Notes and Disclaimers are at the beginning of Chapter One.
Part Six - Second Opinion
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Nick, Sara, Greg, and Warrick were sitting the break room when Catherine walked in. Silently, she held out the case folder.
Nick looked up at her. "Catherine, I thought we were ordered to stay away from the case."
"Ordered to stay away from the evidence. Nothing about not looking at the paperwork," the redhead replied. The others gave her a doubtful look. "Guys, this is Grissom we're talking about here. Now, unless you honestly believe he's capable of killing that woman, I think we owe it to Grissom to take a look at the evidence." Catherine glared at all of them, daring them to say they believed Grissom was a killer.
Sara was the first to reach for the folder. She opened it and spread the contents on the table, the others coming around to stand behind her. They began with the crime scene photos and Margie's notes, moving onto the various lab reports. The fingerprint results showing that Catherine, Grissom, and the victim were the only ones who'd been in his house. The ballistics report matching the bullets in Grissom's service weapon to the slug found in the wall of his bedroom. The DNA results from the condom. The witness statements from the patrons at the bar, saying that Grissom left in the victim's company. Grissom's statement, saying he didn't remember anything from that night, other than going into the bar and then waking up the next morning. The results of the blood and urine analysis showing that no one could even try to claim he wasn't sober.
Sara sighed. "There's got to be something we're missing."
Everyone agreed with her, but no one could say what could be missing. Margie had been as thorough as they would have been on this case.
Nick looked over at Greg, who was frowning at one of the lab reports. "What's wrong, Greg?"
"Anyone got a magnifying glass on them?" the tech asked. They all looked at each other blankly, but Warrick pulled one out of the pocket of his jacket.
Greg took the glass and held it over the paper. "I thought so."
"Thought what, Greg?" Sara asked with a trace of irritation.
He handed the report and the magnifying glass over to the brunette. "On the urine analysis report -- look at the lines around the section saying there were no foreign substances found in the sample -- it's like someone put another sheet of paper over this area and then photocopied it. And here -- look at the way part of each word on the right margin is missing. My printer is working fine, but the ballistics copier has been doing that for weeks now. Bobby can't get anyone to authorize a repair order."
"So someone took the real report, covered up part of it and made a copy, making it look like there wasn't something when there was." Sara's voice was quiet. "Is there any way of getting a copy of the original report?"
"Whoever did this probably shredded the original, just in case," Nick remarked.
Greg smiled. "The computer stores all the results of analysis samples for a certain amount of time, just in case a comparison needs to be run." He headed for his domain, the others following. Sara gathered up the case folder before joining them. As she did, she noticed that Margie had handled everything -- processed the scene alone, run every sample, and sat in on every interview except Grissom's. Like she was afraid of letting someone else handle the evidence. Like she was afraid of what they might see.
Joining the others, she found them staring at Greg's printer. The paper had barely hit the plastic tray when he grabbed it and held it up for everyone to see.
"Flunitrazepam," Catherine said disbelievingly.
Warrick shook his head. "Someone gave Grissom Rohypnol? That's a date rape drug."
"Used to lower inhibitions and induce amnesia so the victim doesn't remember the attack," Nick pointed out. "It explains why Grissom can't tell us anything about that night. Whoever did this wanted to make sure he didn't remember."
"Margie told me she didn't find anything foreign in Grissom's samples, why would cover this up?" Catherine asked. "This goes a long way towards exonerating Grissom."
"Margie was the only one who handled this case. She didn't even allow Greg to process the samples," Sara said slowly. "Either she was being really careful, or…"
"Or she knew that Grissom had been drugged," Greg said with horror. "She somehow knew, and since she was running dayshift when the call came in --"
"She assigned herself to the case." Warrick's eyes were wide. "She's at his house now…she said she wanted to wait with him while Vega got the warrant."
The four CSI's and the lab tech gaped at each other for a second. Catherine recovered first. "Sara, you and Greg take the reports and track down Vega. Get him to hold off on that warrant. Nick, Warrick -- we're going to Grissom's."
*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*
Part Six - Second Opinion
*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*
Nick, Sara, Greg, and Warrick were sitting the break room when Catherine walked in. Silently, she held out the case folder.
Nick looked up at her. "Catherine, I thought we were ordered to stay away from the case."
"Ordered to stay away from the evidence. Nothing about not looking at the paperwork," the redhead replied. The others gave her a doubtful look. "Guys, this is Grissom we're talking about here. Now, unless you honestly believe he's capable of killing that woman, I think we owe it to Grissom to take a look at the evidence." Catherine glared at all of them, daring them to say they believed Grissom was a killer.
Sara was the first to reach for the folder. She opened it and spread the contents on the table, the others coming around to stand behind her. They began with the crime scene photos and Margie's notes, moving onto the various lab reports. The fingerprint results showing that Catherine, Grissom, and the victim were the only ones who'd been in his house. The ballistics report matching the bullets in Grissom's service weapon to the slug found in the wall of his bedroom. The DNA results from the condom. The witness statements from the patrons at the bar, saying that Grissom left in the victim's company. Grissom's statement, saying he didn't remember anything from that night, other than going into the bar and then waking up the next morning. The results of the blood and urine analysis showing that no one could even try to claim he wasn't sober.
Sara sighed. "There's got to be something we're missing."
Everyone agreed with her, but no one could say what could be missing. Margie had been as thorough as they would have been on this case.
Nick looked over at Greg, who was frowning at one of the lab reports. "What's wrong, Greg?"
"Anyone got a magnifying glass on them?" the tech asked. They all looked at each other blankly, but Warrick pulled one out of the pocket of his jacket.
Greg took the glass and held it over the paper. "I thought so."
"Thought what, Greg?" Sara asked with a trace of irritation.
He handed the report and the magnifying glass over to the brunette. "On the urine analysis report -- look at the lines around the section saying there were no foreign substances found in the sample -- it's like someone put another sheet of paper over this area and then photocopied it. And here -- look at the way part of each word on the right margin is missing. My printer is working fine, but the ballistics copier has been doing that for weeks now. Bobby can't get anyone to authorize a repair order."
"So someone took the real report, covered up part of it and made a copy, making it look like there wasn't something when there was." Sara's voice was quiet. "Is there any way of getting a copy of the original report?"
"Whoever did this probably shredded the original, just in case," Nick remarked.
Greg smiled. "The computer stores all the results of analysis samples for a certain amount of time, just in case a comparison needs to be run." He headed for his domain, the others following. Sara gathered up the case folder before joining them. As she did, she noticed that Margie had handled everything -- processed the scene alone, run every sample, and sat in on every interview except Grissom's. Like she was afraid of letting someone else handle the evidence. Like she was afraid of what they might see.
Joining the others, she found them staring at Greg's printer. The paper had barely hit the plastic tray when he grabbed it and held it up for everyone to see.
"Flunitrazepam," Catherine said disbelievingly.
Warrick shook his head. "Someone gave Grissom Rohypnol? That's a date rape drug."
"Used to lower inhibitions and induce amnesia so the victim doesn't remember the attack," Nick pointed out. "It explains why Grissom can't tell us anything about that night. Whoever did this wanted to make sure he didn't remember."
"Margie told me she didn't find anything foreign in Grissom's samples, why would cover this up?" Catherine asked. "This goes a long way towards exonerating Grissom."
"Margie was the only one who handled this case. She didn't even allow Greg to process the samples," Sara said slowly. "Either she was being really careful, or…"
"Or she knew that Grissom had been drugged," Greg said with horror. "She somehow knew, and since she was running dayshift when the call came in --"
"She assigned herself to the case." Warrick's eyes were wide. "She's at his house now…she said she wanted to wait with him while Vega got the warrant."
The four CSI's and the lab tech gaped at each other for a second. Catherine recovered first. "Sara, you and Greg take the reports and track down Vega. Get him to hold off on that warrant. Nick, Warrick -- we're going to Grissom's."
*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*