Title: My Heart Will Go On

Author: moonshot

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Disclaimer: See chapter 1

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Smash to: Grissom's front yard

A black SUV pulls up to the curb in a relatively affluent part of Las Vegas. Matching townhouses line both sides of the street. The doors of the SUV open and SARA, WARRICK, and NICK get out. WARRICK carries the case file, thicker than before. They stroll, unhurriedly, to the front door and NICK rings the doorbell.

NICK (looking around him): Gris sure has a nice place.

CATHERINE opens the door.

CATHERINE (giving each one a hug in turn): Hey guys. Come on in.

They enter the house.

Smash to: Grissom's Living Room

WARRICK (to Catherine): How is he?

CATHERINE: He's taking it surprisingly well, actually. (gesturing to the chairs in the living room) Sit down, and I'll get him. Make yourselves at home and feel free to help yourselves to anything in the kitchen. Except for the stuff on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. (smiles) That's where Gris keeps his experiments.

CATHERINE exits the room toward the back of the house.

NICK, WARRICK, and SARA take an opportunity to look around Grissom's sparsely decorated townhouse. Aside from insect pinings and black and white nature photographs, there is very little decoration. NICK steps over to peruse Grissom's bookshelf, while SARA looks at the insects on the mantle and WARRICK checks out the stereo.

NICK (calling over his shoulder): Hey guys. Look at this.

WARRICK and SARA come over and NICK points out an eye-level shelf that appears out of place. On the shelf are several, un-Grissom-like objects, including several photographs of Mikey growing up, a clay cup, a homemade candle, and several other children's crafts. NICK picks up a bug made from an eraser, several staples, and a couple of pins.

GRISSOM (off screen): Mikey made that for me when she was eight and didn't like spelling time at school.

WARRICK, SARA, and NICK turn around to reveal GRISSOM with his arm around CATHERINE, apparently for support.

CATHERINE (gesturing towards the chairs): Sit down.

CATHERINE leads Grissom to couch, while NICK, SARA, and WARRICK pull up chairs on the opposite side of the coffee table.

CATHERINE: Are you sure you don't want anything?

WARRICK (looking at Grissom): I think we're fine, Cath. Thanks. Gris. When's the last time you saw Mikey?

GRISSOM closes his eyes and leans his head back. CATHERINE, sitting on the couch next to him, places a comforting hand on his arm.

GRISSOM (softly): I took her out for dinner on Monday night. (smiling and looking at Warrick) She really likes the buffet down at Caesar's. We usually do Sunday night dinner together, but Mikey had a midterm on Monday morning, so we postponed our dinner till afterwards. We spent some time walking The Strip, before I drove her back to her dorm and came into work. Mikey spent the entire evening ranting about how stupid her material science professor was and how he wouldn't know the difference between a steel bar and a copper one if they fell out of the sky and landed on his head. She called me Wednesday afternoon to tell me that she was mistaken about her material science professor and he wasn't as stupid as she thought because he gave her an A on the midterm. (tears begin to well up in his eyes) That's the last time I talked to her.

SARA (sensitively): Gris. Tell us about her. What was she like?

GRISSOM (turning to Sara): I met Mikey the day she was born. Her dad was my roommate and best friend in college. (smiling) If you think I'm a nerd, you should have met Phil. The guy ended up writing about half of the Bio- Chemistry text books out there.

NICK (surprised): You were roommates with Philip Davidson? THE Philip Davidson?

GRISSOM: Yeah, Nobel Prize and all. I was best man at his wedding and he and Karen asked me to be Mikey's godfather. Phil and Karen were killed by a drunk driver in February of 2000, four months before Mikey graduated from high school, leaving me her legal guardian. We decided that she should spend the end of her senior year living with friends before moving in with me shortly after graduation. In the fall, she moved into the dorms at UNLV. As you probably know, her roommate is Christy Jacobson, star of the UNLV Women's Basketball team.

NICK: Gris. her dorm room was really neat. Is that normal for Mikey and Christy?

GRISSOM (nods his head): Mikey's a lot like her father in that respect: a complete neat freak and really anal. And Christy plays for the traveling basketball team. When she's not on the road, she's at the gym.

SARA: Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt Mikey?

GRISSOM: Not really. I don't know her friends very well, but I'm sure you can come up with some names and addresses from her computer. Mikey's got a PDA I gave her for her birthday last year, and she backs it up on her laptop.

NICK: Yeah, we've got AV working on it.

WARRICK (changing topic): What do you know about Mikey's job?

GRISSOM: She's a narcotics cop under McDaniels. You'll have to ask him about the specs of her work because she refuses to talk to me about it. (sighing) She didn't want to worry me, especially after Catherine had to shoot that guy a while back to save my life.

SARA (turning to Catherine): You guys were close?

CATHERINE: You can't talk to a guy about everything, right? I'd met Mikey, Phil, and Karen on several occasions when they'd come out to Vegas to visit. When Mikey moved out here for good, she'd call me from time to time for "girl talk".

NICK (skeptically): Girl talk?

SARA: You're not a girl. you wouldn't understand.

GRISSOM closes his eyes, and rests his head against the back of the couch.

CATHERINE (sensing Grissom's tiredness): Anything else you guys need?

WARRICK (taking the hint): No, I think that's it.

GRISSOM (eyes still closed and voice wavering): Thanks guys.

WARRICK, SARA, NICK and CATHERINE stand.

CATHERINE (leading them toward the door): If you find out anything, you'll call?

WARRICK: Of course. And if you guys need anything, just ask.

CATHERINE: Thanks, for me and. (gesturing toward the couch where Grissom sitting) .for him.

WARRICK, NICK, and SARA leave and CATHERINE shuts the door gently behind them.
Smash to: Grissom's Front Yard

WARRICK, NICK, and SARA are leaving the house.

WARRICK: You guys up for pulling a double?

NICK and SARA look at him and smile.
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TBC