Here you go – chapter three for anyone waiting. Please review makes me
write faster!!!
Chapter Three
The beginning of the tape was playing up until the girl said 'sure it's – '.
"Okay, I need you to get rid of the girls voice, the lady's voice."
The sound man (what else do I call him!), nodded and started turning switches. He played the beginning of the tape again. There was a small sound.
"That! That's the attacker. Play it again."
The sound man complied.
"Sounds like a creaky floorboard."
The sound man said. Warrick nodded.
"I think there was a creaky floorboard in the hall. Okay, next bit is the voice at the end."
The sound man forwarded the tape and played it. Once again there was muffled struggles and screams followed by a sudden silence.
"That's where he stabbed her."
The small thud came.
"And she falls down."
Then there was the muffled voice.
"Replay it, get rid of everything except the voice and turn it up."
The sound man replayed, removing the screams and muffled sounds. The voice was a bit clearer but they still couldn't hear what it was saying.
"Get rid of her breathing and try and clear up the static over the phone."
The sound man nodded, then replayed again. This time the voice came in loud and clear. It was a deep masculine voice.
"See that tunnel of white light yet? You will. Give my regards to St. Peter."
The sound man looked at Warrick, his eyes slightly wide, Warrick didn't look at him.
"The bastard."
He said quietly. The laughter played out over the speakers. Warrick was about to tell him to turn it off when he heard what he thought was another creak in the background.
"Woah, wait a minute! Replay that and get rid of the laughing."
He stood listening as the tape was played again. There was a definite creak of a floorboard, but slightly different from before.
"He didn't go out the back, he went out the front. So, who went out the back?"
"Maybe, he went to go out the front and then changed his mind?"
"It's possible. But then wouldn't we have heard another creak as we went back across it? Something's not right here. I need to go back to the house. Thanks."
He said tot he sound man and left quickly.
*****
Warrick got out his car, showed the police guard the ID and entered the house. He found the creaky floorboard easily and walked across it.
"That's the one."
He went back to the door and took a couple slow steps across the floor, entering the living room. The squeak sounded slightly different from before. He walked at it from different angles and realised that the suspect came into the living room from the hallway leading from the spare room and other dining room entrance. Then he walked from the living room to the front door. It was the same squeak from the end of the tape. Then he tried walking down the hall towards the back door, the floor board squeaked again. He tried stepping over it or around it but it was impossible to not walk past without stepping on it. Warrick stood there for a moment thinking.
"Okay, so how did your footprint get outside? Something is definitely not right."
When he arrived back at CSI, Nick was just arriving. He joined him and they entered the CSI together.
"Where'd you go?"
Nick asked.
"Back to the house. Something's not right with the crime scene."
"What's not right?"
"We got the tape of the phone call and I got it analysed. The attacker entered the living room from the hall to attack Jade. I don't know if you noticed the squeaky floorboard."
Nick nodded.
"Vaguely yeah."
"Well, when the attacker left the floorboard squeaks again. I thought maybe he headed for the front then changed his mind. But there's no way he could go from the front door to the back door without stepping on the creaky floorboard, but there is no creak that suggest he changes his mind. I've just been back to the house and checked it out. He left through the front door."
"But his footprint was in the mud out the back?"
Warrick nodded. Nick thought.
"Maybe he went round the house to find a way of getting in?"
Warrick thought for a minute.
"Oh no wait," Nick suddenly said. "That's not right. The footprint was pointing away from the door and was deep suggesting the person was running."
Neither of them knew what to think.
"This is really strange."
Nick said as they sat in the break room.
"You're telling me." Warrick replied. "This guy's a real wacko."
He told Nick what the guy had said to Jade. Nick was stunned.
"You're right, he's a real nut case. Can't wait for this case to be over and for us to catch the bastard."
Warrick agreed.
*****
Mid afternoon came and Grissom had fallen into a light restless sleep in the chair, elbow on the arm and his head resting in his hand. The nurse had been in and removed the oxygen mask, replacing it with an oxygen tube around her face.
As consciousness flowed it's way back slowly into her mind she became aware of the gently beeping in the distance. She moved her head and moaned.
Grissom was pulled out of his doze and sat up to check on her. She stirred and moaned again incoherently. He called to her gently so as not to alarm her.
Her eyes slowly opened and focused on the face of her God-father looking down at her concerned. She could see his mouth moving slowly but couldn't make out what he was saying. The image blurred again and she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, waiting for the nausea to pass, and then opened them again. This time the image stayed in focus.
"Jade? Jade, can you hear me?"
"Yeah..."
She said in a sigh, her throat protesting slightly. Gil smiled.
"How are you feeling?"
"...kay..."
She sighed again, then felt a twinge in her back and she inhaled sharply.
"What is it?"
"My...back..."
She said in discomfort. Grissom disappeared from her line of sight for a moment. Then she saw a familiar doctor standing over her.
"Hello Jade, I'm Doctor Cartwright. Do you need some pain relief?"
She nodded slightly, her eyes closed.
"Okay. I'll get a nurse to come and give you some, but first I have to give you a check-up, make sure everything is fine. Okay?"
She nodded again without a sound. Gil stepped back and looked out the window to give her some privacy while the doctor checked her pulse, pupils and finally the knife wound. A few moments passed.
"Well, it looks like it's healing nicely. The nurse will be right in."
He smiled and left. Gil followed. The doctor spoke to a nurse for a second, before Gil interrupted.
"Doctor Cartwright?"
The doctor turned to him and the nurse moved away.
"Will she be okay?"
The doctor gave him a reassuring smile.
"She'll need a lot of rest but the wound is healing nicely. I'm not sure about her mental state though. She went into shock quite seriously. She'll need to be watched carefully, and I'll be sending in a counsellor down sometime to talk to her about what happened."
Grissom had seen enough injured people to know reactions with dealing with the aftermath of such events, and he also knew that Jade was stubborn.
"She won't see a counsellor, doctor. She'll refuse. She did when her parents died. I'll talk to her when she's ready, that seemed to work last time."
The doctor nodded.
"I'd still like to send one in anyway."
Grissom nodded, thanked the doctor and entered the room as the nurse exited.
Jade was laying, staring at the wall. When she heard his familiar footfalls heading towards the bed she turned her head to face him.
1 "How are you feeling? Better?"
She tried to hide the remaining pain with a smile.
"Like I've been stabbed."
She joked. Grissom smiled a little. He knew she was covering but it did sound like Jade again.
"I had his blood on my hand – did you get it?"
Her forehead wrinkled in question. He smiled and nodded.
"You know, you're gonna make a brilliant CSI one day."
She gave him a tired smile.
"I leant form the best...I want to go home."
"You can't go yet, honey. They need to keep an eye on you."
She looked away and nodded, knowing that she had to but just wanting to get out.
"Did you contact my uncle?"
"I managed to get through yeah. They're stuck in Japan and won't be able to get back for a least a week. They wish you well and promise to be back as soon as they can."
"Yeah right, whatever."
She says, knowing that they're work would be coming first.
"Why don't you just try and get some sleep."
"I'm not tired."
He knew it was a lie. He knew her better than he knew anyone. Even though he always preferred to deal with the dead he always found he could read Jade, even when he couldn't read anyone else.
"Why don't you want to sleep?"
Her eyes went distant and she stared back at the wall. For a moment she was quiet and Gil was about to ask her again when she spoke.
"When I close my eyes, he's there."
Gil wasn't expecting her to be so open. He was going to wait until she'd recovered more before he asked her about what happened. But seeing that she seemed to want to talk, he decided to play along.
"Who's there."
He asked carefully. She took a breath, shaking herself out of her thoughts and looked back at him.
"He was dressed all in black – black trainers, black jeans, black polo neck jumper, balaclava, leather gloves. Don't know about his hair but his eyes were strange. One was bright blue, the other was dark brown. He'll have a long scratch on his neck. I caught him quite hard. And he had to be at least 6'2'', maybe more."
She took a deep breath trying to remember anything else. Gil was just about to say 'well done', when he suddenly realised something.
"6'2''? Are you sure?"
She nodded.
"Yeah. He was really big built as well. That's why I couldn't do anything when he...attacked me. Why? What is it?"
He looked down at her. It's nothing, don't worry. Just try and get some sleep, huh? I'm gonna stay right here."
"Thank you."
He gave her hand a squeeze, then just leaned on the side railing, watching her as she closed her eyes. It took a while but soon she was sleeping.
As soon as he was sure she was asleep, Gil left and phoned in.
*****
The phone rang and Nick picked it up.
"Yeah?"
"Nick, it's Grissom. Jade just woke up and gave us a description of the suspect. Is there any way the suspect was taller that 5'8''?"
"No why?"
"Because Jade just told me he was at least 6'2'' and big built."
"He couldn't have been from the stab wounds on Mr. Williams...Woah, wait a minute..."
He paused.
"What?"
Nick explained about the tape.
"We got the tape in and found out through a squeaky floorboard in the hall that the attacker entered the living room from the hall leading from the dining room, and left through the front door. But we found the same footprint out in the back garden, as if the suspect was running away from the scene."
"The print was of a size seven, right?"
"Yeah."
"You ever heard of a 6'2'' big built man with size seven feet?"
"No..."
Nick clicked on.
"There was two of them."
Grissom stated.
Well? How's it going so far?
Chapter Three
The beginning of the tape was playing up until the girl said 'sure it's – '.
"Okay, I need you to get rid of the girls voice, the lady's voice."
The sound man (what else do I call him!), nodded and started turning switches. He played the beginning of the tape again. There was a small sound.
"That! That's the attacker. Play it again."
The sound man complied.
"Sounds like a creaky floorboard."
The sound man said. Warrick nodded.
"I think there was a creaky floorboard in the hall. Okay, next bit is the voice at the end."
The sound man forwarded the tape and played it. Once again there was muffled struggles and screams followed by a sudden silence.
"That's where he stabbed her."
The small thud came.
"And she falls down."
Then there was the muffled voice.
"Replay it, get rid of everything except the voice and turn it up."
The sound man replayed, removing the screams and muffled sounds. The voice was a bit clearer but they still couldn't hear what it was saying.
"Get rid of her breathing and try and clear up the static over the phone."
The sound man nodded, then replayed again. This time the voice came in loud and clear. It was a deep masculine voice.
"See that tunnel of white light yet? You will. Give my regards to St. Peter."
The sound man looked at Warrick, his eyes slightly wide, Warrick didn't look at him.
"The bastard."
He said quietly. The laughter played out over the speakers. Warrick was about to tell him to turn it off when he heard what he thought was another creak in the background.
"Woah, wait a minute! Replay that and get rid of the laughing."
He stood listening as the tape was played again. There was a definite creak of a floorboard, but slightly different from before.
"He didn't go out the back, he went out the front. So, who went out the back?"
"Maybe, he went to go out the front and then changed his mind?"
"It's possible. But then wouldn't we have heard another creak as we went back across it? Something's not right here. I need to go back to the house. Thanks."
He said tot he sound man and left quickly.
*****
Warrick got out his car, showed the police guard the ID and entered the house. He found the creaky floorboard easily and walked across it.
"That's the one."
He went back to the door and took a couple slow steps across the floor, entering the living room. The squeak sounded slightly different from before. He walked at it from different angles and realised that the suspect came into the living room from the hallway leading from the spare room and other dining room entrance. Then he walked from the living room to the front door. It was the same squeak from the end of the tape. Then he tried walking down the hall towards the back door, the floor board squeaked again. He tried stepping over it or around it but it was impossible to not walk past without stepping on it. Warrick stood there for a moment thinking.
"Okay, so how did your footprint get outside? Something is definitely not right."
When he arrived back at CSI, Nick was just arriving. He joined him and they entered the CSI together.
"Where'd you go?"
Nick asked.
"Back to the house. Something's not right with the crime scene."
"What's not right?"
"We got the tape of the phone call and I got it analysed. The attacker entered the living room from the hall to attack Jade. I don't know if you noticed the squeaky floorboard."
Nick nodded.
"Vaguely yeah."
"Well, when the attacker left the floorboard squeaks again. I thought maybe he headed for the front then changed his mind. But there's no way he could go from the front door to the back door without stepping on the creaky floorboard, but there is no creak that suggest he changes his mind. I've just been back to the house and checked it out. He left through the front door."
"But his footprint was in the mud out the back?"
Warrick nodded. Nick thought.
"Maybe he went round the house to find a way of getting in?"
Warrick thought for a minute.
"Oh no wait," Nick suddenly said. "That's not right. The footprint was pointing away from the door and was deep suggesting the person was running."
Neither of them knew what to think.
"This is really strange."
Nick said as they sat in the break room.
"You're telling me." Warrick replied. "This guy's a real wacko."
He told Nick what the guy had said to Jade. Nick was stunned.
"You're right, he's a real nut case. Can't wait for this case to be over and for us to catch the bastard."
Warrick agreed.
*****
Mid afternoon came and Grissom had fallen into a light restless sleep in the chair, elbow on the arm and his head resting in his hand. The nurse had been in and removed the oxygen mask, replacing it with an oxygen tube around her face.
As consciousness flowed it's way back slowly into her mind she became aware of the gently beeping in the distance. She moved her head and moaned.
Grissom was pulled out of his doze and sat up to check on her. She stirred and moaned again incoherently. He called to her gently so as not to alarm her.
Her eyes slowly opened and focused on the face of her God-father looking down at her concerned. She could see his mouth moving slowly but couldn't make out what he was saying. The image blurred again and she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, waiting for the nausea to pass, and then opened them again. This time the image stayed in focus.
"Jade? Jade, can you hear me?"
"Yeah..."
She said in a sigh, her throat protesting slightly. Gil smiled.
"How are you feeling?"
"...kay..."
She sighed again, then felt a twinge in her back and she inhaled sharply.
"What is it?"
"My...back..."
She said in discomfort. Grissom disappeared from her line of sight for a moment. Then she saw a familiar doctor standing over her.
"Hello Jade, I'm Doctor Cartwright. Do you need some pain relief?"
She nodded slightly, her eyes closed.
"Okay. I'll get a nurse to come and give you some, but first I have to give you a check-up, make sure everything is fine. Okay?"
She nodded again without a sound. Gil stepped back and looked out the window to give her some privacy while the doctor checked her pulse, pupils and finally the knife wound. A few moments passed.
"Well, it looks like it's healing nicely. The nurse will be right in."
He smiled and left. Gil followed. The doctor spoke to a nurse for a second, before Gil interrupted.
"Doctor Cartwright?"
The doctor turned to him and the nurse moved away.
"Will she be okay?"
The doctor gave him a reassuring smile.
"She'll need a lot of rest but the wound is healing nicely. I'm not sure about her mental state though. She went into shock quite seriously. She'll need to be watched carefully, and I'll be sending in a counsellor down sometime to talk to her about what happened."
Grissom had seen enough injured people to know reactions with dealing with the aftermath of such events, and he also knew that Jade was stubborn.
"She won't see a counsellor, doctor. She'll refuse. She did when her parents died. I'll talk to her when she's ready, that seemed to work last time."
The doctor nodded.
"I'd still like to send one in anyway."
Grissom nodded, thanked the doctor and entered the room as the nurse exited.
Jade was laying, staring at the wall. When she heard his familiar footfalls heading towards the bed she turned her head to face him.
1 "How are you feeling? Better?"
She tried to hide the remaining pain with a smile.
"Like I've been stabbed."
She joked. Grissom smiled a little. He knew she was covering but it did sound like Jade again.
"I had his blood on my hand – did you get it?"
Her forehead wrinkled in question. He smiled and nodded.
"You know, you're gonna make a brilliant CSI one day."
She gave him a tired smile.
"I leant form the best...I want to go home."
"You can't go yet, honey. They need to keep an eye on you."
She looked away and nodded, knowing that she had to but just wanting to get out.
"Did you contact my uncle?"
"I managed to get through yeah. They're stuck in Japan and won't be able to get back for a least a week. They wish you well and promise to be back as soon as they can."
"Yeah right, whatever."
She says, knowing that they're work would be coming first.
"Why don't you just try and get some sleep."
"I'm not tired."
He knew it was a lie. He knew her better than he knew anyone. Even though he always preferred to deal with the dead he always found he could read Jade, even when he couldn't read anyone else.
"Why don't you want to sleep?"
Her eyes went distant and she stared back at the wall. For a moment she was quiet and Gil was about to ask her again when she spoke.
"When I close my eyes, he's there."
Gil wasn't expecting her to be so open. He was going to wait until she'd recovered more before he asked her about what happened. But seeing that she seemed to want to talk, he decided to play along.
"Who's there."
He asked carefully. She took a breath, shaking herself out of her thoughts and looked back at him.
"He was dressed all in black – black trainers, black jeans, black polo neck jumper, balaclava, leather gloves. Don't know about his hair but his eyes were strange. One was bright blue, the other was dark brown. He'll have a long scratch on his neck. I caught him quite hard. And he had to be at least 6'2'', maybe more."
She took a deep breath trying to remember anything else. Gil was just about to say 'well done', when he suddenly realised something.
"6'2''? Are you sure?"
She nodded.
"Yeah. He was really big built as well. That's why I couldn't do anything when he...attacked me. Why? What is it?"
He looked down at her. It's nothing, don't worry. Just try and get some sleep, huh? I'm gonna stay right here."
"Thank you."
He gave her hand a squeeze, then just leaned on the side railing, watching her as she closed her eyes. It took a while but soon she was sleeping.
As soon as he was sure she was asleep, Gil left and phoned in.
*****
The phone rang and Nick picked it up.
"Yeah?"
"Nick, it's Grissom. Jade just woke up and gave us a description of the suspect. Is there any way the suspect was taller that 5'8''?"
"No why?"
"Because Jade just told me he was at least 6'2'' and big built."
"He couldn't have been from the stab wounds on Mr. Williams...Woah, wait a minute..."
He paused.
"What?"
Nick explained about the tape.
"We got the tape in and found out through a squeaky floorboard in the hall that the attacker entered the living room from the hall leading from the dining room, and left through the front door. But we found the same footprint out in the back garden, as if the suspect was running away from the scene."
"The print was of a size seven, right?"
"Yeah."
"You ever heard of a 6'2'' big built man with size seven feet?"
"No..."
Nick clicked on.
"There was two of them."
Grissom stated.
Well? How's it going so far?