DISCLAIMER - Still not mine..

A/N - This chapter does not link very well with the previous one, so apologies for that. Also, it's pretty short (my regular readers will know that I prefer slightly longer chapters than this). It was a choice between rewriting AGAIN, or just uploading. I figured those who were reading this story had waited long enough! Anyways, it's leading up to the REALLY exciting stuff (at least I hope so!)... and a longer chapter, obviously.

The many bruises and scratches on Aida Davies' body had been a mystery, until Rose Litchfield's hysterical confession. Her story of a fight sparked by her own unreasonable behaviour rang true with the CSIs. The woman was vindicated when neighbours confirmed that she had left the Davies apartment at somewhere near midnight. The blood on the sofa matched her story too. It helped that Rose's poor upper body strength would have made dragging Aida around nearly impossible.

All this meant that they were back at square one. Aida's neighbours had reported a third disturbance, at around one thirty in the morning. Unfortunately, there was no witness statement to go on, other than a vague 'he drove a red car' from a teenager who had spent too much time self-medicating.

Mac had declared a break. Bradwen hadn't been able to join them. There was still work that he could do. In the meantime, the CSI boss and four of the people who had worked on the case ate hotdogs from a street vendor. Hawkes bit into his with closed eyes. It was the first really good thing he'd eaten in forty eight hours. Somehow, snacks just didn't do it.

"So," Mac said, brushing away crumbs from his coat, "where are we?"

Lindsey, who was now officially back on duty, shrugged. "Nowhere interesting. Edward Davies - accounted for. Rose Litchfield - accounted for. Mysterious guy in red car - not accounted for." she said.

"Aside from nowhere interesting?"

"The neighbours have been a good source so far. Maybe we missed something." Danny offered.

"Good thinking. Bradwen's doing that now. Anything else?"

"We've been concentrating heavily on the victim. What about her ex-husband? He's involved in some-"

"Questionable." Mac muttered.

"-business, so he could have pissed off the wrong guys."

It was an avenue that they should have looked down earlier. Mac was furious with himself for not thinking of it earlier. He wiped his mouth with the tissue. The hotdog hadn't had its usual flavour. It was possible that the vendor had been skimping on the extras. More likely, Mac thought, that he was too wound up about the case and office politics to enjoy it.

"Look into it." he said, speaking mostly to Hawkes and Lindsey. The two techs stood by, trying to be inconspicuous. Mac looked at them. "Good work, guys."

He walked away before any of them could ask awkward questions about his meeting with the Chief. It had, as expected, been a total disaster. Though Mac had not been fired, he had been shown just how serious the brass were about cutting costs. They had offered a deal. Keep your entire staff - but everyone takes a seven per cent pay cut. Mac couldn't see how it would work. Other labs, relatively close by, would pay a lot of money to get their hands on experienced CSIs like Danny Messer, or specialist lab technicians like Louise Richmond.

Watching him go, Hawkes and Lindsey were not fooled. They exchanged worried glances, and resolved to tackle the issue when they returned to the lab. Perhaps, Hawkes thought diplomatically, after we've looked into Blake Donnelly's business partners. With Mac Taylor in that kind of mood, it was sensible to do as he asked.

Stella flicked a tiny scrap of paper against the wall. It only made it halfway, before drifting to a halt. She sighed. This day was turning out worse than the last. With Blake Donnelly finally cooperating, the investigation should have taken a turn for the better. Instead, they were grinding to a halt. The final autopsy report - missing only a couple of tests that took some time to perform - had been delivered. There was no significant evidence indicating who might have caused Jennifer Ryan's death. Given that result, Stella had managed to persuade Sid Hammerback to take a second look. No doubt it would come back to bite her - medical examiners were under strict controls these days, and Mac was trying to reduce the number of clashes the lab had with their bosses.

"Find anything interesting yet?"

Stella turned round. She shook her head. "Not a damn thing."

Flack slumped into the nearest chair. "Me neither. This case is a nightmare. There's nothing to go on."

"Rossiter - he has to be involved."

The detective grimaced. "More good news. He's disappeared."