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CSI EPISODE
Where and Why
Where
Season -
Number -
Writer Jan Nash,
Greg Walker
Director Jonathan Kaplan
Original Airdate November 8, 2007

Where and Why is the sixth episode of Season Six of Without a Trace. It is the second part of a two-part crossover with CSI: Crime Scene Investigation beginning in Who and What.

Synopsis[]

When a serial killer eludes capture in Nevada and escapes with his son to New York City, Agent Jack Malone and his team picks up the trail with the help of Gil Grissom.

Plot[]

On the run: Terry Lee Wicker, Kobe Farentino

On the case: Gil Grissom, Danny Taylor (FBI), Elena Delgado (FBI), Jack Malone (FBI), Martin Fitzgerald (FBI), Sam Spade (FBI), Viv Johnson (FBI)

Terry Lee Wicker and his son Kobe have escaped from Las Vegas on a bus. Two hours after doing so, Terry pretends his son is sick and has the bus driver stop the bus so they can get off. The two vanish as the bus pulls away. In a nearby auto lot in Hillside, Arizona, it's discovered that the keys in the lockbox are missing along with one of the cars. Grissom determines where the stolen car was parked and finds packaging from a sleep medication on the ground. He and Jack figure that the medication was enough to drug Kobe.

Jack's team calls him to fill them in on their findings. They figure that Terry likely abandoned the car he stole and headed towards a rail yard. Records show that he has a sister and that he used to work maintenance on the railroad, which would explain his affinity for trains. Terry used to live in Astoria, New York, but disappeared shortly after Kobe was born; his ex-wife Gina moved out not long afterwards. Since Kobe's birth parents haven't been identified yet, the team believes that there's a possibility that Kobe is actually Jason Taylor, whose kidnapping Jack was investigating six years ago. Meanwhile, back at the Las Vegas Crime Lab, Grissom processes Gina's car, finding a gum wrapper, a picture of Kobe in a soccer uniform, and an empty gift card envelope addressed to Kobe from his mother.

Surveillance videos show Terry leaving the auto yard in a tan 80's model Buick; however, Kobe is nowhere to be seen in the video. Jack's team questions how it's possible Terry lost track of his son for as long as he did. They theorize that killing the babysitter wasn't part of the kidnapping plan, which freaked Gina out and made her run. Meanwhile, in Boulder City, Nevada, Jack questions the school's principal, who recalls Gina and Terry stopping by earlier in the day to see Kobe. A clearly uncomfortable Gina introduced Terry as Kobe's uncle, and Terry was let inside the school to see Kobe's artwork. Jack speaks with Angelica, one of Kobe's friends at school, and finds out that Terry let Kobe know that he was his father and that he was planning on taking Kobe and Gina on a camping trip to Tucson, Arizona.

In Tucson, the Buick that Terry was driving is found abandoned near a railroad crossing. Nearby, a patch of dirt is disturbed; when Jack sifts through it, he uncovers a child's skull. Jack's team informs him that Terry bought two plane tickets from Tucson to New York. The plane landed an hour ago, but the police arrived too late to detain Terry.

In New York, Jack questions why Terry would return to a place where he could easily be identified; he wonders if Terry still has unfinished business. Jack is surprised when he's informed that Grissom is in the building with evidence from the case. Grissom tells Jack the body recovered in Tucson had been in the ground a long time and that something around the child's neck that made a circular pattern had been removed. He gets escorted downstairs to the "lab" to continue his work.

Terry's sister Sylvia is brought to the field office for questioning. She tells Agent Sam Spade that she never met Terry's son, as Terry and Gina split soon after he was born. The last time she saw her brother was six years ago. A flashback shows Terry, who was wearing a chain around his neck with a medallion on it, visiting Sylvia and giving her jewelry. He became agitated when told that his sister was dating someone who had two kids and that she had no room for him to stay with her. Before Terry departed down the sidewalk, Sylvia encouraged him to get his life together and go back to the therapist he used to see. In the present day, Sylvia tells Agent Spade that Terry called her one more time, then never heard from him again. She agrees to have her phone records looked at to determine where Terry called from and is shocked when told that evidence links Terry to several murders in Las Vegas.

In the lab, Grissom processes the skull and discovers that it belongs to Jason Taylor. He informs Jack of his findings and tells him that he's going to start working on getting an image of the object that was around Jason's neck. Jack's team figures out that Terry would communicate with his sister after every one of his murders; the frequency of the murders increased as communication between the two decreased. Since Gina lived in the same neighborhood as Jason, they wonder if Jason and Kobe had the same babysitter. If so, it's possible Terry went looking for the babysitter and thought Jason was his son. Since Terry dug up Jason's burial site to retrieve the item from around his neck, they think Terry had an emotional attachment to Jason and is trying to make the same connection with Kobe.

It's discovered that the gift card Grissom found was swiped in Astoria, which is where Terry lived in 1996. Jack and Agent Martin Fitzgerald search Terry's old apartment, where they find a home movie of Terry's in the VCR and the current tenant dead in the bedroom closet, bludgeoned to death with a New York City souvenir. Grissom, now on the scene to process, remarks that the murder fits Terry's M.O., as he broke in and killed the resident using a weapon of convenience. Jack is unconvinced that Terry came there to kill. Since Terry lived there in the past, Jack believes he's trying to recreate his life from when it was the most stable. A cup on the kitchen counter has lipstick around the rim; since the deceased tenant was single, it's possible Terry brought a girlfriend with him.

Agent Viv Johnson and Agent Fitzgerald question Terry's old therapist, Dr. Forsythe. The doctor remembers treating Terry almost ten years ago and says that he was happy and stable following the birth of Kobe. However, Terry had anger issues that became hard to control once his home life deteriorated. A flashback shows Dr. Forsythe meeting with Terry, who said that he and his brother used to go hunting for buried treasure with their father. They uncovered a gold medallion, which the father gave to Terry's brother. Terry admits to becoming so infuriated over his brother being the favorite that he bashed him over the head with a rock, killing him. He's wearing the medallion around his neck while speaking with Dr. Forsythe. After the doctor expresses his disbelief and concern, Terry plays the story off as a joke and irately leaves the office while being questioned about the incident and his family. In the present day, Dr. Forsythe says that he never saw Terry again. He checked with the police and found out that the records showed that Terry's brother died from a head wound due to an accidental fall. The doctor recognizes the medallion when shown a picture of it.

Grissom analyzes the lipstick from the cup and finds that it contains traces of spermicide. He provides this information to Jack, who says that the last call from the victim's apartment was to a pager; three minutes later, Terry got a return call from a payphone in Battery Park. A hooker named Roxi soon gets brought into the station for questioning. She denies knowing anything and takes a drink from a glass. Jack takes the glass and tells her that the lab will determine that her lipstick and fingerprints were in the victim's apartment. She confesses that she got a page from Terry. When she went to pay him a visit, she found Kobe on the living room couch crying, as he had witnessed Terry kill the tenant. Terry ordered Roxi to calm Kobe down and make him a sandwich. When she offered Terry her services, he slapped her and ordered her again. Terry then picked up an object from the table that he was going to hit Roxi with. Before he could do so, Kobe said that he would calm down and that they could "watch the tape again" because he liked it. Roxi tells Jack and Agent Delgado that she left the apartment as quickly as she could and that she noticed keys on the counter belonging to a Toyota. She's told that Kobe saved her life, and the team now knows that Kobe is playing along with Terry in order to save his own. But, how long can he keep it up?

While the team tries to figure out where Terry and Kobe are, they're informed that an assault took place in Newark, New Jersey and that it was linked to a stolen Toyota. A witness identifies the subjects as Terry and Kobe, recalling to Agents Taylor and Fitzgerald that Terry's car was parked in a way that was preventing him from doing his job. He spoke with a clearly shaken Kobe, who asked to have someone call his mother. Terry walked up on the interaction and sliced the witness with a knife after he threatened to get the police involved. Kobe then got out of the car and ran, with Terry chasing after him. Jack relays this information to Grissom, believing that Kobe knows what his father really is and that this would shatter Terry's illusion of a perfect family. Grissom notes that Terry doesn't tolerate conflict, as nearly everyone he's had a run-in with has ended up dead. Jack theorizes that Terry will continue his pattern by killing Kobe and hopping a train to leave town; however, Grissom believes that Terry broke his pattern when he had an emotional connection to Jason Taylor, burying the body and calling his sister afterwards.

Jack and Agent Johnson speak with Terry's sister again, informing her that if Terry sticks with his pattern, he'll call her. The plan is to have Sylvia stay on the line for as long as possible. Sylvia is still in denial that Terry could do this until she's shown three pictures of Terry's victims; all of them were wearing jewelry that Terry ended up giving her as gifts. After this revelation, Sylvia agrees to cooperate in the investigation. Terry calls Sylvia right on cue; however, she's unable to go through with the plan. Jack interrupts the call and informs Terry that Sylvia will be arrested for possession of stolen jewelry from the women that he killed; furthermore, there's enough to charge her as an accessory to murder. Terry threatens to hang up, but Jack guesses that he doesn't want to hurt his son and escalate things. A trade is proposed: Sylvia will be released if Terry turns himself in.

Jack meets Terry at a rail yard with several agents backing him up. Terry admits that he chased Kobe down after he ran off but instructed Kobe to run away in fear that he would kill his own son. Jack continues to ask where Kobe is and tells Terry that Sylvia knows about everything he has done. While Jack tries to close the deal, Terry claims that he has nothing left. He pulls out a gun and shoots himself in the head. Jack checks Terry's pick-up truck, but Kobe isn't inside. They guess that Kobe didn't go to the police because he's scared, and Jack wonders if Kobe went to the place where his father told him he'd be safe.

It's discovered that there's a warehouse rail staging area a quarter mile east of where Kobe ran off. Jack and Agent Fitzgerald search the yard and find Kobe sleeping in a boxcar. Kobe is rescued and reunited with his Aunt Sylvia.

Jack and Grissom drive to Jason Taylor's house, where Jason was kidnapped from six years ago. They discuss the perils of their jobs and their desires to leave them all behind. Jack gets out to inform Jason's parents that their son has been discovered while Grissom stays in the car and sighs.

Cast[]

Main Cast (Without a Trace)[]

  • Anthony LaPaglia as FBI Missing Persons Unit Special Agent John Michael "Jack" Malone
  • Poppy Montgomery as FBI Missing Persons Unit Special Agent Samantha "Sam" Spade
  • Marianne Jean-Baptiste as FBI Missing Persons Unit Special Agent Vivian "Viv" Johnson
  • Enrique Murciano as FBI Missing Persons Unit Special Agent Danny Taylor
  • Roselyn Sánchez as FBI Missing Persons Unit Special Agent Elena Delgado
  • Eric Close as FBI Missing Persons Unit Special Agent Martin Fitzgerald.

Guest Cast[]

  • William Petersen as Gil Grissom
  • John Hawkes as Terry Lee Wicker
  • Nathan Gamble as Kobe Farentino
  • Amy Stewart as Sylvia Wicker
  • Jenica Bergere as Roxi
  • Ken Lerner as Dr. Ron Forsythe
  • Darryl Alan Reed as Thomas Michna
  • Adriana DeMeo as Lucy
  • Sara Danielle Madison as Gina Farentino
  • David Kelsey as Mr. Polcheck
  • Lily Tinoco as Anjelica
  • Estrella Tamez as Anjelica's Mother

Trivia[]

  • The crossover between CSI and Without a Trace aired together in the Czech Republic. Season Six of Without a Trace aired 15 months before Season Eight of CSI, and airing of the Without a Trace episode Where and Why was held until this episode was on schedule.
  • The first part of this episode aired as the CSI episode Who and What.

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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