8- "One Last Interview"


Sara finally shook herself out of the trance and waited to be interviewed, like everyone else at the Zoo. It was weird, seeing an investigation from this side.

Greg was conducting all the interviews, and the unknown woman was always right next to him, studying the interviewees with a very cunning stare. Eventually it will wind up to her. She already knew Greg knew she was there, because when she finally looked at him he winked in his classic way. The real question was: did Grissom know? He had been with the DB the entire time, just out of her view. He must know. Greg would have told him.

Would he?

Taña and Greg took a break to walk towards Grissom and get more info on the DB when Taña asked, "So, when are you going to tell me?"

"What?" Greg answered.

"What the deal was with Sara quitting. I heard she was an excellent CSI."

"Well, it's not really my business to tell..."

"They had a personal, out-of-work relationship, huh? I knew it. Someone burned the other badly. I'll bet that was back in San Francisco." Taña said, shooting a look over her shoulder to Sara, who was calming some people.

"Why do you even ask?" Greg asked, rolling his eyes and they immediately fell silent when they were within earshot of Grissom, who was taking photos.

"Time of death wasn't determined because of water temperature altered the liver temp. He died of blunt force trauma to the frontal lobe, some post-mortem breaks of the ribs, possibly in transport to dump the body. This is definitely a dump site. This isn't our main crime scene."

Greg and Taña nodded, and Grissom looked at Taña. "Would you like to add anything?"

Taña smiled coyly, "Well, blunt force trauma deaths are hard to profile. Sometimes they can be accidents, or personal killings. Sometimes the object used for the killing can be an important variable. Do you have any info on the object?"

"Sharp, small object. Possibly the corner of a counter top."

"Possibly a wrench..." Taña drifted off. The body was being taken away for autopsy.

"I told Doc Robbins to take a mold and to call me," Grissom said, and then he finally turned around and looked at Taña and Greg, who were standing close by instinct because the Las Vegas night was so cold.

"So, murder brought the two enemies together?" Grissom said, smiling faintly.

"What can I say? It must be the moon and theories of blunt force trauma that really brings out the romance in a girl," Taña said with a wink, but then she killed the mood as she said, "We only got one more interview to do. Sara Sidle."

Grissom went rigid in the moonlight, and so did Greg. Her quitting had really affected the CSIs.

"Fine, you big babies, I'll do it myself. Greg, let me see your notepad." He handed it to her and she flipped through the pages and before she turned around to grant the interview she muttered, "Chicken scratch for writing. I figured."

They all turned around and looked at Sara, who was still standing amidst the crowd.

Why did she quit? She was such a great CSI... Grissom was thinking, and as if Taña could read his thoughts she quoted, "'It is our choices that show who we truly are, far more than our actions...'"

Grissom listened to the quote and said, "Aristotle?"

She said, like it wasn't anything weird, her eyes still trained on Sara, "No. Dumbledore from Harry Potter." She walked away from the two CSIs, leaving Grissom to his own very confused thoughts.

She turned to climb down the ladder from the tank then said, "Oh, I dunno if it is just the profiler in me, but did anyone ever pause to think if the creatures who usually inhabit this tank hold any significance?"

Grissom and Greg shot each other a look that made Taña say, "That's what I thought."

She disappeared and Greg said, "I'll go ask someone..."

"What is it with that girl?" Grissom asked, making Greg pause and say, "Grissom, I've been asking myself that question since the third grade. I still don't have an answer."

"What is your relationship with her?"

Greg smiled mysteriously, "Let's just say history holds it secrets and it probably won't repeat itself."

He walked away, and the echoes of the deeper meaning in the quote echoed in Grissom's ears.

She wanted to quit, she didn't care how good she was, and that does speak far louder than any ability of hers.

God, he really loved that woman.


It was a month until graduation, and Greg Sanders was sitting in science class, sitting next to his best friend, John Dirk. Every few sentences Greg or John would interject the teacher with some sarcastic comment. The main difference was that Greg was smart, even though he never really tried, whereas John was barely clinging to a D.

"Dude, we have got to do something major for graduation," John whispered in between the teacher talking about some DNA thing. Like Greg was ever gonna use DNA in his future.

"Like what? We pranked the teacher's lounge last year, pranked prom the year before, and pranked a pep rally freshman year. We should just graduate this year."

"Are you crazy man? Muy loco?"

"Dude, this is science class."

John made a good show of saying things along the lines of, "So THAT'S why I keep getting bad grades..." but he grew serious again and said, "I got a bet for you."

They always threw bets at each other.

"You're such a ladies man, I dare you to get a girl to say she loves you before graduation."

Greg waved it off, "Easy as pie, man. Bring it on, I am thinking-"

"Oh no, I get to pick the broad."

It was then when Greg began to get worried.

"Mr. Sanders, meet Mrs. Sanders," he joked as he pointed to the girl sitting in front of the class.

"Oh God, not the Walrus!"

"Oh yes, Greg. Oh yes. I'll see you at graduation. I'll tell her about the bet then. Besides, she's The Walrus. It'll be graduation. We will never see her again after that anyhow. It's won't hurt her that bad. Man, this is gonna be great!"

John punched Greg's shoulder a little harder than necessary and leaned back, a cocky smile paved on his face.

Even then, before he had met her, he had his doubts...


"If you're an average layperson, your grasp of high finance consists of knowing your ATM code. So you're probably bewildered by the scandal surrounding the collapse of Enron, which had been the seventh-largest corporation in America. (The sixth largest is the guys who go 'WHASSSSSSSSUP?!')"

-Dave Barry