06x14 - Sense Memory

Episode transcripts for the TV show "Criminal Minds". Aired: September 2005 to February 2020.*

Moderators: tay2417, GemW, scoopy

Watch/Buy Amazon  Merchandise

The cases of the BAU an elite group of profilers that analyze the nation's most dangerous criminal minds in an effort to anticipate their next moves before they strike again.
Post Reply

06x14 - Sense Memory

Post by bunniefuu »

♪ Can you smell it, baby? ♪
♪ can you smell the funk? ♪
♪ can you smell it, baby?

♪ Can you smell the funk? ♪
♪ don't it make you feel good? ♪
♪ can you feel that sound? ♪
♪ can you smell it, baby ♪
♪ when I'm broken down? ♪

You refuse to notice the disgusting state of the world in which you live.

You close yourself off rather than facing the reality that you are all just animals pretending to be something more.

[Inhales deeply]

Are you on duty?

[Louder] Are you on duty?

No, I'm not.

It's freezing out here.

I said no.

Please?

I said I'm not on--

10 years in L. A.

And I still forget that the temperature drops 20 degrees at night.

I usually don't even take a taxi, it's just the Metro stopped--

Get in.

What?

It's ok. Get in.

Thank you.

I can't believe I stumbled on to a taxi.

It must be my lucky night.

Very lucky.

Hey, Cheryl.

[Thunder]

Sean.

I was gonna call you back.

I just--I got busy on a case.

Ian Boyle vanished from prison.

Interpol can't find him.

What are you saying?

He's off the grid, Emily.

Am I in danger?

We all are.

[Cat yowls]

Serge, you scared me.

Where you been?

Why are you wet?

Were you out running around in the rain?

I sure did miss you, Sergio.

You're just the handsomest kitten I've ever seen.

I sure miss you when I'm gone.

Is this how you got out, buddy?

Hey, Brianna, it's Emily.

Yeah, I just got back now.

It was good. Thanks.

Um, did you leave the fire escape window open for Sergio to get out?

Ok.

No, I just--it was open and I was wondering how it got that way.

It's fine.

No. No, there's no water damage.

Um, it's fine.

Thank you so much for taking care of him while I was gone.

Uh, you want to have brunch this weekend?

Ok, cool.

I'll give you a call.

Ok, bye.

Buddy.

[Meow]

Ohh.

Ucchh.

[Kiss]

[Telephone rings]

[Ring]

[Ring]

Hi, it's Emily.

Leave a message.

[Tone]

[Call disconnects, dial tone]

♪ Criminal Minds 6x14 ♪

Sense Memory
Original air date on February 9, 2011

Morgan: "Hunting is not a sport.

In a sport, both sides should know they are in the game."

Comedian Paul Rodriguez.

Where's Prentiss?

I don't know.

Her car wasn't here when I rode in this morning.

I'm gonna give her a call, get her eta.

Hey.

Somebody have a long night?

Somebody want to mind their own business?

Garcia.

Oh. Spin the wheel and it is sunny Los Angeles, people.

Two times in one year, huh?

Remind me again why it's called the City of Angels.

It was originally called the town of our lady the queen of the angels.

That was a rhetorical question, wasn't it?

Garcia: This is a weird one.

Morgan: As opposed to?

Ah, withhold your judgment, mon ami.

Ok, 3 women, all abducted from different parts of the city and m*rder*d within the last couple of weeks.

Shelly onto, 23-year-old bank teller, 15 days ago.

Vickie Hagerg, 39-year-old art teacher, 6 days ago.

And Linda Dean, a 28-year-old hostess at a bar, 2 days ago.

All from different parts of the city, all different socioeconomic statuses.

All 3 were held approximately 24 hours before being dumped in a public space.

He's not hiding what he's doing.

And here's one weird part.

They all look like floaters.

Mm-hmm. All 3 women were drowned.

Their bodies weren't found anywhere near water?

No, they weren't.

They were drowned somewhere else and transported to the dumpsite.

Garcia, you're right, this is weird.

They weren't drowned in water.

Oh, but there's more.

Methanol?

Each woman had it in her lungs and was alive before she went into it.

No water, just methanol.

Drowning's a tough way to k*ll someone.

Slow. The unsub wants his victims to suffer, and he's got the space and privacy in which to do it.

And if you have yet to hit your daily allotment of skeeve before breakfast, each woman had an identical removal of flesh taken from the bottom of her right foot.

Methanol and skin.

What the hell's he doing with them?

Reid: Methanol is compositionally speaking the simplest of the alcohols.

It's actually ubiquitous in the environment.

There are small traces of its vapor in the atmosphere, but atmospheric methanol is easily oxidized by sunlight.

Is it toxic?

Ingesting 10 milliliters of it will cause permanent blindness, and as little as 30 is potentially fatal.

These victims had between 5 and 6 ounces in their lungs.

You know, if they were immersed in it, they would have died even without ingesting or inhaling it.

When absorbed through the skin, it depresses the central nervous system to an unsustainable degree.

Well, what's it used for?

What isn't it used for?

A solvent, an antifreeze.

In World w*r II the Germans used it for rocket fuel.

It's used in wine-making.

Its most commonplace use, however, is in the creation of other chemicals.

Methanol can become plastic, plywood, paint, expl*sives, permanent-press textiles.

It's essentially the chemical used to separate other chemicals from each other.

Can it be bought?

Is it tracked?

California's got some of the strictest environmental laws in the country.

I'm sure it's regulated.

Yeah, but methanol is also used in making biofuels, which quite a few people have been doing at home.

I'd imagine the sale of it is fairly commonplace.

But he needs enough in which to immerse a body.

All the victims were nude, but there's no evidence of sexual as*ault on any of them.

And the skin was removed from the bottom of the foot.

Unless we're talking about a foot fetishist, you actually can't get further away from sexual areas.

Yeah. Impotent sadists like Robert Napper typically take their frustration out on their victims.

You'd think there'd be a lot more overkill.

And what he's doing is very specific, very focused.

What about the skin patches?

Is this a trophy of some sort?

I have no idea.

Skin, independent of any other substance, would wither and die rather quickly.

Well, that might be the thing that's forcing our unsub back out on the hunt.

Considering the wide divergence of abduction and dumpsites, this guy could be anywhere.

L. A. is over 500 square miles.

Uh, 498.3.

And the fact that no one has seen him either abduct or dispose says he knows the city and its patterns well.

Day and night, it's all the same.

I float around the city bombarded by the smells of guinea pigs like you who've been swayed to toxify themselves for corporate whoremongers, desensitizing your bodies to the odor, the filth, the retching stench of chemical consumption.

Yes, sir.

Agent Hotchner?

I'm Detective Bailey.

I'm the primary, at least until the city starts a taskforce.

It's S. O. P. in L. A.

This is Agent Rossi.

Thank you for inviting us.

I hope you can help us.

We'll do what we can.

Doc's waiting.

We got nothing here.

2 of the 3 women weren't even reported missing when we found them.

He's dumping their bodies 24 hours after abducting them.

It takes longer than that for a missing persons report to clear the system.

And I have no idea if there are more.

Let's hope not.

I've experimented with the process and still been unsatisfied.

I need it on my desk first thing in the morning.

The issues are with the subjects.

No, no, no, no, no, uh-uh.

91037 Wilshire.

How would we ever recapitalize from that?

And if you want a future in this company, you're gonna have to step it up.

Uh, do you not hear me?

Out.

91037 Wilshire.

Get out of my cab now.

Excuse me?

Out.

I'm gonna report this.

The driver's going crazy.

He's getting out of the cab.

Get out!

Ok--

Get out!

Ok. Ok!

Get out of my cab!

Get out!

Ok. Calm down!

The victims were clearly drowned, but there was absolutely no water in their system.

100% methanol.

It was completely seeped in their skin.

They soaked in it for some time.

I'd say they spent most of the time submerged, though not completely.

So maybe the soaking serves a purpose other than drowning.

Could be.

God.

What about the wounds, the missing pieces of skin?

Were the edges clean like the unsub knew what he was doing?

Actually, on the first 2 victims, the edges of the wounds were jagged, as if the instrument was shaking while the skin was cut.

But on the latest victim, it's much cleaner, much more defined.

His confidence and skill level are increasing.

I don't imagine you need any medical training for something like that.

No, just something sharp enough.

Doctor, was there any methanol in the wound?

Excuse me?

In the wound itself, was there evidence of methanol?

Only trace amounts.

So the skin was removed after the body was taken out of the chemical?

Postmortem. It's not about t*rture or pain.

Oh, one other thing.

I noticed in the toxicology report that Ms. Dean had a good amount of chloroform in her blood.

It turns out the other victims did as well.

If he were using chloroform, wouldn't she have burning around her nose and mouth?

Usually. None of them showed any signs of it, but there is burning inside her nostrils.

She breathed the chloroform in.

What if he aerosolized to turn it into a mist?

That could do it.

That's pretty extensive preplanning.

Repulsive.

Nasty, stinking, rotten, filthy creatures.

Guys, as I feared, methanol can be easily purchased from any chemical supply house in Southern California.

It's not controlled. You can buy it in large quantities or small quantities.

Now, I've charted the abduction and disposal sites.

Linda Dean was taken from Hollywood.

Her body was dumped in Echo Park.

Shelly onto was last seen in the garment district.

Her body was dumped in Sherman Oaks.

And finally, Vickie Hagerg was taken in Torrance south of the city.

Her body was left in Westlake.

It's a huge geographical area.

The only area the unsub hasn't hit yet is east of downtown, which means we can either eliminate it or it's the one place left.

So we're back to nothing.

No, not necessarily.

I looked at the crime scene photos.

These sites are true dumpsites.

I mean, there's no concealment, no staging.

He literally just dumps the bodies there like garbage once he's done with them.

The randomness could be orchestrated or it could be simple opportunity.

Either way, he's very mobile.

All of the dumpsites, including the most recent one, are between the 110 and 405 freeway and the 5 and 10 north and south.

Linda Dean's family said she always took the Red Line home from work at night, but the subway in L. A.

Stops running at 1 a.m.

She clocked out of work at 5 past 1:00.

L. A. at 1 a.m.?

She probably didn't walk home.

No. And Kingsley's a mile away.

All the victims had breathed an aerosolized chloroform, and to do that he needs an enclosed space.

You know, chloroform's a lot more controlled than methanol.

I'll have Garcia track any large quantity purchases or thefts from chemical supply houses.

So we're looking for a vehicle, one that could be in any area of Los Angeles at 1:00 in the morning and not attract attention.

I hate to say it, but that could be a police car.

Or a taxi.

[Door opens]

Hi.

I am going to-- where is my address?

Hey, how do you say this-- ca-hu-enga.

[Pronounces correctly]

Cahuenga.

Does it connect-- can I just give this to you?

Thank you.

It really...[Voice fades]

No, it's ok. I got you.

I got you.

Uh, sir--

Sir, there's something--

Sir, there's something--

Sir--

Sir, please open the door!

Sir--sir, please op-- sir, I can't get out!

Please, open the door!

[Shouting and crying]

[Telephone rings]

Live from Quantico, Va, it is the divine Miss Penelope.

Los Angeles, you're our first and favorite caller.

Talk to me.

Ok, woman, you do know you're crazy, right?

Mm-hmm. But like you always say, don't hate the Playa, hate the game.

[Laughs] Ok, Playa, my bad.

Listen, I need you to check and see which cab companies serve the Hollywood area where Linda dean was abducted.

There are 7--

Bell, Beverly Hills, Checker, City, Independent, United, and the Yellow cab company.

Can you narrow that down and find out who picked up fares near Vaughn's bar and grill in the the last 72 hours?

That's gonna take a minute or two, but still no cause for perspiration.

I shall lovingly hit you back when I have something, ok?

Thanks, Playa.

You know it.

There's 7 companies.

Garcia's running them down.

Hotch: Good.

Most taxis here run out of cab stands.

It's not like New York where they're running all over the place.

That should help narrow down the choices.
Excuse me.

[Inhales deeply]

What do you got?

Ok, I checked all 7 cab companies that service the Hollywood and Vermont area, and none of the drivers reported picking anyone up between 11:00 and 2:00 the night Linda went missing.

And they know that for sure?

Yeah. They seemed really certain.

Well, one of the drivers may have picked someone up off the meter.

The cabs have GPS?

Yeah. Taxis are tracked more than Gaga's Twitter.

What does that mean?

I'll explain it to him, Garcia.

Yeah, teach him to worship the other Lady G, boss.

Ta and ta.

So there were no taxis in the area.

Add 5 tablespoons of salt.

Once the animal skin has boiled long enough to render all the fat possible, strain it into the double-boiling pot with the nitric acid.

Allow the solution to cool.

This should create a clear, beautiful mixture with a natural scent.

What about a gypsy cab?

They roam around in unregistered vehicles with fake insignias that look legit.

There are 2, 300 registered cabs in the city and at least as many unregistered.

Rossi: And no one pays any attention when they get into a cab.

If he's unregistered, he's not gonna sit outside taxi stands and wait to pick up fares in the traditional way.

Which makes him either harder to find.

This guy could be anywhere.

Detective, can you gather everyone?

We'd like to give the profile.

Thank you.

Yeah.

What is it, Reid?

When I was in school, we used to use methanol to separate chemicals from each other.

Whatever we did, we'd clip a sample of the source material to label and keep next to the output.

What kind of samples?

Square samples 2 inches by 2 inches.

I think this guy's a scientist and he's experimenting.

You're awake.

You're awake.

[Muffled sobbing]

You're gonna live forever.

Hotch: We wanted to get a preliminary profile to you as soon as possible because of the type of unsub we're dealing with here.

Rossi: We believe he's a male caucasian, driving an unregistered gypsy cab.

He uses the vehicle to abduct the women.

His victims have been between the ages of 20 and 40, and we think that he's in the same age bracket.

Add to that his use of methanol for whatever reason and the aerosolization of chloroform, and we believe that we're looking for a very intelligent unsub.

Which is not unusual.

True psychopaths often have above-average intelligence.

This type of unsub will not have injected himself into the investigation as we often see.

He will not be following the investigation very closely.

In fact, he may not even be concerned about whether he's leaving any evidence.

So how come we can't find him?

Because of what he's doing to them.

He's submerging them in liquid, which is washing away any forensic evidence which might be there.

And then he's wrapping the bodies in plastic.

There is something about him which will be helpful.

He's extremely antisocial.

Prentiss: We've all heard neighbors say after an unsub is caught how surprised they all are.

That will not be the case with this guy.

Rossi: Couple his expl*sive, antisocial nature with taxi-driving and someone will have made contact with him.

They will remember.

We suggest going public with the information as soon as possible, that he's an unregistered taxi driver and that he's had confrontations with people in the city.

Thank you very much.

[Multiple cell phones and pagers going off]

Morgan: Someone has had a confrontation with this man, most likely involving his taxi, which is not registered.

Now, if you have, please contact...

You guys got a press conference up fast.

And we'd like to warn everyone in the community, especially women who travel alone...

The body's this way.

People need to know.

A couple of Mountain-bikers found her.

Same story.

Yeah.

She's still unidentified, but like I said, most of this guy's victims weren't even reported missing.

Garcia, what we're looking for is a combination of purchases.

Ooh, combinations of lists are my life's work and forte, oh, tall and smart one. Go.

Items used to set up a laboratory-- beakers, glass tubing, a vessel large enough to hold a woman, enough methanol to submerge her.

Yeah. Added to?

Addresses where large amounts of methanol have been delivered alongside chloroform.

I shall contact you forthwith.

I will eagerly be awaiting your call.

Dr. Reid, where'd the guy go who gave the press conference?

He's with the reporters. Why?

Because we already got someone calling who says she talked to the guy.

I don't know if he's the guy, but he was out of control.

His cab was unregistered, and he actually made me, a paying customer, get out.

Ok, was that all that happened?

Well, I was on the phone when I first got in the cab.

Uh, yeah, he was listening to something.

What do you mean?

Some dumb recording of himself talking.

What was he saying on the recording?

I don't know.

I tried to get his cab number down, but I was really flustered.

I only got the last 2 digits.

Ok, ma'am, these two officers will take down all your information.

They're probably gonna ask you to look at some photos.

How long is that gonna take?

I'm not really sure, ma'am, but you may actually help save someone's life.

Ok.

All right, if he's listening to recordings of himself, he's not only antisocial, he's probably delusional as well.

Thank you.

Agent Hotchner.

I'll call you back.

A young girl, Anisa Gold, just went missing this afternoon.

Her roommate says she was going to a job interview, never arrived.

She never returned home either.

He probably has her, right?

Probably.

We're with the FBI.

You mind if we take a look inside your cab for a minute?

It doesn't have anything to do with you, sir.

We just want to have a conversation.

Well... Ok. Sure.

Thank you.

Ok.

Prentiss, hop in the back.

You're welcome.

Thank you.

So why a cab?

He could control the woman better if he had a van or something.

Yeah, but a woman probably wouldn't get into a van voluntarily.

A cab enables him to blend in when he's on the hunt.

He doesn't choose his victims until they get inside.

Right. So what is it about these passengers?

Well, I doubt it's anything visual.

He'd get a better look at his victims from the street as opposed to the back of his cab.

Partition.

They aren't touching each other.

Probably isn't based on that.

Hearing? Something they say?

Prentiss.

What's going on with you?

With me?

I've been watching you the last couple of days and something is obviously bothering you.

Derek, because I like you, I'm going to ask you not to do this.

Please.

[Prentiss sniffs]

Ugh. It smells back here.

[Cell phone rings]

Hey.

Could it be smell?

What?

Could smell be what's attracting him to his victims?

Distillation extraction.

Well, I hope you know what you just said, 'cause you lost me.

Methanol can be used to create scents or aromas.

If you soak something in it for hours, it draws out the essential oils.

Emily, let me call you right back, ok?

The natural essence of a woman is innocent and intoxicating.

It must be preserved by any means necessary.

The mixtures from subjects 1 through 4 were flawed, but subject 5 is more fearful.

Her pheromones will yield better results.

[Crying]

Subject 5, shh...

Please...

Please, just let me go.

I'm not number 5.

My name's Anisa.

Please let me go.

Let you go?

I've perfected the process.

Everything is ready.

Please. Please...

Unless the victims all wore excessive amounts of perfume, it would take a hell of nose to detect smell through a taxi window.

Not necessarily.

People with the olfactory disorder hyperosmia have an oversensitivity to smell.

They typically pick up scents that other people can't.

I don't think he'd be going after their perfume.

It's already artificial.

So they probably weren't wearing anything on their skin.

Something about their natural scent compels him?

Smell's a powerful trigger for memory.

He might be trying to bring back the memory of somebody he lost.

Excuse me.

[Cell phone ringing]

You have something?

Yeah, this is wonderful and totally uncommon.

I have exactly one address at which every piece of equipment you listed was delivered to.

We have an address.

Subject number 5, this part is up to you, but, as you know, I've done several of these, well...

Extractions, and...

It would be better for you if you just take a deep breath as soon as you're submerged.

Fighting will only prolong your discomfort.

But, again, it's totally up to you.

All right, here we go.

Oh, God, no.

No, please, don't do this.

No! No, please...

Don't! No!

[Sobbing]

[Sirens]

Morgan and Prentiss, take the back.

He's got eyes on us.

FBI!

He's running!

Reid and Prentiss, search the house.

[Honking]

[Siren]

There!

FBI!

Please help me!

Help me!

Are you ok?

Clear!

Yes, just get me out.

I got it.

You're ok.

You're ok.

It's all right.

We're gonna get you out of here.

Thank you.

[Sobbing]

Thank you.

Damn it!

We lost him.

Split up.

Stop.

Back up.

Got him.

No.

No!

... Rotted vegetables, rotted fruit, rotted meat, rotted lives.

It's not that it's hidden.

It's everywhere.

You don't notice because you don't want to.

You close yourself off to it, pretend it isn't there because it's easier than facing it, facing the reality that you're all just animals pretending to be something more.

Prentiss: "Nothing revives the past so completely as a smell that was once associated with it."

Novelist Vladimir Nabakov.

[Cell phone rings]

[Ring]

Reid?

Emily, you are not going to believe this.

No?

They're showing "Solaris" tonight, the original, in the theaters.

You want to go?

Did Morgan put you up to this?

What?

Did Morgan tell you to call me?

No, Morgan would have no idea what "Solaris" is.

So, uh, you just called me out of the blue.

Well, I mean, the original one's in Russian, so, really, you and I are the only ones that can really enjoy it.

Isn't "Solaris" like 4 hours long?

It's 5. The best Sci-Fi meditation film of all time.

But for some reason, they never really show it in the theaters.

You want to go with me?

Sorry, handsome.

I'm gonna have to pass.

I'm just gonna hang out with Sergio tonight.

Oh, sh**t.

I didn't realize that...

Relax, Reid.

Sergio is my new cat.

But, um...

Thank you.

For what?

For being you.

Aw, thanks.

I don't know how to be anyone else.

Yeah.

That's what I love about you.

Bye.

Monsieur...

[Speaking french]

Merci.

[Tires screeching]

[Speaking italian]

Qu'est-ce qui se passe?

I want to talk to Sean.

[Man speaking italian]

They got her.

Drop the phone.

Get on the ground now.

Based on their shoes and shades, I'd say CIA.

But it could be MI5, ICC, Interpol.

Hey! I'm not gonna tell you again.

On the ground--now!

Hold on.

k*ll me or arrest me, but I will not lay on the ground like a dog.

I gotta go.

Stay on top of this.

I'll speak to you soon.

[Handcuffs click]

Serge?

Sergio, buddy.

[Meow]

Hey.
Post Reply