Alison and Mac walked into the lavish house. Her eyes locking on the body in the dining room. She and Mac stood stopped taking in the surrounding.
"Our victim is Ron Ferguson," Flack said, walking over to them. "Real estate mogul." Mac looked down at the body.
"Seen his billboards around the city."
"Apparently, he and his business partner, a guy named Phillip Roth," Flack explained. "Made a killing during the housing bubble." Alison bent down next to the body.
"Pretty bad beating to the head." She said.
"We know who called it in." Mac asked. Flack pointed further into the house, where a woman was sitting at a table.
"His wife, Elizabeth. Amazingly, she made it to a phone at all, considering she was bound, gagged, and thrown into the back bedroom." Alison looked over at a large picture that hung in the wall next to them.
"What about the daughter. Where's she?"
"Megan, movie theater." Flack explained. "We're expecting her home any minute now."
"Do we know how many intruders," Mac asked.
"Two, both in ski masks." Alison could see something was bothering Mac.
"What are you thinking, Mac."
"Wealthy neighborhood. Rows and rows of million-dollar homes.
Why'd the attacker choose this one?" He pointed around the house. "Al Lindsay is on her way over. I want you two to clear the house while I talk to the wife." Alison pulled out her camera.
"Sure thing. If the intruders left anything, we'll find it."
Greg walked onto the scene with Messer next to him.
"So, have you had to go to any more PT," Messer asked as Greg handed his cane over to one of the other CSI as they passed him a clipboard.
"It's dropped back down to a biweekly appointment, thankfully." Greg signed the paper and handed it back. "You finished the last of yours off last month, right." Messer smiled.
"Yeah, Doc said I was all good. No need for a cane or anything." The corner of Greg's mouth turned up in a smile.
"Must be nice." Messer closed his eye.
"Hey man, I'm sorry."
"It's fine." He walked over to Eddie. "So, what can you tell us about." Eddie looked around them.
"Shouldn't you be asking someone else?" She asked, looking at them. Messer waved her off.
"They can talk to someone else. You were the first one here, so what happened." Eddie pulled out her notebook.
"A Jonny Milton apparently was upset with his neighbor for playing really loud music." Greg looked at the body that was being prosses by other CSI.
"So, he shot him." Eddie shook her head.
"No, that's the thing he called in a noise complaint. He didn't come to the door, and when we entered, we found him dead." Messer pulled out his camera.
"Well, that makes things interesting."
"Thanks, Eddie. We should be clear in the next 4 hours."
"No problem, I'll be here if you need anything." Greg and Messer headed into the kitchen.
"If I had her and Jamie at the house when I was at the 2-9, then I might have stayed," Messer said. Greg set a marker down.
"If you were still at the 2-9, I think Frank might have sent Jamie all the way to Brooklyn."
"I can't imagine being related to the commissioner."
"It's not bad. It's more being married to Frank Reagan's youngest. Him being the commissioner means nothing during Sunday dinner."
Alison got out of the car, followed by Flack. They were in the middle of following up a lead they had gotten from the victim's wife.
"I believe that your exact words were, "One more stop, then we get a bit to eat."" Alison smiled over at him.
"Yeah, and this office is the last stop." Flack glared at her.
"No, no, no, no!" He called after her as she walked through the parking garage. "You said it on the walk up to the last place. That's one more. This is two." Alison rolled her eyes.
"You're just like how Joe was. You never listen to what I actually say."
"Oh, I listen. The problem is that you're not saying what you think you're saying." Alison smiled, covering her mouth to hide a laugh. "Joe use to say that too." Alison nodded.
"Yeah, but if that was the case, then how come Greg never runs into this problem."
"That is because Greg is fluent in the language of Alison."
"Oh, the language of Alison."
"Yeah, that man could give a doctoral thesis on the topic." Alison laughed, then slowly came to a stop.
"Hey, see that guy over there." She asked as she pulled the picture out of the folder. He was in the middle of unloading newspapers from a truck. "He matches the artist's rendering we got from Elizabeth." Flack looked at the picture and then at the man.
"That looks like our guy." The man caught them staring at him and ran. Alison and Flack waited for a heartbeat before chasing after him. A car cut out in front of Flack, and Alison turned, making a b-line for their truck. The suspect pulled a civilian out of their own vehicle, taking it right as Alison started her car. She slammed on the gas right as he headed for the exit causing him to ram his car into the side of hers. The impact jolted her, but she didn't have time to think about it hopping out of the truck and hurrying over to the suspect. Flack already had him out of the car and in handcuffs.
"Hey Al, you alright."
"Yeah." She said, doing her best to even her breathing.
"Let get this guy back to the station."
Alison walked into Stella's office.
"I still haven't got any luck on the playing cards that Sid discovered on the Vic's body." Stella was clicking the pen in her hands-on and off.
"Humm." She turned, looking at Alison. "What was that." Alison sat in the chair across from her.
"The playing card. I haven't had any luck with that lead. What's bothering you." Stella handed over the ME report.
"Sid is having a hard time with the cause of death." Alison snatched it out of her hand, flipping it over.
"You mean that it wasn't the blow to the head." Stella shrugged her shoulders.
"According to him, it wasn't enough to kill him, but at the same time, he has marks that say that has to be the cause of death."
"Flack and I go a clear ID on one of the attackers, but he's calling for a lawyer. I might be able to pick up an ID on the residue that's on the playing card, but it's a slim chance." Stella's phone started to ring, and she picked it up. Alison moved to get up, but Stella held up her hand, stopping her.
"Thanks, Hawkes. I'll pass it on." She hung the phone up. "The victim had a second phone." Alison's brow furrowed.
"I picked the Vic's cell up at the scene. There was no sense of a second one."
"Apparently, there was one in the safe that was taken in the robbery," Stella said.
"The only reason someone would have a second cell phone in a safe would be if they had something to hide." Stella nodded.
"I want you to pass the card off to Adam and take the second cell to the computer lab and look it over with Hawkes. I don't want anything to be missed."
"Sure thing. If there's anything on it, we'll find it."
Greg walked over to Messer.
"Have you been able to find any fingerprints in the place?" Messer looked over at him.
"No, just the victims. Strangely, you would think that there would be some." Greg pulled up the scene map.
"What's this mark on here." He pointed at a green marker on the side." Messer leaned over.
"Oh, Eddie and her partner put in the report that she turned the stereo off when they got there, so the prints weren't processed." Greg tilted his head.
"Did the report say how she turned it off?" Messer looked over at him.
"No, It just said that she turned it off. From the looks of things, the CSI that was processing the prints stopped when the report went through." Greg pulled out his cell.
"Officer Jenko." Eddie said.
"Hey, Eddie Its Sanders. How did you turn the stereo off at the apartment." Messer moved over so he could better hear Eddie's response.
"The remote was on the counter." Messer smiled and hurried over to the computer.
"So, you didn't touch the actual stereo, correct."
"Yeah, did I do something wrong?"
"No, you did great. I'll see you Sunday. Thanks, Eddie." He hung the phone upright as Messer snapped his fingers.
"There," he pointed at the computer.
"The prints came back to the neighbor." Greg walked over so he could better read the report.
"So how did the neighbor get his fingers on the stereo when he claimed that he never had been over there." Messer shook his head.
"I don't know, but I would love to find out."
Alison grabbed a cup of coffee heading down the hallway.
"Alison," Sid called out, running over to her. She stopped looking at him.
"Hey Sid, what can I do for you." he smiled.
"Stella is in court this morning, so I can't tell her." Alison took a sip of her coffee, grimacing at the bitter taste. Messer had gotten to the pot before Greg again.
"Tell me about what." She asked.
"I put the report in your box, but I was able to get the cause of death." Alison tilted her head.
"Stella mentioned that there were so many questions about it being blunt force trauma."
"Yeah, I have officially rolled that he was smothered." Alison nearly spit the coffee out of her mouth.
"What!"
"I found cotton in his throat. This perfectly explained the petechial hemorrhaging that I found. The sample is in the case locker." Alison nodded. "My guess is that one of the attackers placed a pillow or towel over his mouth and nose." Alison mentally checked through the scene pictures.
"I don't recall seeing a bloodstained pillow or towel at the crime scene." Sid placed his hand on his chin.
"Perhaps the attackers took it with them when they left?" Alison took another sip of her coffee.
"It's odd that they would be sloppy enough to leave a ski mask and the shipping box but smart enough to take a bloodstained pillow?"
"And that Alison is your mystery as mine is now finished."
Greg walked into the apartment, spotting Alison sitting by the window. He smiled, walking over to her.
"Hey, Ally." He called out so she would know that it was him. He saw her relax, but she didn't turn around. "I saw Flack at the lab before I left." He stood behind her, looking out at the view of the city. "Why didn't you tell me about the car chase before you left to pick up Ethan." Alison reached up, rubbing her stiff neck.
"It wasn't that big of a deal besides I was busy with the hominization turn murder case." Greg gently pushed her hand aside so he could start working the knots out of her neck.
"How did that turn out." Alison winced when he hit one of her busies, and he moved his hand to a better spot.
"A mess. The daughter was one of the invaders, and the wife was the one that killed him because she thought he was going to kill her. Only because she made a fake profile online and was having a fake affair. Turns out, though, that the husband knew it was here the whole time and was just messing with her. It was all just one big mess, and now the husband is dead, and the daughter and her boyfriend are going to jail along with the wife." Alison let out a low breath as he pressed on a knot. "What about you? Did you have a happier day?"
"A man killed his neighbor, and to cover it up, he called in a noise complaint only to forget to whip the fingerprint off the stereo."
"Why did he want to kill his neighbor," Alison asked.
"This is the crazy part. Apparently, his apartment had the better view, and he wanted to switch, but the neighbor refused to sell it to him, so he decided that the only way for him to get it would be to kill him."
"What a messed up day we had. I just want it to be over." Greg leaned over, kissing her cheek.
"I don't. I want this day to last forever as long as I get to stay in this moment with you."