The good, the bad, hardship, the joy, the tragedy, love and happiness are all interwoven into one single, indescribable whole that's called life. You cannot separate the good and the bad, and perhaps there is no need to.

- Jacqueline Kennedy

Chapter 2

He had dinner with Jessica again that night. In her, he'd found an amazing friend. For two months, he'd taken her to dinner, watched movies with her in his apartment, went for walks, but he had yet to make a move. He loved hanging out with her. She was understanding and patient and would listen to him unload on everything that was bothering or upsetting him. He could talk to her about the pain he felt and the fears he had. She was so special and Nick loved the friendship they had developed. He wondered if he should take the next step and make his move. He'd guessed that she was way too shy to make a move herself, and that she was waiting on him to decide where to take their relationship. A part of him hoped she was waiting on him to offer more than friendship. Another part of him hoped she wasn't looking for anything more. He was attracted to her and felt himself beginning to care for her. At the same time, he didn't want to ruin the friendship they had formed. He also wasn't sure that any relationship he started at this moment, would last. So far, she'd been understanding and had given him the space he needed to sort out his feelings.

As Nick continued the debate in his head, he shifted his gaze from the highway, over to her. She sat silently, staring out the window with a soft smile playing across her lips. He decided he wouldn't worry about figuring out their relationship right now. He was enjoying things the way they were.

Nick pulled up to Jessica's apartment and stepped out to walk her to the entrance. He stopped at the steps and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. "Goodnight Jess."

"Goodnight Nick."

"Thanks for coming to dinner with me."

She smiled warmly. "Thanks for dinner. I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, how about renting a movie tomorrow afternoon?"

"I'd like that."

"Great. Call me when you get off work." He smiled at her, then turned around and headed back to his car. He drove home and readied himself for shift, before returning to his car and heading into work. His thoughts were on work as he drove to the lab. It was a place where everything still reminded him of Warrick. Before Warrick was murdered, he used to like coming in a bit early and hanging out with the members of his team. Now, he waited until the last possible minute to leave for shift, and every time he made the drive, his mood would drop. When he made it to the lab, he would grab his assignment and head straight out, avoiding the breakroom except for when he received assignments. It had been over two months since his best friend had died and the lab still did not have any leads. Every time he walked through the labs halls or opened his locker, the same locker Warrick had used, he thought about Warrick and silently prayed they'd catch his killer. Going into work was just another reminder of the man they all lost. He wanted to move on but it was so hard to do after losing Warrick the way they had.

A block away from the lab, he pulled up to a red light. While waiting for the light to change, he took a moment to close his eyes and prepare himself for the lab. As his eyes shut, his nose picked up Jessica's lingering scent. His thoughts moved from the lab, back to his evening and to Jessica's warmth. He drove the rest of the way in with a smile on his face.

"Is that everything?"

He looked across the desk of Deputy DA Madeline Klein and sighed. "Yeah, that's all."

"Grissom, you do realize you've given me nothing."

"I know."

"And yet, you're sure there is a mole in the police department?"

"I'm sure." He ran his hand through his hair, trying to come up with an explanation. In two months, he hadn't quite managed to convince Maddie Klein of his suspicions. He knew that so far, she was only willing to go along with him because of a certain trust and loyalty she had towards him, that and he'd never strung her along on an absurd hunting expedition before. He looked over at her. "Somebody with power had Daniel Pritchard kill Lou Gedda. I believe that same person either killed Warrick, or had him killed."

"I agree, but why does this person have to be in the department?"

"Somebody knew everything that was going on at the lab and the police department. For that person to know that much information, he had to be high up on the chain. Daniel Pritchard was a beat cop. He couldn't have supplied Gedda with the information we think Gedda received."

"You've told me all that, but you still haven't given me anything to go on."

"I know. Whoever the mole is, he didn't get to where he is by not being able to cover his tracks. We're looking for a dirty cop in a position of power. It's not easy to look inside the department without tipping that person off."

"You really should let IA handle this."

Grissom shook his head. "No, I don't know who to trust there."

"So you're running your own investigation."

"It's all I can do."

"Okay, Grissom. If you want my help, you need to get me something. If you don't, there's nothing I can do."

He sighed and nodded. "I know. I'm working on it."

Maddie Klein leaned back in her chair and let out a loud, long sigh. "Christ Gil, do you realize there is an election soon? Do you even know what you're doing?"

"I'm trying to catch a dirty cop and I need your help, Maddie."

"Jesus Christ, why did I have to quit drinking? I could really use a few shots right now." He watched as she shook her head. "Get me something and I'll make sure it sees a Grand Jury."

"Thank You."

"Don't thank me; I've always wanted to stir things up around an election. Maybe I can put my own life in danger again." Grissom grimaced. "Don't. If anything, it's your life on the line and if that's okay with you than it is just fine with me. Just get me something. I wouldn't mind cleaning up the department either."

"Maddie…"

"Don't Grissom. We'll set up a meeting for later this week and you can try to convince me once again, why I am doing this. Let's meet again on Friday, unless you get something sooner."

"I won't be here on Friday."

"You won't be here Friday?"

"No, I'm going out of town on Thursday. I'll be gone a week. I'll come by Thursday morning."

"You're going away for a week?"

"Yeah."

"What, you've got a seminar, or some sort of bug race to go to?"

"No, I'm going on vacation."

"You're taking a vacation? You?"

Grissom smirked at her disbelief. "Yeah."

"Right now?"

"On Thursday."

"Okay, I'll bite. Where the hell are you going?"

He smiled. "I'm going to see my soul mate."

"Really? So I guess you are just a classic enabler."

"I guess so."

"Well then, enjoy your time with the lovely Miss Sidle, then get your ass back here so we can find your mole."

Grissom raised his eyebrows and smiled. "You'll make time for me on Thursday?"

"Yeah, I'll make time."

After leaving Madeline Klein's office, Grissom drove to the lab. He picked up assignments and messages from Judy before heading to his office. He looked over the single slip, trying to decide who he'd send out and who would stay at the lab with him, choosing to remain in the lab so that he didn't get involved in any big case before he left to see Sara. A knock on his door caused his to look up. "Why hello, Conrad."

"Grissom, you've got a busy night. A nightclub on Flamingo just pancaked. They don't know how many are dead or injured yet."

"Great." Grissom knew his plans for staying in the lab were out. He'd have to give Catherine the lead.

"What else have you got?"

"A 419 in North Las Vegas."

"So you won't get a chance to look at the serial tonight?"

"Not anymore."

"Have you found anything new?"

He looked up at Ecklie, watching as the man hovered over his desk. "Not in the three weeks since Ava Lopez was killed."

"Maybe we should ask the FBI in on this."

"No, absolutely not. We'll find him by studying him. We have a general profile worked out."

"What do you know about him?"

"We think he's somewhere between 30 and 40 years old. He doesn't stalk his victims before hand. He chooses the women from their hotel the same night he rapes and kills them. He's strong. He was able to knock Matt Klein out and hang him without creating any noise. He's fast. He kills the woman before they even know what's going on. He uses an object to rape them. He's confident. He takes the time to clean up his crime scenes and pose the bodies. He hasn't left behind any evidence. We aren't sure how he enters or exits; he doesn't use the elevator."

"That's all you know about him."

Grissom frowned. "We're working on it."

"I think we could move faster if we asked the FBI for help."

"No, Conrad. The last time the FBI helped us on a serial, they used Sara as bait. They don't care whose lives they risk."

"They won't be risking Sara's anymore."

He could feel his pulse rising as he fought to stay in control. "That's beside the point."

"You seemed to have worked well with Jack Malone."

"Jack Malone was an exception."

"Do I need to remind you that the under sheriff wants this resolved? We're under a lot of pressure here. The press has been all over this last night and this morning. Someone leaked details of the crimes and it's all over the news. The public is going to want a resolution. You need to find one fast."

Grissom sighed. He was losing the strength to fight back. "Conrad, you've worked as a CSI. You know we can only go where the evidence leads us, and this guy isn't leaving any evidence."

"Look, just catch this guy before he kills someone else."

Grissom bit back a response and nodded. After waiting for Ecklie to leave, he opened the files in front of him.

Catherine made her way through the halls of the lab and watched as Conrad Ecklie exited Grissom's office. She passed Ecklie and offered a polite nod before knocking on Grissom's door frame. She walked in the open door as he looked up. He had a file in his hands. She moved to the desk, leaned over and peered down at the file. "Serial murder case?"

"Yeah."

She sat down across from him and took a different file from his desk. She flipped it open and glanced at its contents. "Find anything new?"

"No." As she sat, she watched Grissom flip through the remaining files. "Cath, what's the commonality? He preys on women, all under the age of 35. They were all killed in their hotel rooms. Two of the women, plus Matt Klein, were locals. The rest of the women were tourists, so we know he isn't targeting these women specifically, or at least, not in advance. They have to be crimes of opportunity. He sees them in the hotel and follows them to their rooms, slits their throats, rapes them, all before posing their bodies and slicing his tally marks into their backs. How does he select his victims? Does he hang out at hotels, searching for his next victim?"

"He has to, unless the victims all went to the same place the day they died."

"They didn't. We've checked on that. Besides, he'd have to know their room numbers. He must pick them out at the hotel or hotel's casino. Searching for a random person in a casino is next to impossible. Archie's been using his spare time to go through surveillance to try to see if he can compare people, but we only have surveillance from the last two scenes. He's going cross-eyed searching for a needle in a haystack."

"Well," She dropped the file in her hand and picked up another, "our killer doesn't work at the hotel, unless he's worked at four different hotels in the past nine months."

"That's not likely. What about someone who works at multiple hotels? Who works at more than one hotel?"

"I don't know." She thought for a moment. "Entertainers? Some will do a month stint at a hotel before moving onto another."

"I'll ask Brass to see if any local entertainers were working at all four hotels during the time of the murders."

She leaned back in her chair and shook her head. "Do you really think the Pharaoh Killer could be one of Vegas's entertainers?"

"It's possible. Entertain a crowd of tourists, then wind down by raping and killing someone." He paused. "Pharaoh Killer?"

Catherine snickered. "Yeah, don't you watch the news? That's what that journalist…Mark Hayden, named the serial. Somehow the press got wind that the cuts on the victims backs were tally marks. Hayden coined the name because of origination of tally marks."

"That's what Ecklie was referring too. He told me the press was all over the case last night. He didn't mention the fact that the press had found out about the tally marks or named the serial. When did you hear this?"

"I saw it on the news this morning, but apparently it was on last night as well. The leak must have happened yesterday."

"Oh. I missed the news this morning. The press coined him "The Pharaoh Killer'?"

"Yep."

She could see the tension building in Grissom. His hand combed through his hair and moved to the back of his neck. "It bothers me when they do that. It just serves to empower the killer. This killer is all about attention. Why else would he carve tally marks into the victims' backs. He must be loving the recent press coverage."

"There's nothing we can do about it now. Someone spilled the details and our serial is now the 'Pharaoh Killer'."

"Mark Hayden named him?"

"Apparently."

"Figures. Hayden's working under a misguided assumption. The Ishango Killer would have been a more appropriate name."

"Ishango Killer?"

"Yes, after the Ishango Bone. Contrary to popular belief, evidence shows that the first tally marks did not appear in Ancient Egypt. There have been other, older artifacts that contained evidence of tally marks. The most compelling being the Ishango Bone. It was found in 1960, in the Congo, by Jean de Heinzelin. The bone was carved with tally marks and dates back eighteen to twenty thousand years, at least thirteen thousand years prior to the tally marks of Ancient Egypt."

"How do you know all this?" She studied him. Of course Grissom would know all of that. Why was she questioning where his knowledge came from? "Never mind. As much as I'd like to exchange witty banter on the Ishenga Bone, or whatever you called it, that isn't the reason I came in here."

"Sorry Catherine, what are you here for?"

"Assignments. Everybody's waiting in the break room."

"Oh, right. Tell them I'll be right there."

"Hurry." She threw down the file and stood up. She glanced back to see Grissom flip through another file. "Gil..."

"I'll be right there."

She shook her head and left the office, making her way into the break room. When she entered, she took a moment to glance around at the team. She frowned when she saw Nick, silently sitting and playing with a loose thread. When she had left in search of Grissom earlier, Nick had been smiling. It hadn't been a huge smile, but it was a smile, none-the-less. Now, he looked distant. Catherine could never tell how Nick's moods would be anymore. She gazed at him sympathetically and wondered where all the life in him had disappeared to. Nick was not the same man. He hardly smiled anymore. She and Greg had been watching out for him, spending lots of time talking to him and getting him out when they could. He was getting better, but the only time when she ever saw him truly smile was whenever she caught him talking to the red headed waitress she recognized from the diner they used to frequent. Nick wouldn't tell her about the woman. She wasn't sure of their relationship, but Catherine had seen the waitress stop by the lab a couple times, always to see Nick. She hoped the redhead would be good for him and took comfort in knowing that the waitress seemed to be helping Nick right now. She was about to try to engage him in conversation and draw him out a little when she heard Grissom clear his throat. Her attention moved to Grissom. "Riley, Greg, you have a DB in North Las Vegas. Catherine, Nick, you're with me. We have a collapsed building on Flamingo. Cath, you're taking the lead on this one."