WHOO HOO! We're back, baby! WITH SEASON TWO!
Burked: A man is found dead in his home after an apparent drug overdose. This man is Tony Braun, the son of Sam Braun, one of the biggest moguls in Las Vegas. However, the team begins to suspect murder as they struggle to find any evidence connected to an overdose.
Next, Chaos Theory: A university student named Paige Rycoff mysteriously vanishes into thin air. With the circumstances surrounding her disappearance – such as her affair with a married professor and other events – the CSI team begins to suspect foul play. When her body is found in a trash heap, the team now only has one question to answer: what led to her death?
Then, Overload: Grissom is convinced a construction worker was electrocuted after he falls from the twelfth story of a construction sight. However, he has to go through a heap of trouble to prove his theory when the evidence doesn't immediately support this and the Sheriff doesn't have a hard time believing that it was a suicide rather than a homicide. Meanwhile, Catherine finds out a startling secret about Nick's past when they work the case of a teenage boy who appears to have died of a grand mal seizure during a therapy session.
Later, Bully for You: Everyone begins to think about what they were like in high school when the class clown is discovered dead in the boy's bathroom at a local high school. However, Grissom, Warrick and Catherine soon discover that their victim bullied the majority of their fellow students, giving them a lot of suspects. Meanwhile, a badly decomposed body is found in a leather bag and Sara and Nick have to figure out who this person is and how they died.
I own nothing aside from Kady. I don't even own the book mentioned!
ENJOY!
Two Labrador Retrievers (AN: Guessing the breed!) ran out of the gate barking and whimpering towards the gardener who had just climbed out of his Black Chevy truck and was getting his tools out and ready for the day.
"Hey. How'd you guys get out?" he asked as they ran back towards the gate.
The gardener knew that something was up – that the dogs were trying to tell him something. Immediately, he ran through the gate towards the back glass door where the dogs were barking and whimpering.
"What's the matter, boys? Easy, hey," he coxed.
However, when he peered through the glass door, his face was immediately filled with horror and surprise. And that horrific surprise…
Was a dead body.
When Catherine finally made her way through the swarming news reporters and paparazzi, she was surprised when the officer stopped her at the door. When she looked down, they saw why. Grissom was on his hands and knees with his face close to the ground as he shone his flashlight across the carpet. He was looking for something.
"Have you been inside?" Catherine asked as she knelt down slowly and took off her sunglasses, "What have you got?"
Slowly, Grissom picked up whatever he was looking for. Once he made sure he had it, he handed it to the detective that was standing by. It was a contact lens.
"There you go, detective," Grissom said as he handed the lens over to him.
"Thanks. Little tired this morning. Pulling a double," the detective explained sheepishly.
"Yeah. Join the club," Catherine remarked as she and Grissom rose to their feet.
"Good morning, Catherine," Grissom greeted.
"Good morning, Gil. So, this is Tony Braun's house. Son of Sam Braun," Catherine observed as they walked further into the house.
"He was Steve Wynn before Steve Wynn," Grissom remarked.
"Oh yeah. You bet your ass," Catherine agreed as she slid her gloves onto her hands, "Sam came to Vegas when Vegas was dying. Built three casinos in a year. Had ties to Bugsy Siegel."
"Wish I had Tony Braun's gardener working for me," Brass remarked as Grissom and Catherine met him in the living room, "Guy sniffed it out from the jump. Blinds were drawn shut. Side gate unlocked. Dogs let out. A plus B plus C equals 911."
"All seems very neat and peaceful. Doesn't it?" Grissom stated as Catherine picked up a piece of foil that is used for the drugs.
"Chasing the dragon. A pinch of H. Heat the foil. Inhale the fumes," Catherine explained.
"With a Xanax back," Grissom piped in as he picked up a pill bottle that was nearby, "100 pills. Prescription filled yesterday."
"So the rumours of ol' Tony are true. Drug overdose," Brass sighed.
"It sure seems that way," Catherine agreed.
"If only life were that simple," Grissom shook his head.
Insert title credits here
"Eight rolls. Two copies. Case is hot. Put a rush on it," Sara requested to the courier as she handed the film to him.
"OK," the courier nodded as he ran out.
"Lose an earring?" Sara asked as she picked up an earring backing.
"Looks like somebody did," Grissom remarked as he noticed the clear sticky goo on Tony's wrist, "He's got adhesive residue on his wrists."
"He was restrained. Some sort of tape," Sara surmised.
"Well, that would be the obvious," Grissom said.
"Braun had company," Sara realized.
"Welcome…or unwelcome?" Grissom pondered.
"Where's the purge? Car blows its engine, there's an oil leak. A guy ODs, where's the body fluid? Urine, vomit, excrement," Sara demanded.
"Did somebody clean him up?" Grissom mused.
"Interesting love bites on the chest," Sara observed as she saw the three red marks on his chest.
"Curious, isn't it?" Grissom smirked.
"And he's posed!" Sara gasped…before realizing what Grissom was trying to tell her, "When did you knew this was a homicide and not an OD?"
"Initially?" Grissom pressed, earning a 'yeah' from Sara, "When I saw the TV on."
Catherine smiled as she walked past the back gate of the residence and saw Nick knelt down with the dogs playing with them and petting them vigorously. When she slid her gloves on, Nick noticed Catherine's presence and smiled up at her. Catherine had to admit. While his daughter is a carbon copy of her mother, Kady inherited her adorableness from her father. And that was proven with how adorable Nick looked with that smile of his and the glasses he wore.
"Well, I'll tell you one thing – if those were my dogs, I wouldn't be leaving this gate open," Catherine remarked.
"Yeah. You're talking about a dog owner on heroin. How responsible can he be?" Nick asked.
"Gardener said it was the first time in five years that he'd found this gate unlocked," Catherine told him.
"What's so different about this morning?" Nick wanted to know.
"Last morning of Tony Braun's life? Well, either somebody inside the house opened it, or somebody had a key because this lock hasn't been forced. There's no pry marks. No metal shavings," Catherine observed.
"So…why was this gate open?" Nick pondered.
That was when he began looking around. Looking for a certain four-year-old girl that would provide some answer to this question like she had been doing since she was born. However, Nick's heart sunk as he remembered that Kady was at school now. After all, he had dropped her off this morning.
"You still look for her?" Catherine asked, earning a nod from Nick.
"She's been at school for a few weeks now. I don't get why I still look for her," Nick sighed sadly.
"Nick, for over four years, you've always had her by your side at crime scenes. It's going to take some getting used to," Catherine told him, "You'll get her back at the end of the day. And she's safe."
"A heroin addict's confetti. Nothing like going on a binge," Warrick remarked as he picked up a single, empty open small red balloon with his forceps, "Black tar heroin. This is the difference between a Cadillac and a Pinto."
"How would you know?" Brass wanted to know.
"It's my job," Warrick answered as he placed the balloon on the dresser where he found it, "I count at least six balloons and that's just in the bedroom. The dealer must have come down the chimney. It's like Christmas in July here. Not that Braun even needed anymore drugs."
"Yeah. Looks like the guy had a pill for everything. Can you get a print off those balloons?" Brass asked.
"I can get a print off the air," Brass retorted.
"Any luck?" Grissom asked as he met Sara in the kitchen.
"I have gone through every garbage can in the house," Sara answered, signifying that she couldn't find anything.
"What about the cans outside?" Grissom questioned.
"First thing I checked. Zip," Sara told him before left.
When Sara checked the next bin that was full, she pulled out all kinds of objects that weren't repeating. One thing she did find was a not-so-empty packet of Saltine Crackers. When she shook the packet, she heard something rattle inside of it. When she pulled the object out with forceps, she was amazed.
It was silver duct tape.
Nick walked along the back of the house. With a high profile case like this, the CSIs and detectives had to be thorough with everything they do and make sure they do everything right. The eyes of Las Vegas were on them and there could be a negative impact on the police department if they accidentally do something that could cause the case to go downhill. When he reached the doggie door, he stopped to scratch his left ankle. Something had bitten him. He just didn't know what.
That was when he noticed it.
The doggie door was unlocked. This confused him…until he tried the actual doorknob. Locked. Thinking that this could be useful, he grabbed his kit and printed the entire section.
He could be onto something.
"Hey, Doc," Grissom greeted as he walked into the autopsy room.
"Leg fell asleep," Doc Robbins said sheepishly as he placed his leg back on and they moved towards the body, "I always wondered which one of us coroners would get to carve Tony. His lifestyle was no secret – sex, drugs and a big bankroll. No needle marks on his arms. The guy plays golf; short-sleeved shirts. Checked between the toes…groin area. Whatever he did went up his nose. His nasal cavity looks like raw hamburger."
"These abrasions around his mouth? What? Hard to shave when you're stoned?" Grissom joked.
"Or they're pressure marks. For example, if someone places a pillow or object against someone's nose and mouth in the climate of struggle," Robbins shrugged.
"Petechial haemorrhaging? Also suggestive of suffocation," Grissom pointed out.
"Not always," Doc Robbins shook his head in disagreement, "For as much as pathology is an absolute science, it isn't. Vessels can rupture under innocent circumstances such as a violent cough."
"These three circular red marks on his chest? They're not bug bites," Grissom observed.
"No neurotoxins present but that's not to say some overanxious paramedic trying to save a legend's life didn't cause them in the moment," Doc Robbins said.
"CPR wasn't performed," Grissom protested.
"Then I don't know what they are," Doc Robbins admitted.
"It's hard to OD just inhaling heroin. I know he was restrained which leads me to believe that someone forced him to ingest lethal amounts of heroin and Xanax," Grissom stated.
"Excuse me," the shrill voice of Janine Haywood rang through the house as she marched inside, "Boy, are you lucky my lawyer's on a golf course. I've been standing out here, in the heat for hours, answering these stupid questions. Here's your answer, OK. This is my house. OK? This is half my house anyway."
"Who's this?" Catherine asked as Janine began walking around with a video camera.
"It's Braun's squeeze. She's an ex-stripper too. Perhaps you two met in a professional capacity," Brass shrugged, casually referencing to the fact that Catherine is a former exotic dancer.
"These are my things!" Janine protested.
"And, uh, where has she been the past 21 hours?" Catherine demanded.
"Oh my God!" Janine exclaimed.
"Uh, let's see," Brass said as he pulled out his notebook and flipped a few pages, "Quote. Out. End quote. When Tony's drug dealer showed up, she split. She slept at a friend's house. She didn't like the way Tony acted when he was cruising on magic carpets," Brass answered.
"Listen. If anything is missing from this house, I'm going to add you to my lawyer's to sue list," Janine threatened as she pointed the camcorder to Brass and Catherine.
"Why don't you just put the camera away before you get arrested?" Brass suggested as he pushed the camcorder down.
"You can't arrest me in my own house!" Janine protested.
"Right now, your house is our crime scene. And we can do whatever we want and that includes fingerprinting you," Catherine retorted as she prepared to fingerprint Janine.
"Why? Didn't do anything?" Janine scoffed.
"Thumb to pinkie," Catherine instructed as she placed her finger pads into the ink and pressed them onto the paper.
"I just lost my boyfriend, OK? You're a woman. I'm just looking out for my end here, you know? Things start to disappear. If Tony were here right now, he'd tell you himself. 'Just make sure Janine's taken care of,'" Janine boasted to them.
"That's a lawyer's call," Brass objected.
"Hey! I'm in the will!" Janine scoffed.
"Of course you are," Catherine rolled her eyes.
"Can I help you?" the receptionist of the Tangiers asked Catherine as she approached the desk.
"Yeah. Is Sam Braun in?" Catherine asked.
"He's not seeing anyone today," she answered.
"Would you let him know that Catherine Willows is here to see him?" Catherine requested kindly.
Immediately, the receptionist passed the message along through the computer and waited until she got a response over her headset. She – like everyone else in the casino – knew who Catherine Willows was and how important she was to Sam Braun.
"Just one second please," the receptionist requested as she walked off.
Not long after the receptionist left Catherine standing there, an old man with hair white as snow walked up behind her. Catherine didn't notice his presence until he used his special nickname for her,
"Mugs?"
Catherine immediately turned around and a smile lit her face like a light bulb. Sam Braun was standing there. She didn't hesitate to walk up to him and give him a hug.
Before they knew it, they were walking arm-in-arm across along the casino hall chatting about old memories they share and the recent events that had brought them here.
"I remember the first time I saw you. You didn't have any clothes on," Sam recalled.
"Yeah. Well, that was a long time ago," Catherine laughed.
"I would've taken you home right then if I could have," Sam remarked.
"I know. But you were married and I was a baby. It never would've worked. Sam…how are you holding up?" Catherine asked worriedly.
Before he can answer her question, however, Sam's other son, Walt Braun, appeared before them.
"Hey, dad. I got the press clogging up valet. Should I call security or just handle it or what?" walt asked.
"I'll take care of it. You go back to the put. Make sure nobody's robbing us blind," Sam instructed as he led Catherine away.
One of the first things he did was take her to the restaurant and buy her a drink. Since she got her job at the Crime Lab, the whole Eddie dilemma and the time she spends with Kady and Lindsey, they hardly get to spend time with each other. So each moment they share is to be cherished.
"You know, back in, uh…in '67, I was in my 20s and…I was drinking in a dive in downtown Buffalo. At the end of the bar was this pro quarterback drinking double scotches, two at a time, midnight to seven in the morning. It's Sunday, game day, mind you. So you know what I did? Called my bookie, bet against him. Guess what? I'll be damned if he didn't throw six touchdown passes," Sam recalled.
"Yeah…sounds like Tony," Catherine chuckled.
"You know, even when Tony was juicing he could run circles around these college, Harvard types. And I'm not saying that just because he was my kid. Tony was the best damn casino exec this town has ever seen and just between you and me…I couldn't hold a candle to him," Sam confessed, "Now he's dead. Overdose."
"Sam…the bigger the pedestal, the bigger the target," Catherine recited.
"Nobody shoots at that target without going through me," Sam protested, his fatherly instincts coming to light which caused Catherine to smile as it reminded her of how Nick gets when Kady's in danger.
"Well, that's business. What about personal?" Catherine asked.
"What do you mean?" Sam demanded.
"Did you ever talk to Tony about any of his girlfriends?" Catherine rephrased.
"Which one? I mean, they were all trying to pick the gold out of his teeth," Sam pointed out.
"Janine Haywood," Catherine said.
"She's the worst. And he loved her the most. Can you believe that?" Sam scoffed.
"Yeah. I do," Catherine nodded.
"If I know her type, now that she has the gold, she'll be going after the silver," Sam remarked.
When Grissom had gotten the fingerprints off of the prescription bottle, he and Catherine began comparing the prints on the bottle against the prints from both Tony's and Janine's ten-cards.
"OK. On the left, Braun prints we got from the coroner and on the right, gold digger prints I got from Janine Haywood," Catherine explained.
"Here's where it gets interesting. I took six prints off this bottle," Grissom began.
"And?" Catherine pressed.
"They all belong to one person," Grissom finished.
"Good thing or…bad thing?" Catherine wanted to know.
"It's good if you're us…," Grissom trailed off as he turned the print 180 degrees and showed her the match, "Bad if you're Janine Haywood."
"Have you seen Brass?" Warrick asked as they met up in the hallway.
"Not tonight, no. Why?" Grissom demanded.
"Oh. Print off air. Orange balloon. Cyanoacrylate. Dead bang, drug dealer," Warrick said as he walked off.
Grissom continued to walk down the hallway…until he almost walked into Sara who was carrying the duct tape she collected from the kitchen garbage bin.
"Ooh, ooh, watch it! Evidence!" Sara cried.
"Where did you get it?" Grissom asked.
"Cracker box. It was all stuck together, muckety-muck. I don't want to ruin any potential prints. But I saw this TV dinner commercial and it hit me. I'm going to put it in the freezer," Sara decreed.
Grissom just shook his head and walked towards his intended destination: break room. When he walked in, he saw Nick working (AN: *cough* Moping! *cough*) on something at the desk.
"Did you try this coffee?" Grissom asked, earning a hum from Nick that translated to no, "The last cup I had tasted like motor oil."
"Oh, don't touch it! That's my pot!" Greg Sanders cried as he ran in to stop Grissom from using his coffee mug.
"Your pot?" Grissom repeated.
"Yeah. You know, from my own private stash," Greg nodded as he picked up his coffee bag, "Blue Hawaiian - $40 a pound. Only grown a couple times a year on the Big Island. Handpicked to perfection."
"Good. You're using my water. So I guess that makes it community coffee," Grissom retorted as he poured himself a cup, "You want a cup, Nick?"
"No thanks," Nick shook his head as he scratched his leg.
"What's the matter with your leg?" Grissom asked.
"I don't know, man. Something back at that house must have bit me," Nick answered as he soaked a cotton wipe with rubbing alcohol.
"Oh. Is that alcohol on a bug bite? That's like butter on burns, man. Wives' tale," Greg remarked.
"Yeah. This is the guy who told me to put haemorrhoid cream on my acne," Nick retorted.
"It worked, didn't it?" Greg smirked.
"This is pretty good," Grissom remarked about the coffee as he bent down to look at Nick's leg, "Let me see the bite before you get gangrene. …Chigger bite."
"Yeah?" Nick pressed.
"Probably picked it up walking through the ferns in Braun's backyard. See if Catherine's got some clear nail polish. It'll seal it off from the air, keep it from itching," Grissom instructed, "Ah…whatever happened with that doggy door?"
"Something definitely two-legged went through it. Got mostly partials. Print lab's working on it now," Nick answered.
"Be sure to check it against Janine Haywood's prints," Grissom instructed, earning a nod to Nick before noticing that Greg was walking in a circle as if he was a dog chasing his own tail, "What are you looking for?"
"My kjemisk prinsesse," Greg pouted.
"Don't you start. It's bad enough with Father of the Year over there," Grissom remarked.
"Hey!" Nick protested, "I'm not that bad!"
"You've spent most of the shift moping!" Grissom retorted before walking out of the break room with his coffee cup.
"Braun's stomach contents," Doc Robbins introduced Grissom and Catherine to the brown liquid in a clear container, "No food. Plenty of drugs."
"Xanax?" Grissom guessed.
"And heroin," Doc Robbins nodded.
"I thought he inhaled it," Catherine recalled.
"Inhaled and ingested," Doc Robbins corrected.
"He ate it?!" Catherine repeated in disbelief.
"Got there somehow," Doc Robbins shrugged.
"Where are all the undissolved pills?" Grissom asked.
"Didn't find any," Doc Robbins answered.
"Most OD's die before digestion's complete, right?" Grissom questioned.
"My guess. Someone mashed up the Xanax, dissolved them in red wine, which I did find," Doc Robbins guessed.
"OK. So what do we know that we can write home about?" Grissom wanted to know.
"Well, Braun was a heroin addict using heavy before he died which means he was probably meek as a lamb," Catherine remarked.
"Wouldn't have taken much to bind his hands with duct tape," Grissom pointed out.
"And make him drink hemlock. It's a lot easier to pour liquid down a guy's throat than it is to make him swallow a hundred pills," Catherine stated.
"It wasn't a hundred pills," Doc Robbins shook his head.
"How many?" Grissom demanded.
"Educated, unofficial guess: no more than fifty," Doc Robbins shrugged.
"Based on your pupes, I could take you in right now," Brass remarked as he talked to a drug dealer named Skinny in the alleyway.
"Hey, man. I'm in mourning. It's tears you see. I lost a customer. It's like losing my job, kind of!" Skinny defended himself.
"You're Braun's grocery store," Warrick said.
"But I deliver," Skinny smirked.
"When did you last deliver?" Brass asked.
"Night before he croaked. About nine o'clock. Ask his woman. She's fine too," Skinny answered.
"Well, she told us as soon as you got there, she left," Brass recalled Janine's statement.
"Oh, she didn't go that fast. I dropped off some balloons, Braun paid me, she gave me a tip," Skinny explained.
"What? Shave the soul patch?" Brass joked.
"No. Thirty Xanadus," Skinny boasted.
"Xanax?" Warrick repeated.
"I told you I dropped them in the bathroom sink!" Janine protested.
"First time I heard that," Brass remarked.
"Look. I took two, gave Tony two and I accidentally dropped fifteen or twenty down the sink. It was an accident. You know, an accident? Haven't you ever spilled a drink?" Janine scoffed.
"Not lately. We found fifty Xanax in Tony's stomach," Catherine told her.
"Don't pin that on me! I'd left," Janine defended herself.
"I'll tell you what you left – your fingerprints all over the prescription bottle," Catherine retorted.
"I went to the pharmacy, waited in line, picked up the prescription, signed for it, brought it back to the house. You know, Tony did nothing for himself except work and get high," Janine told them.
"Got you a brand new Mercedes, didn't it?" Brass smirked.
"Yes it did. And it'll buy me the dress I wear at Tony's funeral too," Janine nodded.
"Look. When you left your half a house, where did you go?" Brass asked.
"A friend's," Janine answered mysteriously.
"Well, let's get her in line," Brass suggested.
"She's out of town," Janine said.
"Let me guess. She's incommunicado," Brass guessed.
"That means you can't reach her? Yeah," Janine nodded.
"Oh, mind the dummy," Catherine smirked as she walked through the hallways carrying a large dummy past the DNA lab where Grissom and Greg were conversing.
"It's been 24 minutes, Greg. When's this thing going to be done?" Grissom asked impatiently.
"Well, with all due respect, sir, it's not a baked potato. It's Braun's blood and with all the impurities in his system, it might take a little extra time," Greg pointed out, earning a shrug and a hum from Grissom who knew that he had a point "Did I ever tell you I used to live in New York?"
"Is this going to be a short story or a novel?" Grissom sighed just as the mass spectrometer printed the results.
"Excuse me. You know, heroin has a nine-minute half-life. After that, it metabolizes into morphine," Greg told him.
"What's the 6-MAM count?" Grissom requested.
"158 nanograms per mil. Definitely not lethal. The same with your Xanax. Quarter-mil tabs. 100 micrograms per litre. Again, not lethal. There's addicts walking around Times Squares with more drugs in their system," Greg remarked.
"So Braun should still be walking around," Grissom surmised as he left…but not before asking, "And the point to your New York story was…?"
"Oh. I was just going to tell you about another way to take heroin – a suppository up the coolee. You just stand on your head, and then you get gravity…," Greg trailed off when he noticed the look Grissom was giving him, "Forget it."
"Braun didn't die of a drug overdose – accidental or otherwise," Grissom told Catherine as she placed the dummy on the floor in the layout room.
"I figured. So why'd I bring the dummy?" Catherine asked before Grissom took out a shirt, "Braun's shirt."
"Robbins opened him up. His lungs were compressed. Remember Burke and Hare, the two 19th century Scottish body snatchers who made a living intoxicating innocent victims and suffocating them? Sold their cadavers to teaching hospitals? Got away with it too…until a medical student discovered his fiancée on a slab," Grissom remarked.
"Is this part of the Sherlock Holmes Fan Club Kit?" Catherine wanted to know as they dressed the dummy.
"Janine Haywood said that she left the house when the drug dealer arrived. I think she came back," Grissom began the theory.
"So Braun would have been on his third or fourth balloon by then," Catherine remarked.
"Would have been easy to tape his wrists, mash up fifty pills and force-feed him a Xanax cocktail. So everything was going great until the gardener showed up. Then I think her plan turned to panic. It takes time to OD – time didn't have," Grissom went on as he rubbed carbon-paper on the buttons of his shirt, "Burke would kneel on his victim's chest, right, covering their mouth and nostrils."
"But when you're doing drubs, you're a slob. And when you're being manhandled, you're even sloppier. Like this," Catherine said as she demonstrated then revealed the three stains on the dummy's white chest, "He was burked."
"Hello," Grissom answered the incoming telephone call, "Where? …Brass, you're breaking up! …Said he was on Blue Diamond Road, digging something up."
Indeed he was…well, Brass was trying to stop someone from digging something up. When the cops showed up with their guns and everything, he immediately stopped digging and held his hands up.
"Hey, hey. What's going on?" he demanded.
"Anybody ever tell you to call before you dig?" Brass joked.
"I got permission to be here," Curt retorted.
"Oh, is that right? From who? A dead man? You got a name?" Brass asked.
"My name's Curt Ritten. Look, Tony Braun was a friend of mine, right? This is his property. He calls me about a month ago. He says 'if anything should happen to me, you start digging. You take care of what's mine at all costs.' That's what I'm doing," Curt explained.
As Brass and Curt were having their conversation, Grissom and Catherine were peering in Curt's truck. When they looked through the window at the driver and passenger seats, they saw the items like a neon sign.
Three rolls of silver duct tape.
"Do me a favour, Curt Ritten. Put down the shovel. Stand over there," Brass instructed.
"OK," Curt nodded.
"Maybe Janine had a helper," Catherine muttered to Grissom.
"Hey, guys. You might wanna check out the basement," Brass remarked.
It was a padlocked door. Once the door was opened, Grissom and Catherine immediately descended down the stairs. There were amazed by what they found. Silver bullion. Silver candelabras. Silver dishes. Silver…everything.
"A sable cloud turns forth its silver lining to the night," Grissom recited.
"That's a lot of motive," Catherine remarked.
"And a lot of silver," Grissom piped in.
Once the duct tape had spent enough time in the freezer, Sara removed it from the cold container and began to work on unsticking it. Luckily for her, it unstuck easily and the process didn't destroy the evidence she was going to eventually uncover. When the tape was unstuck, she began painting on a solution that consisted of fingerprint powder and liquid soap. After she virtually soaked the duct tape in the solution, she used a washer to wash away the leftover and revealed the prints that the solution had revealed. Not long after she had lifted the prints and was looking at them under the light, Warrick walked in with the three rolls of silver duct tape they had collected from Curt's truck.
"OK. Three rolls of tape found in the truck owned by Curt Ritten," Warrick said.
"Nice. Let's see if that's where my print came from," Sara immediately suggested.
However, they were met with disappointment. The tape didn't come from the first roll. When they looked under the microscope, the edges didn't join up.
"No match!" Warrick moaned.
"Oh, listen to you. Would you rather hit a home run in the fourth or the bottom of the ninth?" Sara asked, earning a look from Warrick, "Let me ask you something. Braun collected silver – coins, bullion – 23 tons of it. Why bury it in Blue Diamond?"
"'Cause he was smart. In the past 20 years, the value of silver's gone to nothing and a commodity broker's going to charge you a storage fee per troy ounce and there's only one thing worse than losing 7-8% on silver a year and that's losing 9-10% because of some stupid storage fee," Warrick answered as he compared the tape to the second roll…only to be met with more disappointment.
"What good's collecting silver coupons when you're dead?" Sara wanted to know.
"Depends on who's doing the clipping," Warrick remarked as he tested the tape against the third roll and…, "Oh, we got a positive association. Roll to tape. Curt to Tony."
"You arresting me for digging?" Curt asked in disbelief.
"No. Burglary, theft and conspiracy to start," Brass corrected.
"Tony asked me to move his silver collection up to his ranch in Wyoming. I'm doing what I was told," Curt defended his actions.
"Mr Ritten, it appears that we may have physical evidence connecting you to the murder of Tony Braun," Grissom proclaimed.
"Look, I had nothing to do with the drugs. I swear to you. I haven't messed around with that stuff in a long time. I was always telling Tony, as a friend, to get off of it, to walk away," Curt protested.
"How'd you know where the silver was buried?" Brass wanted to know.
"Because I built the vault for him. I'm a contractor. That's what I do," Curt answered.
"Ever work on his house?" Brass asked.
"No. We did…we did talk about me building a basement for him once. It never got off the ground," Curt told them.
"Oh, so you've been to his house?" Brass surmised.
"We were friends. I've been to his house plenty of times. I was there a couple weeks ago. We were watching the Notre Dame game together," Curt revealed.
"Did you ever leave anything there? Did you ever bring anything over to his house?" Grissom demanded.
"Yeah. I brought a six-pack and some chips – sour cream," Curt answered.
"Tools of the trade, Curt. Construction items – hammer, duct tape?" Brass rephrased Grissom's question.
"No. Why would I do that? I got no idea what you're talking about," Curt confessed.
"Yeah. Well, whatever you don't tell us, we'll find it," Brass swore.
"That's the quickest warrant I ever got," Detective Vega remarked as he and Catherine walked into the darkened living room of Curt's apartment.
"Yep. Braun family. Long arms. I thought you said that Ritten's wife lives in Carson City," Catherine said as she noticed the woman's skirt draped over the back of the couch.
"She does. They both do. He just stays here when he's working," Vega told her.
"Or digging up silver," Catherine piped in.
Suddenly, they heard a sound coming from another room in the apartment. Immediately, Vega unholstered his gun as they slowly made their way down the hall towards the bathroom.
"Mrs Ritten? Criminalistics!" Catherine called out as she began to hear the sound of water running.
"Police officer!" Vega shouted.
The bathroom door was slightly open, allowing light and mist to fill the hallway. Slowly, the two approached the bathroom and pushed the door until it was fully open. They were surprised by what they found.
Janine. Wrapped in a towel.
"Geez! You scared me! How'd you get in there?" Janine demanded.
"I don't have to ask you that question," Catherine remarked.
"How can this be, Mandy?" Warrick demanded as Mandy gave him and Sara the prints they collected from the duct tape.
"You're telling us the prints on that tape aren't his or hers?" Sara repeated in disbelief.
"Well, if their names are Curt Ritten and Janine Haywood, the answer's 'no, it's not their prints,'" Mandy answered.
"This is ridiculous," Sara sighed.
"This thing must have a virus," Warrick said as he tapped the side of her monitor for emphasis.
"Maybe you have the wrong suspects," Mandy retorted.
"Well, that's easy for you to say. All you do is scan prints all day and hit enter," Warrick shot back.
"Look. I'm not your beast of burden. Sara, this is your thing," Mandy said as she stood to leave…before Nick walked in clearly in a cheery mood.
"Mandy…give me something dandy," Nick requested kindly.
"Is Kady back yet?" Warrick, Sara and Mandy asked hopefully…only to moan in disappointment as Nick slumped and shook his head no.
"I'll give you something dandy. Your doggie-door prints. Goodbye. I have to go on a break now. I might even team up with the lab techs here and kidnap your daughter from school," Mandy smirked as she went to leave.
"You'll do no such thing!" Nick called after her.
While he missed his daughter more than anything, he also wanted her to have the best chance at life. And one of the key elements of having this is obtaining a full-rounded education. And that meant that he wasn't going to allow anyone or anything disrupt her education.
Not if he can help it, at least.
However, when he read the report Mandy had given him before going on her break, he had nothing to say.
"See what I mean?" Warrick asked.
"Your prints came back unknown too?" Sara guessed.
"No. Came back Walt Braun," Nick corrected.
"Who is he?" Grissom asked.
"He's Tony Braun's brother. He's a pit boss at the Tangiers which is why his prints were on file – gaming card," Catherine answered.
"He's family. Why's he using the doggie door and not the front door?" Grissom wanted to know.
"Go figure. The more evidence that shows up, the more this case doesn't make sense. We got two suspects in custody and neither of their prints are on the duct tape," Catherine remarked.
"Or on the doggie door. But the brother's are," Grissom stated, earning a hum from Catherine, "So call the print lab."
"It's been done. They're not Walt Braun's prints on the tape. Came back unknown," Catherine told him.
"Hey. I've got Detective Vega rounding up Walt Braun. Apparently, this Janine Haywood really got around," Brass remarked as he sat with Grissom and Catherine in the PD waiting room, "When she wasn't at Braun's house playing girlfriend, she's over at vault boy's flat playing mistress…which gives neither of them a credible alibi."
"Flimsy alibis don't prove murder. What else have we got?" Catherine asked.
"Nothing probative," Grissom answered honestly.
"Then I let the girlfriend go. Curt Ritten goes back to lock-up until he posts bail," Brass decreed.
"Look. Forget Curt. Forget Janine. Forget the suspects. It's simple. We got to figure out how a piece of duct tape from a roll we found in Curt Ritten's trick ended up wrapped around the wrists of our victim," Grissom proclaimed.
"Without Curt's prints on it," Catherine piped in.
As soon as Curt was released from the jail, he began arguing with a brunette woman in the hallway. The woman was his wife, Bonnie. Janine's presence didn't make the situation any better. Intrigued by the exchange, Catherine, Grissom and Brass stood by and watched on.
"Curt, we're out of here," Janine decreed.
"Oh, you're going to take this too, huh?" Bonnie demanded.
"Bonnie," Curt warned.
"I come down here with a cheque to bail my husband out and you say to him, 'we're out of here'?! No, honey! You're out of here!" Bonnie screamed at her.
"Bonnie, take it easy," Curt coaxed.
"Take it easy?!" Bonnie screeched before turning to Janine, "How many men do you need, huh?"
"Hey, at least I can take care of mine," Janine sneered at her.
"I've stuck by you through the bankruptcies the flings, the lies and I have had it, OK?! So you choose! Me or her?" Bonnie challenged.
"Sorry, Janine," Curt said immediately.
"Yeah. Heard that before," Janine grumbled as she left…but not without calling back, "Call me!"
"Bail processing is this way," Brass said as he guided Bonnie and Curt towards bail processing.
"Been there," Catherine remarked.
"You come down here to ask me about a doggie door? I could've just told you over the phone," Walt remarked.
"It's a quirk. I always like to discuss fingerprints in person," Grissom said.
"Tony and I went to dinner," Walt admitted.
"How long ago?" Grissom asked.
"A while back," Walt shrugged.
"Be more specific," Grissom requested.
"Uh, about a month and a half ago. We ate at Piero's, talked a little business. I dropped him off," Walt recalled.
Begin flashback
"Hey, Walt. Come over here for a second, will you?" Tony requested as they walked towards the back gate and Walt unlocked it with his own key.
"My key still works here. How come it doesn't work on the front door?" Walt asked.
"I changed the locks," Tony answered casually.
And that was how Walt's fingerprints ended up on the doggie door at the back door. He had to crawl through the doggie door to obtain entrance to the house and let Tony in.
End flashback
"And so I used the doggie door walked through the house, opened the door, let Tony in," Walt finished his story.
"Guy with that kind of money doesn't have a security alarm?" Vega asked dryly.
"When you're a Braun, there's nothing you can't replace," Walt boasted.
"You can't replace your brother," Grissom retorted, causing Walt to go quiet as he began scratching his leg, "What's the matter with your leg?"
"I don't know. Something must have bit me," Walt shrugged.
"Mind if I take a look?" Grissom asked.
"What are you? A dermatologist?" Walt scoffed.
"I'm an entomologist, actually," Grissom corrected, "I know all about bugs."
"Sure. Can you tell me what to put on it? It's killing me," Walt remarked as he pulled down his sock to show his bug bites.
"Chigger bites. You might want to try some nail polish remover, keep it from itching. Would you mind if I took a photograph for my bite collection?" Grissom asked.
"Whatever rubs your Buddha," Walt nodded.
"We're almost done," Grissom reassured Vega as he got his camera out.
"Mr Braun, uh, where do you live?" Vega asked.
"Shoshone Hi-Rise – J.W. Brown Road," Walt answered.
"And you work here?" Vega wanted to double check.
"Yeah. I'm a glorified pit boss," Walt boasted.
"In the, uh, last 48 hours, have you been anywhere else besides those two places?" Grissom wanted to know.
"No. My life's pretty routine," Walt shook his head.
"It might just get a little more routine," Grissom decreed as he examined the photo.
Nick sat alone in the locker room, anxiously checking his clock for the time he could pick Kady up from her friend's place. During the day, he had received a call from Emily's mother, Jane, saying that she had heard about the case he was working on and that she was more than happy to have Kady sleepover. He was greatful for the help Emily's, Caitlin's and GIzem's mother offer him. But he also missed his baby. He also really got on well with Emily's mother as they are both single parents, with Emily having lost her father the same way Kady lost her mother.
"Nick, I need your leg. Show my your bite," Grissom requested.
"Oh, it's no worries. I got some cream," Nick told him.
"Hey!" Grissom exclaimed.
"Alright. It's no big deal really," Nick sighed as he revealed the bug bite.
"What time did you log in at the Braun house?" Grissom asked as he performed a visual comparison between Nick's bite and the photo of Walt's bite, clearly working on a hunch.
"9:15 that morning after I dropped Kady off at school," Nick answered.
"How long after that did you start processing the backyard?" Grissom requested.
"About a half hour," Nick shrugged at the rough estimation.
"You're not the only one with chigger bites," Grissom decreed as he showed Nick the photo.
"Who is this?" Nick demanded.
"Walt Braun. It's now 9:30 at night. Approximately 36 hours ago, you were bitten. Three hours earlier than that, Tony Braun was murdered. Chiggers run a predictable course. A chigger attaches itself to a hair follicle, injects a digest enzyme into the skin which ruptures the surrounding cells allowing the chigger to suck them up, leaving behind a red itchy bump," Grissom explained.
"So…?" Nick pressed.
"Walt Braun lied. We now have an entomological timeline that places him at the house on the day his brother was murdered," Grissom proclaimed.
"Ah, I don't know boss. I mean, ask yourself the question: are doggie-door prints and chigger bites enough to get a man for murder?" Nick asked.
Grissom thought about the question for a moment. He knew that Nick was right. Chigger bites and prints on the doggie-door aren't enough for murder.
He needed more.
"What've we got?" Catherine asked as everyone had a dinner meeting in the break room.
"Well, I got motive. According to the family lawyer, the drug addict…," Brass was cut shot.
"Now, Jim, that's jut a little callous!" Catherine snapped.
"I'm calling it what it is. I know you're friends with the family. But the guy used heroin. He was a drug addict who stood in line to inherit the old man's fortune," Brass told them.
"What about the brother?" Sara wanted to know.
"Walt's out of the picture. He's left out in the cold," Brass revealed.
"He is?" Catherine repeated in disbelief.
"Yeah. Tony promised he'd take care of him. Whatever he got, he split 50-50 all in…silver included…up until about a month ago," Brass announced.
"But Tony changed his mind which changed the will," Nick surmised.
"So wait a second. Janine, the stripper, claims that half of everything is hers. So that's actually more than just wishful thinking?" Catherine asked in disbelief.
"Bet Walt wasn't too happy about that. It's 50-50 going 75-25 the wrong way," Warrick remarked.
"Curt was digging up the silver to protect Janine's interest," Sara realized.
"So what do we have in front of us that we're missing?" Nick pondered.
"What evidence do we have that's still open?" Grissom asked.
"I just got the references off of Walt Braun. Gave the samples to Greg," Catherine answered.
"Couple of things on the priority list that haven't been processed yet: tape lifts, adhesive residue, I got the earring back," Sara listed the evidence needed processing.
"Where'd you find that?" Nick demanded.
"Living room near the body," Sara answered.
"We have to deal with that earring," Grissom decreed.
"We got to test it against Janine," Catherine piped in.
"You want to swab me, go ahead. But I can save you the trip. That's really not my style," Janine told Grissom and Catherine as she relaxed by the pool at Tony's house.
"Ms Haywood, you have pierced ears," Grissom observed.
"Yeah. He doesn't understand. I don't wear studs. Haven't worn stud since, like…god, 7th grade! Can I see that picture?" Janine requested before Grissom handed her the photo of the back, "Thanks. See? This is an earring back. It goes with a stud earring. I don't wear studs. I'm more of, like, a dangle gal. I like chandeliers. They move with you. They're on wires. They don't have a back."
"Are you finished? Open your mouth," Catherine instructed as she took the sample and Janine handed the photo back to Grissom, "Don't bite down. Wouldn't want you to swallow it."
"How about your girlfriends or Tony's girlfriends? Any of them wear studs?" Grissom asked.
"Look. Rule number one: no women allowed in the house. Tony had a wandering eye. He had a wad of cash. Who needed the drama?" Janine scoffed.
"What about the maid?" Catherine questioned.
"No," Janine shook her head, "Rule number two: heavyset, over 50, no makeup, no jewellery, no English."
"Wow. You got this whole thing down, don't you?" Catherine remarked.
"Yeah. This is my house. I didn't do anything wrong. And I inherited Josie and she cleans real good," Janine boasted.
"How often does she vacuum?" Grissom asked.
"Everyday…except on her day off," Janine answered.
"The day Tony died," Grissom said.
That was how Grissom and Catherine found themselves in Greg's DNA lab hoping for results.
"Well, if the maid is as good as Janine says she is, then…," Grissom began the sentence.
"The earring back was lost that day," Catherine finished his sentence.
"There," Greg said as he read the results fresh from the printer, "Well, maybe not. The earring back – not Janine's. But it was in the ear of a female."
"So I guess rule number one was broken. There was a woman in the house," Catherine said before turning to Grissom, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Whoever's prints are on the duct tape is missing an earring back. Who's the only other woman in the story?" Grissom asked.
"She lives in Carson City," Catherine reminded him.
"She's here now," Grissom retorted.
"She has access to Curt's truck," Catherine pointed out.
"We saw the fight in the police department," Grissom stated.
"Hell hath no fury," Catherine remained.
"It's not mine. I don't wear earrings," Bonnie shook her head.
"It's funny. Just recently, I had a little education in earrings. And I noticed that you have pierced ears," Grissom observed.
"Yeah. So what?" Bonnie demanded.
"If you don't wear earrings for a while, the holes will close up," Catherine warned.
"Will you volunteer us a DNA sample? It will confirm your story or confirm ours," Brass said.
"I'm not giving you anything," Bonnie decreed.
"It's OK, Jim. We have enough," Grissom promised.
"You should've let your husband rot in jail," Catherine remarked as she pushed the bail cheque in an evidence bag towards Bonnie, "We lifted your thumbprint from the cheque that you posted for his bail."
"We compared it to a set of unknown prints that we found on some duct tape at the crime scene," Grissom went on.
"Just like a pair of earrings – identical," Catherine finished.
"So you were at Tony's house the morning he died. Along with Walt Braun, whose prints we confirmed on the doggie door," Brass surmised.
"You know, sometimes, doing the job that we do, our biggest break comes from the most innocent circumstance. It was the maid's day off. But not the gardener's. So you had to wing it. The gardener came to the window. But he didn't see you. So you removed the tape from Tony's wrists and made it look like an OD," Grissom explained what really happened when Tony died.
"What I don't get is…you and Walt Braun didn't move in the same circles. How'd the two of you hook up?" Catherine asked, earning silence from Bonnie.
"News flash, sweetheart. Can't make a deal if you keep your mouth shut," Brass remarked.
Fortunately for them, Bonnie told them everything that had happened the morning Tony died. Including how Walt had played a part in it. And that was how Walt found himself in a jail cell.
"That's the thing about my father. He could never give advice. But he had a million stories. Scorpion and the Frog. Scorpion needs to get across the creek and asked the frog for a ride. Frog says, 'I can't trust you. You're a scorpion.' Scorpion says, 'Sure you can.' Hops on the frog's back. Midway across, the scorpion stings the frog. Frog looks at him. 'Why would you do that? Now we're both gonna die." Scorpion says, 'I can't help it. I'm a scorpion,'" Walt recited, "If Tony hadn't thrown a party, the two of us would never have been standing at that bar."
Begin flashback
It was a casino party where Tony had invited a lot of his friends and family. Curt was included. And naturally, he brought along his wife, Bonnie. However, virtually as soon as he arrived, Curt ditched his wife for Janine.
Hey, Janine. You're looking good," Curt complimented.
Walt saw Bonnie sitting at the bar with her drink watching Curt and Janine flirt with each other. He thought that no beautiful woman deserved to be ditched the way she was. So he sat with her.
"You're looking at my brother's trophy?" Walt guessed.
"No. My husband's bimbo," Bonnie corrected.
"Walt Braun," Walt introduced himself.
"Bonnie Ritten," Bonnie replied as they shook hands.
End flashback
"And an opportunity presented itself. Tony had erased you from the will and Bonnie wanted the people that hurt her to pay," Grissom surmised.
"Ain't love grand?" Brass remarked.
After learning about who killed Tony and how he died, Catherine decided she should be the one to tell Sam, considering how close they are. It's better to hear it from someone he knows rather than someone he doesn't.
"You know, this…this could've all been his. His and Tony's," Sam said as they walked through the main floor of the casino, his arm slung around Catherine's shoulders.
"It's not your fault," Catherine tried to tell him.
"Sure it is. I committed the cardinal sin. I loved one son more than the other," Sam corrected.
"It's human nature. We can't deny our feelings," Catherine retorted.
"But you can hide it," Sam shot back, "And I didn't. They're my sons. I made them, I raised them…and one kills the other."
"Hey, Sam. You still got me," Catherine reassured him.
"You know, I should've married your mother," Sam sighed.
"Well, considering I was six months old when you guys lit the flame…a lot of time has passed. You had plenty of chances," Catherine pointed out.
"Just wasn't in the cards, Catherine. It just wasn't in the cards," was all Sam said.
"Hey, Greg. What's-?" Sara began to ask as she approached the locker room.
"Shhhhh!" Greg hissed as he gestured to inside.
Sara looked to where Greg was pointing and couldn't help but smile at the sight. Nick and Kady were sitting together in the locker room, Kady's schoolbag by Nick's feet as she sat on his lap. In her hands, she held the book 'Beauty and the Beast' as Nick read to her over her shoulder. On his face, he wore a proud smile. (AN: Once again, I do not own the text used here. Beauty and the Beast rightfully belongs to The Brothers Grimm and any other respective owners.)
"Once upon a time as a merchant set off for market, he asked each of his three daughters what she would like as a present on his return. The first daughter wanted a brocade dress, the second a pearl necklace, but the third, whose name was Beauty, the youngest, prettiest and sweetest of them all, said to her father:
'All I'd like is a rose you've picked specially for me!'" Nick read.
Outside, Warrick had joined Sara and Greg by the doorway watching Kady and Nick interact. There were many things he knew about Nick – after all, he was his first friend when Nick moved to Vegas – and one thing he knew is how much he enjoyed reading to his baby girl.
"I've got the popcorn," Mandy whispered as she ran towards them with two bowls of popcorn.
"Nice," Greg whispered as they began eating.
"When I have kids, I'm gonna ask him to read to them and babysit them a lot. He's a natural! Even before Kady was born!" Mandy complemented.
"I hear that," Greg, Warrick and Sara agreed.
"When the merchant had finished his business, he set off for home. However, a sudden storm blew up, and his horse could hardly make headway in the howling gale. Cold and weary, the merchant had lost all hope of reaching an inn when he suddenly noticed a bright light shining in the middle of a wood. As he drew near, he saw that it was a castle, bathed in light.
'I hope I'll find shelter there for the night,' he said to himself. When he reached the door, he saw it was open, but though he shouted, nobody came to greet him. Plucking up courage, he went inside, still calling out to attract attention. On a table in the main hall, a splendid dinner lay already served. The merchant lingered, still shouting for the owner of the castle. But no one came, and so the starving merchant sat down to a hearty meal," Nick read on, smiling as Kady snuggled into his chest, enjoying the sound of his soothing voice and his Southern accent.
Catherine joined the growing crowd around the locker room bring two more bowls of popcorn. The two Mandy had brought had 'mysteriously disappeared' so before joining the commotion, she decided to pop two more bowls for the grave shift CSIs and the lab techs to munch on. She smiled as the sight reminded her of when Nick used to babysit Lindsey when she was a baby. Actually, when she witnessed him handle that baby on his first case involving young children, she knew right then and there that Nick was going to be an amazing father.
"I love it when he reads to her," Catherine remarked.
"Overcome by curiosity, he ventured upstairs, where the corridor led into magnificent rooms and halls. A fire crackled in the first room and a soft bed looked very inviting. It was now late, and the merchant could not resist. He lay down on the bed and fell fast asleep. When he woke next morning, an unknown hand had placed a mug of steaming coffee and some fruit by his bedside.
The merchant had breakfast and after tidying himself up, went downstairs to thank his generous host. But, as on the evening before, there was nobody in sight. Shaking his head in wonder at the strangeness of it all, he went towards the garden where he had left his horse, tethered to a tree. Suddenly, a large rose bush caught his eye," Nick took the book from Kady's hands as he singlehanded held her close.
Grissom smiled at the sight like everyone else. The moment the two had met, Grissom looked to Nick – a boy looking to be his own man and new to a strange place with no family – as a son. He nurtured him, cared for him the way his father would and helped him become the man he is today. And he was the one Nick went to when he intended on proposing to Abby. Not Warrick. Not Catherine. Certainly not Greg. But him.
He couldn't be any prouder of him.
"He goes for the rose doesn't he?" Kady asked knowingly, making the question sound more like a statement.
"Yep," Nick nodded before continuing to read, "Remembering his promise to Beauty, he bent down to pick a rose. Instantly, out of the rose garden, sprang a horrible beast, wearing splendid clothes. Two bloodshot eyes, gleaming angrily, glared at him and a deep terrifying voice growled: 'Ungrateful man! I gave you shelter, you ate at my table and slept in my own bed, but now all the thanks I get is the theft of my favourite flowers! I shall put you to death for this slight! Trembling with fear, the merchant fell on his knees before the Beast.
'Forgive me! Forgive me! Don't kill me! I'll do anything you say! The rose wasn't for me, it was for a daughter Beauty. I promised to bring her back a rose from my journey!' The Beast dropped the paw it had clamped on the unhappy merchant."
Greg began choking on his popcorn as he laughed at the voices Nick was using to make the story as real as he possibly could for Kady. Warrick shook his head while Mandy and Sara tried to make sure Greg didn't suffocate to death.
"'I shall spare your life, but on one condition, that you bring me your daughter!' The terror-stricken merchant, faced with certain death if he did not obey, promised that he would do so. When he reached home in tears, his three daughters ran to greet him. After he had told them of his dreadful adventure, Beauty put his mind at rest immediately.
'Dear father, I'd do anything for you! Don't worry, you'll be able to keep your promise and save your life! Take me to the castle. I'll stay there in your place!' The merchant hugged his daughter," Nick read.
"Sounds like something Kady would do," Grissom said.
"And vice versa," Catherine piped in, knowing from first-hand experience how far Nick is willing to go to save his daughter.
"'I never did doubt your love for me. For the moment I can only thank you for saving my life.' So Beauty was led to the castle. The Beast, however, had quite an unexpected greeting for the girl. Instead of the menacing doom as it had done with her father, it was surprisingly pleasant.
In the beginning, Beauty was frightened of the Beast, and shuddered at the sight of it. Then she found that, in spite of the monster's awful head, her horror of it was gradually fading as time went by. She had one of the finest rooms in the Castle, and sat for hours, embroidering in front of the fire. And the Beast would sit, for hours on end, only a short distance away, silently gazing at her. Then it started to say a few kind words, till in the end, Beauty was amazed to discover that she was actually enjoying its conversation. The days passed, and Beauty and the Beast became good friends. Then one day, the Beast asked the girl to be his wife," Nick continued to read.
"Did she say yes?" Kady asked excitedly.
"How many times have you heard this?" Nick asked in amusement with both his words and his eyes.
"It still feels like the first time!" Kady beamed.
Nick smiled at his daughter's enjoyment of her favourite story and resumed reading, "Taken by surprise, Beauty did not know what to say. Marry such an ugly monster? She would rather die! But she did not want to hurt the feelings of one who, after all, had been kind to her. And she remembered that she owed it her own life as well as her father's.
'I really can't say yes,' she began shakily, 'I'd so much like to…' The Beast interrupted her with an abrupt gesture."
"What's going on?" Bras asked as he joined the party, only to have them respond by pointing to Nick and Kady in the locker room, "Oh! I love when he reads to her."
"'I quite understand! And I'm not offended by your refusal!' Life went on as usual, and nothing further was said. One day, the Beast presented Beauty with a magnificent magic mirror. When Beauty peeped into it, she could see her family, far away.
'You won't feel so lonely now,' were the words that accompanied the gift. Beauty stared for hours at her distant family. Then she began to feel worried. One day, the Beast found her weeping beside the magic mirror.
'What's wrong?' he asked, kindly as always.
'My father is gravely ill and close to dying! Oh, how I wish I could see him again, before it's too late!' But the Beast only shook its head.
'No! You will never leave this castle!' And off it stalked in a rage. However, a little later, it returned and spoke solemnly to the girl.
'If you swear that you will return here in seven days time, I'll let you go and visit your father!' Beauty threw herself at the Beast's feet in delight.
'I swear! I swear I will! How kind you are! You've made a loving daughter so happy!' In reality, the merchant had fallen ill from a broken heart at knowing his daughter was being kept prisoner. When he embraced her again, he was soon on the road to recovery. Beauty stayed beside him for hours on end, describing her life at the Castle, and explaining that the Beast was really good and kind. The days flashed past, and at last the merchant was able to leave his bed. He was completely well again. Beauty was happy at last. However, she had failed to notice that seven days had gone by.
Then one night she woke from a terrible nightmare. She had dreamt that the Beast was dying and calling for her, twisting in agony.
'Come back! Come back to me!' it was pleading. The solemn promise she had made drove her to leave home immediately.
'Hurry! Hurry, good horse!' she said, whipping her steed onwards towards the castle, afraid that she might arrive too late. She rushed up the stairs, calling, but there was no reply. Her heart in her mouth, Beauty ran into the garden and there crouched the Beast, its eyes shut, as though dead. Beauty threw herself at it and hugged it tightly.
'Don't die! Don't die! I'll marry you…' At these words, a miracle took place. The beast's ugly snout turned magically into the face of a handsome young man.
'How I've been longing for this moment!' he said. 'I was suffering in silence, and couldn't tell my frightful secret. An evil witch turned me into a monster and only the love of a maiden willing to accept me as I was, could transform me back into my real self. My dearest! I'll be so happy if you'll marry me.'
The wedding took place shortly after and, from that day on, the young Prince would have nothing but roses in his gardens. And that's why, to this day, the castle is known as the Castle of the Rose."
Nick smiled as Kady snuggled deeper into him before turning to the audience,
"Make a path. I'd like to go home and spend time with my baby."
Everyone rolled their eyes and made the path as Nick carried his daughter out of the lab and headed home since the shift was over. Everyone smiled at the sight. Nothing may have been the same in the lab without having Kady around as much as they used to due to school. But, like Nick, they just had to remember that at the end of the day…
They get her back.