Disclaimer – Please see chapter 1
A/N – Thank you for the great reviews guys, I lreally ove reading them and appreciate them so much – Sorry for not having time to reply individually, but I have been bogged down and just wanted to get another chapter out for you soon! Please R & R – Enjoy!
The Mrs Grissom's Gauntlet A La Vegas Chapter 4
Deep in thought now, Sara was thinking of all the ramifications of Esther Grissom having clearly been at their crime scene a matter of only just over an hour and twenty minutes before the explosion.
Shit! She could have been walking by the car when the bomb went off!
She could have been Killed!...Or...Or seriously injured.
Oh god! What would I have told Gil then, if she had...
How would I have been able to tell him?.
He would have been devastated.
Inconsolable.
Begun to withdraw from everyone, while he dealt with his grief in his own way, this very thought had a lump forming in her throat, thinking of his inner pain and being unable to let anyone help him through it.
Don't even go there, she thought a little relieved to not have to right now.
She's okay
She's fine.
Esther's good and healthy, you just saw her earlier...Albeit, not under the best of circumstances, but the old dear was still very much alive and kicking, and still her formidable self.
Then it occurred to her that if his mother had any involvement what so ever to do with the womans car exploding, she would have to recuse herself from the case, being closely related to her.
But then again if she is?
And depending on to what degree she is.
If Gil couldn't head up the case himself to make sure it was thoroughly investigated by the book, he'd want the next best thing...And he's already stated he'd want me, if it were him in that situation.
Although that would be a mute point, now that we're married.
A thought suddenly hit Archie "You think Griss' Mom could be a viable suspect?" he asked incredibly.
Brought back to the image staring back at her, Sara startled at his abrupt question "What!...Are you serious?" she turned her attention to the AV tech now "No!" she quickly replied, then added a little uncertainly "I don't think so Archie".
But her initial gut instinct told her, that Mrs Esther Grissom wasn't involved in any wrong doing.
"She's in her 80's for crying out loud. She's one person I know 'wouldn't' ever, even hurt a fly" Sara defended adamantly, knowing her statement to be true if the woman had put up with Gil's bug fascination and obsession all these years.
"You said she never...They never, even looked or went near the Honda" she stated, "So there's no reason to suspect her...Them" she kept up Esther's defense, but she couldn't really vouch for the other woman.
"Thats right" Archie replied as he watched the CSI thinking "But I still need to check the rest of the tapes yet" he added.
Now what was that other woman's name? She tried to recall the hasty introduction from yesterday.
I was in such a rush to get out of the condo, I didn't really register the smug looking womans name, she thought.
H...Helena...No...I'm sure it began with an 'H' though...Hon...Har...Hazel...No...Ha...Hannah! That was it! But for the life of me I don't think I caught her surname, she gave up, then spoke to Archie again.
"What time did they arrive and park up in the lot?" she asked, the wheels of her work mind now working at full speed.
Hitting his keyboard, Archie with some eagle eyed spotting, soon found the dark colored Ford Taurus entering the lot hours earlier on another tape in the set-up "It enters just as the workers evening rush heads out. Six thirty four pm exactly" he said indicating to the clock in the lower right hand corner of the smaller monitor.
"The younger woman driver locks up, then they make their way right to the elevator, seemingly to be rushing, and not registering the presence of the Ms Gilbert's car" he stated as he let the gray fuzzy recording run on.
"Okay. So for now there doesn't look to be anything suspicious about their presence there. Just coincidence then, maybe" Sara theorized.
"It looks that way so far" Archie agreed.
"I've got to get back to Greg and then meet up with Jim to interview Ms Gilbert" she told the AV tech, then glanced around lowering her voice "Uh, can we just keep this..." she indicated to the other, still frozen image of the women on the screen.
Knowing how private Sara was known to be, he quickly understood what she was about to ask of him "Yeah, sure. My lips are sealed unless she becomes a part of the investigation. Then I will have..." he was then interrupted by her, an unspoken understanding reached.
"Yes of course, without a doubt" she paused to take in a relieved breath "Thanks Arch. I appreciate your discretion".
Looking a little uncomfortable now, the tech spoke to break the awkward moment "I'll get right on with checking out your cell" he said picking up the device "Shouldn't take too long. Want me to page you when I'm done?" he asked.
Thankfully, Sara grinned "If you could. I'm expecting a call, so I'd be grateful to get it fixed as soon as you can".
Leaving Archie to return to Greg in the layout room, her thoughts returned to her Mother in law and when exactly she had gotten into Vegas yesterday, and trying to remember the other womans full name.
Taking a close look at the phone in his hand, Archie powered up the battery, which indicated it was low to start with, then he plugged it into the main charger unit he had nearby, that fit most of the lab regulation, standard cell phones.
Scrolling through the history he looked at the times text messages had been sent and received, that hadn't added up to when they should have been.
Making a quick call to a like minded high tech buddy of his across town, he was soon told that the network that the LVPD crime lab phones used, had experienced some glitches the last few days, but were now fixed, which would in some way explain Sara's malfunctioning cell.
Low battery life, and, or even the fact that the battery in the cell was faulty probably added to the problem, so he decided to fit a new one in it for her.
Ten minutes later after signing out for a new battery down at human resources, Archie was satisfied that the phone was now in full working order, so was on his way to find Sara to return it to her.
The ringing and vibrating in his hand alerted him to an incoming call, so he flipped it open and saw that the caller was Grissom, so he pressed the green button to talk.
"Sara...Honey. I'm so sorry about the situation with Mom staying and not letting you know about it sooner, but..." Grissom went right into saying before Archie had a chance to intercept him, then sighed before saying any more.
"Hi honey" Archie replied in an obviously fake, high pitched female type voice, while trying to hold back a laugh.
"Huh?" Grissom asked a little stupidly, then added with concern "Sara are you okay honey, you don't sound too good".
Holding the phone against his chest to muffle the slight titter of his laughter, Archie then returned it to his ear as he composed himself "Uh huh, but your in the dog house Gilbert" he spoke with amusement in his pseudo womans tone.
Now clearly suspicious that his wife would never use that term of reference to him, and whilst he believed he'd upset her over his Mothers unexpected stay, Grissom tentatively asked "To whom exactly am I speaking too?".
Archie having had some fun initially, now worried about his former boss being disappointed at what he would deem as infantile and pointless behavior, so remained quiet.
"Greg" Grissom's warning tone came over the line.
Staying silent again, Archie winced at the thought of Greg clearly being Grissom's number one suspect.
"Your in the lab. I can hear all the sounds associated with having worked there a considerable length of time. And if I'm not mistaken you've just passed reception, going by the sound of Judy's fax machine, and the echo of her intercom having just been switched off" Grissom added with a little amusement in his voice.
Shit! Nothing wrong with his hearing, Archie thought as he snatched the phone from his ear, just to look at it with incredulity checking to make sure there wasn't a hidden camera on it.
Now that really is way too freaky! He came to a halt in amazement.
Hell! What surgery 'did' he have done in 2003?, a bionic hearing device implanted, he thought astonished at the guys ability to pick up on sounds that probably no one else bother to make a mental note of.
A little unsettled, he glanced around the glass walls of the corridor into several labs, to make sure Grissom wasn't just stood somewhere there, watching him, but he remained silent, deciding it was probably the best option to end the call.
Hah! Not so clever that you got the wrong suspect bugman, Archie grinned at the prospect of getting one over on Grissom for once.
Home run, for the genius, audio visual tech!
Suppressing a chuckle the tech was about to close the phone when Grissom carried on talking.
"Now that you've had your kicks, could you please hand the cell phone back to my wife please?" Grissom intoned with all seriousness "I'd like to speak with her Archie" he then added after a pause.
The tech audibly gasped.
WTF!
No way!
How in the hell did...? Archie thought wide eyed and startled.
Hearing a recognizable chuckle through the line now, Archie seemed to wither on the spot as he panicked, thinking of a way to get out of this.
"Wanna know what gave you away?" Grissom asked.
Aw naw man! So caught at first base.
"Uh, Sorry Griss I just fixed Sara's phone and was taking it right back to her when you called, and...I couldn't resist" Archie weakly apologized.
"Accepted. Purely educated guess. Now my wife please?" he said with an air of compassion in his voice.
"Yeah sure, I'll get the phone to her as soon as I find her Grissom" he stated just before ending the call & doing just that.
When Sara had been given her phone and told by Archie to call her husband, she had instructed Greg to follow up on trying to trace the source origin of the damaged remnants, of the cell from the explosion site, while she went to meet up with Brass for the interviewing of Ms Gilbert at the deaf college.
Greg had managed to isolate two batch numbers from the metal tubing and off one of the cap ends of the home made bomb, he knew it was a long shot, but he was willing to follow up on it, in an attempt to try to track the buyer of the parts if need be.
Tool mark impression molds were also taken by him in the time he'd been left alone, while Sara had been in the AV lab, so he would also process them too, until they had further information to work with.
Heading through the lab she spotted Mandy, so ducked inside her lab quickly "Anything yet?" she asked hopefully.
"Not yet. But I'm getting on to your stuff right now though" Mandy replied looking up from her close inspection of a print lift tape.
"Okay can you give the report to Greg in the layout room when your done, and have him call me with any promising findings please" Sara replied as she smiled friendly at the tech, then left in a hurry.
Sara hit her speed dial number to call Gill, as she made her way out to the parking lot, but only got his voice mail, so she frustratingly left him a message "Gil I've got my cell back, and I'm on my way to meet up with Brass right now, but please call again soon" she sighed heavily "I miss you...And I'd really like to hear you...Love you...Bye".
Resigned to not hearing from Gil yet again, she got into her Prius and drove out of the lot to go meet with Jim for a twenty minute drive ahead of her.
"You look beat Mrs Grissom" Jim greeted with a bit of concern, as Sara strolled up to him lent against his Taurus.
"Thanks for the compliment Jim" Sara replied with a sarcastic grin, making a mental note to take a shower when she returned to the lab, and maybe apply a little makeup, to look more awake and alert.
He took the time to note the beginnings of her old trademark dark circles under her eyes, then added with a pointed look "I hope your taking good care of yourself lately".
"Look Jim, I just had rather a rude awakening yesterday evening, after what was probably a record number of hours sleep for me, and leave it at that shall we" Sara answered with patience, even though she actually felt quite tired now.
He dumped his empty take out coffee cup in the trash, then indicated for her to follow him "Okay, I just don't want the old man coming all the way back from Paris to kick my ass, because I'm not keeping an eye on his Mrs, like I promised is all".
"Hey, I'm a big girl now and know how to look after myself" Sara said indignantly.
Holding his hands up in a placating manner, Jim tried not to piss her off anymore than he possibly could have already "Okay, okay. Just do me a favor and try keep your sidearm in it's holster today" he chuckled "I could do without any heart palpitations right now" he grinned at her.
Opening the door for herself with a cheeky smile, in a show of independence to Jim, Sara spoke "Busted. So your the one who's been regularly updating Gil then".
"Jealous much" he joked, trying to make light of the seriousness of her increased gun usage, since returning to the CSI lab "Hey, I can't help it if I'm such a popular guy with your concerned hubby, can I".
"Don't you mean worried sick Jim? I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't tell him of every incident where I've had to draw my gun" She sighed at thought of all the times over the telephone line, at odd hours of the day, when she'd had to reassure him that she was indeed fine and taking every precaution to stay safe.
"He's really not happy with me being in any situations where there is a possibility of gunfire, or of me getting hurt, and I don't want that to be the deciding factor for him returning to the states before his teaching contract has ended" Sara added, hoping he'd try not to further worry Gil, after his latest threat via phone, to come back home to Vegas immediately.
Striding into the reception area, Jim replied "So I'll lay off the dramatics when he asks, but I wont lie to him Sara" he rubbed his face wearily, uncomfortable about being put on the spot by her "I'm just looking out for you, for him okay".
Jim introduced them both and told the receptionist they were expected by the president, then they were led down a corridor to Ms Gilbert's office.
Leaning in closer behind Sara's shoulder, Jim whispered in her ear "Try to keep a lid on your temper with this chick this time, wont you", to which he received a warning glare from Sara.
As they neared the office doorway, partitioned with half glass, loud muffled, but raised voices could be heard "Excuse me. I will let Ms Gilbert know that your here to see her" the receptionist said a little embarrassed, by the noise emanating from the office, as she slipped into the room.
Looking over the top through the glass section, Sara could see Jane Gilbert sat at her desk, looking clearly agitated, while her hands worked furiously, and her off tone voice enunciated several words.
Sitting with her back to them, was an unknown blond woman, who's own hands worked at a quick rate of signing, her voice similar to that of the president.
The receptionist looked to interrupt them mid argument and inform Dr Gilbert of her guests, she looked up, leveling her glacial gaze with Sara.
Jane Gilbert gave the CSI her best look of contempt before signing that she had visitors, clearly still unforgiving of Sara's insensitivity, and lack of understanding foible years ago.
"I'll take that as, our victim still isn't happy with me handling her case then, Jim" Sara said while facing away from the woman, looking at Brass, so as not to let the woman lip read her.
Sara was turning back around to face the office, when the door flew open, and the other arguing woman flew out in a hurry, letting her get only get a brief gimps of who it had been.
Right away, a tiny spark of recognition registered in Sara's brain, but because she hadn't seen the full facial features of the female, She couldn't place her exactly.
"You ready?" Jim nudged her, as the receptionist held the door open for them.
"Yeah" Sara said watching the retreating back of the disgruntled woman, going down the corridor.
On entering Sara took a deep calming breath, then immediately smiled in a friendly manner, before making sure her face was fully visible to Ms Gilbert, as she began to both speak and sign fluently.
"/Hello Dr Gilbert. I hope you are feeling much better after last night/" Sara, smiled again warmly.
Jane Gilberts expression softened as she watched Sara stood before her, an appreciative smile graced her mouth as she held out her hand, while indicating that they should take the two seats in front of her desk.
Jim sat, but Sara preferred to stand while she signed, introducing herself and the police captain.
"/We hope you will be able to provide us with any information that might help us with the investigation and catching whoever did this to you/" Sara added.
The President apologized for judging Sara this time, by her previous meeting with her in years gone by, then said "/Your ALS is very impressive Ms Sidle. Where did you learn to sign so fluently?/".
"/I learned the basics with an on-line website and books on the subject, but mostly I've had private tutoring for the last five years/" Sara replied cryptically.
Brass coughed lightly, he knew damned well who'd taught her, and he just bet that they'd had quite some fun with it too.
Sara shot him a glare, before looking back at Ms Gilbert.
"/Well your teacher taught you well, and you've certainly mastered it like a natural/" Ms Gilbert complimented.
Sara then went right into asking her all the questions that she thought were pertinent to the case, including a full run down of her movements that whole day, both women were much more relaxed and comfortable in each others presence now.
The receptionist reappeared later, sheets of papers in hand, as the interview was coming to a close "Here is the itinerary list for Dr Gilbert's scheduled day, for yesterday, and the Invited guests and board members list, of the department of deaf cultural studies meeting last night" she gave them to Sara with a gentle smile, then left again.
Sara thanked the woman, then stood asking 'Jane', they were on first name terms now "/Your earlier heated discussion with Ms Nichols who left in a rush when we arrived, was that in connection to last nights meeting?/" she asked, the slight recognition earlier was still nagging at her, but the name meant nothing to her at all.
"/Yes, she is still a little upset at the budgeting decisions that were made for the next twelve months by the board/" she answered.
"/Her proposed, projects allocation of money for an overseas student exchange program, has been suspended for this next financial year/" she sighed heavily "/She left the meeting early with another invited guest/".
Jane winced ever so slightly, before adding "/But the funds I requested for the students at the college, towards specific future socializing events, to improve, and encourage increased confidence for those leaving the safety of this college, were given the go ahead for two years and possibly more. Thats depending on the outcome of the success of it helping deaf young people to integrate, and be accepted better into society/".
A thought suddenly struck Jane, at the line of questioning "/You don't really think she's a suspect do you?/" shaking her head at the CSI and Captain she continued "/She's been a dedicated and hard working teacher at this college for the past five years. She came highly recommended to us for the post, and has been a personal friend of mine throughout that time/".
"/Your looking in the wrong direction Sara. Hannah just wouldn't do this...She's so gentle, caring, compassionate and kind, that she'd be incapable of trying to harm someone the way, whoever tried to with me/" she stood herself now, with pleading eyes.
"/Okay, but we still have to look into every possibility and cover all the bases, just to make sure we're doing our jobs correctly Jane/" Sara smiled "/Thank you for all the information, it will be very helpful to us with our work/" Sara smiled again "/We may need to speak with you about certain aspects, but we'll keep you updated with any developments/" she offered, with a held out hand to shake.
Walking down the corridor back to their respective cars, Sara opened the file she was holding and glanced down at the list of board members and guests at the meeting Ms Gilbert had attended.
"Well that went well" Jim commented with a smirk "So, you know how to do sign language now, huh" he added, hoping to open up a conversation with the brunette who was reading the file.
The name 'Grissom' jumped off the page at Sara and she stopped suddenly, re-reading the line her eyes had just seen.
Guest - Mrs Esther Grissom - Representative - California Deaf Cultural Studies.
Sara groaned lightly "I don't need this" she mumbled, then read on.
Underneath Mrs Grissom's name was printed Ms Hannah Nichols and her professional details, listed as a guest to the meeting as well, then the penny dropped for Sara, with all the pieces agonizingly coming together.
Hannah Nichols was the friend of her mother in law, who Sara had met only very briefly, but horribly embarrassingly so the evening before, the very same woman who had been arguing with the victim not that long ago, and who could quite possibly be their suspect in the bombing.
"Need what?" Brass asked frowning at her concerned.
Sara rubbed at her temple, a slight headache was forming, from tiredness or the development, she couldn't define as yet "I'll tell you while you take me for a coffee" she said rather disheartened.
A/N – I am posting this in a rush, because I am going away for a pre-Christmas break tomorrow morning for 4 days :). Hope you enjoyed this chapter and how the story is going so far. I am still trying to add humor and case stuff in the chapters where I can & trying to make it believable. My apologies for any inconsistencies with anything to do with deaf services/titles for the USA etc It's not a field I am familiar with, or had the time to research for the story so far. Probably 1 more chapter will be posted before the Christmas holidays, with a treat of some GSR thrown into the mix as well :)
Please take the time to leave a review/comment, it really does encourage further writing and they really are gratefully appreciated.
Ms