"Search for the Truth" part 4 By Rita Widmer

All pertinent information is in prologue. Again thank you for all the reviews! Spoilers: Lady Heather's Box

***********************************************************************

"I told her that I wouldn't forgive her ever if she didn't find Daddy's killer. I blamed her for not finding him. It was her job to find him. She does it every day! Why couldn't she do it for him?" cried Lindsey into Nancy's shoulder.

Gil lifted Lindsey's head so she could look into his eyes. "I wouldn't let her. If we found your daddy's killer, and they found out your mom worked the case, he could have been set free. Sara did her best to find out who it was, but she couldn't. There was just not enough evidence."

"That's not what Mommy said. She came home saying all kinds of bad words about Sara. She was so angry at her for not finding him. I never saw Mommy like that, and then later I heard her crying in her bed. I tried to stop her crying, but all she would say was she wasn't going to give up."

Nancy and Gil shared a look. Could it be that Catherine had found the murderer, and he attacked her when she confronted him?

"Lindsey, has your mommy been looking for him?" asked Nancy.

"She wouldn't tell me anything, but I knew she was looking. She's been making a lot of phone calls to someone named Shuman."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Gil asked quietly.

"I was afraid she would get into trouble since she was being so secretive about it. Should I have?"

"You didn't know, sweety. Why don't you go back to sleep? Its going to be awhile before we see your mommy," answered Nancy.

It took them awhile to get Lindsey to settle down to sleep. Gil slipped out of the waiting room to make a quick phone call.

"Brown," Warrick answered his cell phone.

"Warrick, Lindsey just informed us that Catherine has been looking for Eddie's murderer. Find out what you can about the murder suspects in his case, and where they are now, and see if you can find out about a man named Shuman. Catherine has been making a lot of phone calls to him recently."

"Will do, Grissom. Any news on Catherine?"

"She's still in surgery according to the last update. They're doing all they can to save her."

"No news is better then bad news. Keep us updated. Nick and Brass are still at Catherine's house. Once Brass gets back I'll get him to get Catherine's phone records and I'll check her cell phone."

"I'll keep you updated of any news, and keep me updated also on the case. Just because I'm here doesn't mean I shouldn't be informed."

After good-byes, Gil went back to the waiting room to wait for more news.

*************************************

Sara looked around the hotel room. It looked like the room had been cleaned up by housekeeping, but they forgot to notice the body was lying there. The room didn't look lived in at all. There was only a purse lying on the dresser.

Nothing seemed right about the scene. There was a medicine bottle in her purse that she could have taken to overdose on, but who would take the time to hide away the medicine bottle after taking it.

The victim had laid like she was just sleeping when she had walked into the scene. There had been no sign of disharmony on her face. It took Sara awhile to place the victim, but her license told her who was lying there. It was Candeece Hogan from the Eddie Willows murder case.

Checking with the front desk confirmed her fear that Candeece had not just come to register to die. Someone else had checked her in, and it only added to the mystery of the scene in front of her. The man had signed in by the name Eddie Willows.

'Could Candeece Hogan know two Eddie Willows or was it all a set up?' Sara thought.

She couldn't find any suicide note, but the notepad the hotel provided showed an old scribbled outline. That may have been from the victim. She continued through the room hoping to find evidence that would link it to a suicide or help find the murderer.

*************************************

Warrick and Nick were sitting in the A/V lab going through the different surveillance tapes they had collected at the crime scene. The tapes before Eddie Willows death showed him going in and out frequently, but they had no way of telling of who was visiting him or not.

The tapes afterwards showed many regulars going in and out, but again they were stuck on who was actually entering Eddie Willows' apartment. They were hoping to find somebody they recognized either through Catherine or Eddie Willows' murder case.

It wasn't until towards the end of the tapes someone actually looked up into the cameras that seemed familiar. Stopping the tapes they got pictures of the face looking up at them. They were hoping that she would be the answer to solving their friend's attack.

Sara walked in at this time just getting back from her crime scene. She saw the woman that they had been studying.

"Hey Sara, do you recognize this woman? She seems familiar, but we can't seem to place her," asked Nick.

"She's the victim at the Circus, Circus that I just got back from investigating. That's Candeece Hogan, and the main murder suspect in the Eddie Willows' case."

"She just became the main suspect in our new case."

"Hate to burst your bubbles, but Candeece had no signs of any confrontation nor any gun residue on her hands. How could she have been part of a murder just before dying herself?"

"Its not murder yet. We are still waiting on word on Catherine's condition from Grissom. If this is the woman that attacked her we will find out," said Warrick.

"Catherine? As in our Catherine?"

"We thought you had been informed. Catherine is in the hospital having been shot twice in the chest and once in the arm," answered Nick.

Sara was about to answer when her pager went off. "Doc wants to see me. He just got done with the autopsy." Sara left the room.

Nick and Warrick continued watching the surveillance tapes to check for anyone else. Having any luck, they moved onto the tape from tonight. They watched as Catherine entered the apartment building alone.

She kept looking around like she was watching for someone. Soon she gave up and went inside the building. There was no question in Nick and Warrick's mind that Catherine was nervous about her meeting.

"So who was she meeting?" asked Nick.

"Either the person is in there already, or they will come on later in the tape," answered Warrick.

They continued to watch as people came in and left. They took pictures of anyone that looked suspicious going in. The tape all of a suddenly went black on them. The tape continued as they watched hoping it would come back.

When the screen came back to the front of the building, it was only to see Brass and the police entering the building.

"Someone tampered with the tape?!" cried Warrick in frustration.

"They knew we would get these tapes and look for the attacker. When could they have done it?"

"It must have been the landlady. She was apart of this the whole time."

Sara walked in with the results from the autopsy. "Doc came to the conclusion that Candeece has been dead for at least 24 hours. I'm still waiting on tox for answers to if she killed herself with her medicine or not."

"So Candeece couldn't have done it, but we know she's been visiting the apartment. She visited almost every day." stated Nick.

"Could Catherine have been expecting her tonight?" questioned Sara.

"It looks like Catherine is the only one that could answer that question," answered Nick.

"Unless Shuman knows more. We still haven't found him," said Warrick.

"Could he be the one playing Eddie Willows?" asked Sara.

TBC...