IX - COINCIDENCE?
"This is an alcoholic's wet dream." Catherine muttered, pulling open bottles of liquor out from under the bar at Lifestyles. Standing beside her, Warrick grinned.
"Nice. Does Grissom know you think like that?"
"Oh yeah. He knows!'' Catherine smiled archly at Warrick, before turning back to the task at hand. "We're going to end up transporting half the bar back to the lab. The people who did this brought their own pig blood, couldn't they have brought they're own accelerant as well?"
"I trust that's a rhetorical question." Warrick stood up suddenly, brushing his hands across his thighs. "You know what I'm thinking? I'm thinking we should check the dumpster. They would have had to use a lot of alcohol to set those men on fire - and I'm not seeing any empty bottles here. Maybe they cleaned up after themselves."
"Yeah. Your right." She looked at the array of bottles spread out before her, shaking her head. "We'll still have to take these with us, but we might find something. And I don't want Grissom sending us back again to look in the dumpster - the smell in here this time tomorrow is going to be awful." Catherine wrinkled her nose as she looked around the bar, before grabbing her field kit. "Let's get this over with."
* * * * *
Grissom looked at the report Greg handed him incredulously. "Women?"
Greg nodded. "Yeah. And, Dr. Robbins told me the message - it's from the Book of Leviticus, in the Bible. I did a word search on bible.net, and he was right. Leviticus 20:13."
"Leviticus. Interesting. And we had one of the Ten Commandments painted on a wall at our crime scene."
Greg shrugged. "But are they related?"
Grissom smiled at him wryly, cocking an eyebrow. "If there is a link, we'll find it. In the meantime, rest. There's a blanket and a pillow waiting for you on the sofa in my office."
* * * * *
"There must be twenty empty bottles out here!" Catherine's voice sounded hollowly through the metal side of the big dumpster. Warrick, who was crawling around in the garbage, stuck his head over the side of the bin.
"What did you say?"
"Bottles. There!" Catherine grinned cheekily at Warrick, pointing to a large cardboard box full of empty liquor bottles stuck in behind the far corner of the dumpster.
"How the hell did I miss those." Warrick shot the bottles a look of pure disgust.
"They were under a folded over box - the box shifted when you climbed in the dumpster. Well you're in there, look around. See if you can find anything interesting."
"This is disgusting, Catherine!" Warrick popped his head over the side of the dumpster again. "Why am I the only one in here?"
Catherine laughed. "I've already pulled dumpster duty, Warrick. Remember? Your turn this time." Turning over an empty milk carton, Catherine climbed onto it and looked in the dumpster where Warrick was standing.
Her eyes quickly scanned the contents of the large bin, her eyes watering from the smell. Warrick had waded through some of the bags and crud into the opposite corner. His eyes started their own interior scan.
"Is that a paint can?"
Catherine jumped, eyes darting to where Warrick had pointed. "Where."
"There. Corner closest to you. I can just see the handle and a bit of the top, but it looks like a paint can."
Catherine leverage herself up on her arms, leaning over the side slightly to get a better look. "That's a paint can. Let me go grab some gloves."
* * * * *
"Sara. Nick. Give that up for a while." The sudden sound of Grissom's voice made Nick jump.
"Gladly. What's up?" Nick smiled and gingerly placed the piece of glass he had been holding back on the table, walking towards Grissom. Off to his left, Sara sighed and stretched, her hands going to the small of her back and massaging. She winked at him when she caught him looking.
"We've caught another case. Brass was just heading over there now, but it doesn't sound good. Two bodies, found in a car just outside city limits. Looks like another hate crime. I want you two to take it."
"Great. The glass puzzle was getting tedious. What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to wait for Warrick and Catherine to get back. They're bringing in a partial footprint left in a blood smear, and I want to stick around to see it." Grissom sighed. "We've got some DNA from the letter left at the bar - epithelials found on two separate strands of hair, two separate people. Both female. And the wording on the letter? From the Bible."
Sara's eyebrows raised. "That's interesting. Another Bible quote? But, if the letter was made by a woman or women, do you really think it's attached to the crime scene? It might not be related at all."
Nick agreed. "I can't see a couple of ladies painting pig blood on the walls and setting men on fire. It just doesn't seem to fit. Besides which, most homophobic crime is committed by men."
Grissom looked at them intently. "I think it's too coincidental. That particular quote is often inferred to directly address homosexuals - 'They must be put to death'. I'd say it ties to the crime, and it might tie our two crime scenes together."
"So, we have a what - a gang of religious zealots roaming the city looking for people to kill?" Sara sounded slightly incredulous. "Two Bible quotes do not make a conspiracy. Where's the evidence?"
Grissom's reply was cryptic. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, Sara. We'll figure it out. If we're looking for the same people, our jobs just got a whole lot easier."
______
Author's note: I just want to clarify that the quote from Leviticus is often used by religious bigots to try to justify their views on homosexuality, and in some cases to even justify homophobic attacks. I do not endorse this view in any way, and I just want to make that clear. I think hate - of any kind - is a bad thing. Please read and review and thanks!
"This is an alcoholic's wet dream." Catherine muttered, pulling open bottles of liquor out from under the bar at Lifestyles. Standing beside her, Warrick grinned.
"Nice. Does Grissom know you think like that?"
"Oh yeah. He knows!'' Catherine smiled archly at Warrick, before turning back to the task at hand. "We're going to end up transporting half the bar back to the lab. The people who did this brought their own pig blood, couldn't they have brought they're own accelerant as well?"
"I trust that's a rhetorical question." Warrick stood up suddenly, brushing his hands across his thighs. "You know what I'm thinking? I'm thinking we should check the dumpster. They would have had to use a lot of alcohol to set those men on fire - and I'm not seeing any empty bottles here. Maybe they cleaned up after themselves."
"Yeah. Your right." She looked at the array of bottles spread out before her, shaking her head. "We'll still have to take these with us, but we might find something. And I don't want Grissom sending us back again to look in the dumpster - the smell in here this time tomorrow is going to be awful." Catherine wrinkled her nose as she looked around the bar, before grabbing her field kit. "Let's get this over with."
* * * * *
Grissom looked at the report Greg handed him incredulously. "Women?"
Greg nodded. "Yeah. And, Dr. Robbins told me the message - it's from the Book of Leviticus, in the Bible. I did a word search on bible.net, and he was right. Leviticus 20:13."
"Leviticus. Interesting. And we had one of the Ten Commandments painted on a wall at our crime scene."
Greg shrugged. "But are they related?"
Grissom smiled at him wryly, cocking an eyebrow. "If there is a link, we'll find it. In the meantime, rest. There's a blanket and a pillow waiting for you on the sofa in my office."
* * * * *
"There must be twenty empty bottles out here!" Catherine's voice sounded hollowly through the metal side of the big dumpster. Warrick, who was crawling around in the garbage, stuck his head over the side of the bin.
"What did you say?"
"Bottles. There!" Catherine grinned cheekily at Warrick, pointing to a large cardboard box full of empty liquor bottles stuck in behind the far corner of the dumpster.
"How the hell did I miss those." Warrick shot the bottles a look of pure disgust.
"They were under a folded over box - the box shifted when you climbed in the dumpster. Well you're in there, look around. See if you can find anything interesting."
"This is disgusting, Catherine!" Warrick popped his head over the side of the dumpster again. "Why am I the only one in here?"
Catherine laughed. "I've already pulled dumpster duty, Warrick. Remember? Your turn this time." Turning over an empty milk carton, Catherine climbed onto it and looked in the dumpster where Warrick was standing.
Her eyes quickly scanned the contents of the large bin, her eyes watering from the smell. Warrick had waded through some of the bags and crud into the opposite corner. His eyes started their own interior scan.
"Is that a paint can?"
Catherine jumped, eyes darting to where Warrick had pointed. "Where."
"There. Corner closest to you. I can just see the handle and a bit of the top, but it looks like a paint can."
Catherine leverage herself up on her arms, leaning over the side slightly to get a better look. "That's a paint can. Let me go grab some gloves."
* * * * *
"Sara. Nick. Give that up for a while." The sudden sound of Grissom's voice made Nick jump.
"Gladly. What's up?" Nick smiled and gingerly placed the piece of glass he had been holding back on the table, walking towards Grissom. Off to his left, Sara sighed and stretched, her hands going to the small of her back and massaging. She winked at him when she caught him looking.
"We've caught another case. Brass was just heading over there now, but it doesn't sound good. Two bodies, found in a car just outside city limits. Looks like another hate crime. I want you two to take it."
"Great. The glass puzzle was getting tedious. What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to wait for Warrick and Catherine to get back. They're bringing in a partial footprint left in a blood smear, and I want to stick around to see it." Grissom sighed. "We've got some DNA from the letter left at the bar - epithelials found on two separate strands of hair, two separate people. Both female. And the wording on the letter? From the Bible."
Sara's eyebrows raised. "That's interesting. Another Bible quote? But, if the letter was made by a woman or women, do you really think it's attached to the crime scene? It might not be related at all."
Nick agreed. "I can't see a couple of ladies painting pig blood on the walls and setting men on fire. It just doesn't seem to fit. Besides which, most homophobic crime is committed by men."
Grissom looked at them intently. "I think it's too coincidental. That particular quote is often inferred to directly address homosexuals - 'They must be put to death'. I'd say it ties to the crime, and it might tie our two crime scenes together."
"So, we have a what - a gang of religious zealots roaming the city looking for people to kill?" Sara sounded slightly incredulous. "Two Bible quotes do not make a conspiracy. Where's the evidence?"
Grissom's reply was cryptic. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, Sara. We'll figure it out. If we're looking for the same people, our jobs just got a whole lot easier."
______
Author's note: I just want to clarify that the quote from Leviticus is often used by religious bigots to try to justify their views on homosexuality, and in some cases to even justify homophobic attacks. I do not endorse this view in any way, and I just want to make that clear. I think hate - of any kind - is a bad thing. Please read and review and thanks!