She was already regretting that she had said yes when Grissom rang her, asking her to come to work early. She knew she was becoming ill and had been considering asking for the night off, but when he told her about the case, he sounded desperate. He was defiantly going to need all of them there to process the scene.
When she stood up, her aching head began to spin but this quickly passed. She made herself some coffee then took a shower, letting the warm water sooth her sore muscles. She had grabbed some toast, not able to face anything more substantial, swallowed some more painkillers and headed out of the door.
Catherine joined the other CSIs, who were already gathered on the front lawn of the large house.
"God Catherine you look like hell!" Greg remarked as her noticed the pallor of her skin and the dark rings under her eyes.
"Thanks Greg. Nice to see you too."
"No really Catherine, should you even be here?" He looked over to Grissom, waiting for him to suggest that she should go home, as that was clearly where she needed to be.
"Probably not but I'm here now. Besides, its just a cold, I've survived worse." Greg wasn't convinced but didn't want to argue with his superior.
"So what have we got?" She asked, changing the subject.
"Mother, Father and three children, all dead. Neighbour called it in." They all nodded.
"Sara, Nick, I want you inside with me. Greg you can work the perimeter and Catherine, where do you want to be?" He asked, feeling guilty for bringing her in to work when she was clearly not well.
"Huh?"
"Where do you want to be?" He repeated. "Inside, or out."
"Um, out." She decided, not sure she could stomach the bloody mess she knew would be waiting inside.
"Ok in that case, Warrick, you're with me too." The CSIs dispersed to their respective locations and Catherine sighed looking at her watch: still three hours until she could take the next lot of pills.
Catherine had been right. The house smelt strongly of copper and there was a trail of blood running through the hallway. Nick and Sara headed upstairs while Warrick and Grissom went to the kitchen where they found David with the first body.
"What have we got David?" The coroner turned to face the direction of the familiar voice.
"Hey Grissom. Multiple stabs wounds to the chest. Liver temp. suggests he has been dead for three to four hours."
"Thanks David. Have you seen the other bodies yet?"
"Just the mother. She's in the living room. Single stab wound to the chest and time of death is approximately the same as her husbands." Grissom began to scour the room for any evidence as Warrick photographed the body.
"Looks like he brought his own weapon." Deduced Grissom, looking at the full block of knifes on the worktop.
"Yeah this defiantly wasn't random. This guy was angry!"
"I'll take a look next door." Said Sara, leaving Nick to process the room of the families' eldest daughter, the bodies of both her and her younger sister lying on the floor. Here she found the boy. A single stab wound to the chest just like the others. But he had a deep wound in his hand, most likely a defensive wound. "He fought back." She said out loud speaking, only to herself.
Greg turned the corner of the house to find Catherine photographing a footprint in the flowerbed below the living room window. "Got something?"
"Just a foot print." Her voice sounding defeated. "Could be nothing. You?"
"Nope. I printed the doorbell but it will most likely come back to the neighbour." Catherine nodded and rubbed her forehead with a sigh.
"You alright?"
"Yeah I'm fine. Look, why don't you go and give them a hand inside. I will take a caste of this then come join you." He nodded and left her alone in the quiet, cool night air.