CSI: Miami

Season 4 - Episode 21 - Dead Air

Written by Mark Dube
Directed by Scott Lautanen

A young woman gets a random call on her cell phone; it’s from a woman she doesn’t know begging for help.  Horatio is nearby and takes the phone.  The woman asks for Mitch and says that she’s been kidnapped and is about to be killed.  Horatio hears a gunshot, then the line goes dead.

 Calleigh brings Dan Cooper in on the case; he begins working with the cell phone of the girl who received the distress call to determine where the caller might be.  He ultimately figures out who the woman “meant” to call, her husband, a CFO for Abex Corporation.  Trip and Horatio interview Mitchell Collett who says he’s been contacted for ransom.  His wife, Brenda, is the kidnapping victim.  His boss, company CEO Dane Daniels, offers recordings of the company’s incoming calls to help identify the ransom caller’s location.

 While Collett is definitely a suspect, an investigation of the Collett house reveals a gun handle fragment which Delko runs through Trace.  Brenda Collett’s recovered cell phone leads the team to a site in an alley where tire tracks indicate the kidnapper’s car was there and Brenda’s phone was discarded.  Ryan Wolfe tells Delko he’d like to ask Natalia Boa Vista out, and Delko says to go ahead.  Ryan asks Natalia and she accepts, miffed that Delko would talk with Ryan about her behind her back.

 Evidence found in the alley points to Rick Miller, who turns out to be Brenda’s secret lover.  Miller claims Brenda broke off their affair and he hired a guy to “scare” her.  The guy turns out to be Charlie Pelson, a small-time businessman who, in turn, recruited bartender Jack Hilson.  Seeing a bigger opportunity, Hilson turned on Pelson, who fled the scene while Hilson proceeded with a very real kidnapping.  While questioning Hilson, Horatio gets the call that turns the case around and leads him to Hilson’s hideout, and a very-much alive Brenda Collett.