Original subtitles

WOMAN: Once upon a time,

there was a reindeer named Winston.

(bells jingling)

Winston was lost.

He wandered the city instead of delivering toys in the frost.

(camera shutters clicking)

-Did you get it? -(reindeer grunts)

Winston searched every roof and chimney.

(women gasping)

Where, oh, where could jolly Santa be?

(siren wails in distance)

Thank you.

(heavy sigh)

BRASS: Happy holidays.

RUSSELL: Not for Santa, I hear.

BRASS: There's gonna be

a lot of disappointed kids

this year.

RUSSELL: Wow. Snow in Vegas.

BRASS: Well, this white Christmas

is brought to you courtesy of

the Winter Wonderland Company-- the employee Jayson Walt,

he's over there.

Reindeer wrangler, snow maker,

jack-of-all-trades. He comes to work this morning,

finds a dead Santa and a missing reindeer.

They went all out.

Patrol found Dasher about an hour ago on the Strip,

blood in his fur. Animal Control

brought him here, and Jayson Walt identified him as Dasher.

David Phillips has the I.D. on the dead guy.

Good luck.

David,

-got a name vet? -Lucky for us,

the victim is not a Secret Santa.

He's got business cards, everything.

"Brad Fante-- your friendly neighborhood I.T. guy."

Works for Bonham Realty.

Must have been the company Kringle.

Liver temp tells me he died between

12:00 and 1:00 a.m. And both

femoral arteries were severed.

So he bled out. What are those,

-bloody ho of prints? -PHILLIPS: Looks like it.

So the reindeer

sees Santa here die violently,

breaks out of the pen,

tracks through the fresh blood.

And I thought Rudolph had it bad.

There's blood on the runner here.

He was definitely run over by the sleigh.

Uh... Russell?

I got a lot of blood at his back.

Could you help me flip him?

(Phillips grunts)

(sighs heavily)

Five sharp-force injuries.

That's a lot of blood, so he was still alive

when he was stabbed.

-This is not an accident. -Grandma may have

gotten run over by a reindeer,

but Santa got "sleighed."

♪ Who... are you? ♪

♪ Who, who, who, who?

♪ Who... are you? ♪

♪ Who, who, who, who?

♪ I really wanna know ♪

♪ Who... are you? ♪

-I Oh-oh-oh I - Who...!

♪ Come on, tell me who are you, you, you ♪

I Are you!!

SANDERS: It's already 50 degrees,

the sun's still rising.

It's supposed to get up to 70 today.

-Say good-bye to the snow. -SANDERS: Our main priority

is to record and preserve-- analyze everything

when we get back to the lab.

Are we good for shoe impressions?

Good?

To collect them from the snow.

I'm guessing you didn't

process many cold scenes in L.A.

-(laughs) Try none. -All right, well,

heat is usually the battle here in Vegas,

but today it's show.

Blood doesn't read the same way,

the drops blend in, no spines, and prints

-don't lift easily. -Yeah, makes sense.

So we are going to need

liquid cold wax to process any impressions,

-and dry ice, too. -All right.

I'll call Hodges and have him bring it on over.

Right this way.

Hi. I'm Ryan Bonham.

Sorry I kept you waiting.

I had to check on my son Blake.

-1, uh, just can't believe all this. -No.

It's a hell of a thing. Sorry, I'm gonna

have to ask you a few questions here.

How well did you know the victim, Mr. Fante?

I didn't know him that well-- I mean, he'd been

with my company for a few months.

He was all psyched to organize the Christmas party.

Get along with the other employees?

Oh, yeah.

Brad worked miracles with computers.

Everyone loved him.

He made a, he made a perfect Santa.

Is there anything you can tell me about last night?

Not really, no.

I mean, you know,

the company had a great year,

everybody was partying, they were happy.

And then around 9:00, I went upstairs to put Blake to bed.

He's six now. Christmas is a bit of a tough time for him.

-Mm. -For me, too.

My, uh...

my wife died...

two years ago, Christmas Eve.

Sorry to hear that.

Yeah.

Uh, anyway, like I said, I stayed with him,

I fell asleep, the sirens woke me up,

and I looked out my window...

Yeah, I thought I'd seen

my share of Christmas tragedy in my life, but...

I guess not.

You had a long night, huh, Dash? Yeah.

Bet you're hungry, huh?

That's all right, we're gonna get you some grub.

-Yeah, we'll get you some food. -Mr. Walt?

Yeah, that's me.

Hey. I'm, uh, CSI Sanders.

I'm here to... process your reindeer.

Process?

-You don't mean put him down? -No, I...

just need to collect a sample of blood from his fur.

Why? Well,

he walked through a crime scene,

and the blood could be from our victim

or even from our killer.

Okay.

(grunting)

It's okay, boy.

It's just a little cotton on a stick.

-Good. -Do you always leave

-your reindeer out at night? -Oh, yeah, yeah,

they like it. Yeah, what with the snow?

Reminds them of Iceland.

Only place in the world you can find real reindeer.

Yeah, they sleep

by the glaciers. Hey, you think

-Dasher saw who did it? -Um...

it's... certainly possible.

You know, I saw this thing on the news.

They're giving MRIs to dogs now.

See, their brains are a lot like ours.

So old Dasher here,

he can't tell us what he saw, but, you know,

maybe someday we'll know what he's thinking.

All right, well, uh...

I think I got what I need. Thanks.

Hey, Dash.

Good boy. That was good.

Yeah.

BRODY: You got something?

HODGES: Yeah, partial boot impression.

I checked it against Santa's-- it's not his.

Blood drop inside.

Got blood drops over here as well.

Man, Greg was right.

You can't tell directionality.

But they are close

to where the body was.

-Could be gravitational. -Suggests...

this is the area where it all happened.

Santa gets stabbed in the back,

grabs at his wounds, trying to stop the bleeding,

but the blood is flowing.

Bumps into the sled, dislodges it.

(screams)

And the elf kingdom weeps.

Time for our trusty ice wax.

I had to use this in the infamous

Mount Charleston Chalet Murder.

Death by ski pole. Long story.

So, how does it work exactly?

HODGES: The wax preserves the impression,

insulating the snow, preventing any loss of detail

caused by heat from the exothermic reaction

of the casting material.

And...

voila-- frosty cast.

Nice. Um, what about the blood drops?

You can take them to go.

Al right.

Why do you think Santa was hanging out here

all by his lonesome after the party?

He was probably recovering from the forced levity

of a hyper-commercialized holiday

-that's lost all sense of wonder. -Wow.

Sounds like somebody got a lot of coal

-in his stocking as a kid. -I wish.

Instead of regaling me with stories of Santa,

my scientist father lectured me

on the implausibility of the whole thing.

What, he didn't think a fat man in a sled

could make it around the world in one night?

He also had a problem with the climate damage caused

by toy factories in the North Pole.

God, I hope I don't have you as my Secret Santa.

(Hodges chuckles)

I can't believe we're actually doing it again this year.

Must be Bonham's kid.

I wonder if he saw anything.

BRODY: I don't think anybody's talked to him yet.

Maybe we should take a shot at it.

Aren't vaguely Dickensian suburban kids

Russell's department?

(door opens)

Season's greetings, Doctor.

-Yeah? -How's it going in here?

Well, our friend here, Mr. Fante,

is definitely on someone's haughty list.

Looks like you got Secret Santa'd.

You gonna open it?

Why don't you do the honors for me, Nick.

Al right.

(gasps)

Herbal tea.

Mmm.

I think you got Russell.

(both chuckle)

I think our victim got

more than a stab in the back.

He's got a cut on the cheek, and bruising.

Well, maybe he was punched

before he was knifed.

Fiber in the wound.

STOKES: You know, that almost looks synthetic.

Killer could have been wearing gloves.

The stabbing was particularly vicious.

The killer twisted the blade.

Well, that's the personal touch right there.

Okay.

Christmas party, bunch of booze flowing.

Two guys just got in a fight.

I know we got to wait on tox, but...

did you find any alcohol in his stomach?

Nope, just milk and cookies.

Mr. Claus was a teetotaler.

Okay, there goes the drunken-brawl theory.

But one thing is for sure.

Jolly St. Nick here must have pissed somebody off.

WOMAN: "Winston looked east,

"and he looked west.

"He saw a light in the distance,

"maybe a place to rest.

-Winston..." -(phone ringing)

Whoops. Then Mommy got a call from Daddy,

and she had to put the book down.

(laughs) Phone.

(beep)

-Is that your mom? -Uh-huh.

She didn't get to the end of the story.

BRODY: Yeah.

The Lost Reindeer.

You must watch that a lot.

Did you watch it with your daddy last night?

Yeah. He fell asleep.

He was tired.

Well, after your dad went to sleep, did you happen to see

or hear anything outside?

I saw the Christmas tree lights go off downtown.

Well, you know, you got to stay up pretty late.

Do you think maybe you happened to see anything else?

I saw a reindeer.

I did, too,

right outside there.

It's pretty awesome, right?

Not that reindeer. The one in the house.

You saw a reindeer in the house?

BLAKE: On the staircase.

It had its head down, pawing at the floor,

so I got scared and shut my door.

I think, young man, what you were experiencing

was a dream, REM sleep.

During REM sleep, a pretty awesome

brain chemical called acetylcholine becomes active,

subduing other neurotransmitters.

Now, this excess acetylcholine is what makes you dream.

So, nothing you saw was real.

Is Santa real?

Yes. Yes.

Santa is very real.

(laughs)

I Mom and Dad said be good, so I did what I should!

♪ Hung my stocking on the wall, didn't get a thing at all ♪

♪ I don't believe in Christmas

♪ I don't believe in Christmas ♪

♪ I don't believe in Christmas

♪ 'Cause I didn't get nothin' last year -

♪ Stayed up late at night to see Santa Claus fly ♪

♪ Sure enough, don't ya know? The fat boy didn't show ♪

♪ I don't believe in Christmas

♪ I don't believe in Christmas ♪

♪ I don't believe in Christmas

♪ 'Cause I didn't get nothin' last year -

♪ No, I don't believe in Christmas ♪

♪ Oh, no. ♪

So, what is the snow report?

Uh, DNA from the blood drops in the snow are all a match

to our victim, Brad Fante.

And as far as that partial boot print goes,

it's from a Timberland, size unknown.

We got a list of all

of the shoes worn by the 22 guests

who were in attendance at the party.

No match to any of them.

Nor the home owner, Ryan.

Nor our reindeer wrangler.

So, I guess snow's a white-out.

Snow far.

I've been letting it melt

so I could strain the water for more trace.

Oh.

I don't think I'll need a strainer for that.

Must have been buried

underneath the snow.

Hmm. That looks biological.

Maybe part of the victim's intestine?

Possibly.

I'll run it and find out.

Hey, David, uh... (clears throat)

It's a good look for you.

The antlers are all business, my friend.

Fiber found in our victim, Brad Fante's, cheek wound.

Made from specific

modacrylic polymers and dye.

Used in fake fur and... this.

Reindeer costume.

HODGES: Purchased at a local

costume store, complete with furry hoof gloves.

Now, I'm thinking that some time before he got knifed,

our Santa took a left hoof

at the party from a pantomime reindeer.

You're kidding me?

If the reindeer glove fits, you need not acquit.

Could also explain

what little Blake Bonham saw at the bottom of the stairs.

And maybe our party animal left something behind.

♪♪

BRODY: Hodges' theory

that it was someone in a reindeer costume

at Ryan Bonham's party was correct, except for one detail.

RUSSELL: Ah. It was a woman.

BRODY: Looking for her contact lens.

I found it on the staircase, traced the I.D. number.

RUSSELL: Rachel Walker, 23.

No record.

This woman worked at Bonham Realty?

No. Actually,

she worked at another fine Vegas establishment--

The Cathedral Strip Club.

Featured dancer.

Miss Reindeer.

Well, that's quite an honor.

According to her bio, she beat out

seven other strippers for the rack.

Antlers. Crown.

I got it. You know, I didn't get the sense that

Ryan Bonham's Christmas party was that kind of party, so

why did he have Miss Reindeer at his house?

Well, apparently, Mr. Bonham didn't know anything about it.

I spoke to the strip club.

It was Brad Fante who hired the girl

and asked her to come late at night

"after all the children were nestled snug in their beds."

RUSSELL: So, what are you thinking?

That after the dancing stopped,

Santa got a little out of hand?

Yeah, and Miss Reindeer here decided

she didn't want to play anymore of his reindeer games.

♪ Chestnuts roasting on an open fire... ♪

(gasping)

♪ Jack Frost nipping... ♪ (snorts)

♪ At your nose ♪

♪ Yuletide carols

♪ Being sung by a choir

♪ And folks dressed up ♪

♪ Like Eskimos... ♪

I get it, but enough, all right?

Let's get to the good part.

You asked what happened. I'm telling you.

I was doing my number, doing my thing

for Fante and his buddy.

I was okay with the home movies.

I was not okay with the free porno.

What do you think you're doing?

Come on, Vixen. Santa screwing

one of his reindeer? It'll be the

greatest sex tape of all time!

Are you getting this, Fred?!

No! No!

(grunts) Get off of me! (grunts)

Yeah, but a reindeer punching Santa?

That's just wrong.

He had it coming.

I'm no saint, but I'm not a whore.

But you could be a killer.

Look, Rachel, I get it, I get it.

You're both professional pole dancers.

You work the stripper pole, he works the North Pole.

So, he paid for a lap dance, and then he wanted

to take you to the North Pole, show you the workshop for free.

And he wouldn't take "no" for an answer,

so you got in a little tussle,

-you had to defend yourself-- I get it. -Oh!

I'm telling you, I didn't kill him.

Guy wasn't worth it.

After I hit him, I went upstairs,

I changed my clothes, and I got out of there.

Rachel, we have tape of you slugging Father Christmas!

I know. Fred Larkin.

He recorded the whole thing.

Go ahead, talk to him.

He's the one that gave me a ride home,

bought me breakfast at R.J.'s.

Fante was alive when we left.

FINLAY: So I got the security cam footage

back from R.J.'s diner.

It confirms Rachel Walker and Fred Larkin's story.

Doc said T.O.D. on Brad Fante

was between midnight and 1:00 a.m.

So they definitely have alibis,

according to the time stamp.

So, where does that leave us?

With no suspect and a lot of work to do.

Yeah. New bracelet?

That is very observant of you.

Well, it's why they pay me the big bucks.

Come on. You're dying for me to say,

"Thank you. That was so generous."

I don't know what you're talking about.

Yes, you do.

No, I don't.

Okay, well, I'm your Secret Santa.

And I was planning

on matching your generosity with something

that I think you would really like.

Well, I hate to break your heart,

but I'm not your Secret Santa.

Really?

Really.

Well, that's unfortunate.

Very unfortunate for you.

Ah. I hate Christmas.

Hey.

Finn said you found some mystery tissue

in one of the snow samples I took from the scene.

Not a mystery anymore.

Is it from our victim?

No. In fact, it's not even human.

Sarda Chiliensis Lineolata.

Otherwise known as

-Pacific bonito. -Bonito?

Well, they use it in sushi.

Did they serve that at the party?

Well, if so, it's not the only thing that they were serving.

I ran tox on the fish guts.

Found traces of cocaine.

And we know Brad Fante organized the office party.

He went off-script hiring Miss Reindeer.

Who knows what else he had planned for the night.

We know he ordered bonito with a side of coke.

We know that he tried to stiff the stripper,

in more ways than one.

Well, if he was cheap with the stripper,

maybe he stiffed his dealer, too.

Then got stiffed.

STOKES: This is Brad Fante's little helper, Fred Larkin.

Not only did he film the stripper

doing her reindeer dance, he also

taped most of the party.

So I've been going through it, hoping

I'd see the killer getting into some kind of beef with Santa.

What did you find?

Oh, typical Christmas party stuff.

A quiet guy singing, unlikely couple hooking up,

office joker crying in his beer.

Anything unexpected?

Yeah. I found two Santas.

Take a look at this.

Here's the first thing I noticed.

Santa pounding a glass of wine.

It's a party. So what?

Well, according to the doc, he didn't drink alcohol.

Stomach contents were just milk and cookies.

So, take a look at this.

This is 20 minutes later.

There's our wine-drinking Santa,

and it looks like he gets a phone call.

Now, it must have been pretty important, because I think

that's when he ditched the party

and lent his suit to Brad Fante,

who, as we know, had his own plans for what to do with that.

And how do we know

-it's the same suit? -Look right here.

The sleeve.

See the stain?

45 minutes later.

RUSSELL: Same suit, different watches,

different beverages...

-...different Santas. -Well, it's easy for us

to tell them apart, because we have this

video, we have forensics, but...

what if the killer couldn't?

Well, we've run out of suspects

with motives to kill the guy.

Maybe Brad Fante was not the target.

No. No, the target...

was this other Santa.

So, who is he?

At Winter Wonderland, we'll create a winter wonderland

you'll never forget.

We're your first and last stop for all your holiday needs.

Hey! We'll even supply you with real snow,

a live reindeer and all the trimmings.

Including old St. Nick, himself-- ho, ho, ho!

So, come on down to Winter Wonderland.

And tell 'em Jayson sent you.

So, our reindeer wrangler

neglected to tell us that "Santa" was

part of the Winter Wonderland package.

According to Greg,

he passed himself off as just an employee.

-Looks like he owns the company. -That still doesn't tell us

why someone tried to kill him, though.

I might be able to help with that.

-What do you got? -Well, you know

the cocaine-laced bonito we found in the show

at Ryan Bonham's yard?

Well, it turns out that

bonito wasn't served at the party.

So how'd it get there?

It was already in the ice.

How does that work?

Well, I ran the truck manifest.

When it's not working holiday parties,

it makes a lot of trips from Mexico to Vegas,

transporting Pacific bonito--

On ice.

Bonito stuffed with cocaine.

Which is how remnants of bonito and coke

got mixed in with ice.

The same ice used to make the snow.

Jayson Walt thought he was providing

a little snow for Christmas.

What he didn't realize

is that he was adding a little powder to the powder.

Well, that gives us motive for someone to try to kill him.

Guy's a major drug runner.

Could've been working with cartels in Mexico.

That's one bad Santa.

That's one dead Santa,

if we don't bring him in before the killer finds him.

Thanks for coming in, Mr. Walt.

I know it's a busy time of year for you.

LVPD interested in a White Christmas party?

No.

I'm interested in a dead Santa

that was found in Ryan Bonham's lawn.

Now, up to 9:33, you were the guy

in the red suit playing Santa.

You didn't tell us that.

-Nobody asked. -Look, pal,

whoever killed the guy in the suit was after you.

No way. Why would anyone want to kill me?

I don't know, maybe 'cause you're running drugs

from Mexico in your ice truck.

Yeah, we found fish guts

laced with cocaine

on Ryan Bonham's lawn.

Okay, look.

This is the part of the interview

where you help us help you.

Oh, yeah. How's that?

Well, in your line of business--

And I'm not talking about spreading holiday cheer

by putting fake snow on lawns-- I'm talking about

the other kind of cheer with the other kind of snow.

Now, obviously, you've made enemies.

You tell us who they are,

we'll help you broker a deal with the DEA.

And what if I don't want to help you help me?

Well, then it's a quick trip upstate.

And the inmates up there have

absolutely no goodwill toward men.

Yeah, I think I'll take my chances.

I'm trying to save your life.

Yeah, or maybe you're trying to work an angle.

Wouldn't be the first party

to have sushi and coke delivered.

Plus, I don't buy that you got evidence

that I'm the delivery boy.

So, if we're through here,

I'm late for my next Santa gig.

Sit down, Kringle.

Sit back down!

We have evidence.

We have your snow. We have your product.

Someone's gonna read you your rights.

You're under arrest.

Process him.

Nail polish?

"For your mistletoes."

Cute.

I like.

Total chick gift.

I bet Finn's your Secret Santa.

Maybe.

Or maybe it's you, trying to cleverly trick me.

Well, I guess we'll just have to wait for the office party,

and all will be revealed.

In the meantime...

Check this out, I just got

Jayson Walt's phone records. For the last week,

he has been in touch with someone at Ely Prison.

-What, making reservations? -No.

Texting and talking

with his convict older brother, Gary Lee Walt.

What's Gary in for?

Drug trafficking.

So maybe the little brother is holding the family business

together while big brother's inside.

That's what I thought,

until I looked at Gary Lee's trial transcript.

Last year, Jayson Walt turned state's evidence

and testified against his own brother.

Well, he was probably just trying to save his own ass.

And his own piece of the drug trafficking pie.

So, why do you think they're talking now?

Gary Lee just won an appeal.

He has a hearing scheduled.

How much you want to bet older brother's gonna try and convince

younger brother to change his story?

Yeah.

With a little cash incentive.

Take a look at this last communication.

"Jayson: Make it 200."

"Gary Lee: Can't."

"Jayson: No deal, bro."

Brotherly love.

Two days after this exchange,

Brad Fante was knifed in the back,

just after Jayson loaned him his Santa suit.

So, big brother tries to cut a Kringle.

And misses.

I think it's time for us to make a trip to Ely.

SANDERS: Well, we don't even have to go that far.

Gary Lee was just admitted to Desert Palm Hospital.

Kidney failure.

STOKES: Mr. Walt.

I'm CSI Stokes.

With the LVPD.

I'm here to ask you a few questions

about your brother, Jayson.

What about him?

Well, it seems like somebody's trying to kill him.

It's not surprising.

My little brother has a way of pissing people off.

Like you. Seems like you'd get

pissed off pretty easily.

Of course, I wouldn't blame you,

after what he did to you last year--

Turning his back on you like that.

Jayson was just a scared little kid.

Lied.

He's gonna come clean now.

Really? I don't know, it doesn't seem like you two

kiss and make up that easy.

What tells you that?

Pictures.

I think your hit man made a mistake.

That's supposed to be your brother, isn't it?

I think you're the one who's making the mistake.

'Cause Jayson is the last person in the world

I would want to kill.

Because he's gonna deliver

the greatest Christmas present ever.

He's gonna give me my life back.

In court and right here, in the hospital.

'Cause, you see, we've got

perfect matching leukocyte antigens.

Jayson's gonna be your kidney donor.

Real proud of my little bro.

He's stepping up. Family.

Yeah, family. You know, I've read your texts.

I know you two were haggling over money,

and I know you were paying him.

Well... we all need a little incentive.

Yeah, but he wasn't happy with what you were offering.

And now, unfortunately for you,

I don't think he's gonna be available.

Sorry.

News flash.

Jayson and I arrived at a number.

And we came to an understanding.

Including a little advance.

For his bail.

His bail.

That's right.

He's getting out just about now.

Tomorrow he'll be in here saving my sorry ass.

Week after that, he'll be recanting.

Then I'm going to have

the merriest Christmas Vegas has ever seen.

Ho, ho, ho.

RUSSELL: So the guy we thought

had the best motive for killing Jayson Walt

is actually the guy

who has the least desire to see any harm come to him.

Yeah, without his brother's kidney,

Gary Lee's a dead man.

What are you thinking?

You got anything?

The autopsy.

It shows us that the killer

stabbed the victim and then twisted that knife.

-Right. We thought it was personal. -Okay,

what if it was more than just personal?

I mean, given the fact that

Gary Lee needs a kidney so desperately,

what if their total destruction was the killer's intent?

You know what I mean?

You destroy Jayson Walt's kidneys,

you're in effect killing Gary Lee Walt.

Murder by proxy.

So, our question is, who wants Gary Lee Walt dead?

I give you Gary Lee Walt's greatest hits.

Allegedly.

These are all drug-related kills

that he is suspected of ordering.

SANDERS: Mala Noche's... Mad-10's... Aquila Cartel.

Any one of them could've ordered the hit.

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Until I came to this crime scene.

Ryan Bonham's wife, Eva.

He told us that she died two years ago on Christmas Eve.

This is how.

Eva Bonham worked at a savings and loan.

FINLAY: Yes. Gary Lee Walt

was laundering his drug money at that bank.

An executive found out, was about to go to the police.

But Gary Lee Walt got to him first.

Eva Bonham was working late that night

and became collateral damage.

SANDERS: Leaving behind a husband

to care for their little boy alone.

So, Ryan Bonham has been in touch with the DA all along.

He knew about the appeal.

He also knew that it had to be rescheduled

because of Gary Lee Walt's surgery.

And he must have known that Jayson Walt

was going to give his brother his kidney.

And he couldn't stand to see Gary Lee Walt saved.

Can't say I blame him.

So Ryan hires Jayson Walt to work his party.

He wants to get him alone, on his turf...

(grunting)

...except it's the wrong Santa.

Brad.

Ryan...?!

(screaming)

FINLAY: Ryan panics.

Can't believe what he's done.

Goes inside and gets rid of the evidence.

He runs back upstairs to be with his kid,

wishing he could will it all away.

Me, too.

'Cause now that kid's

going to lose both his parents.

(sirens wailing)

(tires screech, sirens stop)

Las Vegas Police!

Ryan Bonham!

Go, go, go.

(distant thumping)

Whew...

Blake.

It's okay.

You're safe, son. I'm a policeman.

Some men came.

They took my daddy.

STOKES: I heard Ryan Bonham's missing.

What the hell happened to him?

Yeah, some guys broke in. They trashed the place.

I had a bad feeling.

When the fake Santa, Jayson Walt, made bail, he disappeared.

Bet he figured out Ryan tried to kill him?

-That's a safe bet. -And what about the kid,

Blake?

Well, you know, he's okay.

He's a little shaken up.

-Yeah? Did he see anything? -I don't know.

He'll only talk to one person.

Who?

Me?!

(scoffs)

Last time I saw him, I scared him.

He said he wanted to talk to--

And I quote-- "the funny science man."

A compliment, I suppose, but...

you got to help me out here.

Just relax. Engage him. Here.

Give him this. Chocolate.

Get him talking.

I'm sure he saw something.

This is a bad idea. I'm gonna screw this up.

Just, you know, give it your best shot.

(sighs)

(indistinct radio transmission)

(sighs)

Hey... little man.

Hi.

Sorry. I'm allergic.

Yeah. Me, too.

I like your watch.

I used to have one just like it.

-It's purple. -Good color.

And the diode display.

Groundbreaking technology

for its day.

Not that you...

You're a science man, right?

You know big words.

Sure. I-I know some big words.

Did the people with your daddy use big words?

Uh-huh. "Condestorb."

"Condestorb"?

BLAKE: When they were going,

one man yelled at the other man.

He was mad because he hadn't gotten his condestorb fixed.

Do you mean "condenser"?

Yeah! What is that?

It's a machine that helps freeze things.

Did you see the truck the men came in, Blake?

Yeah, when they drove up.

When my dad told me to hide.

And was it the same truck that was at the party at your house?

BLAKE: Uh-huh.

Will my daddy be okay?

As long as he knows what a great,

smart son he has,

he's gonna be just fine.

He's a very lucky daddy.

Thanks.

Traffic cam

caught Jayson Walt's ice truck turning off

1-15 onto 215 East

one hour ago.

I'm guessing that Ryan Bonham is

in the back, on ice, and they're taking him out of town.

Yeah, but I don't get it. Why didn't they just

kill him at the house?

Maybe Ryan has something they want.

So, where do you think they're going?

My guess is someplace isolated,

where they feel safe... so they can rough him up.

Maybe...

where they make their ice.

Why do you say that?

Because when I analyzed the melted snow,

there was no chlorine in the water.

And all of Las Vegas' tap water adds chlorine.

If I test the diatoms in the melted snow,

I might be able to... pinpoint the water source.

Give us a location.

♪♪

Hey.

So, that party snow came from a small lake

-near Henderson. -So that's where the truck's going.

Yeah, I ran property records in Henderson.

Turns out the Walt brothers

have had a warehouse there since the early '90s.

Good work, Greg.

Well, I hope it's not too late.

JAYSON: Where's the box of bank records?

(grunting)

Stop it. Please stop! Stop.

I'll show you where it is.

No, you're gonna tell me where to find it!

I can't tell you where to find it!

Hold it, hold it, hold it. Hey, hey!

You a lefty or a righty, Ryan?

What? What are you t...

Aw, it doesn't matter anyway. Go on.

Power it up!

You know, cops said someone

was trying to kill me-- Santa stabbed in the back.

At your house.

Pretty easy to figure out!

You know, the thing about this ice chipper, see,

you're lucky if it only takes an arm.

Lot of times, once you get something in there,

no turning back, Ryan!

Hey! You listening to me? Huh?

Last chance, Ryan!

I'm tired of waiting.

All right, if that's how you want it!

No...!

Las Vegas Police! Put down your weapons!

Back off or I put a bullet in his head!

Put the gun down, Jayson.

-I will do it! -Well, so will I.

I'll bust a cap right in your kidneys.

I'll kill you

and your brother.

Put the gun down.

Shoot him!

They killed my wife!

Do it!

Put the gun down, Jayson.

(gun clatters)

(groans)

You should've killed him.

Ryan Bonham, you're under arrest.

Get him out of here.

He made a full confession.

He admitted to killing Brad Fante by mistake.

He's lucky Jayson Walt didn't kill him.

He saw them coming. He told his kid to hide.

Then, when they busted in, he somehow convinced Jayson Walt

that his wife had bank records

that would incriminate both him and his brother.

There were no records.

Buying time.

Till we could find his kid.

Well...

losing your wife like that...

Anyway...

Oh, there's been a little mix-up in Jayson Walt's custody.

A Henderson, Nevada, sheriff showed up--

He's a friend--

And I handed Jayson Walt over to him.

The weird thing is that his wristband number got transposed.

He got on the wrong bus.

Where is he now?

He's shuffling off to Buffalo.

Unbelievable, isn't it? The red tape.

Could take months for him to get back to Las Vegas.

Well, I guess he won't be

giving his brother his kidney tomorrow, will he?

It's tragic, isn't it?

So, there are some people

who will be here soon-- very nice people--

And, um, they're going to take you to see your grandparents,

-okay? -Okay.

You know, Blake, um, this thing with you father,

I'm sure it's hard for you to understand.

He misses my mom.

I'm sure he does.

I do, too.

(sighs)

Have you ever read The Lost Reindeer?

I've only heard the first part.

I always wondered what happened to that reindeer.

We can skip to the end.

"Winston turned the corner, and what did he see?

"A hundred reindeer

"just as lost as he.

♪♪

"They laughed

"and sang until night faded away.

"As long as they had each other,

"every moment was Christmas Day.

The end."

♪♪