By the by, free cyber cookies for anyone who can guess the theme of the titles :)
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Chapter 1
"An orphanage?" Catherine asked with a raised eyebrow, drumming her fingers on the table.
"In California?" Nick asked with more enthusiasm.
"Yes." Ecklie agreed. "A criminologist from San Francisco sent the file over. They want us to go over there and investigate it."
"So, tell me again." Catherine said, sitting down. "Two trespassing teenagers found a child's skull and bones in a lake behind an orphanage. And they want us to investigate it."
"Yes." He nodded again. "Local police have conducted a brief search of the area and didn't find anything conducive, but the chief wants it thoroughly investigating. The San Francisco lab has offered their services to examine any evidence."
"Why us? Why aren't they investigating it themselves?" Warrick asked, resting his hands on the back of Catherine's chair.
"They're tapped out. They asked for us specifically." He said, smirking.
"Why Grave? Why can't Days do it?" Cath whined.
"They asked for Grave." He shrugged, dismissing the question. "Anyway, the coroner and anthropologists have estimated that the bones are twenty to thirty years old. The Orphanage closed down in 1984, though they have no record of why or what happened to the children.
"Are they thinking the kid came from the orphanage?" Sofia asked.
"They don't know; it is a likely possibility. They are trying to track down the records for who was working and living there at the time, but it's not looking good. It appears it just shut down overnight."
They all contemplated this for a moment.
"Sofia's going to give you some extra help, and take Sanders too, he wants to get out of the lab; this will be the perfect opportunity."
Nick held up his hands in a 'time-out' gesture.
"Hold up. So, they're gonna fly us to California and put us up in a hotel and we get what could be a really high profile case?" He counted off on his fingers, leaning back against the couch. "What's the catch?" Grissom, hovering uneasily in the threshold, was about to speak up but Ecklie interrupted him.
"No catch. Anyway, we leave on Thursday morning at 8am sharp, so that gives you all a few days to pack and make arrangements." He clapped his hands together gleefully, a satisfied grin adorning his face. "8am. Don't be late."
In a rabble of semi-excited chatter, the team meandered around the room and disbanded into small groups in the corridor.
Sara remained on the couch.
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Future chapters will be much longer, this is just the beginning ...
