I-15 Murders: A middle-aged woman is abducted from a local supermarket. When inspecting the bathroom, Grissom finds a message on a stall door that makes him suspect that this has happened before. Despite their personal differences, Warrick and Sara have to work together when an apparent robbery goes wrong and a man finds his brother murdered in his own apartment. Meanwhile, Kristy Hopkins (from the pilot episode) finds herself in trouble again after getting into a fight with a hotel security guard and she calls on Nick to rescue her.
Next, Fahrenheit 932: A man is awaiting trail for starting an arson fire that killed his wife and son. Claiming he is innocent, he calls on Grissom to help him. Now it is up to Grissom, Sara and Warrick to clear him, especially when they learn that Day Shift supervisor Conrad Ecklie did sloppy work. In another investigation, a teenage 'runner' is shot to death at close range and Nick and Catherine have to figure out who killed him and what circumstances had lead to his death.
Then, Boom: A bomb goes off in an office building, resulting in the death of a security guard. Grissom, Sara and Warrick launch an investigation to find out the bomber. And their prime suspect is an over-helpful fellow security guard who also has the knowledge to build a bomb. Meanwhile, Nick's career and his future with Kady are on the line when he spends the night with Kristy Hopkins and she is found murdered hours later. Things only get worse when Nick's DNA and fingerprints are at the crime scene and Ecklie is the lead on the case. And when Ecklie takes Kady away because Nick is the primary suspect in her murder, Catherine only has a short amount of time before Ecklie arrests Nick for a murder he didn't commit!
Later, To Halve and to Hold: A single bone is discovered in the desert. Grissom, Catherine and Nick have to piece together the skeleton and figure out what happened to their victim. Whilst they do that, a male stripper dies not long after performing at a bachelorette party, leaving Warrick and Sara to find out who and what killed him.
Remaining episodes:
Table Stakes
Too Tough to Die
Face Lift
$35K O.B.O.
Gentle, Gentle
Sounds of Silence
Justice Is Served
Evaluation Day
Strip Strangler (Season 1 finale)
REVIEW REPLIES!
JennaTN: Great chapter.
Kady seems so adorable and I love how you have them all intereact with her.
Thanks, Jenna! I'm glad you liked the chapter. I've been trying to make Kady as adorable as possible and I'm glad I got that right. And since I've had Nick named Catherine, Warrick, Sara, Grissom, Greg and Brass her godparents and they work together, it'd be kinda wrong if I didn't make them interact with Kady. Speaking of which, I found a link of a photo of what Kady roughly looks like. When I've posted this chapter, I'll post the links up (I had to find a seperate link for Kady's hair colour). Thanks for the review!
Caitlin: Another fabby chapter!
PS: (Love how someone in the little song has the same name as me :D)
xx
Glad you liked it! That was a pretty hard one to write since Nick wasn't in it as much. Nicky, I may love you, but you make giving you a daughter difficult! And Emily, Caitlin and Gizem are potential OCs. I actually named them after my three best friends from school. And one of them is named Caitlin. haha! Small world. Thanks for the review!
Oh! One question! Did anybody see the season 12 premiere of CSI? I saw it online yesterday. It...was...AWESOME! Although, I don't like how Catherine had a go at Nick at the end and blames him for both their demotions. HEY! DON'T BLAME IT ON NICKY, CATHERINE! D.B Russel seemed pretty funny. I think we can all like him. I can't believe a lot of people judged it by its cover. Nice to see Morgan join CSI Las Vegas. Looks like there could be a potential romance between Greg and Morgan. Wait. Greggy, don't even go there. She's the daughter of the Undersheriff. When Kady's older, you two are gonna be pranking him. A LOT! Whoops! Probably shouldn't have said that...
HEY! WE HAVE A PREVIOUSLY ON CSI SEGMENT! Hadn't had that since...the third episode, I think. Scenes from both the first episode and the previous one. Nicely done, my CSI friends. Nicely done... OK. That just felt weird and I'm normally the queen of weird.
Well, as usual, I don't own CSI. I only own Kady. If I did own CSI, we'd be having a lot more scenes where Nick is shirtless. You know what I'm saying? George Eads is smoking HAWT! Great. Whenever I see that, my best friends think I have issues and that he's ugly. Maybe because for them, he's old. Hey! You can still be hawt when you're old! And George Eads isn't THAT OLD!
Another question for you guys: Do you guys think that George Eads is smoking hawt or is it just me?
ENJOY! (And there goes two pages again. I seriously need to stop rambling...)
Previously on CSI...
"May I see your discoloration?" Nick asked.
"You wanna give me twenty bucks?" Kristy Hopkins smirked.
"You wanna do time?" Nick retorted.
"You know what? I got to be somewhere. Can you handle it from here?" Warrick asked.
"Yeah," Catherine nodded.
"Warrick Brown had one of my guys sub for him in court. But I have it on good authority that he was gambling!" Conrad Ecklie called after Grissom.
"I need you to do some background for me on Warrick," Grissom whispered to Sara.
"Warrick? Your favourite CSI," Sara sighed bitterly.
"That's why I want you to handle it. So Ecklie can't accuse me of favourtism," Grissom explained.
"I got the survelliance tape. He was in the casino. I'm sorry," Sara apologised to Grissom.
"Manager to register two, please. Manager to register two."
Oooh, Marty's Market. I hear they have good bargains there. Maybe that's why this woman is shopping here. I mean, Las Vegas. Good bargains. Something you don't wanna miss out on. Looks like she's stacking up on some fruit and vegies. Hope she threw in some green apples in there. Mama loves her green apples. ...you did not just hear that. Oooh, buns! You think she'll be making hot dogs? Looks like it. She's heading for the Sun Valley mustard bottle. Ugh. Mustard. Uh-oh. Spaghetti-oh. Looks like she broke the bottle.
Hey! What's Brass doing here? And why is Grissom approaching him with his kit? Why are they heading to the aisle where that lady dropped the mustard? Oh... Shi...take mushrooms. Something bad has happened. I mean, why else would they be here?
"Well, if it isn't the boss himself! Where's your E-street band? And where's my favourite goddaughter who's four years old in a month?" Brass asked, causing Grissom to smile and laugh.
"They have another gig. And Kady's with her daddy, as usual. Hey. Four years old. Don't remind me. I still think it was yesterday when Nick walked in the waiting room looking all proud when he brought newborn Kady out to meet us. Not as she is today: nearly four years old and eight months shy from starting school," Grissom laughed, "How you doing, Jim? How's your old job?"
"Ah, I can sling scum all day long," Brass sighed, "You?"
"I curse more," Grissom confessed.
"Hopefully not when Kadelin's around. Well, wait. The shopping cart's over here. The missing woman is Margaret Shorey. Lives with her sister. Went out to get groveries. Never came home. Car's still in the parking lot," Brass explained.
"And her purse is still in the car. With no wallet," Grissom stated as he checked out the purse.
"Maybe she left the purse as a marker," Brass shrugged.
"Chicken soup. Ice packs. Pain reliever," Grissom observed the contents in the shopping basket.
"Sister broke her wrist in a car wreck," Brass told him.
"Hot dogs. Hot dog buns," Grissom contineud.
"Junk food junkie," Brass summised.
Hey! Lookie what we have here! Do you remember earlier how Margaret accidentally dropped that bottle of mustard? Well, look at that! Some of the mustard landed on the trolley. To get a closer look, he bent down and grabbed a dollop of it on his finger. He smelt it...and ate it. Brass couldn't help but look disgusted.
"Oh, that's sanitary," Brass remarked sarcastically.
"Mustard," Grissom said before turning to the store manager, "Did you have any mop-ups in this aisle today?"
"Yeah. Yeah, as a matter of fact, we did," the store manager nodded.
"Life holds no surprises," Grissom sighed as he took a bottle of mustard from the shelf and gave the store manager money from his wallet, "$1.98 for the mustard...plus my two cents."
That was when Grissom dropped the bottle of mustard the same way Margaret did moments ago. And it spilled all over the floor...and the cuff of Brass' pants. Whoops. Sorry, Brass!
"What are you doing?" Brass demanded.
"Now, where would you go?" Grissom asked him calmly.
The answer to that question? The bathroom. Where else? As Grissom walked around the bathroom, Brass sat on the basin trying desperately to wash the mustard off his pants.
"Oh man," Brass groaned. Oh come on! We said we're sorry!
"Hey, Brass, look at this," Grissom requested.
"What?" Brass wanted to know as he approached him.
"You see this?" Grissom asked as he held the bathroom stall door open.
"See what?" Brass demanded as he saw...well, nothing.
"This circumference? Looks like somebody did a brillo job on it," Grissom remarked.
"All I see is a clean door," Brass confessed.
"You know anything about this?" Grissom questioned.
"Yeah. He's right. We cleaned it up today. I had a complaint. Kids are always writing crazy stuff on bathroom doors. So I had one of my employees scrub it off," the store manager explained.
"Could I borrow a hammer?" Grissom suddenly requested.
Grissom had brought the bathroom stall door back to the lab with him. Obviously, something about this stall door has sparked his interest. Brass holds the light as Grissom took photos of the message underneath it. Later, Grissom had taken photos of each and every word on that stall door and is piecing them together on the board. Eventually, it fell into place. But there was something about the message. Something that tells him this isn't the first time. That...Margaret Shorey wasn't the first victim of this event.
"Iv'e killed 5 women. Catch me if you can?" Grissom read.
Who is doing this? What is happening? When did the other women disappear? Where has this happened? Why is this happening? How do they do this so many times? Are they even still alive?
*music starts*
Crime
Scene
Investigation
Starring William Peterson
Marg Helgenberger
Gary Dourdan
George Eads
Jorja Fox
And Paul Guilfoyle
Created by Anthony E. Zuiker
"B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-BATMAN!" Greg Sanders sang as he jumped into the break room.
"You are so lucky Grissom's not here," Sara Sidle remarked as she shook her head at her giggling goddaughter.
"Hey. Being able to make Kady giggle? I wouldn't care if I had to face a thousand Grissoms," Greg scoffed.
"Hi, Uncle Gil!" Kady greeted as she pointed to the door, causing Greg to jump and scream like a girl and remove his Batman mask, "Ha! Made you look!"
"Hey. We've got a little prankster on our hands here!" Sara proclaimed as she hi-fived Kady.
"Very funny," Greg grumbled as he slid the Batman mask back on and glared at her playfully.
"Hi, Uncle Gil!" Kady squealed excitedly.
"Ah! First rule of pranks, Kadelin: never try the same trick twice," Greg repremended her.
"Hello, Greg."
"AAHH!" Greg screamed like a girl again, causing everybody (except Grissom) to laugh.
"Or should I call you Batman?" Grissom smirked.
"Oh, uh, I-I-I was just, ummm, you see... I'll be in DNA," Greg said as he ran out of the room.
"Might I say, Kadelin? That was nicely done," Grissom complimented.
"OK, butterfly. I need you to cuddle Aunty Cathy for a moment. Daddy needs a moment to recover," Nick Stokes gasped as she handed Kady to Catherine Willows and tried to recover from his laughing fit.
"Are you good now?" Grissom asked patiently.
"Yes," Nick immediately nodded.
"Well, I can't stay long. I have to jet. Sara Sidle: 419," Grissom announced as he handed Sara the assignment sheet.
"Dead body – bonus," Sara smiled.
"Whoa. Somebody likes their job," Catherine remarked.
"Nick Stokes: 416. Fight at the Bellagio. She saus she's a 'friend' of yours," Grissom explained.
"Ex-girlfriend, Nick?" Catherine teased affectionately.
"Well, that depends. Was she the assaulter or the assaultee?" Nick asked.
"You tell us. You like leather or lace?" Sara smirked.
"No. I'm not even going there," Nick chuckled before heading to the door, "Lace."
Sara smiled widely at him. Nick smiled back, but it was hidden under his daughter's soft curls as he hid his face in her hair as he walked out.
"Catherine, you have a 418 – an abituary on a stall door. I'll meet you in the garage. But first, I've got to take care of Warrick," Grissom announced.
"Oh no. What are you going to do?" Catherine asked as she stood up and gathered her things.
"I don't know," Grissom sighed as she left.
"I filed my report," Sara told him.
"I read it," Grissom reassured her.
Immediately, Sara knew she wasn't going to get anymore out of Grissom tonight. You know how people say they're either an open book because they're so easy to read or a closed book because they're impossible to read? Grissom's a bit of both. There are times where he's an open book and other times where he's an unsolved mystery himself. Sara just rolled her eyes and left.
"Hey," Grissom greeted as he saw Warrick in the locker room.
"Hey. I missed assignments. I know. I'm running late," Warrick sighed as he got dressed, "What did I pull?"
"How was court the other day?" Grissom asked Warrick as he walked into the locker room.
"I handed it off to Michovitch from days. Uh, I told Sara," Warrick shrugged his boss off.
"Yeah. Because you had, uh 'personal business'," Grissom recalled as he looked at the file in his hand.
"Yeah," Warrick agreed as he turned around...to be greeted by Grissom with the file and video tape, "What's that?"
"You...at the Monaco casino," Grissom announced.
"What? I don't believe this. Now you're pulling up film on me?" Warrick scoffed in disbelief.
"Casinos tape everyone who walks through their door, Warrick. You know that. I thought we had a deal," Grissom sighed.
"We do!" Warrick defended.
"Look. What you do on your time is nobody's business. What you do on my time is my business," Grissom told him.
Warrick sighed and sat down before saying, "I was at the casino. But I wasn't gambling."
Grissom thought that this would be interesting. So he sat on the bench next to Warrick and listened to his friend as he explained what truly happened in the casino and why he ditched court to go to the Monaco in the first place. When he was done, all Grissom could do was sit there feeling nothing but guilt. As a CSI, he's not meant to judge any part of the case before the fact. Guess what he did? He judged the reasons behind Warrick missing court to go to the casino before the fact.
"OK. Rubio's Restaurant," the officer said as Sara and the photographer walked in.
"Get me a picture of the body, the items on the bedsheet, the window, the drafting table; everything on the floor," Sara instructed the photographer as she set her kit down and approached Kenny Berlin, "Sara Sidle. Crime Scene Investigation. And you are?"
"I'm...Kenny Berlin. That's my brother. I'm the one who found him," Kenny sobbed.
"Sorry for your loss. You wanna tell me what happened here?" Sara asked.
"I don't...I don't know. I came...I came walking in through the door. I saw my brother lying there...stuff everywhere. All I could think was that...," Kenny trailed off tearfully.
Begin flashback
SMASH! The robber broke the window and climbed into the house from there. He began tossing the room. He's looking for something. For what, we don't know. Valuables are my best bet. However, he didn't get the chance to leave with anything he intended to leave the place with.
"HEY!"
That would be because the victim, later identified as Jeff Berlin, interrupted his little escape. So he did what any bad guy would do. Leave no witnesses. So he grabbed his gun and fired. When the bullet struck him, he fell to the ground. That's how his brother found him moments later. Lying on the ground with a bullet hole or two in his torso. Dead.
"Hey, Jeff?" Kenny called to him.
That was when he realized what was going on. He looked at his brother's body and the mess surrounding him. Then he reached for the phone and dialled 911.
End flashback
"I-I called 911. And then you guys showed up, and...," Kenny trailed off.
"Thank you," the detective thanked him and he and Sara moved to the side, "There have been several burglaries in the neighbourhood. All benign."
"Nothing benign about two $20s screaming 'Take me!' on the bar," Sara remarked.
"Maybe he missed it?" the detective shrugged.
"Yeah, well, it's hard to miss all that high-tech computer equipment. There's got to be five, ten grand there. First thing I'd take," Sara said.
"He was interrupted," the detective reminded her.
"Before or after he used a bedsheet to transport the silverware? Pillowcases are the norm. You know that. Something's not right," Sara sighed before walking away.
"Gentlemen, I'm Nick Stokes. I'm here for the 416. Something about a special request," Nick announced as he walked up to Officer Pratt carrying both Kady and his kit.
"Don't ask me. Go ask Catherine Zeta Jones over there," Officer Pratt retorted.
"Over where?" Kady asked, causing Officer Pratt to point in a direction.
"Thanks," Nick thanked before approaching the woman, "Excuse me...ma'am?"
The woman turned around to face them and Nick and Kady recognized her immediately. The woman is Kristy Hopkins! The difference is: her hair's shorter than it was when they first met.
"Nick, Kady, hey," Kristy greeted excitedly.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Nick and Kady exclaimed.
"Oh, you probably don't recognize me with the short hair. My nipples are all better. You wanna see?" Kristy asked. (Everyone: HELL NO!)
"Yeah, yeah, Kristy Hopkins. What are you doing here?" Nick wanted to know.
"I'll tell you what she's doing here – she's cruising!" the security guard interuppted.
"NO! I'm in here, minding my own business shopping for a dress spending my hard-earned money!" Kristy started, before noticing the identical looks Nick and Kady were giving her, "OK. Semi-hard-earned money. You know, I find that so freaky! Anyways, like I said, I was spending my semi-heard-earned-money. When Squiggy over here starts harassing me saying he doesn't want my type in here. He grabs my arm, cops a feel then he spit on me. So I slugged him!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. He spit on you?" Nick repeated in anger. Wait. Why am I angry over that? It's not like I have a thing for her...do I?
"I don't like you very much," Kady said to the security guard.
"Wait. You're not listening to this? This is such a crock!" the security guard exclaimed.
"Oh, I'll show you...!" Kristy retorted before a massive verbal argument between them errupted.
"Alright! Alright! Break it up! Ease up! Ease up!" Nick yelled, only to find that didn't work.
"HEY!"
Nick almost dropped his daughter in shock. So he settled with settling Kady on the ground and holding his ear. Officer Pratt, Kristy and the security guard were doing the same thing...the holding-their-ears part, I mean.
"Whoa! Geez, baby, my hearing is something I don't wanna lose," Nick remarked as he rubbed the area behind his ear.
"Sorry," Kady apologized as she shuffled on her spot innocently.
"What are you sorry for? I'm actually thankful you did what you did," Nick smiled at her as he ruffled her curls.
That only lasted for a little while. The security guard and Kristy started having goes at each other again. Officer Pratt grabbed the security guard and Nick pulled Kristy to his chest. He found himself feeling something; something he hadn't felt since his beloved wife died nearly four years ago. But it couldn't be, could it? He swore he would never love another after her. However, it seems that his heart has other plans.
"Hey! Hey! I'm pressing charges! I don't care who you know!" the security guard announced.
"Kristy!" Nick yelled.
"What?" Kristy yelled back.
"They're right. I've got to take her in," Officer Pratt told them.
"Just give me a minute, will you? Kady, stay here. Kristy, get over here!" Nick requested as he pulled Kristy to the side, "I need your shirt."
"Why is it everytime we meet, you're wanting me to take my clothes off?" Kristy asked him with that look.
"Because everytime we meet, you put yourself in a position where you have to take them off," Nick retorted before he took off his shirt (A lot of the ladies (including me): *sighs dreamily* Nick: *flexes his muscles* Ladies: Ooooooh... Jason, Warrick and other males: Seriously?), "Here. You can put mine on afterwards."
"Why can't I just walk around like this?" Kristy demanded as she referred to her current state, turning Nick on.
"Because my three-year-old daughter is here and I do not need her to see you like that," Nick reminded her.
"Using your arms – how big's a whale?" Sara asked before Kenny indicated with his arms, "Now freeze. Don't move. Up."
Sara repositioned his arms to suit for what she has to do...which is examining his clothes. This freaked Kenny out just a little bit.
"What are you doing?" Kenny wanted to know.
"Checking for blood spatter," Sara answered casually.
"What blood? Am I a suspect?" Kenny demanded.
"This is what I do. This is how I eliminate you as a suspect," Sara explained.
"I'll take that for you," the officer offered as Sara handed him the torch.
However, Sara found something interesting in his clothes. On the cuff of his pants, to be exact. So an idea began to form inside her intelligent head.
"Well, that's good news. No blood, bud," Sara announced before placing the sample of what she found into a bindle, "I am going to need you to strip though."
"Right here?" Kenny stuttered.
"Don't be shy on my account. But if you are, this nice detective will accompany you to the bedroom," Sara offered before placing the bindle in her kit and standing up, "Oh, and, uh, I'm going to need to take your window with me, too. It's all in the warrent."
"The person who wrote this is left-handed," Dr Rambar announced to Grissom and Sara as he analyzed the photos of the stall door Grissom took.
"And we know that because...?" Grissom wanted to know.
"The 't-bar' in 'catch'? It's left-tending. And uneducated...the contraction in 'iv'e' is misplaced. Then we have the large arched hood in the letter 'y' and the arches in the bottom of the 'l's. This indicates criminal tendency which is supported by the heavy pastiosity which suggests low impulse control," Dr Rambar explained.
"Heavy pastiosity?" Catherine repeated in confusion.
"The pressure – how firmly you put pen to paper," Dr Rambar clarified.
"Or marker to metal. Do we know anything else?" Grissom asked.
"Yes. Overall, the handwriting is cursive and round. This tells me it was written by a woman," Dr Rambar answered, taking both Grissom and Catherine by surprise.
Back inside the Berlin residence, Sara started cutting the window out of the wall with a saw. Behind her, Warrick walks up and puts his bag down. Oooh. Sara's not going to like this...
"Damn! Taking the whole window," Warrick remarked.
That caused Sara to turn around and look at him in disbelief, "Grissom reinstated you."
"And you have a problem with that," Warrick stated.
"Let me guess. Grissom gets you to dime yourself off and now you both feel better? You're supposed to be in court. Instead, you're placing bets for a cheap thrill to satisfy nothing," Sara had a go at him.
"Hey! This has nothing to do with you!" Warrick snapped at her, "So are we going to work together? Or not?"
"I'm already working," Sara retorted before resuming her work: cutting the window out of the wall.
"You weren't in your office," Sara said abruptly as she walked into the lab Grissom's working in.
"And good morning to you, too, Miss Sidle," Grissom greeted sarcastically.
"Warrch has a problem. Ignoring it isn't going to make it go away. You asked me for a report and then you disregard my recommendation!" Sara sighed in frustration.
"I read your report," Grissom defended.
"So you feel comfortale jeopardizing a unit to placate an addict?" Sara asked.
"I see the whole puzzle, Sara. You're only seeing one piece," Grissom retorted.
"Then at least take him off my case," Sara pleaded him.
"No. I trust him. Do you trust me?" Grissom asked.
"Grissom!" Catherine called excitedly as she skipped into the lab...until noticing that Sara was there, "I've got something you'll want to see."
Grissom quickly looked at Sara, cleared his throat, grabbed his folder and walked away, leaving an angry Sara all alone in the lab.
"You know how you're always pushing that holy trinity stuff?" Catherine started as she and Grissom walked the hallways.
"Father, son, holy ghost?" Grissom asked.
"Victim, suspect, crime scene," Catherine corrected.
"That one, huh?" Grissom said.
"Right. Well, we don't havea victim. We don't have a suspect. All we have is a crime scene – the restroom at Marty's market with the message, 'I killed five women.' So, I figured there had to be four others," Catherine went on.
"You found the other victims?" Grissom began to realize what she was trying to tell him.
"No," Catherine shook her head, "I found the four other crime scenes."
They walked into the garage where they saw the five bathroom stall doors set up against the wall.
"Brass ran our case through VICAP. I made a few calls," Catherine explained.
"'Iv'e killed 1 woman' – Victorville. Salt Lake City – 'Iv'e killed 2 women. Catch me if you can?' San Bernardino – 'Iv'e killed 3 women.' 'Iv'e killed 4 women. Catch me!' – Mesquite. '...5 women...' Las Vegas," Grissom read.
"Five stall doors from five supermarket rest rooms. Five missing women, including Margaret Shorey," Catherine added.
"What else do you know about the crime scenes?" Grissom asked.
"Just like Marty's Market – there was no physical evidence indicating that the women were killed there," Catherine went on.
"What if we shuffle these doors like Pai Gow tiles?" Grissom suggested as he switched the doors around before stepping back and looking at it as a familiar picture formed in his mind, "San Bernardino, California. Victorville, California. Las Vegas, Nevada. Mesquite, Nevada. Salt Lake City, Utah."
Eventually, Catherine realized what he was getting at.
"Interstate 15. God knows I've driven it enough times," Catherine remarked.
"So has our suspect," Grissom piped in.
"That was so not funny!" Greg scoffed as he and Kady sat on a board on the counter in the DNA lab.
"Yes it was," Kady retorted, "Your face was funny."
"You know, Kadelin Taylor Stokes, you are too smart for your own good," Greg sighed as he tickled her slightly, earning a few giggles from his goddaughter.
"That's what daddy keeps telling me," Kady stated with a grin.
"Greg, please tell me you have something," Nick pleaded as he walked into the lab, "Oh, there you are, baby. I've been looking all over the lab for you. You ran off to Uncle Greggy again?"
"Always do," Kady beamed as she hugged her daddy and they kissed each other's cheek.
"Yes, dude. It's ready," Greg announced as he and Kady hopped off from the lab counter, "So this paper should have soaked up any foreign material on the shirt. Particularly amylase. *hands the paper to Nick and indicates him to hang the paper up* Now I've done this procedure on jeans and leather jackets but never on something like this. It's very see-through. Like Jennifer Lopez."
"Down, boy," Nick and Kady laughed, causing Nick to look at Kady.
"What can you tell me? Is there saliva on it?" Nick asked him.
"It's going to be a tough one to prove. This is only step one. You see, when a person talks, saliva naturally comes out of their mouth. Let's say that we're tossing back and forth, right?" Greg suggested.
"Gross!" Kady remarked.
"I know what you mean," Nick agreed.
"What can you tell me about the hottie that goes inside this blouse, huh? Is it true she's a friend of yours?" Greg asked.
"What? Is it on the internet?" Nick demanded.
"Might as well be. Just remember that: my saliva's getting on you. Your saliva's getting on me," Greg reminded them.
"GROSS!" Nick and Kady exclaimed at the same time. With the same facial expressions and everything.
"You know, sometimes I find the twin thing you guys have pretty cute. Other times, it's just pretty damning annoying," Greg remarked as he grabbed a spray pump.
"What's that stuff?" Kady asked.
"Starch and iodine. If this is saliva, we're going to get the old dalmation effect. So, Nick, uh, if I wanted to meet this friend of yours…?" Greg started.
"No," Nick immediately answered, causing Greg to mumble something inaudiable, "And do you even understand that stuff, Kadelin?"
"Yep," Kady nodded.
"I'm telling you. Too smart for your own good," Greg repeated as he sprayed the paper, "That's a pretty big spot. That's more than just a spray. In fact, looks like a distinct glob of spit."
"Then Kristy was telling the truth. But it doesn't mean it was the security guard's spit," Nick stated.
"Step three," Greg and Kady sing-songed.
"Well, the guy knows he did it. He's not going to cough it up," Greg pointed out.
"If you saw the girl that went with this blouse…you'd try," Nick smirked at him.
"Boys," Kady sighed to herself as she face-palmed, causing Nick and Greg to fall down laughing hard.
"You found what in my pants?" Kenny demanded.
"Glass. Any idea how it got there?" Sara asked.
"Well, it's just a guess but someone broke into my car last weekend and smashed my window and made off with my CD player. So I must've been wearing those pants," Kenny shrugged.
"Did you file a police report?" Sara questioned.
"No. But you can check with my insurance company," Kenny answered.
"I already checked with my lab. They do this test and guess what? The glass – it floated," Sara announced.
"You know what that means?" Warrick asked.
"No," Kenny replied.
"It means the glass on your pants and the glass from your living room window have equal densities," Warrick explained.
"Sorry. I was never very good at science," Kenny confessed rather sheepishly.
"The glass didn't come from any window. That's science," Warrick clarified. You'd think that a fully-grown man would be able to figure this out when my three-year-old goddaughter can.
"Anything you'd like to tell us?" Sara pressed.
"Look. I walked in the house and I thought, 'They're coming back. And they're going to kill me too.' I heard a noise and I walked to the window. That must be when I got the glass in my pants. Look. Somebody really did break into my car, OK? And I just remembered all that stuff just now. So am I in trouble?" Kenny asked.
"You're free to go," Warrick answered.
"No. He's not," Sara disagreed.
"We're not cops. We can't hold him," Warrick reminded her.
"Just one more question. What do you do for a living?" Sara questioned.
"I'm a day trader," Kenny answered.
"You make a lot of money doing that?" Sara pressed.
"That's two questions," Kenny stated.
"Feel free to answer anyway," Sara said.
"Yeah. You can," Kenny replied before standing up.
"But you don't, right?" Sara pushed all the right buttons as he left the room without an answer.
"Showed him all your cards. Sucker play," Warrick remarked.
"I was playing him. Cops ran Kenny's financials. He lost a pot in the market. Had a ton of margin cells. I'm surprised you didn't tag him as a fellow gambler," Sara quiped.
"Oh, you just don't let up, do you?" Warrick sighed.
"It's a flaw," Sara smirked.
"I'll flip you to see who drives," Catherine challenged Grissom as they met up in the hallways at the lab.
"Where we going?" Grissom asked.
"Moapa," Catherine answered.
"What's in Moapa?" Grissom questioned.
"Besides the I-15?" Catherine smirked at him.
"So my guys tell me that your guy Nick is helping a working girl at a five-star and it was quite a commotion," Brass remarked as he met up with Catherine and Grissom.
"Really?" Grissom said.
"And if I know, it means a lot of other people know. People bigger than you and me. A kid from a crime lab doing favours for a hooker can't make the unit look too good, huh, boss?" Brass smirked.
"Yeah, well, I'll get into it," Grissom promised.
"I bet that's just what Nicky said," Brass retorted.
"You two ladies done talking? It's hot out here; even though it's the middle of winter," Catherine reminded them.
"That kid over there started to take a leak. Found the body," Brass explained as he pointed to the body they were to examine.
"Well, it's not Margaret. This one's a blonde," Catherine stated.
"And blue. This is bizzare. The body's cold," Grissom added.
"In this heat?" Brass scoffed in pure disbelief.
"And she's stiff; like a two-minute burrito that's only been nuked for a minute," Grissom remarked.
"Meet Joan Sims from San Bernardino, California. We've been getting acquainted," Jenna said.
"Missing woman number one – disappeared from a supermarket restroom last July," Catherine read.
"Cause of death was strangulation. I found ligature marks on the wrists and ankles. That was the easy part. This one's weird. Like I-may-use-her-in-a-lecture weird. Her decomp is completely backwards. It's supposed to begin on the inside but her organs are in better shape than her skin. Take a look at this. I took tissue samples from the heart," Jenna began explaining.
"Looks like the planet Krypton," Grissom commented upon first initial look.
"More like kryptonite," Jenna corrected, "Those are actually ice crystals, Superman. You wanna know why she's blue? Cold to the touch in the middle of the desert? This lady was frozen – kept on ice until approximately 12 hours ago."
"I-15? Refrigerated?" Catherine repeated.
"That's how she was transported from San Bernardino to Vegas – in a refrigerated truck. That's our crime scene," Grissom realized, "And it's mobile."
"Hey, Nick. I've been looking for you. Hey, alligator," Grissom greeted as he hugged Kady.
"Hi, tadpole," Kady returned.
"That girl you've been helping with the 416?" Grissom started.
"She got in a fight with a security guard," Nick explained.
"Is she a friend of yours?" Grissom blurted.
"Are you asking me what I think you're asking me?" Nick demanded, surprised and offended.
"Are you doing anything that could compromise the unit?" Grissom asked.
"I don't believe this. You've always been so cool," Nick sighed.
"I have to ask. Its part of the job," Grissom defended.
"Uncle Greggy ratted us out, right?" Kady guessed.
"Nope. Brass," Grissom corrected, "Do you wanna talk about this?"
"I don't think so," Nick shook his head before walking away.
"See you later, alligator!" Grissom called out after her.
"See you in a tad…pole!" Kady replied before they accidentally bumped into Catherine, "Sorry."
"It's OK, sunshine," Catherine reassured her as Nick carried her away, "What's his problem?"
"Me, I guess," Grissom shrugged, "Did you find out anything?"
"Brass got us a list of all the refrigerated trucks that made deliveries to the market yesterday," Catherine announced as she pointed out something to Grissom on the clipboard, "There's a female trucker on it."
Wow. Nice hit, Warrick. You smashed that window pretty good! Wait. That's not the evidence, is it?
"Not bad. I'm impressed," Sara smiled.
"Yeah. Passed up a chance to play semipro ball. Went to college instead," Warrick boasted.
"I meant the Haeckel marks. Should tell us what we need to know," Sara said as she picked up a sliver of the glass and showed Warrick, "This is the glass you line-drived."
"That's the glass you 'sawzalled'," Warrick added as Sara looked at the two glass edges in the scope.
"Right angles face the same direction. Take a look," Sara invited as she stepped aside.
"Oh, now I'm worthy?" Warrick sighed.
"Just take a damn look," Sara instructed impatiently.
"That's crazy. I loved my brother," Kenny scoffed.
"Maybe you did. Maybe you didn't. But we think you murdered him," Warrick announced.
"Based on what?" Kenny demanded.
"The evidence," Warrick answered.
"What evidence?" Kenny exclaimed.
"When a window is broken from the outside which is what a burglar would do, Haeckel marks form right angles to the inside of the window. But when a window is broken from the inside which is what a Peckerwood like you would do, Haeckel marks form right angles to the outside of the window," Brass explained.
"What did you use to break the window, Kenny?" Sara asked.
"I didn't use anything. I didn't do it," Kenny sighed, "I want a lawyer."
"Well, we know he did it," Warrick said as he and Sara left the interview room.
"We can't prove it. But we got a motive," Sara added.
"He needed the money," Warrick clarified.
"OK. Let's say killing his brother would get it for him," Sara suggested.
"We're back to how do we prove it," Warrick sighed.
"He's a day trader – spends all day on his computer. If we want to know more about him, that's where we should be looking," Sara stated.
"And the computer is…?" Warrick trailed off.
"Still at the house," Sara finished his sentence.
"Still at the house. Well, we got probably cause," Warrick pointed out.
"Why don't we go get a…?" Sara began asking.
"Why don't you go get a new warrant?" Warrick cut her short.
She nodded and they left the police department.
Nick, without Kady surprisingly, walked to Grissom's office door and peered inside. He saw Grissom working at his desk not noticing his new arrival. Suddenly, something started singing above him.
"I wanna know. Can you help me? Help me?"
That caused Grissom to look up and to see Nick standing there. Nick just looked up at the fish above the door. The tail was wagging at it sings. Hey. That looks so cool. I WANT ONE OF THOSE!
"That's my 'Big Mouth Bilyl Bass.' It's better than a watchdog. I got valuable stuff in here, you know," Grissom pointed out.
"Drop me in the water."
"Yeah. I bet there are a lot of people looking to steal your two-headed scorpion. Not to mention 'Miss Piggy,' Nick remarked as he tapped the jar of the preserved pig fetus, "Hey. Didn't you have that fish thing since your birthday before Kady was born?"
"It was a nice birthday present from your wife. The last one she'll ever give me," Grissom sighed, "The reason I kept it up there is because it always made Kady laugh when she was a baby. Speaking of whom, where is Kady?"
"She's pretending having a nap in the DNA lab with Greg. I thought about letting her have a nap in here so you can watch her. But Greg insisted," Nick laughed.
"And the reason for your visit is…?" Grissom pressed.
"I was out of line earlier. I'm not sleeping with her if it helps any," Nick confessed.
"It does," Grissom nodded.
"And, for the record, she wasn't working. She was shopping. And the security guard was a jerk, man. He pushed her around, then he spit on her. That's why she lost it," Nick explained.
"That sounds pretty straightforward. Why don't you put a rookie on it?" Grissom suggested.
"I can't. There's something about her. Looking at her. She doesn't have anybody else. I had Sanders run a test on the shirt. There's saliva on it, but the problem is: I can't get a match. The security guard refuses to give me a sample," Nick sighed in frustration.
"If Muhammad won't go to the mountain, then the mountain must go to Muhammad," Grissom recited, "Think about it."
"Black. No sugar," Nick offered the security guard coffee in the CSI break room.
"Yeah. Thanks," he thanked.
"Like I said on the phone, I don't want to seem biased here. This girl's nothing to me. She's a hooker,' Nick stated.
"Yeah. But you do know her," he retorted.
"Yeah. Professionally. But my profession, not hers. I cut her some slack a while back. She's bad news. But she's a babe," Nick remarked.
"Tell me about it," he chuckled.
"Yeah. Between you and me, I should have busted her. But I thought I might get lucky," Nick confessed.
"Yeah," he nodded.
"Yeah. Next time she gets in a jam, she throws my name out. My boss: not pleased. So…tell me what you think," Nick said as he handed the security guard a pen and paper, "I want you to write down your own statement, seal it up in this envelope and I'll hand deliver it to the DA. It'll be good for both of us."
"Yeah. Thanks, man," he thanked.
"No problem. Us guys have to stick together, right? That's right," Nick remarked.
"That's right. Yeah," he agreed, "Do you have a wife at home?"
"My wife died almost four years ago. So it's always just been me and my daughter," Nick smiled sadly as he stroked the curls of his 'sleeping' daughter (Nick managed to kidnap her from Greg...and she's pretending to sleep so she can eavesdrop), "And, to be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way. Do you have any kids?"
"Just my daughter. But she lives all the way in Washington. She's in the Secret Service," he boasted, "What do you think your daughter's gonna be when she grows up?"
"One of two things: a famous singer or a CSI," Nick answered, "But then again, she's only three. So she has time to try new things and make her choice. I always tell her that what she wants to be is her choice. She doesn't have to be anything she doesn't wanna be. And that if she doesn't want to, she doesn't have to become a CSI. But then again, my wife was a CSI as well. So it runs in the family."
The guys continued talking and laughing as he wrote down his statement of what happened. The entire time, Nick kept a close eye on him. When he was done, he folded the statement and slid it into the envelope. He sealed it by licking the envelope. EUGH! GORCHY! Nick smiled as he did. Ha! You just gave us a DNA sample… When he left, Kady 'woke' up and she and her dad smiled mischievously.
"Nicely done," they both said as they hi-fived each other.
"Come on. Let's have some lunch," Nick suggested as he handed Kady a sandwich and her juice and they ate together like any other regular day.
"Of course I graduated high school," a female trucker scoffed, "Hey. If this is going to take forever, I could lay a urine sample on you, too gratis."
"A writing sample will be sufficient. Thank you," Grissom said.
"What's that going to tell you? Whether I was writing under the influence?" the female trucker demanded.
That was when Catherine walked up to her and handed her paper and something to write on, "Do yourself a favour."
"Yes, ma'am. Now what is it that you want me to write?" she asked.
"I've got a kite. Can you see the women? Kill the lights," Catherine recited.
"That's what you want me to write?" the trucker scoffed.
"Three times," Catherine nodded as she handed the trucker a pen and she moved aside, "Caucasian female with only a high school education and left-handed."
"You can keep the pen as a souvenir," Brass said to the trucker as she returned.
"I'll be right back," Catherine promised as she took the sample away.
"Hey! Come on! You're making me late!" she called after Catherine as she charged after her.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Brass yelled as he puts her back against the car, "Two cheeks on the car. There you go."
Everyone waited as Catherine faxed the writing sample over to the lab. Some people were patient. Others…well, I wish I could say the same.
Back at the lab, Dr Rambar receives the fax from Catherine and began comparing the writing from the sample to the writing from the stall doors. He circled the key comparison points and held up the paper to the photos for proper comparison.
"OK. Thanks," Catherine spoke into the phone before hanging up and shaking her head, "She's not the one."
"So did I win something?" the trucker asked.
"The right to keep on trucking," Catherine smiled.
"Here you go, bubba," Brass said as he handed her truck keys over.
"Hey! We're outta here!" the female trucker cheered.
"You know, I'm starting to think that maybe was should be looking for a man. Only three percent of multiple killers are female. And a woman wouldn't need a trophy. And a body on ice is definitely a trophy," Grissom remarked.
"Well, Ms Hard-Ass travels with her boyfriend. I bet you a lot of guys travel with their girlfriends," Catherine added.
"What if it was a man with a woman who would do anything he asked?" Grissom asked.
In their SUV, Catherine and Grissom drive back into the LVPD parking lot. As they drove past, they saw Nick and Kady talking to Kristy next to her case. They bare good news.
"'Us guys have to stick together, right?' He said, 'Right. You the man!'" Nick recited, causing Kristy to laugh while Kady acted it out next to him, "So I mean, I could have used an STR-DNA but it's too state-of-the-art. It's overkill. So I used a HLA-DQ A1 with a…polymarker.
"That's-that's very interesting," Kristy lied.
"You don't care about this at all, do you?" Nick smiled.
"No," Kristy chuckled, "But to be honest with you, all I really care about is whether the carges against me are going to be dropped. Are they?"
Nick and Kady smiled at each other evilly. Mentally, they were communicating with each other. That was when they punched the side of their fist into the palm of their hands, slapped the back of their hand, punched the side of their fist into their palm again, pointed behind them and hit their palm again with different symbols. Nick was sissors. Kady was rock. Nick groaned.
"Every single time," Nick pouted, causing Kristy to giggle.
"DA threw out the case," Kady announced.
"Great. So I can shoplift at that boutique again?" Kristy asked, earning that look from Nick, causing her to laugh and grab his shirt, "I was kidding. I was kidding. Besides, they never have any good sales there, anyway. I'd invite you out for coffee. It's probably a bad idea, huh?"
"Yeah," Nick and Kady agreed.
"Hey, honey. Why don't you go say hi to Uncle Gil and Aunty Cathy. I wanna talk to Kristy alone for a minute," Nick whispered to her.
"OK, daddy," Kady nodded as she hugged Kristy.
Immediately, Kristy bent down and hugged her back. The sight touched Nick's heart. Hey. Kristy might be a prostitute. But she's a prostitue with a heart of gold. You know what I'm saying? Nick began feeling something then. Something he hadn't felt since Abby died. That was when he realized what he was feeling. What he was feeling was love.
"You guys are really close. Closer than any other father-daughter couple I've met," Kristy complimented.
"My daughter's my best friend. But it's been hard sometimes. I mean, her mother died when she was born. So it's always been just the two of us. But I wouldn't have it any other way. She's the reason I do what I do. Why I'm a CSI. So I can make Las Vegas a safe place for my baby. So she can grow up without having to worry about some pedophile or serial killer snatching her off the street. I don't want Kady to grow up having to look over her shoulder all the time," Nick confessed.
"She won't have to grow up looking over her shoulder all the time because she has you. She has you to love her, to cherish her, to protect her; you're her rock. And something tells me she's your rock too. Already, she seems pretty strong. Those pedophiles and serial killers won't stand a chance against her," Kristy reassured him, "Maybe I can call you sometime. You know, just in case I ever get into trouble or something."
"Maybe you should try not getting into trouble. You do owe me one," Nick reminded her with a smile.
"I owe you two," Kristy corrected. (Me: Should I or shouldn't I? Nick: Should! Jason: Shouldn't. Me: Meh.)
That was when Kristy leaned in and kissed Nick on the lips quickly. Can anyone say fireworks? Nick pulled her to him and kissed her a little longer before finally letting her go.
"I'd make that kiss last a little longer. But we've got some spies," Kristy stated as she pointed to Grissom, Kady and Catherine watching the two with big smiles stretching their faces.
Nick rolled his eyes a little bit, his mind already forming a plan on how he would get payback later on. (Me: See what I did there? Nick: Thanks for that. Me: You need a lady in your life. Jason: You do realize she eventually dies, right? Me: Please don't ruin it for him, Jason.)
"You know where to find me," Nick nodded before they went their separate ways, "Alright. Whose idea was it to spy on me?"
Grissom, Catherine and Kady all looked at each other before pointed at each other. Kady pointed at Catherine and Grissom. Catherine pointed at Grissom and Kady. Grissom pointed at Kady and Catherine. Nick rolled his eyes and laughed at the antics of his friends and daughter. They love messing with one another. But they love each other to bits. What more could they ask for?
"Is that right?" the detective spoke into the phone before hanging up and looking at Sara and Warrick, "Your boy Kenny just lawyered up.
"Well, we got a warrant so that should give us the room for the night," Warrick pointed out.
That was when Sara found the computer. Immediately, she sat at the desk and turned it on. However, nothing happened. What the heck is going on here?
"There's something wrong with it," Sara announced.
"Computers turn on. When they don't, it's for a reason. Did you plug it in?" Warrick asked.
"The power light's on," Sara answered.
"Really? Let me check it out," Warric suggested as he opened the case to the unit and was surprised at what he found inside, "Well, he's a sneaky S.O.B. I'll give him that."
Sara stood up and looked inside. She, too, was surprised at what they found inside the unit. What they found inside…was a blast. Literally.
"Oh, no one is going to believe this," Sara remarked as Warrick snapped a photo.
"Alright," Warrick nodded as Sara picked up the gun and looked at the handle, "Let me see that flashlight. There's scratches all over it."
"Nothing really special about them," Sara shrugged.
"And the hotshot takes another strike. Check it out. Not enough to cause ehen a small scratch on your finger, but more than enough to use as a basis of comparison," Warrick stated as he took out the piece of glass stuck in the handle.
"We match this to the broken window, we got him," Sara announced.
"One, two, three," Warrick counted as he and Sara dropped the glass into two different containers, "Left one is from the broken window. The other is from the gun. Both dropping at an identical rate. Glass is from the same source."
"So, Kenny broke the window from the inside using the butt of the gun," Sara summised.
"My theory…the brother was the executor of the parents' estate. He controlled the family money," Warrick guessed.
"Sounds like more than a theory," Sara remarked.
"I called the county clerk. With the brother out of the way, Kenny is the sole beneficiary," Warrick announced.
Begin flashback
"Do you have any idea how much money I've lost?" Kenny boomed as he held a gun to Jeff.
"Kenny, come on. What are you doing? I'm your brother, OK? I already said I'd loan you the money, OK?" Jeff promised him.
"Come on! $20000? That doesn't even begin to solve my problems!" Kenny retorted.
That was when Kenny fired the gun twice. Jeff fell to the floor dead. Kenny began freaking out. If the cops find out what happened, he'll be arrested for murder and he wouldn't be able to earn the money AND pay off his debts. So, in the hopes of drawing suspicion away from him, he grabbed the gun and broke the window with it. After trashing the place, he hid the gun in the computer.
End flashback
"Slam that jail door!" Warrick requested as he looked at Sara, "Makes you reconsider, doesn't it?"
"I never said you weren't a good CSI," Sara defended before walking away.
"We're state-of-the-art here. Number one in vehicle satellite tracking. I can locate one or all of our trucks with just a click of a mouse. 24/7," the dispatcher boasted.
"Do you ever worry that technology is going to make us obsolete?" Grissom asked Catherine.
"No," Catherine responded firmly.
"Can you, uh, narrow your database? Say, eliminate all trucks that are not refrigerated?" Grissom wanted to know.
"Yeah. I think I can," she nodded as she worked the keyboard, causing some red dots to disappear.
"Can you eliminate all trucks that were not in Las Vegas yesterday?" Grissom requested, causing some red dots to disappear.
"Eliminate all trucks that only travel in state," Catherine instructed, causing more dots to disappear, "Now eliminate the trucks that don't deliver to supermarkets along the I-15."
A lot more dots disappeared. Now, they were only left with three dots on the screen.
"This is very cool," Grissom commented, "Eliminate all trucks that did not deliver to Marty's Market yesterday."
When the dispatcher entered the field condition, all the flashing red dots instantly disappeared. Except one.
"That's our guy. He delivered to all five towns – all five supermarkets," Catherine announced.
"Where is he now?" Grissom asked.
Hello, hello, hello! Looks like we found our serial killer. Wanna know how I know this fact? Here's how I know for a fact…
"POLICE! GET YOUR HANDS UP! COME OUT NOW!" officers were yelling.
"Police! Step away from the truck! Put your hands on the back of your head! Keep your hands in sight!" Brass demanded, causing a woman to climb out of the front seat, "Get out of the track!"
"Hands over your head!" the officer added.
"Step away from the track. Put your hands on the back of your head," Brass instructed.
"I'm just making my regular delivery," the male trucker defended.
"Don't make me ask you twice," Brass threatened, "Move! Hands on the back of your head! Hands on the back of your head!"
That was enough for the male trucker to dispose of the clipboard and obey his instructions. Well, Jim Brass is someone you do NOT want to mess with. And I've learned that the hard way… As they did their thing, Grissom and Catherine stepped out.
"Left hand on the wall. Right hand on the wall. Check him for weapons," Brass requested before approaching the truck.
"Spread your legs," the officer instructed.
"Hey! Get away from my truck!" the male trucker yelled.
"It's not your truck anymore. It's our crime scene," Grissom announced.
"Check the cab," an officer demanded.
Officers immediately followed Brass into the truck so they could clear it for their two CSIs. When they came out, Brass was holstering his gun. Yep. It's clear. The CSIs are all good to go. This will the interesting…
"It's all yours," Brass announced.
"All clear, sir!" the officer added.
That was when Catherine and Grissom walked into the truck. Together, they weaved through the rows of large pieces of frozen meat hanging from the roof of the truck on hooks and/or ropes. He notices one that is particularly long and thin compared to the other pieces of meat. So he proceeded to unwrap it, thinking that inside was one of the women taken from the supermarket. Sadly, that was not to be. It was just another piece of frozon meat. Catherine walked past Grissom and headed towards the back of the truck where the smaller refrigerator unit was located. Grissom immediately followed her. When they opened it, they gasped at the contents that greeted them inside. They found three of the four victims they still had to find. Well, they found Joan Sims and the other three victims. All four of them were found dead. Where's Margaret Shorey? Is she even still alive?
"We've got three!" Catherine announced as she and Grissom walked out.
"Where is she? Where is Margaret Shorey?" Grissom asked grimly.
"Screw you, man!" the male trucker sneered.
"Look, pal. I already know what happened. I even know your tupe – decent, trusting, middle-aged women," Grissom retorted.
Begin flashback
Back inside the restroom at Marty's Market, Margaret was furiously scrubbing the mustard off her dress. That was when the truck driver's girlfriend ran in. Well, you gotta give her credit. She's a brillient actress.
"Please help me. You got to help me! I locked my baby in the car!" she panted.
"Did you call the manager?" Margaret asked worriedly.
"It is so hot. She's going to die. Please help me!" she pleaded.
"All…alright," Margaret agreed as she and the woman ran out of the bathroom towards the back of the market, "Where's your car?"
"This way," the girlfriend answered.
That was when the male trucker jumped out from the crates and snatched Margaret from behind. Margaret began screaming, hoping someone would hear her. But with the strong hand over her mouth, she had no chance.
"Go on! Write it!" he screamed at her.
She was hesitant. Was she really willing to continue to ruin her life for the man she loved? Well, she's done it four times before. One more time wasn't going to make that much of a difference. So she ran back into the market restroom she lead Margaret Shorey out of. She removed the cap from the marker and started to write the message Grissom found on the walls.
End flashback
"OK. Alright, listen. The first one of you lowlifes can name that tune gets to make a deal. Hmm? The difference between the chair or life in prison. So…," Brass tormented them.
She looked around. Was she really ready to do the right thing? Well, she didn't want to spend a lifetime in prison. But she didn't want to end up on Death Row either. So, it was obvious what her choice was going to be.
"He made me do it," the girlfriend confessed.
The male trucker lunged at her. He couldn't believe that she had actually betrayed him to save her own skin. Well, in a group crime, when it comes down to it, self-preservation overrules everything.
"Cuff him," Brass requested before the male trucker was taken away, "Hey, hey, hey… Where is she?"
Before they knew it, Catherine and Grissom were searching the front of the truck. Grissom crawled around inside and checked out the seats. Nothing there. So Catheirne and Grissom headed towards the mattress. Together, they lifted the mattress and found the deal-breaker.
"There's a lock. Are there any keys?" Grissom asked.
"Try this," Catherine suggested as she handed him some keys.
The first key Grissom tried actually succeeded in unlocking the compartment under the mattress. They removed the lid and inside the compartment, they found Margaret Shorey bound and gagged. A little shaken and slightly bruised, but alive, nonetheless.
"Hello, Margaret. My name is Gil. This is Catherine," Grissom introduced.
"We're going to take you home," Catherine promised her.
Back at the lab, Sara walked into the main reception area intent on something. When she walked into the waiting room, she saw a young boy holding a football sitting there alone. He appeared to be looking for someone. A certain CSI.
"You look lost," Sara remarked.
"Oh…yeah. Do you know Warrick Brown?" Jason asked.
"Yeah. You want me to tell him you're here?" Sara offered.
"Oh, he's probably working. He works really hard. If you see him, could you just tell him that, uh, Jason says thanks?" Jason requested.
"OK. Will he know what for?" Sara questioned.
"Uh…"
"Hey, Jase. How you doing?" Warrick asked as he walked in carrying Kady in his arms.
"Better. 'Sup, Kady?" Jason asked as he and Kady hi-fived each other, "Hey, thanks for busting me loose. My mum said she'll pay you back."
"No. You'll pay me back, Shorty. Just don't be pulling anymore fire alarms," Warrick warned.
"Oh, I won't," Jason promised him.
"Gets you more attention than you want," Warrick remarked.
"I know," Jason laughed.
"You still working on those moves I show you?" Warrick questioned.
"Yeah. Every day after school. I do have a little lady to impress," Jason stated as he kissed Kady on the cheek in a brotherly manner.
"Hey. Don't even go there," Warrick threatened jokingly as he and Jason sparred for a minute or two, causing Sara to smile and Kady to giggle, "How about that? How about that right there? Good."
"Hey. I gotta go. My mum's waiting for me," Jason said.
"Hey, come here," Warrick requested as he bent over and placed his hand around Jason's shoulders, "Apologize to your mum, alright? Let her know she can trust you."
"Yeah," Jason nodded.
"Alright?" Warrick pressed.
"Bye, Warrick. Bye, Kady. Uh…see you next week," Jason said.
"See you next week, jaws!" Warrick and Kady called out after Jason as he left.
"So you went to the casino to win bail money," Sara realized.
"He needed my help. I didn't win anything, Sara. You're a CSI. You saw me enter a casino. Did you see me place a bet?" Warrick asked.
"You want to tell me you didn't?" Sara pressed.
"I don't have to tell you anything. Look. I went there to collect a debt that was owed to me. We're supposed to be working together. Next time, just try talking to me instead of going around behind my back," Warrick suggested as he and Kady walked away.
"So you're not going to tell me?" Greg summised.
"N. O. What does that spell? No," Nick answered.
"She's a ten out of ten as you would say," Grissom piped as he walked in, causing Greg's jaw to drop.
"OK. Here we go. You're gonna ask us to pull another double," Warrick sighed.
"Shut up. You'll jinx it," Kady repremended her godfather.
"She continues to amaze me everyday," Catherine commented.
"Nah. I won't make you pull another double," Grissom decided, causing everyone to cheer, "Come on. Breakfast on me."
"Maybe another time. Kady's pulled another all-nighter. And if I don't put her down to bed now, I'm gonna have a hard time keeping up with her all day," Nick sighed.
"Lindsey likes it when I actually drive her to school. I promised her I would today. I'm not breaking a promise," Catherine apologized.
"Jason's mother wants me to swing by so she can pay me back. And she works shift work as a nurse. If I don't swing by now, I won't catch her for a long time," Warrick explained.
"I have a breakfast date," Sara announced, causing Greg to wolf-whistle at her.
"I have reports and paperwork. The sheriff's giving me grief," Brass moaned.
"Ecklie's been hounding me like a dog for the DNA results on the cases from his shift. And you and I both know how Ecklie can be if he doesn't get results," Greg remarked.
"He scares me," Kady confessed.
"He scares everyone, baby. No need to feel bad about it" Greg retorted.
"He doesn't scare me," Nick scoffed.
"Wanna bet?" everyone else shot back.
"Fair enough," Nick sighed.
"Well, see you all next shift," Grissom bidded as he walked out.
"Hey, Greg. You want a ride home to freshen up before working again?" Warrick offered.
"Please and thank you," was Greg's response as he got up.
"Lindsey has to go in an hour. See you guys tomorrow," Catherine said as she left after Warrick and Greg.
"I really don't need anymore grief from the sheriff," Brass remarked as he walked out.
"So…I guess that leaves you and me," Grissom stated.
"Three-year-old daughter. Up all night. Exhausted like God only knows what. Sleep is all that I care about," Nick reminded him as he left.
When Nick pulled into the driveway, he had never felt more relieved to finally be home. This whole shift had just been one crazy ride. Something he definitely never wanted to go through again. Sure. It was nice seeing Kristy and all. But he didn't want to see her in those circumstances. But deep down, he was more than happy to see her again. He was BEYOND THRILLED. And in his heart, he knew he would see her again. He WANTED to see her again. He's never felt this way since his wife's tragic death. He didn't want that feeling to go away ever again. But there was a nagging feeling inside of him. Telling him not to pursue his feelings. Because he preferred things to be the way they are now. Just him and his three-year-old daughter. He never wanted to change that. Ever. And dating something new would just make things awkward.
Nick turned towards the back and smiled at the sight of his three-year-old baby asleep in the back seat. Smiling, he unbuckled and swung his backpack on his shoulders. He then opened the back door and unbuckled his daughter carefully so he didn't disturb her sleep. Carefully, he scooped her into his arms, shut the door and locked the car. When he got to the door, he singlehandedly unlocked the front door and stepped inside, kicking his shoes off along the way. Briefly laying Kady on the couch, he quickly threw his backpack onto his bed before carrying Kady to her room. Not once she had stirred. Not even as he changed her from her skirt and singlet to her favourite butterfly jammies.
Gently, he laid her on the bed and covered her with the sheets. He grabbed her plush butterfly that was nearby and placed it on the bed next to her. He kissed her cheek quickly before pulling the blankets higher over her as she shifted in her sleep. Relieved that she was settled, Nick left the room and changed into his old college tracksuit. This time, he didn't wear a shirt to bed. (Female admirers: Ooooh… *sighs dreamily* Jason: Really? Me: Get used to it.) He collapsed into his bed without bothering to cover himself. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep. All his dreams were filled with a certain Kristy Hopkins and the future they have together.
Not that he'd admit it…
Meh. Wasn't as long this time. But oh so worth it. We only have next episode to go and we're up to BOOM! Oh, this will be good…
BYE AND PLEASE REVIEW!