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You've Got Male
Male
Season 2
Number 12
Writer Marc Dube,
Corey Miller
Director Charlie Correll
Original Airdate December 20, 2001
Navigation
Previous Episode: Organ Grinder
Next Episode: Identity Crisis

You've Got Male is the twelfth episode in Season Two of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Synopsis[]

Grissom, Sara and Warrick investigate when a young woman is found dead in a pipe at a construction site. Her sister is found nearby, also murdered. A likely suspect is one of the women's Internet relationship, an ex-con. Meanwhile, Catherine and Nick look into what appears to be a hunting mishap, but as their investigation develops, it begins to look less and less like an accident.

Plot[]

Victim: Joan Marks (deceased), Donna Marks (deceased)

On the case: Gil Grissom, Sara Sidle, Warrick Brown

A young woman out horseback riding discovers the body of a woman in a culvert at a construction site. According to Brass, the body was found over two hours after the construction crew left for the day. Sara soon alerts Grissom to a second dead body nearby, also female.

In autopsy, Doc Robbins concludes that the women died at roughly the same time. Evidence suggests the brunette died instantly from a broken neck, likely from the hands of her assailant. The blonde, however, has shards of glass embedded in her wounds and scratches on her neck, possibly from fingernails. Doc Robbins concludes that a severed brachial artery caused the blonde to bleed out. Grissom observes how different both victims are based on their body piercing and tattoos. This leads him to question what the women have in common.

Sara doesn't find anything probative at the crime scene, but the print lab identifies the brunette victim as Joan Marks. An address on file leads the CSIs to the house of Donna Marks, Joan's sister. Donna's barely-driven car sits in the garage, but the real action is in the backyard. On the outside patio floor, there's blood and broken glass everywhere; the CSIs have found their primary crime scene. Evidence suggests that Donna went through the glass from the inside out, and Warrick is tasked with piecing together the broken glass back at the lab. There are shoe impressions in some of the blood, and Sara recalls that there was some blood on the sole of one of Joan's shoes. This places Joan at the scene and establishes a timeline—Donna was injured and bleeding while Joan was still walking around.

Inside, Grissom and Sara see that Donna's refrigerator is littered with take-out menus, while its contents are comprised mostly of take-out containers. They determine that the larger, family-size containers are the freshest, meaning Donna may have had company recently. When combined with mail-order catalogues in the office, Grissom wonders if their victim was either agoraphobic or just reclusive. Sara soon discovers that the toilet seat is up, meaning Donna had a guest of the male persuasion.

The foreign DNA on Donna's neck comes back to Joan; one sister scratched the other. Records show that Donna had filed a temporary restraining order against her ex-boyfriend, Gavin Pallard. Gavin, in turn, filed one against Joan. Under interrogation, Gavin says that Joan had a temper and was apt to throw things. The two had last seen each other the day before; Joan left after another argument, borrowing Gavin's Thunderbird in the process. Gavin is surprised when told that Joan was going to visit her sister, as the two women were complete opposites. He describes Donna as "boring" and says she was always glued to her computer. Sara checks the bottom of Gavin's shoes and finds blood one of the soles. This allows her to get a warrant and collect them as evidence.

Sara goes through Donna's computer, finding that the deceased liked to shop online and order over the phone. She also spent a lot of time in chat rooms and even made a friend who goes by the screen name "Apollo." The most recent communication between Donna and "Apollo" was an email sent by Donna, where she was euphoric about the connection the two had established. Sara tracks down the IP address and discovers "Apollo" is actually an inmate at the Western Nevada Correctional Facility. Grissom visits the prison and is led to the computer room, where several inmates are working as order-placement operators. The warden reveals that "Apollo," whose real name is Mickey Rutledge, was released three days ago.

Warrick runs trace on Donna's clothing and finds a black fiber with a triangular cross-section, meaning it couldn't be clothing. The guess is that the fiber could be from car upholstery. Sara relays that the blood from Gavin's shoe was Donna's, as was the blood on Joan's shoe. Both of them were at the house and stepped in Donna's blood.

When interrogated again, Gavin admits to being at the house, where he came across broken glass and a pool of blood . He claims that he left without calling 9-1-1 because he was scared and also because of the restraining order against him. It turns out that his missing Thunderbird is blue with a black interior, which matches the fiber found on Donna's clothing.

Fingerprints from the toilet seat in Donna's house come back to Mickey. Under interrogation, he claims to have never been to the house, but he changes his tune when confronted with the evidence. He admits that he met Donna over the Internet, and she invited him over for lunch when she found out he was being released from prison. After a pleasant meal, things got ugly when Joan showed up. The two sisters fought, and Mickey says he made himself scarce. Sara chastises Mickey for taking advantage of a lonely and vulnerable woman, but Grissom points out that his previous crimes were non-violent. Both Gavin and Mickey are suspects and hid the truth until confronted with the evidence. But, is either one of them a killer?

Warrick pieces together the shattered glass from the door and identifies the point of impact, which is 65 inches from the base. When factoring in Donna's height and the fact that she had a contusion on her forehead, Grissom concludes that she was standing upright when she went through the door. Donna apparently walked through the door, which means her death could've been an accident.

Gavin's Thunderbird is found abandoned five miles from the dump site and towed in for processing. Sara examines the undercarriage and finds that the radiator is cracked. She also determines that whoever filled the radiator fluid last used water instead of coolant. They may be looking for someone unfamiliar with cars or someone who was in a desperate situation. Sara gets the unenviable task of printing the radiator cap, which only comes back with smudges.

Greg analyzes the water from the radiator and determines that it contains sodium, potassium, and phosphorus. Upon hearing this, Grissom comes to a realization and heads back to the dump site. He talks to the owner of the neighboring farm and marvels at the "fertigation" system—a system that automatically mixes fertilizer with the irrigation system. Grissom fingerprints the spigot and takes a sample of the water back to the lab.

Back at the station, Grissom and Sara question Mickey again. Grissom puts the pieces of the puzzle together and lays them out. Donna and Joan got into an argument, which resulted in Donna accidentally getting thrown through the glass door and dying upon impact. Joan then threatened to pin her sister's death on Mickey, threatening to call the cops and send him back to jail. Feeling he had no choice, he broke Joan's neck, borrowed her car, and drove the bodies to the dump site. There, he put the water in the radiator to prevent the car from overheating. Sara tells him that he could've just let Joan make the call, but Mickey believes he would've ended up back in jail. He questions who would believe an ex-con like him. "A guy like me," Grissom replies.

Sara goes to her home and throws away all the takeout boxes and mail-order catalogs that she previously said had made her like the reclusive Donna. She then picks up the phone and calls an unidentified person, asking if they want to go out somewhere.

Victim: James Jasper (deceased)

On the case: Catherine Willows, Nick Stokes, Sam Vega

Catherine and Nick are called out to the woods, where a dead hunter is lying up against a tree. The victim was shot to death, causing him to bleed out; however, all of the bullets in his rifle are accounted for. David Phillips estimates the time of death as being approximately ten hours ago. The victim, soon identified as James Jasper, is curiously not wearing an orange safety vest despite the fact that hunting season opened last week. Catherine wonders if another hunter missed their target and killed James by mistake, but Nick finds no evidence of a bullet anywhere despite the shooting being a through-and-through. Using night-vision goggles, Nick soon finds the missing bullet wedged in an adjacent tree.

The coroner's report states that James was shot from front to back, with the bullet severing an abdominal artery. James' widow, Linda, reveals that both of them had been laid off recently, leading to money problems. She adds that James was an experienced hunter and is surprised when told that he wasn't wearing his safety vest.

Bobby Dawson shows Catherine and Nick the discoloration on the bullet recovered in the woods. The discoloration is oxidation, a process that takes way more than 24 hours; the CSIs have the wrong bullet. Det. Vega, meanwhile, has dug up the Jaspers' insurance policy, which states that $1 million will go to Linda in the case of an accidental death. Linda was actually the one who bought the policy, and she did so behind her husband's back.

Catherine and Nick head back to the woods to look for the missing bullet and narrow down their search radius to a 45-degree angle. Their search is fruitless, however, as metal detectors don't pick up anything useful. The park ranger arrives and informs the CSIs that James didn't have a hunting license. James was risking a lot, as purchasing a license is only $24; however, hunting without one is a $1,000 fine plus jail time. The ranger also says that deer is the only animal in season, and they only appear at dusk and dawn. However, James' estimated time of death was 2:00 PM, so there would be no other hunters around. The middle of the afternoon is an odd time for a hunting accident, and the CSIs now have more unanswered questions.

Catherine and Nick find gunshot residue on James' shirt, indicating that someone shot him from close range. Suicide is ruled out because James never fired his rifle and no other gun was found. However, if he was murdered, there should've been evidence of the killer at the crime scene. Nick also questions who could've gotten close enough to James to shoot him without a struggle. Linda Jasper is the obvious suspect, but her alibi checks out; she was at work all day and ate lunch at her desk.

Back at the crime scene, Nick questions whether they're looking at murder for hire; however, Catherine points out that a pro would've shot James in the heart, not the gut. James' abdominal injury would've taken time to bleed out, and the CSIs question what he did in between the time he was shot and the time he died. He never fired his rifle, but Catherine wonders if he brought another gun with him. As she looks around, she posits that James threw the spare gun into the nearby lake. Her theory is proven correct when the waterlogged gun is found.

When questioned again, Linda denies buying an insurance policy on her husband. Catherine informs her that James staged his death to make it look like a suicide, and insurance policy payouts exclude suicide. Nick determines that the signature on the release form for James' possessions doesn't match the signature on the insurance policy. Not only did James forge his wife's signature, he's also the one who opened the insurance account. James killed himself and made it look like murder so his wife could collect on the insurance policy. However, since it's determined he committed suicide, no payout is made.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

  • Eric Szmanda as Greg Sanders
  • Robert David Hall as Dr. Al Robbins
  • Geoffrey Rivas as Detective Sam Vega
  • David Berman as David Phillips
  • Gerald McCullouch as Bobby Dawson
  • Palmer Davis as Attorney Margaret Finn
  • Amanda Wyss as Donna Marks
  • Holly Fulger as Linda Jasper
  • Clayton Rohner as Forest Ranger
  • Rodney Rowland as Gavin Pallard
  • Kirk B.R. Woller as Prison Warden
  • Robia LaMorte as Joan Marks
  • Thomas Kopache as Mr. Willoughby
  • Nick Chinlund as Mickey Rutledge/Apollo
  • Simon Brooke as Inmate #1
  • Amanda Righetti as Riding Teen
  • Todd Sandler as Probation Officer
  • Edmund Wyson as Inmate #2

Major Events[]

  • Sara identifies with one of the victims, Donna Marks, who seldom leaves her house and may have agoraphobic tendencies. At the end of the case, she goes home and throws away all the take-out containers in her refrigerator. She then calls someone who is unidentified and asks if they'd like to go out. 

Episode Title[]

  • "You've Got Male" is a reference to the 1998 film You've Got Mail, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. In the episode, Donna Marks receives many of her purchases through the mail. Ultimately, male DNA is found in her home that belongs to a mail-order operator who was recently released from prison.

Featured Music[]

  • I Don't Want The World To End by Mandalay
  • I Have Seen by Zero 7

Trivia[]

  • Amanda Wyss appeared in season 11, but as a different character named Tina Vincent, one of Nate Haskell´s brides.
  • Nick Chinlund, who played the Mickey Rutledge in this episode, played Gus Davis in the season ten episode Internal Combustion.

See Also[]

CSI:Las Vegas Season 2
BurkedChaos TheoryOverloadBully for YouScuba Doobie-DooAlter BoysCagedSlaves of Las VegasAnd Then There Were NoneEllieOrgan GrinderYou've Got MaleIdentity CrisisThe FingerBurden of ProofPrimum Non NocereFelonious MonkChasing The BusStalkerCats in the CradleAnatomy of a LyeCross JurisdictionsThe Hunger Artist
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