A/N: This fic is an entry for the CSIFO challenge, "How Should It All End." I hope I do the series justice! For those of you who have read my other two stories, you'll know that I don't have as much experience writing CSI with a focus on other characters besides Greg and Morgan since they are my favorite. This fic tries to focus not only on the case they have to solve, but on each of the characters in a fairly equal manner. To be honest, I've avoided writing Grissom into anything because it's difficult for me to get into his head and treat his character as it should. The point of this is to attempt a fic that could actually be an episode of the show. Anyway, on with the story…
Chapter 1
*4 months after the events of The End Game*
Sara and Finn stood just outside of the abandoned industrial complex, waiting for the police to clear the scene. D.B. had tried to convince Finn to take it slow when she'd awoken from her coma three months ago, but she wouldn't have it.
A month after waking up, she was back at work and processing scenes as if nothing had gone wrong. Sara hadn't known Finn nearly as long as Warrick, but for the month that Finn was in a coma, she and everyone else in the Las Vegas Crime Lab had walked on eggshells, hoping that Finn would recover and she had, thankfully with minimal memory of the trauma she went through.
"Scene's clear!" Officers called out, letting Finn and Sara through the barricades. They entered the building and moved to the back room, where the person who called it in said they'd seen it. David trailed behind them. When they opened the door and shone their lights on the scene, Finn whistled.
"Uhh, well I don't know how much help I'd be in this case." David said, frowning at the scene before them.
"I'm not an expert in mummies." Sara said. "But I know someone who might be."
~XXXXX~
The only reason Gil returned to the States was because he'd received a phone call from Catherine. She wanted his help consulting on a case regarding a serial killer. The time of death for each victim was in question and they wanted him to use "his bugs" as Catherine said, to prove the suspect in custody had no alibi during the murders.
After that case ended, he decided to stay awhile. The FBI appreciated his efforts to help them, and they paid him well as an entomological consultant on cases where his forensic expertise was required. He was sitting in a lab, studying blow flies on a different case when Catherine appeared in the doorway.
"Ahem." She coughed to get his attention.
"Catherine. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Actually, it's because I got a call from someone. Care to guess who?"
"The ghost of Christmas past?" Gil guessed.
"Close... Sara Sidle in Las Vegas. They need our help on a case. You want in on it?"
Gil looked up at Catherine. She was grinning.
"What kind of case?"
"Mummified corpses. Multiple mummified corpses." Catherine said. Gil arched an eyebrow.
"All with missing hearts." She added.
"Now… that's a case I could get into." Gil said with a smirk.
~XXXXX~
"You called Catherine?" Finn asked, sounding confused. She had never met Catherine, but she knew who she was based on Sara, Nick and Greg's conversations about them.
"I called Catherine because she said that Gil is with the FBI lab doing consulting work. This is a case he'd like to work on." Sara said. Dave had taken the corpses back to the city morgue, but was unable to rule a cause of death due to the fact that they all had vital organs missing. He estimated that they'd been in the abandoned industrial building for upwards of a year.
They stood over the photos from the scene as well as the close ups that Finn had taken during autopsy for each victim.
"So, this has nothing to do with the fact that he's your ex-husband, right?" Finn said.
"Of course not." Sara replied, "Look at this." She pointed out a photo they'd taken of strange wounds on the leg of each corpse.
"What does this look like to you?" Sara asked. Finn studied the photo. The wound was rectangular in shape and had strange edge marks.
"It looks familiar, but I…don't know if I should say it out loud." Finn said. She pointed at the trace they'd found in the wound.
"Do we know what this is yet?" She asked Sara.
"Hodges is working it right now. I'll go see what's he's got." Sara said, leaving to room.
~XXXXX~
"This house would be perfect if this were a horror movie." Morgan said, staring up at the abandoned Victorian home that she and Greg had been called out to for their scene. The windows on the lower floors were boarded up and the ones on the upper floors were either cracked or broken. Paint peeled off of the sides of the house and the trim. The yard was mostly dirt and clumps of dead grass. A rusted out "No Trespassing" sign sat on the broken concrete of the walkway leading up to the door.
"Except you wouldn't know if this were a horror movie." Greg said as they climbed the creaking stairs to the front door.
"Only if it were a good horror movie. I wouldn't be dumb enough to open the door to the spooky house and call out, 'hello' like they always do." Morgan replied. The door was already open and crime scene tape had been taped across the middle. They ducked under the tape, one at a time, to enter.
"Yeah, I always wondered why they did that. It's not like you really want something to answer and if it does… what would they do then?" Greg asked.
"Scream and be generally useless." Morgan replied.
"Hey guys. Gotta strange one here." Doc Robbins said, standing in what must have been the kitchen as some point in the house's history. A dead man lay sprawled on the floor. A massive blood pool sat several feet away near the entrance to the dining room and distinct drag marks made in blood put the original attack in there before the man was dragged into the kitchen.
"Strange? How?" Morgan asked. Greg moved towards the entrance of the dining room to take pictures of the blood trail, but he listened to Morgan and Doc Robbins's conversation.
"I can't determine his time of death."
"What?"
Greg looked up. The doctor was frowning down at the corpse.
"Why not?" Greg asked.
"He has no liver." He said. He lifted the man's t-shirt to reveal the source of the blood pool. The man had been sliced open in a traditional autopsy Y formation and stitched back together by someone who did not seem to have much experience with stitching.
"I felt along where it should be, but it's not there. I could give you a general timeline based on lividity and rigor." He offered.
"Sure, we'll go with that." Morgan said.
"Well, lividity is fixed and he's come out of rigor, so I'd put his time of death at least 24 hours ago."
"Okay, thanks Doc." Greg said.
"No wallet, no keys, nothing in his pockets."
Greg came over to look at the corpse. Something wasn't quite right about it, other than the obvious.
"Morgan, what's wrong with this picture?" Greg asked. She looked around and then back at the man. She leaned forward and studied him closely.
"He bleached his hair recently, he only has about a millimeter of growth." Morgan said, pointing at his hair. Morgan looked around and stared at his hands.
"He's had a manicure recently." She said, lifting his hands to show Greg his nails.
"Expensive bridge work, too. Look." Doc Robbins said, opening his mouth and showing them his teeth.
Greg frowned. "So, what's a guy who goes to the salon to dye his hair and gets manicures and expensive dental work doing in this neighborhood? In this house?"
Morgan sighed. "Maybe he met someone here? I guess that's going to be the question we need to answer, right?"
"I ran his prints, he's not in the system. No criminal history or gaming card." The doctor said.
Once they'd taken their fill of pictures, Robbins put the body in a bag and took him back to the morgue. When he left, Morgan turned to Greg.
"Who would want to steal someone's liver?"
"Who steal someone's liver and then goes to the trouble of sewing him back up afterwards?" Greg countered.
"You know what I said earlier about this house being perfect for a horror movie? There's only one horror movie I know of that has a character who likes liver." Morgan said.
Greg grimaced. "Let's just hope he has the rest of his internal organs, then."
~XXXXX~
Gil and Catherine took a flight directly to Vegas that evening at the FBI's expense. They went directly from the airport to the Crime Lab. Ecklie was there to greet them.
"Long time no see you two." He said. Ecklie and Catherine hugged.
"Indeed." Grissom said as they walked into the lab. It had been years since he'd been inside and they had updated everything. He looked around for familiar faces.
"It looks nice." He said. Catherine nodded in agreement. Grissom didn't know how he felt about seeing Sara again. They hadn't seen each other in person in years when they divorced. He'd thought about coming back to Vegas, but never had a good enough reason for it. Then he became preoccupied with the FBI lab and that took up most of his time. In fact, he was quite certain that unless he had some pressing work matter, he may have never returned to Vegas.
Seeing the lab again was nice, though. It was fascinating how much it had changed over the years. They immediately went to the supervisor's office. A man with white hair sat behind a desk, frowning at his computer screen, tapping his fingers.
"D.B." Catherine called. He looked up and a smile spread over his face. He stood to greet them, shaking Catherine's hand and allowing himself to be introduced to Grissom for the first time. Grissom looked around the office curiously.
"Mushrooms." He stated, moving towards one of the tanks to observe them closely.
"Yes, I'm a bit of a mycologist." D.B. said. Grissom smiled.
"Well, I hear you have three mummies on your hands, Russell. They were found earlier this evening in an abandoned industrial complex?" Catherine asked.
"Yes, they were. I sent the case files to you via email about fifteen minutes ago so that you can go over it. Sara and Finn processed the scene and Dave has listed the deaths as unknown origin." D.B. said. A knock came at the door and they turned to see Finn standing in the doorway. She smiled.
"Ah. Catherine and Gil, this is CSI Finlay. She goes by Finn."
"Nice to meet you two." She said cheerfully, shaking their hands.
"Hodges got back to us with the trace on the wounds we found on each of the victim's legs. It's…troubling." She said.
"What's troubling about it?" Gil asked, more curious than ever. Finn looked at Ecklie and then at D.B. before directing her answer to Gil.
"It was olive oil, sage and sea salt." She said finally. D.B. frowned and Ecklie's eyes narrowed.
"You found this on each of the mummies?"
"Yes. They had very distinct wounds on their legs and arms. Rectangular, about six square inches for each one. The edges indicate a serrated knife." Catherine watched Ecklie's shoulders go tense and D.B. press his lips together.
"Is this an M.O. you're familiar with?" She asked out loud.
"Yes." Ecklie interrupted, pulling out his phone. "The M.O. of a guy who's dead."