Disclaimer – I do not own any part of CSI.
Chapter 7 – Discovery
Sara walked around the eerily still room, but she also welcomed the silence, she could think better.
Her gloved hand brushed along the edge of a table. Her hand tapped a pen by mistake and it rolled onto the floor. She bent down to pick it up and noticed a small red dot on the floor.
She frowned and crouched closer. She thought back to when it was still occupied by Holly's body.
"Why didn't we see this?" She said aloud. She turned her head and held her arms out to judge the distance.
"Her arm would have been shielding it." She collected a sample and tested it.
"Blood?" She looked around puzzled. She stood up and walked out into the hall. She carefully made her way upstairs and entered the master bedroom. She remembered looking in here for the first time just hours ago and not seeing anything of interest.
"So much pain and sadness in this house."
A lot like mine.
She sat in the wicker chair and put her head in her hands, exhaling slowly.
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"Hi, can I help you?" A woman asked. Instantly, Nick and Grissom noticed the woman's shoulder length jet black hair and gave each other a knowing look.
"Yeah, we're looking for Dana Murray?"
"You're looking at her. Oh my god" she pulled them aside "you're not the strippers for the Christmas party are you?"
Nick gave an embarrassed smile and Grissom raised an eyebrow at him.
"I'm Gil Grissom, this is Nick stokes, we're from the Las Vegas crime lab." He pointed to Nick "He might be interested, but I just wanna ask you a few questions."
Her face fell.
"Oh. We can talk in the empty board room down the end of the hall."
"Good 'cause I don't like an audience." He gave a jerk of his head and a wry smile before following her down the hall.
"Holly's dead? Oh God. What about Ivy? Is Charlie ok? I wonder why he hasn't phoned me."
"Probably because he's been talking to us all day. When was the last time you saw Charlie?"
"Last night, he came round about 7pm. We had dinner, watched a movie and" she looked at Nick "went to bed."
Grissom looked between them.
"And when was the last time you saw Holly, Miss Murray?" Grissom asked.
"Oh, um that would be last Sunday. Me and the girls went shopping together then we had dinner back at the house with Charlie."
"Trying to rid yourself of some of the guilt of being the secret girlfriend?" She turned to face Grissom.
"It wasn't the best decision I've made in my life. But it was for the sake of the girls that we didn't have an open relationship."
"I suppose it's easier to be their friend than try to be their mother right?"
"Mr Grissom, no-one could take the place of Rachel. I learnt that a long time ago."
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Sara smiled at all of the funny faces they were pulling in the photos; from these she was given snapshots of the sisters personalities, and which had been confirmed by Sofia speaking to her tutor and friends.
Holly was the quieter one, preferring to shy away from the photographer's lens, whereas Ivy seemed to do anything and everything to be right in the middle of the attention.
She opened a drawer in a small bedside unit and saw a pink book lying there. She carefully lifted it out and opened it to the first page. It was dated two and a half weeks previous. She closed the book quickly.
"I can't look at this." She laughed.
"If the others were here they'd think I was stupid. If the others were here I wouldn't be talking to myself." She gingerly opened Holly's journal and flicked through it. Odd pages had been torn out leaving half of an entry.
She put the book in a bag and looked over at the other bed. She tried the unit beside the bed but it was empty. She gave a small smile as she lifted the corner of the mattress.
"No-one ever finds it if you're the one who makes the bed." She picked up the white book covered in purple butterflies and opened this one more boldly.
She sped through several entries, general things happening at college or with Ivy's friends. She stopped speed reading.
"Dear diary, she's doing it again. She won't leave me alone, she's like a rash. I try to ignore it, but she's constantly trying to be like mom. That bitch will never be like mom. Mom used to speak to her all of the time, about everything, including their marriage. We weren't supposed to know, but I sat on the stairs every night and listened to them talk. Mom's gone now, and I'm left with her. Dad won't listen and Holly shuts it out. How can they just ignore it? Why can't dad see that….dad's coming, I've gotta go."
Sara paused and flicked the page eagerly.
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"You're gonna have to come with us for further questioning Miss Murray." Grissom opened the door and beckoned the officer into the room.
"What? What have I done? That's ok buddy, I can walk by myself thanks, I don't need any help. I wanna know what I've done before you march me outta here."
"You neglected to mention Miss Murray that around the time of Holly's death last night you visited Jack Frost who was also found dead this morning." Grissom stated.
Dana's head shot up and her eyes widened.
"Jack's dead? No, no. I didn't see him last night, I saw him the night before. He's gone. No, oh God no." Tears welled in her eyes as she was led away.
Grissom frowned deeply and looked at Nick who wore a similar expression.
"Well I didn't expect that." Nick commented and Grissom shook his head.
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Grissom turned the corridor and came face to face with Greg.
"Hey Grissom."
"Greg."
"So I searched through your miles and miles of tinsel."
"And?"
"I didn't find the tinsel you were looking for." Grissom exhaled deeply and his head fell forward.
"The neighbour was decorating his house now as well; he was dragging a massive tree inside. It'll take him ages to decorate it." Greg commented.
"Decorations. That's it; we've looked at this all wrong."
Grissom frowned and turned away, lost in his own thoughts
"Thanks Greg." He muttered, before striding down the corridor, his mind elsewhere.
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Oooooooh! Lol, the bit about them being strippers still makes me chuckle lol -x-
