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| • Face Lift • |
Episode Number: 17#
Original Airdate: March 08, 2001
Written By: Josh Berman
Directed By: Lou Antonio
Synopsis: "A body is found in a pottery store in what's apparently a robbery that was interrupted. Fingerprints at the scene seem to match a twenty year old kidnapping case. Sara and Warrick look into a case where a woman burned to death in her home. The woman was burned to an ash but only the chair she was in was burned, the rest of the house is fine. Sara believes they have a case of spontaneous combustion."
Guest Stars:
Reginald VelJohnson as Dr. Philip Kane
Eric Szmanda as Greg Sanders
Brigid Brannagh as Melissa Marlowe / Tammy Felton
James Eckhouse as Mr. Marlow
Joan McMurtney as Mrs. Marlow
Pamela Gildey as Teri Miller
Larry Holden as Darin Hason
Brian Howe as Mr. Winstons
Tom Gallop as Attorney Randy Painter
Robert David Hall
Notes:
- First appearance of Melissa Marlowe/Tammy Felton (played by Brigid Brannagh). She also appears in episode 2-9 "And Then There Were None".
| | • Review • |
In a parking lot in front of a store, a car pulls in; a couple gets out and goes to the store to open it for the morning. Inside, things are broken, and they comment on the fact that this has happened before; the man sees a body on the floor and tells the woman to call 9-1-1.
Grissom, Catherine and Nick arrive at the store; Brass meets them inside and tells them that the deceased is Joseph Felton, aged 44; he wasn't an employee of the store and had no reason to be inside. Nick and Catherine dust for prints and photograph the scene while Grissom examines the body. Nick notes a burn mark on the safe from which the cash was taken, and notes that it's an unusual way to get into a safe. Grissom notes that Joseph Felton has contusions on the back of his skull, and comments that their robbery suspect just became a homicide victim; Catherine tells him that that's one way to beat the rap.
Dr. Robbins tells them that death was instantaneous; the deceased suffered hits to the head. They notice a yellow substance and some glitter on his head; Dr. Robbins tells them that it's unidentified so far, but he's sent it to trace. Catherine asks for a comb and combs fern spores from the hair of the victim; Nick comments that the back entrance of the store was overgrown with them. Catherine tells him that the spores are as good as fingerprints for placing him at the scene.
Grissom tells Catherine that he's identified one finger print from the scene: Melissa Marlowe, who was kidnapped over 20 years previously. He has a finger print from her when she was 4 years old, and has matched it to one taken from the pottery store, using the computer to match them up. Catherine asks if Melissa is a suspect, but Grissom says that the print from the store was a few weeks old as it had dust on it. The case has now become two cases; Grissom takes the kidnapping, and Catherine and Nick take the homicide.
At a house, Sara and Warrick examine the remains of a woman who was incinerated while sitting in a chair. Sara comments that there is no damage anywhere else, but the woman was reduced to ashes leaving only her foot behind; Warrick tells her that there is no such thing as a human torch, but Sara claims that she's merely open to all theories. They find a strip of material from the woman's nightgown that is barely even scorched; as they examine the scene a plane flies by overhead and shakes plaster dust down on them; Warrick looks up and notes that the fire created a chimney for itself by burning a hole in the ceiling.
At the station, Mr. Winston, the husband of the incinerated woman, tells O'Riley that he has no idea what happened to his wife; Mr. Winston tells him that when he went to bed, Nadine, his wife, was asleep in the chair, and when he got up, she was in ashes. O'Riley asks why they didn't share the same bed; Mr. Winston says that his wife snored, and then leaves angry when O'Riley asks if he knows how to use a blowtorch.
Brass shows Nick photos of a crime scene from 1999 where the safe was broken into using a plasma lance; in that case, Joseph Felton testified against his partner, Darin Hanson, and said that Hanson used the lance in the crime. Hanson was recently released from prison; Brass and Nick assume that he and Felton got together to commit this crime, and once the safe was open, Hanson killed Joseph Felton as revenge for testifying against him. They bring Hanson in for questioning; he tells them that he hasn't seen Joseph Felton in years and admits that they used to be friends but aren't any longer. He says that Felton was the one who used the lance, not him, and he has an alibi for the time of the murder; he was in Barstow all week, and has receipts to prove it. Catherine notes that the receipts look authentic, and they let him go.
Grissom talks to Mr. and Mrs. Marlowe and tells them that their daughter is possibly still alive. Teri Miller arrives and speaks to the Marlowes; she tells them that she'll use an old picture to age Melissa's face; the Marlowes want to know what their chances are of finding their daughter, and Grissom tells them that since they were originally told their daughter was dead, they're now moving in the right direction.
In the morgue, Catherine takes Tammy Felton to view the body of her father, Joseph. She tells her that the body has already been identified and Tammy doesn't have to do this, but Tammy says that she wants to. As she looks at the body, she begins to cry, and tells Catherine that she has no other family; Catherine suggests a counsellor. Tammy turns away, and Catherine notices some fern spores on her jacket and pulls a sample of them from the jacket. She asks if Tammy was at the pottery store with her father, commenting that they also found spores on Joseph; Tammy claims that she doesn't understand, so Catherine explains that the spores place Tammy at the crime scene. Tammy admits that she was there, but says that she went to stop him and he told her to leave, so she did. She says that she doesn't want to remember her father that way; she asks for a Catherine to release the body so that she can bury him, then leaves.
Warrick asks David for any information on Mrs. Winston's foot; David says that the ankle bone is hollowed out, which means that it was burned off the body, not severed; he adds that this is in keeping with Sara's theory.
Teri Miller uses the computer to age the childhood picture of Melissa Marlowe; Grissom apologizes for having to leave early the last time that they had dinner together (To Halve And To Hold), and asks if they'll ever have dinner again? She tells him yes, just not together. She finishes aging the picture just as Catherine comes in and Grissom tells her to say hello to Melissa Marlowe; Catherine looks at the picture and says that it's Tammy Felton, and they've already met.
Nick is surprised to hear that Tammy is the murder suspect; Catherine comments that since she was kidnapped, she may have murdered the man who kidnapped her. Grissom and Catherine visit Dr. Kane, a psychiatrist, who tells them that Tammy/Melissa might remember something of her life before she was kidnapped, but it's tenuous. He tells them that frustration would dominate her mind, and children like that often show sociopathic behavior; Catherine comments that Tammy/Melissa needs help as she's a victim as well as a suspect. Grissom tells Catherine to talk to Tammy again, and Dr. Kane warns her to be careful, as sociopaths don't function on the same rules as the rest of the population.
Sara tells Warrick that there's no evidence of foul play in Mrs. Winston's death, and that the detectives have talked to friends and neighbors and found only that the Winstons were a happy couple. Warrick asks about insurance money, but that's not an issue. Sara tells him that if they eliminate all the other alternatives, then they're left with spontaneous combustion, but Warrick thinks that there may have been an accelerant used. He tests for that, but finds nothing.
Greg and Nick check the swab taken from Joseph Felton's head for mineral content; Greg says that the sparkly bits are a fluorescent mineral, and has Nick watch under the microscope while he tries different settings to see which one makes the sample glow. The mineral glows, and Greg tells Nick that it's uranium, but that they shouldn't worry, since it's only a trace amount and they should be fine, and adds that whatever the murder weapon is, it has uranium on or in it.
As Nick scrubs up, Grissom asks him about the uranium, and tells Nick that oxidized uranium was used as a color enhancer in paints and dyes; since Joseph Felton was killed in a pottery store, it's likely that it came from something in there. Nick returns to the store with a Geiger counter to check the items, and finds that a gnome sets off the counter. He looks closely at the gnome and sees that there's a chip missing from it, and there's blood and hair on the base.
Grissom talks to the Marlowes and tells them that they've found their daughter but suspect that she may have committed a homicide. Mr. and Mrs. Marlowe want to see her. In an interview room, Catherine interviews Tammy and asks about her mother; Tammy says that her mother's name was Mara, and she died a few years ago. Grissom tells the Marlowes that they can see Melissa but not talk to her, and takes them to the interview room where they watch from outside and hear her talk about her childhood; Tammy tells Catherine that she wants to leave and gets up to go. Mrs. Marlowe runs after her, calling her Melissa, and hugs her. Tammy tells her that she's not her daughter and leaves. Mrs. Marlowe wants to know who Melissa is now, and Catherine tells her that she's Tammy Felton; Mr. Marlowe tells them that Mara Felton was their babysitter, and Catherine comments that Tammy said her mother's name was Mara. Mr. Marlowe tells them that he wants to get a lawyer for Tammy/Melissa, and the Marlowes leave. Catherine asks Grissom what he was thinking in bringing them to the interview room, and Grissom admits that he wasn't thinking at all.
Sara meets Warrick behind the labs; she has a cotton nightgown like Mrs. Winston was wearing, and Warrick has a pig. Sara comments that she hasn't eaten meat since Grissom used a pig to estimate post-mortem insect growth (Sex, Lies And Larvae); Warrick says that they're going to use the pig to disprove spontaneous combustion, adding that Mrs. Winston was a smoker and was probably smoking when she fell asleep in the chair, and set herself on fire. Sara tells him that it this were the case, Mrs. Winston would have woken up, but Warrick says that there was Seconal in her system, so she might not have woken up.
Catherine, Nick, and Grissom arrive at Tammy's house with a warrant. They search the house looking for evidence that she murdered Joseph Felton. Nick finds a pair of gloves that have yellow paint on them, and uses film from his camera to test if the paint has uranium in it; it does. Tammy claims that she never wore the gloves; they were her mother's. Grissom cuts them open and dusts for finger prints while Catherine prints Tammy; there is a visual match between the two sets of prints. Grissom speculates that Joseph lanced the safe, and once it was open, Tammy bashed him on the head with the gnome, and tells Nick to call Brass. Tammy says that she didn't kill her father, and that they weren't alone in the store during the robbery. Grissom tells her that there's no evidence of a third person being present; Tammy says that she tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen, and tells them that Melissa Marlowe was the person who was with Tammy and her father.
Brass asks Dr. Kane if Tammy has a split personality, and Grissom asks if the two personalities would know each other? Dr. Kane tells them that the dominant personality (Tammy) would know both, but the other (Melissa) wouldn't. He tells them that it might take a long time for the submissive personality to break free, possibly even 21 years. Brass comments that she might just be playing with them. Mr. and Mrs. Marlowe show up with a lawyer for Melissa.
In the interview room, Mrs. Marlowe calls her Melissa, but she says that she's Tammy. The lawyer tells her that they're there to help. Mr. Marlowe calls her their daughter, and Tammy tells them that Joseph was her father and Mara her mother, and they're both dead now. Tammy looks at the necklace that Mrs. Marlowe is wearing; Mrs. Marlowe tells her that she used to play with it when she was a baby, then adds that they won't let her go to jail. The lawyer tells them that bail has been set a half a million dollars; Mrs. Marlowe says that they'll do whatever it takes. Outside the interview room, Grissom and Catherine watch.
Outside, Sara and Warrick play chess while the pig smolders. Grissom comes by and asks what they're doing; Warrick explains and Grissom comments that the body fat reduced the body to ask, burning it away like candle wax; he asks them about the wick, and when Sara asks what that is, he explains that it would be a piece of fabric found by the body, and it would be unburnt. Sara asks him why he didn't tell them this sooner, if he knew, and Grissom explains that science is about learning, and you have to see it to believe it. Sara thanks Warrick for putting up with her theories and he tells her to clean up the pig-mess.
Catherine goes to see Melissa in the cells, and wants to know who she's speaking to, Melissa or Tammy. Melissa claims that she knows who she is now, and she's Melissa; it was seeing her parents that brought her back. She asks what her chances are at trial of claiming insanity and wants Catherine to testify on her behalf, saying that she was insane when she killed Joseph Felton, as Catherine was there when Tammy identified Joseph and would be able to answer questions the right way. She tells Catherine that her only memories are of being a child, and the last 21 years are blank. Catherine tells her that if that's the case, then she should have no memories of Catherine; Catherine then tells her that there is no Melissa. Tammy tells her to get the hell out, and as Catherine leaves, she calls to her in a sad little-girl voice to come back, not to leave her. Catherine turns and looks at her, and Tammy says, "Just practising for court... not bad, huh?"
Catherine goes in to Grissom's office and tells him to hurry or else they'll be late for the preliminary enquiry for Tammy Felton; Grissom says that it's been postponed as Tammy skipped bail and left town, adding that the Marlowes lost their house and life savings, as they'd posted bail for her. Grissom tells Catherine that the case is closed and she should move on, but Catherine isn't willing to let go so easily. She has officers check on credit card purchases that the Marlowes made in the last 24 hours. She and Brass go to the Marlowe's home; Catherine tells them that they know they bought 22 bus tickets to 22 different destinations, and Catherine tells them that wherever they planned on meeting her, Melissa/Tammy won't be there. Brass tells them that if they tell where they were supposed to meet her, and they apprehend Melissa, then they won't press charges, but otherwise, it's a felony. Mrs. Marlowe says that they should just arrest them, as they're not telling anything.
On the roadside, a bus pulls over; Tammy gets out, and takes off the head scarf she was wearing, letting her hair down. A car comes down the road and pulls over; Tammy gets in; Darin Hanson is the driver. Tammy tells him that he owes her one, and he points out that he's the one who told her about what Joseph did in kidnapping her; Tammy tells him, "And you knew exactly what I'd do about it." He asks her where to, and she tells him that it doesn't matter.
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