Chapter Ten
A small feast had been laid out on Lilly's dining table, streamers had been strung all around the living room, and balloons floated everywhere. Lilly's parents, Grissom, Catherine, Warrick, Nick, and Lilly all sat around the living room talking and eating the birthday feast.
"Alright," Vivian declared standing up, "It's time to for the birthday girl to open her presents." Vivian reached over to the small stack of presents that sat on the floor. She handed Lilly a box wrapped in colorful paper and tied with a purple ribbon. Lilly took it with a small smile.
"I told y'all you didn't have to get me anything." she said reading the names of her co-workers on the card.
"Oh shut up and open it." Catherine said. Lilly grinned and tore into the paper.
"Oh wow." Lilly breathed pulling a beautiful leather bound journal from the box, "You guys, this is gorgeous, thank you so much." Her friends beamed. Lilly was then handed Grissom's gift, which was a heavy field guide to the world of insects.
"Thanks Uncle Gil." Lilly said hugging him.
"Alright kiddo, here's our gift." Tom said handing Lilly a small square box wrapped in metallic gold paper and tied with a silver ribbon. Lilly shook it curiously. Something rattled inside, but it was anyone's guess what it was. She took off the wrapping paper and opened the lid in anticipation.
"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed when the lid was off, and a single key was in her hand, "The Mustang, you're giving me the Mustang!"
"We sure are. Gil told us that you were taking a taxi to work every day, and that can add up, so we wanted to give you your own car." Tom said.
"But... the Mustang!"
"It's just as much yours as it is your father's." Vivian said with a smile, "After all you helped him build it."
"I know, I just can't believe you gave me the Mustang!" Everybody laughed at Lilly's expression of joy and shock. She was like a kid in a candy shop.
"Can I go sit in it?" she asked.
"It's yours, you can do whatever you want." Tom said laughing. Lilly stood and hurried out the door.
"Go on, we know you want to." Vivian said to her husband and Warrick and Nick. The three men quickly followed Lilly. The two women and Grissom soon followed, and everyone was soon admiring the car.
~*~*~
"Lilly." Greg called down the hallway, "Wait up." He ran to catch up with the young woman.
"What's up Greg?" Lilly asked once he had caught up."
"Here." He said handing her the box that had been in his pocket, "I'm sorry I couldn't make it yesterday, but I still wanted to get you something."
"You didn't have to do that Greg." Lilly said with a gentle smile as she took the box from him and opened it and her eyes widened, "Oh my gosh, Greg it's beautiful." She pulled the delicate silver necklace from the box and admired the small butterfly charm that hung from it.
"Could you?" she asked handing the necklace to Greg and turning around. Greg's heart beat rapidly as Lilly pulled her hair away from her neck. He placed the necklace around her throat, his hand gently brushing up against her skin, causing his breath to catch, and then he carefully clasped the necklace.
"Thanks." She said turning back around to face Greg. He watched as she fingered the pendant with a smile.
"You're...you're welcome." He said. Suddenly Lilly threw her arms around him and hugged him. Greg was certain that she could feel his heart thumping inside his chest. Self-consciously he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. Lilly pulled away and thanked him once more before walking away, leaving a stunned Greg standing in the middle of the hallway.
"Smooth move player." Warrick laughed, "real smooth." Greg turned to face his friend.
"Shut up." he said walking past him.
~*~*~
The acrid scent of burning flesh filled Lilly's nostrils. This was her fifth arson case in the past two months. Each one had ended the same, with a set of dead end prints. This case was different though; someone had died this time.
Lilly ducked beneath the yellow and black crime scene tape, Catherine close behind her. The house stood in charred ruins before them. Nothing but a single wall remained.
The two women shifted through the rubble, their hands becoming black with soot. But nothing could be salvaged, and nothing could be found. The burnt bones of the deceased had been packed up and taken to the morgue for further analysis, so Lilly and Catherine were left with a murder scene and no clues.
"This is REALLY starting to get annoying." Lilly complained as she shifted through a pile of singed kitchen utensils.
"I agree." Catherine said, "At least we know that there's one guy behind all of them. I mean the MO is the same, so it's got to be the same guy."
"Yeah," Lilly said, "But why is he targeting these people? It's not like they have any kind of connection, do they?"
"Maybe that's the point. Just pick random victims. Kinda like a serial killer or rapist."
"But all the victims are from different social classes, not one of them has any similar background."
"This is just way too confusing."
"Totally." Lilly removed her blackened gloves and fingered her new necklace nervously. What was the deal with this string of arsons? What was the connection, if any? She rubbed her sweat-covered forehead with the back of her hand and carefully surveyed the area. Everything was the same as all the other cases, but where was the single fingerprint? With a critical eye, Lilly went back over all the things that they had been able to find, which wasn't much. She processed each piece carefully, nothing.
She picked up a silver picture frame, the only thing they had been able to salvage that was not completely burnt. The young woman dusted it carefully. Aha, there it was!
"Hey Cath, I've got our print." She called over to the blonde woman that was still shifting through the remains. Catherine walked over quickly and Lilly handed her the frame.
"Good job Lilly." Catherine said, "Why don't you take it down to the lab and get Greg to run a search. I'll meet you down there in a bit and then we can check out what Doc Robbins has for us."
"Will do." Lilly said lifting the print and bagging it, "See ya at the lab."
~*~*~
Greg looked up when Lilly walked in. Even though her hair was wind swept, and her face had soot on it, she still looked beautiful. Just the sight of her made Greg's pulse quicken.
"What can I do for you today sweetness?" he asked, using the name he had given to her.
"Quit it with the nickname Greg." Lilly said with an irritated edge in her voice, "And I need you to run this print for me." Greg took the print she handed him.
"You got it." He said. Greg transferred the print to the computer and began a database search. The room fell into an uncomfortable silence as the two waited for the print to find a match. Greg glanced over at Lilly, she was leaning against his desk, her hip resting against the side, and her arms crossed in front of her. Every once in awhile she would reach up and stroke the necklace that he had given her. He smiled slightly.
"Here we go." Greg said, he heard Lilly sigh slightly, "The print you lifted belonged to Richard Martin, a bartender at the Paris Hotel and Casino, died four o'clock yesterday afternoon. Autopsy shows it was from an overdose of crystal meth."
"Any rap sheet?" Lilly asked bending over the back of Greg's chair so she could see the screen better. Greg inhaled sharply, breathing in the scent of smoke and a small bit of the perfume that Lilly always wore.
"Let me check." He said typing a few keys on the keypad of the computer, "yes, two DUI's and one drug trafficking charge that was later dropped."
"Can you print that out for me?"
"Yeah, one sec." Greg pressed the print button, "Here you go." He handed Lilly the paper.
"Thanks Greg." She said walking out.
"Your welcome." The lab tech said to the empty room.
~*~*~
"I was able to ID the victim using what was left of her teeth." Doctor Al Robbins said as Catherine and Lilly stood looking over the body, or what was left of it.
"Her name is Melissa Jones," the mortician said, "thirty-five years old. Her lungs weren't black, which means she was dead before the fire. See, if she had been alive, her lungs would look like those of a smoker."
"What'd she die of?" Lilly asked, "If you can tell."
"Oh I can tell." Doctor Robbins said, "I brought up her medical records when I saw that she had died before the fire. Miss Jones had severe blood clots, my guess is she had a heart attack."
"Thanks doc." Catherine said.
"You're welcome." Doctor Robbins said. The two women left the morgue.
"I guess that puts us back at square one." Catherine said discouraged.
"Not necessarily," Lilly said, "I just thought of a connection between the prints."
"What?"
"Other than the fact that each set of prints belonged to somebody that had died the previous day, each one had a rap sheet, and each one worked in a casino."
"This is Vegas Lilly, nine times out of ten somebody has a rap sheet, and a LOT of people work in casinos." Catherine replied.
"Yeah, but each of the casinos are within a two blocks radius of each other."
"Now why didn't you say that before." Catherine said perking up, "Let's get a list of the casinos and see if there's a connection between them."
~*~*~
Well I hope you liked it. Don't forget to review.
Still to come on Lilly of the Valley: Are the ladies close to solving the case of the mysterious arsons, or does it go deeper than they think? When's Greg going to reveal himself as Lilly's secret admirer? And what is Lilly going to do when she finds out? Stay tuned to find out!
A small feast had been laid out on Lilly's dining table, streamers had been strung all around the living room, and balloons floated everywhere. Lilly's parents, Grissom, Catherine, Warrick, Nick, and Lilly all sat around the living room talking and eating the birthday feast.
"Alright," Vivian declared standing up, "It's time to for the birthday girl to open her presents." Vivian reached over to the small stack of presents that sat on the floor. She handed Lilly a box wrapped in colorful paper and tied with a purple ribbon. Lilly took it with a small smile.
"I told y'all you didn't have to get me anything." she said reading the names of her co-workers on the card.
"Oh shut up and open it." Catherine said. Lilly grinned and tore into the paper.
"Oh wow." Lilly breathed pulling a beautiful leather bound journal from the box, "You guys, this is gorgeous, thank you so much." Her friends beamed. Lilly was then handed Grissom's gift, which was a heavy field guide to the world of insects.
"Thanks Uncle Gil." Lilly said hugging him.
"Alright kiddo, here's our gift." Tom said handing Lilly a small square box wrapped in metallic gold paper and tied with a silver ribbon. Lilly shook it curiously. Something rattled inside, but it was anyone's guess what it was. She took off the wrapping paper and opened the lid in anticipation.
"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed when the lid was off, and a single key was in her hand, "The Mustang, you're giving me the Mustang!"
"We sure are. Gil told us that you were taking a taxi to work every day, and that can add up, so we wanted to give you your own car." Tom said.
"But... the Mustang!"
"It's just as much yours as it is your father's." Vivian said with a smile, "After all you helped him build it."
"I know, I just can't believe you gave me the Mustang!" Everybody laughed at Lilly's expression of joy and shock. She was like a kid in a candy shop.
"Can I go sit in it?" she asked.
"It's yours, you can do whatever you want." Tom said laughing. Lilly stood and hurried out the door.
"Go on, we know you want to." Vivian said to her husband and Warrick and Nick. The three men quickly followed Lilly. The two women and Grissom soon followed, and everyone was soon admiring the car.
~*~*~
"Lilly." Greg called down the hallway, "Wait up." He ran to catch up with the young woman.
"What's up Greg?" Lilly asked once he had caught up."
"Here." He said handing her the box that had been in his pocket, "I'm sorry I couldn't make it yesterday, but I still wanted to get you something."
"You didn't have to do that Greg." Lilly said with a gentle smile as she took the box from him and opened it and her eyes widened, "Oh my gosh, Greg it's beautiful." She pulled the delicate silver necklace from the box and admired the small butterfly charm that hung from it.
"Could you?" she asked handing the necklace to Greg and turning around. Greg's heart beat rapidly as Lilly pulled her hair away from her neck. He placed the necklace around her throat, his hand gently brushing up against her skin, causing his breath to catch, and then he carefully clasped the necklace.
"Thanks." She said turning back around to face Greg. He watched as she fingered the pendant with a smile.
"You're...you're welcome." He said. Suddenly Lilly threw her arms around him and hugged him. Greg was certain that she could feel his heart thumping inside his chest. Self-consciously he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. Lilly pulled away and thanked him once more before walking away, leaving a stunned Greg standing in the middle of the hallway.
"Smooth move player." Warrick laughed, "real smooth." Greg turned to face his friend.
"Shut up." he said walking past him.
~*~*~
The acrid scent of burning flesh filled Lilly's nostrils. This was her fifth arson case in the past two months. Each one had ended the same, with a set of dead end prints. This case was different though; someone had died this time.
Lilly ducked beneath the yellow and black crime scene tape, Catherine close behind her. The house stood in charred ruins before them. Nothing but a single wall remained.
The two women shifted through the rubble, their hands becoming black with soot. But nothing could be salvaged, and nothing could be found. The burnt bones of the deceased had been packed up and taken to the morgue for further analysis, so Lilly and Catherine were left with a murder scene and no clues.
"This is REALLY starting to get annoying." Lilly complained as she shifted through a pile of singed kitchen utensils.
"I agree." Catherine said, "At least we know that there's one guy behind all of them. I mean the MO is the same, so it's got to be the same guy."
"Yeah," Lilly said, "But why is he targeting these people? It's not like they have any kind of connection, do they?"
"Maybe that's the point. Just pick random victims. Kinda like a serial killer or rapist."
"But all the victims are from different social classes, not one of them has any similar background."
"This is just way too confusing."
"Totally." Lilly removed her blackened gloves and fingered her new necklace nervously. What was the deal with this string of arsons? What was the connection, if any? She rubbed her sweat-covered forehead with the back of her hand and carefully surveyed the area. Everything was the same as all the other cases, but where was the single fingerprint? With a critical eye, Lilly went back over all the things that they had been able to find, which wasn't much. She processed each piece carefully, nothing.
She picked up a silver picture frame, the only thing they had been able to salvage that was not completely burnt. The young woman dusted it carefully. Aha, there it was!
"Hey Cath, I've got our print." She called over to the blonde woman that was still shifting through the remains. Catherine walked over quickly and Lilly handed her the frame.
"Good job Lilly." Catherine said, "Why don't you take it down to the lab and get Greg to run a search. I'll meet you down there in a bit and then we can check out what Doc Robbins has for us."
"Will do." Lilly said lifting the print and bagging it, "See ya at the lab."
~*~*~
Greg looked up when Lilly walked in. Even though her hair was wind swept, and her face had soot on it, she still looked beautiful. Just the sight of her made Greg's pulse quicken.
"What can I do for you today sweetness?" he asked, using the name he had given to her.
"Quit it with the nickname Greg." Lilly said with an irritated edge in her voice, "And I need you to run this print for me." Greg took the print she handed him.
"You got it." He said. Greg transferred the print to the computer and began a database search. The room fell into an uncomfortable silence as the two waited for the print to find a match. Greg glanced over at Lilly, she was leaning against his desk, her hip resting against the side, and her arms crossed in front of her. Every once in awhile she would reach up and stroke the necklace that he had given her. He smiled slightly.
"Here we go." Greg said, he heard Lilly sigh slightly, "The print you lifted belonged to Richard Martin, a bartender at the Paris Hotel and Casino, died four o'clock yesterday afternoon. Autopsy shows it was from an overdose of crystal meth."
"Any rap sheet?" Lilly asked bending over the back of Greg's chair so she could see the screen better. Greg inhaled sharply, breathing in the scent of smoke and a small bit of the perfume that Lilly always wore.
"Let me check." He said typing a few keys on the keypad of the computer, "yes, two DUI's and one drug trafficking charge that was later dropped."
"Can you print that out for me?"
"Yeah, one sec." Greg pressed the print button, "Here you go." He handed Lilly the paper.
"Thanks Greg." She said walking out.
"Your welcome." The lab tech said to the empty room.
~*~*~
"I was able to ID the victim using what was left of her teeth." Doctor Al Robbins said as Catherine and Lilly stood looking over the body, or what was left of it.
"Her name is Melissa Jones," the mortician said, "thirty-five years old. Her lungs weren't black, which means she was dead before the fire. See, if she had been alive, her lungs would look like those of a smoker."
"What'd she die of?" Lilly asked, "If you can tell."
"Oh I can tell." Doctor Robbins said, "I brought up her medical records when I saw that she had died before the fire. Miss Jones had severe blood clots, my guess is she had a heart attack."
"Thanks doc." Catherine said.
"You're welcome." Doctor Robbins said. The two women left the morgue.
"I guess that puts us back at square one." Catherine said discouraged.
"Not necessarily," Lilly said, "I just thought of a connection between the prints."
"What?"
"Other than the fact that each set of prints belonged to somebody that had died the previous day, each one had a rap sheet, and each one worked in a casino."
"This is Vegas Lilly, nine times out of ten somebody has a rap sheet, and a LOT of people work in casinos." Catherine replied.
"Yeah, but each of the casinos are within a two blocks radius of each other."
"Now why didn't you say that before." Catherine said perking up, "Let's get a list of the casinos and see if there's a connection between them."
~*~*~
Well I hope you liked it. Don't forget to review.
Still to come on Lilly of the Valley: Are the ladies close to solving the case of the mysterious arsons, or does it go deeper than they think? When's Greg going to reveal himself as Lilly's secret admirer? And what is Lilly going to do when she finds out? Stay tuned to find out!