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Harvest
Harvest
Season 5
Number 3
Writer Judith McCreary
Director David Grossman
Original Airdate October 14, 2004
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Next Episode: Crow's Feet

Harvest is the third episode in Season Five of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Synopsis[]

An Amber Alert is sent out when a young girl, Alicia Perez, is kidnapped. Meanwhile, Catherine has to deal with Lindsey, who was caught hitchhiking.

Plot[]

Victim: Alicia Perez (before missing, then deceased)

On the case: Entire team

Outside of St. Andrew's School, Sybil Perez waits for her daughter, Alicia, as the school day ends. After getting impatient, she asks a nun where her daughter is, but the nun replies that Alicia wasn't in school all day. Sybil then gets a call from her other daughter, April—13-year-old Alicia has been kidnapped. She drives to the convenience store where the kidnapping took place and slaps April for letting this happen, prompting an officer to restrain her.

The CSIs arrive on the scene. April tells Brass that Alicia's life wasn't great and that the two of them didn't see each other often. As a way of bonding, Alicia would sometimes play hooky and the two girls would spend the day together. While April was in the store, Alicia changed into her school uniform to make it look she was in school all day. April says that Alicia was kidnapped by a black man with a beard driving a black or dark blue Buick. Meanwhile, Grissom is taking photos of April's car when he's approached by Sybil and Alicia's father, Carlos. He tells them that they're doing everything they can to find Alicia. Grissom then notices some blood on Sybil's shirt, which Sybil claims is from a nosebleed. He tells Sybil that the shirt will have to be collected as evidence, and an angry and distraught Sybil takes the shirt off and throws it at Grissom.

An Amber Alert is issued for Alicia. Nick and Warrick work the convenience store parking lot, where Nick reveals that he failed his firearms qualification. Nick then wonders how someone as old as Alicia was lured by a kidnapper; Warrick figures that the kidnapper pretended he was lost and snatched Alicia when she got too close to the car. The thought is that the kidnapper had a weapon, and Catherine adds that Alicia was probably hit, as well. Grissom walks up and informs Nick that he can't be out in the field since he failed the firearms qualification; in fact, just carrying a weapon is a violation. Nick adheres to the rules and says that he'll help from the lab. Meanwhile, Catherine gets a call and leaves the scene with Nick, as the call is about Lindsey. Elsewhere, in the convenience store, Brass talks to the store clerk. The clerk says that he was checking April out; suddenly, April started screaming and ran. He claims that he never saw Alicia or the car that she was kidnapped in. The clerk adds that there are five security cameras inside the store; however, the cameras outside the store are all fakes.

In the police station, an officer tells Catherine that Lindsey was caught hitchhiking. Hitchhiking is the third strike in Catherine's eyes, as Lindsey has also been talking back to teachers and has had dropping grades. Lindsey suggests that she should strip like her mother used to. This results in an argument, with Lindsey storming out. Elsewhere in the lab, Warrick is going over the contents of Alicia's backpack when Greg and new DNA lab hire Mia Dickerson enter. Warrick asks Greg what's missing; when Greg doesn't know, he says that Alicia supposedly changed out of her clothes and into her school uniform. However, there are no street clothes to be found. Warrick gives Sybil's bloody shirt to Mia for DNA extraction.

In the Perez house, Brass interviews Carlos and Sybil. They confirm that they have a gardener and a pool man come to the house once a week and have been doing so for years. Sybil also says that Alicia had no after-school activities; she would walk to school and get picked up at the end of the day. Both parents were unaware that Alicia had been skipping school to spend time with April, and they tell Brass that April had been kicked out of the house. She had had problems with drugs and the police and had also spent time in juvenile lockup for heroin possession with an intent to distribute. Meanwhile, Grissom and Sara are looking through Alicia's room. On Alicia's computer, Sara finds that she visited an organ transplant website. She then finds a notebook where Alicia has written down the name "Jimmy Jones" several times accompanied by hearts. On the underside of the bed linens, Grissom finds the words "I hate mom & dad." He's interrupted by Alicia's brother, Daniel. Daniel recognizes the name Jimmy Jones and says that he was a boy from Alicia's school that she liked. He describes his sister as a giver from the day she was born. Grissom then notices that Daniel has a nosebleed. Daniel excuses himself and tells them to read Alicia's diary that she kept under her bed. Sara opens it up and reads an entry Alicia wrote about having surgery; this seems to connect with the organ transplant web search. Back in the living room, Carlos and Sybil tell Brass that Daniel has failing kidneys and that Alicia is his matching donor. Without Alicia, Daniel will die.

Catherine and Brass question Jimmy Jones. Jimmy tells them that Alicia was a pretty good soccer player, but quit the team before she got cut. She would miss practice a lot because she was always going to the doctor. Alicia had told Jimmy about her kidney and the fact that she was donating it to save Daniel's life; however, Jimmy says that Alicia seemed quite upset about doing so. Alicia had told Jimmy that she had no life and never would. Jimmy tells Brass that, on their way to school, they would pass by a black man with a beard and mustache who was about 30 years old. The man, who seems to match the description of the kidnapper, would be out for a jog or a run; however, he was dressed in velour and always on the phone. Jimmy says that the guy gave him the creeps.

In the lab, Nick has Alicia's neighborhood and walking route to school up on the computer, as well as the location of the convenience store. He shows Grissom and Warrick the map of all registered sex offenders in the vicinity; there are a surprising number of them. Nick narrows the search down to Tier 2 and Tier 3 sex offenders, as Grissom notes that they would be more likely to plan an abduction and find the privacy for sexual assault and murder. They find a Tier 2 offender named Marlon Waylord who lives in Alicia's neighborhood and fits the description that Jimmy gave to Brass.

Marlon answers the door at his house and Grissom notices a cut on Marlon's chin from shaving. Brass speaks to Marlon outside while Grissom and Sara search the inside of the house. Inside, Grissom finds a jacket on a hanger with a hair sticking out from it. Sara finds the presence of semen on bedsheets, as well as a semen-stained pair of boy's underwear. Grissom finds Marlon's phone; the phone contains pictures of Alicia and Jimmy as they were walking to school. Outside, Marlon tells Brass that his black Buick is in the Tangiers parking lot because it wouldn't start. Marlon is arrested and brought in for questioning. In the interrogation room, Marlon recognizes Alicia from her photo; however, he tells Grissom and Brass that he was looking at Jimmy. He adds that he bought the pair of underwear himself and would use Jimmy's photo as a "release." Marlon tells Grissom that he has a disease, but Grissom corrects him by saying it's a compulsion.

Warrick visits Greg and Mia in the DNA lab and finds out that the semen on the underwear belonged to Marlon and that the only DNA on the underwear was Marlon's, as well. Furthermore, the hair pulled from the jacket is synthetic, possibly from a wig. Marlon is therefore released from custody, and it's feared that he's going to strike again. Mia suggests putting up flyers in Marlon's neighborhood detailing his crimes; that way, the neighbors would keep a close eye on him at all times. When Warrick suggests that this might get Marlon killed, Mia seems indifferent.

Warrick then receives a page on his beeper: Alicia's body has been found. Catherine, Grissom and Warrick meet Brass in a field, where Alicia's body has been wrapped up tightly in a bloody blanket. Catherine notes that Alicia's face is covered, meaning that the killer probably expressed remorse or guilt. She also notices that Alicia has been redressed and that her panties are missing. Grissom has Catherine and Warrick search the surrounding area; Warrick finds a shoe print and photographs it. Alicia's liver temperature is 90 degrees, and David Phillips tells Grissom that it should be higher; Grissom figures the weather has something to do with the odd reading.

In autopsy, Grissom takes photos of Alicia's body while David discusses his findings. There are no signs of sexual assault and Alicia has no defensive wounds on her body. Grissom notes that there was blood on the blanket; since Alicia has no wounds, the blood could belong to the killer. David flips Alicia's body over to reveal two long parallel bruises on her back. Grissom mentions that Alicia's body wasn't laying on top of anything at the scene. As he goes to take another photo of the body, Grissom stops, looks at the body, and shakes his head.

Catherine sits down next to an exhausted Grissom and tells him about Lindsey's hitchhiking attempt. Grissom replies that if people knew what was out there hunting them, they would never leave the house. He suggests to Catherine that she prepare Lindsey for the outside world without scaring her. Grissom then visits Doc Robbins, who shows Grissom Alicia's x-ray. Alicia has pinpoint holes in both shoulders from donating bone marrow at least twice. Grissom mentions Daniel's symptoms to Doc Robbins; the doc believes the symptoms point to acute leukemia. Alicia's cause of death is labeled as cardiopulmonary arrest and the only thing in her stomach was a milky liquid. Her time of death is put at between midnight and 8:00 AM the day of her kidnapping, meaning that her sister was lying about the abduction.

Brass interrogates April and tells her that her story has a lot of holes—Alicia was already dead when the Amber Alert was issued and there were no signs of sexual assault. He tells her that filing a false Amber Alert is one to four years in prison and murder will get her either life in prison or the death penalty, depending on whether the death was accidental or not. April vehemently denies killing her sister, but Brass knows she was in on it since she lied about the abduction. Brass points out that Daniel was the center of attention since he's sick and that Alicia was his savior, meaning April didn't fit in with the family. Maybe she killed Alicia, which in turn would lead to Daniel dying and making April the family's focus again? April denies this, as well. Brass wonders if April is on drugs again and whether they should test her blood. Wanting to end the conversation, April decides to lawyer up.

Catherine and Grissom go over the Perez family medical records and have them outlined on a chart. Daniel was diagnosed with relapsing acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) when he was ten years old, and Alicia was conceived in vitro to be his genetic match. When she was four, Alicia had blood taken for a transfusion; three years later, doctors took her blood to remove stem cells. Daniel relapsed, which is why Alicia donated bone marrow a second time. Grissom states that Alicia was a living DNA factory.

When stopped by Sybil Perez in the station hallway, Catherine tells her that April will be released on bail. However, April is refusing to talk about what happened to Alicia, and Catherine suggests that jail is the best place for her. Sybil laments not giving enough attention to April, but Catherine admonishes her for using Alicia only as a means to help Daniel. Catherine tells her that she put one child over another, but Sybil replies that she did what she had to do. Sybil guesses that Catherine doesn't have children; Catherine says she has a daughter, and Sybil calls her out for working nights and not spending time with her. Alicia's life might not have been easy, Sybil says, but at least she knew her daughter.

In the lab, Mia tells Grissom that the blood on Sybil's shirt matches the blood that was found on the blanket; the blood was Alicia's. He's surprised that the blood isn't menstrual and that the amount of blood present would suggest injury or trauma. Despite Mia's insistence that she was thorough when she ran the tests, Grissom asks her to run them again. Elsewhere in the lab, Greg and Sara go through April's laundry and garbage. Greg finds a crumpled up piece of paper with Mapquest directions from Marlon Waylord's house to the convenience store. Down in the morgue, Catherine shows Lindsey the body of a dead 23-year-old female as a way to scare Lindsey straight. Doc Robbins enters and berates Catherine for this decision, but Catherine tells him that this doesn't concern him.

In the A/V lab, Archie does a reverse lookup on the MapQuest search and finds that the account used for the search belongs to Sybil. Sara, Warrick and Brass visit the Perez residence again. Brass presents a warrant and asks where Daniel is; Sybil replies that Daniel is at church. Inside the house, Sara photographs a laptop, then finds a cabinet where various medications are stored. There's Oxycodone in Daniel's name, while Alicia's name is on bottles of Diazepam. Sara photographs the bottles, as well as a whiteboard medication calendar. Elsewhere, Warrick finds a pair of work boots that belong to Carlos; they have the same tread pattern that he photographed earlier at the crime scene. In the bedroom, Warrick bags a bloody handkerchief and finds blue fibers on the bed seemingly consistent with the blanket Alicia's body was wrapped in. Sara enters and tells Warrick about the medications she found—Daniel's Oxycodone was for pain, but Alicia's Diazepam was an antidepressant. She guesses that Alicia's parents didn't want her complaining while her body was used for Daniel's health. Outside, Nick (who has passed his firearms qualification test) finds a tripod in the trunk of Carlos' car. He shows Sara and Warrick that when folded up, the tripod's legs match the lividity marks found on Alicia's back.

Brass interrogates Carlos and Sybil separately. Carlos admits to being guilty and wanting to protect his family. Brass has a longer conversation with Sybil and presents his hypothesis: Sybil helped move Alicia's body and came up with the idea to remove the underwear. She then contacted April and they used the sex offenders registry to frame Marlon. He guesses that after being constantly used as a means to get Daniel better, Alicia finally stood up to her mother and said no. Alicia wanted to keep her kidney and she wanted to live a normal life. He guesses that Alicia wanted out, but Sybil wouldn't let her. She accidentally slipped Alicia too much Oxycodone, then panicked and came up with the kidnapping story. Sybil says that Alicia loved Daniel and that Alicia would never forgive herself if Daniel died and she did nothing about it. Brass adds that the slap at the convenience store was a nice touch.

Warrick tells Grissom that the blue fibers he found were consistent with the blanket Alicia was wrapped in and that the work boots were consistent with the shoe prints found at the crime scene. Greg interjects and says that he retested the bloody shirt and blanket; the blood still matches Alicia. He tells Grissom to accept change and stop second-guessing Mia's procedures, as she's doing a great job. Grissom agrees and apologizes. Greg adds that the blood on the handkerchief found in the Perez bedroom also matches Alicia. Grissom then comes to a realization.

Grissom visits the church where Daniel is. Daniel tells Grissom that he realizes how lucky he is—he knows how and when he's going to die, while most people don't. He says that Alicia was never scared and that she never gave up on herself or him. Daniel recounts making his parents swear that after his last relapse, they wouldn't put Alicia through the medical procedures again. However, after Daniel's kidneys started failing, his parents said that their promise only related to the cancer, not the kidneys. Daniel admits to putting an end to Alicia's pain by drugging her milk. Because of the transfusions, Alicia's blood was in Daniel's veins, which is why the blood results kept coming back to her. When he wrapped Alicia's body in the blanket, his nose bled onto it.

Grissom asks Daniel why he didn't just take his own life instead of Alicia's since she was healthy. He replies that suicide is an unforgivable sin in the eyes of God. Grissom says that God doesn't forgive murder; such a defense won't keep him out of jail. However, Daniel says that he'll be dead in six months before there's even a trial. He thanks Grissom for being the first person in Alicia's life that only thought of her. Before being handcuffed, Daniel tells Grissom that while Grissom may not believe in God, he's doing God's work.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

  • Archie Kao as Archie Johnson
  • David Berman as David Phillips
  • Aisha Tyler as Mia Dickerson
  • Madison McReynolds as Lindsey Willows
  • Paula Francis as News Anchor
  • America Ferrera as April Perez
  • Ramon De Ocampo as Daniel Perez
  • Carlos Gómez as Carlos Perez
  • Thomas Dekker as Jimmy Jones
  • D.B. Woodside as Marlon Waylord
  • Melissa Leo as Sybil Perez
  • Briann Benali as Alicia Perez
  • Bijoux Bohon as Alicia Perez—Age 4
  • Jodi Carlisle—Jimmy's Mom
  • Mary Kathleen Gordon—Sister Teresa

Major Events[]

  • Greg's replacement, Mia Dickerson, is introduced for the first time.

Quotes[]

Grissom: Nick. You failed your firearm qualifications. You can't be here.
Nick: Oh, yeah, well, I'm taking it again, day after tomorrow so I figured I could work.
Grissom: Not in the field.
Nick: You're serious?
Grissom: You're in violation just carrying a weapon.

Goofs[]

  • In Season Three, Lindsey was seven years old; however, in Season Five, she's now 12 years old.
  • When Alicia is taken to the morgue for the autopsy, her eyelids move and her right foot moves automatically in a more comfortable, natural position.
  • When Sara and Archie search the MapQuest database, the date displayed is 10-5-07 (the episode aired in 2004).

Trivia[]

  • Aisha Tyler makes her first appearance as Mia Dickerson, who takes over the DNA lab now that Greg is working the field. Previously, she appeared in the CSI: Miami episode "Body Count" as District Attorney Janet Medrano.
  • America Ferrera played April Perez. She would get her breakout role two years after this episode playing the lead in the ABC show Ugly Betty.

See Also[]

CSI:Las Vegas Season 5
Viva Las VegasDown the DrainHarvestCrow's FeetSwap MeetWhat's Eating Gilbert Grissom?FormalitiesCh-Ch-ChangesMea CulpaNo Humans InvolvedWho Shot Sherlock?SnakesNesting DollsUnbearableKing BabyBig MiddleCompulsionSpark of Life4 x 4Hollywood BrassCommittedWeeping WillowsIcedGrave Danger, Part 1Grave Danger, Part 2
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