Been a while since I posted so I'm a little rusty, my muse seems to have taken extended vacation…somewhere nice and isn't coming back. So I'm praying for a new muse.
In case anyone is interested, this story is Sara centric a little but everyone gets involved and the ride doesn't stop at just one catastrophe.
Disclaimer: The usual one of owning nothing just amusing myself with them.
All Hands On Deck
Chapter 1
The graveyard shift was just starting and all of the team members were animatedly discussing their life, loves and video games prior to Grissom handing out assignments. All looked rested and refreshed after a slow night previously. Tonight would not be a slow one, quite the contrary.
Grissom walked into the break room with only one slip of paper in his hand, everyone expecting another slow night. Catherine even assumed as much and opened her mouth to speak.
"Gil, if it's a slow night tonight, mind if I leave early to take Lindsey to school?"
Grissom spoke as if not hearing her.
"All hands on deck tonight folks, multiple 419s at an old garage facility on Industrial. This case is now top priority and high profile, you'll find out why when you get there. Sorry Catherine, this could turn into a double or worse. Dayshift and Swing are being called in to help with the rest of the case load and ours if necessary. Double up on everything in your kits, especially evidence bags, print powder and luminal. Two to a Denali, Sara a word with you first."
Sara cast a quizzical glance at the team as everybody hustled out, she then followed Grissom to his office.
"What's wrong Gil? Something wrong with this case?"
"No, firstly I wanted to give you a kiss, then just tell you to take it easy when you get there, it's really nasty."
"I'll be fine Gil, but I won't say no to the first part."
Their lip lock was passionate, but brief, their eyes saying things to each other which made words redundant. Then they parted, grabbing kits and leaving for the scene.
-/-
On arrival at the scene they were met by both Sofia Curtis and Jim Brass.
"What have we got here Jim?" Grissom enquired, seeking information for his team and himself.
"You remember the Green Valley Showgirls case? Well this is along similar lines, only there are about 12 girls and this isn't their home. The scene has been thoroughly searched by two teams, mine and Sofia's, it's totally secure and I have one man in each room to make sure it stays that way. Each officer has booties on so as not to contaminate the scene but we are worried."
"Ok what's the main worry Jim?"
"We don't think the perpetrator has entirely left the area, hence the inside officers."
Grissom thought for a moment before making a decision.
"Greg and Sara, before you come inside I need crowd shots along with the perimeter. Snap the crowd as you go, the perp may be watching us work. Nick, you and Warrick take the offices and other rooms then join Catherine and I in the main area."
This crime scene was enough to sicken anyone, blood splatter was everywhere. Finding the bodies didn't take long although they were out of immediate sight. On first look it seemed as though they had all just been dumped in the garage pit, in amongst the dirt, oil and debris of years working on cars. This was not the case. Each of the girls had been restrained, arms tied behind their backs, ankles bound, gagged and blindfolded, then their throats were slit. All were naked from the waist down suggesting rape and they had been dumped in the pit, and judging by the smell, doused in gasoline when the killer had finished with them.
SuperDave, the coroner, had his hands full when he arrived but carefully and methodically removed each girl, tested their liver temperature and determined that all twelve girls died within a twelve hour period, or one every hour. After the bodies had been removed Nick had finished up in his room, without any success and processed the pit. He came out with a kit full of swabs and full bindles, even jars of sample fluids like oil and a mix of dirt with other unidentified substances.
Sara and Greg came into the building shortly before Dave was done, both blanching at the sight. Both had collected shoe prints, fingerprints, glass fragments from broken windows, bottles and cigarette butts. The collection of crowd photographs was impressive.
Warrick had the most luck, especially with identification of the girls. Each girl's purse had been left in an office and the driver's licences proved to be invaluable. Each had their doubts but Sara voiced them.
"Why douse them in gasoline then not put a match to it and leave their purses for identification? Was he interrupted or just out to make a point?"
"That is a hard one to answer Sara, not everything is in context yet however, I don't think he was interrupted." Grissom smoothly mused.
"Ok Grissom. What are you thinking?" Catherine knew when he got into theory mode as did Sara and they would have to wait for his mind to figure things out.
"None of this looks like a rush job, it looks cold and methodical. These girls have been here for hours before it was called in, he had time to light this place up but what does he do? He lays out the purses for us to ID them, all methodical, he kills them one at a time, leaving the rest to await the same fate. They couldn't see what was going to happen but they could hear, hear and fear. That gave him all the power to give or take their lives."
"I'm done over here Grissom, all these stray hairs will have to be matched to the vics first, same with the blood but I do have used condoms from the trash bin."
"Right Catherine, I think we've got all we can get for now, let's get this stuff back to be processed. Ecklie has Wendy, Mandy, Hodges and Henry clearing the decks for our samples."
Everyone on shift that night was working tirelessly, well almost. Truth be told they were almost dead on their feet poring over photographs, victim's clothing, the bloody ropes and gags. Wendy and Hodges were working at fever pitch whilst Mandy seemed surrounded by myriads of lifted prints.
The girls were all identified, their names, ages, race and characteristics listed down.
Rachel Warren, 21, Caucasian, blonde, blue eyes, tattoo of small dragon on left breast.
Julia Mitchell, 23, Caucasian, brunette, green eyes, no other markings.
Amelia Johnson, 22, African American, black, green eyes, no other markings.
Belinda Murphy, 19, Caucasian, Red, blue eyes, no other markings.
Jessica Walker, 24, Caucasian, blonde, green eyes, tattooed eyeliner.
Lin Yuan, 20, Asian, black, brown eyes, no other markings.
Jane Bowen, 25, Caucasian, brunette, brown eyes, tattoo on left hip.
Annette Jones, 26, Caucasian, blonde, green eyes, no other markings.
Susan Crawford, 24, Caucasian, red brunette, blue eyes, tattoo on left ankle, navel piercing.
Theresa Harper, 23, African American, black, brown eyes, no other markings.
Sylvia Martin, 30, Caucasian, brunette, brown eyes, tattoo on right calf.
All of this data, plus their addresses and occupations were put into the computer to generate a map looking for places, people and areas they had in common with one another. Some were students at LVU, some at WLVU, others had workplaces nowhere near each other, none even lived close together. So it posed the questions, how were they linked, the who still remained a mystery for now but was cut down to only 50 % of the population.
In case you were wondering, the case referred to was the episode 'Empty Eyes'.
Hope you like it so far and that you'll let me know what you think, even if it stinks.