For Gedda

For Gedda is the seventeenth episode and season finale of the eighth season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. It aired on May 15, 2008.

Synopsis

The team investigates the murder of a man who was stuffed in an occupied coffin. The victim ends up being someone Warrick is familiar with. Then the police discover Warrick covered in blood with a dead Lou Gedda next to him. Warrick can't remember what happened.

Plot

Mourners are gathered at a funeral. The pallbearers are straining under the weight of the body. It starts to creak and two bodies fall out of the bottom of the coffin: one white man, one black man. The team arrives. Grissom says the bodies were separated in the casket by a board and the top body, the one the funeral was for, was too heavy. The gatherers give Nick and Grissom grief. Brass interviews the mortician, who is keeping as silent as his subjects.

In the hallway, Greg tells Catherine he has meetings with book publishers in a few days. Nick looks over the other body, Warrick comes in and asks him how much he owes him. Nick tries to brush him off, but Warrick offers him a wad of cash and says that should cover it. Warrick visits Doc Robbins to ask about cause of death. Doc says it seems to be suffocation and Warrick recognizes the corpse as a PI he knows. Warrick must be angry, because he walks in slow motion down a poorly lit hallway.

The PI was Lenny Harper, a former cop. Brass finds a million complaints against him, but he's told by Undersheriff McKeen that he's a priority. Nick and Grissom check out Harper's office. It's tidy. Grissom notices there's no liner in a trashcan and that the paper shredder has been emptied. Nick finds car keys in the drawer. He beeps the car. They go check it out. It's clean. Grissom thinks it was just detailed and that maybe it was used to transport the body.

Back at the office, Warrick is having flashbacks to Lou Gedda's strip club and Joanna's death. He gets a call. Hodges hear him ask someone how they got his number. Then he says, "Should I bring my own shovel?" and walks out angry. Archie tells Nick what he's found on Harper's laptop: lots of tapings. Including one with Warrick on it. Nick figures it out and tells Grissom that the PI was working for Warrick and he was spying on Gedda. They think Gedda might have found out and killed the PI. Grissom leaves Warrick an angry message.

Warrick calls back. He's got a gun in his hand, he tells Grissom he doesn't know what happened. He's at Gedda's club. The police arrive, guns drawn. Grissom heads to the scene. Warrick's on his knees, blood everywhere in front of him. Gedda is in a chair, dead. Warrick tells Grissom he doesn't know what happened. The policeman who responded said no one else was in the building. Grissom asks the cop to leave. He asks Warrick again what happened.

Warrick tells him again that he doesn't know, that his head is throbbing. Grissom asks if it's his gun and cuffs. They are. Grissom tells him he needs a lawyer, a point Brass reiterates when he arrives. Leading him away he says to Warrick, "You couldn't just let it go." As Warrick is placed in the car, the CSIs arrive and look at him, seriously, in slo-mo. Grissom tells them Gedda is dead. The day shift is handling the case. Ecklie checks Warrick's hands for gun shot residue and takes his clothes. Even Ecklie tells Warrick to get a lawyer. He says he doesn't know what he'd tell one.

Nick sees Hodges talking to IA. He tells Nick about the phone call. An IA officer interviews Warrick. He says he doesn't know what happened. The IA guy asks Warrick if he remembers hiring Harper. He does. Warrick says Gedda called him, but it came from a disposable cell phone, so they can't confirm it. A flashback shows Warrick checking the place out, gun drawn. The next thing he remembers is waking up bloodied, holding the gun.

The IA guy (or Officer Wagenbach) shows Warrick pictures of himself covered in blood. Wagenbach asks Warrick what the evidence looks like. He says it looks like he did it, but then he flips out, grabbing at Wagenbach, telling him he doesn't know what happened. Grissom asks Ecklie for copies of his reports.

Catherine stops by to see Warrick. Warrick asks her if she thinks he did it. She says she can't discuss the case, indicating they're being listened to. She tells him to stay strong. Wagenbach starts in again with Warrick, asking if he ever thinks about "her." Warrick thinks he means Joanna. But Wagenbach reminds him of Holly, the CSI who was killed at a crime scene eight years ago when Warrick left to go place bets for a crooked judge.

Catherine goes to Warrick's apartment to get him a change of clothes, but Ecklie is examining it. Wagenbach tries to break Warrick, he asks for a lawyer. Grissom reads Wendy's report, which says the blood matches Gedda. Catherine reads the report that says the bullets came from Warrick's gun. Doc Robbings finds that Gedda was bound and beaten at least an hour prior to death. It all points to Warrick. Grissom asks Nick, Catherine and Greg what they'd think if it was any other suspect. Greg says they'd think he was guilty.

A CSI reports they found chloroform in Gedda's blood. Grissom orders Warrick's blood tested because chloroform can cause short term memory loss. But it's too late, it disappears in the blood too quickly. Grissom finds clean spots on Warrick's blood-spattered shirt. They find a void in the spatter pattern indicating he might have been passed out and held up when the blood sprayed. Grissom thinks Warrick was framed.

The team starts looking for other suspects. Grissom finds the marks on Gedda's wrists don't match Warrick's cuffs. He reminds Catherine that Brass suspected there was a mole in the department. They think they're looking for a cop. They think if they solve the PI's murder they can find who killed Gedda. McKeen tries to get Warrick to take a deal.

Grissom looks at police officers' prints found at the PI scene and at the mortuary. They find one officer, Pritchard, didn't sign the log. His print was also found on the casket.Brass and Grissom go to inspect Pritchard's locker. His cuffs are missing. But Grissom finds blood residue on the cuff key. They present the evidence to McKeen and Wagenbach. Grissom assures them he'll prove Warrick was framed.

He goes to talk to Warrick. He tells Warrick he was framed. He tells him about the mole but says Pritchard isn't in custody yet. He tells Warrick they'll drop the charges, but that Grissom and Ecklie are going to recommend he be suspended and demoted, but not fired. They man hug. Brass reminds him not to forget how lucky he is.

Later the team sits around at a diner and talks. Warrick says there's no place he'd rather be. Warrick picks up the tab. They leave, one by one.Warrick walks out, alone. He walks to his car and gets in. There's a tap on the window. It's McKeen. He says he wants to congratulate him in person. He says he's not going to fire him, he just needs to know he's not going to go off on his own anymore. Warrick vows to get the one guy who's gotten away. McKeen says that's what makes him a good CSI.

McKeen is seen shooting Warrick through the neck from driver's side window perspective. Then, looking at the car head on, McKeen fires again. He wipes off the gun and throws it in the passenger seat. Warrick slumps over the steering wheel.

Note

During the filming of this episode, Gary Dourdan was arrested on drug charges. He was found asleep in his car at 5:14 AM, posted a $5,000 bail, and was back on the set filming later that day.

References

External links