Grissom was walking down the hall, lost in thought. He had just come from the autopsy room where Dr. Robbins had some interesting findings. He needed to touch base with Sara and see what she was able to find at the scene. He found her in the lab, swabbing the Vic's jeans. He paused and let himself watch her for a moment before making himself known. She had that concentrated look on her face. So intense. That was part of what he was so attracted to, her sheer intensity. It was almost as if her personality, the essence of Sara, was more concentrated and dense than other people. 'I have to stop thinking like this,' thought Grissom. He cleared his throat, and Sara looked up from her work to see him standing in the doorway.
"What have you got?" asked Grissom in his best 'get down to business' voice.
"I have Greg running tests on DNA samples from the rose, some stray hairs that I found on the couch, the rope from the balcony, and I just found what may be semen on the front of the Vic's jeans. I've got prints from two unknowns that seem recent, one on a glass of water on the counter and another on the doorknob. The one on the doorknob had traces of the Vic's blood in it. I still think there was only one perp, but we may have a witness, or at least the last person to see her alive. There were odd smudges of blood on the carpet heading towards the door, each about 7 ½ feet apart. Could be a spot of blood on one shoe, if the person takes really long strides, or it could be drips, I don't know. It's hard to tell with the carpet being so old and matted. It does tell us that the perp seems to have left through the door, and since it was locked when the manager got there that would imply that he had a key. Other than that I have lots of cuts and stabs in the couch cushions, and these two odd metal rings I found on the floor under the couch."
"Metal rings?"
Sara tossed an evidence bag across the table to Grissom. Inside were two small pieces of metal bent into rings about the size of a dime.
"These look like pieces of armor." Observed Grissom.
"For what, a mouse?" asked Sara, walking around the table to stand beside Grissom.
"No, for a man." He replied, raising one eyebrow and looking at Sara over the tops of his glasses.
"These look like links from chain mail armor. Homemade I would guess, and poorly if there are links falling off."
"Great," said Sara leaning on the table, "we've got a perp who climbs up balconies wearing chain mail armor and stabs women, just wonderful."
"It gets worse. She was killed with a sword."
"A sword?"
"The wounds on the body were consistent with a double edged blade long enough to cut all the way through the body and out the other side. I would guess that is how you got all the cuts and stabs in the couch cushions, from the sword coming out the other side of her body when he was attacking her. She had many fractures and injuries that show she was beaten pretty severely right before she died. And the x-rays show she also had quite a few healed facial fractures of varying ages. She was beaten pretty regularly, could be a domestic. "
Sara tensed. "Damn-it." She muttered under her breath. She turned her back to Grissom and started rearranging evidence on the table. He took a half step forward and moved to put a hand on her shoulder, but stopped with his hand frozen in mid air. 'I'm no good at this' Grissom thought to himself as he let his arm fall back by his side.
"Brass is getting her phone records for the last three months, and an officer should be here any minute with her computer. If he was able to lock the door behind him, he had a key, he must have known her." She said, still facing the table. Was it his imagination or did it sound like she was about to cry? Grissom was about to say something when Brass walked in.
"Got phone records here for you Sara," he said, setting a thick folder on the table. Brass turned to Grissom. "How's the case coming?" Grissom didn't hear him; he was still watching Sara fidget with the evidence bags on the table. "Hello? Earth to Grissom?" He shook himself out of his trance and looked at Brass.
"What did you say?"
Brass rolled his eyes. "Never mind. By the way, Catherine is looking for you. She wants to brief you on her case"
"Ok."
Grissom turned to follow Brass out of the room. He paused to glance once more at Sara. She still had not turned around.