Spellbound | |
Season | 6 |
Number | 19 |
Writer | Jacqueline Hoyt |
Director | Jeffrey Hunt |
Original Airdate | April 9, 2006 |
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Previous Episode: The Unusual Suspect | |
Next Episode: Poppin' Tags |
Spellbound is the nineteenth episode in Season Six of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Synopsis[]
When a psychic is found dead in her own shop, the evidence leads Greg to believe she foresaw her own death. Greg also reveals a family secret as a form of aid to Grissom in solving the case, but Grissom firmly adheres to using his scientific methods to find out what happened. Meanwhile, Detective Packey Jameson, an old friend of Brass, links the case to one he worked on years ago in which the victim was involved and persuades the CSIs to help him revive his old case.
Plot[]
Victim: Sedona Wiley (deceased)
On the case: Gil Grissom, Greg Sanders, Warrick Brown, Jim Brass, Sam Vega
Two girls, Anna Leah and Lori, visit the Sixth Sense Occult Shop to get a reading from psychic Sedona Wiley. The reading suddenly turns dark, as Sedona tells them that she sees blood, the name "Ray B.," a rodeo, and a one-armed cactus that's not in the ground. The girls, a little freaked, attempt to leave the shop, but are warned that they're in danger. After they leave, they're almost hit by a car in the street; one of the girls calls the driver a jerk and slaps the hood of his car.
Grissom arrives on the scene and talks to the two girls; one of them went in to retrieve the sunglasses she forgot and found Sedona dead. Inside the shop, Grissom is surprised to see Greg instead of Warrick, whom he paged. Greg explains to him that he has an expertise in the occult and traded days with Warrick. David Phillips says that Sedona was shot once through-and-through and that her liver temperature is an unusual 98 degrees, which means he can't give an accurate time of death. Lividity also suggests that the body wasn't moved.
The killer trashed the shop, and there are broken jars and bottles everywhere. Greg finds a few blood drops that are separate from Sedona's blood pool and wonders if the killer cut himself while destroying the items. The cash register is empty and Greg hypothesizes that they could be looking at a robbery gone bad. He also tells Grissom that, based on the bullet's trajectory, the killer fired the shot from the front of the store. Grissom wanders into the back room and finds a book on the table labeled "Death." He also finds Sedona's wallet, which contains credit cards and cash, seemingly ruling out robbery. They play back the tape of Sedona's reading and hear the odd clues she gave the two girls. Greg sees a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses on the table and connects them with "Ray B." As he walks back into the front of the shop, he sees a partially obscured neon cactus across the street and two broken jars on the ground whose labels spell out "Rhode" and "Laeo"—or "Rodeo." Greg believes that Sedona foresaw her own death, but Grissom is a little pessimistic.
In autopsy, Doc Robbins tells Grissom that Sedona died from exsanguination, bleeding out when the bullet clipped her aorta. He found trace amounts of a white powder in her nostrils that could be cocaine and sent a sample to Hodges. Back in the shop, Greg processes the cash register and lifts several prints from it. He also finds gold flakes in the drawer.
The bullet extracted from the shop is consistent with a Smith & Wesson; however, there are no hits in IBIS. Grissom informs Warrick that he's still working the case despite trading days with Greg. Mandy tells them that all of the prints lifted from the cash register were Sedona's except for two, which belong to a Reese Bingham. When interrogated, Reese tells Warrick and Brass that he works at a vegetarian restaurant next door to the occult shop and would frequently bring Sedona food that she ordered. They had a standing agreement that he would take money from the register, as she was always busy doing something else. When asked where he was the night of Sedona's murder, Reese says that he was at a strip club spending his time with a girl he called 'Star' because of the stars tattooed on her hips.
Retired detective Packey Jameson visits Brass asking about Sedona's case. He tells Brass that he visited Sedona a few weeks ago hoping to get new information regarding the 15-year-old cold case of the murder of Claire Wallace. Despite believing that Claire was killed by her husband Gordon, a former cop, he never had enough evidence to put him away. However, Sedona apparently knew things about the case that nobody else did, telling Packey that Gordon killed Claire and that her body was buried in Summerlin. During his last interrogation of Gordon, Packey got a rise out of him when he repeated what Sedona had told him. He feels that Gordon killed Sedona because he was afraid that she would eventually lead Packey to the body. Packey swears that he never mentioned Sedona's name when questioning Gordon, meaning there may not be a connection between the two. However, he wants the lab to run Gordon's prints against any found at the occult shop.
Greg and Warrick visit the strip club and are directed to "Star," whose real name is Tammy. She confirms that Reese was there the night of Sedona's murder and even waited for her in the parking lot after she was finished with her shift.
Grissom is reviewing Claire Wallace's case file when Catherine walks into his office. She remembers the case and says that she heard that Packey dug 30 holes in the desert looking for Claire's body; Grissom corrects her and says that it was actually 37. Claire and Gordon also had marital problems, as their fights were apparently the stuff of legend. Packey's report in the case file indicates that Claire was going to leave her husband for another man. After Catherine leaves for her vacation, Grissom hands Mandy a card with Gordon's prints. Mandy tells him that since the prints are LVPD, she'll have to compare the prints manually, which will take more time.
Henry tells Greg that the white powder found in Sedona's nostrils was atropine, which comes from belladonna, a plant. Greg remembers that Sedona had a broken jar of belladonna in her shop, and Henry says that she didn't have enough in her system to kill her; however, it could cause the elevated temperature and it would've made her sick had she not been shot. He then tracks down Wendy, who tells him that the blood drops found by the cash register don't belong to Sedona; in fact, they're male. Greg realizes that the killer likely had cuts from breaking the jars in the shop and that the belladonna could've gotten into his bloodstream. He tells Wendy that he needs to check the hospitals.
A search of the hospitals finds that a Damon Mitchell was admitted after crashing his car onto a highway median ten blocks from the crime scene. His blood tested positive for atropine and he has a cut on his hand that the doctor swabbed and saved. Det. Vega tries to question Damon, but he's still to high to give coherent responses.
Grissom and Brass watch the video interrogation of Gordon Wallace and see that he reacts when Packey mentions Summerlin. Mandy interrupts and tells them that Gordon's prints were on the inside of the shop's door handle, placing him at the scene. Packey's prints were found on the table where Sedona gave her readings, which confirms Packey's story. However, his prints were also found on the broken jars that were behind the counter. Grissom wonders why Packey would be back there, and Brass asks why he would want to kill Sedona.
Greg fills Grissom in about Damon Mitchell, adding that his prints matched the latent ones at the scene and that he worked at the National Rodeo Finals last year. He believes Damon is their guy and that the case is a slam dunk; naturally, Grissom keeps the more level head of the two and tells Greg that they have another suspect to look into.
Brass speaks privately with Packey, who isn't too happy that he's now considered a suspect. When asked about his prints being on jars behind the counter, Packey says that he questioned Sedona because her lingo made it seem like she was on drugs. He was instead given a lesson in alchemy and was given some of Sedona's items to hold in his hand.
A now coherent Damon is interrogated by Greg and Det. Vega. He admits to being in the shop the night Sedona was murdered in order to confront her about conning his wife. Damon's wife constantly paid Sedona for psychic readings, and one of her readings said that Damon was cheating on her. When Damon went to confront her about the con, Sedona asked for $5,000 in cash in order to read a more favorable future for his wife. An irate Damon then trashed the store, went around the corner to the liquor store, and eventually ended up in the hospital. He claims that he doesn't own a gun and that Sedona was alive when he left the shop at 9:30 PM.
Greg tells Warrick that the cops only found a full bottle of bourbon in Damon's car, meaning that he could've ditched his gun or the stolen money. Warrick questions why Damon would get rid of the money if Sedona had taken most of it from his wife. Hodges interrupts and tells them that the gold flecks in the cash register were iron pyrite, or "fool's gold." Iron pyrite, he says, is also known as "prosperity dust," so it could've been put in the register for good luck.
Grissom and Brass speak with Gordon Wallace, who is now working as a crewmember for singer Joslynn Raines. When asked where he was the night Sedona was killed, Gordon says that he was with the crew until 10 PM, went to pick his brother up at the airport, and came back to the concert. He admits to being in the occult shop earlier in the week because Joslynn wanted to buy a love potion. Joslynn confirms this and says that Gordon was in the shop with her. While Gordon is talking, Grissom notices pieces of broken glass in his shoe. After they leave, Grissom tells Brass that broken glass isn't enough to tie Gordon to the murder and that he admitted to being in the shop, which accounts for his prints. Grissom remarks that Gordon would only kill Sedona if he also killed his wife.
Greg and Warrick lay out a map of the Vegas area, and Packey shows them where he dug holes. Most of the holes, he explains, were dug near a house Gordon owned in Sunrise Manor, as well as some by Gordon's siblings houses in Henderson. However, Packey believes Gordon would have no reason to go to Summerlin, as he had only worked the area for a few years and it was far away from his comfort zone. Warrick hands Gordon's work log over to Packey and says that they should focus on any remote locations; Packey identifies three, including illegal dumping at an abandoned septic tank.
The CSIs head to Summerlin with Packey in tow and are able to locate and eventually dig up the septic tank. When the lid is dragged off the tank, they find a wrapped body at the bottom. Greg climbs down and unwraps a skull. After all of the bones are retrieved, Greg is sent down to collect another bone sticking out of the dirt. It appears to be a rib bone, but Grissom notes that it's too small to belong to a human. When a small skeleton is unearthed, Packey remarks that Claire did have a dog named "Sneakers" who she took everywhere with her. There's wire wrapped around the neck; Packey assumes that Gordon killed the dog to help corroborate his story about Claire running off. As Greg wipes away more dirt, he finds a metal contraption with two wheels.
In autopsy, Doc Robbins tells Grissom that the body was in the tank too long to get DNA off of it, but the features are consistent with Claire. Dental records will be impossible, as all of the teeth have been knocked out of the mouth. Additionally, the skull has three separate and distinct fractures in it. The doc marks the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the skull.
Greg and Warrick lay out the non-human bones as they wait for the forensic vet to arrive. Warrick examines the metal contraption and believes it to be a wheelchair fit for a dog. This, combined with the fact that the hind femur bones have been cut, lead him to believe the dog was an amputee. If Sneakers was a handicapped dog, identifying him just became a lot easier.
Identifying the dog will go a long way in identifying Claire's body; however, Brass still believes they don't have enough to arrest Gordon for his wife's murder. The focus is put back on Sedona Wiley's murder, and Grissom remembers that she was trying to extort money from Damon Mitchell—perhaps she tried to do the same with Gordon.
Archie goes through Sedona's phone records and finds that she called Gordon three separate times in the last week or so. She had also called him four days before she was murdered, possibly to up her extortion price.
Brass tells Grissom that he remembered a previously minor detail from earlier in the case—a car almost hit Anna Leah and Lori as they exited the shop, and Anna Leah slapped her hand on the car's hood. When questioned at the station, Anna Leah confirms this and Greg prints her palm. Lori remembers that the car was red, as she was freaked after Sedona mentioned "blood red" in her reading.
Outside the concert venue, Greg tape lifts the palm print from Gordon's red car. Grissom visually compares the print with Anna Leah's and sees that it's a match. Gordon arrives and chastises Packey for continuously following up on Claire's case. As part of the warrant, Grissom asks for Gordon's shoes and his wallet. Despite Gordon saying he never made any purchases in the shop, Grissom finds some $100 bills with gold flecks on them in the wallet. A flashback shows Gordon shooting Sedona and stealing the money from the register to make it look like a robbery. As Gordon is arrested, Packey happily reads him his rights. They might not have gotten Gordon for murdering his wife, but they got him for Sedona's murder.
In Grissom's office, Greg mentions to Grissom that it was eerie that Sedona foresaw her own death. Grissom is cynical, and Greg says that you can have beliefs and still be a scientist. The problem, Grissom replies, is when people mistake their beliefs for the science. He opens Sedona's book about Death and show Greg a passage regarding "Summerland"—a mystical place pagans believe a soul goes to rest before it reincarnates. Sedona had said in her reading to Packey that Claire's body was "in Summerland," not "buried in Summerlin." However, Packey heard "Summerlin" because he was desperate to find Claire's body. When he relayed this information to Gordon, Gordon assumed that Sedona was the real deal. "The power of suggestion," Greg says to Grissom, who raises his eyebrow in thought.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- William Petersen as Gil Grissom
- Marg Helgenberger as Catherine Willows
- Gary Dourdan as Warrick Brown
- George Eads as Nick Stokes (credit only)
- Jorja Fox as Sara Sidle (credit only)
- Eric Szmanda as Greg Sanders
- Robert David Hall as Dr. Al Robbins
- Paul Guilfoyle as Jim Brass
Guest Cast[]
- Wallace Langham as David Hodges
- Liz Vassey as Wendy Simms
- Archie Kao as Archie Johnson
- Sheeri Rappaport as Mandy Webster
- Geoffrey Rivas as Detective Sam Vega
- David Berman as David Phillips
- Micheal Bryan French as Dr. Franks
- Jon Wellner as Henry Andrews
- Larry M. Mitchell as Officer Mitchell
- Joseph Lyle Taylor as Damon Mitchell
- John Mese as Gordon Wallace
- Jennifer Grant as Sedona Wiley
- Eric Jungmann as Reese Bingham
- Keri Lynn Pratt as Anna Leah
- Shonda Farr as Lori
- T. Lopez as Joslynn Raines
- Angela Little as Tammy
- Dan Lauria as Det. Packey Jameson
Music[]
- Cutt Off by Kasabian
Goofs[]
- When the CSIs found the body of Claire Wallace in a desert, the skull was facing upright. After a few camera shots, the skull was now slanted.
Notes[]
- George Eads (Nick) and Jorja Fox (Sara) are credited but do not appear in this episode.
- Brass reintroduces Grissom to Anna Leah and Lori, the two girls who were in the occult shop, and reminds him that they stole a car and found a head in a trunk a few years back. This occurred in the Season One episode Evaluation Day.
- The previous case (the death of Claire Wallace) that Det. Packey Jameson is investigating was not featured in a previous CSI episode.
Trivia[]
- The episode bears striking similarity to the Dario Argento giallo film Deep Red, where a psychic is murdered to try and hide the killer's guilt from the murder of their spouse who went missing.
- Dan Lauria played Det. Packey Jameson in this episode. He's perhaps most recognizable for his role as Jack Arnold in the hit TV show The Wonder Years.
See Also[]
- List of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episodes
- CSI:Crime Scene Investigation Season 6
- Category:Images from Spellbound
CSI:Las Vegas Season 6 | ||
Bodies in Motion • Room Service • Bite Me • Shooting Stars • Gum Drops • Secrets and Flies • A Bullet Runs Through It, Part 1 • A Bullet Runs Through It, Part 2 • Dog Eat Dog • Still Life • Werewolves • Daddy's Little Girl • Kiss-Kiss, Bye-Bye • Killer • Pirates of the Third Reich • Up in Smoke • I Like to Watch • The Unusual Suspect • Spellbound • Poppin' Tags • Rashomama • Time of your Death • Bang-Bang • Way to Go |