A/N:

Equestrian-babe101: Hehe... I don't know if Cath is the bad guy or girl in this situation... well actually I do but I'm not telling! Lol.

Warrior of the shadow: thanks for reviewing! Its always good to have someone new review.

Chapter Five: The Monaco

Nick parked the Tahoe and he and Sara jumped out.

"Oh the newlyweds are home." Brass said. "Thought you two were supposed to be gone for two weeks not five days."

"So did we. Something came up." Sara said. "What do we got?"

"Male, Caucasian, mid-thirties. Follow me." Brass replied. "So did you guys have fun at least?"

"We went to the Magic Kingdom and I got checked out by an old lady." Nick said.

"And Mickey touched my butt when he hugged me." Sara added. "Do you think we had fun?"

"Better than my honeymoon. Here's your guy. Have fun." Brass replied.

"This is never fun." Sara said and set her stuff down. "Did you ID him Brass?"

"No. You think when you come to Vegas you'd bring some ID with you. Don't know how he got into the casino without it." He said.

"Well whoever he was, he was in one hell of a fight." Nick said. "Defensive wounds, bruises on his face, and a shot to the left arm."

"Someone was out to get him." Brass said.

"Yeah. Poor guy. Did anyone see what happened?" Sara asked.

"No. Not that we've heard of." Brass replied.

"How can you get killed in the parking lot of a casino and no one notice?" Nick wondered. Sara looked around.

"Well we better get started." She sighed. "I think it's going to be a long night."

"Yep." Nick muttered. "This wasn't what I was expecting when we got home."

"Neither was I." Sara agreed.

"I'll leave you to your work then." Brass said, backing away. As he walked away he spotted something. "Hey Stokes."

Both Sara and Nick looked up.

"Yeah?" they asked in unison, and then looked at each other. Brass laughed.

"Just wanted to see what the two of you'd say. Nicky take a look at this." He replied. Nick stood up and walked over to the older man.

"A bloody towel." He said, bending down to look at it. "Someone is a tidy murderer."

"Yeah well it didn't work. Idiot probably dropped it without knowing." Brass said.

"Nick!" Sara called.

"Yeah?" he called back, still looking at the towel.

"There's nothing here. The murderer took everything with him. All he left was a dead body for us." Sara said. Nick stood up straight, taking the towel with him.

"He left us one clue." He said, holding the towel up.

"You know if I was new on the job I'd say that is pretty disgusting but nothing surprises me anymore." Sara said, looking disgusted at her husband.

"Yeah same with me." Nick agreed, walking over to her. "Hand me that bag."

Sara handed it to him and he dropped the towel in it.

"Don't know why I'm bagging this. Epthilials just dissolve in cotton after a while." Nick said.

"Still it's evidence. You never know what we may find on there." Sara said.

"True. So no murder weapon or anything?" Nick asked. Sara shook her head.

"Tell the coroner to get the guy on a gurney. Maybe Doc can find something we can't." Nick said. "Brass!"

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I don't want anyone in this parking lot. Sara and I will most likely be back later to find some more evidence. Right now we have to get back to the lab." Nick replied.

"Alright." Brass nodded and Nick went to his truck.

"Sara come on!" he called. The two got in and drove off to the lab. While Nick was going to Greg to see what he could find, Grissom stopped him in the hall.

"Back already?" he asked.

"You're back too." Nick replied.

"We didn't leave yet. What'd you find?" Grissom said.

"Nothing but a really beat up guy and a bloody towel. I'm taking it to Greg to see what he can do. But first I need to go see Doc." Nick said, looking at the bag in his hand.

"No witnesses?" Grissom asked. Nick shook his head.

"How do you get killed in a parking lot and no one see?" he asked.

"Remember that case we had with the plane? Man died in first class none of the passengers would talk?" Grissom asked.

"Yeah... what's that got to do with this?" Nick replied.

"Well maybe none of your witnesses are talking." Grissom said.

"Brass said there was no witnesses."

"Who found the body then?" Grissom wondered, a small smile playing on his face. Nick looked confused and Grissom just shook his head as he walked away. It finally dawned on Nick and he took his cell phone out to call Sara.

"Sidle."

"Hey its me."

"Hey. What's up?"

"I need you to go back to the Monaco."

"For what?"

"Find out who found our John Doe. He or she can be a suspect. I gotta go. Just try and find out ok. Love you."

"Love you too." Sara said and hung her phone up, looking at Catherine.

"Nick?" she asked.

"Yeah. Look I really need to talk to you but he wants me to go back to The Monaco. So I'll talk to you later." Sara replied as Nick ran down the hallway.

"Why did you call?" she called out the door.

"Huh? Oh hey! I didn't know where you were. Its easier." Nick replied, stopping to look at her.

"Where are you going?" Sara asked.

"Doc and then Greg. I really need to go." Nick replied, walking down the hallway again. He went to the autopsy room to find Doc singing to Bruce Springsteen.

"I was born in the U.S.A." he sang.

"Good to know." Nick joked. Doc stopped singing and looked at Nick.

"No one is going to know about this." He said.

"Not a soul. What did you find on my John Doe?" Nick replied.

"Tell me what you found and I'll fill in the blanks." Doc replied.

"Defensive wounds, ligature marks, and gun shot wounds." Nick said, looking at his questioningly.

"You didn't see the stab wounds then?" Doc asked. Nick's mouth dropped open.

"Where was he stabbed?" he asked.

"His left leg, the back of it. It's probably why you didn't see the blood. The blood from his leg mingled with the blood from the gunshot wounds." Doc replied.

"So this guy was strangled, shot, and stabbed?" Nick said. Doc nodded.

"Poor guy." He said.

"I got to call Sara. Hey did you clean him up yet?" Nick asked. Doc shook his head.

"Why?" he asked.

"I got to take something over to Greg. If it comes back negative I need to take some more blood from the deceased." Nick replied, walking out of the room and over to Greg's lab.

"Hey Greggo." He said. "I need you to do me a favor."

"Anything." Greg said. "Oh if you're talking about the DB in The Monaco parking lot your wife already came to talk to me about it."

"Yeah and what'd she say?" Nick asked.

"You found a bloody towel only feet away from the vic. While you weren't looking Sara took a sample of the vic's blood. I need something to compare it with though." Greg replied. Nick tossed the bag over to him.

"Now you do." He said.

"And if it doesn't match to the blood on the vic's clothes?" Greg asked.

"Then I have a theory." Nick smiled and walked out of the room. He took his phone out again and called Sara.

"Sidle."

"Hey it's me again. Are you there yet?"

"Just parked. What's up?"

"I saw Doc. I got a little surprise."

"What was it?"

"He was stabbed."

"Doc?"

"No. The vic. I need you to look for a knife while you're there."

"Nick I told you nothing was left at the scene."

"Just look."

"Alright."

"Thanks. I'll be there as soon as I can." Nick said and hung up the phone.

"Nick!" Greg called and he walked back into the lab.

"What?"

"The blood on the towel doesn't match the blood on the vic's clothes." Greg replied.

"That means he fought for his life." Nick muttered. "The bloody towel is the murderer's blood."

"Right." Greg said.

"I got to go." Nick said and walked over to the autopsy room. "Doc!"

"Nick you're back." He said.

"Yeah. I need to see the deceased." Nick said. Doc nodded and Nick walked over to the body.

"Need anything?" Doc asked.

"Yeah a swab." Nick replied and Doc handed it to him. Nick took a bit of the blood off the body and grinned at Doc.

"You can clean him off now." He said.

"Good." Doc said and Nick walked out and over to Greg.

"Test this." He said. Greg raised an eyebrow.

"Blood from the vic's wounds. Test it." Nick said. A few minutes later Greg looked up at him.

"It matches the blood on his clothes but what about the blood on the towel?" he said.

"Me and Sara have that covered. I'll see you in a bit alright." Nick replied and walked out of the building to his car. He drove over to The Monaco and saw Sara's hunched over on the ground. Nick got out of the car and quietly walked over to her.

"Can I be of any assistance?" he asked. Sara jumped and turned to look at him.

"Hey. Find anything?" she asked.

"Yeah the blood on the towel it's not the victim's." Nick replied. "What are you looking at?"

Sara held up a ring.

"What do you think this is?" she asked. Nick looked closely at it.

"A ring." He replied.

"That's what I thought. Oh your person that found the vic is the owner of The Monaco. Tyler Parker." Sara said. (I have no idea if that's true or not.)

"Good. Question him?" Nick asked.

"No. I was waiting until you got here." Sara replied. "Anyway back to the ring."

"Could be anything." Nick said.

"Right but we're taking it as evidence." Sara said, standing up. "Put this away for me and don't throw it back on the ground. I worked hard tonight."

"I wasn't even thinking of doing that." Nick muttered, putting the ring in an envelope. "Now let's go speak to this Tyler Parker."

They walked into the casino and looked around.

"Now how do we find him?" Nick asked.

"Ask." Sara replied, walking over to the desk.

"Good evening. Can I help you?" a cheery brunette said.

"Yes. I'm Sara Stokes from the Las Vegas Crime Lab. I need to speak to Tyler Parker. Do you know where I can find him?" Sara said.

"Uh... Mr. Parker is a busy man. He may not be able to speak right now." The brunette said, looking nervous. Sara looked at her nametag.

"Look... Linda I'm not sure if you know or not but there was a homicide committed earlier this evening in the parking lot of The Monaco. Mr. Parker was the one that found the deceased. I need to question him." She said.

"Hold a minute." Linda muttered, picking the phone up. "Mr. Parker... Yes... There's a Sara Stokes from the Las Vegas Crime Lab who needs to speak with you."

"Mr. Parker said he'd speak with you. Go to Blackjack table 22. He'll be sitting there." Linda said.

"Thank you." Sara smiled and walked back to Nick. "Found him. Blackjack table 22. Let's go."

"A guy's dead and the man who found him is gambling. Think we got a suspect?" Nick said.

"Oh yeah." Sara replied. The two walked to the table and a man with a large pile of chips in front of him smirked as he saw them approach.

"Sara Stokes I take it?" he asked, standing up. "Pretty name for a pretty lady."

"Well thank you. Mr. Parker this is my husband Nick from the Crime Lab as well. We're here to speak with you about the murder that happened in your parking lot." Sara said. Tyler stood up and turned to the dealer.

"Johnny I'll be back in a while." He said. Johnny nodded and Tyler walked over to Nick and Sara. "Follow me."

The three went to an elevator that stopped all the way at the top and Tyler walked to a set of doors, opening them to show an office with a spectacular view of The Strip.

"Nice office." Nick commented.

"Thank you. It comes with the title of owning this hotel." Tyler said.

"Oh. Mr. Parker..." Sara started.

"Tyler, please. Mr. Parker makes me feel old." he interrupted.

"Ok then. Tyler did you know the deceased?" Sara asked.

"Yes I did." He replied.

"Could you tell us his name? We're kind of stuck in that area of our case." Nick said.

"Sure. He was a regular here. High roller. My cousin, Mike Parker." Tyler answered. Sara stole a glance at Nick, who raised an eyebrow.

"You don't seem upset that your cousin's dead." He said.

"Not really close with him. My father and uncle were the owners of the casino/hotel. Mike and I are both only children and they left it to the both of us. Mike didn't want the job so I took it. He came in to throw away his money." Tyler said.

"Did you ever speak with Mike?" Sara asked.

"Yeah. Just because we weren't close didn't mean I didn't like him." He replied.

"Did Mike ever speak to you about money problems? You said he came in to throw away money. Ever have any run-ins with bookies? Other gamblers? You?" Nick asked.

"No. We come from a wealthy family. He had tons of money left. If he had any problems he'd pay people back." Tyler said.

"Did you ever have problems with your cousin?" Nick asked, while Sara looked around the room.

"Uh... what are you doing?" Tyler asked upon seeing Sara getting up and looking at a glass case.

"Nick take a look at this." She murmured. He stood up and walked over to her and smiled to her.

"A dagger." He said.

"It was my father's. 18th century from England." Tyler explained. "I'm sorry but I have to ask you to leave. A big tournament is going on and I have to hand the winner their prize."

Sara looked at Nick.

"Ok. But we're going to have to come back." She said.

"What do I have to do with any of this?" Tyler asked.

"We're not sure yet." Nick replied and he and Sara walked out. As they stood in the elevator Sara started laughing.

"What?" Nick asked.

"There's no big tournament going on." She replied.

"What?"

"When something that big is going on the casinos want people to come so they get money. They advertise. It would have been said in the casino. 'Don't forget about the important poker tournament.' He just wanted us out of there." Sara explained. "I think we've caught our murderer. The dagger could've been used in the stabbing of Mike Parker."

"When we come back I think we'll take Brass along and some cops. Arrest him on the spot. Well at least bring him into custody." Nick said.