Disclaimer: see chapter one
Chapter Ten
That night, the "Celebrity" reporter's doctor had decided his patient had had enough rest and, providing they didn't get him too worked up, the police could speak to him. So, Grissom and Catherine met Brass at the hospital, and the three of them positioned themselves around the hospital bed.
"Mr Christopher," Brass began. "At the scene you told us you'd been in the tree for half an hour. Is that correct?"
Leo Christopher looked from Brass, standing at the foot of the bed, to Grissom, on his left, then Catherine, on the right, and shifted nervously on his bed.
"Mr Christopher?" Brass prompted.
"Is it really necessary for you all to stare at me like that? I haven't done anything wrong."
"Trespassing on Mr Weston's property," Brass stated.
"Apart from that!. I was just doing my job."
"Well, while you were 'doing your job', another crime was committed at Mr Weston's home."
"The window?. Must have been done before I got there. I didn't see anything."
Brass smiled. "Your photographs tell a different story."
"You've developed my photos? Those are mine!"
"They potentially held evidence relevant to our investigation. And now we know that they do, they're ours."
"You can't do that!"
"Mr Christopher," Catherine took over, "if you've nothing to hide, you won't mind us using your photographs, will you?. Several of the pictures show the window before it was broken. This conflicts with your story. Would you like to change your statement?"
"Speaking of conflict, is there not a conflict of interest here?" Leo smirked at Catherine.
"No. So, how do you explain the window being intact on some of your photographs, but not on others?" Catherine continued, ignoring his comment.
"Are you sure? Should you be on your boyfriend's case?. In fact." he turned to Grissom, but still talked to Catherine, ". should your other boyfriend be on your boyfriend's case?"
Catherine glanced quickly at Grissom, puzzled as to what had caused this comment then responded with:
"You don't need to concern yourself with that. Perhaps you should worry about how guilty you are currently looking."
"I told you! I haven't done anything."
"The evidence suggests otherwise. Why don't you tell us what really happened last night?"
Leo sighed. "I was in the tree, hoping to get some pictures of Marc Weston's new woman - you, evidently. I was up there for about an hour." He glanced, worriedly, at Brass. ". but I honestly never saw anyone else 'til Ryanne Moores came out to look at the broken window. Oh! I did get down for a couple of minutes - call of nature - could have been done then, I suppose."
"Did you go far from the tree?" Brass asked.
"No," he replied, shaking his head.
"Did you hear anything unusual?"
"I had my CD player on. Headphones. Wouldn't have heard a bird if it was on the branch beside me."
Brass nodded. "Well, thank you for your time, Mr Christopher. We'll be in touch if we have any further questions. And, of course, we'll let you know if Mr Weston wishes to press charges."
Outside the room, the three exchanged unimpressed glances.
"Well, that was useful," Catherine commented. "Of course, he could be lying, but something seemed genuine about him."
"He did have a point about." Grissom and Brass began simultaneously, then slowed down, frowning at the other as they both continued to say the same thing: ". the . conflict. of . interest."
"Great minds think alike," Brass smiled.
"Ha!" Catherine snorted. "Two idiots, one thought!"
Both men turned to her, looking shocked and unamused by her words. She just smiled a beautiful, innocent smile, and they backed down.
"Either way, he had a point," Grissom said. "I'm going to have to take you off the case."
"What?!" Catherine exclaimed in disbelief.
"You can't be on this case," Brass replied. "Any evidence you touch could be thrown out."
"Because of my involvement with Marc?"
The men nodded.
"An involvement fabricated for the case," she reminded them. "You can't take me off it!"
"I can take you off the rest of the investigation. You'll just have to do the undercover part," Grissom responded.
"This is ridiculous!"
"It sounds ridiculous, but it needs to be done. If you really were involved with him you'd be removed from the case, so, for realism's sake, you shouldn't be seen to be still actively involved," Grissom explained.
At this Catherine relented. "Okay - but I'm staying in the loop!"
"Of course," Grissom smiled.
"You've been after this case from the beginning," she muttered, with a small smile, as they were heading for the car park.
"I have not!" Grissom argued.
"Oh yeah?. It was my case, then you turned up with that Sheriff story, now I'm out. Sounds pretty suspicious, Gil," she teased.
"You're paranoid."
"Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get you."
"Damn it! You're on to me!" Grissom said, sarcastically.
"I am a level three crime scene investigator you know! Trained to solve puzzles," she grinned.
As the two of them shared a laugh at this comment, Brass frowned. He could see where people who knew them might get the idea that they were a couple, but where had the reporter got it from?
TBC.
Chapter Ten
That night, the "Celebrity" reporter's doctor had decided his patient had had enough rest and, providing they didn't get him too worked up, the police could speak to him. So, Grissom and Catherine met Brass at the hospital, and the three of them positioned themselves around the hospital bed.
"Mr Christopher," Brass began. "At the scene you told us you'd been in the tree for half an hour. Is that correct?"
Leo Christopher looked from Brass, standing at the foot of the bed, to Grissom, on his left, then Catherine, on the right, and shifted nervously on his bed.
"Mr Christopher?" Brass prompted.
"Is it really necessary for you all to stare at me like that? I haven't done anything wrong."
"Trespassing on Mr Weston's property," Brass stated.
"Apart from that!. I was just doing my job."
"Well, while you were 'doing your job', another crime was committed at Mr Weston's home."
"The window?. Must have been done before I got there. I didn't see anything."
Brass smiled. "Your photographs tell a different story."
"You've developed my photos? Those are mine!"
"They potentially held evidence relevant to our investigation. And now we know that they do, they're ours."
"You can't do that!"
"Mr Christopher," Catherine took over, "if you've nothing to hide, you won't mind us using your photographs, will you?. Several of the pictures show the window before it was broken. This conflicts with your story. Would you like to change your statement?"
"Speaking of conflict, is there not a conflict of interest here?" Leo smirked at Catherine.
"No. So, how do you explain the window being intact on some of your photographs, but not on others?" Catherine continued, ignoring his comment.
"Are you sure? Should you be on your boyfriend's case?. In fact." he turned to Grissom, but still talked to Catherine, ". should your other boyfriend be on your boyfriend's case?"
Catherine glanced quickly at Grissom, puzzled as to what had caused this comment then responded with:
"You don't need to concern yourself with that. Perhaps you should worry about how guilty you are currently looking."
"I told you! I haven't done anything."
"The evidence suggests otherwise. Why don't you tell us what really happened last night?"
Leo sighed. "I was in the tree, hoping to get some pictures of Marc Weston's new woman - you, evidently. I was up there for about an hour." He glanced, worriedly, at Brass. ". but I honestly never saw anyone else 'til Ryanne Moores came out to look at the broken window. Oh! I did get down for a couple of minutes - call of nature - could have been done then, I suppose."
"Did you go far from the tree?" Brass asked.
"No," he replied, shaking his head.
"Did you hear anything unusual?"
"I had my CD player on. Headphones. Wouldn't have heard a bird if it was on the branch beside me."
Brass nodded. "Well, thank you for your time, Mr Christopher. We'll be in touch if we have any further questions. And, of course, we'll let you know if Mr Weston wishes to press charges."
Outside the room, the three exchanged unimpressed glances.
"Well, that was useful," Catherine commented. "Of course, he could be lying, but something seemed genuine about him."
"He did have a point about." Grissom and Brass began simultaneously, then slowed down, frowning at the other as they both continued to say the same thing: ". the . conflict. of . interest."
"Great minds think alike," Brass smiled.
"Ha!" Catherine snorted. "Two idiots, one thought!"
Both men turned to her, looking shocked and unamused by her words. She just smiled a beautiful, innocent smile, and they backed down.
"Either way, he had a point," Grissom said. "I'm going to have to take you off the case."
"What?!" Catherine exclaimed in disbelief.
"You can't be on this case," Brass replied. "Any evidence you touch could be thrown out."
"Because of my involvement with Marc?"
The men nodded.
"An involvement fabricated for the case," she reminded them. "You can't take me off it!"
"I can take you off the rest of the investigation. You'll just have to do the undercover part," Grissom responded.
"This is ridiculous!"
"It sounds ridiculous, but it needs to be done. If you really were involved with him you'd be removed from the case, so, for realism's sake, you shouldn't be seen to be still actively involved," Grissom explained.
At this Catherine relented. "Okay - but I'm staying in the loop!"
"Of course," Grissom smiled.
"You've been after this case from the beginning," she muttered, with a small smile, as they were heading for the car park.
"I have not!" Grissom argued.
"Oh yeah?. It was my case, then you turned up with that Sheriff story, now I'm out. Sounds pretty suspicious, Gil," she teased.
"You're paranoid."
"Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get you."
"Damn it! You're on to me!" Grissom said, sarcastically.
"I am a level three crime scene investigator you know! Trained to solve puzzles," she grinned.
As the two of them shared a laugh at this comment, Brass frowned. He could see where people who knew them might get the idea that they were a couple, but where had the reporter got it from?
TBC.