Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Note: The idea isn't very original, I know. I'm personally not happy with this story but decided to post it anyways. It was what I came up with whilst trying to conclude "Wer sucht der findet". Feedback, good or bad, is appreciated.
"What do you mean you haven't been able to reach Nick?", Catherine's exasperated voice came over the line.
Sara didn't quite know what to answer.
"Well, he isn't at home and hasn't picked up his mobile. But he's on vacation..."
"Keep trying, call everyone who could know where to reach him. I'll be there in 10 minutes." Catherine hung up.
What had started at as a slow shift had turned into a frenzy in a matter a minutes. Grissom was out on a case, a DB in Henderson, probably a suicide. Catherine had her day off and Nick was on his second week of his yearly vacation. Sara and Warrick had been finishing up their last case at the lab. They had been busy with the reports when Brass had called them from the station. They had only now learned that Nigel Crane, the man who had stalked and assaulted Nick the previous year, had disappeared from the psychiatric institution where he had been locked up, two days ago. So far nobody knew how he had pulled it off, not had any trace of him been found. After listening to Brass complain about the bureaucratic idiots who were to blame for the fact that they had learned about Crane's mysterious escape only two days afterwards, Sara had called up Catherine.
Waiting for their colleagues to show up, Sara and Warrick were forced to wait around passively. Without having all the facts, there was nothing to could do.
"Did Nick tell you where he was going on vacation?"
"Not really, all I know is that he wanted to visit his family and a couple of old friends. He also wanted to do some hiking, depending on the weather. Should have asked him." Warrick sighed.
"I didn't even know that he had a vacation coming up. The week before it was very busy here with that fast-food restaurant robbery. "
"I'm going to find out the number of his folks, ask them whether he's been round yet. The fact that we can't reach Nick right now, doesn't have to mean anything. I mean, how would Crane even know where Nick was going."
Sara and Warrick both knew that he was just trying to avoid saying out loud what they feared might have happened to their friend.
Catherine got to CSI in record time. She had been home when Sara had called her. She was greeted by a very worried Warrick and Sara. She could see that they were entertaining the same dark thought that had been coursing through her mind ever since she had gotten the call. After getting fully up to speed on the detail, they deployed their plan of action. Brass had gotten the sheriff to get them on the case, so that they could have a look at Nigel Cranes cell at the mental institution where he had been incarcerated since his arrest.
Warrick had wanted to join Sara and Catherine to the mental institute, but just when they were about to leave, PD had called in another DB, found in a field of the highway. He and Brass were going to work that case. Brass had gotten O'Reilly to accompany Sara and Catherine to the institution. On the phone Brass gave him the low-down of the case: A trucker had to stopped to relieve himself, had walked out into the field, when he had seen a skeletonized body, half-hidden under a plastic sheet. At scenes this old, a lot of evidence was always withered away by the elements. Brass was already on the scene.
"Hi Warrick. Not much to go on here. Just bones left, could have been out here for years without ever being discovered. David's looking at it now, but there isn't much left for him to look at."
Warrick made his way through the dry grass. About 30 feet in, formerly hidden behind grass that had now been trampled down, was a skeleton, next to a a black plastic sheet.
"From the first glace, I'd see head-shot. You see that bullet hole in the skull? If you look closely, you can see the bullet inside. Decomp is advanced, we are looking at several years probably."
"No residue of any clothes, shoes or anything. They would remain for several years if not decades, especially if they are made of synthetics. Nothing here, indicates that the vic was naked when they were either killed here or brought here. I'm going to take in that sheet, maybe we can still get something off it."
Warrick was frustrated. He felt he should be back at CSI working on the acute, possible situation with Nigel Crane, instead of standing out in a field working a case that had been cold for years. His experience told him that cases like this often went unsolved. Especially of the victim couldn't be IDed, they chances of ever finding the killer were slim.
On the ride Sara and Catherine were browsing the reports. Two days ago Nigel Crane had not been in for dinner. Nobody knew when exactly he had vanished. he had been there after lunch and for a crafts workshop in the afternoon. But then sometime before dinner he had been gone.
Although the name indicated a hospital, the building showed at first glanced that this was in fact a prison with all the typical security measures.
"Good Morning, I'm Dr. Erickson, we spoke on the phone earlier. I'm the director of the this institute."
"Good, morning, I'm Catherine Willows, this is Sara Sidle, Detective O'Reilly. Thank you for seeing us this quickly. I assume the institute has been checked for any security breaches?"
§Of course, this was the first thing we did once we knew that one of our patients was missing. We then reported the case to the police. We don't know yet how he could escape. But I understand that you have had dealings with Nigel Cranes before."
Yes, we were working the murder of Jane Galloway his victim. We would like to have a look at his cell and also have a few questions about his recent behaviour
I didn't have anything to do with Nigel Crane personally. I only know that upon request of the defence his ability to stand trial was assessed and he was found unfit, meaning he was unable to understand the proceedings and their consequences. If you need to know more about his specific case, you wile have to speak to his therapist, Dr. Kelly Sharp. She is very competent psychiatrist and will surely be ready and willing to help you with your investigation. She was having regular sessions with him and was assessing his ability to stand trial. A small percentage of our patients is eventually tried, but most remain here. the police has already talked to her, I think."
"I have read the report, we have a few more questions."
"I'll join you there, Sara can you work the cell." O'Reilly divided up.
"Sure."
Dr. Sharp's office was small, but very well organized. She was a woman in her early forties, who spoke in a soft, calm voice. She wasn't openly hostile, but her demeanour let them instantly know that she did not welcome police intervention.
"I told the police before that the doctor patient privilege prevents me from divulging any information about my sessions with Nigel Crane."
"Dr. Sharp, we are talking about a convicted murderer here. He might already gone after his next target. The life of one of my co-workers might be in danger. You can't afford your doctor patient privilege."
Dr. Sharp swallowed.
"All right. She said sourly. I'll try to answer your questions."
"Did he ever hint at any plans of escape, or wished to get out?
"No, he was slowly recovering form his total breakdown after the arrest. He suffered a severe identity crisis. He was unable to make any concrete plans for the future."
"Did he ever mention his victims?"
"He wasn't ready to talk about his crimes. After his breakdown he had completely detached himself from the past. Lately we started talking about Jane Galloway, but he has repressed most of the details about her murder. As you already now, two past assessments have shown that he remains incompetent to stand trial."
"During your sessions, did he mention Nick Stokes?"
"That is the officer he assaulted? I think I read his name in the file."
"Yes, he was obsessed with him and even wanted to become him. We think he might attack him again."
"He never mentioned him. But I don't see that much cause for concern. From what I can tell, Nigel Crane isn't capable of executing a detailed plan. He lacked the organizational skills."
"That didn't fit in with anything Catherine knew about the man. Nigel Crane had been diligent and well organized in his obsessive pursuit. He had kept an extensive repertoire of video tapes, both as a journal and from his observations about his victims."
"Well, Nigel Crane is obviously organized enough to hide for over two days, while the police is looking for him all over the city." Catherine's tone wasn't too friendly; it was obvious that she didn't really believe in the psychiatrist's assessment.
"I must say that lately he has been making remarkable progress. He started actively engaging in activities."
"What kind of activities?"
"Recreational and productive activities are part of the daily structure of most of our patients. Except for those exhibiting, you could say, extreme behavioural disturbances."
Catherine bit back a comment about what she thought what most people in there deserved. Recreational activities were not on that list.
"What was he doing specifically?" O'Reilly asked.
Nigel was working in the wood workshop. The patients are closely supervised during to activity and only those with a record of impeccable conduct are allowed to work there. Nigel had never displayed any violent conduct since he was admitted. I don't think that in his current condition, he is a danger to others.
Catherine thought that this assessment was overly naïve. After all Dr. Sharp must have plenty of experience with deranged criminal minds. She must know what they were capable of doing.
~~
Warrick hated to admit it, but he was actually glad that the crime scene in the field had yielded so little. He was back at CSI only two hours later. Decomposition of the body had progressed to far to conduct a normal autopsy; they would have to consult a forensic anthropologist to learn more about their victim. The request for the expert had been made, but it could take days. The lead was cold already, so a few days more would not matter much. The initial estimate was that the body had been in the field for mat least 3 years. Back at CSI Warrick got on the phone in order to trace Nick's vacation. First he tried Nick's cell again, but got no answer, then he decided to call Nick's family.
Having gotten the number from the personal files, Warrick got on the phone. Calls like that were touchy. He didn't want to make Nick's family to panic over nothing, but he didn't want to lie to them about the reason for his call. The early hour would already tell them that something was awry. On his twelfth ring someone picked up.
"Yes" a tired male voice came over the line.
"Hi, this is Warrick Brown Las Vegas crime lab, I work with your son Nick."
"Did something happen to Nick?" alarm coloured the man's voice. Warrick had expected such a reaction.
"As far as we know, no. But we need to reach him. He said he wanted to visit his family during his vacation."
"He was here last week-end, he went on to visit on old school friend. I can give you the address. Are you sure that Nick is all right?"
"To be honest, we don't know. There is no indicative that anything might have happened to him," Warrick hated how this must sound, cruel and impersonal. "If you hear from Nick please call me back." Warrick gave Mr. Stokes his number and wrote down the address of Nick's old school friend. Andy Black.
Warrick tried calling Andy Black's number, but only got the answering machine. He left a message, then called Grissom. Grissom was about to wrap up things up at the scene, so they decided to meet at Nick's place to search for any clues there. Nigel Crane had a history of breaking into his victims' homes, so he might as well been to Nick's house again. After all he knew where Nick lived.
Warrick got the key from Nick's landlady. Grissom was nowhere to be seen, so he decided to go ahead alone. The front door was locked as was to be expected. Inside, it was all quite, at first glance nothing out of place, He had aske dthe landlady about the arrangement for Nick's mail and she had told him that she brought it in every two days. The stack of mail was on the kitchen counter. Warrick sorted through it. An invoices, a letter from the bank, and a total of six unmarked letters, then two each of the the last two days, two during the past week, since the start of Nick's vacation. Warrick hesitated opening Nick's mail, but he brushed aside the sentiment. The urgency of the situation overrode it. Whilst before he had been able to discount their fears as speculation which based itself on the sole fact that a man didn't answer his cell while on vacation. Warrick took to letter opener and sliced the first letter open. He was just about to unfold the thick white paper, when he thought he had felt a motion behind him. He instinctively spun around, the opener still in his hand.
~~
After their visit with Dr. Sharp, O'Reilly had had some questions to the security staff, but no new clues had come off it. Basically, Nigel Crane's evasion was a mystery. Sara met back with them. His cell had revealed nothing whatsoever, no pictures, writings, nothing personal at all. On the whole their visit had been a waste of time, they had gained no new insights into the mystery. Tired, as their shift had no extended well into the day, they dragged themselves back to CSI. The uncertain situation with disaster looming over them killed every thought of taking a longer break, as they knew that their thoughts would still be at work, worrying about what had happened. Catherine felt a sting of guilt, because once again, as so often before she was playing work over family. When the office phone rang, everyone tensed up, thinking about what they were about to learn.
"Yes?"
"Hi, Catherine, it's Nick."
"Thank God, are you ok Nick?"
"Yes, I'm okay, I heard what happened, Warrick left a message at a friend of mine, whom I was visiting. I'm on my way right now. I should be at CSI in about an hour with traffic doesn't get worse."
"Take care. He could be out there looking for you already."
"I know."
Catherine hung up, significantly relived. Their worst expectations hadn't come to pass, at least not yet. She didn't quite understand why though. She had expected that Nigel Crane would continue to pursue his obsession once he got out. Maybe Dr. Sharp had been right. But that still left the question where he was now and how he had gotten out in the first place.
~~
Traffic had been as bad as ever. Grissom seemed to take half an eternity to get to Nick's house. He could see that Tahoe that Warrick had probably been driving was parked in the driveway. He parked in the street and go out of the car. The door was ajar. This struck Grissom as odd, not what Warrick would do? He got his gun out of the holster and carefully edged his way inside.
Note: It reads cheap, I know that. Well, my imagination didn't come up with something more elaborate. I've got most of it written out, so I should have it up pretty soon.
