This story is based on characters created by Anthony E. Zuiker for the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Ghost (Part 11/26)
by Cheers
Monday Morning 06:07 AM
The initial search of the Toyota turned up very little. The team took all the necessary initial photographs and finished a preliminary visual search. The trunk and glove compartment were both completely empty. There was an old napkin under the front passenger seat, and this was bagged and sent to Greg. No other items were found in the interior compartment. Any evidence they collected would have to be the kind not immediately noticeable. The kind most people don't think to worry about. The kind of evidence a good CSI knows to look for.
Sara swirled the dusting brush over the panel on the inside of the front driver's side door. Once the dusting powder was evenly distributed, she visually searched and researched every square inch of surface, tape-lifting any print or partial print she found. When that was done, she moved to the dashboard. As soon as she was through, she would take the prints she had to the print lab for processing and move to the back seat.
Nick already knew the blood samples he had collected earlier from the back seat of the stolen vehicle belonged to Grissom. He needed to know if there was any more blood in the car: Grissom's, an attacker's, or otherwise. He was also looking for transfer of hair or other fibers. He used a small handheld ALS to visually search every inch of the rear passenger compartment. He found several short, curly gray and brown hairs where he had previously found Grissom's blood. These he collected, labeled, and sent to Greg in the DNA lab.
The upholstery, carpet fibers, and foreign materials were Warrick's purview on this gig. He had started in the trunk because Nick was dealing with the blood in the back seat while Sara was lifting prints in the front. Warrick had already taken a two inch by two inch section of the interior carpet from the trunk. He would also take a sample of the upholstery fabric from the rear portion of the back seat once Nick was done. Warrick tape-lifted samples of the detritus he found in the trunk. As Sara moved to the passenger side of the front seat, Warrick moved to the driver's side and began his visual inspection of the floorboard there. He found what looked like small pieces of crushed black glass. He collected specimens from the floor mat, gas pedal, and brake pedal. If the driver of the car was involved with Grissom's disappearance, some of the bits of glass could easily have been transferred into the building where Grissom lived.
"I've got the owner in case anyone is interested."
All three CSIs stopped what they were doing and looked up at the speaker. Sergeant O'Riley stood at the door to the garage.
"Hey, O'Riley," Nick called.
"What'd you find out?" Sara asked.
O'Riley opened the folder he held and gave them a rundown of the information he had collected. "Owner is Robert Sellers. He lives at 1127 West Navajo Road, Flagstaff, Arizona. He works for Coconino County New Energy Technologies as a renewable energy specialist – solar technology. Local police verify he reported the car stolen from the company parking lot six days ago. By all accounts, Mr. Sellers is a stand-up guy: wife, two kids, steady on the job. No connection to Grissom that we can find. Fingerprint card is being faxed to us as we speak."
"The fingerprints will help with elimination," Sara said to no one in particular.
"Flagstaff," Warrick said thoughtfully. "That's off I-40."
"It is," O'Riley confirmed.
"I-40, crossroads of the southwest," Nick added. "Doesn't narrow the search for our car thief much, does it?"
"I take it there's no hit on the prints from his house," O'Riley said.
Sara's face told him the story before she said a word. "Not yet."
Monday Morning 06:56 AM
Almost as soon as Catherine returned to the crime lab, her beeper went off. Looking at it, she recognized the Sheriff's number. It was time to update the good Sheriff, but before she did that she wanted to check in with the team and see where they were.
Catherine found all three of her CSI co-workers right where she had left them. They were still hard at work processing the Toyota.
"Hey, guys," she said as she entered the garage.
Warrick stood up from his position on the other side of the car to look at her. "How's Lindsey?"
"She's fine. I left her with my sister." Catherine stooped to look inside the car. "Find anything?"
Nick looked up from the back seat where he and Sara were finishing up with the last of the fingerprint lifts. "Tons of prints," he began. "Sara's already sent a bunch to the print lab. I found a few errant hairs that look like they could be Grissom's. No more blood though. Warrick found some ground black glass on the driver's floorboard."
"Yeah," Warrick jumped in. "And those shoe prints I found in the stairway were from a pair of Red Wing boots. I'm thinking we need to go back and see if there's any transfer in Grissom's building."
"Any idea what kind of glass?" Catherine asked.
"Nah," Warrick said. "Trace is working on it now."
"Okay," Catherine said, standing back up. "Warrick, you and Nick go back and see what you can find."
"And me?" Sara asked.
"Stay with the prints," Catherine said. "The sooner we have a match, the sooner we have a suspect we can find."
Catherine's beeper chose that instant to go off again. When she looked, she wasn't surprised to see the Sheriff's number displayed.
Monday Morning 07:25 AM
Sara was in the print lab while Warrick and Nick were on their way back to Grissom's house. Catherine had called the Sheriff and given him a full update on their progress. She decided that now was a good time to update Gil's mother as well.
Catherine again collected the information she needed and headed back to the TDD station. This was a task she was not looking forward to. As she walked her mind's eye could easily see a young curly blond-headed boy bounding across a yard and throwing himself into the waiting arms of a woman who had the same warm face pictured in the frame on Gil's desk.
When you had children, you were a mother for life. No amount of growing up would make Gil any less his mother's son. Catherine already knew what it was like to fear for a friend. She could only imagine the panic that must be fearing for a child, no matter how old, who was lost.