A/N:
LotRseer3350: well thanks... its good that I have a new reviewer.
Ali baron: glad you like it.
Equestrian-babe101: thanks. Yeah I fixed the problem I went back and reloaded the chapter.
Chapter Six: Another Crime Solved
When they got back to the lab, Nick went to speak with Greg while Sara went to talk with Catherine. On his way to see Greg, Nick ran into someone, literally and knocked him or her down.
"Oh Mandy. I'm sorry. I didn't see you coming." He said, extending a hand for her to get.
"No. I saw you coming and I ran into you. Sorry Nick." She said taking Nick's hand to get up off the floor. As she did her sleeve rode up and Nick saw something.
"Aren't you a bit too girly to be wearing a man's watch Mandy?" he asked. Mandy looked at him, puzzled, then pulled her sleeve down.
"It's my brother's. I promised him I'd get it fixed and I put it on so I wouldn't forget." She muttered, a soft blush coming to her face.
"Wow. Wish my sisters were that nice to me when we were younger. Well I got to go see Sanders about something. See you later." Nick said.
"Oh. All right. See you later." Mandy said and went on her way. Nick followed her with her eyes for a second then continued on his journey to see the lab tech. As usual, Greg was sitting at a microscope, jamming to some crazy song with the volume turned up really loud.
"Greg." Nick said. "Greg. Greg. Greg. GREG!"
Greg fell out of his chair.
"Nick! Jesus don't scare me like that." He exclaimed, getting up.
"Well maybe if you didn't have the music blasting so loud that they could hear you in Dallas you would've heard me enter." Nick said.
"Right. Uh... what'd ya want?" Greg said slowly. Nick handed him the ring Sara found at the crime scene.
"It's a ring." Greg said.
"You think? Look test that for fingerprints and see if anything comes up for a Tyler Parker. If it does than I have another assignment for you later tonight." Nick said.
"Tyler Parker?" Greg asked.
"Yeah? What?" Nick replied.
"Well I don't know many Tyler Parkers but if the one you're talking about is the one I'm thinking about he was arrested for attacking a fellow card player two years ago." Greg said.
"Good. Well if me and Sara do this right he'll be back in jail." Nick said. "What are you waiting for? An invitation? Get working!"
Greg started his work and few minutes later smiled at Nick.
"Fingerprints on the outside of the band. Like... if you took off your wedding ring we'd find Sara's fingerprints on it cause she touched the outside of the band when she put it on you. Well these fingerprints belong to Parker. It's his ring." He said. Nick grinned.
"Good job Greg. I need that back right now. All the evidence we have right now is pointing at Parker." He said, taking the ring.
"For what?" Greg asked.
"You got luminol in here?" Nick asked, ignoring Greg's question. Greg handed him a tiny bottle and Nick put a bit of the luminol onto the ring. Blood showed up. He looked at Greg.
"You want another job?" he asked.
"Sure why not?" Greg sighed. Nick swabbed the blood off from the ring.
"See if this matches the blood on the towel I gave you before." He said, handing him the swab. "I got to go find Sara. Page me when you find out."
"Okie dokie." Greg muttered, turning his back towards Nick, who walked out of the room and into Sara.
"Hey. Guess what I found out." She said.
"Tyler Parker was thrown in jail after he attacked a fellow gambler?" Nick asked.
"You spoiled my fun." Sara replied.
"Sorry. Greg told me when I told him Parker's name." Nick said. "Guess what I found out?"
"What?" Sara asked. They started walking down the hallway.
"That ring you found in the parking lot belongs to Parker. And on it was blood. I got Greg checking to see if the blood on the ring matches the blood on the towel." Nick replied. "Don't you just love me?"
"Oh yeah. You're great." Sara smirked. "I have to go meet Catherine. I'll talk to you later."
"Whoa... why are you going to meet her?" Nick asked.
"We're going to have a little talk."
"Right. Ok." Nick muttered, kissing her softly. "I'm gonna get a warrant to search Parker's office and if we don't find anything then a warrant to search his house. He may have run home after murdering his cousin."
"Ok. Have fun." Sara said, kissing him back.
"I'm sure. By the time everything goes through I want you to meet me over at The Monaco at say... 11:30. Ok?" Nick said. Sara nodded and turned to walk the other way. "Oh babe!"
Sara turned around.
"Yeah?"
"Did you see Mandy at all?" Nick asked.
"No why?" Sara replied.
"If you do... look at her watch." Nick said and walked away. Sara watched him with a confused look.
"Ok." She called. Nick turned his head and smiled and then turned the corner.
"Nick!" someone called and Nick turned around, Greg was running after him.
"Done already?" he asked. Greg nodded.
"The blood on the ring matches the blood on the towel." He said. Nick smiled.
"Awesome. Now I've got enough proof to get a warrant." He said. "You just made my day Greggo."
"Anytime Nicky my boy. Anytime." Greg said and walked back into the lab. Nick let out a yell and a lot of people looked out their doors to see if he was all right.
"I'm really happy." He said awkwardly and everyone went on with his or her business. Nick rolled his eyes and grabbed his phone.
"Brass."
"Hey it's Nick. Where are you?"
"Getting a coffee. You?"
"At the lab. I need a warrant."
"For?"
"We've got our murderer."
"Oh really? Who?"
"Tyler Parker. The vic's his cousin, Mike Parker."
"Oh this is getting good. All right. Meet me at The Monaco say in fifteen."
"I told Sara to meet me there by 11:30."
"Well call and tell her fifteen minutes Nicky."
Click. Nick dialed Sara's number and she answered.
"Hi Nicky."
"How'd you know it was me?"
"Because you're the only one who's called me tonight."
"Oh. Change of plans. Meet me at The Monaco in fifteen. Brass is gonna meet us there."
"Ok. Bye."
"Bye."
"Nick!"
Nick turned around and saw Grissom walking towards him.
"What?" he asked.
"Remember I called when you were in Florida and said your watch was missing?" Grissom asked.
"Yeah. I've already seen Mandy's watch." Nick replied.
"Oh. Well... ok then. I'm beginning to think you're right." Grissom said.
"I'm honored. I've got to go meet Brass at my crime scene. Talk to you later?" Nick said.
"Yeah. Good luck." Grissom, walking passed him. Nick smiled and walked towards the exit.
"Mr. Stokes!" the receptionist called. Nick looked at her.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Someone called for you but you were out on the field. I took a number down for you." She said.
"Uh... can you just throw the number out? I mean it didn't have the local area code right?" Nick asked.
"No. It looked out of town."
"Well its not my family, they would've called my cell phone. So just throw it out. If they need to talk to me so bad then they can call my cell phone. But thanks." Nick said.
"Your welcome. Oh how'd the honeymoon go? You and Sara came back quick." The receptionist asked. Nick blinked a couple of times.
"It went good. We missed work that's why we came back." He lied. He flashed her a smile and walked out to the parking lot to his Tahoe as Catherine and Warrick were coming in.
"Any luck?" Catherine asked.
"On what?" Nick replied.
"Your case." Catherine said.
"Oh. It's good. You guys?"
"Not as good. No suspect." Warrick sighed. Nick smirked.
"Who found the body?" he asked as he unlocked his Tahoe. Warrick smiled.
"Thank you!" he exclaimed. Nick just smiled as he stepped into the truck and drove away. He got to The Monaco in good time and found Sara, kneeling down inside the tape again.
"What do you find so interesting that every time I ask you to come here you're in the same spot?" he asked.
"Blood." Sara replied. "There is blood where the body was but then it's like it moved. Look. That is where the body was then there is a trail of blood, stopping only a few feet from where you found that towel."
"Did you by any chance see if Parker had bodily injuries?" Nick asked.
"No. Why?" Sara said.
"The blood I found on the ring matches the blood on the towel. Greg told me. I already told you the ring belongs to Parker." Nick explained.
"So the blood may be from the vic." Sara said.
"The blood on the towel doesn't match the vic's blood. It's the murderer's blood. I asked Greg to test the ring for fingerprints and the prints came back Parker's. He's the only one that's touched his ring. The blood has to be his and the only way he could have blood is from getting hurt. Mike Parker had defensive wounds on him. The two got into a fight." Nick said. "Come on. I got Brass coming with a warrant."
"He's already here." Sara said.
"Good. Let's go."
The two walked into the casino and found Brass waiting for them.
"About time. Do you know where to find Parker?" he said.
"Mhmm. Well if he's a Blackjack addict then we do." Nick answered. Brass stared at him.
"We found him at Blackjack table 22. Told the dealer he'd be back. Maybe he's still there." Nick explained.
"Oh. I see. Well lead the way Nicholas." Brass said.
"Thank you." He muttered and walked towards the blackjack tables.
"There he is." Sara whispered, pointing at one of the tables.
"He's young." Brass commented.
"Yeah and rich." Nick added. "Not only is he the cousin of the vic, he owns The Monaco."
"I thought some old guy did." Brass said.
"Yeah until he died and handed it down to his son." Sara said. "Come on before he goes somewhere."
"Does he think you know he did it?" Brass asked as they walked towards the young man.
"Possibly." Nick muttered. "Mr. Parker."
Tyler looked up.
"Mr. Stokes. Hello Sara. I'm afraid I don't know your friend." He said, standing up.
"Captain Jim Brass. I'm the homicide detective on this case." Brass said.
"Well you know my name." Tyler smirked. "What can I do for you?"
"We have a warrant to search your office Mr. Parker." Sara said.
"I don't have anything to do with my cousin's murder." Tyler said.
"Well too bad cause we're searching your office anyway." Nick smiled and began to walk towards the elevators. Sara, Brass, and Tyler followed him. As soon as they got to Tyler's office Sara and Nick went to the glass case holding the 18th century English dagger.
"Mr. Parker we'll need to take this dagger back to the Crime Lab." Sara said. Nick put some gloves on and reached into the case, carefully taking the dagger out.
"Why?" Tyler asked.
"This is now evidence. On the back of Mike's leg there were stab marks from a knife of some sort." Nick replied, examining it. "Sara..."
"Yeah?"
"What's that look like to you?" Nick asked. Sara looked at the dagger closely.
"Dry blood." She muttered. Nick placed the dagger in the bag.
"Check the rest of the office." He said. A few minutes later,
"Nick I found our other murder weapon."
Nick and Sara both looked up to find Brass hunched over, going through a bag. He stood up straight, a gun in hand.
"9mm caliber gun." Sara said.
"Did we ever find the bullet from the vic?" Brass asked.
"Yeah I had it tested in Trace." Sara replied.
"A bullet is missing from this gun." Brass stated, emptying the gun's contents onto Nick's hand. Nick looked up at Tyler, who's mouth was open in shock.
"Don't look so shocked. Mr. Parker you killed your cousin Mike didn't you." He said.
"You can't prove that." Tyler said.
"Actually we can and we have. Mike suffered a shot to his left arm. We bring your gun in as evidence and we can prove that the bullets from your gun match the bullet from Mike's arm. He was also stabbed in the back of his left leg. Your dagger has dry blood on it. We found a bloody towel outside in the crime scene not with Mike's blood but his murderer's blood." Sara said, looking at Tyler's right hand. "You have a tan line."
"I usually wear a ring. I didn't put it on today." Tyler said.
"More like you lost it. You and Mike got into a fight and... don't know where you got the blood from yet but you got blood on your ring. You wiped the blood off you with a towel and clumsily left it outside. Your ring came off with the towel. We found it and the blood from your ring matches the blood on the towel. Either you tell us everything or we'll take blood from you and see that it matches the blood from the towel." Nick said.
"Alright. Mike and I got into a fight because he left his ID at his house. He figured, 'I've got a say in the casino and I can come in anytime I like. I don't need to be ID by the dealers.' We went outside and he drew the dagger from his pocket. We got into another fight over him being in my office and the dagger scraped my arm." Tyler started, rolling up his sleeve in the process. There was a mark from the dagger. So far he was telling the truth. "He was drunk and pulled his gun out on me. We wrestled around for it, I was trying to get it away from him and that's when my ring must've come off. It is my blood on the ring because it ran down my arm, onto my hand. I finally got the gun and my emotions got the better of me and I shot him in the arm. He was still alive then and grabbed the gun from me. Mike staggered and tripped, landing on his stomach and that's when I seized my opportunity. I stabbed him in the leg, multiple times. Finally he just died."
"So you killed your cousin over a heated argument?" Sara asked. Tyler nodded.
"Matt, cuff him." Brass said. "Tyler Parker you are under arrest for the murder of Michael Parker."
The police officer escorted Tyler out of the room and Brass turned to Nick and Sara.
"Well the Dynamic Duo's done it again." He said.
"Oh please." Nick said.
"I've got a feeling Grissom's going to be putting the two of you together much more. Just no kissy-kissy stuff on the job." Brass said.
"Right. So do you think we're done for the night or Griss is going to give us another case?" Sara asked.
"I'm tired. I don't know how I got through tonight without falling asleep." Nick replied.
"Well you guys are done here. Go home." Brass said and the two nodded, walking out of the office, arm in arm. When they got to the parking lot, Sara wrapped her arms around Nick.
"What's this for?" he asked, holding her close.
"Nothing. I just... if anything ever happened to you I don't know what I'd do." Sara replied.
"Oh baby nothing is going to happen to me." Nick murmured, stroking her hair.
"You never know. I know you don't like talking about it but when Nigel Crane was stalking you I thought you were going to end up being the next victim at one of our crime scenes." Sara said. Nick pulled away from her only enough to capture her lips in a passionate kiss. They finally broke apart when Brass tapped Nick on the shoulder.
"I know you guys like having intimate time together but it looks like its about to rain and we don't need two of the best CSIs coming down with pneumonia because they were having a make-out fest in the parking lot of The Monaco." He said and Sara laughed. "What? I'm serious."
"I've never heard you speak like that Brass." She replied.
"Ah it only happens a few times a year. Don't get used to it." He said and walked to his own car. Sara turned back to Nick.
"I guess we should go home then." She said.
"Yeah unless you'd like to continue and catch pneumonia like Brass said." Nick smirked. It began to drizzle.
"We could go home." Sara said. That drizzle turned into a downpour.
"Yeah I think you're right." Nick said, running over to his Tahoe.
"I'll meet you at home!" Sara called, running across the parking lot to her Tahoe.
