Chapter 2
Cate Dietz kicked herself after the quartet left the DNA lab. She couldn't believe her actions. To get caught, dancing, in the lab, on her first day, she sighed. At least it wasn't Mr. Grissom, she tried to console herself.
She also couldn't believe she'd acted so shy. It had only been a year since she last worked, she didn't think she'd be that insecure. She wasn't fresh out of college. This wasn't her first job. She figured it was probably just the way her last job ended, which wasn't very good. She decided she just needed time to adjust and then everything would be fine.
She took a few more deep breaths and got back to the evidence she was processing. She was still having a hard time concentrating, though. There was something about the Marshall and Otis evidence she had processed earlier that didn't sit right with her. She tried to shake it from her mind. She was just there to process the evidence and not to analyze it anymore. She'd given that up in Atlanta.
A little while later she realized she'd also given up her lunch hour. Her stomach had started to rumble and she couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten. Although her stomach was still a little knotted she decided she needed to eat something and so headed to the break room.
As she entered, she paused briefly when she saw the woman sitting at one of the tables. The woman, however, didn't seem to notice her. She walked over to her and asked, "Is it ok if I sit here?"
Sara looked up and gave her a slight smile. "Sure. As long as it's not tutu uncomfortable."
Cate forced herself to let out a little chuckle. She knew Sara was trying to be friendly. "Sara, right?"
Sara nodded. "Cate?"
Cate nodded. "I am so embarrassed," she replied as she sat down. "I'm a little nervous."
Sara sized up the woman across from her as she sat. Cate was about 5'6" with black hair, but the ponytail made it impossible to tell how long it was. "We don't bite," Sara finally replied. "So, where were you working before this?"
"Atlanta," Cate responded, taking a bite of her sandwich.
"Why'd you leave?" Sara was curious.
Cate knew this question was coming and knew it wasn't the easiest to answer. "I was…" she started, but stopped herself. "My grandmother fell ill and I moved to Las Vegas to take care of her. She passed away about a month ago, so I decided to come back to work. I was just lucky there was an opening."
"So, are you from Vegas originally?" Sara asked.
Cate shook her head, trying to finish chewing her sandwich before answering. "I wouldn't really say I'm from anywhere. My mom and I moved around a lot when I was a kid. My grandmother moved here about 15 years ago because her sister is here.
"What about you? Are you from Vegas?" Cate asked, not wanting the conversation to be one-sided.
"No, California," Sara responded. "I…" Sara gave an awkward smile. She hadn't explained why she came to Vegas in a long time. "I've known Grissom for a long time and he asked me to join his team here. I thought it was an honor so I left San Francisco and I've been here ever since."
Cate smiled. She would agree that it was an honor to be asked by Grissom personally to join his team. She wasn't sure how to verbalize it though without triggering more questions, so she took another bite of her sandwich while trying to figure out what to say. Finally she asked, "Do you like it?"
Sara's smile transformed into one of secret bliss, "Very much."
Cate noted the change in Sara's expression and wondered what it meant. She was just about to ask another question when Nick came in.
"Sara, we've got some new evidence," he told her. Then, noticing Cate he added with a smile, "Hello again."
Cate smiled in return, still a little unsure around her new coworkers.
"Ok, let's go," Sara replied and then stood. She and Nick exited, leaving Cate to her food.
She had finished her sandwich and was pondering her chips, but decided she didn't want to risk running into anyone else. Her nerves will still a little on edge. So, she packed up the rest of her lunch and headed back to the lab. She figured concentrating on her work would help settle her.
A couple days later and doors down the hall, Catherine couldn't get settled or analyze the evidence anymore. She'd been over it so many times. She just couldn't find a link between Kevin Otis and Gina Marshall. They had different parents, grew up in different neighborhoods, went to different schools, shopped at different stores. There was no indication that the two had even crossed paths.
Catherine heard a knock on the door and looked up. It was Grissom. "Any luck?" she asked, motioning him in.
He shook his head. "There were no witnesses to either crime, but apparently both were thought out. The retail store had surveillance cameras, but they were covered. And at the Marshall residence there was an alarm system, but apparently it was Gina's nightly routine to set it at nine."
Catherine ran a hand through her hair. "So what would be the common motive?"
Before Grissom could answer there was another knock on the door. Catherine and Grissom looked towards the sound in unison.
"Can I help you, Cate?" Catherine asked.
Cate was a little taken aback to see Grissom. She hadn't seen him since her first night so things had been going well. Plus, she had only planned on telling her findings to Catherine. "I, um, I have something I thought you might want to see," she replied, handing one of many manila folders she held to Catherine.
Catherine took the folder and looked at its contents. "You're sure of your results?" she asked, handing the folder off to Grissom.
"I double checked them," Cate responded.
Grissom, too, was surprised at the results. "Siblings?"
"Same paternal DNA," Cate stated.
"I talked to both mothers. Mr. Otis died 20 years ago and Mr. Marshall has been in jail for the last 15 years. So, Mr. Marshall had an affair with Justine Otis?
Grissom just shrugged. So far it was the only conclusion from the new evidence, but it was too early to say for sure.
Cate wrung her hands, hesitant to speak up. She was new and didn't know how her actions might be taken, but she couldn't help herself. Looking deeper was like breathing to her. She took a deep breath and started, "Well, I had an idea when I noticed the matching DNA."
Catherine and Grissom looked towards Cate. "An idea?" Catherine asked.
Cate nodded, and with Catherine's question a go-ahead, she continued "I looked into the files and noticed that both children had different parents and, of course, the first thought is always an affair. But then I noticed Mr. Otis died before Gina Marshall was even conceived and Mr. Marshall was only 16 when Kevin Otis was born, I figured there had to be another explanation."
"And that would be?" Catherine questioned.
She handed Catherine another folder. Again, Catherine took the folder and looked at it. She raised an eyebrow in surprise and gave Cate a questioning look.
Cate smiled awkwardly and answered the unasked question, "When I see hoof prints in the sand, my first thought is when was the last zebra sighting."
Grissom was intrigued by Cate's response. He wondered what the second folder Cate had handed Catherine contained. He reached for the folder and Catherine handed it to him.
"Sperm donor?" Grissom questioned.
Cate nodded, biting her lower lip. "There's a website where donor children can register and meet other children from the same donor," she said, handing Catherine another folder. "And Gina Marshall and Kevin Otis aren't the only children from the same donor."
Catherine opened this folder to see a print out of the website. "Where does it show that?" she asked, flipping through the pages.
"It…it doesn't say anything on the site. You have to register to see, but, um, I called in a favor and got the list." She handed Catherine the last folder.
"What about who the donor is?" Grissom asked, impressed she'd found out as much as she had.
"That, you'll have to get a court order for," Cate responded. "I only had one favor and that would have been number two."
Catherine, still a little taken aback asked, "You know someone at a sperm bank?"
Cate gave an awkward smile. "You'd be surprised the people I know."
Catherine smiled. "I'll bet. Well, Thank you," Catherine said to Cate, dismissing her. Then to Grissom, Catherine added, "Looks like we've got some more checking to do."