IV - HEAR NO EVIL, SPEAK NO EVIL
"Okay. This is what we got. Rivers suffocated to death." Robbins looked at Catherine and Grissom, before continuing. "Of course, the beating he took would have killed him - every single rib was shattered, collarbone - gone. One of his lungs was punctured by a rib, and his heart had been nicked. Kidney, spleen and liver - all damaged. He was bleeding out internally, and it was just a matter of what killed him first. The tape won - but the collapsed lung didn't help. As far as the fingertips go, they were removed by a fairly sharp knife with a smooth edge. Whoever did it knows a little bit about the human anatomy, as the majority of the cuts are clean. I found no fibers on him. The body was remarkably clean.
"The other guy that just came in - Phillips? - quick look over confirms he was stabbed multiple times. I counted at least 10 wounds. He also has defensive wounds and bruises on his arms and hands."
He looked at Catherine. "You already scraped under his nails, right?"
Catherine nodded. "Yep - back at the office. Anyway of telling if the same knife was used on Rivers and Phillips? It's a little too coincidental that both are murdered the same night, but the MO's are so different."
"Too early to know Catherine. It'll be hard proving anything without the weapon, because the stab wounds are so different then the slicing wounds." Robbins smiled. "Get me the knife that did this, I might be able to help you."
"Have you already bagged up the clothes?" Grissom asked.
"Bagged and gone. Greg has them up in the lab already, along with the lovely note that was stapled to his forehead. And I should warn you, Nick is here. He's bored. He wants to help." Robbins grinned. "If I were you I'd try to get him out of here before Ecklie finds out. If he evens thinks Nick is working on a case in anyway, he'll go straight to Mobley."
Grissom sighed. "Yeah. I'll talk to him - he should know better. Have you started the autopsy on Phillips yet, or just the visual?"
"Visual. Autopsy will start in about 20 minutes."
"Great. I'll be back for that. Talk to you then."
* * * * *
"God grief, Nick! Go home and change already." Warrick was pouring himself a coffee when Nick walked into the lounge. "The more I see that shirt, the more it hurts my eyes."
"Nice to see you too, Warrick!" Nick grinned cheekily. "And don't complain - if you hadn't let Greg do the shopping, you wouldn't have to look at it." He grabbed a coffee cup, and extended his hand. Warrick poured him a coffee, shaking his head.
"What are you doing here, man? Internal Affairs isn't so quick that they've lifted your suspension yet. I thought we wouldn't be seeing your ugly mug around here for at least a couple of days!"
"Not his ugly mug." Sara countered, as she walked into the lounge lugging a big box of files. "It's Grissom's. Greg bought it for him last Christmas." Warrick rolled his eyes at her, groaning.
Nick grinned into his coffee. "Hey Sara. Can you take a break? Thought we could go out for a bite to eat before I head back to my place."
"Can't right now, Nick. Look at all this crap I pulled from River's cubicle at K-ROX. I have to go through it and see if I can find anything interesting, and Grissom just ordered Chinese for everyone." Sara looked at him and smiled. "You bored?"
Nick grunted. "Witless. This suspension stuff is for the birds. Maybe Grissom will let me help on the sly?"
Warrick laughed. "Right. And have Ecklie complaining about tainted evidence? I don't think so, Nick."
* * * * *
"So you're telling me that someone poked straight pins into his eardrums?" Grissom looked at Robbins, who nodded as he handed him a small Petri dish holding the straight pins in question.
"I've managed to pull 10 so far. Six from the left ear and 4 from the right. I think there's still a couple in the right ear, but they're hard to get out. These definitely would have inserted into the ears after death. They've gone in too neatly, and even if Mr. Phillips here had been unconscious, the pins puncturing his ear-drums would have caused reflex jerks. Other than that, I have nothing new to add. He died of his stab wounds."
Grissom was looking at the pins. They glinted red in the lights. "Straight pins and punctured eardrums. And a dead DJ who may or may not have been murdered by the same guy - suffocated by video tape. Gut instinct tells me these two murders are related - there's no such thing as coincidence. Hear no evil, speak no evil? I wish we had something else to work with. I wonder if Greg has found anything."
"Okay. This is what we got. Rivers suffocated to death." Robbins looked at Catherine and Grissom, before continuing. "Of course, the beating he took would have killed him - every single rib was shattered, collarbone - gone. One of his lungs was punctured by a rib, and his heart had been nicked. Kidney, spleen and liver - all damaged. He was bleeding out internally, and it was just a matter of what killed him first. The tape won - but the collapsed lung didn't help. As far as the fingertips go, they were removed by a fairly sharp knife with a smooth edge. Whoever did it knows a little bit about the human anatomy, as the majority of the cuts are clean. I found no fibers on him. The body was remarkably clean.
"The other guy that just came in - Phillips? - quick look over confirms he was stabbed multiple times. I counted at least 10 wounds. He also has defensive wounds and bruises on his arms and hands."
He looked at Catherine. "You already scraped under his nails, right?"
Catherine nodded. "Yep - back at the office. Anyway of telling if the same knife was used on Rivers and Phillips? It's a little too coincidental that both are murdered the same night, but the MO's are so different."
"Too early to know Catherine. It'll be hard proving anything without the weapon, because the stab wounds are so different then the slicing wounds." Robbins smiled. "Get me the knife that did this, I might be able to help you."
"Have you already bagged up the clothes?" Grissom asked.
"Bagged and gone. Greg has them up in the lab already, along with the lovely note that was stapled to his forehead. And I should warn you, Nick is here. He's bored. He wants to help." Robbins grinned. "If I were you I'd try to get him out of here before Ecklie finds out. If he evens thinks Nick is working on a case in anyway, he'll go straight to Mobley."
Grissom sighed. "Yeah. I'll talk to him - he should know better. Have you started the autopsy on Phillips yet, or just the visual?"
"Visual. Autopsy will start in about 20 minutes."
"Great. I'll be back for that. Talk to you then."
* * * * *
"God grief, Nick! Go home and change already." Warrick was pouring himself a coffee when Nick walked into the lounge. "The more I see that shirt, the more it hurts my eyes."
"Nice to see you too, Warrick!" Nick grinned cheekily. "And don't complain - if you hadn't let Greg do the shopping, you wouldn't have to look at it." He grabbed a coffee cup, and extended his hand. Warrick poured him a coffee, shaking his head.
"What are you doing here, man? Internal Affairs isn't so quick that they've lifted your suspension yet. I thought we wouldn't be seeing your ugly mug around here for at least a couple of days!"
"Not his ugly mug." Sara countered, as she walked into the lounge lugging a big box of files. "It's Grissom's. Greg bought it for him last Christmas." Warrick rolled his eyes at her, groaning.
Nick grinned into his coffee. "Hey Sara. Can you take a break? Thought we could go out for a bite to eat before I head back to my place."
"Can't right now, Nick. Look at all this crap I pulled from River's cubicle at K-ROX. I have to go through it and see if I can find anything interesting, and Grissom just ordered Chinese for everyone." Sara looked at him and smiled. "You bored?"
Nick grunted. "Witless. This suspension stuff is for the birds. Maybe Grissom will let me help on the sly?"
Warrick laughed. "Right. And have Ecklie complaining about tainted evidence? I don't think so, Nick."
* * * * *
"So you're telling me that someone poked straight pins into his eardrums?" Grissom looked at Robbins, who nodded as he handed him a small Petri dish holding the straight pins in question.
"I've managed to pull 10 so far. Six from the left ear and 4 from the right. I think there's still a couple in the right ear, but they're hard to get out. These definitely would have inserted into the ears after death. They've gone in too neatly, and even if Mr. Phillips here had been unconscious, the pins puncturing his ear-drums would have caused reflex jerks. Other than that, I have nothing new to add. He died of his stab wounds."
Grissom was looking at the pins. They glinted red in the lights. "Straight pins and punctured eardrums. And a dead DJ who may or may not have been murdered by the same guy - suffocated by video tape. Gut instinct tells me these two murders are related - there's no such thing as coincidence. Hear no evil, speak no evil? I wish we had something else to work with. I wonder if Greg has found anything."