Chapter 1

This story takes place after Hong Kong Longs in ADJL and during Season 9 of CSI. I don't own anything.

A long day was going to end when the sun began to sink. One of the hotest days of the year was ending in Las Vegas, Nevada. All across the suburbs the people arrived home during in the center the lights of the big hotel-casinos bright up the city. All over the people and tourists made thier typical things.

In a brand new suburb in the east of the city two children played with thier football in the garden. It start to become dark when the mother of the both boys steped out of the house.

"Boys come in... it's late!" she said.

In that moment one of the boys kicked the football above the hedge and land in the other garden.

"What did you did?" the other boy shouted angrilly.

"Hey, do you think that I..."

"Don't worry boys!" the mother said. "I get your ball back!"

She walked closer to the high hedge. She couldn't look over it.

"HELLO!" she shouted. "Hello, is there someone?"

She took one of the wooden chairs from the garden-table and steped on it too look over the hedge. But what she saw, she will never forget.

"Hello,... may we have our football... AHHHH..."

Just a half-hour later, the big grey SUV from the CSI arrived in the street and parked in front of the house. Catherine Willows steped out of the van followed by Nick Stokes. The both crime-scene-investigators looked around and where surprised. It was a brand new neigbourhood with expensive houses...

"The crime arrives, before the people can move here!" Catherine said and took her case with her stuff from the car-boot.

"Who found the dead-body? Look's like nobody is living here yet!" Nick asked and looked on several 'for-sale-sighns'.

"That I can tell you!" Jim Brass, who also arrived just a few minutes ago said. "The both boys from the house at the other side lost thier football in this garden. When the mother looked above the hedge she saw the victim..." he told during they walked into the garden.

The victim was a around 50-years-old man. A big blody wound was on his stomach. And he layed in a pool of blood. Yust a few inches away the football layed in the grass. The big wound looked like a bomb explode directly in front of the man.

"Did you ever seen something like that?" Nick asked Catherine.

"I have to say no. The wound of the victim is looking like... I can't explain it." Catherine said when she stood above the dead man and looked on the wound. "Does we know who he is?"

"Yes,... we found his wallet in a trash-bin in front of the house... Emm... Robert Lockjelly, 52, from New York City. No money, no credit cards... this is looking like a robbery." Bras said and presented the wallet with the drivers-licence in a plastic-bag.

"Any witnesses?" Catherine asked.

"No... all houses here are so new that nobody lives here yet." Brass explained. "And the family there didn't hear or saw anything although the children played directy at the other side of the hedge."

"Okay,..." Catherine said during she measured the liver temperature. "It was a very hot day, but he is definetely dead since maybe, 2pm today. So, since 6 or 7 hours."

"I ask the mother..." Nick said and stand up.

"Okay, I try to find here something!" Catherine said and searched with her flashlight on the ground. It was a big empty garden. And on the first look, there was nothing else instead of the football...

Meanwhile, Nick walked to the other garden where a woman sat covered in a blanked with white face and of course under shock. Nick walked closer to her. Her husband sat next to her and hold her hand but she didn't calmed down.

"Hello, Mrs... Johnson, Nick Stokes from the crime lab. May I ask you some questions?"

"My wife is in a very bad condition!" Mr. Johnson said.

"It's okay Bob,... I can talk with him. What do you want to know?" she asked but didn't looked on him.

"How did you found the victim?" Nick asked.

"I... I... wanted to call my both sons to come home. They... played in the garden the whole day... than my youngest kicked his football above the hedge. When I looked over it... there was that man laying..." she said and start to cry again. "...O my gosh, I will never forget that... his stomach was..."

"Shhh... Honey, calm down!" her husband said and calmed down. "I heared her screaming and also looked above the hedge. When I saw that man I called 911!"

"Mr. Johnson, Mrs. Johnson... did you hear or see something strange maybe around 2pm today?"

"2pm? I wasn't home at that time!" Mr. Johnson said.

His wife calmed down a little bit. "...at at 2pm? Why? Did the man died on that time?" she asked and Nick agreed. "I don't know but there... there was something."

"And what?"

"I heared, two men fighting! I stood in the kitchen and I heared two mens. I didn't listened what about they talked but one of them leaved really angry..."

At the same time, Catherine found a footprint in a little field of flowers near the victim. After she took a imprint of it, Nick arrived back.

"And what did the woman said?" she asked him.

"She is under shock! But she remembers that she heared a fight between two men, maybe between the victim and his murder." Nick told and looked on the wound again. "Which weapon makes this kind of wound?"

"Maybe, Al finds out during the examination!" Catherine said and also looked on the wound again. "But really, which kind of weapon, I mean even the children didn't heared anything although they where just a few steps away... this is so confusing."

"Hey Cath, I think I found something." Nick said and presented her a tape he found in the pocket of Lockjelly. "I bring this to Archie, he will find out what is on this tape."

"Yes, but who tells us who did that!" Catherine said during the coroner arrived to carry away the dead body.

End of Chapter 1

I hope you like the beginning. Jake and the others will appear in the next chapter. I don't want to tell everything, but I'm sure you will like the story.

Please review.