Warrick looked up as the Big Mouth Billy Bass mounted over Grissom's office door began to twang out its annoying song. He silently cursed at the stupid animated fish and his own bad memory. He had forgotten again to take the batteries out of Grissom's "office alarm" while he was taking over the night shift temporarily.
Sara stood in the doorway leaning against the frame with a grin on her face. "Not as easy as it looks, is it?" Sara chuckled as a small pile of paperwork skidded off the desk to land at her feet. Bending to retrieve the pages, she handed them back to Warrick.
"I don't know how Grissom ever gets anything done. Nothing but paperwork, reports, memos and requisitions. I haven't seen the desk top in days. I'm really tempted to leave all this crap where it is and let our fearless leader sort through all this when he gets back from his "bug conference" on Monday. I'm kinda busy, what did you need Sara?"
"Something to do! We've been waiting in the break room for assignments."
Warrick quickly checked his watch. "Damn! Sorry about that, I'll be right in." Moving several piles of paperwork, he located the one new assignment slip that had come in. He walked into the break room. "Hey guys! Sorry for the delay. Luckily it's a slow night. Greg and I are still working on the DB found floating at The Mirage dolphin enclosure. So, Nick and Sara you get the new case, suspicious circumstances at...oh, not good, the College for the Deaf on Highland Avenue."
"Oh, great!" Sara got up and poured herself some more coffee.
"Hey, what's up with you guys?" Nick looked at Warrick and Sara wondering why both looked so unhappy.
"We had a case there about two years ago. Sara and I got off to a really bad start with the dean of the college. Actually Dr. Gilbert threw us out of her office. Grissom had to go smooth things over. Damn, I wish he was here right now. Hey Nick, a word of warning, Dr. Gilbert wears a hearing aide and she can reads lips. You won't need an interpreter, be sure to talk to her directly but you don't have to talk loud or slow, OK?"
"Yeah sure, thanks for the heads up! Wait a minute you said Grissom smoothed things over? He's not exactly what you'd call a people person. How in the world did he manage that?"
"Let's just say, they communicated on the same level." Sara answered but then shrugged as Warrick gave her a warning glare.
"That makes sense, Grissom used to be a teacher. I'm sure they'd have a lot in common. Are you coming, Sara?"
"Hell, yeah! Wouldn't miss it for the world. I'm driving, Nicky."
"In your dreams, sweet pea!"
As tall as Sara was, she could not reach the car keys that Nick held high over his head as they walked down the lab hallway. Without ceremony, Sara sharply poked Nick in the ribs then grabbed the falling keys and ran ahead of him to the parking lot. Warrick just shook his head as he walked down the hall in the opposite direction with Greg. Let Nick fight his own battles, right now he needed to see what, if any, information had come back from the lab on his case.
Arriving at the college, Sara got out from the driver's seat and started to walk to the main building. After a few steps she noticed that Nick had not followed her. "Nick? We have to go this way."
"Something is not right here." He stood next to the Yukon and looked around.
"Yeah, someone died. That's why we are here."
"No! I mean weird. You know, like what's wrong with this picture weird...I know, it's way too quiet." Nick looked around and saw many students all around him but it was eerily quiet. A water fountain and some birds made the only noise on the campus grounds. He watched fascinated as groups of student conversed in hand gestures as they passed.
"Come on, let's go Nick. This place freaks me out."
"Not what I'm used to for a college campus. No loud music, no yelling, no laughing. They all seem so serious." Turning around quickly, he bumped into a young co-ed. "Sorry, miss!" The words were out of his mouth before he realized she couldn't hear him. The girl looked more frightened than upset. She quickly stepped around Nick and was gone. Nick walked over to Sara. "Man, I can not imagine living in a world without sound."
"Nick, what Warrick didn't tell you is that Dr. Gilbert was pretty hostile to me and him the last time. She seemed angry with us just because we could hear. She also told Grissom that I had an attitude, like I was normal and her students weren't. I never said that."
"No, but you thought it. You just said this place freaks you out. If you want, I can go in alone."
"No way! I can handle it...but maybe you should talk to Dr. Gilbert. I seem to rub her the wrong way."
As soon as they were shown into the Deans Office, Dr. Gilbert looked up at Nick and Sara frowning. "Where is Grissom?"
"I'm sorry Dr. Gilbert, Dr. Grissom is speaking at a forensics convention in Chicago this week. I'm Nick Stokes and you already know Sara Sidle."
Dr. Gilbert looked at both of them with no attempt to hide her displeasure.
"One of your students is dead and another is missing." Nick made sure to look at Dr. Gilbert. "We are here to help. Can you tell us what happened?"
"That's why I called you!" It took a minute for Nick to understand what she said and respond.
"I understand that you are upset but we need some information. Where and when did this happen? Let's start there."
"Very well, follow me." Setting off at a brisk pace, Dr. Gilbert walked quickly without a glance back to see if Nick and Sara had followed. However, she did stop several times to talk in sign language with one of her students and to console some of the victim's friends.
Arriving at the dorm room a police officer stood watch outside the scene. With a nod, the officer stepped aside as Nick snapped on gloves and turned on his flashlight to inspect the door. He was surprised to find blood. "Huh? Hey, Sara?"
"Yeah! I'll swab the blood and print the door."
"Thanks! I am sorry to put you through this Dr Gilbert but I understand the victim's family is out of the country. Was this your student?" Nick lifted a sheet from the body of a young man with blond hair, the right side of his face was mangled and bloody."
"Yes, that is or was Peter Sullivan."
"Tell me about him." Nick carefully let the sheet drop back in place over the body.
"I saw him last on Friday afternoon. Peter was supposed to graduate this spring. His father is a diplomat. Peter was traveling with his family in Europe. He contracted measles when he was ten and lost his hearing. His parents did not handle it well. Peter is their only son. When they discovered he was deaf, they dumped him in a series of clinics and boarding schools...we are his family now."
"This is his room?" Dr. Gilbert nodded. "I noticed there are two beds. Where is his room mate?"
"It was Marc Spencer but he recently left the school. His family decided that Marc was not ready to be out on his own. His family is….overprotective. We try to pair up older, more adjusted students with those still learning to cope with a hearing loss and being on their own."
"And the missing young man?"
"David Wentworth, he lives off campus. He also just recently lost his hearing. He was hurt in an explosion and simply refuses to adjust not only to his hearing loss but to the discipline needed to survive life day to day."
"I'm sorry, Doctor. I don't understand."
"David is what you would call a "wild child". Born in LA, his parents divorced when he was six. He bounced back and forth between his parents, staying with whoever had a job and a place he could stay at the time. He was in and out of trouble growing up. His last job was as a movie extra, his father got him the job. Something went wrong with a stunt. There was an explosion on the set and it damaged both of David's eardrums. He can't accept being deaf. The only way to survive being deaf is not just accepting it but learning to live with his limitations."
At Nick's puzzled look she continued. "He was a loner. Now he needs help with almost everything. The simplest things you take for granted like walking down the street, making a phone call, driving a car, going to a movie or a club are impossible...and of course girls! He felt that they all saw him as damaged goods at best or worse they went out with him as a mercy date." Nick slowly nodded in understanding as she continued. "David was constantly daring other students to do dangerous things. I've had to speak to him more than once about that and his grades. He's on academic probation this term. Peter was his tutor but even he was running out of patience."
"Do you think he might have hurt Peter or talked him into a dare?"
"I don't think so. I hope not. I'd like to think that Peter was smarter than that."
"Does David have any friends or family living near here? Someone he would go to?"
"I have no idea where his parents are. I don't think he does either. He has no friends in Las Vegas. He was close to Marc Spencer and was very upset when he left."
David Phillips arrived pushing a gurney to retrieve the body. "Hey Sara, Hi Nick! Sorry I took so long. Went to the wrong dorm and had some trouble finding you."
"Hey, Super Dave! We just got here a little while ago too. Let Sara take some locator shots of the body and then he is all yours." Turning back to the dean, "Dr. Gilbert let's step into the hallway. Can you contact Marc to see if David has been in touch with him?"
"Why do you people always assume the killer is one of my students? When Brian was killed, I told her to look outside the college for his killer." Dr. Gilbert pointed a finger at Sara as she finished printing the doorway. "We are harassed all the time. My students have been spit on, tripped, chased, beaten and worse by so called normal people and I am sick of it!" With an expression of disgust Dr. Gilbert stormed off.
"I warned you! That woman is deranged, she has a persecution complex or something."
"Let me check with the school infirmary and Brass. See just how many incidents there have been."
"Fine, go, take her side! I'll drive back with David and start processing what I have." Sara turned her back on him in dismissal.
With a sigh of exasperation Nick went in search of the campus Health Care Office. He located the infirmary and was about to knock, until he realized that the doctor or nurse on duty might also be deaf. Seeing a buzzer by the door, he was puzzled until he pressed it. The lights in the health office flashed off and on.
"Yes? You aren't a student." The woman dressed as nurse signed as she spoke.
Nick passed her his CSI badge. "You're here about Peter. I'm Susan Landers, the school nurse. I am not deaf, Mr. Stokes. How can I help you?"
"Ms Landers, Dr. Gilbert said there have been an increasing number of incidents, attacks, hate crime against her students. Would you have records I could look at?"
She pointed to a filing cabinet and pulled open three full drawers of files. "You will need some help if you want to review all the cases. There are over 300 files and those are just the documented cases since Dr. Gilbert took over. A lot of the students are too ashamed or embarrassed to come forward. As if they were somehow responsible for other people's prejudice and hate. Three deaths in three years, maybe the Board Of Education was right. Perhaps it would be better and safer for the students if we closed down the city campus and moved someplace else."
"I was aware of Brian's case two years ago and now Peter. Who was the third student?"
"Last year, a young girl, a freshman named Mindy Lee was attacked. A gang of frat boys raped her. She never told anyone here about what happened to her. Mindy killed herself when she found out she was pregnant."
"Someone from our office should have investigated her suicide."
"She went home to San Diego. Said goodbye to her father, then drowned herself."
"Oh God! I am very sorry. We can still look into her case."
"Thank you for caring but it's too late. We only learned about the rape and her suicide when her father found her diary and sent it to Dr. Gilbert. In it, she said she never saw her attackers but there were three or more men involved. She may have been drugged. Afterwards, when Mindy woke up, she came back to the dorm burned her clothes and took several showers. The six weeks after the attack her grades steadily dropped. Two month later when she found out she was pregnant, Mindy dropped out went home and...died. Even if her father gave you authorization to investigate her attack, which I doubt, too much time has past. There's no evidence left to find her attackers. There never is. The police come, take reports but nothing ever changes." A few tears fell from her eyes. "I am sorry, all this is not your fault."
Grabbing a handful of tissues, Nick handed them to her. "It must be hard to watch bad things happen to these kids. They already have enough to deal with. Are you OK, Ms. Landers?"
"Susan please, and thank you. I'm fine, Mr. Stokes."
"I'm Nick. Susan, do you know if Peter Sullivan was ever attacked?"
"I can check!"
/
Nick returned to the lab a few hours later after checking in with Jim Brass for any reports of trouble in or around the college or attacks on the students. Susan's files and Jim's reports painted a very ugly picture of hatred against the school and its students. He went in search of Sara to get an update on the blood and prints she collected from the dorm room door.
"Hey Sara! Sorry it took so long. You get anything back on the blood or prints yet?"
"Blood and prints weren't the victims. I sent a uniform with a warrant to get the missing man's medical records. Doc Robbins was a little backed up, said he would beep me when he was going to start the autopsy on Peter Sullivan. What the heck is all that?"
"Records from the school and Brass on hate crimes reported against the students from the college. I spoke to the school nurse. These are just the cases that should have been prosecuted...a young female student was raped last fall but never reported it. She found out she was pregnant, quit school and went home to kill herself and her unborn child. Three student deaths in three years, all against kids at one college. That is just too much of a coincidence."
"Now you're spouting conspiracy theories too?"
"What the hell is your problem, Sara? They are victims! Where is your compassion? What is it? Only people who can hear rate any compassion from you as victims?"
"Shut up! Since when have you become so politically correct, Nick Stokes?"
"HEY! What is going on in here? I could hear you both as soon as I got in the lab door!" Both Nick and Sara were stunned to see Grissom standing in the doorway.
"Nothing! I have an autopsy to go to, then I am out of here." Sara walked past them both.
"You want to tell me what's going on, Nick? Do you need help?" Grissom was curious about the large box he was holding filed with files.
"Hey, Griss! Sorry about that. Glad you're back early. I have a lot of pieces to a puzzle but I need a little time to figure out what pieces I have that fit together. Later on, maybe I could run what I have by you?"
"Sure! I need to check in with Rick, let him know I'm back. Once I see where we are on all the open cases, I'll probably be in my office catching up on paperwork. Come and see me, Nick." Grissom poured himself a cup of coffee, tasted it, made a face and started to leave.
"Welcome back, boss man. I'll see you later." Nick smiled, happy that Grissom was back.
Grissom walked to his office but stood at the doorway, a smile slowly took over his face. Warrick was looking through several piles of paperwork muttering to himself.
"I hope I don't look that bad...and I can only hope most of that paperwork is done."
"Hey Griss, welcome back! I didn't expect you until Monday but I am more than happy to give you back your job, desk and all this...crap. Maybe now I'll have some time to work on my case."
Warrick quickly got up as Grissom walked towards his chair. "My desk is under there somewhere, right?"
"Somewhere! How the hell do you ever get anything done?"
"By learning what paperwork is important and needs to be done immediately, then delegating all the rest. Catherine and Sara are great with paperwork. Nick is good with the public, reporters and other agencies we work with. You are great teaching newbies and doing follow ups. Everyone has their strengths. Just like in poker, you hide your tells or weaknesses and play to your strengths."
Warrick shook his head and smiled as Grissom sat down in his chair. He could feel the tension leaving his neck and shoulders. "It's good to have you back, maybe you can help me with my mystery. A kid, maybe 21, was found floating in the dolphin pool at The Mirage but he didn't drown. Doc confirmed he was dead before he hit the water. Autopsy confirmed no water in the lungs and it also showed no wounds of any kind and no internal injuries."
"You get the tox panel back yet?"
"Still pending, he was in the water over 12 hours, not expecting much from it."
"I think you'll find he died of alcohol poisoning. We get two or three cases like this every year around St. Patrick's Day. Have Doc check the bladder and I'd be willing to bet that you'll find internal green coloration from dye in his urine."
Warrick looked puzzled then started to chuckle. "Green beer, St. Patrick's Day and the kid's name is O'Conner. Damn it, I should have put two and two together."
"Educated guess! I've been doing this for nearly twenty years. It still amazes me that somehow people never get any smarter." Grissom started to move piles of paperwork around to clear a place to work on his desk.
"Thanks, Griss! Oh, sorry about all that!" He pointed to the stacks of paperwork.
"Don't worry about it, half of these are probably duplicate requests. I'm usually late with reports so they automatically send me a second request. Here comes Catherine now! Trust me, my desk will be mostly cleared by the end of shift."
Warrick smiled and waved as he started to leave. "Hey Rick, come back and see me if my educated guess is wrong."
"You'll be the first. Thanks, boss man. Hey, Cath!"
"Hi, Warrick...and hello to you too! Did you have fun with your bugs?"
"Always! I won three out of my five races. Which reminds me, I need to get my champions out of their travel case."
"No! Wait until I'm out of here. COCKROACHES, UCK!"
"Come on, Catherine, they have been stuck in my suitcase for hours and they are not cockroaches! They are Madagascar Hissing Beetles."
"I don't care if it's Paul and Ringo! They are creepy, crawly things and if you want my help with all of this crap, they are staying where I can't see them."
"OK! So fill me in. What happened while I was gone? What is up with Nick and Sara? It's not like them to fight."
"Death at the College for the Deaf, suspicious circumstances and a missing student. You probably have a message from the Sheriff on the case that you haven't read, threw away or stuffed in your pocket. Sara thinks it's just a dare gone wrong but Nick thinks it's a hate crime and not the first one."
Grissom face grew concerned. "Cath, we need to get through most of this fast, then I need to review what Nick has before I go to see Dr. Gilbert."
"Don't you want to go home and freshen up first?"
"For the last time, Catherine Willows, I am not seeing Dr. Gilbert. I have no interest in dating her or anyone else. Stop nudging me, you are worse than my mother!"
"When was the last time you actually went out on a date? It's been so long even I can't remember."
"I go out when I have the time. Now drop it, please?"
"You want my help, Gil? Tell me the last time you went out with someone alive of the female persuasion...and that dinner with Sofia doesn't count."
"I had dinner with Terri Miller the last time she came to help us."
"That was over two years ago and she is married now."
"And your point is?"
"Gil, I hate to break this to you but there is no celibacy award at this lab. However, if there were, you'd be the front runner for sure...and I'd be right behind you, unfortunately. What is up with you lately? Ever since the Marlin case, you never come out with us anymore or make me breakfast at your place. All work and no play makes Gil a dull boy."
"All play and no work makes Catherine an unemployed girl. If the price for your help is you sticking your nose in my personal life, thanks but no thanks."
"OK, sorry! I just miss hearing about all your dating disasters and your omelets."
Grissom stopped shuffling papers and looked at her. He never intended to push Catherine away. She literally had saved his life once by shooting the Strip Strangler. She had also been there for him countless other times, especially helping him as he recovered from ear surgery...which she never told anyone at the lab about. Cath was his best friend but Gil just didn't want her to fix him up on any more dates or harass him about seeing Sara. It was a very touchy subject to him. After his surgery, he had tried to re-connect with his team. Ever since the Debbie Marlin case, it was just so hard for him to work or be around Sara. He finally acknowledged, at least to himself, that he was in love with Sara. He also knew that he would never act on those feelings because she deserved a life with someone a lot younger and more "emotionally available."
"Let's get caught up, Catherine. Then I'll make you an omelet after the shift."
"Deal!"
Much later that night Nick walked past Grissom's office to see if he had time for him. He was surprised to see his boss's desk was close to clear. Grissom looked up from his paperwork and motioned for Nick to come in. "Catherine briefed me on your case, Nick. Dr. Gilbert told the Sheriff that her students are being targeted. He asked that I go see her but this is still your case."
"She asked for you and I have to agree with her. I've found at least 75 case files of prosecutable offenses: beatings, harassment, robberies, even sexual assaults with very few arrests or prosecutions. The victims may be deaf but they can still see and identify their attackers. Only two or three cases were even brought to trial."
"I know, Nick! I've run into this problem before. The DA won't prosecute any of the cases. He assumes that a deaf person won't be a credible witness."
"That is BS man! They are all college students."
"People often lump people with disabilities or medical conditions all together as stupid, damaged, defective or even retarded. Handicapped kids are one of the largest groups of victims in hate crimes. Often the attackers are family, neighbors or so called friends."
Nick was surprised to hear the anger in his boss's voice. Grissom was forever preaching that emotions clouded judgment, causing problem and errors on cases. "Sara seems to think this wasn't a hate crime. The missing student, a David Wentworth, just lost his hearing. Dr. Gilbert said David often dared or bullied other students to do stupid things or try dangerous stunts. He won't or hasn't learned to cope with his hearing loss. Sara thinks it's just one of his stupid stunts gone wrong."
"What is your take on it, Nick?"
"Well, we only know how the night ended. Based on blood and fingerprints found on the dorm door, someone brought the body back and left Peter Sullivan in his own room. At first glance, it was made to look like a B&E. If David did do it, bringing the body back could show remorse or that he was trying to cover up his crime. However, the autopsy results show the condition of the body is more consistent with being in a fall, dragged or in a crash. I was thinking Peter might have gone through a windshield or had been pushed from a car. I checked with Brass. There were no abandoned or damaged cars found anywhere near the school."
Grissom looked over the photos and autopsy reports. "Maybe they weren't in a car, could have been a motorcycle or ATV. This damage came from some kind of a fall from a moving object, see the road rash. We need to speak to the students, see if anyone remembers David and Peter leaving the campus together or if either one of them said where they were going."
"For that, we will need Dr. Gilbert's help. She hasn't been all that co-operative so far."
"Let me talk with her. I found the suspect when Brian was killed and got a conviction. She trusts me! Without more information from the students, this could become just another unsolved case and that is unacceptable." Putting his pen down and pushing aside the rest of his paperwork, Grissom and Nick headed for the garage.
**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************8
When they arrived at the college, Nick followed as Grissom walked into the dean's office unannounced. He was fascinated and impressed to see his boss arguing with Dr. Gilbert in sign language. Grissom spoke his words out loud as he signed, so Nick could follow the conversation but Dr. Gilbert did not. Soon Nick was lost in the rapid-fire exchange between them until the dean suddenly left the room. "What happened? Will she help us?"
"Yes, she is sending a message on the student's network requesting that anyone with information or that saw Peter or David on Friday to meet us in the library."
"Maybe we should get some help...interpreters, if we have to interview a lot of students."
"You type in your questions onto a computer screen and they can type in their answers. No special equipment or interpreters needed, very quick and easy to do. That's how I talk to my mother long distance."
Nick watched as Grissom left the room and felt stupid. If his boss knew how to sign, it only made sense that someone he knew or in his family was deaf. Suddenly a lot of what Grissom said earlier clicked in. Growing up with a deaf parent explained his anger. Nick filed away another piece of the puzzle that was his boss, Gil Grissom.
Nick arrived in the library as Grissom was introducing himself, speaking out loud and in sign language to a large number of students that gathered.
"Good Afternoon! I am Dr. Gil Grissom and this is Nick Stokes, we are with the Las Vegas Crime lab. I have come here to ask for your help. I know that you are upset and maybe angry or frightened at the loss of your friend and mentor Peter Sullivan. We need information to understand why Peter is dead. We need your help to trace his steps on Friday and to figure out where and how he died. We also need to know if David Wentworth was involved or if he is also a victim." He stopped to see if he was winning them over. "We know that Peter left the campus on Friday night. Did anyone see David leave with Peter? Did Peter or David tell anyone about their plans for Friday night? Without your help, Peter's loss could remain a mystery and David might never be found. Also if there is someone responsible, they will not be punished and could go on hurting others at this college. I am asking for your help to solve this puzzle. If you know something, if you can tell us anything about Peter or David, please talk to us now!"
A few hands slowly raised and Grissom pointed to one tall thin boy and walked with him to the nearest computer workstation. Within the hour both Grissom and Nick confirmed that Peter left alone to go to his part-time job at the Vegas Public Library. A quick call there confirmed that Peter never signed in on Friday. The library was several blocks away from the college. All the students confirmed that Peter usually walked to work and rode the bus back after dark and that he had a bus pass. Grissom asked Nick to walk the route to the library, to see if anyone recognized a picture of the two students. He wanted to stay to finish the remaining interviews. Then he would drive over to meet him and speak to Peter's boss and the other library employees.
After Nick left, Grissom sat down with the last girl who raised her hand. He signed his questions to her. "Molly, was Peter having problems with anyone at the library?" The scared young girl just nodded. "Did he tell anyone?" The girl nodded again. "Did he tell David?"
The girl shook her head no and began to sign. "He told Dr. Gilbert but Marc Spencer was there. Marc told David everything. David tried to talk Peter and several of the other bigger guys into going down and confronting those two bullies. They hurt Peter a lot, took his watch once and ripped off his lunch or cash all the time but he just wouldn't fight. David called them cowards but they weren't...t's not cowardice to refuse to fight. You beat up two bullies one day and there are four or more the next day."
Grissom nodded his agreement and thanked everyone who spoke to him, then left the college and drove to the library.
Nick had no luck on his long walk to the library. Several shop owners and a news stand owner recognized Peter but never saw him with David or anyone else. He arrived at the library just as Grissom began talking to a young man smoking on the stairs at the entrance.
"The dummy? Yeah, some dude came up to him on Friday night. They wiggled fingers, waved their arms at each other for a few minutes and then they left together. He never came back to work that night and hasn't come back to work since. Why did something happen?"
Nick confronted the sneering young man. "Peter was not a dummy! He was about to graduate from college. What about you, genius?"
Grissom stepped between the two men. "Peter was killed Friday night, you may be the last person to see him alive, Kyle. Can you describe the man that he left with?"
"I don't know...average looking, about six feet tall, brown hair, slim build but a lot stronger than he looked. He pulled the dum….Peter down the street and pushed him into his car with no problem. They drove off and that was the last I saw of them."
"Did you try to help Peter?" Nick asked but Grissom cut him off with a different question.
"What time was that, Kyle?"
"Around 6. That's when he usually comes in. Peter worked 6-11pm on weekdays. Man, those are sweet hours! I tried to get them but Peter gets first choice because he is "special needs".
"Thank you for your help. We'll be in touch if we have further questions."
Nick wasn't satisfied but Grissom walked away so he had no choice but to follow. "Don't tell me you believed him?"
"No, in fact I think he was involved. I didn't want him to get nervous and run." At Nick's puzzled face, Grissom turned to him speaking quietly. "The man he described was probably David Wentworth. Kyle said he was a lot stronger than he looked. How could he know that unless he'd struggled with him? He also said they drove away but David can't drive anymore."
"Wow! I missed that, sorry, Griss."
"Did you notice the scratches and bruises on his hands?" Nick did not answer but looked even more embarrassed. "I'll check with his boss. If Kyle is your typical bully then he probably pushed Peter around on the job too, so we can get a warrant. I'll call Brass. I need you to check the dumpster and the areas around back for any trace of a fight."
Nick nodded and left as Grissom went into the library. He quickly confirmed that both Kyle Weston and his friend Tom Lawson received written warnings for harassing Peter. Grissom quickly called for a warrant. As they waited for Brass to arrive, he asked if he could see Kyle and Tom's lockers. They found nothing probative in Kyle's locker but did find a "special needs " bus pass in Tom's locker. The locker's owner walked into the room just then and slammed his locker shut and confronted Grissom.
"This is my locker and you can't go through my stuff."
"I can with the permission of your employer. The library is public property."
"You still need a warrant to go through our lockers."
"Did someone say warrant?" Brass and two officers walked in, he was holding several documents. "Nick is bringing in your partner for a chat."
"I got no partner and I have nothing to say to anyone."
Grissom looked over the documents and handed them to Tom's employer. "Thank you, Jim. Nick, will you please check these two for blood trace, be sure to check under and around their nails. Then get fingerprints and a DNA sample?"
"I never touched the dummy and you can't prove that I did. So you can't charge me."
"Well I can charge you with petty theft for a start, unless you have a reason for his "special needs" bus pass?"
"I found it, thought he lost it. I was holding it til I saw him, so what?"
"I don't think so. Did you find anything outside?" Nick nodded as he finished processing Kyle. His seat was quickly filled by Tom, with the help of an officer.
"A small piece of material near the dumpster with blood on it, the pattern looks a lot like Peter's shirt. Also the dumpster tested positive for blood, a lot of it…" He took several swabs of Tom's nails. "and so do your hands. Tom, let me guess, cut yourself shaving?" The scruffy young man ran his hand over a two day growth of stubble on his face.
"When is your dumpster emptied?" Grissom turned to ask Tom & Kyle's boss.
The head librarian quickly checked her files. "Tuesdays and Saturdays."
"I'm on it, Griss! I'll check with the company and then go to the dump."
"Take Sara, Greg and Rick, if he is available. There will be a lot of trash to sift through."
"Seems we have new charges for both of you! You are under arrest for suspicion of murder. Officer, will you escort these two to the station and read them their rights."
"Jim, before they go I need their car keys. I need to check each vehicle quickly and then have them towed to the CSI garage. I'll meet you back at the station later. We will also need another warrant to search their apartments."
Brass tossed him the keys. "I'll have the paperwork ready by the time you get back."
Checking his watch, Grissom called Catherine to explain the developments in the case and asked if she would accept a rain check on the omlette he'd promised her. "I'll take both of you out for waffles. You know how Lindsey loves Waffle World."
"Sure…use my kid, Gil. I can't yell at you with her around. OK, how about Sunday?"
"Deal! "
"Thanks, Catherine. I'm going in to finish up my paperwork and check on the DNA samples Nicky dropped off earlier. The rest of the kids will be dump diving, looking for our other body. If transportation gets the cars to me soon, I'll give it a once over and then go home."
/8
Grissom left about an hour later. Too tired to eat he skipped dinner but quickly fed his bugs and went to bed. He had been asleep only for a few hours when his phone rang. Groaning he reached for the phone as he tried to open his eyes and check the time. "Grissom."
"We found David but he was dead long before the trash compactor got to him."
"Good job, Nick! Once the body is on the way to the morgue, all of you go home and get some rest. We need to go over the cars and theirs apartments but not now. With fresh eyes we won't miss anything. I'll meet you in autopsy later today. Will you ask Sara and Warrick to go over the cars? I'm pretty sure that's how Peter was brought back to the dorm."
Much later the next afternoon, Nick held the door for Grissom as he removed his sterile gown after the autopsy. "The fractured skull confirmed blunt force trauma as COD. Now we just need to confirm his blood in their car and we have a slam dunk case."
"We still have several unanswered questions, Nick. Let's see what Rick and Sara found in the cars."
"Hey, Griss! There is some blood in the back seat and trunk. It is Peter's but there is not much of it. Most of the blood was on the trunk latch. It also looked like the trunk was popped but from the inside. Couldn't find a tire iron or any other tools inside the trunk, so Peter might have gotten out. That would explain the scrapes and blood on his face, landing on asphalt from a moving car will leave road rash."
"OK, let's back up. Now if they killed David behind the library either accidentally or on purpose, why not just kill Peter and stuff him in the dumpster too? What did Peter have that they wanted or needed? Why would they have to bring him back to the campus? Whatever they wanted wasn't on him, so they had to take him back to his room." Three blank faces looked at him, expecting the answer. "Warrick, you and Nick pick up the warrants and search the apartments of our suspects." They as Grissom examined the trunk latch. Sara returned after removing her coveralls.
"Grissom, I'm sorry. I jumped to the wrong conclusions on this case."
"Yes you did, Sara, and we will talk about that later. For now, I need to go back to the college. I want to talk to Molly and look at Peter's room."
"Can I come with you? I really want to find out what happened to Peter."
Grissom smiled and nodded. "Sara, do you have shots of Peter's dorm room from the night he was found?"
"Overalls and locator shots, they're in the layout room. What are you looking for?"
"It not what I'm looking for...I need to see what should be there but isn't."
"How can you see what isn't there?" Sara turned to get an answer to her question but she was alone. Grissom was already walking quickly to the layout room.
She followed and found him looking at her photographs with a magnifying glass. "OK Sara, think about all the college dorm rooms you've processed in the last year or so. Is there something missing that would normally be there?"
"Grissom, he was deaf. I don't know what should or shouldn't be there."
"Forget that he was deaf! He was a college student working on a degree in Library Science and he also worked on the college newspaper."
"There is no computer anywhere!"
"A deaf student relies on a computer more than a hearing student. He uses it not only to read and study with but it is often the only way he can talk with friends and family that can hear but don't know how to sign. His computer is missing."
"What could he have in his computer worth killing for?"
"If we answer that question, we will know how and why he died. Coming, Sara?"
They arrived at the college and went to Peter's dorm room and found his door ajar. Sara drew her weapon but Grissom shook his head and pushed the door open slowly. Molly was sitting on Peter's bed crying holding a teddy bear. Grissom crouched beside her and began to sign. After a few minutes, he showed her the picture and she pointed to the empty desk, to the spot that obviously was where the computer used to be. The two continued to talk in sign for several minutes. Sara was stunned to see Grissom gently wipe her tears away, hug her and escort her from the room.
"Why did you let her go, she's not supposed to be in here? She could be part of this."
Grissom just shook his head sadly. "No, she was in love with Peter. She came in to delete all the personal emails they had sent to each other before Peter's family came."
"Why?"
"Peter's father is an ambassador with big connections in Washington. He was trying to get his son a job at the Library of Congress or the Smithsonian. Peter lost his hearing because of measles but Molly was born deaf. She has a congenital defect that she could pass on to her children. That risk was unacceptable to Peter's family...They were told not to see each other again. Molly was afraid that his family would learn she might be pregnant."
"There is nothing they can do to stop her from having the baby if she is pregnant."
"She lost Peter, she doesn't want to take the chance on loosing Peter's child."
Grissom walked out into the hall and watched the young woman as she slowly walked back to her dorm. "Molly could not think of anything in Peter's files that could be valuable or dangerous. So why would they risk coming back here but only take his computer. It wasn't just a robbery. Peter had lots of expensive camera equipment but it wasn't touched? Maybe the answer is in David's room. Let's go see what we can find there."
"I don't have his address, he lived off campus. I'm sure the administration office will have that information. Except that no one will be there now, who can we call?"
"We will have to wait until Sunday or Monday, unless...let me check in with Nick and Warrick see what they found. Maybe they have already found the missing computer. If not, there is nothing more we can do for now. I'll drop you back at the lab and then I am going home. I need some more sleep. I have a breakfast date early tomorrow that I do not dare cancel again or she will kill me."
An unhappy Sara sat and looked out the passenger window in silence on the ride back to the lab. Grissom spoke to Nick but the elusive computer was not in either apartment. However, he was surprised to learn that both suspects lived in the same apartment building. Nick also said that he had a phone number to contact the school nurse and he would try to find David's address.
"Sorry I cut into your weekend Sara, see you Monday night!" A preoccupied Grissom drove off leaving a fuming Sara Sidle standing next to her car. Playing a hunch, Grissom asked Brass to have an unmarked unit watch the apartments.
*********************************************************************************************************************************************************************8
The next morning Grissom rushed through his shower and dressed in record time. He was going to be late. Looking at his watch, he automatically stepped harder on the accelerator. Getting out, he had barely pushed the button to lock his car when he was hit with a blond bombshell. "Lindsey!" After a long hug and a quick kiss she reluctantly released him. Grissom was stunned at how much taller and older she looked. Then he realized she would be twelve soon...not really a baby anymore.
"You're late again."
"I know, I'm sorry! I overslept. I think my body still thinks I'm in Chicago."
"Did you get any new bugs?"
"Not this time."
"Did your roaches win?"
"Yes, they did!"
"Cool…did you bring me any….."
"Lindsey Marie Willows!" Catherine stuck her head out of the restaurant door. "What did I tell you about asking for presents?"
"Sorry Mom, sorry Uncle Gil! I'm glad you're back anyway. Uncle Rick and Nick were already eating when we got here, come on." Taking his hand she led him inside, two tables were pushed together and three familiar faces filled the chairs.
"There you are, munchkin! I got you a hot chocolate." Warrick moved over an extra chair for his boss and nodded a hello.
"Great minds think alike, Morning Griss!" Nick stopped eating just long enough to say hello.
"Morning guys, I didn't know this was going to be a group outing or I would have called Sara and Greg."
"I already did, they are on their way now. Hey, princess you want some of my fruit?" Nick shared his strawberries with Lindsey as the waitress poured coffee for Grissom.
"Have you already ordered for me too, Nicky?" Grissom thanked the waitress as she walked away.
"No, I did! Whole wheat pancakes with a side of bacon and hash browns both crisp and a large OJ with the meal." Catherine looked at him, waiting for him to say something.
"Thank you dear, made any other plans for me today that you'd like to tell me about?"
"Don't they make just the perfect married couple?"
"You insist on living dangerously, Nick." Sniffing the air, Warrick looked at Grissom. "Oh yeah, I smell the next decomp coming right at you, Nick."
Catherine cut off Nick's response as their food arrived. "Please no shop talk for once, and certainly not at the breakfast table." Lindsey clapped as a huge waffle covered with berries and whipped cream was put in front of her." Catherine covered her daughter's shirt with a napkin and eyed the sugar drenched meal. "I am going to go broke with dentist bills."
Grissom winked at Lindsey as he opened his mouth to receive a whipped cream covered raspberry from her, before he started his meal.
"Hey, you started without us!" Greg bounced up to the table and helped Sara move over another table and two chairs. Grissom moved opposite Sara and Greg took the end chair.
"I know I said to hurry Greg but couldn't you at least comb you hair?"
Greg ignored him.
"Hey, be grateful he dressed down today, no neon." Sara smiled at him but Greg stuck his tongue out at her.
"I worked a long time to get the spikes just right. Way cool, right Lindsey?" The girl just giggled and kept on eating. Greg reached over to steal a strawberry with some whipped cream from her plate but Nick slapped his hand.
"Get your own, man! Stealing food from a starving child, that's just low."
"Behave, all of you." The warning was for everyone but Grissom looked first at Greg and then at Nick.
Quiet reigned for several minutes as coffee and food quickly disappeared. Warrick and Nick were done eating but they nursed another cup of coffee. The adults talked as Lindsey struggled to finish even half of the huge waffle. Nick asked for his check as he looked at his watch.
"Going somewhere, Nick?" Grissom also checked his watch.
"Romeo has a hot date." Warrick teased him.
"It's not a date. I offered to help Susan with a charity...thing."
"Susan? She must be new, never heard that name before." Greg quipped between bites.
"The nurse from the college?" Grissom was surprised but pleased, Nick taste in women was improving.
"That's her! Oh yeah, she didn't have access to the address for David Wentworth that we need."
"Don't worry about it, Nick. I'll check with Dr. Gilbert tomorrow, just have fun today."
Nick threw some money on the table to cover the check for him and Warrick. "Your turn next time, Rick. Leave a decent tip this time."
"Hey, I've got to head out too. I'm meeting Tina after church, she wants to talk." Leaning over to kiss Lindsey's head, Warrick also threw money on the table and left with Nick. Catherine and Lindsey were returning from the ladies room when Grissom asked for the check for the rest of them.
"What the hell happened to the other half of Lindsey's waffle?"
"Greg ate it." Sara and Grissom answered at the same time, as Catherine rolled her eyes.
"Linds, we need to get you new shoes again. Will you please stop growing young lady?" Whatever Catherine was going to say next was interrupted when Grissom's cell phone began to ring. "Grissom! Couldn't you leave that thing at home just once?"
"Sorry, Catherine!" He flipped open the phone, "Grissom."
"I thought that Uncle Gil was coming home with us today?" Lindsey looked hopeful.
"Sorry baby, maybe next weekend. Hey Sara, want to go shopping with us?"
"Sorry! I can't, still have laundry to do."
Catherine reached for the check but Grissom took it as he finished his call. "Since Greggo stole food from almost everyone, he can pay for everyone this time." Greg took the bill from Grissom and nearly choked on the total.
"Hey Griss, was that call on our case?" Sara asked as she put on her jacket.
Grissom pulled on his jacket and nodded. "We may have found the missing computer. Uniforms were watching the building where Kyle and Tom live. A guy with the same type of laptop showed up about ten minutes ago. That guy and the computer are on the way to the stationhouse."
"You asked for surveillance? How did you know they gave it to someone else?"
"Educated guess."
"Way to go, boss man! Hey, can I come too?" Grissom smiled at Greg and nodded.
"Sorry Sara, you are maxed out on overtime after yesterday." Sara flopped back down into her seat with a disgusted look as Grissom helped Lindsey put on her jacket.
He whispered something in the little girl's ear. "He didn't forget me." Lindsey's face was lit with happiness. "I've got a gift in my pocket."
"Gilbert Grissom!"
"I've got to go Catherine. Jim is waiting."
"We will talk later! Count on it, Gil." Catherine shook her head at him and watched as Sara's eyes followed Grissom as he left with Greg. She looked mad. Catherine wondered what Gil had done or not done this time. Sara loved Grissom, a blind man could see that with his cane and she knew he cared for her. The sexual tension between them was scary at times. Catherine hoped it would all work out eventually.
Grissom let Greg drive as he tried to block out Catherine's parting words. She would corner him later and give him a earful about the present. He was also very aware of Sara's displeasure with him and his own reaction or perhaps over-reaction about their case. He was hurt by her attitude towards the deaf, not that it surprised him. He had lived with that prejudice nearly all his life. Finding out who killed the two young students and why they died was more important for now. They arrived at the police station to find Jim waiting for them.
"Sorry to screw up your weekend, Jim."
"Save it, you owe me big time! I'll put it on your tab, Gil. Our guest is a Tony Perkins, he is a major hacker. He's been busted several times for breaking into secured computer systems at retail stores, banks, casinos and even into some federal systems. He's on the Homeland Security watch list. He works freelance these days as a consultant on how to stop hackers. What I can't figure out is why he would be bothered dealing with our two small fish?"
"Well, why don't we ask him?"
Brass smiled at Greg as he pointed to the observation room. "Genius at work, let's go."
"Mr. Perkins, good morning! I am Gil Grissom with the Las Vegas crime lab. May I ask you a few questions about the laptop you had?"
"I didn't know the laptop was stolen. I was asked to find an address that those two idiots said they lost somewhere in that system's files."
Brass let Grissom speak first as they quickly settled into their usual "good guy, bad cop" routine. "Receiving stolen goods is a felony but that's the least of your problems, Tony. That computer belonged to a man who was murdered to get it, so you are looking at least one and possibly two counts of conspiracy after the fact for murder."
"Murder? Wait, no way! I didn't kill anyone. I don't know anything about that."
Grissom spoke very gently. "OK, let's back up. How did you get involved in all this?"
"Kyle is a friend of a friend. He knew I was good with computers. He said all he needed from me was to find some information in the files on a David Wentworth. The kid got hurt on a movie set and got a huge cash settlement, a few million dollars, or so they said. He just wanted to find out exactly how much cash and where all the money was. They also needed his home address."
"What was your finders fee?"
"25 percent of the take! They told me that laptop was his...but it wasn't. Should have known better than to deal with amateurs."
"Why? Let me guess, there was no settlement, no big score."
"No, there was a settlement, 2.5 million but it was not a lump sum of cash. The studios lawyers set up an annuity over the next fifty year. That poor kid lost his hearing and his father in some kind of special effects accident. The settlement paid all his medical expenses and covered tuition at a local college for the deaf, plus a salary of $50,000.00 annually. It's paid each year on the date of the accident. I found the kid's bank and account number. I could have moved the funds but if I was caught...Hey, I'm not taking the chance going to jail for a lousy $12,500.00. Hell, I make a lot more than that as a computer security consultant for big corporations. Besides I am not about to steal the only money that kid has to live on. I came by to give Kyle back the computer and tell him I couldn't find the information he wanted. I wanted no part in their plan."
"So you are willing to testify against them in exchange for immunity?"
"Damn straight! I never hurt anyone in my life. I sure as hell am not going to start with someone who has already lost so much. You have my police record. I used to steal from fat cats and corporations. I cracked the Pentagon computer by accident. Please tell me that the guy who died wasn't the deaf kid. He's OK, right?"
"No, they killed him and dumped his body in a dumpster and then they forced another deaf student into the trunk of their car. He was David's tutor at the college. On the drive back to the school to get the computer, Peter Sullivan managed to pop the trunk and tried to escape. He died of a brain injury from the fall out of the moving car. Kyle and his friend Tom dunped the body in his college dorm room and stole Peter's lap top."
"Then they killed two men for nothing. There was a clause in the annuity settlement, that if David died but his death was not a result of the soundstage accident, all payments stop."
"The arraignment is on Monday…" Jim Brass still seemed unsure of Tony Perkins.
"Just tell me where and when." Grissom nodded to Brass and left the interview room.
/8
On Monday, Grissom appeared in court as both men were arraigned on two counts of first degree murder. The judge on hearing the evidence and witnesses against the two men quickly ordered both held without bail pending trial. After court, he went into work as usual for his night shift and passed out new assignments, then retreated to his office to finish the last of the paperwork that piled up as he was gone. After shift Sara stood silently at his door and watched him read over the case notes on Warrick's floater. She waited for him to finish, sign off on the case and put the file with all the other closed cases.
"Hey Grissom, I closed my smash and grab." She dropped the file on his desk.
"Thank you. Good night, Sara."
Sara was stung by his curt dismisal. "I heard that the judge held Kyle and Tom over for trial without parole."
"Yes, he did. It really helps when we can all work together as a team to find the answers."
"Grissom, I'm sorry! I don't know what else to say. I really thought it was an accident."
He shook his head. "If we had found the body at any other college campus you wouldn't have jumped to that conclusion without a lot more digging. Why was Peter's death less tragic and not worth your time or concern to investigate. Because it was a hate crime or was it because he was deaf?"
"This is not some big conspiracy, I made a mistake."
"Twice we've had to investigate a death of a student from that college. Both times you acted as if you didn't want to be involved. Are the deaf somehow undeserving of justice?"
"Dr. Gilbert treats me like I'm the enemy...they all do!" Sara thought back to all the years she spent in foster care. Several times she was brought to the hospital for examinations because she would not speak. They wanted to check for signs that she was deaf. Sara heard everything but she was mad at the world; that everything in her life now was so out of control. Her old life, difficult as it was, had be torn to shreds...Sara watched her mother kill her father and then had to testify at her trial. The woman she knew and remembered as her mother no longer existed. The drug hazed shell Sara saw in the courtroom everyday never once looked at her or made any attempt to protect her. Sometimes she really wished she couldn't hear because then she wouldn't have to hear or remember the sounds of the fights, the beatings...the sound of the stabbing. Grissom voice snapped her back to the present.
"Most of the students have had to deal with hatred and ignorance for all their lives. They are naturally cautious and careful of strangers. Think Sara, if you never know how people will treat you: if you might be ridiculed, ignored or attacked, you'd be wary of people too. Did you read any of the files Nick brought back from the college? Kids spit on, chased, harassed, robbed, rapped and killed and why? Because they are different, they can't hear. Yes, some of them do have medical conditions that caused their hearing loss but those illnesses are not catching. That ignorance creates fear and fear quickly becomes hatred...I know all about it, Sara, because I've lived with that fear and hatred most of my life. My mother began to loose her hearing when I was ten from Otosclerosis. It's a hereditary disease that causes bone growth in the inner ear that eventually causes deafness. I learned how to sign as her hearing got steadily worse. And before you ask…yes, she passed her condition on to me but I was very lucky. Thanks to some amazing advances in laser surgery, they were able to remove most of the bone deposits. I did loose about ten percent of my hearing but mostly only the lowest tones, so I am able to continue working." Grissom watched Sara's face change from confusion, to sorrow and then to embarrassment.
Grissom turned off his computer and desk light, then got up to place some paperwork in his case. "Did you ever listen to or see the musical "South Pacific?" There is a song about teaching prejudice to kids that is called "Carefully Taught". Kyle and Tom were taught to hate and fear. Are you afraid of me now, Sara? Am I no longer worthy of respect in your eyes?" He looked away not waiting for an answer. "Molly has asked me to go to Peter's memorial service, it's later this morning. If you'll excuse me I need to go home and change." He walked past Sara and shut off the lights and left her alone in the dark.
Several minutes later, Sara closed Grissom's office door and walked to the locker room to find Greg waiting for her.
"Hey, Sara! Want to go to breakfast with me and Rick?"
She nodded and followed Greg to his jeep. Warrick was already waiting, sitting shotgun. "Nick had to go home and change. He is meeting Susan for Peter Sullivan's memorial service. Looks like things are getting pretty serious between them very fast."
When they arrived at the diner, each was quickly savoring a cup of good, hot coffee.
"Warrick did you know Grissom's mother is deaf? He told me about her this morning."
Warrick seemed surprised that he told her. Grissom kept anything about his personal life very private. "Yeah, he told me. I helped him set up a TTY unit at his townhouse, so he can talk to her anytime. What's with the face, Greg? Are you shocked that his mom is deaf?"
"No, I'm just shocked that she is still alive...she must be ancient. He's got to be about fifty, so she must be 75 or 80! I mean it's just so weird to think of him as somebody's little boy."
"Well he didn't hatch from a larvae case, rumors to the contrary. He visits her when he can find the time. She ran an art gallery in Venice for like forty years, she's retired now."
Their food arrived, Greg and Warrick quickly began to eat. Sara was too busy digesting all the new information she'd just learned about Grissom and his mother. "Hey Sara, is something wrong with your food?" Sara shook her head and began to eat.
"It's even weirder to think of Grissom as a normal guy, like out on a date." Greg continued to talk between bites. "I asked him once what kind of woman got his juices flowing but his answer made no sense to me."
"Why? What did he say?" Warrick stopped eating as he waited for the answer.
"He said someone who doesn't judge me."
Warrick nodded at the very Grissom-like answer and smiled. He turned to Sara to see if she wanted more coffee but her chair was empty.
"Hey, where did she go? What did I say wrong this time?"
"I don't think you said anything wrong, Greg. I think she just needed some time and space to think. Hey, after breakfast you want to stop by Peter's memorial service?"
"Yeah! Do you think his friends and family would mind?"
"No and I really would like to be there for Molly...and Grissom. This case was kind of hard for him."
"Should we call Sara? See if she wants to come?"
"Trust me, she will be there."
Warrick and Greg arrived just as the service had begun. They looked around for Nick who waved for them to join him and Susan. As they found seats, Nick pointed to Sara who sat beside Grissom holding his hand.