Anonymous (CSI)

"Anonymous (CSI)"

Summary

Anonymous is the eighth episode in the first series of the popular American crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. In this episode the killer from The Pilot is back, and Gil Grissom starts to wonder if he's found his match. Elsewhere, Nick Stokes and Warrick Brown have a wager over how a tourist's car ended up down the side of a cliff with him in it.

The Plot in Detail

The episode opens with a man drinking vodka in a hotel room, he sits on the bed for a moment before standing up and walking into the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror. He sighs as he stares at himself and then hears something behind him.

He turns to look at it and the scene cuts to Grissom in the hallway looking for his crime scene. He meets Jim Brass on the way in who shows him where the dead body is and asks if it rings any bells. The dead body is the middle-aged man from the first scene, lying in a bath tub with a sleeping bag under him. Grissom finds a tape recorder in the bath tub and we see the victim is holding a gun covered in blood. This is the same situation as the staged suicide in The Pilot where a man named Royce Harmon is killed in a staged suicide. The only difference is that this time the tape runs backwards instead of forwards. Grissom looks at himself in the mirror and quips "you're back" and the opening credits are run.

Grissom walks down the corridor at the CSI headquarters and looks into the staff room where Nick and Warrick are playing video games. Grissom looks shocked and draws their attention asking if they want an "assignment slip or a pink slip". Once they've apologised they ask Grissom if it's true that it's the same guy as it was before and Grissom says he doesn't know yet. They're given their assignments, they're working together on a reckless driver on Hoover Dam who went over a cliff. At first they think it'll be a competition until Grissom tells them to work together.

Grissom then goes to his office where Catherine Willows and Sara Sidle are waiting. He says they're going "off the board tonight" which refers to unsolved cases. Grissom fills Sara in on the case which she missed because she arrived just after it in Cool Change. Tonight's victim is identified as Stuart Rampler. Grissom and Catherine remind each other of the previous case and Grissom tells Catherine that they will go to the coroner whilst Sara goes to the hotel. Grissom gives Sara a special powder to dust for fingerprints which he calls Red Creeper. He tells Sara not to take anything for granted as this is a very important case.

Nick and Warrick arrive at their crash scene and can't find the person who called in the accident. The paramedics tell them that there was no one else at the scene when they arrived and the fire department came two minutes after them. They think it's a DUI and Nick notices an empty beer bottle at the scene. There is an unconscious man in the back seat but no driver.

Doc Robbins is performing the autopsy on Grissom's newest victim and says that, like Royce Harmon, Rampler was murdered. He notices a difference in that Rampler has a wound on his hand that suggests he was shot trying to defend himself. Also, he has a bruise on his temple from where a gun was pushed against his head. The CSIs conclude that he was probably forced into the bath tub at gun point, but Rampler fought back unlike Harmon which explains the defensive wounds and bruising.

Nick and Warrick find skid marks leading up to their crash site and estimate that the driver was doing 70 or 80 miles per hour before he crashed, they also notice that the car balanced on the edge before it fell over. Nick voices his "phantom driver" story where the driver bailed as the car balanced on the road edge and was then picked up by a second car, whose tracks they've found. Warrick disagrees as there are footprints which show a walking stride to the edge, and he thinks it was a robbery and that a crime has been committed. Nick and Warrick bet on what happened, each supporting their own story.

At Stuart Rampler's hotel room Sara is looking through the pile of mail ready to be sent, left by Rampler. The detective with her says it looks like he was getting unfinished business matters sorted, but Sara tells him that's unlikely as the suicide was staged. Sara then notices that one of the stamps on the pile of envelopes is upside-down whereas the rest are the right way up. She wonders what this could mean. After, she prints the bathtub that Rampler was found in and says that usually in hotel bathrooms they find thousands of prints, but when she checks she finds not a single print. More than that, it's also sterile.

Meanwhile, Grissom goes to Paige Harmon's residence, the mother of the original victim. Grissom tells her that in the new case it was the victim's voice on the recording, which is strange because Mrs Harmon said that it was not Royce Harmon's voice on his suicide recording. Catherine asks if they have a recording of Royce speaking that they can compare it to to confirm the person on the suicide tape is not Royce. Mrs Harmon gives them a talking frame her son gave her so they can compare the voices.

Nick and Warrick go to visit the man who was in the backseat of the car when it was found and find out he's sedated so they have 12-24 hours until he can speak to them. They inspect him and find that he's has his watch and ring removed and that his wallet is empty. Warrick thinks this supports his idea that someone robbed him as he was balancing on the edge. They up their wager to $200.

Sara talks to Greg Sanders back at the lab who tells her that the DNA on the right side up stamps on the envelope belongs to Stuart Rampler, their victim. However, the upside-down stamp was licked by an unknown person. Sara says that "Anonymous" is toying with the CSIs, leaving them unusual clues and red herrings.

Nick decides to check the entire car for fingerprints to find who the phantom driver was, and Warrick tells him that he checked all the hospitals and there were no patients who could've been Nick's phantom driver. They talk about the 911 call that alerted the police and find out it's a cell phone number based in Las Vegas. They also discuss that the car was rented from the airport 3 days ago by the unconscious man in the backseat. Nick then sees the prints on the steering wheel.

Catherine and Grissom take the sample of Royce Harmon's voice with the suicide tape to Disco Placid who can do the voice comparisons. They find out that the mother was originally wrong and the voice on the suicide note is, in fact, Royce Harmon. They also manage to isolate the sound of rustling paper in the background which leads them to believe the victims are reading a script given to them by the man holding the gun.

Nick's print comparisons are back and it turns out, unsurprisingly, that Walter Banglor's prints are on the wheel - he is the man who was in the backseat unconscious. However, because it is a rented car there are lots of other prints and mysteriously in the ridges of Banglor's prints they find speckles of blue dust.

Sara does some research and notices that both victims have the same birthday but are a year apart. That birthday is August 17th and the first victim was born a year after the second, suggesting that the pattern is going back in years. Grissom mentions that the tape was recorded backwards and that the stamp was upside down. He thinks that the killer is suggesting he look backwards instead of forwards for clues. Grissom tells Sara to look at cases on August 17th 1956, the year before the second victim. Then, Grissom is told the prints are back from the tape recorder found at the scene. There is two prints, one over the other and the first print comes back as Paul Millander, the man cleared who makes the rubber hands. The second print, however, is identified as Grissom's fingerprint and Grissom says "Whoever it is is telling me that he's got me under his thumb."

Elsewhere, Nick is having no success with the rest of the prints found in the car. Warrick re-iterates his theory of the victim being robbed and Nick questions some of the details such as why the victim was in the back seat when it tumbled off the cliff, why he has his seatbelt on and what the speckles of blue dust mean. They also increase their wager to $300.

In his research, Grissom goes back to meet with Paul Millander to ask about the rubber hands and tells him that there has been another murder. Grissom asks Millander if he has records of who he sells the rubber hands to so that he could get a lead but Millander tells him he doesn't keep very good records. Grissom seems to have an instant connection with Millander and they discuss various items in Millander's shop. Grissom leaves disappointed that he didn't get any further with his case.

Nick and Warrick, still determined to win the wager, look at foot prints and tire tracks to find out who else was at their crime scene. They bicker a little, in a friendly manner and tease each other. Nick finds out that the tire tracks are from a '99 Bentley Arnage and Warrick finds out the foot prints are Converse All Stars size 11. Brass tells them that there was one of these cars stolen a week ago that was found a few hours ago. Nick thinks that's the car that picked up his phantom driver, and Warrick thinks it's his criminal. However, the car has been cleaned thoroughly so they can't get anymore information out of it.

Brass then heads to Grissom to tell him that Stuart Rampler has been making ATM cash withdrawals despite the fact he's dead. Grissom tells him he wants the whole machine, the surveillance footage, the prints and everything.

Nick finds more blue dust on Banglor's clothing and wants to compare it to the blue dust in the fingerprints. Greg asks them who's winning the wager and they both claim that they are. Greg then tells them the blue dust is chalk used for snooker and pool cues. After, Nick and Warrick both go over their ideas to each other. Nick thinks Banglor was playing pool with his phantom driver and they went for a drive, drunk and crashed. He thinks the driver got out of the car, leaving his friend in the back seat. Warrick agrees that he was drinking and playing pool, but thinks he was driving alone. He's flagged down by the man who stole the Bentley, he skids and hits the railing, balancing on the edge. He's then robbed, forced into the back seat and then pushed over the edge. They admit that both scenarios work, now they just have to wait to talk to Banglor to find out what really happens.

Grissom has his footage of the ATM machine. A homeless man holds up cue cards to the camera, he turns them over showing a pair of hands holding a dove. The first set holds the dove too hard and kills it, the second holds it to lightly and it flies away. The homeless man flips them once, thinks he's done but a pair of hands just off shot from the camera pushes him back and makes him repeat the gesture. Grissom interprets this as meaning that the killer is going to do it again and again until he gets justice. Brass and his team are out looking for the homeless man.

After a commercial break, Brass has found the homeless man and he begins to question him with Grissom's help. The homeless man says he thinks better when he eats and so Brass goes to get him a steak.

Nick and Warrick finally get to speak to Banglor, who is now coming round after being sedated. Banglor tells them what really happened, he wasn't robbed and there was no phantom driver. He had gambled away all of his money and his ring and watch and then tried to drive home very drunk. He crashed and, perhaps his only use of common sense, moved into the back seat and buckled himself in. Nick and Warrick agree, in terms of the bet, that there is no winner and no loser. On the way out, however, Nick does suggest a wager on the "406 burglary" that is their next case.

The homeless man has eaten his meal and starts to talk. He says a man approached him and offered him $100 to hold the cards in front of the camera. Grissom asks for a description of the man who approached him. The homeless man begins to describe, vagely at first, a man fitting Paul Millander and it is then that Grissom realises he's been tricked. Grissom gets angry both with himself and the situation and there's a flashback of Grissom talking to Millander about the rubber hands. The scene then switches to Catherine, Sara and Grissom walking down the corridor. Sara is told to find anything she can on Paul Millander while Grissom and Catherine go to Millander's workshop.

Sara searches for Paul Millander while on the phone to Grissom who has a head-set and she tells him that there is no record Halloweird, Millander's company. She then looks up articles with Paul Millander in them and finds this:

"Two hotel security guards exonerated in alleged 'staged' suicide. Boy's testimony shaky. Paul Millander, age ten, testified that he watched in the closet while his father, John, was escorted by two hotel security guards into his own bathtub at gunpoint where he was found shot to death. Official cause of death was ruled suicide."

The team has now realised the motive for Millander's killings and that he was killing men born on the same day as his father's death. Grissom and Catherine reach the workshop and after it's been cleared they go inside to find it totally empty, a stark constrast to the same building shown earlier that was full of Millander's products. The only thing left is a stool which has an envelope addressed to Grissom. Inside, there is a single piece of paper with nothing written on it. Grissom interprets this to mean "we have nothing".

The final scene in this episode takes place in the CSI lab, where Paul Millander walks up to the receptionist and asks for Gil Grissom. She tells him he's not in and asks if he wants to leave a message. Millander replies "No. Just tell him a friend stopped by."

Millander then turns around. On his way out he looks at the surveillance camera and waves. Template:Endspoiler

Continued

This case is continued in episode Identity Crisis in Season 2.

Sources

• Anonymous transcript on twiztv.com