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You Kill Me
You Kill Me
Season 8
Number 8
Writer Douglas Petrie
Director Paris Barclay
Original Airdate November 22, 2007
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Previous Episode: Goodbye and Good Luck
Next Episode: Cockroaches

You Kill Me is the eighth episode in Season Eight of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Synopsis[]

Hodges puts the lab techs through a series of "murder games"—a set of bizarre, hypothetical murder scenarios which all take place in the lab. He invites Henry, Mandy and Wendy to play; however, unknown to them, his real intentions for the games remain hidden.

Plot[]

After Grissom and Brass talk about some case reports, the conversation steers towards Sara, who is in San Francisco visiting her mother. Brass is much more interested about her relationship with Grissom and where she's at emotionally. Grissom dodges the question and says that he's very busy, as he's been working double shifts to fill in for Sara's sudden absence.

As Grissom walks into his office, Archie heads to the CSI garage and documents some bricks of cocaine. When he removes the third one from the top of the suitcase, the case explodes. Everything is sent flying, glass doors are shattered, and the techs start running around while alarms ring out throughout the lab. Hodges soon comes in, stands over Archie's dead body, and starts laughing maniacally in an evil glee.

It's soon revealed that Hodges is telling Wendy a story, which he describes as a "thought experiment." He tells her that in order to become better criminalists and possibly work in the field, they need to think like a criminal. It's their job to speak for the dead, and this exercise is a way for the dead to speak for themselves. Back in the destroyed garage in the scenario, Hodges tells Wendy to answer two simple questions (at which zombie Archie looks up to the camera to say the answers): "Whodunit and how?" before dying again.

(Rules for the thought experiment are to find out who killed the victim through a question and answer session where Hodges has the answers. He can't lie or revise the scenario if anyone gets close to the answer, though they don't have to find the motive for the murder.)

"Victim": Archie Johnson (deceased)

On the case: Nick Stokes, Warrick Brown

After Hazmat has cleaned up the scene, David Phillips takes Archie's body to the morgue. As he passes by Nick and Warrick, he informs them that there's "no sign of sexual trauma," something Hodges thinks David might legally be required to check. The CSIs become emotional and mourn Archie's passing, which Wendy has added to the story. With Hodges' urging, she accepts that Nick and Warrick would be able to "heroically contain their bereavement."

Back in the scenario, Nick and Warrick immediately point the finger at the dealer, who they figure was hoping the cops that got the drugs would be blown up with them. This is Wendy's theory, but Hodges tells her that she's jumping the gun and that he wants to finish building up his setup. In the scenario, 20 bricks of cocaine were logged into evidence past midnight and the explosion happened 30 minutes later; however, there are 21 wrappers. Since no one touched the evidence since it entered the lab, the killer had to be someone on the inside. Wendy believes that since the killer works in the lab, anyone could tamper with the evidence; therefore, the case is unsolvable. Hodges denies this and says that this isn't his intention. Something clicks and Hodges lies, saying his shoe is untied. While he's under the table to attend to it, Wendy looks at a case file on the desk. Hodges tells Wendy that for the purposes of the exercise, nobody in the lab can tamper with the evidence. He adds that Wendy can ask any question she wants and he'll answer all of them truthfully. There will also be no revisionism; he won't change who the killer is if she gets too close.

Wendy says that the first thing she would do is examine the bomb mechanism to see if there are any clues as to who built it. In the scenario, Nick looks at the pieces of the bomb and lays out how it was planted and activated. He tries to get Wendy to think (through the mind), and she soon realizes that they should check the blasting cap. Hodges comments that the leg wires are color coated. Since the color coding is manufacturer specific, they can track down the source.

It's learned that the LVPD recently seized a dozen commercial blasting caps and that the lab was processing the case evidence. The blasting caps are kept in the ballistics lab under Bobby Dawson's supervision; however, upon checking the gun cage, Nick sees that the count is now one short. Warrick examines the lock to the cage and finds evidence that it was picked. Metal shavings were left behind, but there are no prints on the lock. Someone stole the blasting cap from the ballistics lab to frame Bobby. Archie, who is thankfully alive and well, has entered the break room and asked to be involved with the game.

Trace results say that the explosive used was liquid nitro-acetate and solid ammonium nitrate packed in baking soda to blend in with the cocaine. Because liquid nitro-acetate is pretty volatile, it had to have had special storage requirements—it needed to be refrigerated. Nick and Warrick search the lab's refrigerators until they get a hit. In Tox, they see that Henry's refrigerator contains Nitrogen tetra-hydride and sodium nitrate; when mixed, they produce nitro-acetate. Nick also finds baking soda in the fridge that was used to conceal the explosive. Henry mixed the chemicals and put the solution in the fridge, where the baking soda absorbed the odors of the mixed chemical inside it. In interrogation, Brass glares at him while turning his chair around. Before Brass says anything, Henry confesses to killing Archie.

Archie asks why Henry would want to kill him, but is told that they're not concerned about the "why." Incensed, Archie leaves and passes Nick and Warrick in the hallway. He thanks the CSIs for giving him justice, much to their confusion.

Back in the break room, Mandy comes in asking to play the game (or "thought experiment") since her day is uneventful. In a new scenario, Mandy heads into Tox and asks Henry for a report on a victim before discovering he's dead, frozen in the freezer. She lets out a horrifying scream.

"Victim": Henry Andrews (deceased)

On the case: Catherine Willows

In autopsy, David Phillips lets Doc Robbins know that there's no sign of sexual trauma on Henry's body. He's also grossed out by the frozen sweat stains on Henry's armpits. The doc guesses that Henry was trapped in the freezer for at least a few hours and that they can only start the autopsy after the body has thawed out. Back in the break room, Mandy guesses that Henry froze to death; however, Wendy corrects her and says that the cause of death isn't certain since the autopsy hasn't been performed yet.

Catherine looks over the mess in the freezer and wonders whether it's the result of a struggle or the result of Henry's panicking. The emergency handle to the door has been bent, rendering it inoperative. There are several broken chemical containers that could've released poisonous substances into the enclosed space. Catherine wonders if Henry's death could be a prank gone wrong, as the freezer was locked from the outside with a pin. A flashback shows Henry trying to open the door and pulling the release handle too hard. When the handle slipped out of his grip, his arm was sent flying into the shelf of chemicals. The jars broke on the floor, releasing the deadly chemicals into the enclosed space. Wendy asks how someone could bend the steel handle and Mandy says that maybe adrenaline kicked in. Hodges replies that you can't use the word "maybe" on a case report.

Trace on the locking pin turns out to be peanut butter. Bobby Dawson is blamed, as he had peanut butter in his latex gloves and stored some photo emulsion sheets in the freezer. He denies killing Henry, not even by accident. The completed autopsy surprisingly reveals that Henry had angel dust (or PCP) in his system. This would cause unusual reactions in his brain, such as overheating (which is why he went into the freezer) and extreme strength (which is how he bent the steel handle). With the PCP stimulating his brain, he started going crazy, knocking the chemicals off the shelves.

Henry arrives having overheard what's going on. He isn't too pleased to find out that Hodges has portrayed him as a drug user, but he wants to be a part of the "thought experiment" nonetheless. Wendy astutely realizes that the autopsy didn't reveal any powder in Henry's nasal passages or PCP damage in his lungs, meaning that he didn't inhale it, smoke it, or snort it. The think tank is perplexed as to how the PCP got into Henry's system until Wendy remembers that the body had crusty armpit sweat stains. She realizes that the lab coat was dosed in PCP. Catherine runs a test and confirms this suspicion.

Wendy points out that Henry would've died from an overdose regardless, so the spilled chemicals were superfluous to the case. Hodges reminds her that they still need to find the perpetrator. Due to federal laws, the lab coats can't leave the premises, meaning that the guilty party is in the lab. Henry mentions that PCP has a horrible smell and that he has to use fume hoods when working with it. In the scenario, Catherine checks all of the sinks in the lab for traces of PCP, but comes up empty. After much thought, Wendy knows what to do next—check the plant next to the sink. Her guess is correct, as the plant absorbed the PCP in the air while the killer was dumping it down the drain. Wendy is revealed to be the killer.

Mandy receives a text from Ecklie and returns to work. After Mandy leaves, Hodges compliments Wendy on her skills while Henry sits nearby and rolls his eyes. Wendy reveals that she's planning on taking the CSI field test, much to Hodges' surprise (and masked horror). She reads Hodges' poker face, but he refuses to say anything negative in return. He soon teases Wendy about her decision to go out in the field, telling her about how Greg went out in the field and got beaten up. Henry asks for another scenario; this time, Wendy is the victim.

"Victim": Wendy Simms (deceased)

On the case: Greg Sanders

In Hodges' third scenario, Greg has been called to investigate Wendy's death. On his way out with the body, David Phillips whispers to Greg that there are no signs of sexual trauma. Wendy died while she was retrieving a box of evidence, which ended up on the floor. Initially, it seems to be an accident with her falling off the ladder and hitting her neck on the corner of the room's table. However, inspection of the ladder reveals bristle marks of an oily substance, meaning it was brushed onto the step. A matching oily residue is on the bottom of Wendy's shoe.

The oily substance turns out to be gun lubricant, which points them in the direction of Bobby Dawson once again. Bobby is interrogated by Brass and claims that "real gun guys" would never use that type of gun oil. When he tries to leave, Brass whips out a baton and forces Bobby to sit back down. Wendy interrupts and says that Brass isn't the kind of cop who smacks suspects around. A clicking sound is heard, and Hodges knocks a file under the table. He retrieves it while making notes in it at the same time.

At the autopsy, there doesn't seem to be anything suspicious at first glance, as it appears that the cause of death is the neck wound. Doc Robbins tells Greg that Wendy was conscious for 30 to 60 seconds before the blood loss was fatal. Greg notes that there's no blood on Wendy's hands, meaning that she didn't try to stop the bleeding. Since that's the case, she may have been unconscious, or even dead. He also spots an oval, perimortem burn mark on her wrist from a bracelet she was wearing. This leads Henry and Wendy to realize that Wendy was electrocuted in the scenario. At the scene, Greg finds two odd wires leading to a motorcycle battery hidden in the vent. The battery was wired to the ladder and to the evidence box; when Wendy reached into the box, she was electrocuted.

Both Wendy and Henry find this scenario highly improbable, for not only is the contraption complex, but the victim could've been anybody. Wendy questions how the killer coaxed her up onto the ladder in the first place. There's also no control as to when the contraption would activate. Since the case got a bit confusing, Hodges lowers further down to the table and mutters "Scenario requires further revision." Wendy soon looks under the table and finds Hodges taking a tape recorder off from under it. He places it in his bag and runs out, leaving Wendy and Henry confused.

In the locker room, Wendy discovers that Hodges was making a board game based on the lab. He explains that he was fleshing out scenarios for the game and was recording his fellow techs so he would receive honest feedback. Wendy is impressed by the prototype and compliments Hodges on his somewhat unique idea. She finds some figures that look like the techs in the lab (Sandy Baxter: Mandy Webster, Reggie Chang: Archie Johnson, Andrew Henries, Henry Andrews, Hodgkins (a word for cancer): David Hodges and Mindy Bimms: Wendy Simms). Upon seeing Mindy Bimms' description as 'clumsy, yet buxom DNA tech,' she mocks Hodges by tossing her character and 'clumsily' knocking the board onto the floor. She then tells him that she would've helped with the game if he had simply asked; however, it appears her opinion would be worthless because of her character's description (and Hodges' impression of her). Wendy proclaims him as the 'dumbest smart guy I know' before walking out, insulted.

As Grissom passes Greg, he discovers Hodges playing with the board game and sees him dropping the Mindy Bimms figure in a glass of water. Upon inspecting the board game, he becomes interested and Hodges explains the rules. While Hodges reads the blurb on the inside of the box, the previous scenarios are played in real time with less disastrous results—Archie slowly lifts the third brick of cocaine from a suitcase and doesn't blow up, Mandy finds Henry locked in a freezer alive and well (as a joke), and Wendy slips on the ladder and nearly falls off as she grabs an evidence box.

In Trace, when Hodges finishes recording his speech, he straightens up a little and gets shot. He falls to the floor and the chair he was sitting on spins out of control continuously as he's still smiling with a bullet hole in his forehead.

"Victim": David Hodges (deceased)

On the case: Gil Grissom

Hodges tells Grissom that there are no witnesses and nobody heard a shot. Based on the fact that there's a shell casing in the doorway, Grissom initially thinks that it might be a walk-by shooting from the hallway behind Hodges. Since he needs the bullet, Grissom's first move is to get an autopsy.

After David Phillips gets forced to leave for saying there was no sign of sexual trauma (again), Doc Robbins measures the trajectory of the bullet; it's roughly 90 degrees from vertical. The bullet, which was lodged in the brain, is mostly intact. Grissom's next move is to search IBIS. The bullet leads to a gun that came into the lab a week before on a buyback program. Records show that it was destroyed, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

Grissom watches the tape of Hodges' speech again. He realizes that based on where Hodges was sitting and where the bullet hit him, the shot didn't come from the hallway. A search of the office reveals a device hidden on one of the shelves. The device, a zip gun, used a mobile phone-activated device (untraceable due to pre-1990 manufacturing) to fire the lethal bullet from a barrel. Grissom swabs the zip gun's barrel and finds a black powder.

Grissom analyzes the bullet and finds that it was pitted on the base, which is the result of exposure to smokeless gunpowder. His conclusion is that the bullet was fired twice. The killer test-fired the gun in the lab knowing that it would be destroyed. He or she then kept the bullet and the casing, put the bullet in the barrel on a wad of black powder, and activated the gun remotely by calling the pager.

Bobby Dawson, who loads and fires muskets for fun in his spare time, is once again blamed. As Brass tries to escort him to interrogation, Bobby breaks free from his grip, steals a nearby police officer's gun, and is about to defend himself. Brass, in turn, nonchalantly shoots him six times before spinning his gun and blowing the gun smoke away. When Grissom asks what Hodges has against Bobby, Hodges replies it's merely a running gag. The question remains: whodunit? Grissom believes that Bobby was framed. He explains that if Hodges hadn't gotten in the way of the bullet, the trajectory would've continued towards the ballistics area, putting Bobby in the line of fire. Bobby is a real gun guy, and Grissom says that no gun guy would put himself down-range of a shot.

Grissom realizes from the tape that Hodges wasn't just the victim; he had straightened up just before the gun was fired, which was how it had hit him. Therefore, Hodges was his own murderer. Hodges congratulates Grissom on figuring it out, and Grissom asks to play the game again. As they set up, Hodges asks Grissom if he would be willing to leave this—the challenges, the puzzles—behind; Grissom replies no. Sara, however, was willing to do so. Hodges tells Grissom that you can't stand in the way of that and that he should let her go. Grissom tells Hodges to just play the game and Hodges asks if can record the game for future reference. As the screen fades to black, Hodges is recording another scenario where Archie has been found slumped over his computer with a knife in his head...

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

Goofs[]

  • In Henry's scenario, when Henry knocks over some chemicals after the emergency handle came off, he drops it in the process. However, in a later shot, he's holding it in his hand.
  • None of the CSIs use gloves during the imaginative investigations, which would not only compromise any evidence they find, but would expose Catherine to PCP contamination while examining Henry's coat.

Notes[]

  • Hodges is eating Lucky brand potato chips, the same chips he got from the vending machine in the Season Seven episode Lab Rats. Also, when Wendy confronts Hodges in the locker room, she finds a board game of the same name.
  • Hodges tells Wendy that Greg took the field test, got out into the field and got beaten up. This happened in the Season Seven episode Fannysmackin'.
  • The opening intro was modified to exclude Jorja Fox (Sara) after the events of Goodbye and Good Luck.

Trivia[]

  • The 1659 that Greg erased on the OSHA sign, implied in Wendy's scenario, might be the number of days since Catherine Willows accidentally blew up the lab.
  • Except for the final two victims, with every victim starting from Archie to Wendy, the killer becomes the victim in the next scenario. In Hodges', he's both.
  • Running gags: Hodges places Bobby Dawson as a suspect; David Philips saying "No sign of sexual trauma."
  • This is one of the few episodes where it centers on Hodges narrating and getting the other cast members to play in his "games". The previous episode to do this was Lab Rats.

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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