Title: Supernova

Summary: "Sara, since the beginning of time the stars have held the answers to all the questions."

A/N: I hope no one is finding this dull.  The last chapter was kind of flat in character development, but I hope to change that this chapter and the next one (the segment I was writing was getting too big for one chapter.)  Any and all feedback is appreciated.  Please forgive me for my grammar and/or spelling errors. This has been edited, but…

SAR, adpi24, Missy Jane and Jessica S: Thanks for the reviews!  I appreciate your encouragement and feedback.

Disclaimer: 'CSI' still doesn't belong to me…

Spoilers: "Playing with Fire," "Inside the Box"

***

                Sara gazed at Greg, stupefied.  Nick wasn't as silent.

                "You've got to be kidding me!  The mayor wouldn't murder his own daughter."

                Greg sighed, "That's not what I said.  I said the mayor was present at the scene of the crime where his daughter was murdered.  Its your job to figure out whether he murdered her or not."

                With that, Greg spun around to march off.  As he reached the door of his lab, he turned around to face Nick and Sara again.

                "The partials are with the intern, whatever her name is, who's running them through AFIS with the three victims' prints."

                Nick frowned, and walked into the layout room.  Sara returned his frown with a wan look of her own.

                "Why don't you show me what we've got?  We have a couple hours until shift's over," she suggested.

Pointing towards a stack of files on the corner of one table and a spread of photographs across the layout board, he suggested, "Take a look at the crime scene report and photographs.  I'm going to see if they got any matches on AFIS."

                Sara watched Nick exit the room before she focused her attention on the photographs of the crime scene.  Someone had taken the time to organize them so any stranger to the case could see the crime scene almost as if they were there.  She sat down on the plastic stool, letting her trained eyes to glance over the glossy 8 x 10's of the bodies.

                The three victims looked remarkably similar.  All sported long brown locks, curling down towards their waists.  All their eyes were blue, from what Sara could see.  Two of the victims, including Matthews, measured 5'5", and the other looked to be just over 5'4".  Sara began to wonder if the similarities were purposeful.  If, and this was a major if, Matthews was targeted for the murder, they could try and make it look like the work of a serial killer by adding additional victims of similar physical characteristics.

                Sighing, Sara turned towards the crime scene report.  The warehouse where the three victims' bodies were found was located on the outskirts of Vegas, almost on the desert.  It was a popular place for the homeless to hideout, like a jungle during the Depression.  The man who found the bodies was a regular visitor.  According to him, he 'ain't seen none of them strangers.'  That wasn't exactly helpful.  More often than not, people who took the time to murder three people avoided contact with others when disposing of the bodies.

                According to Warrick, there were seven windows and two doors in the warehouse.  All seven of the windows had been painted shut, and neither Warrick nor Nick could get any of them to budge.  One of the windows was broken.  Partial prints had been lifted off one of the larger pieces of glass, probably from when someone removed it to gain entry into the warehouse.  Flipping the page, Sara read that one of the doors had been nailed shut with boards.  According to the witness, the boards had been up for as long as he could remember.  Damion, the dayshift guy, had taken photographs of the nails, and Sara could tell they had been there a long time.  The other door was another story.  It had a deadbolt on it that a couple of the street workers had installed a couple years back to keep people out of their trick pad.  Now, the key was hidden underneath a bush beside the door.  Nick checked the key and printed it, but there was a fine coat of dust on it that hadn't been disturbed.  It was unlikely the key had been used recently.  The entry door had been opened from the inside, and the deadbolt was then taped so the door could be easily opened.  The deadbolt had been wiped clean, but Nick was able to lift prints off of the tape.  The taped door suggested two things to Sara.  Either someone else had broken in and taped the door because he or she didn't know about the key, or the murderer(s) broke in early to gain access when they went to dump the bodies later.  Another possibility that Sara didn't like was that the door was taped open so the bodies would be easier to find.

                Sara glanced up at the clock.  Its neon green numbers announced the time as 7:45am.  Fifteen minutes to shift change, she noted.  She rose from the stool, and headed towards the cubicle where the AFIS computer was located.

                At the computer, Sara saw Nick showing the intern how to work the system to the best possible effectiveness.  She paused at the door, watching Nick upload a set of prints into the system with the intern peering over his shoulder.

                "Oh," the intern gasped, as she spotted Sara leaning against the door jam, "I didn't see you Miss Sidle.  Was there something you needed?"

                Sara winced involuntarily at the use of her full name.  Nick had glanced up to where Sara stood, but soon returned his attention to the computer screen.  The intern, a pale blonde who was studying at the University of Nevada - Las Vegas, scurried out of the room.

                "Find anything," Sara asked.

                "Yeah," Nick replied softly.

                Sara walked over so she could see the computer screen.  The face of Dr. Matthews stared directly ahead from the file that matched a print on AFIS.

                "Matched the partials pulled off of the tape.  Guess Greg was right.  He was there."

                Sara nodded slowly.

                "I'll try Cath again, and see if she'll come in.  Warrick's working overtime today.  They can finish up with the crime scene report.  Let's leave the rest of the prints for the dayshift to run through AFIS, and Greg can finish running the hair samples you found at the crime scene through CODIS.  Shift's over."

                Nick smiled, "Is Sara actually suggesting that we leave a case for someone else to work on?"

                Sara grinned, not responding.  She'd be back after breakfast, but she knew they both needed to get out of the lab.  With a case like this, neither of them could afford to lose sight of the real goal, the truth.

                Nick returned the grin.

                "Let's get breakfast."