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Cello and Goodbye
Cello and Goodbye
Season 11
Number 21
Writer Christopher Barbour,
Don McGill
Director Alec Smight
Original Airdate May 5, 2011
Navigation
Previous Episode: Father of the Bride
Next Episode: In a Dark, Dark House

Cello and Goodbye is the twenty-first episode in Season Eleven of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Synopsis[]

Langston is determined to find serial killer Nate Haskell after he kidnaps Langston's ex-wife, Gloria Parkes.

Plot[]

Victim: Phil Baker (deceased)

On the case: Catherine Willows, Greg Sanders, Morgan Brody, Nick Stokes, Raymond Langston, Sara Sidle

Nate Haskell and Tina Vincent wine and dine with Langston’s ex-wife, Gloria, and her husband, Phil, in the couple’s Los Angeles home. The mood changes when Haskell asks Gloria how she met Langston. Before Gloria realizes what's really happening, Haskell drugs her and Phil and hits Phil over the head with a bottle, sending him through a glass table. The next day, Phil's body is found in a dumpster with 12 postmortem stab wounds. A young woman named Morgan Brody from the Scientific Investigation Division (SID) goes over her boss’ head and contacts the LVPD about a possible connection to the Haskell investigation.

Catherine and Langston fly to Los Angeles. Langston immediately recognizes Phil when his body is turned over. They rush to Gloria’s home and find it empty, but there's blood all over the floor. Haskell left Gloria’s wedding ring wrapped in a piece of sheet music for “Gloria in excelsis Deo" along with a postcard for Willoughby Observatory. Knowing that Haskell keeps his victims alive for 72 hours and Gloria was kidnapped around that time, Langston tells Catherine that Gloria is dead and that he doesn’t think he can handle this.

Catherine calls Sara to fly to Los Angeles and sends an officer to drive Langston to the airport so he can return to Las Vegas. Langston ditches his police escort at the first available opportunity. From the bar, he calls Doc Robbins, says there's only one thing left for him to do, and tells him goodbye.

Despite the large amount of blood in the condo, Morgan believes that it all came from one source; Haskell dragged Phil's body around to maximize the shock value. Security footage from the condo shows Tina driving the Bakers’ car with Haskell in the passenger's seat. The police locate the abandoned car and find blood in the trunk, but there's no sign of Gloria. A search of Gloria's social media page turns up a picture of her and Phil with Haskell and Tina from the event where they met, and Haskell is tagged as Willoughby J. Willoughby. Haskell’s present for Langston included a postcard for Willoughby Observatory in addition to Gloria’s ring, so they look up Willoughby and discover that the wealthy benefactor shot his wife in 1943. It appears that Haskell is leaving clues for Langston "to come out and play."

Langston purchases a gun and laptop from a pawn shop, and also takes a postcard for Willoughby Observatory with him. Doing his own research on Willoughby, he discovers that the murder took place in the Penwick Hotel. He goes to the now-abandoned hotel and spots Tina. After giving pursuit, he catches up to her and holds a gun to her head. Catherine calls in Nick to help find Langston, and Nick arrives just in time for Det. Sosa to escort them into the hotel where Tina’s body has been found. Tina was shot once in the leg and once in the head, and there are signs of torture. Det. Sosa kicks the CSIs out, wanting his own team to process the scene; however, Morgan sends Nick a photo that he wanted from the scene of a ticket with “You never forget your first” written in blood on the back. Catherine realizes who Morgan is—she's Conrad Ecklie’s daughter.

Fingerprints from the hotel room come back to three people: Langston, Haskell and Tina. There's blood on the doorknob and on the ring Tina's wearing. DNA from under Tina's fingernails comes back to an unknown African American male. Much to Det. Sosa's surprise, he's told that Langston isn't in the system despite being a CSI. With this information, the detective identifies Langston as their main suspect.

Nick tracks Langston down and says he’s going to help him. He knows that Langston didn’t kill Tina, but Haskell is trying to isolate him and make him a fugitive. Langston says all he got from Tina was one of the tickets with the writing on the back, which she told him was in Gloria’s blood. The tickets are traced to the Santa Monica Pier, and a carousel catches Langston’s eye. He mentions to Nick that his first date with Gloria was on a carousel, information that Haskell appears to be using to lure his nemesis. Upon going inside, they see Haskell, but he escapes after a brief confrontation. They give chase, but both men are arrested before they can catch him; however, Langston does learn that Gloria is still alive.

Before Haskell's most recent vanishing act, he shot an officer who was attempting to get Langston to stand down; the bullet matches the one pulled out of Tina. Det. Sosa tries to get the information out of Langston, but he won’t talk. The detective wants to send them all back to Vegas, but he needs their expertise on the case. Sara and Morgan analyze sand found near Tina’s body, which Morgan determines came from sandblasting. She tests the composition of sand, paint, and other materials in order to narrow down the type of building it might've come from: an old industrial building under recent renovation, most likely from a school, hospital, or government building.

Back in Vegas, Langston gets around Catherine’s restrictions by having Hodges log into the lab’s computer for him. He looks up Willoughby, and Greg walks in to discover him disobeying Catherine’s orders. Greg agrees to help, and he tells Langston that Willoughby had two wives. The first wife caught Willoughby with his second wife, and they got into an argument. Willoughby shot his first wife while his second wife and her son Arvin looked on. The first wife survived, while the second wife ended up in a psychiatric hospital several years later. Arvin was sent to live with family in Nessus, Nevada. Greg realizes that the hospital fits the description of the recently renovated building they're looking for, while Langston connects the dots, realizing that Arvin Thorpe is the farmer from the previous episode, "Father of the Bride." Langston looks through the yearbooks from Nessus until he finds a picture of “Warner Thorpe," who is Haskell.

The team in Los Angeles goes to the psychiatric hospital where Willoughby’s second wife was sent. Haskell has been squatting here, and this is the source of the sand near Tina’s body. Catherine, Nick, and Sara go in with Det. Sosa, find bloody medical equipment, and think they’re going to find Gloria’s body underneath a sheet. However, they only uncover bags of sand with a sign on them that says “Made you look.”

Langston sneaks into the house on Arvin’s farm, which is located on the same property where the team previously discovered the bodies of several people killed by Tina Vincent. The floor is littered with more ticket stubs. He discovers Arvin bleeding on the floor, and he asks where the man’s son is, but Arvin dies before he can say anything about "Warner Thorpe." Langston finds Gloria shackled in the next room, and he tries to release her. Haskell walks in, points a gun at Langston, and says to him, "Welcome home, Ray."

TO BE CONTINUED flashes across the screen...

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

  • Bill Irwin as Nate Haskell
  • Elisabeth Harnois as Morgan Brody
  • Amanda Wyss as Tina Vincent
  • Danny Nucci as Det. Daniel Sosa
  • Raymond J. Barry as Arvin Thorpe
  • Tracee Ellis Ross as Gloria Parkes
  • Dean Norris as Phil Baker
  • Michael King as LAPD Officer Blake
  • Max Grodenchik as Pawnbroker
  • Terrence Edwards as LAPD Officer #2

Notes[]

  • David Berman (David Phillips) and Paul Guilfoyle (Brass) are credited but do not appear in this episode.
  • This episode marks Elisabeth Harnois' first appearance as CSI Morgan Brody.

See Also[]

CSI:Las Vegas Season 11
Shock WavesPool SharkBlood MoonSqweegelHouse of HoardersCold BloodedBump and GrindFrackedWild Life418/427Man UpA Kiss Before FryingThe Two Mrs. GrissomsAll That CremainsTargets of ObsessionTurn On, Tune In, Drop DeadThe ListHitting for the CycleUnleashedFather of the BrideCello and GoodbyeIn a Dark, Dark House


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