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We pulled up to the scene and noticed everyone else was already there. I opened my door and grabbed a field kit in the back. As I approached the officers, I flashed my badge and ducked under the crime scene tape surrounding the house. I stepped in the house and stood next to Warrick and Greg. My mind began to process the scene before me. Three victims, two males and one female, were scattered on the living room floor. Each one of them appeared butchered. I felt like throwing up. I see blood and gore on a regular basis, but this was bad. Suddenly I found myself praying to work the perimeter. Grissom walked up to us and began assigning us.
"Nick, Warrick, I need you to take prints and photos. Document everything." He turned to me. "Sara, you and Greg take the perimeter." I breathed a sigh of relief and turned my focus on Greg.
"You ready?"
He nodded. "Lead the way." We walked outside. "Which side do you want?"
"I'll start with the left side and meet you in the back." I replied and started walking.
"Hey Sara."
I turned back around. "Yeah?"
"It's good to have you back." He replied with a grin.
"Thanks Greg." I returned the smile and began working on my side. So far I haven't found anything that would help us. I made my way to a trashcan behind the house. There were flies surrounding the lid. A horrible smell filled my senses, as I got closer. Pulling on a pair of gloves, I reached for the lid and carefully opened it.
"Shit!" I yelled. Another body was stuffed inside. I pulled out my camera and began taking photos. The woman was butchered just like the others inside.
"Sara, are you okay?" Greg asked running toward me.
"Get Grissom, tell him we have another body." I told him. He just nodded and ran inside. A few moments later he came back out with Grissom in tow.
Grissom came up beside me and stared in the trashcan. "I'll get David out here." He replied and disappeared back inside.
I finished my photos and began searching around the backyard. There wasn't much else I could do until David took the body. Greg placed his hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I wasn't expecting to see that." I said. Flashes of the woman's body kept entering my mind and the need to throw up got worse.
"Wonder why she was out here and the others were still inside?"
"Maybe she tried to run and the suspect caught her." I tried to picture the attack in my mind. I glanced down at the ground and noticed the puddle of blood surrounding the trashcan but nowhere else. 'She must have been hiding in the trashcan and the suspect found her.' I heard David walk up and watched as he and another coroner carefully lift the body out. I saw the victim's left arm fall to ground along with a few organs. I quickly turned around and briskly walked away from the scene and began emptying my stomach. I felt Greg's hand gently rubbing my back.
He didn't say anything. He waited with me until I was done and wrapped me in a hug. I pulled away and tried to smile. "Thanks Greg."
"You're welcome."
"By the way, you didn't see anything." I told him making sure he wouldn't tell the others.
"It'll be our secret." We walked back to the scene and I headed toward Nick's Denali to grab a bottle of water. My mouth tasted incredibly nasty and I needed to wash it out. I opened the door of the Denali and pulled out a bottle of water from the cooler in the back. I quickly opened it and began ridding my mouth of its horrible taste. As soon as I was done, I shut the door and headed inside. The trashcan was being loading up to go back to the lab. Greg was still in the back going over the rest of the perimeter. I approached Nick and Warrick.
"Find anything?" I asked.
"Just a few prints and some strands of hair." Nick answered.
"But no murder weapon." Warrick added.
I only nodded. This case was going to difficult and time consuming, even with all of us working it.
Back at the lab, we split up and began analyzing the evidence we had. We've identified the four victims and Dr. Robbins wasn't sure what kind of weapon was used to murder our victims. I spent two hours trying to find something that links our victims together. It could be something as simple as they were all just close friends. They didn't work at the same places; so coming up with the suspect's motive was going to be hard. After searching I came up empty. I decided to process the trashcan. I dusted for prints and checked for hair and fibers. I pulled a few prints and began looking inside the trashcan. I finally found something on the bottom. Taking a pair of tweezers I reached in and pulled it out. It looked like a piece of metal that had been broken off something larger. 'It could be from our murder weapon.' I thought to myself. I bagged it and continued working. I didn't stop until I heard someone call my name. I glanced up to find Nick standing there.
"Hey." I replied.
"Having any luck?" He asked me and walked closer to me.
"I'm not sure." I told him about the metal fragment and the prints.
"Hopefully, those will help. I was coming in to see what you wanted to eat. I've been volunteered to run to the deli."
I smiled. I wasn't hungry at all and the images of the crime scene weren't helping at all. Of course, I couldn't tell Nick that. He would get all overprotective and stuff. "Um, a grilled cheese sandwich sounds good."
"Okay. Do you want anything else?"
"No, I think that's about all I can handle."
He turned his head around looking to see if anyone was nearby. Seeing no one, he faced me and leaned down to kiss me. I wanted to pull him closer but my gloves were nasty and I didn't want to get blood on him. He pulled back and smiled. "I've been wanting to do that all night."
"Me too."
He bent down and kissed me again. We broke apart. "I should get going. Warrick said he was starving and if I didn't hurry, he was going to hurt me."
I laughed. "You better not keep him waiting then."
"I'll be back." I watched as he left the room and then continued working. As soon as I got everything off the trashcan I could, I took the evidence to be processed. I decided to try and see if I could dig up more information on the victims while I waited for the results. I walked in the computer lab and began researching the victims in more detail. The first male victim was Andrew Walker. He was a sophomore in college. He worked part time at a video rental store. He's lived in Vegas his entire life. I printed out his home address and names of his parents. The second male victim was Jamie Reynolds. He was a freshman in college and worked at Radio Shack on weekends. He was originally from Oklahoma and moved to Vegas to go to college. The female in the house was Alicia Martin. She was also a freshman and worked as a waitress. She was born and raised in Vegas. The woman in the dumpster was Alana Duncan. She was a sophomore who didn't have to work. Her parents were rich. I took a deep breath and gathered what little information I had. I knew I was going to have to go and talk to the parents. Brass called them as soon as we identified them. I'm probably the last person they want to see.
"There you are." Nick's voice broke me from my thoughts. He walked over and handed me the sandwich. He glanced at the computer. "Find anything?"
"Just basic information. I'm going to have to talk to their parents."
"I think Grissom and Catherine mentioned something about doing that. They're eating their food in the break room."
My pager went off. I glanced down and noticed it was from Greg. "That's Greg."
"Will you give him his sandwich?"
I nodded and Nick handed it to me.
"Thanks Sar. I still have Warrick's and I'm sure he's probably hunting me down."
I laughed at the mental image that played in my mind. "No problem. I'll see you around." We split up and I made my way toward the DNA lab. As soon as I opened the door, I heard Greg jamming out to some heavy metal music.
I've learned something about Greg. When a case really bothers him, he plays angry music to work out his pain. The song that was playing was very explicit. I could hear Greg singing the words along with the music. "I wanna grow up, I wanna be a big rocking roll star." I taped his shoulder. He quickly turned around and breathed a sigh of relief when he realized it was only me and not Grissom.
"Hey Sar."
"Hey Greggo, what song is that?"
"Lunchbox." He simply replied. "I felt the need to let out some anger."
I nodded as the next lyrics played out about someone not fucking with me. "I brought your sandwich."
"You're a goddess." He said and took it from me. "And I'm your humble servant." He handed me the results from the hairs, prints, and metal fragment. I glanced at the results. The hair and prints came from the victims. The metal fragment was steel. "I was thinking that the metal fragment came from a hook or something."
"What makes you think that?" I asked.
Greg took a bite of his sandwich. Then replied. "Look at it. It's curved. If it came from a knife it would be straight."
I took a closer look. Greg was right; it was curved. "Why didn't I notice that?" I asked more to myself than him.
"Stress?" He offered and finished his sandwich. "Man, I'm still hungry."
"Here." I handed him my grilled cheese. "You can have this."
He shook his head no. "Nope, I'm not taking yours. You need to eat."
"Really Greg, I'm not hungry."
"Sara, we've been working six hours straight. I'm willing to bet you didn't eat anything before we were called into work."
"Okay, how about I split it with you? I still have a hard time eating a whole one. I would just throw the other half away."
Greg thought about it. "Alright. I'll eat half of it."
I smiled and unwrapped the sandwich and gave him half.
"Thanks Sara."
"You're welcome. Thanks for the info." I grabbed the results and made my way to find Grissom. I walked into the ladies restroom and dumped my sandwich in the bottom of the trashcan. I wasn't hungry at all and the thoughts of eating made me sick to my stomach. I walked out of the restroom and went in search of Grissom.
TBC
We pulled up to the scene and noticed everyone else was already there. I opened my door and grabbed a field kit in the back. As I approached the officers, I flashed my badge and ducked under the crime scene tape surrounding the house. I stepped in the house and stood next to Warrick and Greg. My mind began to process the scene before me. Three victims, two males and one female, were scattered on the living room floor. Each one of them appeared butchered. I felt like throwing up. I see blood and gore on a regular basis, but this was bad. Suddenly I found myself praying to work the perimeter. Grissom walked up to us and began assigning us.
"Nick, Warrick, I need you to take prints and photos. Document everything." He turned to me. "Sara, you and Greg take the perimeter." I breathed a sigh of relief and turned my focus on Greg.
"You ready?"
He nodded. "Lead the way." We walked outside. "Which side do you want?"
"I'll start with the left side and meet you in the back." I replied and started walking.
"Hey Sara."
I turned back around. "Yeah?"
"It's good to have you back." He replied with a grin.
"Thanks Greg." I returned the smile and began working on my side. So far I haven't found anything that would help us. I made my way to a trashcan behind the house. There were flies surrounding the lid. A horrible smell filled my senses, as I got closer. Pulling on a pair of gloves, I reached for the lid and carefully opened it.
"Shit!" I yelled. Another body was stuffed inside. I pulled out my camera and began taking photos. The woman was butchered just like the others inside.
"Sara, are you okay?" Greg asked running toward me.
"Get Grissom, tell him we have another body." I told him. He just nodded and ran inside. A few moments later he came back out with Grissom in tow.
Grissom came up beside me and stared in the trashcan. "I'll get David out here." He replied and disappeared back inside.
I finished my photos and began searching around the backyard. There wasn't much else I could do until David took the body. Greg placed his hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I wasn't expecting to see that." I said. Flashes of the woman's body kept entering my mind and the need to throw up got worse.
"Wonder why she was out here and the others were still inside?"
"Maybe she tried to run and the suspect caught her." I tried to picture the attack in my mind. I glanced down at the ground and noticed the puddle of blood surrounding the trashcan but nowhere else. 'She must have been hiding in the trashcan and the suspect found her.' I heard David walk up and watched as he and another coroner carefully lift the body out. I saw the victim's left arm fall to ground along with a few organs. I quickly turned around and briskly walked away from the scene and began emptying my stomach. I felt Greg's hand gently rubbing my back.
He didn't say anything. He waited with me until I was done and wrapped me in a hug. I pulled away and tried to smile. "Thanks Greg."
"You're welcome."
"By the way, you didn't see anything." I told him making sure he wouldn't tell the others.
"It'll be our secret." We walked back to the scene and I headed toward Nick's Denali to grab a bottle of water. My mouth tasted incredibly nasty and I needed to wash it out. I opened the door of the Denali and pulled out a bottle of water from the cooler in the back. I quickly opened it and began ridding my mouth of its horrible taste. As soon as I was done, I shut the door and headed inside. The trashcan was being loading up to go back to the lab. Greg was still in the back going over the rest of the perimeter. I approached Nick and Warrick.
"Find anything?" I asked.
"Just a few prints and some strands of hair." Nick answered.
"But no murder weapon." Warrick added.
I only nodded. This case was going to difficult and time consuming, even with all of us working it.
Back at the lab, we split up and began analyzing the evidence we had. We've identified the four victims and Dr. Robbins wasn't sure what kind of weapon was used to murder our victims. I spent two hours trying to find something that links our victims together. It could be something as simple as they were all just close friends. They didn't work at the same places; so coming up with the suspect's motive was going to be hard. After searching I came up empty. I decided to process the trashcan. I dusted for prints and checked for hair and fibers. I pulled a few prints and began looking inside the trashcan. I finally found something on the bottom. Taking a pair of tweezers I reached in and pulled it out. It looked like a piece of metal that had been broken off something larger. 'It could be from our murder weapon.' I thought to myself. I bagged it and continued working. I didn't stop until I heard someone call my name. I glanced up to find Nick standing there.
"Hey." I replied.
"Having any luck?" He asked me and walked closer to me.
"I'm not sure." I told him about the metal fragment and the prints.
"Hopefully, those will help. I was coming in to see what you wanted to eat. I've been volunteered to run to the deli."
I smiled. I wasn't hungry at all and the images of the crime scene weren't helping at all. Of course, I couldn't tell Nick that. He would get all overprotective and stuff. "Um, a grilled cheese sandwich sounds good."
"Okay. Do you want anything else?"
"No, I think that's about all I can handle."
He turned his head around looking to see if anyone was nearby. Seeing no one, he faced me and leaned down to kiss me. I wanted to pull him closer but my gloves were nasty and I didn't want to get blood on him. He pulled back and smiled. "I've been wanting to do that all night."
"Me too."
He bent down and kissed me again. We broke apart. "I should get going. Warrick said he was starving and if I didn't hurry, he was going to hurt me."
I laughed. "You better not keep him waiting then."
"I'll be back." I watched as he left the room and then continued working. As soon as I got everything off the trashcan I could, I took the evidence to be processed. I decided to try and see if I could dig up more information on the victims while I waited for the results. I walked in the computer lab and began researching the victims in more detail. The first male victim was Andrew Walker. He was a sophomore in college. He worked part time at a video rental store. He's lived in Vegas his entire life. I printed out his home address and names of his parents. The second male victim was Jamie Reynolds. He was a freshman in college and worked at Radio Shack on weekends. He was originally from Oklahoma and moved to Vegas to go to college. The female in the house was Alicia Martin. She was also a freshman and worked as a waitress. She was born and raised in Vegas. The woman in the dumpster was Alana Duncan. She was a sophomore who didn't have to work. Her parents were rich. I took a deep breath and gathered what little information I had. I knew I was going to have to go and talk to the parents. Brass called them as soon as we identified them. I'm probably the last person they want to see.
"There you are." Nick's voice broke me from my thoughts. He walked over and handed me the sandwich. He glanced at the computer. "Find anything?"
"Just basic information. I'm going to have to talk to their parents."
"I think Grissom and Catherine mentioned something about doing that. They're eating their food in the break room."
My pager went off. I glanced down and noticed it was from Greg. "That's Greg."
"Will you give him his sandwich?"
I nodded and Nick handed it to me.
"Thanks Sar. I still have Warrick's and I'm sure he's probably hunting me down."
I laughed at the mental image that played in my mind. "No problem. I'll see you around." We split up and I made my way toward the DNA lab. As soon as I opened the door, I heard Greg jamming out to some heavy metal music.
I've learned something about Greg. When a case really bothers him, he plays angry music to work out his pain. The song that was playing was very explicit. I could hear Greg singing the words along with the music. "I wanna grow up, I wanna be a big rocking roll star." I taped his shoulder. He quickly turned around and breathed a sigh of relief when he realized it was only me and not Grissom.
"Hey Sar."
"Hey Greggo, what song is that?"
"Lunchbox." He simply replied. "I felt the need to let out some anger."
I nodded as the next lyrics played out about someone not fucking with me. "I brought your sandwich."
"You're a goddess." He said and took it from me. "And I'm your humble servant." He handed me the results from the hairs, prints, and metal fragment. I glanced at the results. The hair and prints came from the victims. The metal fragment was steel. "I was thinking that the metal fragment came from a hook or something."
"What makes you think that?" I asked.
Greg took a bite of his sandwich. Then replied. "Look at it. It's curved. If it came from a knife it would be straight."
I took a closer look. Greg was right; it was curved. "Why didn't I notice that?" I asked more to myself than him.
"Stress?" He offered and finished his sandwich. "Man, I'm still hungry."
"Here." I handed him my grilled cheese. "You can have this."
He shook his head no. "Nope, I'm not taking yours. You need to eat."
"Really Greg, I'm not hungry."
"Sara, we've been working six hours straight. I'm willing to bet you didn't eat anything before we were called into work."
"Okay, how about I split it with you? I still have a hard time eating a whole one. I would just throw the other half away."
Greg thought about it. "Alright. I'll eat half of it."
I smiled and unwrapped the sandwich and gave him half.
"Thanks Sara."
"You're welcome. Thanks for the info." I grabbed the results and made my way to find Grissom. I walked into the ladies restroom and dumped my sandwich in the bottom of the trashcan. I wasn't hungry at all and the thoughts of eating made me sick to my stomach. I walked out of the restroom and went in search of Grissom.
TBC