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CH.21
Catherine sat at Grissom's desk awaiting his arrival. From the sound of things, he'd had some sort of break in the case. She hoped so, at least. She hated everything about this case. Times like today Catherine wished she'd taken a job outside of Vegas where nobody knew her. It had always been something she thought she would do, but she was as tied to this city as the neon signs that littered the nightscape.
"Catherine?" Grissom walked in, startling her out of her thoughts.
"Hey, Gris. What've you got?" She scooted closer to his desk.
Grissom sighed, and sat down at his desk, clearing off space for the file he brought in.
"That city engineer we had checking out the site? The cops found this in his front seat." Grissom handed her the familiar plans for the construction site. The same ones she had been shown that day before all hell broke loose.
"Yeah? So?" She smirked, and handed the plans back. "He showed me these last week at the sight. He was marking where he thought they'd have to place explosives for the structure to collapse the way it did."
Grissom let out a long breath.
"Well, that explains that bit, but what bout Sara's name written in the corner?"
"I wrote that. That's when I took myself off the case, and told him Sara was his contact from then on. What's the deal? Since when is Paul a suspect?"
Grissom's eyebrows shot up at the use of the building inspector's first name, and at the fact that it was Catherine's handwriting on the plans. That wasn't good.
"This could look bad, Cat. Paul Newsome died this morning in a car crash. They said it was drunk driving. The body's with Robbins and David right now."
Catherine's voice caught in her throat.
"I'm sorry, Catherine."
"I, uh, we saw each other a few years back. Nothing serious. He was a good guy though."
"There was something else. They found an envelope of money in his car. A hundred thousand. Not the kind of money a county engineer would just have lying around."
Catherine furrowed her brow and looked away.
"That complete bastard!" She hissed.
"What is it, Catherine? What haven't you told me?"
"The money. The other day I went to see Sam. Don't look at me like that, Gris. I know it wasn't the greatest idea, but I had to confront him. I gave him a check for a hundred thousand from the money he gave me, and told him to stay the hell away from me and Lindsey." She drew in a long breath, and sighed.
Grissom kneaded the bridge of his nose, fending off the stress headache that was forming rapidly.
"This isn't going to look good, Cat. There's a paper trail from a suspect that leads straight back to you. Add to that the fact that you wrote Sara's name on the plans for the demolition of the crime scene? And the only suspect besides Braun is now in the morgue. If Ecklie finds out about this before we're able to defuse it, you could end up as the number one suspect."
Catherine's heart skipped a beat, and her face went pale with fear and disgust. Sam set her up, and she had inadvertently made it very easy for him. If he went down she went down right along with him. Fatherly love. All the evidence was lined up neatly like an arrow pointing straight at her and Sam.
"Does anyone else know about the money?" Grissom refolded the plans, and tucked them back in the bindle.
"Only the bank, the teller, and the bank cameras." Catherine groaned at what she now saw was a solid case building up against her. The only part of the holy trinity that wasn't in place was motive. She had no motive to have Sara killed, or to steal the body of her half brother. Her mind was a whir with the stories a lawyer would put together though.
"I need to go see Sara." Catherine stood suddenly, her expression still one of shock and fear. "I don't want her hearing this from anybody else."
"Catherine. . ."Grissom knew what he had to do, but he hated it because of the red flags it would raise around the labs. "I really think you need to take some time off. You shouldn't be around the evidence right now. I don't want anyone to be able to say you tampered with it, and use that against you."
Catherine didn't argue with him. She knew it was the only thing he could do other than suspend her, considering the evidence. She nodded, and left the room quickly. Grissom took off his glasses, and rested a hand over his eyes.
TBC
CH.21
Catherine sat at Grissom's desk awaiting his arrival. From the sound of things, he'd had some sort of break in the case. She hoped so, at least. She hated everything about this case. Times like today Catherine wished she'd taken a job outside of Vegas where nobody knew her. It had always been something she thought she would do, but she was as tied to this city as the neon signs that littered the nightscape.
"Catherine?" Grissom walked in, startling her out of her thoughts.
"Hey, Gris. What've you got?" She scooted closer to his desk.
Grissom sighed, and sat down at his desk, clearing off space for the file he brought in.
"That city engineer we had checking out the site? The cops found this in his front seat." Grissom handed her the familiar plans for the construction site. The same ones she had been shown that day before all hell broke loose.
"Yeah? So?" She smirked, and handed the plans back. "He showed me these last week at the sight. He was marking where he thought they'd have to place explosives for the structure to collapse the way it did."
Grissom let out a long breath.
"Well, that explains that bit, but what bout Sara's name written in the corner?"
"I wrote that. That's when I took myself off the case, and told him Sara was his contact from then on. What's the deal? Since when is Paul a suspect?"
Grissom's eyebrows shot up at the use of the building inspector's first name, and at the fact that it was Catherine's handwriting on the plans. That wasn't good.
"This could look bad, Cat. Paul Newsome died this morning in a car crash. They said it was drunk driving. The body's with Robbins and David right now."
Catherine's voice caught in her throat.
"I'm sorry, Catherine."
"I, uh, we saw each other a few years back. Nothing serious. He was a good guy though."
"There was something else. They found an envelope of money in his car. A hundred thousand. Not the kind of money a county engineer would just have lying around."
Catherine furrowed her brow and looked away.
"That complete bastard!" She hissed.
"What is it, Catherine? What haven't you told me?"
"The money. The other day I went to see Sam. Don't look at me like that, Gris. I know it wasn't the greatest idea, but I had to confront him. I gave him a check for a hundred thousand from the money he gave me, and told him to stay the hell away from me and Lindsey." She drew in a long breath, and sighed.
Grissom kneaded the bridge of his nose, fending off the stress headache that was forming rapidly.
"This isn't going to look good, Cat. There's a paper trail from a suspect that leads straight back to you. Add to that the fact that you wrote Sara's name on the plans for the demolition of the crime scene? And the only suspect besides Braun is now in the morgue. If Ecklie finds out about this before we're able to defuse it, you could end up as the number one suspect."
Catherine's heart skipped a beat, and her face went pale with fear and disgust. Sam set her up, and she had inadvertently made it very easy for him. If he went down she went down right along with him. Fatherly love. All the evidence was lined up neatly like an arrow pointing straight at her and Sam.
"Does anyone else know about the money?" Grissom refolded the plans, and tucked them back in the bindle.
"Only the bank, the teller, and the bank cameras." Catherine groaned at what she now saw was a solid case building up against her. The only part of the holy trinity that wasn't in place was motive. She had no motive to have Sara killed, or to steal the body of her half brother. Her mind was a whir with the stories a lawyer would put together though.
"I need to go see Sara." Catherine stood suddenly, her expression still one of shock and fear. "I don't want her hearing this from anybody else."
"Catherine. . ."Grissom knew what he had to do, but he hated it because of the red flags it would raise around the labs. "I really think you need to take some time off. You shouldn't be around the evidence right now. I don't want anyone to be able to say you tampered with it, and use that against you."
Catherine didn't argue with him. She knew it was the only thing he could do other than suspend her, considering the evidence. She nodded, and left the room quickly. Grissom took off his glasses, and rested a hand over his eyes.
TBC