CSI: Miami

Season 4 - Episode 8 - Nailed

Written by Corey Miller & Barry O’Brien
Directed by Karen Gaviola

Delko speeds through the streets of Miami with a bloody and screaming Ryan Wolfe at his side.  Wolfe has been shot in the eye with a nail gun while investigating the murder of Brenda Hall at the home of her soon-to-be-ex husband, Gary.  Delko is feeling guilty since Wolfe covered for him and responded when the call went out.

 Flashback to the crime scene -- Horatio and Tripp begin their investigation of Brenda’s murder.  Gary Hall was having construction done on his home and Brenda’s body was found by the contractor, Karl Lampley, with four nails protruding from her upper torso and neck.   Hall consoles his 17 year-old son, Lucas, when Hall’s pretty young fiancée, Charlene Hartford, enters with Hall’s younger daughter, April.  At the crime scene, Calleigh and Wolfe collect evidence.  Wolfe also finds a patch of burned grass near the house.  Alexx IDs bruises on Brenda’s body and suspects she may have DNA evidence underneath her nails.  Calleigh and Wolfe determine that the nail gun they found at the scene is not the murder weapon.  Delko finally shows up at the crime scene; Wolfe gives him a hard time for missing the “call out.”  Calleigh and Wolfe check out Lampley’s trailer and the dumpster for the murder weapon.  Wolfe finds a pile of burned clothes belonging to Charlene inside the dumpster.  Charlene tells Wolfe that she came home one day and found Brenda carrying her clothes out to a burning fire on the lawn.  Alexx confirms Hall’s DNA under Brenda’s fingernails.  Hall admits he went over to Brenda’s to have her sign the papers but ended up having sex with her instead.  Calleigh and Wolfe search Brenda’s apartment to verify Hall’s story.  While there, Calleigh plays an unheard phone message from Hall, who insists he and Brenda meet to settle their divorce plans.  Calleigh’s investigation determines that the phone message was spliced together and Lampley’s prints are found on the phone.  Wolfe makes his way to the construction trailer in hopes of finding Lampley inside.  The trailer seems unoccupied, but when he opens the door to the bathroom he is hit in the eye by an airborne nail.  Delko hears Wolfe’s call for help, goes to the trailer and rushes Wolfe to the hospital.  Horatio questions Lampley, and finds $5,000 in his front pocket.  

 Delko searches Lampley’s trailer and finds the nail gun and a ripped money band from Miami Shore Savings Bank.  Delko learns that Lucas Hall withdrew $5,000 from his father’s account, as requested by his mother.  She used the money as payment for Lampley to kill Gary Hall.  Lampley admits that Brenda hired him to kill Hall, but says she changed her mind, opting for him to kill her instead and then set up Gary for the crime.  Lampley says he refused and left her alone.  Lucas soon confesses to Horatio that he heard his mother plotting with Lampley to kill his father.  Lucas was enraged as he confronted his mother.  Brenda urged Lucas to kill her; otherwise she’d kill Hall herself.  Out of rage, Lucas fired the nail gun and killed his mother – to protect his dad.  Charlene knew Lucas had killed Brenda and was trying to hide the nail gun when Wolfe entered the trailer.  When he opened the door to the bathroom, she panicked and shot him.  While visiting Wolfe in the hospital, Delko sees his sister, Marisol, on her way to a doctor’s appointment.   

 Wolfe gets released from the hospital and his prognosis is good.  Delko still feels guilty that he didn’t take the call, but Wolfe assures him everything is okay between them.