Chapter 7:
When Grissom's alarm went off he jumped, knocking his book to the floor. He was exhausted. "Ohh," he groaned, "How am I going to get through this today?" Then he remembered that Sara would be there. He showered, dressed and made sure everything he needed was in his briefcase.
The auditorium was already filling when he arrived. He walked up the stairs to the stage, set-up his laptop and placed his notes on the lectern. Glancing along the front row he saw that Sara had not yet arrived. He thought he recognized the women that she had been sitting with at the bar. They seemed to be saving a seat. Maybe being on time wasn't one of Sara's strengths. He took a sip of water and began the lecture.
"It's time to begin, please find a seat quickly," he started. He waited a few moments for everyone to be seated. He checked the front row again and was rewarded with Sara's warm smile. She looked tired, but eager. He smiled back at her. He tapped the mouse pad on his laptop and an image appeared.
"What happened here? Any ideas?" he asked the audience. They were getting used to his gruesome pictures, but several still ran out of the room grabbing their stomachs. The picture showed a machine shop or assembly plant, it was hard to tell. Blood splattered the walls and pooled on the floor. There seemed to be three bodies, but the missing and extra limbs strewn about the room made it difficult to tell.
"Cult killing?"
"Mass murdered with a machete or a chain saw?"
"Good suggestions," he nodded to both participants.
"We can all agree that this scene is grisly," Dr. Grissom continued, "Three victims. Each with massive sharp edged, penetrating traumas: two cut from shoulder to hip and missing their lower arms; the third lost both an arm and a leg. When we first arrived, we thought we had a major player on our hands – either a cult or a psychopath."
"What did the evidence say?" asked Sara.
Grissom smiled, she always seemed to understand the point that he was attempting to make. "What did the evidence say? Let's start at the beginning and look at the process we followed to determine what really took place," he continued lecturing. They looked at the evidence, piece by piece, as the CSIs had in their original investigation. It was a puzzling case and it took half the morning to finish analyzing it.
"So what can we conclude from this?" he asked.
"That things aren't always what they seem?" suggested a voice from the audience.
"Yes, you cannot always trust your first impressions; you have to wait for the evidence to reveal what truly happened at the scene. In this case, it was a horrible accident, not a crime – no one to blame, except perhaps those who failed to keep the equipment maintained."
Grissom glanced at his watch, "Let's take a 15 minute break. We'll start again at 10:45." He walked to the front of the stage and hopped down onto the main floor level. He tried to move towards Sara's seat, but several people stopped him with questions. She saw him, and seeing his predicament, she worked her way to him.
"Excuse us," he told the other conference attendees as he placed his hand on Sara's arm and guided her to the side of the auditorium.
He smiled into her eyes as he greeted her, "It's good to see you again, Sara."
"Likewise, Gil," she smiled back.
"I hope you got enough sleep," he began and then mentally kicked himself.
Sara's smile broadened, "Actually, no, someone kept me up half the night talking." And the rest of the night by invading my dreams, she added to herself.
"Um, sorry about that. Some of my friends say I'm better with bugs than people, you'll have to be patient with me," he explained awkwardly.
"I hadn't noticed," Sara said. Grissom's eyebrows rose as he tried to figure out if she was making fun of him, or serious. Sara saw his confusion and added, "I've enjoyed all of our conversations. I don't know how you relate to bugs, but you've been wonderful with me…" Now it was Sara's turn to kick herself, "That was too forward," she thought.
"Would you like to meet for dinner tonight?" Grissom asked, realizing he was running out of time before the end of the break.
Sara frowned, "I would love to, but unfortunately I have to work. I don't get off until midnight."
"Ahh, so that is why you had dinner so late last night," he commented.
Sara smiled again, "Well, that and the fact that some mysterious gentleman held me captive on the dance floor…"
Grissom grinned.
"I thought that the police department arranged for professional development leave for those officers and detectives who were attending this academy?" Grissom asked.
Sara nodded, "They did, but I am not a police officer…"
Someone tapped Dr. Grissom on the shoulder. "Excuse me, sir, but it is time to begin again."
"Thank you, I'll start again in a minute," Grissom responded.
"You're not? I thought everyone here worked in law enforcement…"
Sara shrugged and smiled, "We can talk later. I'm sure we can work out a time." Grissom nodded in agreement and returned to the stage.
He called the group back to order, and began the second scenario of the day.
