Catherine leaned her forehead against the lab table and sighed - they had
nothing! A hair form someone who had dandruffs, some dirt from the tires of
the victim's car, some polyester and some glitter. A none of it lead
anywhere.
"You've come to a dead end?" A southern voice came from the doorway and she lifted her head to find Michael Finley - the detective from Dallas - standing there, looking at her with a smile
"Some thing like that" Catherine smiled back and gestured for him to come in "I could actually use your help here."
"Anything I can do.."
"Well, we're trying to find evidence that the killer might have been in Jessie's room - left her a message of some sort, but the report is pretty lacking when it comes to Jessie's room"
"Well it was the only room where no crime has been committed" Finley frowned "I'm afraid we didn't put much emphasis on it"
"But you did check it didn't you?" Catherine watched as he nodded his head and sighed again "Well then I need you to tell me anything you remember, you were there that night, you must have had some notes or something"
"Well let's have a look then."
The two of them spent the next hour going over all the photos as well as all the notes and reports that referred to Jessie's bedroom from that night. Catherine was about to call it quits - there wasn't enough information, not enough pictures, not enough details in the reports.
"Wait a minute" Finley's head suddenly shot up and he started going through the photos in a frenzy "I can't believe I forgot it."
"Forgot what?"
"there was something.. A doll. It wasn't in Jessie's room.we've been looking at it all wrong"
"A doll?"
"Yes! It isn't in any of the photos! It was right there! Right."
"What? What is it?" Catherine asked when he paused, his eyes wide.
"There was a doll, without a head.we took it into evidence but we didn't thin it had anything to do with the case. But it wasn't in Jessie's room! It was in the bathroom - right in front of the cupboard where Jessie had been hiding all night!"
*
"So you're saying you didn't like Billy Meadows that much?" Nick questioned the guy who was seated in front of him. He was tall and muscular, he wore a t-shirt with the logo of the bar where both he and Jessie were working as bartenders. The only problem was that there was no way he was their killer - the hair couldn't have come from him - this guy had a buzz cut!
"He was ok, a little bit of a party boy." the guy shrugged
"Really? How?"
"He loved to party, he didn't much care who he was partying with if you know what I mean."
"So you're saying he was sleeping around? Did Jessie know about that?"
"It was pretty much common knowledge. I think she knew about it - pretty much everyone did."
"One more question Mr. Jefferson do you happen to have any items of clothing from Grey polyester?"
The guy chuckled and Nick frowned at him "What's so funny?"
"We all do! We have a seventies night at the club every few weeks - we all wear special uniforms for that night - made out of this really icky gray polyester."
*
"Hey Catherine" Warrick greeted as he walked into the lab "what's going on?"
"Where have you been all day?" She smiled at him
"Umm, I was up pretty late last night, watching over Jessie Crawford, I had problems getting up.." He tried to avoid her eyes as he lied to her.
She studied his closely, something just didn't seem right. They have been working together for a long time now and she never remembered Warrick sleeping in - except for when he had the gambling problem. She could tell he was hiding something from her - but then again she knew better then to ask.
"So what are you working on?" Warrick steered the conversation back to work
"We think that it wasn't that the killer couldn't find Jessie that night - we think he knew exactly where she was."
"Wasn't she at the cupboard under the sink or something?" Warrick frowned
"Yeah, he left something for her - a headless doll. The original investigators thought it belonged to one of the kids - small children, toys, it's not all out of the realm of possibility" Catherine shrugged
"So what does that give us?"
"Well the doll was tagged and taken into evidence - it was just never checked."
"So it must be in one of these evidence boxes" Warrick said indicating to the pile of boxes that stood in the other side of the room, "Good luck!"
"Hey Warrick!" Nick suddenly appeared in the doorway "Got us some work!"
Warrick smiled at Catherine and left the lab, following Nick down the hall and into another lab where a pile of clothes was sitting in plastic bags on the table.
"What's that?"
"That my friend" Nick started with a smile "Are 34 polyester uniforms from the MGM club, and we get to check all of them to see if they match the fibers we found the Billy Meadows car"
"Let's get to work!"
*
"Hey Grissom! Did you get the information I got from the letters?" Sarah called out when she saw her boss walking down the hall
"Yeah I'm working on it right now" he replied stepping into the lab
"I've got something you might want to see"
"What have you got?"
"Well, I got a little help from the guys down at the geology lab I narrowed down the possible locations the dirt could have come from." she clicked a few keys on the computer and pulled up a map that showed the areas. "I still don't know what that means."
She suddenly saw that Grissom was slightly smiling "But I have a feeling you have something better then that?"
"I just might! I got that analysis you did on the pen and paper and I got the analysis from the hand writing expert and I've asked Jessie Crawford to bring in her high school year book over"
"How is that going to help?"
"What do you do at the end of high school? That involves writing your name and your high school year book?" Grissom's smile was infectious and Sarah smiled widely, realizing what he was talking about
"Have a nice summer!" She mumbled with a smile earning a smirk from Grissom as he left the lab and headed to his office
"You've come to a dead end?" A southern voice came from the doorway and she lifted her head to find Michael Finley - the detective from Dallas - standing there, looking at her with a smile
"Some thing like that" Catherine smiled back and gestured for him to come in "I could actually use your help here."
"Anything I can do.."
"Well, we're trying to find evidence that the killer might have been in Jessie's room - left her a message of some sort, but the report is pretty lacking when it comes to Jessie's room"
"Well it was the only room where no crime has been committed" Finley frowned "I'm afraid we didn't put much emphasis on it"
"But you did check it didn't you?" Catherine watched as he nodded his head and sighed again "Well then I need you to tell me anything you remember, you were there that night, you must have had some notes or something"
"Well let's have a look then."
The two of them spent the next hour going over all the photos as well as all the notes and reports that referred to Jessie's bedroom from that night. Catherine was about to call it quits - there wasn't enough information, not enough pictures, not enough details in the reports.
"Wait a minute" Finley's head suddenly shot up and he started going through the photos in a frenzy "I can't believe I forgot it."
"Forgot what?"
"there was something.. A doll. It wasn't in Jessie's room.we've been looking at it all wrong"
"A doll?"
"Yes! It isn't in any of the photos! It was right there! Right."
"What? What is it?" Catherine asked when he paused, his eyes wide.
"There was a doll, without a head.we took it into evidence but we didn't thin it had anything to do with the case. But it wasn't in Jessie's room! It was in the bathroom - right in front of the cupboard where Jessie had been hiding all night!"
*
"So you're saying you didn't like Billy Meadows that much?" Nick questioned the guy who was seated in front of him. He was tall and muscular, he wore a t-shirt with the logo of the bar where both he and Jessie were working as bartenders. The only problem was that there was no way he was their killer - the hair couldn't have come from him - this guy had a buzz cut!
"He was ok, a little bit of a party boy." the guy shrugged
"Really? How?"
"He loved to party, he didn't much care who he was partying with if you know what I mean."
"So you're saying he was sleeping around? Did Jessie know about that?"
"It was pretty much common knowledge. I think she knew about it - pretty much everyone did."
"One more question Mr. Jefferson do you happen to have any items of clothing from Grey polyester?"
The guy chuckled and Nick frowned at him "What's so funny?"
"We all do! We have a seventies night at the club every few weeks - we all wear special uniforms for that night - made out of this really icky gray polyester."
*
"Hey Catherine" Warrick greeted as he walked into the lab "what's going on?"
"Where have you been all day?" She smiled at him
"Umm, I was up pretty late last night, watching over Jessie Crawford, I had problems getting up.." He tried to avoid her eyes as he lied to her.
She studied his closely, something just didn't seem right. They have been working together for a long time now and she never remembered Warrick sleeping in - except for when he had the gambling problem. She could tell he was hiding something from her - but then again she knew better then to ask.
"So what are you working on?" Warrick steered the conversation back to work
"We think that it wasn't that the killer couldn't find Jessie that night - we think he knew exactly where she was."
"Wasn't she at the cupboard under the sink or something?" Warrick frowned
"Yeah, he left something for her - a headless doll. The original investigators thought it belonged to one of the kids - small children, toys, it's not all out of the realm of possibility" Catherine shrugged
"So what does that give us?"
"Well the doll was tagged and taken into evidence - it was just never checked."
"So it must be in one of these evidence boxes" Warrick said indicating to the pile of boxes that stood in the other side of the room, "Good luck!"
"Hey Warrick!" Nick suddenly appeared in the doorway "Got us some work!"
Warrick smiled at Catherine and left the lab, following Nick down the hall and into another lab where a pile of clothes was sitting in plastic bags on the table.
"What's that?"
"That my friend" Nick started with a smile "Are 34 polyester uniforms from the MGM club, and we get to check all of them to see if they match the fibers we found the Billy Meadows car"
"Let's get to work!"
*
"Hey Grissom! Did you get the information I got from the letters?" Sarah called out when she saw her boss walking down the hall
"Yeah I'm working on it right now" he replied stepping into the lab
"I've got something you might want to see"
"What have you got?"
"Well, I got a little help from the guys down at the geology lab I narrowed down the possible locations the dirt could have come from." she clicked a few keys on the computer and pulled up a map that showed the areas. "I still don't know what that means."
She suddenly saw that Grissom was slightly smiling "But I have a feeling you have something better then that?"
"I just might! I got that analysis you did on the pen and paper and I got the analysis from the hand writing expert and I've asked Jessie Crawford to bring in her high school year book over"
"How is that going to help?"
"What do you do at the end of high school? That involves writing your name and your high school year book?" Grissom's smile was infectious and Sarah smiled widely, realizing what he was talking about
"Have a nice summer!" She mumbled with a smile earning a smirk from Grissom as he left the lab and headed to his office