Catherine glanced at Gil as they rode toward the lab. "Did you know?"

"Know what?" He avoided her eyes, staring out the windshield.

Smiling wryly, Catherine elaborated. "About Warrick and the gambling." She noted his hands tighten on the steering wheel. He'd known. Disbelief and anger warred. "My God, Gil. At least tell me you didn't figure it out until after Holly died."

"Catherine-" Grissom's quiet voice started.

"Don't, Gil. Don't give me the 'we're all about the evidence' speech.'" Catherine's voice rose, filling the SUV. "We lost one of our own, and Warrick may end up charged over this. If you knew when he went out with Holly, you're just as responsible."

Her words appeared to have some impact. Catherine watched Grissom frown, shoulders slumping forward slightly. "I suspected he was gambling, but he's never done anything on the clock that I could find."

"Oh, God, Gil. How long have you suspected what he's been doing?" Catherine wanted to close her eyes and forget this conversation. The whole situation kept getting more complicated and horrific.

Grissom met her eyes briefly. "Not long. When the first warrant came through, there were enough irregularities to start an investigation. I was going to Brass at the end of shift."

Catherine rubbed her hands over her face. They'd all had a hand in Holly's death. Her head pounded. If only Gil had done something sooner. If only she herself hadn't talked Holly into completing her first case. If only Warrick hadn't left the scene to place a bet. "What do we do now?" she asked, voice pleading for a way to fix everything.

"I don't know." Gil sounded lost, tired.

"We need something before we get to the lab." Catherine forced herself to straighten. "You're new bloodhound isn't going to let us sweep this under the rug. Although," hope flared for an instant, "she may be willing to look at other options."

Grissom crushed her hope. "Sara's a scientist, Cath. She's not going to be swayed by emotions. Her report will be a clear, concise retelling of facts."

"Then we need to find a way to make the facts work for us," Catherine said, voice determined.

The hum of the fluorescent lights sounded like an airplane engine in the small lab. Sara watched the other three people in the room with a mixture of amusement and irritation. Brown had been waiting when she'd returned from the morgue.

"So, are we going to sit here like this all night?" she tried. Pulling her sweater tighter across her chest against the still blasting air conditioning, Sara forged ahead. "My report is almost ready to go."

Catherine looked up at her from her position by the door. "No." Green eyes looked to Grissom, narrowing in apparent anger when he didn't say anything. "Let's talk options."

"There are no options, Cath." Brown joined the conversation. Under the glare of the light, his dark skin looked paler than Sara remembered from the casino. "I appreciate you trying to help and all, but don't get yourself into trouble on my account."

"'Rick-" Catherine began.

"No, let him talk." Sara stood abruptly, stalking around the table in the middle of the room. "Are you finally ready to tell us what really happened, Mr. Brown?" She grabbed the phone records Catherine had been working on earlier and waved them at him. "Judge Cohen called you after the investigation on the Gribbs shooting started. Is he your client? Is that why you left a rookie CSI alone at a scene?" She was in his personal space, demanding a response.

He rose, towering over Sara. "Yeah, he was. Does that help my cause?" Brown's voice was rough and he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Why are we here? Just call Brass and get a deputy down here to arrest me."

Catherine looked ready to jump in, so Sara held up a hand and glared fiercely, warning her to stay out of the conversation. Not backing down an inch, she continued to press Brown. She wasn't going out on a limb with her recommendation to the Sheriff without some cooperation from the CSI in front of her. "I can do that. In fact, I should be doing it right now. Your teammates, though, think you're worth saving. Make a decision. Keep shutting the investigation down, or start talking. I've got enough evidence to bury you. Give me a reason to forget someone died on your watch. Convince me to help you out."

"What do you want to know?" Brown took a step back and leaned against the table.

Sara considered the question. "For now, just the highlights leading up to you leaving the scene. Eventually, though, you're going to have to tell me everything." She relaxed a little, rotating her shoulders to relieve some of the strain. A quick scan of the room showed Catherine and Grissom were focused on the conversation.

Looking at the floor, he nodded. "Alright. I went to the Judge for a warrant on the Toenail Case. Brass had turned me down; said we didn't have enough evidence. I disagreed. Judge Cohen and I go way back. We met at a blackjack table right after I started working here."

"Is this the first time he's asked you to place a bet for him in exchange for a warrant?" Catherine asked. Sara resisted the urge to tell the older woman to leave. Brown was giving them the information. She didn't want him getting defensive and shutting down again.

"Yeah." Brown admitted. Looking sheepish, he muttered, "It's not the first time I've taken his money, though."

"We'll talk about that in a minute." Sara stared Catherine down, waiting until the blonde flounced back in her chair. "After you went for the warrant, what happened?"

"He gave me the warrant and I agreed to put five thousand dollars on the Packers game." He rubbed his face with a hand. "Brass got pissed about the warrant and pulled me off the case. Told me to shadow Holly."

Sara sank down into the chair Brown had abandoned. "That doesn't make sense." Hunching her shoulders, she ran the facts over in her mind. "Unless the policy here is a lot different, training a new CSI goes to the senior member of the crew." Sara ran a hand through her hair, eyes watching for a reaction.

Brown leaned forward, elbows on knees. "It was my hundredth case," he said simply.

"You wanna explain that?" Sara tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Solving your hundredth case is an automatic promotion to CSI level three." Grissom met Sara's eyes. "Warrick lost sight of the most important thing – the evidence – because he wanted to beat Nick to the finish line. They were both on the verge of promotion."

Sara sat back, staring at the two men in turn. "This just keeps getting worse. Grissom, you do realize that my report has to indicate yours and Brass' culpability, too?"

Grissom nodded. "It's one of the reasons I asked you to do the investigation. Anyone from the team would have tried to gloss over the facts or cover things up." He smiled slightly. "Now that we all know just how bad it looks, what are we going to do about it?"

"You know my thoughts on the matter, Gil." Catherine leaned forward, elbows on knees.

"You wanna clue the rest of us in?" Sara asked sarcastically. "I don't feel like guessing, and I bet Mr. Brown feels the same."

"Wrong." Brown shook his head. "I'm ready to take responsibility for this. Whatever happened with Brass and Grissom, it was me who left Holly at that scene. I don't want to waste a lot of time trying to get out of this or get anyone else to take the fall."

The room fell silent. Jumping from the chair, Sara started to pace. "I'm the last person to suggest you shift the blame, Mr. Brown."

"Warrick." He smiled when Sara looked at him. "Mr. Brown is for court. Call me Warrick."

"Um, right. Warrick, there's more at stake now than just you. If I file this report, and I don't offer any ways to resolve the issues, you're out of a job." Sara folded her arms, watching him. "More than that, you'll probably face criminal charges. Grissom and Captain Brass are out, too. There are so many broken rules and policy shortcuts here, no one is coming out clean. The only way to salvage anybody's career is to go to the Sheriff with a plan."

Catherine stood up and stretched. "We have to go after the judge," she said forcefully. Her eyes swept the room, daring anyone to contradict her.

"No way." Warrick took the dare, shaking his head. "I've got nothing on him. I can't prove he asked me to do anything."

""Maybe not yet," Sara offered quietly. "I don't think we've heard the whole story, though. In the casino, you were a man with a mission. Something happened with the bet. Did the judge lose?"

Rubbing a hand across his face, Warrick grimaced. "Not exactly."

Three sets of eyes stared at him until he continued.

"Grissom called to say they'd nailed the guy on the Toenail Case while I was at the window making the bet. I got a little distracted." He smiled slightly. "I put the money on the wrong team. Five thousand on the 'Niners instead of the 'Pack to win."

"Whoa!" Catherine's eyes were wide. "That's a lot of money to lose."

"Ten g's," Warrick agreed. "Cohen grabbed me in the parking lot right after I got suspended. Told me I had a day to get him his money. That's why I was at the Silverton this afternoon."

For the first time since beginning the investigation, Sara felt confident in the outcome. "That works in our favor." She smiled crookedly at the other three. "You've got the money. We wire you up for when you meet with the Judge. If you can get him to admit to arranging the warrant for the bet, the Sheriff can go to the Ethics Committee."

"Bad for the Judge. How does it help me and Griss, though?" Warrick wanted to know.

"That's up to the Sheriff. I'm thinking a letter of reprimand, maybe even a reset of the case clock." When Warrick frowned, Sara rephrased her comment. "No promotion to CSI Three. Grissom and Captain Brass are harder. They've got supervisory status. The weight of command makes it harder to shift responsibility."

Grissom took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "I'm a little fish in all this. The Sheriff may give me a letter of reprimand, but he won't do anything more drastic right now. He's got no one to replace me. Jim's already been punished. He was demoted and returned to homicide. If we can get the judge on tape, I think I can convince the Sheriff to let it go at that."

A/N: The muse has been demanding a vacation. Although I argued vehemently against it, she won (as always). Updates may be a little slower than normal, probably closer to every other week until the muse decides she's happy again.