A Fatal Stroke Of Luck
AN/ This is attempt 3 at this story, a Hitman/CSI crossover fan fiction. Not sure how in character I'll be as I've not seen much of season 5 or 6, and if I have, I'm certainly not aware of it. So be patient.
1.May 7th 2006: The Unlucky Ones Always Roll First
The sun beats down on the streets of Vegas as it just seems to be just another 9 to 5 day for the citizens of Vegas. Yet it always seems most normal on days when something sinister unravels.
The recently opened Martian Paradise casino had already seen much controversy after it's opening.
The fact that it already had come close to matching the fortune of the Rampart in a year, had several government arms investigating it, as well as criminal organisations.
I suppose the final confirmation came on this day.
The casino was shut off by yellow tape, with police officers everywhere. There were 243 staff members being interviewed, with roughly 600 citizens in the vicinity all being interviewed in groups to see if anyone noticed anything.
The owner of the Martian Paradise, Michael Richter had been assassinated in the holding room of his own casino, along with a thief with his mouth gagged, who was counting cards at the card tables. A chair and table were in the centre of the room.The chair had been damaged, possibly due to the thief being beaten on said chair. A woman in her mid to late twenties with reddish brown hair was checking the roster of people on staff, and after going through all the names, one security guard, Marco Vee was missing from the crowd, seeing as the area was cordoned off so no-one could leave, he was still in the building. An additional unit of SWAT were sent in to help clear the building along with the officers already in the casino, being led by Captain Brass.
10 minutes later a man was found naked all apart from his briefs (they were white) in a locker in the changing rooms.
The woman with the red hair spoke up to her supervisor "Grissom, do you think that that guards clothes might still be here?"
Grissom looked back at Sarah and reflectively smiled, "It's a possibility," he looked at her and smiled "You're going to search the perimeter for evidence with Nick, Warrick and I will take the inside"
Sarah looked around the casino and took in the amount of work she and Nick would have to do, smiling at being occupied and immediately searched.
Grissom walked into the casino and went to the crime scene, the lock box, while Warrick was up searching other rooms.
Warrick had checked nearly every room, and found nothing… it was like he was a ghost, but then he had a hunch, and went to the locker rooms, and surely enough, nearby the locker in the bin, he found a small anaesthetic needle. He put on an extra pair of gloves and picked it up put in a numbered bag, and took pictures of the bin, the locker he was found in and the room.
Grissom felt the vibration on his pager, with a message from Sarah
"Grissom, found the uniform, and a trace of fluid, it's not blood."
He felt another message on his pager straight after, this one from Warrick
"Griss, found a needle in the bin of the locker room, Vee was drugged, for sure"
After an hour of searching the other rooms, Warrick went with Grissom to check out the security footage of around the time Richter was killed. The casino stored all footage on DVDs in 5 hour lengths, and they were accessed by a multi DVD holding drive, allowing for cycling through them. Security footage showed Richter following the thief being hurled into the room, and was left alone with one guard while they talked. However, the camera for the Holding Room itself went offline 10 mins before the thief was caught.
"Hey Griss, the cameras are missing something, think our killer hit the cameras before he hit his victims?"
Grissom had obviously been pondering on this yet had already noticed it wasn't possible, due to that fact that guards and surveillance men were wearing different uniforms, so that would mean…
"No, I think Richter hit them himself"
A few hours later, after everywhere had been searched, everyone had been questioned accordingly and the team were back at CSI headquarters.
Sarah and Nick reported to Grissom about their only findings on the perimeter, which was the uniform, and after processing it, they found traces of a sedative on the collar.
Warrick matched it to his needle's anaesthetic.
Doc Robbins was walking around the bodies giving his tape report
"Michael Richter, Caucasian male, late 20s, peri-mortem bruising on the knuckles indicating he had been attacking the John Doe prior to death. Cause of death: Strangulation from a very thin wire. The John doe has peri-mortem bruising on his face and chest, including a small mark where a ring had hit his face. The markings match an insignia on Richter's right index finger ring. He also had peri-mortem bruising on his arms, suggesting restraints to a chair, ath of Richter, Strangulation with what I presume to be the same wire."
Everyone was in the room together, discussing the case and how to approach it.
Sarah was getting frustrated at the lack of evidence
"Dammit, this guy has left us nothing, not even one print"
Warrick spoke what everyone had been thinking, yet no one wanted to say
"This was a hit, a very well orchestrated one at that. I understand Richter, but why the thief?"
Grissom spoke up next
"It's obvious that it was a hit, and it's obvious that Richter was a big target, yet he hadn't had much experience in the casino business, making him an easier target. We've got the tech guys watching the security discs, they're looking for the thieves and anyone out of place. So when we have their answers, maybe we'll have more evidence"
Nick made his point
"Maybe the thief was killed because he didn't want any witnesses."
Catherine stepped in at last
"We shouldn't think about the possibilities right now, we need to build on what we know, there must be something we've missed."
Just as she finished her sentence, Grissom received a beeper message from Greg, who was in the tech room with Archie, watching the security discs.
"Guys, we've got something you might like to see."
They all went to the room, and Greg started talking with no delay.
"We've been able to get a timeline of the thief's movements. He entered the building at 3:38, and went to the card tables. He started talking to the croupier, and then went to the bar, where after speaking with the bartender for about 5 minutes he was escorted to the holding cell. The whole time he had been holding a briefcase. Then we found footage of Richter being escorted to the cell, with another briefcase, after they got to outside the cells the cut off of that camera started."
Warrick looked up and looked to Grissom "A business deal turned sour? If it was to be held in the cells, then why didn't Richter have back up while in the room?"
Grissom thought about Richter's bad press he'd had from other allegations and replied calmly
"Richter was a proud man when it came to business, but hardly stupid, he had his men restrain him to the chair, then dismissed all but one guard and started laying into him. Young and brash, the faults of youth."
Warrick followed up on that, "Right, so then this guard he's left with is actually the hitman, and then, he kills Richter while his back's turned. The thief, unable to scream for help, then meets the same fate, the killer leaves, presumably with the cases… Hey Archie look for anyone carrying two metallic cases, then zoom on him and tell us what you can.
Greg continued. "We already have seen someone with two briefcases." He picks up several photographs of a man in a guard uniform with two cases. "These were the best stills Archie could pull, and there's still next to nothing. This guy knew where the cameras were, he gives next to nothing away. He's very good."
Grissom looked at the best picture they had, which was his back turned to the camera, and looking down. They could see that he was bald, and was well built, yet Grissom noticed something different.
"Is that a tattoo on the back of his head?"
Archie got that still on screen, and focused a little more on the back of his head, and they could faintly make out a small tattoo on the back of the killer's head.
Catherine smiled at this new clue
"Well, that's something we can go by a bit easier."
Sarah and Nick remained in slight doubt of how they could catch this guy, and now there really wasn't anymore evidence that wouldn't take months of investigation to discover. Which didn't bother Sarah as near as it bothered Nick.
Nick spoke up about his feelings "Man this guy's a ghost. We're not going to be able to get him, if he's that good."
Grissom replied. "No, not unless he kills in Vegas again. He might still slip up"
SO THERE WE HAVE IT
The first chapter of this great CSI/Hitman crossover fic
Now reviews would be fantastic, but even without reviews I'm going to have to finish this story because me and my friends love this idea too much not to have it.
Hope you enjoyed. Review me! Flames are used to light my fireplace!
