Rating: R
Category: CRGS
Disclaimer: These characters belong to CBS, Atlantic-Alliance, and Anthony Zuiker. I intend no copyright infringement and write for strictly entertainment purposes only.
Las Vegas Crime Lab
9:00 pm
"Warrick, you and Sara check on a Jane Doe that is in the Fairfax hospital. See if she is conscious."
"What's the story?" Warrick Brown asked, expecting
to hear rape or assault emit from Gil Grissoms mouth. As the details unfolded
he would find himself partly right, but stunned, regardless of how many
crime scenes he had been on or what he had seen.
"She was found unconscious, in a ditch, off
of Interstate Fifteen." Grissom paused, released a weary sigh, then
continued. "Apparently she was found by a passerby that happens to have
saved her life, possibly."
His team stared at him with a mixture of confusion and frustration. A chorus of questions were flung out from all directions.
"Who found her?"
"What was wrong with her?"
"Was she raped?"
Only one person held back. Grissoms eyes settled on Sara Sidles face for a second before he offered a more detailed explanation. "She was given a c-section by some unknown party. There was no sign of a baby other than the umbilical cord, placenta, etc. that goes along with birth. The woman was left in a ditch with no attempt to stop the bleeding. She regained consciousness enough to crawl to the road and fling one arm far enough onto the asphalt that a passerby spotted her and stopped. That's all the information I have at present."
He wasn't telling them everything. Sara could sense it and wondered if the others could as well, but they had the sickened expression that can only come with a case like this one.
"Catherine and Nick will come with me." Grissom
was ten steps outside the door before the others could react.
Interstate Fifteen
9:45 pm
Grissom didn't speak on the way to the crime
scene and Catherine Willows didn't push him. He was obviously lost
in his thoughts and would speak of them if it had any relevance to the
case. She had an inkling why this case was hitting him so hard, but
now was not the time to bring it up, so she didn't question him.
They reached the scene in silence and she watched as Grissom stared through
the front wind shield with a dismal expression. Nick Stokes opened
the back door and hopped out, throwing a smug grin over his shoulder.
"Since when did a crime scene have you antsy,
Gris?"
Catherine shook her head at him, and he took her hint by hightailing it over to Jim Brass. Catherine leaned back into the car and spoke gently. "Are you coming Gil? We can handle this scene if you want to speak with Jim."
Grissom tried to shake off the memories, and focus on the case at hand. This victim was alive. He left the Tahoe with a strange reluctance and made his way over to Brass, then away from them towards the ditch. He swung back around. "This crime scene has been compromised."
Brass snorted. "Did you expect them to lift the woman out with a crane from across the road? The EMTs had to put her on a stretcher and put her in the ambulance."
"A dozen of them?" Grissom asked calmly. He stared at the footprints and scuff marks that mangled the area and knew their work would be cut out for them. "Nick, take pictures and then get every footprint you can." He glanced around at the police cruisers lined along the road. "What's the story Jim?"
"Everything I told you on the phone sums it up. No car. No id. No eye witnesses at this point."
"The passerby?"
Brass pointed towards the closest police cruiser.
"I'll talk to him." Grissom said, leaving Catherine to retrieve another
field kit and scour the scene.
Fairfax Hospital
9:45 pm
Warrick followed Sara to room 402. All thoughts of her own problems faded as Sara gazed at the young woman who blended with the stark white of the sheets. Only the eyebrows and dark hair tangled around her face separated her from the bed that swallowed her within its grasp. Sara reached out and smoothed a strand of hair away from Jane Does face, then glanced quickly back at Warrick to see if he had caught her action. Warrick was speaking in low tones with the attending doctor, so she turned her attention back to the woman. Lines ran from poles into her arms and the bleeping of machines muffled the conversation behind her. She couldn't help staring at this woman and wondering who she was and where the baby could be. If the baby was safe. Narrowing her eyes, she thought of the irony of that, the baby being safe with the person who had ripped it from its womb. She pushed another strand of hair back from the woman's face and felt the strong urge to protect her and find her baby.
"Sara." Warrick touched her arm, surprising them both when she jumped back. Withdrawing his hand, Warrick didn't press her to explain her reaction. "The woman had no identification and doesn't fit any missing persons descriptions."
Sara gripped the rail and turned her eyes from the woman to Warrick. "Someone has to miss her, Warrick. She has a name."
Warrick looked at the woman for the first time and noted how vulnerable she appeared. He couldn't grasp how anyone could do such a horrid act and look at themselves in the mirror everyday. "The perp knew what he or she was doing. They used a surgical instrument and according to the doctors here, had a surgeons skill."
"That means that he is a surgeon of some sort or possibly had medical training to some degree." Sara spoke aloud, trying the information out for her mind to process. "Or, he could have no training, but taught himself."
Warrick listened as she reasoned the perpetrator out in her mind. "I think we should use the field kit and collect some evidence."
They took samples of the woman's fingerprints, hair, and blood. Warrick griped that the woman had received blood transfusions on the way to the hospital and nobody had collected a prior sample.
"We have her clothes." Sara reasoned. "And they saved the umbilical cord didn't they?"
"They sent it all to the lab. Greg should be processing it by now." Warrick avoided looking at Jane Doe as they left the room, but he noticed that Sara couldn't help but glance back several times.
Interstate 15
10:30 pm
Grissom watched as Todd Robinson finished his phone conversation and closed the cell phone. The man turned sad eyes Grissom's way and shrugged helplessly. "I hope that woman is going to be okay. If someone did that to my wife or baby I don't know how I would survive."
"I'm sure that you are anxious to get home to your family, Mr. Robinson, but I have a few questions."
"I wish that I could help you out but like I already told the police I saw something red on the side of the road and was compelled to stop. I don't know why. I found her lying there and I didn't know if she was breathing, but I called for help and then waited for the ambulance."
Grissom watched the man rub his eyes then glance longingly down the road. "Did you touch the victim, Mr. Robinson? Was she moved in anyway before the ambulance arrived?"
Shame spilled over the mans face and he looked at his hands when he spoke. "No. I couldn't...I couldn't touch her." He looked up into Grissoms unsympathetic eyes. "There was blood everywhere, you know? I didn't have gloves on and so I waited for the ambulance."
After asking a few more questions, Grissom left the man and walked over to where Brass and Catherine were standing.
"If this hasn't been run through VICAP yet, Jim, then I would appreciate it if you would hold off for a few days." Grissom asked the stunned man.
"I can't do that." Brass sputtered. "You know what you are asking me, Gil?"
"The FBI hasn't done anything with the other cases and they will take this one and allow it to fall into the same file. I'm asking for a few days."
Brass exchanged a look with Catherine then said slowly. "I'll give you two days to process what evidence you have and then I can't promise anything."
"Thanks, Jim."
Grissoms Office
2:00 am
Warrick filled Grissom in on what they had learned at the hospital. Grissom listened to him, but he was aware of Sara pacing the room, agitation apparent in each step.
"You aren't surprised by any of this, are you Grissom?" Sara paused in the middle of her pacing to give him a questioning look that bordered on anger.
Grissom stared back with one of his unreadable expressions. "You didn't bring me any surprising information, Sara."
Warrick looked from one to the other and refrained from commenting, although Sara had a valid point.
"This isn't the first case, is it?" Sara continued.
Grissom leaned back in his chair and sent her a rare smile. "No." He admitted, pushing a folder across the desk. Sara picked it up and opened it without replying.
After several seconds her eyes flew back to his and she frowned. "She is the fourth victim in five years. You were on the first case."
Warrick took the folder from her shaking hands, opened it, then asked. "Why haven't I heard of any of these cases?"
"I'm not surprised you don't remember. You were on vacation, then by the time you returned the case was out of my hands." Grissom said, then added with a hint of a stronger emotion. "Nevada. New Mexico. Texas and now Nevada again. The other victims were not so fortunate."
"The babies were never found?" Sara asked him.
Grissom shook his head in the negative. His was the first case and he had run into a wall. The victim had been identified, eventually. "It took awhile for me to find out about the second victim, and by the time I did, the case was in the hands of the FBI."
"What was her name? That first victim?"
Removing his glasses, Grissom regarded Sara with a knowing look.
"It matters to me." Sara pressed.
The strain in her voice concerned him, but now wasn't the time to lecture. Warrick, who was still holding the folder, opened his mouth to supply the answer, but Grissom gave him a warning look. It was important to Sara that he know the name of the first victim. "Brynna Thompson. Age twenty-seven. Single, never married. No family or close friends." Grissom paused, then added. "Shannon James. Age twenty-eight. Single. Never married. New Mexico." He kept his eyes trained on her face. "Joan Reese. Age twenty-eight. Single. Never married. You see a pattern?"
Sara took the folder back from Warrick. "It says here that the women were independent. Very reliable, yet nobody reported them missing for several days." Sara tensed with a new emotion. "There needs to be a guard outside her door. If the perp discovers that she is alive then she could be in danger."
"It isn't going to be released that she is alive, but a guard has been stationed outside her room." Grissom had the same thought earlier that day and he and Jim had talked it out.
A warm smile flit across her face. Grissom frowned. "I don't want you returning to the hospital, Sara, I shouldn't have sent you there in the first place. You should have gone with me to the crime scene."
"Excuse me?" Sara protested.
"You know the rule about becoming too involved with a victim. I think that you are emotionally involved with this Jane Doe and it isn't a good idea for you to spend more time with her."
Warrick shifted uncomfortably in his chair. It was true that Sara often invested her emotions with particular cases, but he had not seen it reach that point where it affected her investigation. If anything, she worked harder to reveal the truth. "I think that I'll check on those fingerprints." Warrick walked rapidly to the door, not caring to become involved in this disagreement.
Grissom and Sara never broke eye contact as the door shut behind Warrick, who was sighing with relief on the safe side. He waved his hands in front of him as Catherine and Nick approached. "I wouldn't go in there if I were you guys. Gris and Sara are on a war path."
Catherine looked past him towards the office. "What's the problem?" She thought things had been going rather well since Grissom had emerged from the microscope.
Warrick waved for them to follow him to the break room. "I need some caffeine."
"Warrick, what are they arguing about?" Nick asked.
"I'll tell you in the break room."
"Gris, you can't take me off this case."
"I'm not." Grissom replied, surprised that she would think he would shut her out entirely. "I'm simply telling you not to visit Jane Doe at the hospital."
"When she is conscious I would like to be there for the interview." Sara insisted.
"We'll see."
Sara studied him with a frown playing between her eyes, but she held her emotions in check. Grissom had trusted her to visit the victim in the hospital, gather any information, then process it. She was the one that had allowed her emotions to become entangled with the circumstances and he could see straight into her heart. She knew that he was concerned for her and how she reacted now could determine how much he permitted her continued involvement with the case.
"That's all I'm asking, Gris."