This story is based on characters created by Anthony E. Zuiker for the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Remuneration, Part 13
by Cheers
Jim Brass made the call to Sheriff Brian Mobley just after 3 am. The Sheriff had been awakened by the news of a murdered child found not two miles from Gil Grissom's home and within hours of the child's disappearance. Nothing did more damage to the political aspirations of the Clark County Sheriff than the publicity nightmare of a child abduction and murder, except perhaps the suspicion of guilt in that murder of one of his most influential employees. Once the Sheriff heard that Grissom might be a suspect, he wanted to know just what the hell was going on.
So did Brass. He pulled into the parking lot of Grissom's condominium complex and got out of his car to head for the back of the CSI supervisor's department-assigned SUV, which was now open and being searched by two uniforms and Paulson. Catherine Willows was on hand as well. By the look on Catherine's face, the shit had already hit the fan … big time.
Al Robbins logged the body of the little girl in himself. After getting a call from the Sheriff, he wasn't going to take any chances that there might be a screw-up, no matter how inadvertent. He knew two things to be unequivocally true. The Sheriff was far more concerned about his political career than he was in the truth, and Gil Grissom simply was not capable of committing such a heinous act.
This autopsy moved to the top of his priority 'To Do' list and would stay there until the case was settled. He sent word to Catherine that the autopsy on the victim she and Sara had sent in would be on hold for the time being. Somehow, Robbins didn't think they'd mind.
The only thing that moved faster than the speed of light in the known universe was a piece of gossip along the LVMPD's unofficial information pathways. It probably wasn't seconds after the Sheriff had gotten the call from Brass that everyone in the department knew that Gil Grissom had somehow become a suspect in the abduction and murder of a little girl.
Sara and Warrick were stunned by the grapevine prattle. The buzz became bad news as soon as they received Catherine's call telling them that the We-Store-It homicide would be theirs to work without her.
The storage unit victim had been stripped and placed on a gurney awaiting autopsy and all the clothing that had been on the body had been bagged and was now sitting on top of the Evidence Room illuminated table. Warrick had covered the table with clean white paper. Sara sat across from him. She wasn't paying any attention to the evidence bags in the center of the lighted surface. Neither, for that matter, was Warrick.
"I don't believe it," Sara said, arms crossed in front of her.
Warrick sat on his stool and seemed to stare at nothing. "It's bullshit, that's what it is."
"Who the hell is this guy, anyway?" Sara wanted to know.
"Some rookie in Homicide," he told her. "Rumor has it his shield is still in the original Cracker Jack wrapper."
"This is just so bogus," she insisted.
"You got that right."
Conrad Ecklie, the day shift supervisor of the Las Vegas Crime Lab, got the call from Sheriff Mobley and immediately got up and showered. He'd have to be very careful with this case. The odds that Grissom had anything to do with the abduction and murder of a child were remote - but not impossible.
That made his position in the investigation pivotal. Conrad could think of nothing else as he dressed and prepared to head into his office. What was the best way to handle the investigation without the appearance of bias? It was common knowledge in the department that no love was lost between he and Grissom. The fact that the Sheriff called on him to deal with the situation was telling. Mobley trusted Conrad. Recently, Grissom had made some points with the Sheriff by pulling off some very high profile cases, but Conrad had always considered his shift, his team, the A-team when it came to dealing with the most sensitive cases the crime lab faced.
Kissing his sleeping wife on the cheek and picking his keys up off the bureau, Ecklie headed out of his house and to his car. He continued to debate the best way to handle this case.
Perhaps it would be wise to keep Stokes. The night shift CSI had done most of the field work and was well into the particulars of the investigation by now. The more Conrad thought about that idea the better he liked it. Yes, Stokes would stay on as lead investigator under Conrad's supervision. Willows would get the boot immediately. With one of the night shift's own still on the case, no matter what the investigation uncovered, Conrad couldn't be accused of tainting the findings. Of course, it didn't hurt that Stokes was well known as the weakest member of Grissom's team.
Neon blinked at him through the windows of his condo just as they had several hours before, only now the pulsing lights reminded him more of the flashes of high explosives on a battlefield than the beacons of humanity. He felt embattled. He supposed he was.
Sheriff Mobley's call had been a courtesy. An official investigation would have to be conducted. Gil would have to remember to thank the good Sheriff the next time he saw him.
Surprisingly, he didn't find himself bitter. He was disappointed, however. What a waste.
Somewhere, out there in the night, was a killer. Gil knew that. He also knew that he would find that killer, sooner or later. His only hope now was that he found the bastard before another child like Shelly died at his hands.
