This story is based on characters created by Anthony E. Zuiker for the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Ghost (Part 10/26)

by Cheers

Monday Morning 04:40 AM

Greg looked out through the windows of the DNA lab and saw Nick coming up the hall. Grabbing up the report, Greg rushed out to meet the CSI.

"Nick!"

Nick stopped in his tracks. Greg practically skidded to a stop in from of him.

"What is it, Greg?"

"Hot off the presses," Greg informed him. "I got a match."

"A match?" Nick ask, a bit confused. "In Grissom's case?"

"Yeah," Greg said without the usual bravado.

"From the blood we found at his house?"

"No, I'm still working on that. This is something else," Greg told him and handed Nick the report.

Confusion was replaced by comprehension as Nick took the paper and read the results. He looked at the graphic of the thirteen markers. They all matched.

Nick barely took the time to thank Greg before sprinting down the corridor.

Monday Morning 04:48 AM

"Warrick!"

Sara, Catherine and Warrick heard Nick seconds before he practically ran through the door of the evidence examination room. Catherine had just arrived and was telling Sara and Warrick about her conversation with the Sheriff and Eckley.

"Warrick," Nick repeated.

"Yeah," Warrick responded.

Nick's words seemed to stumble over each other trying to get out of his mouth. "You called in the tow on the 411, right?"

Warrick's eyebrows furrowed. He was trying to catch up with his friend. "The car you found out on Blue Diamond?"

"Yeah, man. You called the tow in?" Nick asked again.

"Yeah, I did."

"The car's not here. I checked. Are you sure?" Nick pressed.

"I called," Warrick told him. "The driver said they'd have it here by morning. They're backed up tonight."

"What's this about, Nick?" Catherine asked.

"The blood I found in that car," Nick informed his co-workers, "is Grissom's."

Monday Morning 05:12 AM

Jim Brass had spent the past several hours working with the team of officers assigned to going through Grissom's old case files. They were looking for individuals who might have a motive to attack and abduct Gil. The list that they were compiling included everyone who had been incarcerated as a result of an investigation involving Grissom, who was now out of jail, and who was not verifiably out-of-state last Friday evening.

The list was astonishing in its length. Grissom has been a busy, busy boy. Either that or he was very good at his job. Jim knew it was a combination of both.

Brass looked at the list they had compiled so far and sighed. With both cops and criminalists, the problem of accumulating people with motive enough to cause great bodily harm was the same. It was an occupational hazard. Everyone knew the risks involved with the work. The better you were at the job, the longer the list. Put away a bad guy, gain an enemy for life.

It didn't take a long career to bring the dangers of the job home. The lesson they had all learned from the loss of Holly Gribbs was one none of them would soon forget. It only takes one bad guy to end a career … or a life.

Jim stood up and headed out of his office. It was time to do what detectives did best - the legwork.

Monday Morning 05:23 AM

A white '95 Toyota Corolla sat in the garage of the crime lab. Its delivery had taken several calls to Lewes Towing, the company contracted with the LVMPD for police impound towing, including Criminalistics. Surprisingly, it had been Sergeant O'Riley who had expedited the arrival of the suspect vehicle at the lab. He had gone to school with the owner of the towing company, and when Brass said something about the holdup, O'Riley had made a call that placed this vehicle at the top of the priority list.

Catherine watched from the window in the hall outside the garage as Nick, Warrick, and Sara divided up duties and set to work processing the vehicle. There was nothing she would have wanted more than to be involved in collecting the evidence from the car - except possibly the opportunity to scream at Gil Grissom for getting himself into so much trouble.

This Toyota was the first real piece of good news they had received since the "official" investigation into Grissom's disappearance had begun. It seemed like an eternity since the night before when they had all asked each other if anyone had seen Gil. What had been a curious and unsettling inquiry had turned into an ugly reality so quickly that she really hadn't had time to adjust to what had happened.

Now, Catherine was "officially" in charge of the investigation, and that son of a bitch Eckley was making sure all the other cases that had come into CSI over the last few hours were being assigned to guys from the dayshift. She had made it very clear to Eckley that if he wasn't going to give this case one hundred percent of his effort, he needed to stay the hell away from it.

There wasn't much talk amongst the team as they began the process of examining every inch of the vehicle. Catherine knew they were in the zone, and that there wasn't anything that would escape them. The transfer from the attacker or attackers would be found. It could be days before AFIS gave them a hit off the prints they had found at Grissom's, if it gave them a hit at all. The car might lead them in the right direction more quickly. She only hoped that what they found led them to Gil soon, and that he was still alive.

"You better be alive," she told the missing Grissom. "I'm going to kick your ass when we find you." She turned and headed out of the crime lab. Catherine had Lindsey to deal with this morning before returning to work and the very unpleasant prospect of updating Mrs. Grissom as she had promised.