CSI: Miami

Season 3 - Episode 19 - Death & Taxes

Written by Ildy Modrovich & Brian Davidson
Directed by Scott Shiffman
Glassner

In the early morning hours, Kevin Renfro is stealing a 48-foot yacht when Jason Whitley runs out of the adjoining house with a .38 and shots are fired. Whitley phones the police to tell them he just killed an intruder.

Caine and Yelina inspect the crime scene and interview Whitley. Whitley says Renfro was trying to steal his yacht, yet Caine discovers the “thief” was actually a repo man. Knowing repo men have to identify themselves before making seizure, Yelina confronts Whitley, who now says Renfro broke a window to steal the keys to his yacht. Whitley also says Renfro shot at him, showing a bullet graze to prove the point.

Delko photos the scene as Alexx examines the body. Delko finds keys to the yacht, with gold-colored dust particles on them. Delko dives to look for Renfro’s gun. Alexx discovers a Writ of Entry in the victim’s pocket, indicating Renfro wasn’t just any repo man but an IRS agent. But IRS agents are not allowed to carry guns. Caine asks Whitley if he shot himself; Whitley says no.

Caine talks to Renfro’s IRS co-worker, Melissa Boone, who informs him that last month Whitley threatened to kill Renfro during an attempted seizure. Whitley steadfastly contends that Renfro pointed a gun at him and was going to shoot him, so he shot Renfro in self defense.

Delko brings to the surface a “key-gun” used for making keys on the fly, which explains the metal particles found on the yacht keys. Ryan takes the evidence from Delko and before Delko can join him presents the key-gun to Caine on his own. Caine uses it to extract a confession from Whitley, who claims the IRS was taking his life from him, piece by piece.

Tripp awaits Caine at another crime scene involving an IRS agent, Simon Bremmer, who was found shot to death in his convertible. As Bremmer’s bloody body is removed from the car, Calleigh and Wolfe maglight the vehicle. They determine that Bremmer was shot outside the car, then staggered inside. On the carseat, they find half a blood drop, indicating something was removed. Calleigh spots tire tracks in the nearby grass and some tree bark, along with 2 casings from a 9 mm pistol.

Delko IDs the tire tracks – they’re from a Roll Royce Phantom. Alexx removes two fragmented bullets from Bremmer’s body and discovers he was being slowly poisoned. So, Calleigh and Wolfe collect everything in his office for analysis. They find a threatening letter from a taxpayer Bremmer was pursuing, Russell Edge, along with a list of Edge’s belongings, including a Rolls Royce Phantom. Calleigh and Wolfe analyze Bremmer’s desktop equipment and determine that nearly everything had been sprayed with a poison.

Tripp questions Edge, who, in the midst of a messy divorce, has hidden all his assets and reveals nothing about his gun or Rolls. Molly Edge shares Russell’s old business records to help determine where Edge’s assets might be stashed.

Delko pieces together a $5,000 unendorsed check from Bremmer’s shredder. He lifts a print from the check belonging to Melissa Boone. Boone admits to shredding the check because Bremmer was exceeding her in collections totals. She swears she had nothing to do with the poisoning. Calleigh determines the poison to be an insecticide. Tripp investigates Bremmer’s client list for a likely suspect and finds Carl Dawson, the owner of a nursery who is into the IRS for millions.

Caine and Tripp go to Dawson’s place, recently seized by the IRS. Caine finds Dawson and his eight year-old son breaking in and, since it’s a federal crime to break into IRS-seized property, Tripp proceeds to cuff Dawson when Seth, Dawson’s 15 year old son, yells at Tripp to let his father go.

Tripp questions Dawson about the insecticide. Dawson assures him he was nowhere near Bremmer's office, since it’s against the law for him to be near Bremmer. The IRS had made a mistake -- he owes the IRS only 30 thousand, not three million. It’s a typographic error, but he couldn’t get Bremmer to straighten it out. He had been making his payments on time, but Bremmer shut him down anyway. The shredded check Delko found was Dawson’s most recent payment.

Caine suspects Dawson’s covering for sons Seth and Timothy. Caine asks the boys about the poison. Seth tells Caine that Bremmer promised they wouldn’t lose their house and are now living in a van. Seth admits to dousing Bremmer’s office with the poison while dropping his dad’s monthly check off. Seth denies he had a gun, so Caine orders their van searched.

Calleigh traces Edge’s assets to one of a number of warehouses he has rented throughout the city. Although the Rolls isn’t inside they can see it’s been there. Calleigh finds the 9 mm gun, missing a few rounds. Edge denies shooting Bremmer.

The Rolls is located in a parking space rented by Molly Edge. Calleigh and Wolfe discover a woman’s stiletto heel mark on the ceiling of the car. They find Bremmer’s semen on the backseat. Molly found the car and stole it. Bremmer tracked her down, was going to seize it, but Molly traded sex for Simon to leave her alone. They also discover male DNA on outside of the car, suspecting Edge may have caught Molly and Bremmer having sex, and shot Bremmer in a jealous rage.

Tripp finds Bremmer’s briefcase in Dawson’s van. The DNA from the Rolls window matches Timothy Dawson’s. In Interrogation, Timothy and Seth reveal what really happened: The boys followed Bremmer, snuck up on the car and saw him inside having sex with Molly Edge, when Timothy sneezed. Young Timothy was scared and thought Bremmer was hurting Molly. The boys threatened to expose Bremmer. When Bremmer stepped toward Timothy, he shot him, thinking Bremmer would hurt them like he “hurt” Molly.

Caine convinces a reluctant Melissa Boone to correct her typo in Dawson’s IRS paperwork. Dawson’s business is reopened and Caine promises that his boys will get the help they need to make it through what faces them now.