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Cockroaches
Cockroaches
Season 8
Number 9
Writer Dustin Lee Abraham
Director William Friedkin
Original Airdate December 6, 2007
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Previous Episode: You Kill Me
Next Episode: Lying Down With Dogs

Cockroaches is the ninth episode in Season Eight of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Synopsis[]

While the team investigates a murder related to an underground mafia, Warrick becomes increasingly unhinged as the result of some personal issues and eventually finds himself in a very dangerous position.

Plot[]

Victims: Jason Crewes and Brody Biggs (both deceased)

On the case: entire team

Officers on police bikes chase a garbage truck down a highway and into Las Vegas; garbage is spilling out the back the entire time. During the pursuit, the driver tosses a gun out the window and continues driving. After getting cornered, he crashes the truck, whereupon a dead body falls out of it. He gets out and tries to escape on foot before being hit by a car and killed.

Catherine and Greg are processing the scene when the victim's cell phone rings. Catherine answers it, gets no response, and sees the phone has no call history, meaning that it's probably a disposable phone. A visibly annoyed Grissom arrives; Warrick, who is supposed to be on the case, is M.I.A. Brass informs them that there's another dead body that flew from the garbage truck. David Phillips puts the garbage truck victim's time of death at nine to ten hours ago. Neither the victim nor the driver have any identification; furthermore, the truck's VIN number and plates aren't in the system. Greg notes that the sanitation company is the only one in Vegas; if either the victim or driver worked for the company, their prints could be on file. He offers to process the garbage trail, while Catherine will cover the dead driver. Grissom will handle the body from the truck.

Warrick pulls up; he's in the middle of an argument on the phone with his ex-wife Tina who is pregnant and he refuses to consider that he is the father. When she threatens to involve lawyers, Warrick hangs up and pops a pill. He arrives on the scene and apologies for his tardiness; Grissom tells him to process the truck.

In autopsy, David Phillips notices that the coveralls the driver was wearing are brand new. Doc Robbins tells Catherine that the driver's cause of death was blunt force trauma from getting hit by the car. The other victim, meanwhile, died via suffocation. White fibers in the nose and mouth came back as silk. There are postmortem wounds on the body caused by being compacted in the back of the truck.

Nick informs Grissom that the cell phone was untraceable. However, prints on the phone came back to former police officer Brody Biggs, who quit the force in 1980 after five perfect years of service. He then worked as a freelance mechanic in town for 20 years. The other victim from the back of the truck is identified as Jason Crewes, who worked at five different casinos over the last six years.

Catherine and Nick search Jason's house. There, Catherine comes across posters and VIP access cards for the hottest clubs in town. In the bedroom, she finds where Jason was killed; it appears he was suffocated with a pillow while he was in bed. At the station, Brass questions Jason's mother, Belinda. She doesn't recognize Brody from his photo; when told that Brody was a mechanic, she mentions that he could've worked on some of Jason's limos. Before being a club owner, Jason was a limo driver who quickly rose up the ranks until he was running the whole club scene.

Grissom and Warrick process the garbage truck and come across a lot of old newspapers and memorabilia from the 1980s. The truck has a blue license plate, which Grissom comments is also from the same decade. Furthermore, he finds evidence that the truck was originally painted orange, a color not used on garbage trucks since around the same time. Warrick comments that he believes the truck hadn't been driven since then; it also blew a hydraulic cylinder, which caused all of the garbage to fly out. Meanwhile, Greg finds the gun that Brody tossed from the driver's seat. In the lab, it's discovered that the gun contained "shorts"—smaller bullets that can be used in place of a silencer because there's less gunpowder and less noise. With this evidence, the team believes that Brody was a hitman, but they still need to find the guy who hired him.

The VIN number on the truck is traced back to a company that sold it to the Regal Sanitation Group, who shut down in 1983. Regal Sanitation was owned by mobster Anthony Pezullo; he earned the nickname "Whacko" for his love of whacking guys, before he got whacked himself the same year. Someone clearly put a hit out on Jason, but it couldn't have been Anthony. Archie informs Warrick that Anthony's wife Kate got rid of Regal Sanitation after Anthony died; an old photo of her with Anthony reveals her to be Belinda Crewes.

Under interrogation, Belinda tells Brass that the feds told her to forget she had the Pezullo name. She went into witness protection, but stayed in Vegas because she was told she would be safer there. Belinda denies that her son had mob ties, as Anthony died when Jason was just three years old. Brass shows her an old photo of Brody in his police uniform; she recognizes Brody as "BB" and says that he and Jason were friends. Brass tells her that Brody was driving the truck with her son's body in the back, something friends don't do. She says that she hasn't seen Brody in 23 years and tells Brass that she sold all of the trucks from the business to mobster Lou Gedda, the owner of the Pigalle Boulevard Strip Club. Brody and Gedda were both on Anthony's crew. Belinda says that she hasn't had any contact with Gedda since Anthony died. The two had an agreement that Gedda was to stay away from Belinda and Jason and forget they ever existed—an agreement that Gedda clearly violated.

Warrick and Brass visit Pigalle. Outside, Warrick notices a homeless man smoking a cigarette in the shadows. Inside, they head to Gedda's office; before they enter, Warrick notices a dark-haired girl in a lacy bra heading into the back room. They speak with Gedda, who admits to knowing both Brody and Jason; Jason brought celebrities to the club in his limos. During the conversation, Warrick notices a barber's chair in the office. When told that Jason's body flew out of a garbage truck that he owns, Gedda says that he's making a ton of money with the club and doesn't mess around with trash anymore. Before any more questions can be asked, Gedda lawyers up.

Warrick search Jason's laptop and finds evidence that he drove Hollywood manager Michael Raykirk to Pigalle. Jason helped hook up a VIP-style bachelor party for Michael and some of his friends. When the bill came at the end of the night and the group was overcharged, Michael told Gedda that he refused to pay. Gedda took him up to his office, beat him up, and tied him to his barber's chair. There, he mutilated Michael's privates with a straight-edge razor. Michael was left with numerous injuries and bruises underneath his arms; however, he didn't press charges due to Gedda's reputation. Jason heard about the incident, called Gedda, and cursed him out, telling him that he would stop taking clients to Pigalle.

Greg test fires the gun from the garbage truck and finds that it was used in an unsolved murder in 1993 where the victim's car was found at Pigalle. Warrick talks things over with Grissom and believes that the hitman works for Gedda. Because Jason had dissed Gedda and cost him money, Gedda had motive to put a hit out on Jason. Warrick also found numerous crimes linked to Pigalle over the years; each time, the victims refused to file charges and the witnesses refused to give statements. Because the cops lost interest in pursuing the crimes, Warrick believes that Gedda is running an extortion racket with cops on the payroll.

Warrick visits Pigalle during the day to look for evidence. After he gets out of his car, he notices the same homeless man from before standing outside of the club. Nearby, someone is hosing down the back of a truck. Warrick eventually chases down the homeless man, telling him that he just wants to talk. The man admits that he's seen troublemakers get beaten up and "hauled off." Warrick makes his way to the garbage area and finds evidence of something (or someone) having been recently burned in the incinerator. Gedda appears with his bodyguards and tells Warrick that, without a warrant, he's trespassing.

Nick walks by the layout room while Warrick is going over the evidence in the case. He watches Warrick pop a pill. When Nick enters and confronts him, Warrick admits to taking uppers and downers. Nick throws the uppers away telling Warrick that he cares about his friend. After a brief heated exchange, Warrick shows Nick evidence from several cases; in each case, the victim had bruise patterns underneath their arms from being tied to the barber's chair. The two agree that this should be enough for a warrant, but Brass informs Warrick that the judge has turned him down. It's quite likely that the judge is just one of many who have been paid to look the other way. Brass advises Warrick to go to Undersheriff McKeen. Warrick does so angrily; after an argument in the hallway, Warrick is again denied. McKeen calls Grissom over and tells them that they need more evidence. Warrick accuses McKeen of being paid by Gedda under the table which results in Grissom giving him the rest of the night off.

Warrick visits Pigalle again, this time at night. As he takes surveillance photos, he seems the same dark haired girl from earlier dragging something to her car. The girl shows Warrick that the bag contains things from her locker. He apologizes and helps her load the bag into the trunk of her car. Now in the club, Warrick orders three expensive bottles of champagne while Gedda watches above from his office. He then confronts the girl again and apologizes for earlier. She introduces herself as Candy, and Warrick tells her that he wants "everything."

During the evening, Grissom stops by, knowing that Warrick would be there since he had been there twice already that day. Warrick reveals that his plan is to order expensive drinks and refuse to pay in order to see what Gedda would do to him. Grissom replies that Gedda isn't that stupid. Sure enough, when the bill comes, it reads that it's on the house. Grissom tells Warrick that he has to pay the bill now, as cops aren't allowed to take bribes. He escorts a drunk Warrick out of the club and into a taxi, telling him to see him in his office the next day.

Warrick arrives back at the club some time later and sees Candy leaving and getting into another taxi. He tells his driver to follow the car, which leads them to a bar. There, Warrick questions Candy (whose real name is Joanna) about Gedda's club and operation. She admits to seeing unruly patrons get beaten up and remembers hearing about a barber's chair, but she can't provide more information. As their evening progresses, the two have sex, with Warrick high as a kite and hallucinating things.

Warrick awakens later and finds Candy gone. He takes a taxi back to Pigalle and is still in a woozy state. When he arrives back at the club, the parking lot is swarming with police cars. Warrick stumbles forward, and when he tries to cross the police tape, Grissom tells him he can't. His car is evidence, and Candy's body is draped and lying out the rear car door; her throat has been slashed and bloodied. Warrick screams that she didn't do anything.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

Music[]

  • Highway Star by Deep Purple

Major Events[]

  • Warrick's interest in the club grows strong and has major implications to his character.

Notes[]

  • Wallace Langham (Hodges) is credited but does not appear in this episode.
  • This episode marks the first appearance of Lou Gedda, portrayed by John Capodice.
  • Warrick was taking sleeping pills, which was mentioned in the episode Goodbye and Good Luck.
  • Warrick mentions running for bets for Judge Cohen, something he did in the first few episodes of the series.
  • Among the items in Jason Crewes' residence is a photo signed by former "Kitty" Pippa Sanchez. Pippa was a suspect in the murder of Hux magazine founder Hampton Huxley in the episode A La Cart.

Trivia[]

  • Beth Broderick played Belinda Crewes. Her most recognizable role is that of Zelda Spellman on the 90s sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

See Also[]

CSI:Las Vegas Season 8
Dead DollA La CartGo to HellThe Case of the Cross-Dressing Carp The Chick Chop Flick ShopWho and WhatWhere and WhyGoodbye and Good LuckYou Kill MeCockroachesLying Down With DogsBullGrissom's Divine ComedyA Thousand Days On EarthDrops OutThe Theory of EverythingTwo And A Half DeathsFor Gedda
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