Catherine watched Vartann move away from a distraught man she assumed to be the father of the missing child and make his way to meet her, a warm smile on his lips.

"Catherine," he sang out, nodding his head in greeting, "it's a little early, isn't it, even for you?"

"Tony," she acknowledged in the same playful tone he had used, with a slight bow of her head, "half of swing's still in court giving evidence on the Lola Nuñes case and the other half's tied up at some robbery at the Venetian. So you got me!"

"Hey! I wasn't complaining," he smiled. "Thanks for coming so swiftly."

Catherine gave a sad nod as her mind flitted back to the dispatch message. She shook her head back to the present while pushing her sunglassesback onto the top of her head. "The dispatch said the 418 was a little girl, so I got here as soon as I could."

"Yeah." The detective nodded and pointed to the lone man pacing by the tape. "The girl's five-year-old Alison Kessler and this man's grand-daughter." He took a quick look at his watch. "She's been missing just over an hour now. Could just be a case of hide and seek…" he started, his tone unconvinced.

"Abduction?" ventured Catherine, putting her heavy field kit down by her feet.

Vartann shrugged and let out a sigh. "Too early to say but…the poor man's looked everywhere and so have my guys. If she was in the park, we'd have found her by now."

"It's big and she could have wandered off out of the park," Catherine offered feebly, "and got lost. She's a bit too young to be a runaway but you never know."

Regardless, she must be one scared little girl right now, mused Catherine.

Vartann shrugged his shoulders again, got his notebook out of his breast pocket and then proceeded to surmise what he knew about Alison and her disappearance and quickly got her up to speed. "Are you on your own?" he asked at the end of his account.

"No. Nick and Greg are on their way. Riley's got the night off. I'll call Ray for back-up if and when we need it."

"Okay" Vartann said.

Catherine cast a quick glance over the play area and her gaze lingered an instant over the vast expanse of the park beyond.

"What are you thinking?" The detective asked, his gaze following the CSI's.

"I used to bring Lindsey here when she was little," Catherine said quietly, letting out a small sigh. "You do know there's a fishing lake beyond those trees, don't you?"

"I do now," replied Vartann with a sigh, quickly jotting it down in his notebook.

Then the policeman motioned for them to go and talk to Kessler. He waited for Catherine to pick her kit up and guided her by the arm to the man still pacing by the crime scene tape, cell phone in hand, muttering under his breath.

"Sir?"

Kessler turned round, looked up toward them and shrugged his shoulders helplessly while slipping his cell in his pocket. "Can't get a hold of her grand-mother," he mumbled edgily.

"Sir," Vartann said, "this is Catherine Willows, night-shift supervisor of the crime lab."

Catherine offered a small smile. "Sorry to be meeting you under these circumstances."

"Mr Kessler," continued Vartann, "Ms Willows is going to get your jacket so you can give us your picture of Alison. Alright?"

"Sure."

Catherine lifted the crime tape, deftly stepped underneath it, snapping on some latex gloves and walked to the bench where she picked up the man's jacket. She made her way back and handed it to Kessler. He reached into the breast pocket with trembling hands, retrieved his wallet and pulled out a small close-up shot of a beaming little girl that he handed to Catherine.

The supervisor sneaked a look. "She's beautiful," she said before passing the photograph to Vartann.

Kessler nodded but remained silent.

"Was the photograph taken recently?" the detective asked Kessler.

"Hum…last year, I think" he replied.

"Is it okay if I keep a hold of it for now? I'm going to put an APB out to all patrols, city and county wide, at the airport, train and bus stations too."

"Thank you," Kessler uttered. Then he hesitated for an instant, rubbed his eyes with his right hand and turned toward Catherine. "Will…huh…will Dr Grissom be involved in the…case?"

Catherine looked confused. "No," she answered uncertainly, "I'm afraid Griss…Dr Grissom does not work for the crime lab anymore."

"Oh!" Kessler whispered with obvious disappointment.

"If it's any consolation, I worked with him for…"

"No, no, I'm sorry," Kessler cut in. "I didn't mean to doubt…I didn't mean any disrespect. It's just that…Dr Grissom is familiar with our family situation. I was hoping he could have…" Kessler sighed deeply, "but never mind."

Kessler? Could this man be related to Heather Kessler? Suddenly, the penny dropped. "May I ask?" Catherine asked, needing clarification before going further with the conversation. "Is Grissom a friend of yours?"

"Not exactly," Kessler said clearly hesitating. "More a friend of…a friend. You see Heather and him…"

"Of course." Catherine interrupted. "Kessler! I should have realised. I'm with you now. You're Heather's husband."

Vartann cocked an eyebrow in interest at the turn the events were taking.

"Ex-husband, please," Kessler corrected with a slight wince at being called her husband, "briefly and a very long time ago."

Vartann's radio crackled into life and Officer Mitchell's voice could be heard echoing through the detective's jacket pocket. He moved to the side while Catherine and Kessler both remained silent, trying but failing to hear what was being discussed.

As he replaced the radio in his pocket, Vartann made his way back to the expectant pair. "Good timing," he exclaimed. "The cadets and canine unit are here. If you don't mind, I'll head over there. I'll also need to take Alison's shoes so the dogs can get a good sniff of her scent" he told the grand-father who slowly nodded his assent.

"Tony?" Catherine called as Vartann was moving away. He turned round as she reached into her kit for a clear evidence bag. When she handed it to him, he smiled sheepishly at his oversight. "Make sure to bag and tag them first," she told him kindly and indicating with a nod the arrival of one of the lab's silver Denali, she added, "and can you tell Greg to follow the dogs? He'll know what to do. Meanwhile, Nick and I will get started on processing the sand pit."

"Okay. Afterwards, I'll circulate Alison's picture and take the two women's statements over there. I'll keep you abreast if anything comes up."

It wouldn't be dark for a few more hours yet but the light was starting to fade already, the air saturated with an ashen wash of twilight. From her vantage point behind the crime scene tape, Catherine took the time to survey the scene before her and did a very slow three-hundred-and-sixty-degree turn on her heels sweeping her eyes over every detail that could be pertinent.

The scattered toys in the sand pit; the deserted play equipment and taped-off playground; the few hangers-on staring at the action over on the far side; the police cadets spreading out to begin their thorough search of the park; the K 9 unit unloading the dogs from the van near where Greg and Nick were deep in conversation with Detective Vartann; and finally her gaze settled again on the crime scene.

Or was it a crime scene?

Despite the warmth of the late afternoon autumnal sun, Catherine felt a chill run through her body.

If Alison had been hiding, she'd have come out by now. A five-year-old, in the park on her own, she's got to be one petrified little girl. Too scared to come out maybe?

God what if it had been Lindsey? The two of them had spent many an afternoon in this very park over the years eating ice-cream and just having a fun time. How many times had such quality time been cut short by the ringing of her cell phone and her attention diverted from intently watching her daughter while she had been playing?

This just has to be every parent's worse nightmare.

God, what would she have done in a similar situation? She only felt deep sympathy for Jerome Kessler and for Heather too when she found out. She could only begin to imagine the immense pain and heartache the woman would be feeling.

"Catherine? Are you all right?" Nick's concerned voice startled her out of her daydream.

She turned toward him and offered a weak smile in greeting. "Yeah. Sorry, I was just…" She shook her head. "Never mind."

"I know." Nick murmured, returning her smile with one of his own. "Did you know Lady Heather had a grand-daughter?"

She nodded her head. "Remember the Jacob Wolfowitz's case four years ago? Doc said then that Zoe Kessler had had a child. I just didn't know what had happened to it."

"Well, I really hope we find her soon."

They had had their fair share of missing children over the years – some cases had ended well, others hadn't – and in every single case they would witness first hand the parents' anguish and do what they could to help but they both knew this case would be different.

Catherine plastered her best perfunctory smile on her face but she knew Nick would see straight through it. She wouldn't, couldn't let this case get to her. Let it become personal.

What the hell! What was she thinking? They would probably find Alison safe and sound anyway.

Nick waited a moment for Catherine to speak and when she remained silent he informed her, "Vartann's extended the search radius to a mile and Greg's following the dogs. They must have picked up Alison's scent because they scurried off out of the park toward Tomiyasu Lane at a fair speed. I've got Alison's shoes with me."

"Good," Catherine told him, her focus returning. "Hopefully we can find her soon and this nightmare can be over."

Nick was silent for a while seemingly worried about his boss's reaction to the case. As he opened his field case to get his camera out and get started, Catherine said, "Nick, can you take some general shots of the playground and its content and then start collecting evidence?"

"On it," Nick said bending under the tape.

"Meanwhile, I'll make a start on the sketching…" Catherine began but was interrupted by the loud shouting of a cadet fifty yards away.

"Detective Vartann, over here," she heard. "We may have found something."

A look of dread filled her eyes. She picked up her kit and started to run in the direction of the shouts but was impended in her progress by the weight of her case. She was soon overtaken by a frantic Kessler who was almost sprinting towards the two cadets. He reached the east entrance of the park first and she saw him struggle with one of the cadets as he tried to grab whatever was lying on the ground behind a small tree.

Oh my god! Please, let it not be a body.

Kessler collapsed noisily onto his knees, held back by the second cadet.

"What have you got?" she exclaimed, panting breathlessly as she got to the bougainvillea, hoping against all hopes that it wasn't Alison's dead body.

"This," the first cadet said, pointing towards a dirty teddy bear. Judging by Kessler's reaction, she could only deduce that the item belonged to Alison.

"Mr Kessler, please. Is this Alison's?" Catherine whispered as Vartann arrived, breathing hard.

The grand-father nodded once, his eyes filling with tears. "It was in her backpack. She would never have voluntarily left it behind. It's the only thing she's got of her mother… Can I have it? Please?"

"I'm very sorry, sir, but no." The CSI apologised with a rueful smile. "It's evidence and it might have some trace that could help us if indeed she…"

"Is that what you think? That she's been taken?" Kessler interrupted, gasping.

Catherine gave him a small pinched smile and placed her hand in the crook of his arm helping him up to his feet. She could find no words of comfort to offer him that wouldn't be lies.

As Catherine didn't respond, Vartann replied. "We don't know yet but it's a strong possibility."

Catherine bent down to open her kit and take out her camera. "I'll deal with this," she eventually told the young recruits.

She then proceeded to take several pictures of the teddy bear and bagged and tagged it, all done under the watchful eye of Kessler. Vartann in the meantime excused himself and went to resume his interviews of the two witnesses.

"We'll know more when I get this back to the lab," she offered finally.

The cadets followed by Kessler went off to continue their search of the grounds as Catherine purposefully made her way back towards Nick and the sand pit.

She heard the younger CSI snap a couple of pictures in quick succession before she saw him bent over one of the many evidence markers he had already scattered about. He looked to have been very busy in the short time she had left him and appeared to have singled out some shoe prints as well as the toys.

"Nice," she called in a light tone, pointing to the booties on his feet.

Nick straightened up and turned round to face her. "Didn't want to add my shoeprints to the mix," he retorted with a smile.

"Come on Nicky, what have you got?" she asked. "And tell me that it's more than a few sandcastles."

The young CSI removed his forensic ball cap and scratched his head wearily. "It's a mess, Catherine. Too many shoe and foot prints to isolate or count; even if I eliminate the smaller size prints. Add to that the fact that either they overlap each other or are too distorted to get a good impression and..." Nick shrugged his shoulder apologetically. "As you can see though," he continued pointing to a few evidence markers leading away from the toys out of the sand pit, "I have managed to isolate five clear and distinctive adult size shoe prints over there. I'll cast them but how can we be sure that they belong to our abductor and not a parent or even Mr Kessler?"

"I'll print Jerome Kessler's shoes and fingers next to rule him out."

Nick nodded his head. "Do we agree Alison's been taken? I heard the cadets found something…"

"Yeah, her teddy bear. It all points in that direction unfortunately so we'll treat the case as such and not leave anything to chance. Not that we would anyway."

"Okay," Nick said in a soft voice. "Now, there's something else and maybe I should have started with that. The bucket's plastic handle seems to be snapped off at the side…"

"You think someone yanked it from her grasp?"

"Could be. I'll make sure to print it and the rest of the toys too just in case, while the plaster of Paris dries."

"Are there any obvious signs of struggle?" Catherine asked. "Although if that had been the case, her grand-father would have been alerted to the fact that something was wrong," she mused answering her own question. "I'll mention it to Vartann so that we can compare this to the witnesses' statements."

"You know Catherine," Nick said, continuing with his previous train of thoughts, "the handle could just have been broken to start off with."

Catherine let out a sigh, nodding her head slowly. Little evidence and none of it conclusive. She then heard the joyful bark of a dog playing fetch in the distance. Maybe the scent dogs would have more luck, she thought.

"Sorry I don't have more," Nick mused aloud after a moment.

The supervisor shrugged sadly. "The evidence is what it is, Nicky."

"Still."

"Let's hope Greg fared better."

"Meanwhile, I'll keep digging." Nick gave her a soft wink in an attempt to perk her up. "So to speak."

She smiled at his kindness and looked at her watch. Almost 6.30 pm. Time to get an update from Greg. As she took her cell phone out of her pants pocket to inquire after his progress, the device vibrated in her hand before she even had time to scroll down the list of names. She smiled when she recognised the caller's ID.

"Greg," she replied without preamble, "tell me you've got something."

"Well" he started a little breathlessly "you want the bad, the not-so-bad or the good news?"

Catherine let out a long breath. "Cut to the chase."

"All right. She definitely left the park. The dogs picked up her trail leading away in a northern direction toward East Sunset Road for a hundred metres."

"How do you know they didn't pick up her scent from when she arrived at the park?"

"I was hoping you'd ask me that and I've got an answer. I checked with Vartann who checked with grandpa and they arrived from the opposite direction. As a matter of fact the dogs stopped by Kessler's car on the way out, had a good sniff but carried on round. Did you know he drives a Porsche Boxter?"

"Greg!" she protested impatiently.

"Sorry."

Well, we might not have to dredge the lake after all, Catherine thought."The bad news?" she asked, still undecided as to whether his last piece of information was good or bad.

"Well the dogs sprinted off again – and I tell you next time Riley can do the foot pursuit! – and they followed Alison's trail all the way over to Pine Street and stopped just in front of St Mary's church. They circled around that same spot on the side of the road and that was it. The trail ran cold. I'm thinking the kidnapper had a car waiting there."

"Possibly," she said sceptically. There was no evidence of a kidnapper yet. "Is that where you're at now?"

"Yep, I've noticed…"

Catherine couldn't make out what Greg said next, his reply drowned out by the loud roaring of the thrusting jet engines of yet another aeroplane departing from McCarran. She tilted her head up toward the sound to watch a Boeing 737 climb steeply into the sky and negotiate a tight upward turn in the distance.

Alison could be on any of these planes by now she mused.

Greg promptly came back on the line. "Do you want me to head to the airport next?" he asked seemingly reading her mind.

She smiled into the phone. "No. Vartann's put an APB out with airport security and the air marshals so…let's trust our law enforcement colleagues and hope they're keeping an eye out."

"What I was trying to say before" Greg continued, "is that I noticed some traffic cameras over on East Sunset Road. I thought I could go check them out."

"Good idea. Concentrate on any surveillance, CCTV footage, traffic cameras, anything that could have picked up Alison's whereabouts. We don't know that she's not lost, just walking around trying to find her way back."

"True. But we're talking a bit more than a mile here…and bare-footed."

Catherine could hear the disbelief in Greg's words. "Listen Greg, when you have a list of where the cameras are, get it to the lab. When Ray comes in, he can go through the proper channels to secure warrants for the recordings. You in the meantime will start on door-to-door canvas, retracing your steps back toward the park. I'm going to call Riley in and get her to give you a hand. How does that sound?"

"Great," Greg muttered, unimpressed.

"So I guess that takes care of the good news," she said ignoring his last comment. "Good work Greg and keep me in the loop."

With that, she snapped her phone shut, walked toward the bench Kessler had been sitting on and began to scan the surrounding area for further evidence. She saw his discarded newspaper as well as a small cool box. I wonder if Mr Kessler has managed to get a hold of Heather yet.

Tbc.

A/N: Reviews and comments are always welcomed and appreciated.