Two guys fight at a construction site until one of them grabs a jackhammer. It looks like one of the guys gets jackhammered until construction worker pulls away to reveal blood. Cue Mac and Hawkes, who confirm it is blood. Flack tells us the fight was a good ole fashion Brooklyn fight between laborers and scabs. They X-Ray the concrete slab to find a body underneath. Paced on it’s position, the victim was buried alive.
CUE THE WHO!
NEW YORK! The crime lab techs cut through the concrete to get to the body as Lindsay takes pictures. And Mac stands around looking…intense? I’ll go with intense. Stella arrives and says the scabs have been getting threats from the striking workers for weeks. The site manager locked the gates but this morning they were open. Lindsay thinks a vehicle broke it down.
At the lab, Sid and Hawkes chisel the body out of the concrete while X-Raying the body as well. They chip away slowly but surely as his face is revealed. Sid pulls something out of his mouth. Mac notes that John Doe took a beating but Sid says COD is suffocation. Mac wants John Doe’s description compared to the records of the site workers. Lindsay tests chain strengths while Hawkes and Sid continue chipping. Hawkes gets fingerprints, Lindsay gets trace. So does Hawkes.
Stella goes to find what Lindsay found out. The perp couldn’t drive anything smaller than a SUV but the tire tracks were made by tires used on sports car. The trace on the fence seem to point to car paint except there isn’t a solvent. So Stella thinks of a push bar. The women think there are two cars. Meanwhile, Adam discovered Hawkes’ trace is Christmas in Hollis, Queen. It’s enhanced marijuana. Adam couldn’t find a comparison to any of the workers, but he found someone who bought marijuana in New Jersey. He gives Hawkes the address.
Flack and Danny go down a skivvy hallway as loud music plays. They knock, wait and then bust down the door. No one is in the apartment and the couch is watching TV. They think the perps jumped the victim in the apartment until Colby Jenkins walks in with pizza. He says he stepped out for toilet paper…before Flack points out he doesn’t have it. Colby lights up and says it’s legal because of his brain cancer. Or at least his medical records say. Danny asks who the victim is. Colby remembers watching TV with John Doe…watching Muppet Babies with “The Gladiator.”
Hawkes brings Mac down to Sid’s lab. John Doe is dressed as a gladiator.
Hawkes examines the gladiator outfit, pulling out a glass shard. Sid focuses on the man in the outfit. He has a puncture wound in his arm. Sid pulls out trace. The Gladiator died forty-eight hours ago. He had bleeding on the brain, probably from the beating. Mac notes that The Gladiator’s hands looked like they beat people up. The guy also had injuries common to boxers. Mac notes that something seems familiar. He was a fan of an amateur boxing champ, who dressed as a gladiator. Joe “The Gladiator” Carthage was rumored to have retired and possibly become an alcoholic.
To the gym! Mac asks the trainer to confirm if John Doe is Joe Carthage. Trainer agrees. He was great until he was put into a coma. He couldn’t fit anymore once he woke up. He had no enemies, worked as a bouncer.
Stella does research on Carthage as Lindsay says the bone fragment found in the wound isn’t even human. Lindsay wonders why Joe was fighting. Mac goes to ask about Joe at work. The co-worker praised him for just doing his job and doing it well. She recalls an incident where Joe stepped in as some patrons got grabsy with the waitress. The patron threatens Joe. The co-worker was grateful to Joe. Flack drags the patron in as Stella squares off with brother. Apparently, their grandfather has a record. He wonders if they were living up to the family name. They are cocky until Stella reveals that their car has the same tires found at Joe’s burial site. Flack thinks they beat him up, dressed him as a gladiator and buried him. The brothers sober up and say that while they have to live up to the family name, they know better then to fight a guy dressed as a gladiator. They just bragged to their friends.
Danny backs up the brothers’ claims. Their Camaro couldn’t have done it. Right tires, wrong tread. They are all talk—they have no criminal records and are on the Dean’s List at Hofstra. I was a Dean’s List student. The glass Hawkes found has advanced technology used by several businesses, including one that folded in Manhattan. Danny and Hawkes go and find signs of struggle. And blood. Whoever beat up the Gladiator tried to spackle the evidence. Danny notes the cameras all pointing at that wall. Hawkes sprays it with Luminal, Danny turns the shades on the windows and the wall glows. They process the scene with Adam’s help.
At the lab, everyone mobs Mac. Hawkes and Lindsay confirm the abandoned office is the crime scene. Adam says that the bone is whale bone while Lindsay says that an indent was made by a Norse sword. Lindsay pulls up footage and says a Viking killed the Gladiator.
This is starting to sound like a high school football game.
We see a Viking fighting a lumberjack. Is this the Halloween version of Fight Club. It’s Blood and Guts Bawling. Lindsay says it’s supposed to be all for show and no one is not supposed to die. Mac wonders why Joe would take the risk. Adam is going though the footage from the security cameras. Flack and Stella go to where the IP address led them—to Branson, the promoter of Blood and Guts Brawling. Branson doesn’t meet most of his fighters. He just arranges the fights, tweets the locations and everyone shows up. Branson has the fight and says it looked good. Everyone was alive at the end. Branson says Joe wasn’t like the other fighters. He was just eager to fight. Flack arrests him for organizing illegal fights.
We see the Viking vs the Gladiator. Joe lands a blow, so does the Viking. Joe gets the upper hand. Viking pierces Joe with his helmet—hence the whale bone. Joe wins with the Viking surrendering. Joe tells him they had a good fight before enjoying his victory. Joe could’ve fallen unconscious later and the person he was with could’ve panicked. They need to ID the Viking.
The landlord lets Mac into Joe’s apartment. Mac spots a bag under the bed. He pulls out red boxing gloves, red boxers and a red sign saying “Wanna Fight?” Next, Mac finds pictures of Joe and his trainer as well as Joe in the ring. Mac’s mind plays memories of Joe’s victories in the ring.
Adam’s at the lab, going over Branson’s phone. Hawkes goes over the concrete for more trace. He finds gold? Adam finds an Erik Overson. I think he’s the Viking! And I’m correct. He only has a few misdemeanors. But there is no connection between Overson and Joe as well as Brooklyn. Overson comes in and swears that Joe was alive when he left him. Mac says they have proof of felony assault. Overson says he didn’t know about Joe’s condition. Mac gets a call. Hawkes finds a pendant given only to trainers of amateur boxing champs. The trainer buried Joe.
Mac goes back the gym with the trainer’s pendant. Mac asks about Branson and if the trainer knew that he recruited Joe to his fighting league. The trainer was asked to convince Joe to fight to save his gym. Branson showed up the office and texted the trainer. He discovered an unconscious Joe. He called the trainer, who says he’s gone. So the trainer and Branson buried Joe. The Viking has a defense—an accident. But trainer doesn’t—he committed murder. Trainer says that for one brief moment, Joe had his dignity back and let him live again. Mac reveals that Trainer buried Joe alive. He was only in a coma-like state. Unis come in to arrest the trainer as Mac looks on. He sees a shadow of Joe, in his glory, in the ring.
Next week: Little kid vs Skivvy Adult. Who will win To Tell the Truth?
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