IV - THEORIES
"Finding anything, Warrick?" Grissom's voice made the younger man jump.
"Startled me," he muttered at Grissom's slight smile. "I've got some fingerprints from the safe - but they're probably our victims. Managed to find a couple of suspicious fibers in the interior hinge of the safe - tagged and bagged. Cath gone?"
"Yeah. She went back with Brass and Mr. van der Brucke. I'm finished in the library. I'm still trying to figure out how our assailant got in."
Warrick shrugged, sitting back on his haunches. "Maybe it was a set-up, or pre-planned. Mrs. van der Brucke is quite a bit younger than her husband. Did we ever get hold of the friend she was supposed to be meeting?" When Grissom shook his head, Warrick sighed. "Maybe she wasn't meeting her friend. Maybe she was having an affair, and was waiting for her lover. What if she let her murderer in? What if she knew him?"
Grissom sighed and rubbed a hand backwards through his grey curls, "We think our supposed jumper was a cat burglar. We found some evidence to indicate this, and Nick and Sara are back at the lab working on it. I think it would be too much of a coincidence to have a cat burglar fall to his death the same night Mr. van der Brucke loses his wife and several million dollars worth of diamonds."
"Did you find anything on him - like diamonds?"
"No."
"Then how do you know he wasn't on his way up when he fell?"
"Because we found blood above him, on the windows. The victims' blood?" Grissom shook his head, "We need to figure out how he got in."
* * * * *
"Willows," Catherine snapped her cell phone open at the sudden ringing, barely breaking stride. "I've called her, and left a message Grissom. She hasn't called back yet. Uh-huh. Yeah, I'll find out about insurance policies, everything else - suppose we should rule that out. I don't know - I'll ask him." She covered the phone with her hand, and turned to Brass, who was beside her. Mr. van der Brucke - Willem - had been taken to Brass' office, and left there with O'Reilly. Brass was heading to the lounge to get a couple cups of coffee, and Catherine was off to talk to Sara and Nick about 'the jumper' on Brass' recommendation.
"Brass - did you get the surveillance tapes for the elevators and the lobby from Mr. Miles?"
Brass grunted, "Tell him 20 years on the job, Cath."
Catherine grinned as she brought the phone back to her mouth, "Affirmative. We have the tapes. I'm going to find Sara and Nick, see what they've got - Brass indicated the two cases might be linked, and I'm curious about that whole cat-burglar theory of yours. Have Nick test the blood he found against our vics? O-kay. When do you think you and Warrick will be heading back? Uh-huh. Right - looking for point of entry, yada yada yada. So, we'll see you soon."
She shut her cell and dropped it into her pocket, "He'll be back soon."
Brass shook his head in amusement, "I caught some of that. After you're finished with Nick and Sara, come back to my office and let me know. I think you should be there when we talk to van der Brucke - we can't rule him off as a suspect."
Catherine sighed, "I don't think his shock is an act."
Brass shrugged, "He's a good 20 years older than the late Mrs. van der Brucke. Maybe she was having an affair, and he found out. Maybe she was going to leave him and take half his company. Maybe she was a gold- digger."
"And maybe she was a younger woman in love with an older man," Catherine inserted. "It happens all the time."
"Yeah," Brass grunted dryly, "I'm beating the younger women off with a stick."
* * * * *
Sara was trying to ignore the good natured bantering between Nick and Greg, because she knew showing her amusement would only egg them on to more obnoxious behavior. Instead, she attempted to bring the attention back to the case at hand, before the conversation disappeared into that strange guy- talk land of sexual innuendo and posturing.
"So, Greggo. Hope you have something good for me?"
The minute she saw the smirk on Greg's face, she knew she'd said the wrong thing. She felt herself flush slightly, quickly tacking on "Let me rephrase that!" much to Nick's amusement and Greg's dismay.
"Greg - can you get your mind out of the gutter long enough to tell me you have some results on the blood for me?"
Greg grinned cheekily at Sara and handed her the report in his hand, "It's Spiderman's blood. No question."
Sara scanned the report and handed it to Nick, her brows furrowing in consternation. "You're theory is gathering merit, Nicky. So - I guess we'll be making a daytime trip back to Icarus to check out the side of the building in the sunlight. Maybe we'll see something we missed in the dark. The side of that hotel just became our crime scene."
Nick picked up the suction cup with the broken strap again, a slight smile on his face, "It will be interesting to go back up there in the daytime. You scared of heights, Sidle?"
"Ferris wheel heights? No. Eighty storey heights in an open air cage? We'll have to see."
* * * * *
"Mr. Miles," Warrick's voice was calm and commanding, his annoyance at the twitchy man well-hidden behind his neutral demeanor, "we need to know if there is anyway - air vents, anything - that would allow a person on the outside of your building to get inside without cutting the glass."
"I've told you, the only way to get into the building is through the entrances on the main level," the concierge was being particularly unhelpful. "I don't know how else you expect anyone to get into our hotel - unless the can fly."
"Or crawl up the side of the wall," Grissom interjected. "Will you take us up to the roof, Mr. Miles?"
The man sniffed, "I cannot. However, I will have our night maintenance manager take you there, if you wish. I need to stay available for our paying customers - I can't be traipsing around 80 stories above the city, looking for entrances I know are not there. I have a job to do."
"So do we, Mr. Miles. So do we."
* * * * *
"Sara, Nick. Just the people I need," Catherine breezed into the evidence room, smiling at Greg before getting right to the matter at hand, "Tell me about your DB - Brass says he's a cat-burglar."
Sara grinned, "He didn't have nine lives."
"Did Grissom tell you anything?" Nick asked.
"Nope - zip. Brass told me a bit. You found suction cups, some blood on the outside of the building and he was dressed all in black. What else can you give me?"
"He was shot," Nick smiled when Catherine gaped at him. "We think on the outside of the building. The blood on the outside of the building was his."
"Robbins says the gunshot would have killed him regardless of the fall," Sara added. "The bullet is down in ballistics."
"And someone tampered with his suction grips. One of the straps was sliced halfway through. If the strap hadn't broken away, he'd probably be still stuck to the building, dead as a door nail."
Catherine blinked at Nick when he said this, and grimaced. "Pleasant. Can you imagine? You're in your room, upscale hotel, morning sun shining through the windows - you go to admire the view and hello! Dead man stuck to your window." Steepling her fingers, she tapped her lower jaw in amusement. "Why do you think he was shot outside the building?"
"The nature of his wounds," Sara responded. "Nick didn't spot any blood until he was halfway down. Assuming Nick spotted the blood where our victim was shot, he only made it another 20 feet or so before he fell. I don't think he could have been shot inside and made it out and half way down the building."
"Fair enough. Grissom thinks our DB is related to yours."
"DB? I thought you and Warrick were investigating a robbery?"
"We thought so too, Nick. Learned otherwise when we found our DB in her bedroom. Audra van der Brucke."
Greg, who had been listening to them intently, whistled, "van der Brucke? Of the diamond van der Brucke's? I'd say you know what your pancake was after."
Catherine just smiled grimly, "The safe in the penthouse library was emptied out, and so was her personal safe - several million dollars worth of diamonds and diamond jewelry. So, who do you think shot your guy?"
"Probably the same person who shot yours. When Robbins gets the bullet out of yours, we'll get ballistics to compare 'em. Where're Grissom and Warrick?" Sara tilted her head to the side, looking out the doorway behind Catherine. "I haven't seen either of them since we got back."
"Still processing. Listen, have you guys run prints yet?"
"Next step," Nick responded, flashing the print files at Catherine. "We were just bouncing theories when you walked in."
"Fine. Brass wants me back to help talk with Mr. van der Brucke about insurance; stuff like that. Would one of you check out the surveillance tapes from the penthouse elevator, service elevator and penthouse lobby? Time frame from 6:00 - when van der Brucke left for a business dinner - and focus on the time between 8:30 - 10:00."
"I'll watch them," Nick offered.
"I guess I'll run prints then," Sara muttered. "Does Grissom think Mr. van der Brucke is involved?"
Catherine shrugged, "In a case like this, the spouse has to be considered a suspect."
"Especially since his wife is much younger than him - at least 20 years," Greg inserted. When Catherine shot him a questioning look, Greg shrugged, "She was a model until she married him. Page 34 - 38 - Peekaboo Lingerie's Christmas catalog, 1998. Pretty. Van der Brucke snagged himself a hottie trophy wife."
Sara rolled her eyes at Catherine, who just shook her head at Greg. Nick was grinning, "Greggo, you gotta get better reading material."
Greg just laughed, "Why read, when you can look at the pictures?"
__________
Author's Note: We'll be getting into some more personal aspects of this story very soon - not next chapter, but most likely the one after. Thanks for your reading! Hope this story continues to intrigue.
"Finding anything, Warrick?" Grissom's voice made the younger man jump.
"Startled me," he muttered at Grissom's slight smile. "I've got some fingerprints from the safe - but they're probably our victims. Managed to find a couple of suspicious fibers in the interior hinge of the safe - tagged and bagged. Cath gone?"
"Yeah. She went back with Brass and Mr. van der Brucke. I'm finished in the library. I'm still trying to figure out how our assailant got in."
Warrick shrugged, sitting back on his haunches. "Maybe it was a set-up, or pre-planned. Mrs. van der Brucke is quite a bit younger than her husband. Did we ever get hold of the friend she was supposed to be meeting?" When Grissom shook his head, Warrick sighed. "Maybe she wasn't meeting her friend. Maybe she was having an affair, and was waiting for her lover. What if she let her murderer in? What if she knew him?"
Grissom sighed and rubbed a hand backwards through his grey curls, "We think our supposed jumper was a cat burglar. We found some evidence to indicate this, and Nick and Sara are back at the lab working on it. I think it would be too much of a coincidence to have a cat burglar fall to his death the same night Mr. van der Brucke loses his wife and several million dollars worth of diamonds."
"Did you find anything on him - like diamonds?"
"No."
"Then how do you know he wasn't on his way up when he fell?"
"Because we found blood above him, on the windows. The victims' blood?" Grissom shook his head, "We need to figure out how he got in."
* * * * *
"Willows," Catherine snapped her cell phone open at the sudden ringing, barely breaking stride. "I've called her, and left a message Grissom. She hasn't called back yet. Uh-huh. Yeah, I'll find out about insurance policies, everything else - suppose we should rule that out. I don't know - I'll ask him." She covered the phone with her hand, and turned to Brass, who was beside her. Mr. van der Brucke - Willem - had been taken to Brass' office, and left there with O'Reilly. Brass was heading to the lounge to get a couple cups of coffee, and Catherine was off to talk to Sara and Nick about 'the jumper' on Brass' recommendation.
"Brass - did you get the surveillance tapes for the elevators and the lobby from Mr. Miles?"
Brass grunted, "Tell him 20 years on the job, Cath."
Catherine grinned as she brought the phone back to her mouth, "Affirmative. We have the tapes. I'm going to find Sara and Nick, see what they've got - Brass indicated the two cases might be linked, and I'm curious about that whole cat-burglar theory of yours. Have Nick test the blood he found against our vics? O-kay. When do you think you and Warrick will be heading back? Uh-huh. Right - looking for point of entry, yada yada yada. So, we'll see you soon."
She shut her cell and dropped it into her pocket, "He'll be back soon."
Brass shook his head in amusement, "I caught some of that. After you're finished with Nick and Sara, come back to my office and let me know. I think you should be there when we talk to van der Brucke - we can't rule him off as a suspect."
Catherine sighed, "I don't think his shock is an act."
Brass shrugged, "He's a good 20 years older than the late Mrs. van der Brucke. Maybe she was having an affair, and he found out. Maybe she was going to leave him and take half his company. Maybe she was a gold- digger."
"And maybe she was a younger woman in love with an older man," Catherine inserted. "It happens all the time."
"Yeah," Brass grunted dryly, "I'm beating the younger women off with a stick."
* * * * *
Sara was trying to ignore the good natured bantering between Nick and Greg, because she knew showing her amusement would only egg them on to more obnoxious behavior. Instead, she attempted to bring the attention back to the case at hand, before the conversation disappeared into that strange guy- talk land of sexual innuendo and posturing.
"So, Greggo. Hope you have something good for me?"
The minute she saw the smirk on Greg's face, she knew she'd said the wrong thing. She felt herself flush slightly, quickly tacking on "Let me rephrase that!" much to Nick's amusement and Greg's dismay.
"Greg - can you get your mind out of the gutter long enough to tell me you have some results on the blood for me?"
Greg grinned cheekily at Sara and handed her the report in his hand, "It's Spiderman's blood. No question."
Sara scanned the report and handed it to Nick, her brows furrowing in consternation. "You're theory is gathering merit, Nicky. So - I guess we'll be making a daytime trip back to Icarus to check out the side of the building in the sunlight. Maybe we'll see something we missed in the dark. The side of that hotel just became our crime scene."
Nick picked up the suction cup with the broken strap again, a slight smile on his face, "It will be interesting to go back up there in the daytime. You scared of heights, Sidle?"
"Ferris wheel heights? No. Eighty storey heights in an open air cage? We'll have to see."
* * * * *
"Mr. Miles," Warrick's voice was calm and commanding, his annoyance at the twitchy man well-hidden behind his neutral demeanor, "we need to know if there is anyway - air vents, anything - that would allow a person on the outside of your building to get inside without cutting the glass."
"I've told you, the only way to get into the building is through the entrances on the main level," the concierge was being particularly unhelpful. "I don't know how else you expect anyone to get into our hotel - unless the can fly."
"Or crawl up the side of the wall," Grissom interjected. "Will you take us up to the roof, Mr. Miles?"
The man sniffed, "I cannot. However, I will have our night maintenance manager take you there, if you wish. I need to stay available for our paying customers - I can't be traipsing around 80 stories above the city, looking for entrances I know are not there. I have a job to do."
"So do we, Mr. Miles. So do we."
* * * * *
"Sara, Nick. Just the people I need," Catherine breezed into the evidence room, smiling at Greg before getting right to the matter at hand, "Tell me about your DB - Brass says he's a cat-burglar."
Sara grinned, "He didn't have nine lives."
"Did Grissom tell you anything?" Nick asked.
"Nope - zip. Brass told me a bit. You found suction cups, some blood on the outside of the building and he was dressed all in black. What else can you give me?"
"He was shot," Nick smiled when Catherine gaped at him. "We think on the outside of the building. The blood on the outside of the building was his."
"Robbins says the gunshot would have killed him regardless of the fall," Sara added. "The bullet is down in ballistics."
"And someone tampered with his suction grips. One of the straps was sliced halfway through. If the strap hadn't broken away, he'd probably be still stuck to the building, dead as a door nail."
Catherine blinked at Nick when he said this, and grimaced. "Pleasant. Can you imagine? You're in your room, upscale hotel, morning sun shining through the windows - you go to admire the view and hello! Dead man stuck to your window." Steepling her fingers, she tapped her lower jaw in amusement. "Why do you think he was shot outside the building?"
"The nature of his wounds," Sara responded. "Nick didn't spot any blood until he was halfway down. Assuming Nick spotted the blood where our victim was shot, he only made it another 20 feet or so before he fell. I don't think he could have been shot inside and made it out and half way down the building."
"Fair enough. Grissom thinks our DB is related to yours."
"DB? I thought you and Warrick were investigating a robbery?"
"We thought so too, Nick. Learned otherwise when we found our DB in her bedroom. Audra van der Brucke."
Greg, who had been listening to them intently, whistled, "van der Brucke? Of the diamond van der Brucke's? I'd say you know what your pancake was after."
Catherine just smiled grimly, "The safe in the penthouse library was emptied out, and so was her personal safe - several million dollars worth of diamonds and diamond jewelry. So, who do you think shot your guy?"
"Probably the same person who shot yours. When Robbins gets the bullet out of yours, we'll get ballistics to compare 'em. Where're Grissom and Warrick?" Sara tilted her head to the side, looking out the doorway behind Catherine. "I haven't seen either of them since we got back."
"Still processing. Listen, have you guys run prints yet?"
"Next step," Nick responded, flashing the print files at Catherine. "We were just bouncing theories when you walked in."
"Fine. Brass wants me back to help talk with Mr. van der Brucke about insurance; stuff like that. Would one of you check out the surveillance tapes from the penthouse elevator, service elevator and penthouse lobby? Time frame from 6:00 - when van der Brucke left for a business dinner - and focus on the time between 8:30 - 10:00."
"I'll watch them," Nick offered.
"I guess I'll run prints then," Sara muttered. "Does Grissom think Mr. van der Brucke is involved?"
Catherine shrugged, "In a case like this, the spouse has to be considered a suspect."
"Especially since his wife is much younger than him - at least 20 years," Greg inserted. When Catherine shot him a questioning look, Greg shrugged, "She was a model until she married him. Page 34 - 38 - Peekaboo Lingerie's Christmas catalog, 1998. Pretty. Van der Brucke snagged himself a hottie trophy wife."
Sara rolled her eyes at Catherine, who just shook her head at Greg. Nick was grinning, "Greggo, you gotta get better reading material."
Greg just laughed, "Why read, when you can look at the pictures?"
__________
Author's Note: We'll be getting into some more personal aspects of this story very soon - not next chapter, but most likely the one after. Thanks for your reading! Hope this story continues to intrigue.