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Who Are You?
Who
Season 1
Number 6
Writer Carol Mendelsohn,
Josh Berman
Director Danny Cannon
Original Airdate November 10, 2000
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Previous Episode: Friends & Lovers
Next Episode: Blood Drops

Who Are You? is the sixth episode in Season One of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Synopsis[]

Grissom and Nick investigate the skeleton of a woman found under a house, buried in cement. Meanwhile, Catherine investigates a case in which her ex-husband Eddie is accused of rape. Warrick and Sara search for a missing bullet that could either exonerate or indict a cop for murder.

Plot[]

Victim: Fay Green (deceased)

On the case: Gil Grissom, Nick Stokes

A plumber crawls under a house looking for the source of a leak and finds something much more interesting: a skeletal hand sticking out of the foundation. Upon arriving on the scene, Grissom confirms that the bones belong to a human, and he and Nick soon remove some of the foundation and unearth the rest of the skeleton.

In autopsy, Grissom examines the bones and determines that they belong to a female who was approximately 20 years of age. Nick observes tool marks on the ribs and guesses that they came from a screwdriver. However, Grissom corrects him, saying that the marks are slightly curved; the weapon they're looking for isn't a traditional weapon. Doc Robbins later identifies a hairline fracture to the victim's skull, which is synonymous with blunt force trauma. Furthermore, he finds grains of sand embedded in the bones of the middle ear. It seems possible the victim died at the beach.

Since the house was built five years ago and sold subsequent to completion, the homeowner is ruled out as a suspect. Grissom brings a piece of the foundation back to the lab for further observation, where he notes that the concrete holds a partial impression of the victim's facial features. He calls Teri Miller, the top forensic anthropologist artist in the country, who helps him reconstruct the victim’s face. They release the image, and the woman is identified as Fay Green.

Grissom speaks with Fay's mother and learns that Fay was an athlete; most notably, she had just gotten certified to scuba dive. Despite this, Fay's mother doesn't recall her daughter spending time at the beach before her death. Grissom learns that Fay had moved in with her boyfriend, Jason Hendler. Jason was questioned a few times after Fay's disappearance, but was cleared. Fay's mother is sure Jason wasn't responsible, as he loved Fay and was good to her.

When put under a microscope, the sand particles from Fay's ear present a rough surface, which is inconsistent with sand found on a beach. The mineral content in the particles comes back as feldspar and quartz. When combined, they form crushed sandstone, which is manmade in a rock crusher; there's no way the minerals are from the house's foundation.

Grissom and Nick visit Jason's home and speak to him and his wife, Amy. Despite the fact that Fay only lived in the house for one month five years ago, Jason allows the CSIs to look around. Grissom is alerted to the sound of a bubbling fish tank in a room down the hall. When Nick enters and walks through the room, a floorboard creaks and gets Grissom's attention. Jason and Amy claim that it's just a warped floorboard, but Grissom is able to get Jason to admit that the fish tank used to be in a different location in the room. Jason doesn't recall if the tank ever broke or overflowed, but water damage would explain why the floorboard is warped. Grissom uses a pocket knife to pry the floorboard and finds sand underneath. He theorizes that the tank broke at an earlier time and got water and sand all over the place. Jason asks the CSIs to leave, but Grissom replies that he'll come back with a warrant.

When Grissom goes back to the house later, he finds that Jason vacuumed up the sand that was underneath the floorboard. Luminol doesn't pick up any signs of blood, so Grissom has Nick bring out the ALS. He explains that while luminol only works on the surface, the ALS chases the protein molecules in blood and actually penetrates the wood. The floorboards are made of maple, but are highly lacquered, leading Grissom to think that the Hendlers are hiding something.

The ALS reveals blood drops all over the floor, as well as two bloody handprints. Grissom theorizes that Jason and Fay got into a fight, and Fay ended up getting her head slammed into the fish tank. She suffered a concussion, but surprised Jason by fighting back. Jason decided to finish the job and bury the body in the area where he was working as a subcontractor. There's only one thing Grissom can't figure out: the weapon used to kill Fay. Jason denies all of this, saying that he worked the subcontractor job for just a week. Amy can also verify this as she was working for the same contractor at the time. But why would the floors be painted over and over?

Jason denies the accusations vehemently, shouting that he loved Fay and that he still loves her. Amy becomes incensed at this revelation, and Jason apologizes to her as he's arrested. Grissom offers to ride along with the cops and tells Nick that they have a fresh crime scene.

As Nick prepares to process the house, he looks at Hendler family photos on the wall. He sees that one photo is of Jason and Amy climbing a mountain—and using climbing picks to do so. Recalling Grissom's description of the murder weapon, Nick asks Amy if they do rock climbing. She replies in the affirmative, admits to killing Fay with a pick, and points a gun at Nick.

Outside, Jason tells Grissom that he was out of town at the time of Fay's murder, adding that his wife routinely paints the floors every spring. Grissom looks back at him and comes to a realization. Back in the house, Amy explains that she was already engaged to Jason when Fay entered the picture. She invited Fay over to the house and killed her in order to win Jason back. However, the blood remained and Amy tried every year to keep covering it up.

As Amy tells Nick that she has no choice but to kill him, Grissom arrives and points his gun at her. He's able to convince her to give up as Nick tearfully breathes a sigh of relief.

Victim: Unidentified suspect (deceased)

On the case: Sara Sidle, Warrick Brown, Jim Brass

Sara and Warrick are tasked with investigating an officer-involved shooting. Officer Joe Tyner recalls pursuing a suspect down the Strip and into a parking lot. Claiming that he already had three strikes on his record and couldn't go back to jail, the suspect pulled a gun out of his glove compartment and shot himself in the head. Officer Tyner tells Warrick that he drew his gun, but he never fired it. Warrick wants to start processing the scene, but Brass defends his officer and questions the CSIs' loyalty. A test for gunshot residue will be invalid, as both the suspect and Officer Tyner would be covered in it if the officer fired his gun at close range. Sara collects the suspect's gun as evidence.

Back at the lab, Warrick asks Sara why their suspect would speed all the way down the Strip only to pull over and shoot himself. An examination of Officer Tyner's gun reveals that there's one bullet missing from the chamber, which means the officer was lying. Both guns in question are 9mm automatics, which will make things even more difficult for the CSIs and more tenuous with Brass.

In interrogation, Officer Tyner once again denies killing the suspect and maintains that he never fired his gun. He admits that he habitually doesn't top off his clip, as he claims the final bullet puts pressure on the spring and jams the gun; this would explain why his gun was one bullet short. Warrick reveals that Officer Tyner has five civilian complaints against him, three of them for excessive force. Brass, his union representative, demands that the CSIs return to the scene and find the missing bullet—if there is one.

In the parking lot, Sara and Warrick are unable to find the missing bullet. They're soon approached by a valet who claims to have witnessed the incident, saying that Officer Tyner shot the driver without provocation. The CSIs realize that they now have an interdepartmental war on their hands.

Brass confronts Warrick in the department hallway and accuses him of using Officer Tyner to settle a score. Sara tries to intervene, but Brass is upset by the fact that the CSIs are relying on the testimony of someone who was too far away to have seen anything substantial. Officer Tyner soon shows up, irate that lab geeks who have never fired a gun nor put their lives on the line are determining his fate. When Warrick calls him a "punk-ass cop" and a psycho, the two get into a shoving match, which is interrupted by Grissom. When the dust settles, Brass accuses Grissom of not having control of his team, adding that the missing bullet is still unaccounted for.

Since the bullet wasn't in the suspect nor was it in the parking lot, Warrick believes it's somewhere in the Jeep the suspect was driving. Sara and Warrick take the Jeep apart frame by frame, eventually finding the bullet lodged in the spare tire. Ballistics matches the bullet to an evidence round; however, the evidence round was taken from the suspect's gun, not Officer Tyner's.

With Brass present, Sara and Warrick recreate the shooting. They show him that the trajectory of the bullet through the suspect's head lines up perfectly with the spare tire in the back of the Jeep. There's no way Officer Tyner could have hit the tire from that angle from where he was standing. Officer Tyner is cleared, but tensions between Brass and the CSIs, particularly Warrick, remain high.

Victim: April Lewis (alive)

On the case: Catherine Willows

An exotic dancer, April Lewis, accuses Catherine’s ex-husband Eddie of rape, and he requests that Catherine handle the investigation. Grissom is hesitant, as this constitutes a conflict of interest, but allows her to talk to Eddie on the condition that she passes the case to Warrick after the preliminary round of questioning. Eddie meets her and admits to having consensual sex with April. He expresses his confidence that Catherine will clear him of any wrongdoing; however, she informs him that someone else will be working the case. He responds by bringing their daughter Lindsey into the argument.

April tells a detective that Eddie raped her outside of the strip club where she works. Despite Grissom's advice to stay away, Catherine enters and takes over the questioning. She observes the bruises on April's body and is told that a rape kit was just collected. DNA samples from under April's fingernails come back to Eddie.

Catherine visits the strip club where April works, and the manager, who knew Catherine in her own dancing days, allows her to search the locker room. She finds a box of contraceptive films in April’s locker.

April’s rape kit shows evidence of semen and spermicide. Catherine explains to Greg that the contraceptive film is hard to detect because it dissolves with body heat. The stuff has to be inserted anywhere between 15 minutes and three hours before sex, which means April inserted the film while she was still at work. If April had the forethought to use a contraceptive, the sex must've been consensual.

Catherine confronts April and learns that Eddie had promised to make her a music video star. When he failed to deliver, she set him up for rape in order to collect on a payoff. Catherine laughs when she realizes that April thought Eddie was rich.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

Music[]

  • Word Up by Cameo

Notes[]

  • This is Robert David Hall's first appearance as Dr. Al Robbins. He would appear in 327 episodes of CSI, all the way up through the two-part movie Immortality.

Trivia[]

  • George Eads was able to draw from real life experience for this episode; he was held at gunpoint during a burger stand holdup in North Dallas.[1] 
  • Andy Buckley, who played Jason Hendler, is perhaps most recognizable for his role as David Wallace in the US version of The Office.
  • Although the episode notably shares its title with the show's later famous theme song, it didn't air with The Who's Who Are You as the intro rolled. The first episode having Who Are You as its theme song was To Halve and to Hold.

References[]

  1. Flaherty, M. & Marrinan, C. (2004). CSI: Crime scene investigation companion. New York, NY: Pocket Books.

See Also[]

CSI:Las Vegas Season 1
PilotCool ChangeCrate 'n BurialPledging Mr. JohnsonFriends & LoversWho Are You?Blood DropsAnonymousUnfriendly SkiesSex, Lies and LarvaeI-15 MurdersFahrenheit 932BoomTo Halve and to HoldTable StakesToo Tough to DieFace Lift$35K O.B.O.Gentle, GentleSounds of SilenceJustice is ServedEvaluation DayStrip Strangler
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