Chapter 3
Catherine paused in front of the tow truck. She pointed at the apparently fresh dents and scratch marks in the white paintwork of the front of the cab. "So did you run into a wall?"
"I didn't do it no one saw me do it you can't prove anything," replied Mark. Catherine glared at him. He smiled somewhat apologetically. "Sorry. But I really don't know what happened. It was like that this morning when Josh tossed me the keys."
Catherine walked over to where Nick and Warrick had pulled up in their Tahoe. "Hey, "said Warrick. "Someone call for Jacques Cousteau?"
Catherine laughed. "Believe it. Grissom's waiting for you on the fifth floor." She pointed to the building entrance "And yes, I did say fifth floor. Nick, you and I are going to check out next door."
Warrick waved and headed off to join Grissom. Nick followed Catherine's gaze. "Who's that?"
"The guy that found the body, Mark Scott. He seems to know Brass pretty well."
Brass opened the cab door to the tow truck and was greeted enthusiastically by a large German Shepard dog.
"So does his dog," remarked Nick.
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Grissom watched Warrick with an amused look on his face. "When you're ready."
"Sorry," said Warrick, snapping back to reality. "It's just not everyday I see a car in a swimming pool, never mind a pool on the fifth floor."
"I've checked around the pool, but there's nothing except where the mechanic got in and out of the pool. Catherine has photographed the scene. Which just leaves ..."
Warrick grimaced. "Let me guess. The pool. And I guess that's my job."
Grissom merely shrugged. Warrick removed his shoes and shirt and emptied his trouser pockets. Grissom pointed to the area of the pool near the now dwindling puddle of water. "Try here. This should be the drivers side, and the body is in the drivers seat."
Warrick carefully slid into the pool, took a deep breath, and dived under the water. He surfaced a short time later. "One dead male Caucasian. Bullet hole to the right temple. His head is slumped against the window, and it's a mess. Plenty of blood and grey matter. What is it with head wounds today?"
"Any water in the car?"
"Not much. The doors are closed and the windows are up. The sunroofs leaking a bit of water, but not too much."
"So the windows and doors were all closed when the car entered the pool. No one got out of the car, because that would have let water in. So this could be a really strange suicide or ..."
"... or someone else is still in the car? I'll take a look, but it's hard to see. The windows are tinted." Warrick dove down again. "I can't see anything from this side. I'll try from the passenger side." Warrick swam round the car, careful not to touch it, and dove down once more. "No one that I can see."
"OK. Well there's not much more we can do with the car in the pool. You'd better get out and we'll work out how we're going to get the car out. Maybe Nick and Catherine are having more luck on next door's roof."
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"No skid marks." Nick was carefully photographing the rooftop parking area.
Catherine bent down. "There is some glass though. Looks like a broken tail light." She carefully placed the pieces in a bag. "Hmm, what do have we here?"
Nick joined her as she retrieved a swab and a bottle of fluid from her kit. She carefully swabbed the dark coloured spots she'd found, and then applied a few drops of fluid to the swab. They both watched as the swab changed color. "Positive for blood."
Nick started to photograph the blood spots. Catherine took a few more swabs and placed them in evidence bags. "Greg will be able to tell us if this is from our vic. What about the barrier?"
Nick was just photographing the barrier. "Well there's definitely a piece missing, but I don't see it down below. Maybe it's in the pool." He waved at Warrick and Grissom. "Hey guys, nice day for a swim." Warrick waved back. "That was one hell of a shot to get the car in the pool. A couple of foot either side and it would have either skidded into the wall round the terrace or straight into the apartment."
Catherine was busy examining the area surrounding the missing barrier. "What does this look like to you Nick?"
"Hmmm. Looks like scratch marks."
"Or tool marks?"
"Could be. What are you thinking Catherine?"
"Maybe the barrier was removed."
"But why would someone do that?"
"Good question Nick. Lets dust for fingerprints and get back to the lab."