Notes and Disclaimers are at the beginning of Chapter One.
Part Four - Keeping the Case
*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*
Margie could almost hear the words of Babylon 5's Vorlon Ambassador Kosh in her mind as she entered the break room for a cup of coffee. And so it begins…
"Grissom wouldn't do this, Brian."
"Catherine, the victim was found in his bed, with a gunshot wound to her chest, gunshot residue on his hands."
"That alone was enough to arrest him at his house - especially since he can't give a coherent statement of what happened. I'm going to have to talk with Margie about not letting Vega do his job."
Ecklie's voice grated on Margie's nerves. When the hell did he get back from Texas, she wondered.
"Sheriff, you know Grissom couldn't have done this."
"You're not going to let her take over this case," Ecklie protested. "If anyone takes it over, it should be me. Grissom and I are of equal rank, different shifts."
"If you let either one of them take over this case, a good defense attorney will use that against us in court and vilify you in the press, Sheriff."
All three turned to Margie. "What do you mean, Investigator Thomas?"
Margie gestured to her supervisor and the night shift CSI. "If you let Ms. Willows or any member of Grissom's team take over, and someone other than Grissom is arrested for the crime, the press will play it up as you playing favorites and protecting your CSIs by not treating them like any other suspect. The defense attorney will claim that they framed whoever gets arrested to protect Grissom's ass."
"My point exactly," Ecklie said with a smirk.
Margie fixed her supervisor with a cold stare. "And if you turn this case over to Ecklie, and Grissom is arrested for the crime, it will be played as a witch hunt in the press and to the jury - his problems with the two of you being very well known. The defense attorney will argue that the real killer went free while Grissom was framed because the two of you needed a way to get him out of CSI permanently."
The sheriff regarded Margie calmly for a second. "What are you suggesting, then?"
"Leave me on the case. I have no stake in this. I don't care if Grissom is or isn't the perp. If he is, then he's going down; if he's not, then I'll get the bastard who did it. But I'm probably the only person who can investigate this case impartially. Yeah, I'm the newest person in CSI, but I've got eight years of experience on the job. I'm also not going to benefit from the outcome," Margie added with a glance at the other two.
The sheriff looked from Margie to Willows to Ecklie. Finally he nodded. "The case is yours…for now. I want to be kept apprised of the investigation." He turned and walked out of the break room. Margie followed, not saying a word to either of the other two.
*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*