Disclaimer: The usual. Didn't create them. Don't own them. Those who
did are brilliant.
Rating: Not sure
Pairing: Not sure. I'm craving a little less fluff and little more science, but those of you who have read my stories might have a good idea where I might go with it. (Nick and Sara)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Nick Stokes was down on his hands and knees with a pair of tweezers and his mini-Maglite trying to determine if the fleck on the carpet was worth collecting and putting into a bindle. Well, as they often said, it could be nothing or it could be everything. He reached into his multi-pocketed CSI vest and pulled out a small bindle. With a pair of tweezers he carefully pulled the fleck off the carpet and dropped it into the bindle. After labeling the sample, he stowed it into one of his vest pockets and continued his quest on the carpet. Not finding anything else that seemed out of place, Nick stood up, brushing himself off.
A smirking Catherine Willows stood in the doorway of the room Nick was processing.
He flashed her one of his wide Texas smiles from under the brim of his CSI cap, "Got anything, Cath?"
She shook her head, "No, but it looks like you did."
He shrugged, "Could be nothing. Could be everything."
She smiled, "Well, David just took the body and I've finished processing for prints. We don't have much."
They pair had been investigating what appeared to be a home invasion gone bad. A woman in her mid-thirties had been found in the hallway between her living room and her kitchen, sprawled out on the carpet. She appeared to have been shot as she was fleeing the suspect. They found no shell casings or gun on the scene, and upon first glance, weren't able to approximate the caliber of the weapon based on the wound to the victim. They weren't sure that the victim even lived in the house. Neighbors had mentioned that the owners of the home were on vacation and might have had a house sitter.
They took the evidence they had collected and stowed it into Catherine's Tahoe. After closing the scene by sealing the doorway, they made their way back to the lab.
Nick and Catherine stowed their gear in the locker room and then made their way into the break room in search of coffee.
Gil Grissom looked up as the two CSIs entered the room. The night shift supervisor looked a bit harried, "Good, I'm glad you're back."
Nick and Catherine exchanged a glance.
"Catherine, I need to pull you off your case and have you take over mine." He continued.
She raised a quizzical eyebrow, "And where are you going?"
Grissom looked up at her as if she had missed the obvious, "Topeka."
Catherine looked perplexed, "As in Kansas?"
Grissom nodded giving her a half smile, "Yeah."
Nick tried to restrain a chuckle. Grissom was brilliant, but his communication skills lacked.
Catherine crossed her arms in front of her body, "Why?"
"Expert testimony in a federal case." He answered a bit too gleefully.
Catherine responded dryly, "Let me guess. Bugs?"
He nodded.
The Catherine inquisition had begun, "And just when did you find out about this little trip, Gil?"
"Two hours ago." He answered, "I have just enough time to go over the case with you and have you drop me off at the airport."
She raised an eyebrow, "Who's going to help Nick?"
Nick interjected, holding his cup of coffee, "I can handle a DB on my own."
Grissom didn't even look up, "I know you can, Nick, but Sara's going to help you anyway. She's supposed to be back from that seminar tonight."
Catherine gave Nick a sympathetic glance. She knew he enjoyed the challenge of handling an investigation on his own.
Catherine sat at the table to begin the briefing with Grissom and Nick headed off to watch the preliminary examination before autopsy.
As Nick and David examined the body of the victim, they noticed a couple of flecks in her hair similar to what Nick had found on the carpet in the living room. He collected each of the flecks and put them in their own bindle for later processing. David indicated that he would have to do the full autopsy to determine the caliber of the bullet and he would page Nick with the results when he was finished.
Nick headed to the into the trace lab to examine the flecks under a high powered microscope. They were reddish and appeared to be organic in nature. They were nothing that he had seen before.
"Grissom tells me I'm helping you with a murder investigation," A grinning Sara Sidle stood in the doorway of the trace lab.
Nick glanced up and flashed her a smile, "Take a look at this and see what you can make of it." He scooted over so Sara could peer into the microscope.
As she looked into the microscope she made several observations, "Reddish. Looks organic in nature." She glanced up at Nick, "Off hand I'd say it looks like Madrona bark."
Nick raised an eyebrow, "Madrona?"
Sara smiled, "The Pacific Madrona has a unique bark that constantly sloughs off paper thin flakes. The trunks are sort of burnt orange color. They only grow on the Pacific coast of North America. The closest they come to Vegas is the Sierra Nevada's. They're really beautiful trees. We had a few on the property of my parent's Bed and Breakfast in Tamales Bay."
Nick furrowed his brow, "So what is Madrona bark doing on our vic?"
"Well, there aren't any Madrona trees in Vegas to my knowledge. They are almost impossible to transplant, so it's unlikely that the vic was near one when she died." Sara replied.
Nick looked at Sara with a charming grin, "Since when do you know so much about botany? I thought you were a self confirmed plant killer."
Sara tried to restrain her grin, "Just because I can't keep a houseplant alive does not mean I don't know a thing or two about plants. I bet you've never even heard of the Madrona."
Nick chuckled, "That is not true. I've just never seen one."
Sara had a glint in her eye, "You should get out more."
Nick laughed. That was a line he pulled on her quite often. "You know we should obtain a sample of Madrona bark to compare this to. Just to make sure it's what you think it is."
Sara smiled, "I know where one is about a three hour drive and a little hike from here."
Nick raised an eyebrow, "Really. Are you volunteering to go collect it?"
"Only if you come with me." Sara grinned.
Rating: Not sure
Pairing: Not sure. I'm craving a little less fluff and little more science, but those of you who have read my stories might have a good idea where I might go with it. (Nick and Sara)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Nick Stokes was down on his hands and knees with a pair of tweezers and his mini-Maglite trying to determine if the fleck on the carpet was worth collecting and putting into a bindle. Well, as they often said, it could be nothing or it could be everything. He reached into his multi-pocketed CSI vest and pulled out a small bindle. With a pair of tweezers he carefully pulled the fleck off the carpet and dropped it into the bindle. After labeling the sample, he stowed it into one of his vest pockets and continued his quest on the carpet. Not finding anything else that seemed out of place, Nick stood up, brushing himself off.
A smirking Catherine Willows stood in the doorway of the room Nick was processing.
He flashed her one of his wide Texas smiles from under the brim of his CSI cap, "Got anything, Cath?"
She shook her head, "No, but it looks like you did."
He shrugged, "Could be nothing. Could be everything."
She smiled, "Well, David just took the body and I've finished processing for prints. We don't have much."
They pair had been investigating what appeared to be a home invasion gone bad. A woman in her mid-thirties had been found in the hallway between her living room and her kitchen, sprawled out on the carpet. She appeared to have been shot as she was fleeing the suspect. They found no shell casings or gun on the scene, and upon first glance, weren't able to approximate the caliber of the weapon based on the wound to the victim. They weren't sure that the victim even lived in the house. Neighbors had mentioned that the owners of the home were on vacation and might have had a house sitter.
They took the evidence they had collected and stowed it into Catherine's Tahoe. After closing the scene by sealing the doorway, they made their way back to the lab.
Nick and Catherine stowed their gear in the locker room and then made their way into the break room in search of coffee.
Gil Grissom looked up as the two CSIs entered the room. The night shift supervisor looked a bit harried, "Good, I'm glad you're back."
Nick and Catherine exchanged a glance.
"Catherine, I need to pull you off your case and have you take over mine." He continued.
She raised a quizzical eyebrow, "And where are you going?"
Grissom looked up at her as if she had missed the obvious, "Topeka."
Catherine looked perplexed, "As in Kansas?"
Grissom nodded giving her a half smile, "Yeah."
Nick tried to restrain a chuckle. Grissom was brilliant, but his communication skills lacked.
Catherine crossed her arms in front of her body, "Why?"
"Expert testimony in a federal case." He answered a bit too gleefully.
Catherine responded dryly, "Let me guess. Bugs?"
He nodded.
The Catherine inquisition had begun, "And just when did you find out about this little trip, Gil?"
"Two hours ago." He answered, "I have just enough time to go over the case with you and have you drop me off at the airport."
She raised an eyebrow, "Who's going to help Nick?"
Nick interjected, holding his cup of coffee, "I can handle a DB on my own."
Grissom didn't even look up, "I know you can, Nick, but Sara's going to help you anyway. She's supposed to be back from that seminar tonight."
Catherine gave Nick a sympathetic glance. She knew he enjoyed the challenge of handling an investigation on his own.
Catherine sat at the table to begin the briefing with Grissom and Nick headed off to watch the preliminary examination before autopsy.
As Nick and David examined the body of the victim, they noticed a couple of flecks in her hair similar to what Nick had found on the carpet in the living room. He collected each of the flecks and put them in their own bindle for later processing. David indicated that he would have to do the full autopsy to determine the caliber of the bullet and he would page Nick with the results when he was finished.
Nick headed to the into the trace lab to examine the flecks under a high powered microscope. They were reddish and appeared to be organic in nature. They were nothing that he had seen before.
"Grissom tells me I'm helping you with a murder investigation," A grinning Sara Sidle stood in the doorway of the trace lab.
Nick glanced up and flashed her a smile, "Take a look at this and see what you can make of it." He scooted over so Sara could peer into the microscope.
As she looked into the microscope she made several observations, "Reddish. Looks organic in nature." She glanced up at Nick, "Off hand I'd say it looks like Madrona bark."
Nick raised an eyebrow, "Madrona?"
Sara smiled, "The Pacific Madrona has a unique bark that constantly sloughs off paper thin flakes. The trunks are sort of burnt orange color. They only grow on the Pacific coast of North America. The closest they come to Vegas is the Sierra Nevada's. They're really beautiful trees. We had a few on the property of my parent's Bed and Breakfast in Tamales Bay."
Nick furrowed his brow, "So what is Madrona bark doing on our vic?"
"Well, there aren't any Madrona trees in Vegas to my knowledge. They are almost impossible to transplant, so it's unlikely that the vic was near one when she died." Sara replied.
Nick looked at Sara with a charming grin, "Since when do you know so much about botany? I thought you were a self confirmed plant killer."
Sara tried to restrain her grin, "Just because I can't keep a houseplant alive does not mean I don't know a thing or two about plants. I bet you've never even heard of the Madrona."
Nick chuckled, "That is not true. I've just never seen one."
Sara had a glint in her eye, "You should get out more."
Nick laughed. That was a line he pulled on her quite often. "You know we should obtain a sample of Madrona bark to compare this to. Just to make sure it's what you think it is."
Sara smiled, "I know where one is about a three hour drive and a little hike from here."
Nick raised an eyebrow, "Really. Are you volunteering to go collect it?"
"Only if you come with me." Sara grinned.