Title: Innocent
Got any 'ships for me? Not yet. Possible GSR to come.
Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, yada, yada yada...but Peter Kade,
Alan Rudesi and Kai Lam are my own inventions.
Author: Meeeeeeeee
"Grissom."
A man in a grey suit, and shiny black shoes stood before Gil Grissom's desk.
"Grissom"
The man raised his voice slightly. Grissom looked up, put down his book-the cover facing up on his cluttered desk, and took out his earphones, one by one, and looked up again.
"Peter, Peter, Peter" Grissom said. "Long time no see. Where have you been?"
Peter Kade looked up and replied: "You're still into this freaky stuff?" asked Kade, indicating with a folded piece of paper to a glass cabinet full of pinned flies hanging on the wall to the right of Kade.
"I prefer the term entomology." Grissom responded.
"You can use your long words, but that doesn't take away from the weirdness of it all. But you always were a strange one."
Grissom shrugged it off "So why are you in town? Or did you come especially to harass me?"
"Very funny Gil Grissom, but no. I need your help. I wouldn't normally ask, but this is personal to me. I have the file here."
Later, Grissom stood, in his office, by his window, gazing out, somewhere else. He sort of half smiled, half laughed. "Peter Kade. Asking for my help?" was what he was engaged in. But a sharp tap on the glass pane in his door was enough to pull him back into reality. "C'mon in, it's open." Grissom said, putting the glasses he was twiddling in his fingers back on.
Warrick Brown entered the room. "I ran these through AFIS, and I've got a match. And Greg has another match on the DNA we pulled of that glass. With that and everything else, we've got our guy."
Grissom smiled, contently "Good work Warrick. Now join Catherine, here's the address."
Grissom passed Warrick a piece of paper with an address written on it, then Warrick asked, "What's the case? And aren't you coming with?"
"Single Mom complains about smell in her bathroom, thinks its just sewage. EH come round earlier this morning, and found a body underneath the bath. I am counting on you bringing me back some bugs, Warrick. And no, I won't be joining you, I've got a another case."
"Hey Catherine, got anything yet?"
Catherine Willows looked up "About time Warrick. Where's Grissom?"
"He's working on another case. So what have you got?"
"3 bullet wounds to the left shoulder, but none of them seem fatal." Catherine answered. Warrick was kneeling down now, shining a torch underneath the bath. "It looks as if he was shot down there, don't you think?" said Catherine.
Meanwhile, Gil Grissom was sitting at his desk; reading through the file Peter Kade had brought him. He looked slightly puzzled, but he was not going to give up.
"But how would a woman be able to get a man this built underneath a bath? And won't the body be to old too examine it for trace?" Questioned Warrick.
"Whoa, Whoa!" Catherine responded. "Women can be quite strong when they need to. And we don't even know that it was her. But your right, it probably has been here too long to get anything significant off it." Catherine had just spotted a rag at the back of the bath, and was pulling it out. She bagged it and tagged it. "What are you doing Warrick?" Catherine asked.
"Just keeping my promise" Warrick was extracting a rather wriggly beetle larva from the body, which had now been moved on to a plastic sheet.
Sara took a can of root beer from the fridge. She opened it. She drank it, thumbing through papers. She got up. She threw the empty can in the recycling bin. She left the room.
"Hello," Catherine's voice had an excited ring to it. "I've got a hair" She yanked a single red hair from the dried blood.
"Ditto" Warrick, said. "Blonde?" he asked.
"No, red actually."
Sara climbed up into the car. "Are you okay?" asked Nick Stokes.
"Yeah, Yeah" she answered.
"Are you sure, you look a bit faint?"
Sara replied calmly: "I'm good. I'm thirsty is all."
Nick was aware that Sara had just had a root beer, but decided it would be safer not to question further.
"Hey, Warrick, isn't our vic's ex a red-head?" Catherine had a questioning smile planted on her face.
"And the daughter's blonde" Warrick returned.
The smile on Catherine's face faded. It was not that she had wanted the vic's ex to be guilty, it was just that she did not want to believe that Aimee, the victim's daughter, who was the same age as Lindsey, could have killed a man.
Sara and Nick pulled up to a house on a shaded street, lined with cherry trees. It was autumn, and the leaves were bordered with crimson and cerise. Sara rang on the doorbell. On the left hand side of the house was a fence and a gate. A man in a uniform lent over the gate. "Come through this way you guys."
Sara and Nick stood, silently. Nick put his hand up to his face "Okay, lets start processing. I'll take the tree-house."
Sara stood looking down at the body of 13-year-old Kai Lam. Her head looked as though it was part of the concrete patio. Her wavy, elbow length hair was clotted with deep red, coagulating blood, and she had a knife in her back. Thick maroon blood was running down the back of her shiny yellow raincoat.
Sara turned around. A boy of about six years was standing underneath the blue candy-striped awning. His ebony hair was glossy and bowl-cut. He had mainly oriental features, but was quite dark skinned. He was wearing blue shorts with white trim, and had on a white t-shirt with an anime print. And his fingertips were wet with blood.
Sara got up, replacing her sunglasses, and walked towards the boy. She bent down. "Hi" Sara smiled.
"Hi" the boy was almost emotionless.
Sara began again: "What's you name?"
He looked up and replied "I'm Vincent." He pointed towards Kai, lying on the trimmed grass. "And that's my sister. I found her."
Sara looked at him. "Did you touch your sister, Vincent, when you found her?" He looked back at her.
"Are you a cop? Can I see your badge?"
Sara smiled, and turned towards Detective Sam Vega. "No Vincent, I'm not, but if you help me with my puzzle, I'm sure my friend Sam over there will let you see his, okay?" Sara smiled,
and the boy shrugged.
"Okay.... Promise?"
"I promise. Now tell me what you saw."
Two men lifted the body of Alan Ruedesi up into the body bag. They tucked him in and zipped him up. Catherine turned to Warrick: "I'm going back to C.S.I with the victim. I want to watch Al." Warrick looked up. "Catch"
Catherine looked at the opaque evidence jar, puzzled.
Warrick picked up on this "Bugs. For Grissom."
TO BE CONTINUED...