Disclaimer: Okay, I doubt very much that anybody here doesn't know, but I'll say it anyway: all the CSI-characters belong to Anthony E. Zuiker and his crew. All other characters are mine, if I turned you or anybody you know into a victim, a suspect, or worst, a criminal by using a name, please know that it was not intended.

The house looks as calm as any other in that area. Red brick walls, white window frames with lattice, flower pots on the window sills, lace curtains elegantly draped inside. A nice little porch with a veritable rocking chair, currently occupied by a ruffled old teddy bear. Then you come to the front door with that yellow tape across it. From some point of view this house is now the calmest in the street.

Stella ducks underneath the tape. Mac is already in the hallway, talking to Flack, who now gives them first details.

"Vics are Frank and Marina Carson, 34 and 31. Frank is in the living room and Marina in the kitchen," he points in the direction of the rooms, "their five year old daughter Iota appears to be missing. We haven't been able to contact any relatives yet; she could be staying someplace overnight. Neighbors called it in, but don't seem to know anything else. The family moved here only a week ago. Now that's what I call a bad move."

The corners of his mouth twitch upwards and so do Stella's. No, it's not a funny comment, but she knows that's how Flack copes, her smile is one of sympathy.

--

After a cursory glance at the scene Stella takes up the camera. Flack has gone to continue interviewing the neighbors and to see if there has been any progress in contacting relatives. Mac starts dusting for fingerprints.

Stella looks at the woman in the kitchen, she immediately recognizes the Greek decent. Surprise and fear are frozen into the dark eyes, she saw it coming. Stella takes a picture of the face, another of the blood surrounding the woman's chest, and another of a bloody knife close by, carefully documenting all the traces of the last moments of a life gone by.

She moves on into the living room. The man is sprawled out between couch and coffee table … click … a bullet wound on his right temple … click … a puddle of blood between his head and his right hand … click … blood spatter on the sideboard just behind him … click.

Stella pauses, looking at the pictures of the family on the sideboard, one of them showing the little girl between her parents, all of them smiling, pictures of the living. She looks at the camera, pictures of the dead. Suddenly she thinks of Daniela, the baby girl whose nanny had been killed. How good it had felt to take pictures of a living and healthy person for once. She had gotten a little carried away back then, snapping more pictures than they needed.

She sighs and gets up to continue her work. She sees Mac standing in the door and gives him a sad little smile before raising the camera to her eyes again. But he knows her.

"Flack would have told us if they knew anything about the girl," he says, "Hawkes will be here any minute, he can help me finish here. Go on; see if you can find any clues to her whereabouts."

Stella smiles her thanks, hands Mac the camera and heads for the stairs.

--

Stella enters Iota's bedroom, a thick carpet swallows the sound of her steps. She looks around, the room almost brings tears to her eyes, it has been furnished with such loving care. Again she thinks of Daniela, who had not been picked up by her parents for days, and she thinks of her own childhood. She shakes her head to dispel those thoughts. The bed has been made somewhat hastily, but no empty spaces indicate that something is missing, that something cherished has been taken along on a trip. She moves towards the closet to check the clothes.

--

Mac hears a gunshot. He turns around and runs upstairs, towards the sound. Weapon in hand he is about to enter the room when he sees Stella standing next to the bed. She holds out her right hand in a motion to stop and silence him, then points at the closet. Mac understands. He steps back and retreats into the darkness next to the door, opposite the stairs, gun ready to aim at whoever walks out of that room next.

He hears a muffled sound, the sound of a body sinking to the ground, Stella's body. He tries not to consider the option of just emptying his gun into that closet. He has no idea who is in there, it could after all be the girl, and he thinks that Stella would not have sent him out if she had been badly hurt. But he has seen her left arm clutching her side, and she might just as well be protecting him. If he just walks in there he's likely to be the next on the ground, and that would not help her.

He wonders why nobody comes, is he the only one who heard the shot? And where is Hawkes, what if he comes now? What if anybody comes now, further disturbing, upsetting, and tipping the scales in the wrong direction? Then all he can think is that he has had by far too much time to think.

So, there goes my first attempt at a "real" story with a case, please let me know what you think…