Catherine woke up, her head pounding and her body aching. She was tied to a chair, her arms bound behind her. "Gil?" she whispered, "Gil, help me!"
A light flashed on, temporarily blinding her. Catherine blinked rapidly, her eyes trying to adjust to the change in light. Christopher walked over to her, running his hand down her face. "Hello Catherine," he murmured in her ear. Catherine tried to squirm away from his repulsive touch, but she was unable to move more than a few centimeters.
He drew a camera out of his pocket, waving it in front of her face. "Well, all your cop friends should be expecting this, so let's not disappoint them. Catherine glared at him, too angry/scared to say anything. Christopher chuckled, "perfect!" and the camera clicked and flashed. Catherine lowered her head to protect her eyes from any more sudden light changes, and he took several other photos. After he had taken the pictures, he stalked out, slamming the door behind him.
Catherine listened for a few minutes, unmoving. Then it hit her: he didn't lock the door! She struggled furiously to free her hands - the rope cut into her wrists, leaving wicked bruises all over, and drawing blood in some places.
She had almost given up, when the rope slipped a quarter inch down her hands. With one last, painful, attempt, Catherine bent her wrist at an almost unfeasible angle, trying to reach the knot. She grasped it with her fingertips and, biting her lip to keep from crying, began to loosen the tangle strand by strand.
-----------------CSI Lab--------------
The receptionist walked into Grissom's office. "Excuse me?" He looked up from the music book he had been studying. "There's another package for you...."
Grissom jumped up, following her out into the hall. He picked the package up carefully between his gloved hands, carrying it to the evidence room. He paged the rest of the team and began dusting the outside for prints as they rushed to the lab.
Once he was done printing and everyone else had had arrived, Grissom slowly opened the manila envelope, and the pictures spilled out: Catherine tied to a chair, unconscious; Catherine, her head hanging; Catherine fully awake, glaring at the cameraman.... Grissom dropped the pictures on the table, and stepped back, crying unashamedly.
Nick shuffled through the pictures, almost weeping at the sight of his friend in such distress. Then he noticed the writing on the back of one of the photographs. "Hey Gil, look at this." He flipped it over, and they all read:
"I told you all to drop the case: I mean it! If
you are smart, you will cut your loses and move
on before someone else gets hurt. I am NOT
playing around! -'The Opera Killer"
P.S.-By the way: if you couldn't figure out that
last piece, look at Schumann's 'the Erlking'."
Grissom ran back to his office and pulled an enormous volume off his desk. He filled it open and had found the correct page within seconds.
Nick, Sara and Warrick had just reached his office when the giant tome came flying out into the hall, crashing against the wall. "Gil?"
Grissom was in shock. "That Bastard!" He shouted, "that goddamned Son of a Bitch!"
Warrick picked up the book and found the page.
"I love you,
Your beauty allures me-
If you are not willing,
Then I shall use force!"
--------------Pow-Wow, Half an Hour Later------------
Brass walked in, closing the door behind him. "Well, every cop in the state is looking for Chris Johnson, but...."
Grissom looked at the pictures spread over the table. Each of the serial's victim's pictures were laying in order on the white surface. Sara added the photos of Catherine right next to Susie Dickinson.
"All the pictures are in the same warehouse, do we have any way of finding out where that is?
Grissom shook his head sadly. "Nothing so far, but we still have to finish processing Catherine's house. Nick, you and Sara get that - there's plenty of cops there, but be careful. Warrick - Doc. Robins wants to start on the body soon, so you take that. The sheriff has already called - I can't touch the evidence, but like hell I'm gonna drop this. So I'm strictly supervisor on this one - look but don't touch. You all call me if you find anything, OK?" That last was more of an order than a question; they all nodded mutely before turning to complete their respective tasks.
A/N: Well, that's it for now, I'll try to update soon, but I have exams this week, so we'll see.... Thanks for the reviews!