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Another Chance

Chapter Three

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Doc Robbins was waiting for Sara and Warrick to see the body for themselves, he wanted to see their reactions, his own had been shocked, he hadn't seen anything like it. Ten minutes later they swung through the door, Sara got her first look at the victim "God…that's creepy."

"You say creepy I say weird," Warrick said, as he looked upon the body again "what do you have for us?" his question was directed at Doc Robbins.

"Not much…"

"You mean this…" Sara indicated the body "doesn't tell you anything?"

"What did he look like when you found him?"

"His back was arched so only his head and the heels of his feet touched the ground…the face was all contorted like it is now…weird" Warrick told him.

"The grinning effect is known as risus sardonicus, the pupils dilate, and the fingers are clenched…I might have at first suggested tetanus but the fixation of the chest doesn't occur in tetanus…I did find these though." He handed Sara a container with a few small colourless crystals inside "I spoke to a friend of mine earlier, he suggested I look specifically for these."

"What does he think they are?" Warrick asked.

"Well he saw a body in this state a few years ago, it turns out the victim had an overdose of strychnine, had been injected with it actually. Though I haven't noticed any ominous needle marks on the body, it could still be strychnine." He pointed to the crystals "treat them with a drop of sulphuric acid and touch the edge of the solution with a yellow crystal of potassium chromate…if it is strychnine then the solution should turn purple, change to crimson, then fade completely."

"It'll be hard to prove murder, small amounts of strychnine is used in all sorts of things" Sara told them as she eyed the crystal "hard, but not impossible."

Warrick started to walk away "lets get moving then…I'll go back to the house, see if I can find anything I might have missed."
"Then I'll test the crystals…thanks Doc" the CSI's walked out to start their tasks.

*

"I told you I was innocent, " Tony said cockily as he was led down the corridor to exit the building.

"You'll slip up eventually" Grissom told him confidently as he watched the kid go, he saw Sara watch Tony leave and he walked over to her "he was innocent."

She shrugged like she didn't care "I guessed as much…can't win them all, Grissom, you know that."

They walked side by side down the hall "I do believe we'll get him for something, eventually" he tried to reassure her, he was actually doing a pretty good job.

"It's a shame someone else might have to die first, for us to be able to get him" she turned into the lab "I've got a case to work, I'll see you later." That was his signal to leave, now he was the one being dismissed and Sara the one getting back to work. Grissom stayed where he was "is there something you want?" Sara asked as she looked up from her work.

He nodded slightly "yes."

"Something that I can help you with" she emphasised the 'I.

He licked his lips as he thought carefully about his answer "yes, when your ready."

She glanced down at the solution in front of her "it turned purple!"

"What?"

"Can we maybe finish this later, Grissom?" she hated leaving their conversation in the air like that but she needed to share her findings with Warrick, she relaxed when Grissom nodded, giving her, her answer.

*

Sara met Warrick at the vic's house, having already told Warrick what she'd found and run a check on the wife, she'd found some interesting things "turns out Mrs Hall, the all loving and devoted wife has had four other marriages in the last five years. They all died under mysterious circumstances. She was a suspect in husband number three's murder but there was never any evidence to convict her, she's moved around a lot too, never staying in the same place too long. She met her first husband in England and he was a veterinary scientist."

"Well they use strychnine, right? For killing seals and rodents, it would've been easy for her to get a hold of it…I haven't found anything yet, not even a medicine bottle."

"Well she must have it hidden around here somewhere…he was diabetic, right?" Sara asked.

"Yeah, what are you thinking?"

"Well, what if she didn't have the chance to inject him herself? He's gonna notice if she tries to stick a needle in his foot, a place where a needle prick might be missed…"
Warrick got on Sara's thought train "you think maybe it wasn't insulin in the needle, she switched it with strychnine…we need those needles."

"Heidi Hall isn't as clever as she thinks she is."

TBC…