Devil's Breath
Chapter Four
Morgan replied, "I can't believe this. So far, we've got blood covering Greg's shirt, gunshot residue all over his hands, and now a gun found inside his apartment, which will probably be tested positive for Greg's fingerprints, but what we don't have is a body. Is it just me, or does all of this look like a frame job to you too?"
Nick angrily responded, "A really good frame job. If things continue going the way they are, I'll bet that a body will show up before too long."
"I'm afraid a body's already shown up down on the strip early this morning," Jim spoke as he and Russell walked up to them. "Sara got the call and took it on her own, then was joined by a CSI on the day shift to help her out, seeing as the rest of us were all busy. The gun used to kill our victim was a nine millimeter, the same type of gun we found inside Greg's apartment."
"Yeah, but that kind of weapon is one of the most popular guns used," Nick protested.
D.B. looked through the window at Greg, who was once again staring off in the distance, and then answered, "Yes, but while David examined the body, Sara talked to several witnesses to the murder, all of whom got a good look at the shooter. Their accounts all match Greg's description."
Morgan objected as she angrily replied, "They're wrong. It's impossible. Greg would never kill anybody unless it was in self defense, like Demetrius James."
"I'm afraid the witnesses all state just the opposite," Jim responded. "They say that Greg walked straight up behind the victim and as he turned around, Greg fired a single shot into his chest, waited for our guy to fall dead, and then took off running before anyone could even try to catch him."
"What kind of drug is powerful enough to get Greg to kill a man and wipe out his memory for the last twenty-four hours?" Nick asked in confusion.
D.B. shook his head as he answered in frustration, "I don't know. Hopefully his tests results will get back soon."
Jim nodded and then grimly spoke up again saying, "Unfortunately, I've got no choice. I have to bring Greg in."
"I'm ready," Greg replied suddenly as he walked out from his room and put his arms up so that the captain could handcuff him.
"That won't be necessary," Brass responded as he lowered Greg's arms again and then gently squeezed his shoulder for comfort. "I know you didn't do this Greg, at least not without drugs, or force."
Greg looked between his friends and answered, "I'm glad all of you seem so confident that I didn't do this because I'm certainly not so sure. You've got to admit, all the evidence stacked up against me is pretty damning. Do me a favor, please don't try to tell me that I'm not a killer anymore. Just do what we do and find out the truth, even if the truth is not what we're hoping for."
As the rest of the CSI's watched Jim escort Greg away, Morgan said, "This isn't right. How did this spin out of control so fast? Even if we can prove Greg's innocence, he will never be the same again. You both saw the look on his face? He's given up all hope."
"Then, we just have to give it back to him," D.B. spoke up again. "We're going to get everyone on this. Evidence against him may be piling up, but we're going to get to the bottom of this. Greg may be our shooter, but I'll bet you anything that whoever did this to Greg, has left behind evidence too. Greg's friend, Tom Lovell, is involved in this somehow. I want us to find out everything there is to know about this guy, as he is for now, our number one suspect."
Back at the crime lab…
Julie walked through the hallways toward the morgue in order to talk to Dr. Robins and David about their victim's death, despite knowing that the cause of death was definitely a bullet to the chest. She hoped that the doctor might have something that could actually help Greg, instead of convicting him.
"Is it true?" Sara suddenly asked angrily as she rounded the corner and walked up to Julie just before she entered the room. "Is Greg really our shooter?"
Julie walked inside, followed by Sara, causing Dr. Robbins and David to look up from their examination of the body, then she turned to her, and replied, "It looks that way. I know that you want to protest, as do I, but the evidence doesn't lie."
The doctor turned to them and responded, "I certainly hope that you are also able to find evidence as to why all this has happened. That young man doesn't deserve to be sent to a place where real psychopaths and murderers are held."
"No, he doesn't," David agreed.
"I know," Julie said. "Other than the obvious cause of death, doc, were you able to find anything else that could help us? Were you able to find out the name of our victim yet?"
David quickly answered for him, "According to his fingerprints, his name is Judd Eppes and our database shows that he's got a minor criminal record for blackmail."
Sara replied, "Well that sounds promising. We may have a motive if whoever did this to Greg had a reason to want Judd here dead, but how did whoever behind all this get Greg to go after and shoot this guy?"
"Hopefully finding out what drugs Greg was given will help you to answer that," Dr. Robbins responded. "As for whatever else I can tell you, I found that the bullet found in his chest wound caused at least three of his ribs to break, or more like shatter, from the force of the bullet breaking through to his heart. This doesn't happen often unless…"
"Unless the bullet was fired from up to a few feet away," Sara answered.
Julie spoke again saying, "Which means the witness' stories just proved to be true; that Greg did indeed shoot him from close up. We need to bring all of them in for a line up, just to see if they can really identify Greg as the shooter, or not."