One Down
"Who wants to go for breakfast?" Nick asked his co-workers as shift ended. Shift had been a success, with both teams solving their cases. Everyone was in a good mood so they all agreed to go to the diner, even Grissom. Catherine had told him he should get his head out of the microscope and get more involved with the team. They were becoming a family whether he liked it or not.
The five walked out to the parking lot together, laughing and joking as they only did after a good shift.
"Hey Cath. I think you have a flat tire." Warrick told her as they approached her vehicle. She moved ahead to investigate. "Make that four flat tires." She replied grimly. "They've been slashed." She declared as the others came to see for themselves.
"Sure wasn't done by a professional." Warrick commented, as it appeared that the person had stabbed the knife in many times to get the effect they wanted.
"It looks like a four inch blade." Sara announced as she studied the tires. "Looks like they punctured the back right one first." She decided as she tried to place the route of the person who had done this.
"How do you figure that?" Warrick inquired of his brainy teammate, as he too studied the tires. "This cut is the cleanest, made when the blade was the sharpest. The tires dulled the blade so we can retrace the path."
"Well done." Grissom admitted, impressed with her observations. "So knowing that, we can assume that the person came from behind Catherine's car." The supervisor added.
"It's facing the main street." Nick said in frustration. "It could have been anyone." He said pessimistically.
"Let's hope they left some evidence behind in the tires." Grissom stated, as they continued to scope out the surrounding area.
"The tow truck is on its way. Frank said he'll give us the tires when he's done." Catherine said as she hung up her cell phone.
Sara sat there in quiet contemplation. "What are you thinking?" Nick asked her as he noticed she hadn't said anything in a few minutes.
"Well you said it wasn't done by a professional." She repeated Warrick's words as she said her thoughts out loud. "So there's a pretty good chance that our perp might have cut his hand on the knife." She suggested hopefully. "We can hope." Nick agreed.
The tow truck arrived at that moment. "I'll have it back in an hour." Frank told them as he finished loading the Suv onto the back. The group decided to eat breakfast to kill time, seeing as they had some unfinished business to attend to when Catherine's truck came back.
"Anything on the cameras Archie?" Sara questioned the audio/visual lab tech as she came in to view the outside security cameras from the lab. "Nothing yet. Her truck is parked pretty far away, we might not get anything." Archie warned her. "Keep working." She encouraged him, having full confidence that if there were anything on those tapes he would find it. She left him to do his work and caught up with the others in the lab with Greg.
"Thanks for staying late Greggo." Catherine said gratefully as the young lab tech scanned the tire treads under the microscope. "I hope I can help." He replied, remaining focused on the task at hand.
Sara, Nick, and Warrick went to the break room to do some brainstorming. "You know we're missing something here." Warrick said worried. "We're trying to figure out who, but what we don't know is why."
"You're right." Nick realized suddenly. "Did they know it was Catherine's car?" he asked out loud.
"If they did," Sara hypothesized, "how do we know they won't escalate it?"
"But if they didn't know, was it just a random act?" Warrick added the other side to their debate. "I mean all our cars are the same."
"Great." Sara sighed frustrated. "Maybe they have a vendetta against the crime lab." She commented sarcastically. "Sadly, that's not as crazy an idea as you would imagine." Nick decided gravely.
"We need more evidence." Grissom announced suddenly as he entered the room, with Catherine right behind him. "Greg is working on taking apart all the tires and running the treads one by one." She informed them. "It might take awhile."
"Alright then. Our hands are tied until shift tonight. So everyone go home, get some rest and come back ready to go later." Grissom instructed his team. Warrick, Sara, and Nick all gladly left the crime lab, this newest case wracking their brains.
"Hey Cath." Grissom stopped the blonde CSI before she left. "How about I take you and Lindsey out to a movie." He suggested, wanting to keep an eye on her. She wasn't fooled but agreed nonetheless, touched that he was so concerned. But she shouldn't have been surprised, after all they had been friends and colleagues for fifteen years now. 'Apparently he's taking my advice to heart.' She thought as she followed him out of the lab and went to pick up Lindsey from the babysitter's.
"One down." The man whispered as he crossed his first task off his list. He didn't stop to dwell on his success too long as his plan was just beginning. Soon they wouldn't know what hit them. Or who, he thought with a laugh as he chuckled to himself.
"Who wants to go for breakfast?" Nick asked his co-workers as shift ended. Shift had been a success, with both teams solving their cases. Everyone was in a good mood so they all agreed to go to the diner, even Grissom. Catherine had told him he should get his head out of the microscope and get more involved with the team. They were becoming a family whether he liked it or not.
The five walked out to the parking lot together, laughing and joking as they only did after a good shift.
"Hey Cath. I think you have a flat tire." Warrick told her as they approached her vehicle. She moved ahead to investigate. "Make that four flat tires." She replied grimly. "They've been slashed." She declared as the others came to see for themselves.
"Sure wasn't done by a professional." Warrick commented, as it appeared that the person had stabbed the knife in many times to get the effect they wanted.
"It looks like a four inch blade." Sara announced as she studied the tires. "Looks like they punctured the back right one first." She decided as she tried to place the route of the person who had done this.
"How do you figure that?" Warrick inquired of his brainy teammate, as he too studied the tires. "This cut is the cleanest, made when the blade was the sharpest. The tires dulled the blade so we can retrace the path."
"Well done." Grissom admitted, impressed with her observations. "So knowing that, we can assume that the person came from behind Catherine's car." The supervisor added.
"It's facing the main street." Nick said in frustration. "It could have been anyone." He said pessimistically.
"Let's hope they left some evidence behind in the tires." Grissom stated, as they continued to scope out the surrounding area.
"The tow truck is on its way. Frank said he'll give us the tires when he's done." Catherine said as she hung up her cell phone.
Sara sat there in quiet contemplation. "What are you thinking?" Nick asked her as he noticed she hadn't said anything in a few minutes.
"Well you said it wasn't done by a professional." She repeated Warrick's words as she said her thoughts out loud. "So there's a pretty good chance that our perp might have cut his hand on the knife." She suggested hopefully. "We can hope." Nick agreed.
The tow truck arrived at that moment. "I'll have it back in an hour." Frank told them as he finished loading the Suv onto the back. The group decided to eat breakfast to kill time, seeing as they had some unfinished business to attend to when Catherine's truck came back.
"Anything on the cameras Archie?" Sara questioned the audio/visual lab tech as she came in to view the outside security cameras from the lab. "Nothing yet. Her truck is parked pretty far away, we might not get anything." Archie warned her. "Keep working." She encouraged him, having full confidence that if there were anything on those tapes he would find it. She left him to do his work and caught up with the others in the lab with Greg.
"Thanks for staying late Greggo." Catherine said gratefully as the young lab tech scanned the tire treads under the microscope. "I hope I can help." He replied, remaining focused on the task at hand.
Sara, Nick, and Warrick went to the break room to do some brainstorming. "You know we're missing something here." Warrick said worried. "We're trying to figure out who, but what we don't know is why."
"You're right." Nick realized suddenly. "Did they know it was Catherine's car?" he asked out loud.
"If they did," Sara hypothesized, "how do we know they won't escalate it?"
"But if they didn't know, was it just a random act?" Warrick added the other side to their debate. "I mean all our cars are the same."
"Great." Sara sighed frustrated. "Maybe they have a vendetta against the crime lab." She commented sarcastically. "Sadly, that's not as crazy an idea as you would imagine." Nick decided gravely.
"We need more evidence." Grissom announced suddenly as he entered the room, with Catherine right behind him. "Greg is working on taking apart all the tires and running the treads one by one." She informed them. "It might take awhile."
"Alright then. Our hands are tied until shift tonight. So everyone go home, get some rest and come back ready to go later." Grissom instructed his team. Warrick, Sara, and Nick all gladly left the crime lab, this newest case wracking their brains.
"Hey Cath." Grissom stopped the blonde CSI before she left. "How about I take you and Lindsey out to a movie." He suggested, wanting to keep an eye on her. She wasn't fooled but agreed nonetheless, touched that he was so concerned. But she shouldn't have been surprised, after all they had been friends and colleagues for fifteen years now. 'Apparently he's taking my advice to heart.' She thought as she followed him out of the lab and went to pick up Lindsey from the babysitter's.
"One down." The man whispered as he crossed his first task off his list. He didn't stop to dwell on his success too long as his plan was just beginning. Soon they wouldn't know what hit them. Or who, he thought with a laugh as he chuckled to himself.