Chapter 9
'Nick'
'Yes Sara?'
'Can we go see what the others are doing.'
'I'm not sure if that's a good idea.'
'I've remembered some stuff about the way he spoke.'
'Ok, tell me about it.'
'No, get the others and I'll tell you all what I remember. I'm not going through this twice, I can't, I just can't.'
'If that's what you want.' Nick felt nervous about leaving her.
'Grissom.' Nick's voice echoed along the corridor a minute before he turned and entered the room. Grissom, obviously still furious stepped away from Ecklie in a surprisingly calm manner. It wasn't a nice calm, it was the controlled calm that made the other two unsure of what Gil was going to do next.
'Yes, Nick.'
'You'd better come and take a look at this.' Grissom didn't want to move anywhere, he had all this anger and fear built up inside of him, admittedly it was directed towards Sara's attacker, but for now Ecklie was a good enough substitute. Seeing Grissom's reluctance to move, Nick knew he had to get him out of there without mentioning Sara in front of Ecklie.
'I'm sure I can take a look at it later.'
'It's about your mother.' Come on Grissom get the hint.
'What?' My mother is dead he thought. Get lost Nick so I can bruise up Ecklie without any witnesses.
'She's sick, she needs to talk to someone, now.' Grissom turned to Nick, not because he had any intention of not hitting Ecklie, but because he was just so confused, what the hell was Nick talking about. However, once he had broken his homicidal eye contact with Ecklie, he realized what Nick was getting at.
'We'll finish this conversation later Ecklie.'
'Are you scared Grissom.'
'No, I just have something better to do than waste my time dealing with dirt.'
'What's wrong Nick? I thought you were with Sara.' Awful thoughts started running through Grissom's head,
'She wants to talk to all of us.'
'I'll call Warrick and Catherine and tell them to meet us in the locker room.'
'Ok, I'll see you three there.'
Catherine's phone started ringing just as she was about to call Grissom.
'Catherine?'
'Well, speak of the devil. We were just about to call you, we got a pretty interesting lead off the chloroform.'
'Really?'
'Well, mine at least. Greg's still processing your suspected skin sample. But, why did you call?'
'Sara wants to talk to us. Meet us at the locker room.'
'Who was that?' asked Warrick once Catherine had hung up the phone.
'Grissom, Sara's got some info.'
'Great, that means we can tell all of them about our little discovery.'
'Do you think Sara should know?'
'I think she has a right to know.'
Chapter 10 The others entered the room at roughly the same time. First was Nick, then Grissom followed by Warrick who held the door open for Catherine. Grissom immediately noticed how frail Sara looked. He forced himself to walk over to her. She didn't even look up. She is lost, I have to pull her back. Why would anyone do this to her, why did she let him. I would never do that to her. Deep down he knew that his feelings for Sara were not just student/teacher or boss/co-worker, there was something he felt for Sara that he had never felt before. Now's not the time for this, Sara needs your support now. She has handling this well, better than the rest of us probably would but Sara has always been a cut above everyone else. In my eyes, she is perfection.
The others sat down across from her, Grissom sat next to her.
'Sara', he almost whispered.
'He's educated.'
'What?'
'The stalker. He spoke softly, like he's trying to get an answer. His grammar was perfect, nervous, but perfect. He plans things and is meticulous.'
'That doesn't fit with our theory.' Warrick couldn't help but say.
'What do you mean?'
'Well, you see the chloroform that was used on Sara, was from this lab.'
'What?' They were all surprised to see Sara react like that. She had almost jumped out of her seat. 'He took chloroform from here. There's supposed to be videotapes. He couldn't have. He's right in front of us, right in front of me and I didn't know.' Sara's standards were always high, but they were even higher for herself.
'Sara, calm down. It's ok.' Sara didn't respond to Grissom's pleas. Instead she started pacing.
'Look Sara, we were thinking he's a delivery guy, so he could have taken it from outside, away from the cameras, then fudged inventory sheets.' Sara didn't respond and they all realized why.
'But delivery guys aren't educated. They don't plan a conversation like this guy did when he was on the phone. He's not a delivery guy. He's gotten the chloroform from here, but he's smart enough to know how to get around the cameras. And if he's smart enough to do that, then he's smart enough to know how to get to.'
'Sara, calm down.' Nicky spoke to her in a gentle, brotherly way.
'How did he get the chloroform out of here? He couldn't have gone into the storeroom because it would be on tape and he would need clearance.' The CSI's sat there for several minutes, thinking of all the possible ways to get access to chloroform without going into the storeroom, when out of the blue, Sara spoke.
'Anyone who is a CSI has access to the chloroform, but no CSI wanting to commit murder,' she stumbled over that word, 'would take a weapon from where they were being filmed. So that leaves us with someone who works here and walks around the corridors and can just pick up a half used bottle of chloroform without us noticing. Probably picked it up after an experiment.' They all knew it could be admin, clerical, staff doctors, anyone.
Just then Greg burst through the door, 'Hey, in just under 30 minutes I think I have solved your case yet again, no thanks necessary.' He started his mock bows but stopped when he saw their appearances. Grissom was so distracted he hadn't even bothered abusing him. 'The chloroform, the second batch, is a skin sample.'
'Does it have DNA?' Sara didn't need to ask about the finer details of her friend's discovery. She figured the skin sample was from her apartment, and if there was DNA, they would have their person. Everyone who worked in the building no matter what their position had DNA testing. The hope in her heart traveled to her eyes.
'Well, Greg, answer me? Does it have DNA?'
'Yes Sara?'
'Can we go see what the others are doing.'
'I'm not sure if that's a good idea.'
'I've remembered some stuff about the way he spoke.'
'Ok, tell me about it.'
'No, get the others and I'll tell you all what I remember. I'm not going through this twice, I can't, I just can't.'
'If that's what you want.' Nick felt nervous about leaving her.
'Grissom.' Nick's voice echoed along the corridor a minute before he turned and entered the room. Grissom, obviously still furious stepped away from Ecklie in a surprisingly calm manner. It wasn't a nice calm, it was the controlled calm that made the other two unsure of what Gil was going to do next.
'Yes, Nick.'
'You'd better come and take a look at this.' Grissom didn't want to move anywhere, he had all this anger and fear built up inside of him, admittedly it was directed towards Sara's attacker, but for now Ecklie was a good enough substitute. Seeing Grissom's reluctance to move, Nick knew he had to get him out of there without mentioning Sara in front of Ecklie.
'I'm sure I can take a look at it later.'
'It's about your mother.' Come on Grissom get the hint.
'What?' My mother is dead he thought. Get lost Nick so I can bruise up Ecklie without any witnesses.
'She's sick, she needs to talk to someone, now.' Grissom turned to Nick, not because he had any intention of not hitting Ecklie, but because he was just so confused, what the hell was Nick talking about. However, once he had broken his homicidal eye contact with Ecklie, he realized what Nick was getting at.
'We'll finish this conversation later Ecklie.'
'Are you scared Grissom.'
'No, I just have something better to do than waste my time dealing with dirt.'
'What's wrong Nick? I thought you were with Sara.' Awful thoughts started running through Grissom's head,
'She wants to talk to all of us.'
'I'll call Warrick and Catherine and tell them to meet us in the locker room.'
'Ok, I'll see you three there.'
Catherine's phone started ringing just as she was about to call Grissom.
'Catherine?'
'Well, speak of the devil. We were just about to call you, we got a pretty interesting lead off the chloroform.'
'Really?'
'Well, mine at least. Greg's still processing your suspected skin sample. But, why did you call?'
'Sara wants to talk to us. Meet us at the locker room.'
'Who was that?' asked Warrick once Catherine had hung up the phone.
'Grissom, Sara's got some info.'
'Great, that means we can tell all of them about our little discovery.'
'Do you think Sara should know?'
'I think she has a right to know.'
Chapter 10 The others entered the room at roughly the same time. First was Nick, then Grissom followed by Warrick who held the door open for Catherine. Grissom immediately noticed how frail Sara looked. He forced himself to walk over to her. She didn't even look up. She is lost, I have to pull her back. Why would anyone do this to her, why did she let him. I would never do that to her. Deep down he knew that his feelings for Sara were not just student/teacher or boss/co-worker, there was something he felt for Sara that he had never felt before. Now's not the time for this, Sara needs your support now. She has handling this well, better than the rest of us probably would but Sara has always been a cut above everyone else. In my eyes, she is perfection.
The others sat down across from her, Grissom sat next to her.
'Sara', he almost whispered.
'He's educated.'
'What?'
'The stalker. He spoke softly, like he's trying to get an answer. His grammar was perfect, nervous, but perfect. He plans things and is meticulous.'
'That doesn't fit with our theory.' Warrick couldn't help but say.
'What do you mean?'
'Well, you see the chloroform that was used on Sara, was from this lab.'
'What?' They were all surprised to see Sara react like that. She had almost jumped out of her seat. 'He took chloroform from here. There's supposed to be videotapes. He couldn't have. He's right in front of us, right in front of me and I didn't know.' Sara's standards were always high, but they were even higher for herself.
'Sara, calm down. It's ok.' Sara didn't respond to Grissom's pleas. Instead she started pacing.
'Look Sara, we were thinking he's a delivery guy, so he could have taken it from outside, away from the cameras, then fudged inventory sheets.' Sara didn't respond and they all realized why.
'But delivery guys aren't educated. They don't plan a conversation like this guy did when he was on the phone. He's not a delivery guy. He's gotten the chloroform from here, but he's smart enough to know how to get around the cameras. And if he's smart enough to do that, then he's smart enough to know how to get to.'
'Sara, calm down.' Nicky spoke to her in a gentle, brotherly way.
'How did he get the chloroform out of here? He couldn't have gone into the storeroom because it would be on tape and he would need clearance.' The CSI's sat there for several minutes, thinking of all the possible ways to get access to chloroform without going into the storeroom, when out of the blue, Sara spoke.
'Anyone who is a CSI has access to the chloroform, but no CSI wanting to commit murder,' she stumbled over that word, 'would take a weapon from where they were being filmed. So that leaves us with someone who works here and walks around the corridors and can just pick up a half used bottle of chloroform without us noticing. Probably picked it up after an experiment.' They all knew it could be admin, clerical, staff doctors, anyone.
Just then Greg burst through the door, 'Hey, in just under 30 minutes I think I have solved your case yet again, no thanks necessary.' He started his mock bows but stopped when he saw their appearances. Grissom was so distracted he hadn't even bothered abusing him. 'The chloroform, the second batch, is a skin sample.'
'Does it have DNA?' Sara didn't need to ask about the finer details of her friend's discovery. She figured the skin sample was from her apartment, and if there was DNA, they would have their person. Everyone who worked in the building no matter what their position had DNA testing. The hope in her heart traveled to her eyes.
'Well, Greg, answer me? Does it have DNA?'