Chapter 4
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--Warrick and Catherine arrived at the scene. It was a mad house; parents lined the block looking for their kids. Catherine felt a pang of sympathy, she would do the same for Lindsay. David was already there and on his way out.
"Time of death was about five hours ago. You guys have fun." David hurried out.
"Well, lets do it." Warrick said with almost a sigh.
--The little girl who found the body was with her parents and one of the officers. She looked so young to burden such a heavy load. Finding a dead man is not the type of the thing a six year old should see.
"I'll go talk to the girl and the family, see what I can gather." Catherine grabbed her gear.
"Okay I'll be with the body." Warrick said.
"Hi I'm Catherine Willows with the Las Vegas Crime Lab and I'd like to ask some questions."
"Make it brief my daughter has been through enough." The father held a protective arm around his family's shoulders.
"Hi what is your name?"
"Laura White."
"That's a pretty name. Listen I want you to help me because I'm a little confused. Could you help me?"
The little girl looked up to her father, who gave a short nod. "Yeah."
"Do you come here often?"
"Yes when its real hot."
"Have you seen this man here a lot?" Catherine showed the girl a picture of the man.
"Yeah, he always picks the same spot by the pool to lay. But he is real mean. He yells at me and my friends when our ball rolls over there. And today he got real upset because I took his spot to play with my Barbies. I don't like him."
"Today did you notice anyone with him or talking to him?"
"No not really. Is that okay?"
"Oh that's fine, you don't have to know. How did you find the man?"
"I went home when he yelled at me, but I came back to play with Ashley, she's my best friend. Our beach ball rolled over there but he never moved. I went to go get it when I saw the blood." The girl turned around and cried into her mother's shirt. "I think you are done." Mr. White said.
"Thanks for your cooperation. Thank you Laura for your everything, it helped me a lot."
--Catherine found Warrick leaning over the body. It was found near the edge of the bushes just outside the swimming area. He was lying face down on a beach towel with a single gunshot wound to the back of the head. He was dressed in swimming trunks and was burnt from hours in the sun. Beside him lay his wallet, watch, sunscreen, and water bottle. Warrick bent down for a closer look. He found long hairs on his shorts and legs. He took a few for Greg back at the lab.
"What do ya got?"
"Looks like a hair. Its long and blond." Warrick smiled over to Catherine.
"Its not mine." She smiled back. "The girl that found him didn't see anyone with him."
"Check this out. His watch and wallet were never touched; still has fifty bucks in it."
"Rules out robbery."
"Why do you shoot someone and not bother to take the man's money?"
"Revenge, anger, there are lots of reasons we just have to find it."
"Why do you think Nick thought Grissom would assign this case to you and Sara?"
A big smile spread across Catherine's face. "He's a bad bluff is all."
"Oh yeah, and what do you know about bluffing?"
"Enough to make even your head spin."
"Is that right, you what to test my skills? Or can't you handle this."
"Watch yourself, you don't know what I can handle Warrick. That's dangerous territory." She never smiled so big. "Well I'm going to check the vic's car, I'm sure he has one."
"Okay, I finish up here."
--Warrick found a second hair on the body, but it was short and looked more like a fiber than a hair. Under the body the towel was soaked in blood. In his wallet, along with the money, was his driver's license. The man's name was Henry Golding from Las Vegas. There was no pictures of family, friends, or even a dog. Warrick got a feeling that he wasn't exactly outwardly friendly.
--At the car Catherine didn't find anything conclusive. Other than more money; more than the average person would carry around. Catherine knew she was dealing with someone with power. She couldn't wait to process the guy's wallet. She walked over to join Warrick again.
"Listen I going to go back to the lab, do you want me to take Greg the hair samples?" Catherine asked.
"Yeah that would be great. I think I'll catch up with you later. I want to check this address on his I.D. I will see you later won't I?"
"Why Warrick do you miss me that much?"
Warrick scanned over her body. "I know how you get when you are solving a case. And of course."
She shot back a smile as she crawled into the car. "We'll have to play a game of poker sometime so I know when you're bluffing. It should prove very interesting."
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--The man's house was more or less a mansion and was definitely on the good side of town. A woman, judging by her attire was the maid, answered the door.
"Hi I'm Warrick Brown with the Las Vegas crime lab. Can I come in?"
"Please. Mr. Golding isn't here right now but I'm sure he won't be long."
"Actually we found Mr. Golding dead an hour ago."
"Goodness."
"Is there anything you can tell me about him that might be relevant. And I'll need your name."
"Rose Jackson. I have worked with Mr. Golding for six years."
"Does he have any family?"
"No. Mr. Golding was too self-centered and greedy to love someone."
--Warrick was taken back by her response and the woman noticed.
"Mr. Golding was a bad man, but he paid well. I put up with him because I needed the money. No one liked him, not even his partners at the firm. All he cared about was money and what you could do for him. He was a damn good lawyer."
"Where did he work?"
"Swanson & Swiss Attorneys at Law. He was climbing the corporate ladder fast from what I understand."
"Why did everyone hate him?"
"Like I said he used people to get ahead in life, and was just a jerk if you don't mind me saying. I really don't know much else."
"Thank you. I'll keep in touch if I have more questions."
--After the maid left, Warrick went upstairs to search the bedroom. The place was huge and very clean; the maid did a very good job. He couldn't believe some where so rich and others struggled just to get by. There was nothing in the closet that could be a match to the fibers found on his body, but he took samples for comparison anyway. He really had nothing to go on. He hoped Catherine was having better luck.
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"Listen Greg I need you to analyze these hairs as soon as you can. Don't put Grissom's in front of mine."
"I never show favorites but he already gave me his and it is running as we speak. But since I'm such a great guy and I know you love me, I'll start processing them."
"Thanks Greg."
--Twenty minutes later Greg paged Catherine with the results.
"That was fast."
"Yeah well I'm running Grissom's again. The results were confusing. Anyway both of your hairs are non human. The blond one is a creature with four legs. Do you know what it is?"
"Greg I don't feel like playing twenty questions."
"Right. It is a dog's hair; a collie's hair to be exact. And the other hair wasn't even a hair. It was a processed satin fiber, made in clothing."
"This is great, we're chasing after a collie in a expensive coat." Catherine sighed.
"Talk about your wolf in sheep's clothing." Greg worked on the bad usage of words.
"Well, thanks Greg. You better hurry with Grissom's results or he'll have your head."
"He'll have my head anyway," he called after her.
--Catherine met up with Warrick in the break room and told him the bad news.
"Does the man have a pet?" Catherine asked confused.
"Nope. I talked to the maid and he was alone for as long as she has worked for him. I'll take the fiber and find out were it was manufactured to see where that leads. With any luck something useful will turn up."
"Fine. I'll check his background history with his law firm to see if a colleague or client had a beef with him."
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--Catherine interviewed a lot of people and each one had motive. They all had some reason to hate him, even his "friends". It seemed hopeless when Brass called with new info.
"Hey Cath. How's it going?"
"Don't ask."
"I've got some interesting tidbits on your case."
"I thought you were working with Grissom?"
"They are at a dead end too, so I took a look at your case. I found that the day Mr. Golding was murdered he had a beef by the pool with one of the parents. They caused a lot of commotion."
"Who was it?"
"Mr. White, father of the little girl that found the body. And he was also a client of Mr. Golding four years ago."
"What was the fight about?"
"I don't know maybe you and Warrick should go talk to him."
"Right. Thanks Brass."
"No problem."
--Catherine joined up with Warrick who was still running a trace on the fiber. He let it run though the network, while he went with Catherine. When they arrived at Mr. White's home, their first long haired clue came trotting up to them, with Mr. White close behind.
"Can I help you?"
"Yes we need to ask more questions. It seems you forgot to mention that you and the victim had an exchange of words before he was murdered. Do you mind telling us what it was about?"
"Come in. Yes we had a fight. The man was being mean to my kid. All she did was take his spot by the pool and he yelled at her until she cried. She ran the whole way home. I went down there to set him straight. We conversed but then I left; that's all."
"Did your dog accompany you?"
"No."
"Could you tell us about your legal affair with Mr. Golding four years ago?" Catherine inquired.
"I wanted to sue my work for firing me after seven hard working years."
"What was there reason for firing you?"
"I believe they fired me because I threatened to expose the company for tax evasion. But that ass Golding turned the case around to benefit the company and himself."
"Mr. White," Warrick said "we have reason to believe your dog was with you and that there was a bigger altercation than you lead us to believe. We will need to take a sample of your dog's hair to clear it." There was a brief paused.
"That won't be necessary. Okay he was with me because I was afraid Golding would try something. That's the truth. The man was dangerous enough to make a child cry, so I took my dog with me. I still didn't kill him, it was broad daylight I couldn't kill him."
"There was a period where he was unaccounted for by the life guard. Where were you at 4:35 p.m.?"
"Here doing yard work. Ask my wife."
"Thanks for your time."
--Outside Catherine and Warrick regrouped.
"This case is one dead end after another."
"Patience Warrick. We'll catch the killer. I'm on the case and don't slack off 'til I catch my man."
"I'd hate to piss you off." He said to her.
"I'm driving. Let's go."
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