Disclaimer: I own nothing of CSI
A Shocking Motive
"Brace yourself, this one isn't going to be easy for you." Brass said to Nick after Nick arrived at his case for the night.
The case was at the home in a very upscale neighborhood just a few miles from the famous Vegas Strip.
Nick looked around at the house "I couldn't afford the door handle to this place." He remarked to Brass.
"Me neither, and the house isn't the only nice thing, look at the two cars in the driveway."
Nick looked, He saw a sharp looking baby blue SUV and a pretty red sports car.
"What do you got?" Nick asked as he approached the door to the house.
"Carol Nelson, 38, her husband found her stabbed to death on the living room floor after he arrived home from work. She's 25 weeks pregnant."
Nick sighed, Brass was right, this was not going to be an easy case.
Brass walked over to the husband who was on the curb, he looked upset.
Nick walked into the house, just as Brass had said a female victim lay on the floor, face up with a knife in her chest. Nick thought of his own wife, she herself was pregnant at the moment. He pushed Jackie to the back of his mind for the moment so he could concentrate on the case. He photographed the body as well as the area around the body, bloody shoeprints were all around the body, and leading out the door, probably the husband's but he'd have to check the husband's shoes to be sure.
As gently as he could he pulled the knife out. He studied the knife, and noticed that there was a hair caked with blood on the blade of the knife. The hair didn't appear to belong to the victim's hair, it was way too short. He took a picture of the knife with the hair on it and then took his tweezers and got the hair off of the knife. He bagged both the knife and the hair in separate bags. He studied the body to make sure he hadn't missed anything and then the body was transferred to the morgue for autopsy.
After examining the scene some more he didn't find anything else that was useful so he went outside to join Brass and Josh Nelson (the husband.)
"Mr. Nelson, I'm Nick Stokes, I'm with the Vegas Crime Lab, I'm very sorry for your loss."
"Thank you."
"Can you tell me what happened this evening?" Nick asked.
"I came home from my job around 7 and found Carol lying on the floor. I rushed to see if she was breathing, she wasn't so I called 911, I tried CPR but it didn't work."
"Where is it that you work at sir?" Nick asked.
Nick noticed the man's demeanor, he didn't appear at all upset about what had transpired.
"I work at the James law office, I'm an attorney." He said.
"Ok, sir would you mind if I take your DNA, it will help clear you."
"Sure." Nick got out a swab and swabbed the man's mouth.
"Do you have video surveillance at your house?" Nick asked
"No, we should have gotten it." Josh answered.
Nick found it odd that a house in a fancy neighborhood like this wouldn't have at least some kind of surveillance but some people just didn't think something like this could ever happen to them.
He also found it odd that there did not appear to be any blood on Josh's shoes or clothes considering he had told Nick he had rushed to his wife's side and done CPR, with as much blood as there was at the scene, he should have been covered with it.
After Nick had taken the man's clothes and shoes for evidence he said "Thank you for your cooperation sir."
After Nick was done at the scene he returned to the crime lab. He dropped Josh's DNA, and the hair from the knife off to Mandy Webster and then he took a drive over to the James law office.
He noticed security camera's on the outside of the building facing the parking lot but no one was there at this hour, the building was empty so he would have no choice but to wait until tomorrow to ask to see the footage. He then drove back to the lab. His cell phone buzzed almost the minute he walked back through the lab doors. He glanced at his phone, he had a text from Mandy. The hair on the knife is a match to Josh Nelson. The text read.
Nick was angry, how could a man do that to his pregnant wife, but despite being angry he wasn't that surprised, there was just something about the way the man acted when he was being questioned that didn't seem right to Nick.
Nick then went and retrieved the shoes he had collected from Josh Nelson which he had stored in a locked evidence room for safe keeping and then went to a room of the lab to compare Josh's shoes to a photo Nick had taken at the crime scene of the bloody shoe prints surrounding the body. To Nick's surprise the pattern of the shoe did not match the photo.
Nick then went to a judge to ask for a warrant for the Nelson's home as well as for the surveillance video where Josh worked, just in case someone over there gave him grief about viewing it.
With warrant in hand Nick banged on the Nelson's door.
Josh answered.
"I have a warrant to search your home, you need to step outside." Nick said in a no nonsense tone.
The man looked surprised but stepped outside.
Nick didn't find anything in the house so he went to the back yard garbage can.
"Jackpot." He said out loud.
In the garbage can there were bloody clothes as well as bloody shoes which appeared to match the shoe impressions he found at the scene, he'd check when he got to the lab to make sure.
After he was done at the Nelson house he went to gather the surveillance at the James Law Office. Once again Nick hit pay dirt. The red SUV that was parked at the Nelson house was seen leaving the law office at 5 o'clock, not 7 as he had told Nick. Nick then headed back to the lab and checked the shoes to the impressions found in blood at the scene, it was a perfect match. He then had Mandy test the bloody clothes he found at the scene. The clothes contained Josh's DNA and Carol's blood on them.
Nick picked up his phone "Jim, we got him, bring him in." He told Brass.
Soon Nick and Brass were sitting across Josh Nelson and his attorney in the interrogation room.
"It's over Josh, we have your hair caked with blood on the knife that was used to kill your wife, we have your bloody shirt with her blood all over it, your shoes are a match to the footprints left in blood which I found in your dumpster out back, and the surveillance video at your law office show's you leaving two hours earlier than you claimed, you killed her, the only thing we don't know is why."
"You want to know why I did it?"
"Josh, I'm advising you to not say anything." His attorney said.
"No, I'll tell him why." Josh argued.
He looked at Nick straight in the eye.
"My wife and I got married later in life, I always wanted a family, a boy to carry on my name, considering her age Carol got pregnant relatively easy, and we were very excited, I was finally going to get the son I always wanted, but early on in the pregnancy Carol had some complications, we were told at one point she might very well lose the baby, she didn't but considering all the problems in her pregnancy and her age she decided that the baby would be our only child. I was fine with that, until she was twenty weeks pregnant and we went in for her ultrasound and we found out that it was a girl."
He stopped talking and leaned back in his chair as if that should clear everything up.
"So what?" Nick asked completely confused.
"So, I wasn't going to have my son, the son I'd always wanted, the son to carry on my name, play football, basketball, and all the other stuff boys do. Knowing that the responsibilities that come along with being a parent didn't seem worth it. I no longer wanted to give up traveling and living the care free lifestyle my wife and I were used to. I knew there was absolutely no way Carol would give up the baby so the only way I could think to get out of the lifetime responsibility of parenthood was to kill Carol."
He again stopped talking. Nick sat in stunned silence, he'd heard a lot of reasons for murdering someone but this was an absolute first, and the most chilling reason he'd ever heard.
"You, you killed your wife and child for no other reason than the baby was a girl?" Nick managed.
"Yep." Josh said as if Nick and he were talking about the weather, he showed not an ounce of remorse.
"You are a poor excuse for a human being." Nick said coldly.
"Nick." Brass said in a warning tone but Nick didn't listen, he just continued.
"You give all fathers a bad name, and you're also a complete fool."
"Nick." Brass said again.
"How's that?" Josh asked as he leaned forward in his chair, showing the most emotion that he had all day.
"Little did you know that the little girl, your little girl, the baby girl you savagely murdered would have been the light of your life, she would have been the reason you got up in the morning, and now, because of your selfishness you will be all alone in a cold, dark, and damp jail cell for the rest of your life, right where you belong."
Nick then turned to the officer in the corner of the room. "Get this monster out of here." He demanded.
The officer led Josh Nelson away in handcuffs.
"Nicky, are you ok?" Brass asked after Nelson and the officer had left the room.
Nick's face was beat red with anger.
"I'm going home." Was Nick's only response.
"Nicky." Brass said as Nick started to leave the room.
"What?" He snapped.
Brass didn't take it personally though, he was just as pissed off as Nick was.
"Nice work today." Brass said.
"Thanks, you too." Nick said, calming down just a little.
With that Nick turned and walked out of the interrogation room so he could go home.
During the drive home he had calmed down somewhat.
When he opened the front door to his house Jasmine and Johnna were right there to greet him.
"Hi girls." He said as he broke out into a huge smile as he picked both of them up.
"Where's your brother?" Nick asked.
"Houden seepin." Jasmine explained.
"Oh I see."
"Hi." Jackie said to Nick with a smile as she walked into the room.
He put Jasmine and Johnna down.
"Hi." He said as he went over to her, wrapped his arms around her and then gave her quite the passionate kiss.
"What was that for?" She asked with a smile after Nick had finally unlocked their lips.
"No reason." He answered in his sexy southern drawl.
"How was work?" She asked.
"Don't ask." Nick mumbled.
"I'm sorry." She said.
"Thanks." He said.
"I just finished making French toast for breakfast, it's still warm, come have some." She said.
"That's the best offer I've had all morning."
"Ok, come on before it gets cold."
"Ok, you don't have to ask me twice." He said as he turned to walk out towards the kitchen.
"Come on girls, let's go eat." Jackie said to Jasmine and Johnna.
Jasmine followed Nick while Jackie grabbed Johnna's hands. Johnna had started walking but she was still really unsteady without help. Johnna took a couple of wobbly steps, she stumbled but Jackie steadied her.
"Oops, did you almost take a tumble?" Jackie asked with a laugh as she noticed the sheepish yet determined grin on Johnna's little face.
Finally they made it out into the kitchen.
"Good job big girl." Jackie told her as she picked her up and kissed her cheek.
She then attempted to put her in the high chair but Johnna started wailing.
"What's wrong?" Jackie asked with a laugh as she tried getting her in the chair, but clearing Johnna was winning this battle.
"You have to sit in your chair to eat, you silly girl." Jackie chuckled but Johnna made her legs stiff making it nearly impossible for her to get her in the high chair.
"Here, hand her to me." Nick said. Jackie handed Johnna over to him.
The second Johnna was in Nick's lap she quit fussing.
She gave Jackie a cute grin as if to say see mom, I didn't have to sit in my high chair.
Jackie laughed and then turned to get the plates of French toast.
"Is Houston sick, it's odd that he's still sleeping."
"I don't think he's sick I just don't think he slept well last night, he woke me up twice, once so I'd get him a drink and the other time he woke me up he just grinned at me and said hi mama. I just laughed and tucked him back into bed."
Nick laughed.
Jackie waddled over to the fridge.
"Jasmine I have a surprise for you." She said as she pulled a can of whipped cream out of the fridge.
"Yay." Jasmine said happily.
Jackie smiled and carried Nick and Jasmine's plates of French toast as well as the whip cream over to the table. She squirted some of the whip cream on Jasmine's French toast.
The little girl gave her a cute smile of thanks.
"Thank you." Nick said with a smile as she handed Nick's plate to him.
"Whip cream?" she asked.
He nodded yes and took the can from her.
"Me do?" Jasmine asked Nick.
"Ok but go easy." He told her as he handed the can over to her.
Instead of squirting the whip cream onto Nick's French toast she accidently squirted it on his nose.
"Uh-oh." She said but after she looked at Nick and saw what he looked like with whipped cream on his nose she burst into a fit of giggles.
Nick squinted at her and pretended to be mad which just made her laugh harder.
Nick then wiped the whip cream off and happily ate his breakfast.
He felt so lucky that he had two little girls (soon to be three) to love.
The End!
If you have any storyline ideas I would love to hear them! Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review!