1.1.1.1 Chapter Fourteen: Filling the Gaps
"Now," Grissom concluded the recap, "what did we miss? What's the next move?"
"We need something more to link the victims," said Sara slowly, thinking it through. "We could check their backgrounds more thoroughly; look for similar family situations, purchases, travel, schools…anything that the killer could know them from."
"Good," Grissom said. "What else?"
"We could check with the people who found the bodies again. Like at the first hotel…the maid, the room service…"
"Hey," Warrick said, cutting Catherine off. "What about security cameras in the hotel? We could check for possible suspects entering the hotel."
"And the security cameras here," Nick added. "We could see how the package and the shirt 'appeared' on Elisabeth's desk."
Grissom nodded slowly. "All right," he said. "I'll go back to Catherine's and see what the police have turned up so far. Let's get to work."
Sara headed straight off to the computer. She already had gathered some background information on each victim. Sara peered intently at the computer screen. Each woman had blonde hair and each was born on March 26. The eye color and year of birth seemed irrelevant to the killings. Clicking again, Sara sighed and brushed her hair out of her face. She began checking credit card accounts for recent purchases. Car payment, groceries, clothes, make- up. Sara ran through the items on Grace Whittier's account, looking for something that stuck out or matched with the others' purchases. Dinner, more clothes…Ah-ha! Airplane tickets to Vegas! Smiling at her find, Sara quickly checked the other victim's information. All had recent flights into Vegas, but none from the same airport and only two on the same airline. Sara's feeling of triumph faded quickly, and she searched for more.
Nick was sitting in the break room drinking coffee and shaking his head when Greg popped in.
"What's going on, man?" Greg asked, as he grabbed his own cup of coffee.
"Did you know our security cameras are down?" Nick asked dejectedly.
"Yeah, the wiring's messed up. They've been down for three days, but they're supposed to be back by tomorrow. Something wrong?"
Nick sighed. "I wanted some footage. A murder suspect would've been on tape."
Greg's eyes widened. "In the office? A murderer? Are you sure?"
Nick nodded and studied his coffee for a minute. "This sucks," he announced, and walked out of the break room.
Warrick had the security tape from the night of the first murder. He had footage of all entrances and exits to the building as well as to the top floor where Tamara Richards' room had been. Warrick studied the tapes carefully. The pictures were hard to see, and at times static took over and you couldn't make anything out. But Warrick didn't see anyone suspicious. He identified all the people show in the tapes - hotel staff and people who were identified as guests. There didn't seem to be anyone out of place. The static on the tapes was too intense to see if anyone was exiting the building by walking on their hands. The static also blocked out the room service and the maid who had found the body. In fact, the static seemed especially heavy at the time that the murder had occurred…
"No one's touched the body Grissom," Brass said as soon as he saw Grissom approach. "Looks like her wallet is in her purse, though. Maybe we could get an ID."
Grissom nodded, and approached the body slowly. Someone had already taken pictures of the scene, and the police hadn't found anyone suspicious lurking nearby.
A purse was sitting on the couch beside the victim, and Grissom looked it over carefully before giving it to Brass. Brass pulled out the wallet and sifted through the contents.
Grissom studied the victim. She was blonde, and her face was mostly gone. When the window was shot in, the victim was hit with both glass and bullets. Retrieving a bullet from the side of the victim's head, Grissom noticed something in her mouth. Packing the bullet carefully away, Grissom pulled the thing out of the victim's mouth. It was a small speaker.
"Grissom, we've got an ID!" Brass called. "Carol Benton, 18 years old, born March 26, 1984. Blue eyes."
Glancing at the victim's disfigured face, Grissom saw brown eyes. The last victim's real eyes were green, he remembered, puzzled. "Call Sara," he told Brass. "She's doing background checks."
As Brass dialed, Grissom looked around Catherine's house. Aside from the broken windows and the dead body, everything was clean. There was only blood on the couch, and Grissom suspected it hadn't even been there before the victim was shot at through the window.
At the computer, Sara leaned back and stretched. Now instead of just being tired, she was tired, cranky, and sore. She was pushing back in her chair, ready to give up and go get some coffee, when she accidentally hit a button. Glancing up at the screen quickly to be sure all was well, something caught her eye and Sara froze, a small smile creeping across her face. She had Elizabeth Martin's credit card account on the screen, and Sara saw three little words that couldn't have made her happier. "The Regal Hotel."
"Now," Grissom concluded the recap, "what did we miss? What's the next move?"
"We need something more to link the victims," said Sara slowly, thinking it through. "We could check their backgrounds more thoroughly; look for similar family situations, purchases, travel, schools…anything that the killer could know them from."
"Good," Grissom said. "What else?"
"We could check with the people who found the bodies again. Like at the first hotel…the maid, the room service…"
"Hey," Warrick said, cutting Catherine off. "What about security cameras in the hotel? We could check for possible suspects entering the hotel."
"And the security cameras here," Nick added. "We could see how the package and the shirt 'appeared' on Elisabeth's desk."
Grissom nodded slowly. "All right," he said. "I'll go back to Catherine's and see what the police have turned up so far. Let's get to work."
Sara headed straight off to the computer. She already had gathered some background information on each victim. Sara peered intently at the computer screen. Each woman had blonde hair and each was born on March 26. The eye color and year of birth seemed irrelevant to the killings. Clicking again, Sara sighed and brushed her hair out of her face. She began checking credit card accounts for recent purchases. Car payment, groceries, clothes, make- up. Sara ran through the items on Grace Whittier's account, looking for something that stuck out or matched with the others' purchases. Dinner, more clothes…Ah-ha! Airplane tickets to Vegas! Smiling at her find, Sara quickly checked the other victim's information. All had recent flights into Vegas, but none from the same airport and only two on the same airline. Sara's feeling of triumph faded quickly, and she searched for more.
Nick was sitting in the break room drinking coffee and shaking his head when Greg popped in.
"What's going on, man?" Greg asked, as he grabbed his own cup of coffee.
"Did you know our security cameras are down?" Nick asked dejectedly.
"Yeah, the wiring's messed up. They've been down for three days, but they're supposed to be back by tomorrow. Something wrong?"
Nick sighed. "I wanted some footage. A murder suspect would've been on tape."
Greg's eyes widened. "In the office? A murderer? Are you sure?"
Nick nodded and studied his coffee for a minute. "This sucks," he announced, and walked out of the break room.
Warrick had the security tape from the night of the first murder. He had footage of all entrances and exits to the building as well as to the top floor where Tamara Richards' room had been. Warrick studied the tapes carefully. The pictures were hard to see, and at times static took over and you couldn't make anything out. But Warrick didn't see anyone suspicious. He identified all the people show in the tapes - hotel staff and people who were identified as guests. There didn't seem to be anyone out of place. The static on the tapes was too intense to see if anyone was exiting the building by walking on their hands. The static also blocked out the room service and the maid who had found the body. In fact, the static seemed especially heavy at the time that the murder had occurred…
"No one's touched the body Grissom," Brass said as soon as he saw Grissom approach. "Looks like her wallet is in her purse, though. Maybe we could get an ID."
Grissom nodded, and approached the body slowly. Someone had already taken pictures of the scene, and the police hadn't found anyone suspicious lurking nearby.
A purse was sitting on the couch beside the victim, and Grissom looked it over carefully before giving it to Brass. Brass pulled out the wallet and sifted through the contents.
Grissom studied the victim. She was blonde, and her face was mostly gone. When the window was shot in, the victim was hit with both glass and bullets. Retrieving a bullet from the side of the victim's head, Grissom noticed something in her mouth. Packing the bullet carefully away, Grissom pulled the thing out of the victim's mouth. It was a small speaker.
"Grissom, we've got an ID!" Brass called. "Carol Benton, 18 years old, born March 26, 1984. Blue eyes."
Glancing at the victim's disfigured face, Grissom saw brown eyes. The last victim's real eyes were green, he remembered, puzzled. "Call Sara," he told Brass. "She's doing background checks."
As Brass dialed, Grissom looked around Catherine's house. Aside from the broken windows and the dead body, everything was clean. There was only blood on the couch, and Grissom suspected it hadn't even been there before the victim was shot at through the window.
At the computer, Sara leaned back and stretched. Now instead of just being tired, she was tired, cranky, and sore. She was pushing back in her chair, ready to give up and go get some coffee, when she accidentally hit a button. Glancing up at the screen quickly to be sure all was well, something caught her eye and Sara froze, a small smile creeping across her face. She had Elizabeth Martin's credit card account on the screen, and Sara saw three little words that couldn't have made her happier. "The Regal Hotel."