Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Unfortunately. Am just borrowing and they will be returned undamaged and in their original packaging.
PrologueA young couple were walking down the dark alleyway. It was shadowed and secluded, behind a large and important looking building. There were sounds of classical music, clapping and voices, and streetlights from the road, but here it was quiet and sheltered.
'You know, I think we're lost,' the woman said. She was staggering slightly on her high heels; more from tiredness than anything else.
Her boyfriend slid an arm around her shoulders and kissed her neck. 'I didn't think you were in such a hurry. It's a nice night – '
'I really want to get back to our hotel, and get rid of these shoes,' she replied, leaning her head on his shoulder. 'You have no idea how much these things hurt.'
'You keep telling me that beauty is pain,' he pointed out.
'It's not worth that much pain at this time of night,' she said. He didn't answer and she frowned. 'What? What's wrong?' She turned, following the path of his gaze, and shrieked in shock.
The body of a young woman was stretched across the path of the alley. Her eyes were wide open and her mouth was open. There were marks around her throat and she was very obviously dead.
'Hey Sara, Greg,' Brass said as the two CSIs approached. 'I thought Grissom was working this case. Did he piss Ecklie off?'
'He's got another homicide across town,' Sara said. 'He sent us instead.' She smiled.
'Is that okay?' Greg asked.
Brass shrugged. 'Victim's name is Karen Green, twenty-two years old. She was staying in the hotel this alley backs onto. She's a musician, competing in some classical music competition. Friends are well connected. They want answers.'
'Everyone wants answers,' Sara said. 'Not everyone gets them.'