Disclaimer: See Chapter One
A/N: Sorry about the boringness of the first chapter, however it was necessary for the rest of the story. If anyone is actually reading this, I warn you know that I'm a massive perfectionist, just to write a 800 word chapter can take me up to two or three hours, and I may change previously posted chapters slightly to match a new and better idea. I know where this story is going, I'm just not sure of the best way to get there, so consider this whole thing a massive WIP until it is actually completely finished. Enough from me, on with some more exposition!
Chapter Two
Two weeks had passed since the court hearing, and things were getting back to normal. As sad as it sounds, the crimes had been typical, nothing out of the ordinary. It was a strange thing when you began to think of murder, homicide, and burglary as ordinary, but it was a sad fact of life. Especially in Las Vegas. Grissom got the call to head out to a crime scene in Henderson while he was still in his apartment getting ready for shift. The dispatcher said that it looked like a body dump, possible rape among other things. By the time he got down there Sara was already processing, taking photographs of the body and the site. Warrick and Catherine were surveying the area around the body, and Nick was checking the body itself, David having given him the all clear.
"Liver temp put her death approximately five hours ago. She shows outward signs of rape - bruising and tearing - as well as overt signs of other abuse, consistent with rough, non-consensual sex. Her lavidity doesn't match the position she's in right now, the blood settled to her back, not her side, suggesting she was dead for a couple of hours before her body was taken here. Looks like COD was strangulation, definite ligature marks on her neck, but I'm sure Dr. Robbins will give you a definitive answer when we get her into autopsy."
"Thanks David," Grissom replied half-heartedly. He was more focused on the girl herself. He could have sworn that he had seen her somewhere before.
"Look familiar?" the voice came from behind him. He turned to see Catherine looking down at the body with grim determination. "That's Erin Woolward. She was the daughter of Matthew Woolward, one of Las Vegas's biggest philanthropists. Multimillionaire, or he would be if he kept any of the money his casino makes. Instead he gives almost all of it to charity, keeping just enough for him and his daughter to live off of. She was following in his footsteps. Volunteered for all sorts of organizations, was planning on going to college to become a child psychologist after she graduated high school, so she could 'help those more needy than herself and her Dad'."
"And how do you know all this?"
"It's been a continuous story in the newspaper. The Las Vegas Tribune has been following them for a couple of months now. The family is up for a humanitarian award at the end of the year."
Captain Brass walked up to the group. "Media's going to be all over this. Erin Woolward and her Dad were all over the news, and the public is not going to take kindly to Erin's murder, especially after Mallory walked out of that courtroom a couple weeks ago."
Grissom didn't need to be a political player to understand the ramifications of this situation. "We'll do what we always do. Tell them the bare minimum. Try to keep as much of this out of the news as possible until we get whoever did this."
"Well, we'd better find the guilty SOB soon," said Brass as the news vans began to pull up.
