Disclaimers, notes in chapter one.
CHAPTER NOTES: Thanks for the feedback. This would have been up sooner, but I had some tweaking to do. Then the Lone Gunmen died on the X Files and sent me into a catatonic state. Blame Chris Carter. Thanks also to Cass, Mush, and Sorcha for their insights into one of the upcoming developments in this story. I may have taken a bit of creative license with the science; please bear with me through the first scene in this chapter. It had to be said sometime. ;-) Stop looking at me like that! I was a Humanities major.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Grissom pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers, feeling an oncoming headache. Replacing his glasses he looked at the clock on his office computer. It had been nearly four hours since the start of the shift--three since Sara had left--and he had little more information than he had before. He had returned to his desk to review the sign-on records for the CODIS system the night of February 27. Three people had accessed the system during Sara's shift. He scrolled down the page for the twentieth time that night, running the information on the screen through his head again. He clicked on the link to access the CODIS intranet and the now familiar page appeared:
System for the LVPD Selection of Thirteen CODIS Core STR Loci and the Seven Standard STR Loci for ENFSI
D13S317- T16S539- Y=AMEL
CASE: VS74856a
REPORTING: S_SIDLE; Badge: 231716LV
DATE REPORTING: 02.27.02 23:17:46
TECHNICIAN: G_SANDERS; ID: 63-8817Internal
On the surface the information wasn't incriminating. Sara was the reporting investigator on the case. The results told him that there was indeed a match to a male suspect, later identified as Hendrich, and that Greg had been the technician processing the sample. What they didn't tell him, however, is why Sara had processed the evidence found on the victim for the second time that night after a witness allegedly saw her plant an additional DNA sample. He scrolled down to the report directly preceeding the one he had just read.
INCONCLUSIVE - Y-AMEL
CASE: VS74856a
REPORTING: S_SIDLE; Badge: 231716LV
DATE REPORTING: 02.27.02 18:37:16
TECHNICIAN: D_HUTTON; ID 47-2315Internal
Those results showed Grissom that the first report had only identified the suspect as male. The only other differences were the time and that one of the day techs had processed the results. He assumed she ran the second sample because of the inconclusive result. Sara was nothing if not thorough and probably returned to the body to see if more DNA evidence could be found. Ecklie asked her about her early arrival because of the time on the first report. She had run the first test at just after 6:30 PM. Sometime between then and 11:17 that evening she had returned to the morgue. It was the convenient nature of the second discovery that Grissom knew bothered Ecklie, especially given the time of the first test and, more importantly, the eyewitness' accusation of impropriety. It was enough to suspend Sara for the length of the investigation, but did it really prove anything? He knew Mobley and Ecklie were not telling him everything; they probably doubted his ability to be impartial. It was one of the reasons he had taken the Warrick investigation out of his own hands the year before. He didn't want to be accused of favoritism, so he had handed it off to Sara. He had wanted to appoint the person he felt was most like himself. A way for him to take charge without taking charge.
Pushing back in his chair he pulled his cell from its case. He needed to discuss this with her. She had been in the dark too long already and the sooner he could put his own unease to rest, the better.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Grissom sat in a booth at the restaurant where he had been waiting since shortly after his call to Sara thirty minutes ago. He had chosen a small diner near her apartment rather than one of the places they usually frequented near the lab. They couldn't meet at work for obvious reasons and he feared that someone might see them if they met nearby. He wasn't sure how much the rest of the staff knew and he preferred to save Sara from questions that neither one of them had the answer to.
Movement by the door caught his attention and he saw Sara as she entered, searching the room for him as she did so. He raised his hand to alert her to his location and watched her approach. It was hard to gauge her mood on sight, but the blue-tinged skin below her eyes and her uncharacteristically baggy clothes presented the picture of someone who had a decidedly rough few hours.
"Hey." Sara greeted him while sliding into the opposite booth, her voice lacking any of its usual enthusiasm.
"Hey." He echoed. "You okay?"
Sara looked at him, her mouth curving upwards in a smile that didn't meet the eyes. She reached over and grabbed the small bin of sweetener packets from the edge of the table, focusing her attention on that. "I'm confused." She shrugged. "And angry. I don't understand what happened in there."
"I'm sorry about that; I..." Grissom was cut off by Sara's dismissive hand motion. For the first time since she had sat down he was able to place the look on her face. She was numb.
"I'm not angry at you, just at the situation. I know you wouldn't have chosen to do it that way."
Grissom met her eyes. "No."
They were interrupted by the server asking for her order. Sara declined without looking up.
"Do the others know?"
Grissom shook his head. "I didn't want to say anything until I talked to you. I don't want to lie to them, but I think some discretion is in order and I wanted to leave that up to you."
"You can tell them. I have nothing to hide." Sara's eyes were tired, but her voice was defiant.
"Okay."
Grissom noticed that during their exchange she had organized the sweetener packets into evenly matched stacks of white, blue, and pink. If he was a psychologist he would say it was a desperate grasp at organization for a disorganized mental state. Either way it had quieted the trembling in her hands. They sat in silence for a few moments before he continued.
"What do I tell them, Sara? I don't know anything beyond what Ecklie and Mobley told me in the status meeting. You ran a test, it came back inconclusive, and then you ran a new sample. A new sample that someone is alleging they saw you plant. Beyond that there's nothing to either implicate or clear you."
"I don't know, Grissom." Her voice rose as she said his name. She took a moment to settle herself and continued. "Since I left the office I've replayed what I remember of that night over and over again. The results came back. Nothing was found, so I went back to look for something I might have missed. I found dried blood on the victim's shirt, so I ran that. It came back a match; that's all I know."
"You were lucky?"
"I was observant."
They exchanged their first real smile of the evening. Grissom could tell Sara's mood had relaxed since the beginning of their talk, but he had yet to broach the deeper issue.
"What about the witness?" Grissom asked, watching Sara frown.
"What about him? I don't know who they are or what they saw. All I know is that he wouldn't have seen me doing anything but my job. I collected, I processed, I filed my report, and went home." Sara said this with her usual boldness; Grissom was pleased to see it work its way to the surface. "Do you know something I don't?"
He shook his head firmly. "I'm at a loss, here. All I know is what they said in the office. It's alleged 'that evidence was introduced post-collection.' I don't know whether it was in the morgue or the lab or whether it was done at all." He accentuated the last part. "We have a witness, but it's the timing in conjunction with that witness report that prompted the investigation."
During his last statement Sara had started drumming her fingers against the table; he could see her mind working in overdrive. He reached across and stilled her left hand with his right. She looked up, surprised, but he didn't let go.
"I didn't do it, Gris." Her eyes were imploring him to believe her.
"I know."
"Do you?"
He paused and considered his next words. This kind of conversation didn't come easy to him, but he knew that fact wasn't lost on Sara.
"I told you back in San Francisco that you were one of the brightest minds I had...have...ever worked with. I brought you here because I trust you. Nothing has changed since then.
Sara's eyes were red, but he could tell what he had said had resonated with her. Ironic that his difficulty with emotions lent itself to making statements strike home.
The moment was broken by the ringing of Grissom's cell phone. He released her hand and reached into his jacket pocket. Checking the digital readout he grimaced and held up a finger to tell Sara he had to take the call.
"Grissom."
Sara took the opportunity to steal a french fry from Grissom's half-eaten plate. She chewed it slowly, the rubber consistency making it less than palatable. She watched as Grissom's eyes widened slightly at whatever information he was receiving, his eyes narrowing as he replied. "I'll be right there. I'm just finishing up with something and I'm on my way."
He folded his phone and gestured out the window in the general direction of his car. "I have to get back to the lab. I have work to do on a lead."
Sara nodded. "I'm just going to go back home now. If you find out anything, will you call me?"
"You have my word."
Grissom stood and started to leave the table, his back to Sara as he heard her speak to his back.
"Grissom?"
He turned to see her look up, her eyes brighter and a genuine smile crossing her features. He waited for her to speak again.
"Thank you."
He nodded and walked away, his pace quickening with each step. Since the beginning of his career he had been trained to rely on the evidence, to let it speak for the crime. It was something that grounded him in his work. Now that same principle was having the opposite effect. If he listened to the evidence that he had just been presented with, it only meant one thing.
Sara had just lied to him.
TBC
CHAPTER NOTES: Thanks for the feedback. This would have been up sooner, but I had some tweaking to do. Then the Lone Gunmen died on the X Files and sent me into a catatonic state. Blame Chris Carter. Thanks also to Cass, Mush, and Sorcha for their insights into one of the upcoming developments in this story. I may have taken a bit of creative license with the science; please bear with me through the first scene in this chapter. It had to be said sometime. ;-) Stop looking at me like that! I was a Humanities major.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Grissom pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers, feeling an oncoming headache. Replacing his glasses he looked at the clock on his office computer. It had been nearly four hours since the start of the shift--three since Sara had left--and he had little more information than he had before. He had returned to his desk to review the sign-on records for the CODIS system the night of February 27. Three people had accessed the system during Sara's shift. He scrolled down the page for the twentieth time that night, running the information on the screen through his head again. He clicked on the link to access the CODIS intranet and the now familiar page appeared:
System for the LVPD Selection of Thirteen CODIS Core STR Loci and the Seven Standard STR Loci for ENFSI
D13S317- T16S539- Y=AMEL
CASE: VS74856a
REPORTING: S_SIDLE; Badge: 231716LV
DATE REPORTING: 02.27.02 23:17:46
TECHNICIAN: G_SANDERS; ID: 63-8817Internal
On the surface the information wasn't incriminating. Sara was the reporting investigator on the case. The results told him that there was indeed a match to a male suspect, later identified as Hendrich, and that Greg had been the technician processing the sample. What they didn't tell him, however, is why Sara had processed the evidence found on the victim for the second time that night after a witness allegedly saw her plant an additional DNA sample. He scrolled down to the report directly preceeding the one he had just read.
INCONCLUSIVE - Y-AMEL
CASE: VS74856a
REPORTING: S_SIDLE; Badge: 231716LV
DATE REPORTING: 02.27.02 18:37:16
TECHNICIAN: D_HUTTON; ID 47-2315Internal
Those results showed Grissom that the first report had only identified the suspect as male. The only other differences were the time and that one of the day techs had processed the results. He assumed she ran the second sample because of the inconclusive result. Sara was nothing if not thorough and probably returned to the body to see if more DNA evidence could be found. Ecklie asked her about her early arrival because of the time on the first report. She had run the first test at just after 6:30 PM. Sometime between then and 11:17 that evening she had returned to the morgue. It was the convenient nature of the second discovery that Grissom knew bothered Ecklie, especially given the time of the first test and, more importantly, the eyewitness' accusation of impropriety. It was enough to suspend Sara for the length of the investigation, but did it really prove anything? He knew Mobley and Ecklie were not telling him everything; they probably doubted his ability to be impartial. It was one of the reasons he had taken the Warrick investigation out of his own hands the year before. He didn't want to be accused of favoritism, so he had handed it off to Sara. He had wanted to appoint the person he felt was most like himself. A way for him to take charge without taking charge.
Pushing back in his chair he pulled his cell from its case. He needed to discuss this with her. She had been in the dark too long already and the sooner he could put his own unease to rest, the better.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Grissom sat in a booth at the restaurant where he had been waiting since shortly after his call to Sara thirty minutes ago. He had chosen a small diner near her apartment rather than one of the places they usually frequented near the lab. They couldn't meet at work for obvious reasons and he feared that someone might see them if they met nearby. He wasn't sure how much the rest of the staff knew and he preferred to save Sara from questions that neither one of them had the answer to.
Movement by the door caught his attention and he saw Sara as she entered, searching the room for him as she did so. He raised his hand to alert her to his location and watched her approach. It was hard to gauge her mood on sight, but the blue-tinged skin below her eyes and her uncharacteristically baggy clothes presented the picture of someone who had a decidedly rough few hours.
"Hey." Sara greeted him while sliding into the opposite booth, her voice lacking any of its usual enthusiasm.
"Hey." He echoed. "You okay?"
Sara looked at him, her mouth curving upwards in a smile that didn't meet the eyes. She reached over and grabbed the small bin of sweetener packets from the edge of the table, focusing her attention on that. "I'm confused." She shrugged. "And angry. I don't understand what happened in there."
"I'm sorry about that; I..." Grissom was cut off by Sara's dismissive hand motion. For the first time since she had sat down he was able to place the look on her face. She was numb.
"I'm not angry at you, just at the situation. I know you wouldn't have chosen to do it that way."
Grissom met her eyes. "No."
They were interrupted by the server asking for her order. Sara declined without looking up.
"Do the others know?"
Grissom shook his head. "I didn't want to say anything until I talked to you. I don't want to lie to them, but I think some discretion is in order and I wanted to leave that up to you."
"You can tell them. I have nothing to hide." Sara's eyes were tired, but her voice was defiant.
"Okay."
Grissom noticed that during their exchange she had organized the sweetener packets into evenly matched stacks of white, blue, and pink. If he was a psychologist he would say it was a desperate grasp at organization for a disorganized mental state. Either way it had quieted the trembling in her hands. They sat in silence for a few moments before he continued.
"What do I tell them, Sara? I don't know anything beyond what Ecklie and Mobley told me in the status meeting. You ran a test, it came back inconclusive, and then you ran a new sample. A new sample that someone is alleging they saw you plant. Beyond that there's nothing to either implicate or clear you."
"I don't know, Grissom." Her voice rose as she said his name. She took a moment to settle herself and continued. "Since I left the office I've replayed what I remember of that night over and over again. The results came back. Nothing was found, so I went back to look for something I might have missed. I found dried blood on the victim's shirt, so I ran that. It came back a match; that's all I know."
"You were lucky?"
"I was observant."
They exchanged their first real smile of the evening. Grissom could tell Sara's mood had relaxed since the beginning of their talk, but he had yet to broach the deeper issue.
"What about the witness?" Grissom asked, watching Sara frown.
"What about him? I don't know who they are or what they saw. All I know is that he wouldn't have seen me doing anything but my job. I collected, I processed, I filed my report, and went home." Sara said this with her usual boldness; Grissom was pleased to see it work its way to the surface. "Do you know something I don't?"
He shook his head firmly. "I'm at a loss, here. All I know is what they said in the office. It's alleged 'that evidence was introduced post-collection.' I don't know whether it was in the morgue or the lab or whether it was done at all." He accentuated the last part. "We have a witness, but it's the timing in conjunction with that witness report that prompted the investigation."
During his last statement Sara had started drumming her fingers against the table; he could see her mind working in overdrive. He reached across and stilled her left hand with his right. She looked up, surprised, but he didn't let go.
"I didn't do it, Gris." Her eyes were imploring him to believe her.
"I know."
"Do you?"
He paused and considered his next words. This kind of conversation didn't come easy to him, but he knew that fact wasn't lost on Sara.
"I told you back in San Francisco that you were one of the brightest minds I had...have...ever worked with. I brought you here because I trust you. Nothing has changed since then.
Sara's eyes were red, but he could tell what he had said had resonated with her. Ironic that his difficulty with emotions lent itself to making statements strike home.
The moment was broken by the ringing of Grissom's cell phone. He released her hand and reached into his jacket pocket. Checking the digital readout he grimaced and held up a finger to tell Sara he had to take the call.
"Grissom."
Sara took the opportunity to steal a french fry from Grissom's half-eaten plate. She chewed it slowly, the rubber consistency making it less than palatable. She watched as Grissom's eyes widened slightly at whatever information he was receiving, his eyes narrowing as he replied. "I'll be right there. I'm just finishing up with something and I'm on my way."
He folded his phone and gestured out the window in the general direction of his car. "I have to get back to the lab. I have work to do on a lead."
Sara nodded. "I'm just going to go back home now. If you find out anything, will you call me?"
"You have my word."
Grissom stood and started to leave the table, his back to Sara as he heard her speak to his back.
"Grissom?"
He turned to see her look up, her eyes brighter and a genuine smile crossing her features. He waited for her to speak again.
"Thank you."
He nodded and walked away, his pace quickening with each step. Since the beginning of his career he had been trained to rely on the evidence, to let it speak for the crime. It was something that grounded him in his work. Now that same principle was having the opposite effect. If he listened to the evidence that he had just been presented with, it only meant one thing.
Sara had just lied to him.
TBC