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Girls Gone Wild
Sara Sidle - S14 E10 Girls Gone Wild (1)
Season 14
Number 10
Writer Melissa R. Byer,
Treena Hancock
Director Alec Smight
Original Airdate November 27, 2013
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Previous Episode: Check In and Check Out
Next Episode: The Lost Reindeer

Girls Gone Wild is the tenth episode in Season Fourteen of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Synopsis[]

A spa weekend for Finn, Morgan and Sara turns into a murder investigation and missing persons case when Finn disappears, and the CSI team must piece together what happened in detail to find her.

Plot[]

Victims: Sara Sidle and Owen Gardner (both alive), Julie Finlay (alive—missing) Simon Willis (deceased)

On the case: D.B. Russell, Greg Sanders, Nick Stokes, Jim Brass

Morgan runs through the lab, finds Russell, and tells him that there's been a shooting. Sara called it in, and Finn is missing. On a stretch of highway in the desert, a deputy lies dead and the sheriff of the town of Larkston has been shot. Nick and Russell find a bloodied Sara sitting in the back of an ambulance; a bullet has grazed her forehead. The events apparently started 48 hours ago, and Sara says that Finn has been unreachable. Sara wonders if "he" went after Finn.

A bloodied Finn walks down another stretch of highway trying to flag down passing motorists. She unsuccessfully stops a car, but the driver soon pulls over and turns around. When the driver sees that it's Finn, he speeds up and hits her, leaving her bloodied in a roadside ditch.

Russell speaks to Deputy Maxine Lennox, notifying her about Finn's disappearance and the fact that she was investigating a case. Deputy Lennox remembers Finn and says that she lent the CSI her car a few hours ago; however, Finn never said where she was going. Russell has the deputy put out a broadcast on the car. Meanwhile, at the Larkston Police Department, Brass sits down with Sara. She starts by saying that Larkston was never part of the plan and that her, Finn and Morgan were going out for a girls' weekend.

Forty-eight hours earlier, Finn, Morgan and Sara finish up their shifts, thrilled that they all had the weekend off. Morgan invites her friends to a relaxing spa weekend in Reno, and they soon hit the road in Finn's car. On the way, however, the car breaks down. Mechanic Darryl Walsh tells the ladies that he won't be able to get the replacement water pump until the following day. The spa weekend is shot, but Darryl offers to drive them into the town of Larkston, where they can stay at a motel and sing karaoke at the local bar.

While Morgan sings on stage, Sara watches in awe and Finn dances with Darryl. The mechanic then buys the already inebriated women a round of shots, and Finn leaves with him shortly afterwards. Outside the motel next door, Finn and Darryl make out before the latter reveals that he's a married man. Finn rebuffs him, but Darryl becomes angered that he was led on all night, then quickly pushed aside. When Finn walks back to her room, Darryl runs up behind her, pins her against the door, and pulls out a knife. She fights him off and is able to eventually stab him twice in the abdomen. A bloodied Finn drops the knife, runs back to the bar, and tells Morgan and Sara what happened; however, when they get back to the motel, Darryl's body and the knife are gone. The only thing left is the pool of blood on the ground.

Finn tells Sara that she stabbed Darryl twice and dropped the knife beside his body. However, she didn't take his pulse, so it's quite possible the man is still alive. Morgan works to preserve the scene, while Sara follows a blood trail into the dirt. There are impressions of cowboy boots in the dirt, and Finn remembers that it's the type of footwear Darryl was wearing. Evidence shows that the wounded Darryl was on his feet when he left the scene, but another set of shoeprints indicates that there was someone helping him. The blood trail ends at a set of fresh tire marks, so Darryl and his helper left in a car.

When Larkston Sheriff Owen Gardner arrives, he accuses the women of tampering with the crime scene. The sheriff is under the impression that Finn has killed someone, and he quickly concludes that the three inebriated CSIs are sticking their noses where they don't belong. He also accuses them of dumping Darryl's body somewhere and covering it up by tampering with the evidence. Finn is later put under house arrest in the motel room and grilled by Sheriff Gardner again. She repeats the night's events, but the sheriff doesn't believe her, as Darryl is a friend of his who would never do something like this. The only person who believes Finn is Martin Kinney, the doctor who's tending to her wounds.

Morgan had photographed the scene, but was legally obligated to turn the photos over to the Larkston Police Department. However, the CSI smartly kept the photos on her phone and sent them to Greg back in the Vegas lab. Greg finds that the tires were manufactured in 2008 and belong to a Ford truck. He's also able to send Sara a list of everyone in Larkston who owns such a vehicle. In the bar, Sara relays the findings to Sheriff Gardner, who is still quite unpleased that the Vegas CSIs are working a scene in his town. Based on the evidence, Darryl is still alive, and someone helped him leave the scene; if they can find the truck, they may be able to find Darryl. Sheriff Gardner looks over the list of registered Ford owners and reveals that one of them is Valerie Irvin, Darryl's wife. As it turns out, Valerie left for Vegas that morning.

Valerie is located and brought in for questioning. She's not too upset about her husband's disappearance, as he always has a habit of showing up at some point. Greg tells her that someone picked Darryl up after he was stabbed, but she says it wasn't her, as she was working at the local diner all night before driving to Vegas. When Valerie's truck is searched, marijuana is found stuck to the floor mats. Darryl is running an under-the-radar hydroponic pot-growing operation.

Such an operation requires a lot of energy to run, and Hodges pulls up Larkston's power grid. A search of the area shows that, over the past year, a dilapidated barn registered to 85-year-old Edith Skinner was periodically using five times the amount of power a typical household would use. The normal/abnormal cycles match up with the amount of time it takes one to grow and harvest marijuana. It's discovered that, in addition to the marijuana, Darryl and Valerie were possibly running a chop shop, as there are several out-of-state cars in the barn. When Sara pops one of the cars' hoods, a mummified female body is found inside.

Dr. Kinney observes that the victim suffered blunt force trauma to the head and face, as well as a compound fracture to the right arm; the victim was beaten to death. There's no identification on the body, and Morgan spots a green residue on the victim's shoes. The trace didn't come from the car, however. Darryl seems to be temporarily off the hook, as there's no evidence that he was in the barn the night before. Furthermore, Valerie's alibi checks out, so she's not the one who picked her husband up. Valerie also claims that she had no idea what Darryl was doing, adding that he borrowed her truck frequently. This would explain the marijuana trace on the floor mats. Sara talks to Sheriff Gardner and asks him to release Finn from house arrest, as they could use another pair of eyes on the crime scene. She also requests that the sheriff and his deputy submit DNA samples, as per procedure.

Morgan took the samples and the mummified body back to the Vegas lab, as Dr. Kinney had limited experience in forensic pathology. Based on the temperature in the barn and the condition of the body, Doc Robbins guesses that the victim was killed less than a month ago. Narrow ligature marks on the victim's wrists indicate that she was restrained with string or wire, while circular wounds to the skull indicate she was hit repeatedly with a hammer. Because wisdom teeth are present, Doc Robbins guesses the victim is over 18 years old. He also finds something in her teeth that turns out to be a pubic hair, which suggests she was involved in sexual activity shortly before her death. Based on the restraints, the sex was likely not consensual. The hair still has its follicle attached, so DNA should be able to be retrieved.

Finn calls Russell, relaying that the victim is 23-year-old Brenda Whittaker from San Diego. She disappeared four months ago, was held against her will, and raped. It's also found that the other two cars in the barn belong to two young women who have been missing for over a year. Finn theorizes that the women ran into car trouble, stopped at Darryl's gas station/garage, and ended up being abducted, raped, and murdered by the mechanic. Brenda is the only body that's been found, so Darryl dumped the other two bodies somewhere else. Hodges calls Finn and tells her that the green substance from Brenda's shoe is green algae found in fresh water; however, the nearest large body of fresh water is over 150 miles away.

In the present, Finn is now missing. Nick and Russell check out the motel room she called from, finding her police-issued laptop on a table. With Russell's help, Nick gets into the password-protected laptop and brings up Finn's recent search history. They're puzzled by the most recent search for fresh bodies of water in the area. Russell spots an advertisement for the bar the ladies were at the other night; Finn has written the name "Gary" next to it. They discover that Gary is the bartender, and they ask him about Finn. Gary recalls her asking about bodies of water not on any maps, and he pointed her in the direction of a dried-up man-made lake 30 miles away at an abandoned campground. Nick notes that such a place would be a good spot for Darryl to hold women hostage or hide out himself.

Brass asks Sara how she got into a gunfight. She recalls that the deputy got a call that Darryl's car had been spotted on the side of the road, just off the interstate. She, Sheriff Gardner and Deputy Simon Willis search the car, but find it empty. The spot is on an active bus route, so Darryl could be long gone. Just then, Sara gets a call from Henry. DNA results on the semen recovered from Brenda's body come back to two contributors: Darryl and Deputy Willis. Sara hangs up, points her gun at Deputy Willis, and orders Sheriff Gardner to step away. When confronted, Deputy Willis shoots Sheriff Gardner, then fires at Sara. The bullet grazes Sara, but she's able to get off a shot, which hits Deputy Willis in the middle of his forehead. Sheriff Gardner survives, and his version of the facts matches Sara's; the CSI is off the hook.

Nick and Russell head to the abandoned campground. There, they find Deputy Lennox's car abandoned with the keys inside. The coil wires have been cut; Darryl wanted to make sure Finn couldn't leave. Russell spots blood inside the car, and he and Nick storm the cabin. Inside, they find an old mattress with a blood pool on it; this is definitely where Darryl held his victims hostage. Darryl's body is soon found; he's been shot in the chest with a bullet that matches the caliber Finn uses. Finn's broken cell phone is on the ground next to the body, and Darryl's rape kit is nearby. Nick finds an axe handle with blood on it and theorizes that Darryl used it to attack Finn. Based on the open rape kit and Finn's cell phone right next to it, he figures that she was documenting it when she was attacked. The CSI fought back, getting off three shots—the third of which hit Darryl square in the chest. Liquid around the blood pool indicates that the incident didn't happen too long ago, and Russell heads out to look for his colleague knowing that she's on foot. He soon comes across a broken taillight in the middle of the highway and finds Finn's bruised and bloodied body in the ditch nearby.

Finn is alive, but has suffered a ruptured spleen, two broken ribs, and a concussion. Her injuries are consistent with being hit by a car, but Russell notes that there were no skid marks at the scene. Someone intentionally hit her, and since Darryl and Deputy Willis are both dead, there's another suspect in play.

Morgan photographs Finn's injuries and finds a large, round bruise on her thigh. When the bruise is enhanced digitally, the initials "MMC" can be seen. Greg notes that the initials stand for the "Million Mile Club," which is when someone's car reaches the famed one million mile mark. The club gives out emblems the owners can put on their cars, and there's only one person in Larkston whose car has reached the milestone.

Nick sits down with Dr. Martin Kinney in the bar in Larkston. The doctor's car is parked out front, and it shows signs that it was in an accident recently. When accused of hitting Finn, Dr. Kinney claims that it was an accident; however, Nick reveals the truth. Dr. Kinney was trying to protect his secret—he was part of the "rape club" with Darryl and Deputy Willis. His DNA was found on used condoms in a trash can back at the cabin. The doctor admits to having sex with Brenda and the other girls, but says that he didn't kill her or hurt anyone. Nick, however, begs to differ, as holding someone against their will and raping them repeatedly is the definition of hurting another person. Dr. Kinney doesn't know where the other two victims are, as he says Darryl "took care of them." The doctor is arrested and hauled out of the bar.

Back at the hospital, Morgan and Sara visit Finn, gifting her a spa basket. They then ask her what the plans are for next weekend.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

  • Nico Evers-Swindell as Deputy Simon Willis
  • Patrick St. Espirit as Sheriff Owen Gardner
  • Luciana Faulhaber as Deputy Maxine Lennox
  • Kristoffer Polaha as Darryl Walsh
  • Gregory Cruz as Gary Decker
  • Garrett M. Brown as Dr. Martin Kinney
  • Erin Anderson as Valerie Irvin

Music[]

  • Bad Reputation by Joan Jett
  • Human Being by Cat Power

Notes[]

  • Jon Wellner (Henry) is credited but does not appear in the episode.

Trivia[]

  • The episode appears to be partly derived from the 1991 road buddy film Thelma & Louise.

See Also[]

CSI:Las Vegas Season 14
The Devil and D.B. RussellTake the Money and RunTorch SongLast SupperFrame by FramePassed PawnsUnder a CloudHelplessCheck In and Check OutGirls Gone WildLost ReindeerKeep Calm and Carry OnBoston BrakesDe Los MuertosLove for SaleKiller MovesLong Road HomeUninvitedThe FallenConsumedKittyDead In His Tracks


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