Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or any of its characters. The ones I make up are mine.

Chapter 11

Catherine added a fourth name to the final list she was working on and then straightened, lifting her arms over her head in a stretch. She looked back down at the other lists she had made and the names swam before her eyes.

Brass had come through with the names they needed, and Catherine was trying to put the ten thousand plus names in some kind of order. It was unrealistic to think they could bring them all in for questioning so she was making new lists of the people who had a greater chance of having access to the items that had been used during the murders. She started with the people who would have the most access to the drug Methohexital. The other lists were comprised of people who had access to the medical implements that were left near the bodies, and those who would have had contact with any of the victims. Now she was making a master list of names that appeared on at least two of the other lists.

A few minutes later Catherine gathered everything together and glanced at the clock on the wall. She jumped up and hurried from the room. She had to take Lindsey to school and she was running late. As she hurried down the hall she glanced around, looking for anyone working on the case. The AV lab was empty, as was the Trace lab.

Frowning she hurried on to Grissom's office. She stopped short on finding it empty. Turning slowly she headed toward the locker room. Once again she found no one. She stopped a moment and thought. Where could they be? A sudden thought occurred to her and she started for the DNA lab, but stopped in her tracks when Grissom came barreling down the hallway towards her.

He didn't notice her at first, but looked up just in time to avoid a collision. He came to a sudden stop and her breath caught in her chest at the look in his eyes. She had seen that look only once, when Sara had been kidnapped.

"What's wrong Gil? Is it Sara? Has she been hurt?" she asked, confused.

Grissom started at her, lost for words. He had just come from seeing Brass, and between them they had confirmed that Sara's childhood friend was indeed the same as the latest victim lying down in the morgue. "Sara called…she, um, she wanted me to look up a childhood friend for her. She said that she'd found out that she was living here now, and that she wanted to talk to her…," he broke off and sighed.

Concerned, Catherine led him over to a bench. They sat and she waited for him to continue. Finally he spoke again. "So, I said okay. There's nothing I wouldn't do for her, and this seemed like such a small thing."

Catherine nodded. "So, I'm guessing that something about it turned out to be not so simple?" she asked, trying to find sense in what was happening.

"You, uh, you could say that. Her friend's name, Angela… Angela Oliver seemed familiar, and then I put it together. I talked to Brass, and we confirmed it. Sara's friend Angela is our latest victim."

Catherine sat, shocked. "Oh my God! Does Sara know?"

Grissom shook his head. "Not yet, and I don't know how to tell her. She's had such a hard time lately, and I just don't want to add to that."

"But you have to tell her. You know Sara; she's not going to be put off for long. The longer you wait the harder it's going to be to tell her." Catherine stood up and handed him the lists she'd made. "Here are the names of the hospital employees. The top list is the master list, ten names that appear on two or more of the other lists. I think we should start there." She glanced at her watch. "I have to go, I have to take Lindsey to school, just remember what I said. Don't put it off, Sara deserves better."

Grissom watched as she walked away, knowing she was right. But he couldn't do it right now. She'd know he was busy so he could probably get away with waiting a least a couple of days. He stood and headed for his office. If he had to give her the bad news that her friend was dead, had been murdered, he hoped he could also tell her that they had the killer in custody.

Hodges yawned and opened the door to the Trace lab. Between keeping up with the case load of not only the Graveyard shift, but also the overflow from Day's and Swing, AND working on his board game not only in his free time, but whenever he could find time at work, his sleep schedule had been severely affected.

He carefully set down the box he was carrying and gave a disgusted sigh when he saw the state that the dayshift Trace analyst had left the office in. He got to work setting things to rights, muttering about how some people could be so inconsiderate. He stopped short on finding a half eaten burger hidden under a pile of files. "That does it! It's one thing to pursue your dream of living like a pig in a sty, but it's another thing to flout lab policy."

"Ah, Hodges, you're not giving up on your dreams are you?" asked a voice from the door.

Hodges flushed, his mind went blank. "Uh… can I do something for you Wendy?" he finally managed.

She held up a tube. "I found this soil sample waiting in my inbox, and last I knew I didn't deal in soil." She stepped forward, watching as he continued to clean. "Mind explaining what it was doing there?"

Hodges stopped and looked at her. She was wearing her usual jeans, but she hadn't put on her lab coat yet, and the yellow top she was wearing clung to her curves in a way that nearly robbed him of speech. "I-I left a note. When I analyzed it I found some biological material. Are you sure there wasn't a note attached? I'm pretty sure I left one."

Wendy shook her head. "Nope, there was just this tube. So, what kind of biological material did you find?"

"Uh, little swimmers; though they weren't swimming when I found them," he answered.

"Sperm, you found sperm in this soil sample?" Wendy asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, I stopped by to give it to you last night, but you'd left, so I put it, with a note, in your inbox. I don't know why the note wasn't there this morning." He watched as she came forward, excitement on her face.

"Do you know what this means? It means that we could have the case breaker. The killer's DNA could be in this tube!" She swung her hand out nearly knocking over a stack of folders. Hodges leapt forward and grabbed them before they fell. "Oops, sorry about that," she said breathlessly. "I'm gonna go get started on this right away." She turned and skipped towards the door, but turned back before she got there. "Oh, your fly is down," She said with a twinkle in her eye, and left.

Looking down he swore, and quickly pulled it up. Shaking his head he went to the box he'd brought in and took out a notebook. He opened it and by the name, Mindy Bimms, he wrote, clumsy yet buxom. Smiling he flipped the book shut and got back to work straightening the lab.

A few minutes later he had just started analyzing a sample for a case on swing when he was interrupted yet again, this time by Warrick. Sighing he picked up the file next to him and handed it to him.

"These are the results on the soil sample?" Warrick asked.

"No, it's my grocery list, make sure you don't forget the bananas," he said, rolling his eyes. "Of course it's the results on the soil sample."

Warrick just stared at him and opened the file. On the top page was a folded sheet of paper. He flipped it open and read, 'I found semen in the soil samples, check as soon as you get in.' He looked up at Hodges. "What's this," he asked, holding up the sheet of paper.

Hodges looked up and shrugged. "I guess it's the note that was supposed to be left with Wendy. I knew I wrote one."

"Okay, what does it mean?" Warrick asked, rubbing his head.

"Exactly what it says, I found semen in the soil sample so I left it with Wendy. She's analyzing it now," Hodges answered with a shrug.

Warrick laughed. "Since when don't you take something like this directly to Grissom? This is authentic ass kissing material."

Hodges' face turned red. "Look, I'm sure Wendy will take it to him when she'd done analyzing. It had to do with DNA, not Trace," he explained.

Warrick didn't buy it, but didn't feel like trying to figure out why Hodges did what he did. He looked down at the file again and sighed. "There was nothing else interesting about the soil?"

Hodges shook his head. "No, it's the same sandy soil that covers most of the county. The semen is the distinguishing feature."

Warrick nodded. "Okay, well thanks anyway. I'll be sure to let Grissom know what we found."

Hodges just shrugged and went back to work. Shaking his head, Warrick headed for the DNA lab, a spring in his step; there might be a break in the case, and Hodges was acting human. It was starting out to be a good day.

Catherine closed the car door and pushed her hair behind her ear. She frowned when she saw Grissom's car parked in the same space it had been in this morning. She hurried into the building and headed for his office. It was possible that he'd gotten the same spot, but she had a bad feeling that he hadn't gone home.

She reached his office door and stopped short. The door was closed, but she could see through the blinds that he was at his desk. His head was down, and she could tell he was sleeping. She tried the door handle and found it unlocked. She pushed it open slowly and walked in. All lights but for the lamp on his desk were off.

She walked softly to the desk not wanting to startle him. She gently shook his shoulder, calling his name. "Gil, Gil, wake up."

He stirred and turned his head. "Sara?" he murmured.

Catherine smiled. "No, Gil it's me, Catherine. You're at your desk and shift is starting."

He jerked up and looked around. "Damn, what time is it?"

Catherine glanced at her watch. "Nearly eleven, time for all night dwellers to be up and working."

He groaned. "Last I looked it was five o'clock. I must have drifted off sometime after that." He straightened, his back protesting as the muscles stretched.

"Gil, you can't mean you've been here all day," Catherine asked, concerned.

"I didn't plan it. I was gathering information on that list you gave me, trying to get an idea of who the most likely suspect is and I guess time just got away from me." He searched the desk and found the file he wanted. "Here are my notes, get them to Brass so he can begin bringing them in for questioning. I noticed Lurie wasn't on the list. Does that mean that he wasn't on two or more of the other lists, or did you leave him off purposefully?"

Catherine cocked an eyebrow. "I left him off, he was on all the lists, but I figured adding him to this list would be redundant."

"You're right." He stood up and grabbed his jacket. "Can you handle assignments? If nothing new comes in just have everyone stay with what they're doing, if something does you can pull Greg, and Nick if he needs help."

"Fine, where are you going?" she asked as she watched him head for the door.

"Home to grab a shower and something to eat, I'll be back before the end of shift." He turned and headed down the hall. He didn't get far though, Judy was hurrying towards him.

"Dr. Grissom!" she called. "Dr. Grissom, this was waiting on my desk when I came in. I think it's from the same person who sent the other one. I didn't open it." She held out both hands, an envelope braced between them. "I only touched the edges."

Catherine appeared at his elbow and handed him a pair of gloves. He slipped them on and took the envelope. He opened it and took out the single sheet of paper. Unfolding it he read, 'Decided not to wait, needed a little taste, Search if you wish, you'll not find this tasty dish.'

TBC….