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

Ghost (Part 17/26)

by Cheers

Monday Morning 10:55 AM

"We're working on both areas," Catherine was telling the Sheriff on the phone. "The fingerprints led us to identify Stankowski. If the mineral analysis can identify a unique location, we'll have somewhere to begin a search."

"Then I hope this lead is a solid one," the Sheriff's voice told her. "I've put every available man on this, Catherine. Everyone wants to find Gil."

For once, she thought, the Sheriff sounded completely sincere. He and Gil may have had their differences, but no one would dispute the value Gil held for the department. "We appreciate the support, Brian."

"He's one of our own," Mobley said.

"Yeah," Catherine replied, unable to keep the fatigue out of her voice. "I'll call you when we have anything more concrete."

"Thank you, Catherine."

They hung up.

Catherine sat back in his chair. She had called from Gil's office. The closed door gave her a modicum of privacy. When Gil was there he almost never closed his door. He wanted people to be able to find him, to talk to him, to ask questions if they had them. She chided him often for his lack of people skills, but there was a bit of dishonesty in that. Gil did have people skills. He was a natural teacher. He imparted information with just about every breath. What he couldn't do well was judge his effect on the people around him.

She was sure that Grissom had no idea how much his absence from CSI, even for this short period of time, had affected the entire unit. No cake in the break room my ass, she thought.

The building suffered from a hushed tension. Larry in Trace was furious with Greg. Something about territory. Damn. She had sent Larry off to finish with the comparison analysis Warrick had sent him. Greg she decided to leave alone. Greg's issue had nothing to do with territory. He, like she, wanted to find Grissom as soon as humanly possible. As much as Catherine wished everyone at the lab felt that Grissom's case should be a priority, she knew that there were those there who didn't feel so warmly toward their supervisor. Grissom could be a hard-ass when the situation warranted it. While he was usually soft-spoken - a trait that led some to erroneously believe he didn't care – Gil could get angry. Rarely, but he could.

So could she. She, on the other hand, was not so adept at keeping her emotions segregated from the work. Catherine had always admired Gil's ability to step away from what he felt and just do the job. In turn, Gil admired her ability to live with the decisions she made in her life. He would regret a poorly made decision for a long time. That's why he made so few, she supposed.

As much as Catherine would love to advance on the job, she knew that Gil was better qualified to run the unit. They weren't alike, and the way they would face a problem was very different, but what Gil was able to accomplish with the tools at the lab bordered on brilliance. Catherine still had a lot to learn from him.

Okay, she told herself, that was bullshit. She fought the emotion that advanced on her. She didn't want to be deal with how she felt right now. There was too much to do. The truth was she didn't know exactly what she felt. Catherine simply wasn't ready for Gil to be gone from her life. She wanted to yell at him when he was thoughtless, to lean on him when she was unsure, to see his face every day when she felt overwhelmed, and to know that he would just be there. His steadiness had been something that, up to now, she had taken for granted. Nothing about her life had been very steady. Gil had always been that way. She had used that fact to berate him when she was angered, but if she were going to be honest it was the thing about her friend that she valued the most.

"Where the hell are you?" she asked his empty office. Before her emotion could completely take control she rose and escaped out the door. She had promised to help Warrick in Evidence. At least in there, she could leave behind her thoughts about life with Gil Grissom for a little while.

Monday Morning 11:22 AM

Warrick had managed to match the perlite crystals from the Toyota to three samples collected from the lower sections of the stairwell in Grissom's building. The implication was that the suspect had entered the building from the back. How he had done that without a key to the door or without prying the door open was unclear. He could have arrived earlier, exited the door and propped it open, then reentered when Grissom came home.

Catherine had gone through all the samples, identified possible matches for closer inspection, and sent the rest for simple elemental analysis to Trace. They worked in near silence.

When Catherine had arrived to help him, Warrick had asked her how she was doing. She hadn't met his eyes and gave a noncommittal answer. Warrick hadn't been able to decide immediately whether to push the issue or give her some space. When she wasted no time before diving into the work, he chose to leave it alone for now. He kept an eye on her, though.

She had known Gris longer than any of them. Their friendship gave her a latitude with the boss that none of the rest of them enjoyed. Catherine had to be feeling it, maybe more than the rest of them were. What Warrick didn't know was if she was dealing with it well. Maybe it wasn't his place to know.

Nick's arrival interrupted the quiet. He slowed his pace as he entered the room and glanced around. "Is everything okay in here?"

Catherine looked up from the samples she was examining. "Fine. Do you have anything?"

Nick narrowed his gaze for a moment. If he didn't miss his guess, Catherine was anything but fine. "Cath, are you okay?"

She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. Nick was just concerned about her, she knew that. But she didn't want to discuss how she felt. Trying not to sound as exasperated as she felt, she repeated, "I'm fine."

The look on Nick's face told her that he didn't believe her. Warrick saved her from losing her temper.

"What did you find out about the perlite?" Warrick asked.

Nick kept his gaze on Catherine for another second. He finally looked at the file he carried and answered Warrick's question. "I think we have a place to start."

Warrick's eyebrows shot up. "No joke?"

Moving the rest of the way into the room, Nick put the file down on the table. "Perlite is a form of volcanic glass. The ore we found is the crude crushed variety. The processed form of perlite is used in all kinds of products. What we found is unprocessed."

"Unprocessed?" Catherine asked.

"Yeah," Nick continued. "The ore or crude perlite is mined in pits. Then it's crushed for processing. When the crushed crystals are heated to above sixteen hundred degrees Fahrenheit the bound water expands, causing the crystal to pop like popcorn. What you get after cooling is a strong lightweight material that holds water and air well. Processed perlite is used in construction, horticulture, and in industrial concrete and plastics."

Warrick shrugged. "So what's so special about what we found?"

"I'm getting to that." Nick picked up a sample of the crushed crude perlite. "These small bits of crushed perlite are not natural. They're also not processed. So that means that they were mined and then prepared for processing."

Now Warrick was catching on. "So this form doesn't occur naturally in the soil."

Nick was nodding. "That's right."

Catherine understood where he was going. "If we knew where the perlite was processed, we might find where our suspect has been."

"And if the suspect was at the processing site, there might be a chance Grissom was there." Warrick concluded.

"Exactly," Nick grinned. "I did some checking with the Nevada State Mining Commission. There is only one perlite processing center within fifty miles of Vegas and only three within a hundred miles. They faxed me a list."

"I'll call Brass," Catherine said.

"Already done," Nick told her. "Ten minutes ago."

She smiled. "Get Sara," she told him. "Let's go."