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Homebodies
Homebodies
Season 4
Number 3
Writer Sarah Goldfinger,
Naren Shankar
Director Kenneth Fink
Original Airdate October 9, 2003
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Previous Episode: All For Our Country
Next Episode: Feeling the Heat

Homebodies is the third episode in Season Four of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Synopsis[]

Grissom and Warrick investigate when the mummified remains of an old woman are found in a closet. This case soon turns out to be connected to Sara and Nick's case: a breaking and entering that involved the rape of a teenage girl. Meanwhile, Catherine tries to connect a weapon found in a backyard to a murder that took place on the other side of town.

Plot[]

Victim: Madeline Foster (deceased)

On the case: Gil Grissom, Warrick Brown

and

Victim: Suzanna Kirkwood (alive)

On the case: Nick Stokes, Sara Sidle

Two guys break into a house, as one of the guys heard that the owner was loaded. However, the house looks like it has already been ransacked. When they see a chair pushed up against a doorknob, they know that something isn't right. They hear police sirens and, as they leave the house, they're surrounded by a large number of police cars and officers.

Inside the house, Grissom observes the chair up against the doorknob. Before moving the chair, he and Warrick dust it and the surrounding areas for prints. Warrick finds nothing but smudges on the arm of the chair. They eventually move the chair and Grissom is able to get a partial print from the doorknob. Grissom opens the door and they find the mummified body of Madeline Foster inside. Warrick finds at least four weeks of mail piled up by the front door, while Grissom observes scratch marks by the door frame. Combined with the splinters found under Madeline's nails, they conclude that she was alive when she was locked in the closet and tried to claw her way out.

Brass speaks to one of the intruders, who reiterates that he heard Madeline had a lot of money—she was always seen going out to dinner and coming home with shopping bags. He had heard that she kept a box of insurance money under her bed. The intruder tells Brass that he and his partner didn't touch anything in the house after they entered it.

In the kitchen, Warrick finds a tea set with a partially bitten piece of chocolate cake next to it. The container on the cake box says that it's from Lavish Café. Grissom tells him to take the cake back to the lab; hopefully, if Madeline didn't bite it, the killer did and left a bite mark behind. Grissom enters the closet Madeline was found in and closes the door, trying to put himself in her mindset. He notices that the light bulb in the closet has burned out. A flashback shows Madeline being shoved into the closet. She turned the light on and frantically tried to get out, but eventually failed to do so. Over time, the light bulb burned out.

In autopsy, Doc Robbins tells Grissom that Madeline suffered no bullet wounds or stab wounds; she died from dehydration. Grissom wonders if the person who locked her in the closet didn't intend to kill her, hoping someone would find her. Madeline's only relative is a nephew, who Brass is out looking for. Doc Robbins removes Madeline's dentures and cuts off one of her fingers in order for Grissom to test the bite mark and fingerprint found earlier.

Madeline's nephew, Connor, comes to the morgue to identify the body. Brass finds this odd since they don't need an identification. As Connor freaks out over seeing his aunt's decomposed body, Grissom and Brass note that Connor is high. They decide to interview Connor, and Brass reveals that Madeline had a pearl necklace stolen two years ago that Connor was caught trying to sell. Connor says that those charges were dropped. When Brass tells Connor that Madeline was locked in a closet for a month, he says he never really called his aunt and he only had dinner with her on holidays. Grissom wonders if Connor gets the "munchies" when he's high and asks him for a dental impression.

Meanwhile, Nick, Sara and a uniformed officer visit the Kirkwood residence. Michael Kirkwood opens the door and says that there was a misunderstanding—his daughter, Suzanna, had friends over without his permission. Suzanna is seen in the background visibly shaken. Michael says that there was drinking and some windows were broken; however, he has everything under control. They leave the residence. As Nick banters with the officer, Sara gets in the car. When she looks in the rear view mirror, she sees Suzanna, who tells her that she needs to go the hospital.

In the hospital. Suzanna insists that it was a party that got out of control; however, she wants an AIDS test and a morning after pill. Sara notices bruise marks and bite marks on Suzanna's shoulder before Suzanna has her leave the room for the exam. Since Suzanna isn't talking, Sara asks the doctor to take full-body photographs.

Nick and Sara revisit the Kirkwood residence and speak to Michael again. They want a list of all the kids that were in the house the night of the incident. When Sara tells the Kirkwoods that Suzanna was raped, Michael doesn't believe her or his daughter. Nick notices red splotches on Michael's knuckles and asks to search the premises. Michael refuses, but Sara presents a warrant. They search the beds in the house for semen stains, but come up empty.

On the dresser in the master bedroom, Nick sees a few photos of Suzanna that are cracked. He also finds a chip in a table and jiggles the closet doorknob, which is incredibly loose. Nick dusts the table for prints, finds a usable one, and lifts it. He then picks the table up, flips it, and wedges it under the doorknob. It fits. Having a bad feeling, Nick slowly opens the closet door. The closet is a mess, and he finds bloody marks around an air vent.

Grissom, Nick, Sara and Warrick get together and look at a table full of photos from both crime scenes. While they're all not certain the crimes are related, Nick says that they have the same M.O.—a piece of furniture shoved under the doorknob and the victims left alive (with Madeline's death seeming like an accident). Grissom and Sara think Suzanna's rape was a crime of opportunity. Warrick questions why someone would rob a house with the occupants inside, and Grissom replies there's one reason to do so: the infliction of terror.

Grissom makes a mold of the bite mark found in the chocolate cake, while Sara traces the bite mark found on Suzanna's neck. They come to the conclusion that, based on the patterns, the bites are from the same person. Meanwhile, Jacqui Franco has combined the the prints found at both crime scenes and found a hit through AFIS—Steve Jansson.

In interrogation, Sara and Brass question Steve. He admits to working odd jobs for both Madeline and the Kirkwoods, and encourages Brass to ask them. Sara has him bite down on a mold. Later, Grissom tells Brass that the bite mark on Suzanna's shoulder is consistent with the bite mold they took of Steve's teeth. "Consistent, but not conclusive," Brass warns. He tells Grissom that Michael Kirkwood couldn't confirm or deny Steve's handyman story. Sara and Greg interrupt—the semen from Suzanna's rape kit didn't match Steve. It seems that Suzanna was gang-raped. Sara guesses that Steve will never roll over on his partner, and the duo hasn't been prevented from terrorizing someone else.

Grissom visits the Kirkwood residence again. Suzanna answers the door, but is quickly ushered aside by her father. Michael tells Grissom that he's told the police everything and that he can't help him. Grissom continues to try to get Michael to open up, telling him there was another victim. Michael shows no empathy for Madeline Foster and questions whether Grissom has a family. When Grissom replies that he doesn't, Michael says that he can't possibly understand the situation; otherwise, he wouldn't be there. Michael ends the conversation and slams the door on Grissom.

Nick, Sara and Warrick go through everything in the Kirkwood's trash and Warrick notices a takeout bag from Lavish Café—the same place Madeline Foster bought her chocolate cake from. The receipt in the bag indicates that Linda Kirkwood ate alone on the same night as the home invasion. Both Linda and Madeline ate alone, which would seem to have made them easy targets. The back of the receipt is signed by Ryan, her server.

Grissom, Warrick and Brass visit Lavish Café and talk to Ryan. He recognizes both Madeline and Linda from their photos and says they often came into the restaurant and ate alone. Linda came in alone every Thursday while Suzanna was at soccer practice. Ryan has an alibi for the night of the home invasion—he was best man at his friend's wedding. They all doubt that Ryan was hanging out and committing crimes with someone like Steve, but they think that one of his coworkers could've been.

Grissom, Nick, Sara and Warrick look over the information on all of the employees from the café. They see a commonality between Steve and another worker named Kelly James. Kelly not only went to the same high school as Steve, but also went to the same juvenile detention center. Grissom notes that this isn't enough to get DNA, but it's a start. Nick offers to find out where Kelly was the night of the home invasion. Just then, Grissom's pager beeps.

Suzanna has volunteered to come down to the station to look at a police lineup. Grissom apologizes to her father, telling him he misunderstood him the other day. It wasn't that Michael wouldn't help the police, it's that he couldn't. He never got a good look at the intruders. Michael tells Grissom that he had gone over a plan in his head a thousand times in case there was ever a home invasion. However, when there was one, he froze up. Grissom tells Michael that he did nothing wrong.

Suzanna is told that nobody on the other side of the glass can see her; however, she already knows the perpetrator can identify her. While looking at the police lineup, Suzanna reacts when she sees Kelly James step forward. However, she freezes up and doesn't write his number down. Brass tells Grissom that have enough to nail Steve Jansson, but unless Suzanna writes the number down, they can't hold Kelly in custody.

Grissom is looking over his notes and listening to classical music when Brass interrupts and grimly tells him to grab his kit. They head back to the Kirkwood residence, where Suzanna has been killed in the driveway. Sara, already on the scene, silently walks by Grissom and Brass and sits in the police car, shedding a tear. Grissom puts his rubber gloves on and starts to process the scene as Michael and Linda Kirkwood look on.

Victim: Frank Maddox (deceased)

On the case: Catherine Willows, Ray O'Riley

Catherine is called to a house where a five-year-old boy found a gun, fired it, and dropped it to the ground. She notices something red inside the trigger guard and is able to pull it out to closer observe it. Catherine talks to Emily Timmel and her son, Nathan. Emily says that the gun doesn't belong to anyone in the house. Nathan says his imaginary friend, Seymour, found the gun in a flower bed in the backyard.

Catherine takes the gun to Rich the ballistics expert, who identifies it as a .32 Beretta Tomcat. He notes that there aren't that many of this gun in circulation. Rich fires two test bullets and runs one of them through the system. The bullet matches one found in a case that Warrick investigated the week before; the victim was 47-year-old Frank Maddox. She goes over the case with Warrick—Frank was a professional bounty hunter who died from a single bullet wound to his head. He had perimortem bruising around his face and chest that were determined to have occurred a full day before death. Frank was shot at a downward angle, and the shot was close range and non-contact.

Catherine and Detective O'Riley head to Maslow Park, a place where shady things go on after dark. They have evidence that Frank was at the park at 2:00 AM, likely to bring in one of his skips for reward money. A flashback shows Frank looking through night-vision binoculars when someone came up from behind and shot him in the back of the head. They're still perplexed as to how the gun got across town and into the hands of a little boy.

In the A/V lab, Catherine is watching a recent TV interview where Frank is emphatically telling a reporter that he will bring someone named Terrango to justice. Catherine reveals to a curious Warrick that Frank failed; Terrango killed two more people before being apprehended. She wonders if Frank committed suicide because he had failed at what he was supposedly good at. Warrick doesn't think so, as the angle of the gunshot wound is consistent with murder. However, Catherine notes that in the crime scene photo, Frank's sleeve was unbuttoned and covering his hand. This might explain why there were no prints on the gun. She tells Warrick that the material found in the gun was ribbon. Coming to a realization, she quickly leaves the room. She weighs the gun, then separately weighs another material of the same weight.

Catherine goes back to the park and talks to a balloon vendor. The vendor recognizes Frank from his photo and says he bought four red balloons a few days back. Catherine buys four balloons, as well, to conduct an experiment. She takes the bag of material that is equal to the weight of the gun and ties it to the balloons. She then lets the balloons go and smiles as she watches them float away.

Catherine takes Warrick to the Timmel's house and explains what happened. Frank, on his way down after failing to capture Terrango, tied the gun to the balloons he bought and shot himself in the back of the head. As he died, he let go of the balloons and they floated away. The balloons floated across town and eventually popped while flying over the Timmel's yard. The gun essentially fell from the sky and Nathan picked it up.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

  • Paul Francis as Rich
  • Romy Rosemont as Jacqui Franco
  • Skip O'Brien as Detective Ray O'Riley
  • David Berman as David Phillips
  • Stephen Root as Michael Kirkwood
  • Jeanette Brox as Suzanna Kirkwood
  • M.C. Gainey as Frank Maddox
  • Vince Vieluf as Connor Foster
  • Thomas Wilson Brown as Steve Jansson
  • Ron Melendez as Ryan
  • Zachary Throne as Balloon Vendor
  • Noah Segan as Kelly James
  • Candace Edwards as Medical Examiner
  • Mia Wesley as Emily Timmel
  • Lois Hall as Madeline Foster
  • Francis Capra as Tough Punk
  • Bill Jacobson as Deputy Irons
  • Brandon Kirsch as Officer Almada
  • Keith Pillow as Public Defender
  • Christine Romeo as Linda Kirkwood
  • Barry Sigismondi as Uniform Cop #1
  • Ross Simanteris as Nathan Timmel
  • Tom Towles as Zeke (uncredited)
  • Rhys Coiro (uncredited)

Major Events[]

  • This episode marks the final appearance of Detective Ray O'Riley. It is revealed in 'The Fallen' that Detective Ray O'Riley died off-screen sometime in 2003.

Music[]

  • I Went to the Villa by Simon J. Hunter
  • I Know You Are But What Am I? by Mogwai

Trivia[]

  • Vince Vieluf played Connor Foster in this episode. He also appeared in the Season 7 episode Ending Happy as the same character, and the Season 9 episode Disarmed and Dangerous, where he played a different character.
  • Noah Segan is incorrectly credited for the role of Kelly James. In reality, Noah Segan played one of the burglars and Kelly James was played by Rhys Coiro.

See Also[]

CSI:Las Vegas Season 4
Assume NothingAll For Our CountryHomebodiesFeeling the HeatFur and LoathingJackpotInvisible EvidenceAfter the ShowGrissom Versus the VolcanoComing of RageEleven Angry JurorsButterfliedSuckersPaper or PlasticEarly RolloutGetting OffXXBad To The BoneBad WordsDead RingerTurn of the ScrewsNo More BetsBloodlines
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