XIV - WHERE THERE'S SMOKE, THERE'S DNA

"That was intense." Catherine muttered at Grissom. "Please remind me about this case the next time I decide to come back a day early from vacation."

Grissom smiled at Catherine's weak attempt at humor. "Yeah. Well." He turned and looked at Nancy through the glass, and shook his head. "That poor kid."

O'Reilly was back in his familiar chair, reading the newspaper as he watched Nancy covertly. Grissom sighed again. "Nick did a good job though."

"Yeah." Catherine's response was soft. "That was harder for him to do than you could ever know Grissom. C'mon. Let's go find them."

Stepping out into the hallway, Catherine blinked against the bright light. She saw Nick and Sara speaking softly to one another less than ten feet away, both their faces expressing the same shock Catherine herself had been feeling moments ago.

She noted Nick's hands gently kneading Sara's shoulders as they talked, and was not surprised when Sara stepped inwards and placed her forehead in the middle of Nick's chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. Nick's face was ravaged with anguish, but he looked down at Sara's bent head and smiled a smile of such tenderness, Catherine felt tears threaten.

'My God,' she thought. 'He really does love her.' She glanced quickly at Grissom, and saw the deeply hidden pain in his eyes. 'Someone is in for a world of hurt here.'

Nick heard their approach before he actually saw them. Raising his gaze from Sara, he sighed. "Hey, guys."

"How you holding up Nicky?" Catherine asked him softly.

"Fine. I'm doing fine." He closed his eyes and shook his head ruefully. "That was something else."

Grissom's voice was quiet and sad. "Yeah. But you did a good job, Nick."

Sara lifted her head from Nick's chest, and gingerly pushed herself away from him. "I never thought I'd see the day I would feel sorry for someone who murdered her own child."

"The question now, is: What are we going to do?" Nick's voice was surprisingly determined. "Knowing what we know, what can we do? I'll be damned if I let her aunt and uncle take Timmy."

"I don't see how we have much of a choice, Nick." Grissom responded. At Nick's angry scowl, he said placatingly. "I'm not saying I didn't believe her Nick. I saw those scars. She didn't do that to herself. And she obviously is severely emotionally disturbed - a symptom of deep-seated abuse." Grissom was almost talking to himself, now. "We need some leverage. Somewhere, somehow, there has to be something that can verify her story."

* * * * *

Warwick, Nick and Sara were sitting in the lounge, re-reading the case file Brass had been sent from Michigan, when Grissom walked into the room, cell phone in hand.

"Yeah, Brass. After you've taken them to the Monaco, can you hurry back? Some things have come up. Okay good. See you soon." Hanging up, he looked around the room. "One problem solved. I was sort of worried that Brass was going to show up with Earl and Becky tonight, but he's convinced them it can wait until tomorrow." He glanced at the case-file. "Find anything?"

"Not yet." Nick's voice was determined. "But we will."

The smell of hot food drifted into the lounge, followed closely by Catherine, who was precariously balancing two pizzas and a six-pack coke. "It's a good thing I came back a day early - you need someone around to remind you to eat."

Warwick smiled at her in appreciation. "Cath, you're a goddess! I'm starved."

Greg stuck his head in the doorway. "Do I smell pizza?"

"Sure do - come in and join us." Catherine quickly handed everyone a slice of pizza and a can of coke. "Don't worry Sara, yours is vegetarian."

A comfortable silence settled as everyone ate. Catherine idly scanned the report from Children's Services that had been included in the files, being careful not to get grease on it.

"Hmm. This is interesting. Father on the birth certificate is listed as unknown." She put her slice of pizza down and flipped backwards a couple of pages, frowning. "Nancy lived with her aunt and uncle until just after Timmy's birth. According to sworn affidavits here, the girl didn't attend school from the time she was ten until she left the house, because of her precarious mental health."

Warrick looked up, considering what Catherine had just said. "So, she would have been home a lot. No access to boys from her school..She admits her uncle sexually assaulted her."

"Earl is Timmy's father." Nick looked ill. "This could be the clue we've been looking for. If Earl is Timmy's father, he can be charged with statutory rape of a minor, at the very least."

"Grissom!" Brass' voice boomed from the doorway. "I'm back. What's going on?"

"Pull up a seat, Brass. You won't believe what we've discovered."

* * * * *

By the time Grissom filled Brass in on what had happened during his absence, Brass' face was just as grim as everyone else's. "Sick bastard. You're sure she's telling the truth?"

"Brass, if you had seen her, you'd know for sure yourself. Now we just have to prove it, and I have a feeling Uncle Earl won't be open to giving us a DNA sample." Grissom looked a little frustrated. "And I don't know on what grounds we would be able to get one from him."

Brass pursed his lips thoughtfully, steepling his fingers together and tapping them on the table. "Greg? Could you get someone's DNA off the filter of a cigarette?"

Greg looked at Brass and nodded. "Yeah, sure. Easy." His grinned slyly. "Don't tell me Earl smokes?"

"Like a friggin' chimney. The ashtray in my car is overflowing." Brass smiled, and reached into his pocket, tossing his keys at Warwick as he spoke. "I'm in my usual spot. Want to go clean my car for me?"

"Absolutely." Warwick stood quickly, smiling at Greg. "You coming, Greggo?"

"Absolutely!"