void on Ellie's left rear tire. Siamese twins. Proves one thing. This was the getaway car used in the murder. Yeah.
We printed the vehicle your client was found driving. It puts the car at the scene of Vincent Avery's murder less than 12 hours ago. WOMAN: Come off it. The car's not even registered to him. Right. It's registered to the girl he bought tickets to Baja for. Bought tickets for Viccent Avery as well. Airline tickets were bought with your credit card, but we have no proof he ever went down there. WOMAN: He's a generous guy. Till Avery made him mad. You want to talk about the gun your captain pulled on my client-- an unarmed man? That's got P.D. brutality written all over it. Vega? Safety precaution only.
We're done. Let's go.
They don't have any money in their bathing suits, so you suspect them of a high-end counterfeit operation? No, but it did get me thinking. If something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. Take a look. This is the money we got from the con man. See the serial numbers? Each one is different.
Just like real money. That's what threw Ronnie and I off the scent. This couple didn't make one bill, run a hundred copies with the same serial number.
They had to burn separate plates for each serial number.
Much harder to catch. Very high-end. The Duffys are major counterfeiters. You mean the Ortons. Our investigators tell me they're the Duffys from Las Vegas County. Orton's their assumed names. How long have you known that? As soon as you phoned me, I went on a T-Department database. They've each done time for interstate fraud. And, yes, high-end counterfeiting. You federal guys are sneaky. Access. So, what do you want to do with the money? It's your money now. Well, the Treasury's. Thanks. I'll take it from here-- find their operation and shut it down. Hey!
I'm still part of this. Not really. But you're making me look good to my superiors, so, if you want to tag along... I don't tag along. Suit yourself.
BROWN: We got bad news from the garage. Give it to me. The tire evidence puts Ellie's car at the murder scene. We'll be pressing charges, murder of Vincent Avery. Oh, come on. You know she didn't kill him. Keith Driscoll did. Maybe so, but we don't have Driscoll. What? Vega had to turn him loose after your gun episode. Oh, I get it. So Vega thinks that she'll eventually rat out Driscoll. That's what you cops think. Yeah, well, let me tell you something about my daughter. Never happen.
( door opening )
They arresting me? I'm going to bail you out. You can stay at my place. I have a place. You have a place? Keith and I do. We share everything.
Ellie, why do you do this to yourself? You're better than that. You're better than him. No, I'm not.
( phone ringing )
Grissom's office. CSI. Warrick speaking. Warrick, it's Vega. I got a 444. Officer-involved shooting? Who? One guess.
Congratulations, Brown. You just bounced off the glass ceiling. Excuse me? Brass buys his daughter a Get Out of Jail Free card, and her boyfriend ends up on a gurney. Good call. Ecklie, you're day shift. And you're here because... I'm dedicated. Yeah, picture that.
What the hell happened? Keith Driscoll shot in the throat. First officer here found Brass in the apartment, woozy. Keith Driscoll on the floor, lights out. Where's his daughter? No one knows. I got guys out looking for her right now. Check his weapon? Waiting on you guys.
There's one round missing.
It's just you and me talking now, Jim. Off the record. You went to the apartment? Yeah. You notify dispatch? It was a personal visit. You went looking for Keith Driscoll? No. I went looking for Ellie.
Where is she?!
Where is she?! She's not here, man! Hey, you got a warrant?
Everything's a blur after that. Do you remember drawing your gun? No. You're leaving something out.
Hey, you got a warrant?!
Ellie, are you here?
I'm not leaving anything out. Your daughter lives there. She probably saw what happened. We're going to pick her up eventually.
Careful. She spits.
One shot? 15 bullets left in Brass' gun. There should be 16. What kind of cop doesn't empty his magazine? They're trained to shoot to kill.
Hey.
Look where I just located this blood. Back of the grip. Novice shooters get their hands pinched in the slide.
Slide bite.
Man, Brass didn't shoot this guy. I need you to show me your hands. You going to test for gunshot residue? It's a little late for that. Your hands, Captain.
Satisfied? I'm going to need to take your badge. It's not your job to take my stripes. In this case, it is. Detective Vega. No.
A.B. Dick 4910? 11 x 14 offsets? This is the Rolls Royce of printers. Closest thing to what the government uses. Multiple inks. Disaperf computer paper. Heavy rag, 25% content. Makes for durability. Mr. Duffy, can Agent Beckman and I see your burn plates, please?
Press, ink, paper, burn plates... The only question now is... where's the money?
Mr. and Mrs. Duffy?
There isn't any. Oh, come on. You can print a million dollars a day with this operation. Where is it? There is no money. Excuse me?
I don't get this. Beckman... Congratulations, Sidle. You passed. Passed? "Duffy" is their code alias. This is Special Agent Conners. This is Special Agent Tessari. We're all with Service. Quality control. I don't... We put bait money in the hands of bad people. In this case, a reputed con. Our directive is to see how the money leads to law enforcement. What if Vincent Avery wasn't murdered in that parking lot? TESSARI: Murder wasn't on the agenda. However, in light of unpredictable events, this sting still upheld. It came to you, Sidle, and you didn't take. You should be very proud. Wow. I don't feel that at all. It never feels right when it works. Only feels wrong when it doesn't. First, I have the saliva sample taken from Captain Brass' badge-- better known as Ellie's DNA. Take a good look at her markers. Second, blood sample from Jim Brass. They're nothing alike. From parent to child, seven of 13 markers should match up, minimum. In this case, there's not a single marker in common. I don't have Ellie's mother's DNA on file, but my guess is... What, is she adopted?
What about the blood on Brass' gun? Not Brass', not Ellie's. Not Ellie's? No, or her boyfriend Keith Driscoll. You still got a shooter out there. With a pinch on his hand.
All right. Where's that manifest?
Two-zero-three-four... Two-zero-three-four... ( tires squealing ) ( siren blaring )
Hold it. Hold it.
Game's over, Marty.
The hitchhiker. You know this guy? BRASS: Yeah, we met. When the three of you got back from Baja. You conned the Captain.
I got to shake your hand. This a joke? No, on the real.
You shot Driscoll... ...with his firearm. That was you in the other room.
I think I killed him. No. He killed you.
So you offed Driscoll to take over his drug op. What about Ellie?
She's supposed to be in jail for shooting Avery at the casino.
You eat something? I took a laxative. Oh, God, he's going to OD. Can we get a medic?
Can we get a medic?
Brass?!
Yeah. BRASS: I need Rescue. 826 Herrick Lane. Overdose. Send an ambulance. Oh, my God, I'm going to die. No, worse-- you're going to live.
Brass. Hang on.
I only took it to get Ellie's DNA off of it. That's it. A man's got to do... What is it, Rick? We were checking out the blood from your gun. We compared your DNA to her DNA. Yeah? You never said anything about her being adopted.
She's not.
Call it the mailman.
Ellie doesn't know.
Ellie.
How'd you find me? I'm a detective. Listen, I heard you never went back to Driscoll's apartment that night.
It's true. I could have sworn I heard you in that other room. No, Dad. I was never there. Never. I guess I've been doing that since you've been born. I mean, I know I was never around, but... You know, no matter where I am... no matter what I'm doing... I always think that you're there. Even if you're not. Come back to me, Ellie.
Dad, it's way too late.
I got to catch a flight to Jersey. Midnight. Mom says I can stay with her for a while. Sure. Okay. You need a ride to the airport? I can get you there fast. Thanks. I'm taking the shuttle. Oh. Yeah. Right. Okay.
Catch you later.
Hey, Sara. Hey. Hey... I'm a little short on cash. Can you loan me a hundred? Funny. Very funny. Oh, look. Shift's over. Guess you're one of us again.
BROWN: Hey, Griss. How'd it go? The seminar was fine. Every one of my roaches got stage fright. They came in fourth, third, second and dead last. How about you? How'd you do? Well, the job is fine. It's the other stuff-- the personalities. "I love mankind. It's people I can't stand." Is that Einstein? Linus. Charlie Brown. Figures. Is that why you put me in charge? You think I like dealing with people? Remember when you asked me what I was in high school? Yeah, you said a "ghost." When I leave CSI, there won't be any cake in the break room. I'll just be gone. So I wanted to see if you could step in. Tell me... all of it, from the top. From the top?
( sighs ) I don't know where to start. It was wild.
Captioning Sponsored by PARAMOUNT PICTURES in the break room.