Chapter 2

"You know for some reason I think you get the strange ones on purpose."

"Well Doc, Grissom did promise me the weird ones a while back," Sage replied in a somber like tone as she adjusted the scrubs she was wearing for autopsy. "So Gerald Butler first?"

"As you requested," Doc Robbins replied with a gentle smile and an equally somber tone. "Shot to the back with a 9mm. I retrieved it for you. Consistent with your accounts that he was running away when the shooting occurred."

"Anything else?"

"I did find abrasions on the side of the head. It is consistent with the other three. It wasn't what killed them though."

"I think that was obvious Doc," Sage replied with a slight smile. She sighed a bit and looked at the abrasions on the kid's cheek. She also took a moment to look at the other ladies and the marks on their faces.

All four victims were showing signs of perimortem bruising where they had been struck. They were all hit in roughly the same area as well. The lacerations were almost triangular or semicircular. It had Sage frowning at the shape and size. "What kind of weapon would you say made these?"

Doc Robbins adjusted his glasses and moved to where he had the x-rays up. "Well I don't know if you are in the mood to be surprised or anything like that."

"I don't get enough while on the clock," Sage quipped.

"Are you familiar with the term buffaloing?"

Sage frowned at the term. That didn't sound familiar at all. "No."

"It is also known as pistol whipping," Doc Robbins explained, "When pistol barrels were longer, it was easy and possible to kill a man by holding the gun like normal and bringing it down in a downwards strike. The barrel would hit the head and thus render the victim unconscious. Quite popular to use back in the old west."

"Something for when Vegas was dying I guess?"

Doc Ribbons gave a slight nod in agreement. "All four victims had injuries consistent with pistol whipping by a downward strike but at an angle to the temporal region."

"That would be enough to daze the victim right?"

"Or knock them out," Doc Robbins replied. He then pointed to the x-rays. "Since the oldest victim was well into her sixties, there is a larger fracture. The older people get, the more fragile the bones."

"Sure sign of our lifespan right?"

Doc Robbins chuckled a bit at that. "From what I can tell, all four were hit by the same kind of weapon. The size is consistent. Then your three ladies were shot in the chest, dead center."

"And all this with four other ladies in the room," Sage muttered as she looked at the x-rays and then moved back towards the bodies. "Doesn't this sound strange to you?"

"I deal with cause of death. It's your area to figure out the rest but I do find it odd how these three were chosen and then shoot the boy. It doesn't sound like your typical bloodbath or even a homicide with a motive."

"Since when does murder really have a good why?"

Doc Robbins made a slight look and shrugged his shoulders slightly. "There really is no good reason." He paused a bit before continuing, "I did find possible skin cells under the fingernails of the victims including Gerald here."

"So they put up a fight?" Sage looked at the doctor for confirmation. At the nod she frowned at that. This case had just begun and already it was in the realm of weird. Maybe Doc Robbins was right in that she had a knack for attracting the weird. She wondered if Grissom knew what the case would entail and decided to pass it off onto her. If that were the case, she was going to have to do some serious rearrangement of the lab fridge just to mess with him and move the experiment out of the community fridge.

"Looks like it."

Sage looked down at the bodies on the slabs. She leaned on the one that had the middle aged woman by the name of Candy Burton, 33 and mother of a bouncing little boy. The youngest was Elizabeth Shorten, 26, and works as a cocktail waitress at the Tangiers. Gerald Butler, 14, was a freshman in high school. She pondered what the autopsies were significant in. As of this moment, she was stumped by it. One could only hope that the evidence they collected and processed would be bigger help. This just made her initial run though a leaky boat but then again that was why they called it a prelim.

Sage tapped her gloved fingers on the table and worried her lower lip. "Was there anything else?"

"I'll know after the post but for the most part it was like someone pistol whipped your victims after they fought back and they were shot." Doc Robbins moved towards Candy Burton and removed the sheet from her chest, "I did find stippling to indicate that your gun was fired at close range."

"That means it was personal but…" Sage frowned in confusion.

"I'm guessing this contradicts your scene," Robbins offered.

"Contradicts a lot of things, Doc. Up close and personal like the suspect was known but victims fight back. Gerald here was shot running away. It's like a hodgepodge of different circumstances. Like chaos at a crime scene."

"Possible cross contamination maybe?"

"I don't think so. When I was there doc, the scene laid out… Strange but it felt like it was familiar but looking at what we have…" Sage shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe you're right in that I attract the weird ones."

"I meant it as a compliment," Doc Robbins replied.

"Yeah well considering my dismal rep around here I'll accept that as a compliment," Sage replied as she looked at her bodies. "Can you let me know anything else you find in post?"

"I'll even do a full tox panel for you," Doc Robbins replied in a tone like he was placating a petulant little girl. He gave a slight smile in Sage's direction.

Sage shot a look at the doctor but smiled her thanks. "Thanks. I think on this case, we can afford to spend the money on extraneous. Something about this is going to rub me the wrong way the entire shift."

"If it makes you feel any better, I heard that days was hopping mad that they didn't get this one."

"Technically it would have been swing but they're tapped out," Sage replied. "Either that or someone was doing serious kiss ass." She moved towards the door and paused, 'Thanks doc. I'd like your final report when you have it."

"I'll let you have my notes before the final," Doc Robbins promised. "I'll humor you."

"Thank you."

Sara was still processing the room that the Homicide Society book club had occupied during the shooting. The scene was what bothered her in that the point of disturbance was where the bodies were. The books that fell on the floor were indicative of surprise but there was much disturbed in terms of maybe grabbing the assailant or something like that.

Looking around the room, she noted how items were reproductions to the real deal and historically accurate. Some looked like they popped out of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle works. Certainly Sherlock Holmes had a place of honor on the bookcase closest to the main desk in the room. The circle of chairs was fairly intact. The only disturbances were the chairs shoved aside from the side closest to the door.

She stood in the entryway and looked at the scene. She looked at the disturbances and shook her head. She could see the three women getting shot but in her mind she was asking about the other four. What were they doing?

"I figured out how he may have gotten in."

Sara jumped at the sound of Nick's voice. She had been so absorbed in viewing the scene that she hadn't heard Nick come in. She tried to hide it by being annoyed, "Yeah well I hope you figured out how he got in and managed to hold seven women hostage."

Nick grinned a little. He knew that he had startled Sara, "I can't tell you that but I can tell you that the back door was his ticket in."

"I thought it was nailed shut?"

"It was," Nick replied. "It was nailed from the outside, like it was done to prevent people from getting out through the back. However the back door window was unlocked."

"Don't tell me, it was easy to jimmy open," Sara replied looking at Nick like he discovered the winning lotto numbers.

"All you need is a knife and you got it open," Nick said as he motioned that it was easy as pie. "I managed to lift a few good prints off the glass and wood. We might get lucky that the perp is in the system. I also found some strange substance, not blood. I scraped a sample for trace." Nick looked at the scene Sara had been looking at.

Sara had put her arms across her chest and stood looking at the scene too. "Stumps you too huh?"

Nick cleared his throat and adjusted his position by putting his hands on his hips. "Well according to the witnesses, the suspect came from the back of the house and into the room and held seven women at gunpoint. He pops three and runs out the door and shoots a fourteen year old who was in his way."

"There was some struggle though since these are points of disturbance," Sara replied as she pointed it out. "Indicates struggle and it is relative to the position of the bodies as they were found."

"Which means that something is out of place here," Nick concluded, "There were four other women in here with three ranging from their late twenties to late thirties, and one was a reservist for the Army? She would know how to disarm the guy."

Sara had to admit that Nick was right. Somebody had to be lying about what happened. "So somebody is lying."

"Or they were in on it and are trying to cover it up," Nick put in.

"And both are viable," Sage replied as she came through the front door. "All four victims were pistol whipped and there were indications of struggle. Greg's running it through the lab now. Anything else?" She walked into the parlor and took stock of the overturned chairs and noted the books on the ground.

"Prints off the back door and trace," Nick offered.

"I found a section of shelf with missing books," Sara replied. She had gone in and started looking again with Sage. She noticed the missing books when she looked at the shelves.

"Robbery now?" Nick raised his brow as he watched the two women. He started back tracking to the back door to make sure he didn't miss anything.

"Looks like it," Sara replied. She ran a gloved finger and came up with dust and noted the disturbances. It was a thin layer indicating that the shelves were taken care of on a regular basis. Sara scoured the shelves to get a better picture of it. "Looks like it was a whole series maybe."

"So we have a thief and a killer," Nick replied as he kneeled to inspect what looked like a bullet hole. "Are we looking for two people or one?"

Sage was looking at the scene. She had taken a step back when she felt her eyes start to water. She had noticed that when she left Doc Robbins to finish his autopsy. It was an annoyance at best and ignored it as she listened to Sara and Nick talk it through. She asked, "Any physical evidence of a second person?"

Nick made a wry face. "Working on it."

"Hey it was a whole series that was missing," Sara said. "Everything is alphabetized by title."

"An organized person… gotta love it," Sage said as she kneeled by an end table. She had noticed something that had been missed.

"Yeah well our killer thief took a whole series that was alphabetized in the D section." Sara looked around and felt something hit her foot. She looked down and noticed a footstool and she saw something underneath. She figured that it might have fallen.

Kneeling she reached for it. It turned out to be a paperback and Sara rotated it to read the title. She raised her brow and looked up at the shelf and did a mental calculation. She looked at the book again and said, "I think I know what he took."

"A first edition of a detective novel?" Nick chuckled as he finished his collection.

Sara made a slight face and scoffed, "Actually it's a modern series and one of my favorite actually. DC Homicide and looks like this one is the Baltimore Cereal." She looked at the book and found it to be in good condition. She bagged it.

"I remember that one. The suspect ended up getting caught because of his obsession with breakfast cereal," Nick replied as he finished up. "Yeah uh Martin Kessler was the one that came up with the scenario to get the guy. Pretty ingenious and the science is pretty spot on. One of the better crime series I've read."

"I didn't know you read," Sara teased.

"Oh I read," Nick countered. "I just happen to like Sarre's work. I actually have a signed copy of the first one. Sent by fan club."

"And did you write her a letter saying how much you love her book?"

"And I'm sure you did too. The science was good… almost like Sarre was a criminalist herself or she did a ride along or something. What do you think Parker?"

In the meantime, Sage was using a pair of tweezers to pick up a piece of what appeared to be an earring, a stud. The back was nearby and she also picked that up. She was suspicious that the earring was dropped purposely. She barely heard Nick's question but she managed to reply, "I'm an Agatha Christie myself."

"You're killing me you know that?" Nick looked around the corner at Sage.

"You'll live."

The lab was bustling with activity with the techs doing their work with the cases that were still active. It was a busy night since it seemed that crime decided to drop in and say hello. Already there were rumors about the latest case regarding the Homicide Society book club.

"Yeah, it's an actual book club that has members that read and reenact parts of crime novels ranging from Sherlock Holmes to even the Tom Clancy novels. Murder/Mystery type of stuff. They even hold conventions and try to get the various authors to show up and do a panel and book signing. Sometimes they get lucky and one of their books gets reenacted and the guests have to solve it."

Nick looked at Greg who was busy with the skin samples and then at Sara. Sometimes the things that Greg knew were strange even if they were normal but that was just Greg; like his whole knowledge about liquid latex. "And how do you know about this Greggo?"

"I subscribe to the newsletter," Greg replied as he set the samples into the analyzer. He hit the button and turned to his two guests. "And I just happen to have a rare edition of Jamaica Heat. Bought it when I was in New York."

"Never heard of it," Sara replied shaking her head.

"Well that was because few copies were printed. It was a side story to a main series, what fans would call a prequel," Greg replied spinning it out a little. He thought it cool that they got to see the inside a chapter house of the Homicide Society because he heard that the chapter leaders were the most serious which was why they were granted a chapter.

"A prequel? You're making this up I know it," Sara replied.

"Would I ever lie to you?" Greg gave a knowing look at Sara. He backed way and went to his cupboard where he stashed his Blue Hawaiian for the month and pulled it out. He brought it over. "Must've read it over a hundred times and actually was the basis for getting into the Homicide society."

At that moment the machine beeped and Greg went over to be ready for the results. Sara held the book and took in the cover and the title. Her eyes flitted down to the author, "Page K. Sarre, Jamaica Heat."

"A prequel eh?" Nick replied. He looked at the cover and the title. He was familiar with DC Homicide. It really was one of the better series. It had just the right amount of suspense but not to the point where the science was made up. Real techniques and he even learned about some old school techniques that hadn't been used in years but they helped out in a pinch.

Seeing the book in Sara's hand had him thinking. "Hey Sara, you said that the whole series was missing right? Except for the one that fell?"

Sara was admiring the cover. She had opened it and noted the publishing year and there was a handwritten note and it was signed by the author. She couldn't believe that Greg actually had an autographed signature. Nick she thought was teasing since this was Nick but Greg was something else. She heard Nick and replied, "Yeah. Baltimore Cereal. It wasn't as popular as the others."

"Maybe it was because Parsons was working with Kessler and they had a thing going on," Greg replied as he brought over the results. "Okay I still have a bit to do but the epithelials are male and they don't match your kid Gerald Butler…"

"That's a relief," Nick muttered.

"But the DNA from the hairs that were recovered were female… XX," Greg finished as he looked at the two CSIs. "So looks like you might have someone tag teaming on this. Give me something to compare it to and we're good."

Nick scoured the report. That didn't seem right. He found only one set of prints on that back door and the witnesses described only one assailant. "And it looks like we might have a liar in our group," he said as he looked at Sara.

"Thinking someone that wanted a well-reviewed series."

"Or they could have staged it as a robbery gone bad."

"Either way you guys, you need to eliminate suspects," Greg replied as he leaned on the table. "By the way did you know that some of these fans go to great lengths to stage crime scenes and call in their society buddies to solve it?"

Nick looked at Sara and they thought about it for a moment. Sara looked at Greg and gave a sweet smile, "Greg, how do you feel about doing something for us?"

"I'm all for helping out on the case but," Greg took back his book and put it back in the cupboard, "I do have a list I have to get through and Grissom was on my butt about someone rearranging the lab fridge. By the way, it's possible Baltimore Cereal was left behind because Parsons was with Kessler. A lot of the reviews cited that they didn't like him because he was shady himself." He paused as he picked up a tray. "Just a thought."

Nick and Sara left the lab thinking about what they just uncovered. "Two suspects and one entry and one set of prints that Mandy is working on. How is that possible?" Nick paused to look at Sara in a questioning way.

"Maybe an inside job," Sara pointed out. "Could be one of our book club ladies."

"Or it could be a reenactment gone wrong," Nick pointed out. "Greggo just pointed out that these groups do this kind of thing all the time."

"But that depends on the book they were going over at the time," Sara replied. She thought about it and recalled the evidence collection. David was there and Sage had quipped her about her head being in the game. Sage read the title… "Murder at Ravenhearst is the book they were reading," she said as she looked at Nick.

"Was there even a scene mentioned like ours?"

"No. David mentioned that it was a period novel." Sara motioned with her fingers as she thought it through. True she read crime novels and she had been working on reducing it since the day Grissom told her she needed to find something outside of law enforcement otherwise she would burn out. She had reduced the number and she always did go back to her favorite series which was DC Homicide.

"So it would have been staged with period items. Someone that meticulous would pay attention to detail."

"Now you're sounding like Parker," Sara teased with a smile. "So we have the possibility that our witnesses may be lying to us. I think a little road trip is called for." She grinned at the prospect. "I'll call Brass."

"Hey we gotta run it by Parker," Nick reminded Sara. "She's the lead on this."

"Right," Sara replied. She had been about ready to take off. Most already knew that Sage had a thing about order and being asked first. It was a politeness thing and Sara thought it was a way to get people in the lab to be civil with each other. Certainly that seemed to be the case when she saw Sage and Ecklie talking and having a civilized conversation. "You wanna do that?"

"You're afraid of her now?"

"No but it seems like you two need to talk. You've been avoiding each other almost and apart from Greg, me and Warrick… you guys are always heckling each other. What gives?"

"Nothing," Nick replied with a slight shake of his head. "We just haven't been calling favors from our bets. Most of her free nights are busy. Her business Sara." He gave a slight look at Sara before continuing to look for their leader. "I'll let her know."

Sara watched for a moment. It was probably nothing and she wasn't sure whether or not to make a big deal out of it since when they first met it was like oil and water. It still seemed like that but there was a playfulness to it. She shook her head and went in search of Brass.

A/N: Looks like some interesting tidbits have come to life regarding the case and seems a particular crime series is involved. Sara thinks something is up and the case moves on to next time on True Crime Kills...