A/N: Sorry this took SO long! Thanks to CassieHill, for always being there to bounce ideas off of. Enjoy!
Sara was on her way to see Hodges about the black paint chips when Grissom caught up with her. "I was just talking to Brass, Mr. Kenneth had a fairly large life insurance policy for his wife".
"How large?"
"One million dollars," although he kept a straight face while he said it Sara could tell Grissom was trying not to smirk.
"I didn't realize the Kenneth's were that wealthy".
"They're not. In fact dear, old Mr. Kenneth is two hundred thousand dollars in debt". Now the smirk was unmistakable.
"So, what, your thinking... motive?"
"It looks that way".
"But this was an accident."
"We don't know that for sure. I'm going to go see Jacqui about the prints"
"I was just about to check in on Hodges".
"Good. Meet me in the garage when you're done". Grissom saw the puzzled look that past across the face of his companion, "We have a crime scene to reexamine".
Sara had noticed the printout of her results sitting on the edge of Hodges' desk, and had swiped them before he was able to turn around. She didn't have time for him to show off (besides she didn't need any more of his not-so-subtle allusions to her and Grissom). She read through the file in the front seat of the Kenneth's vehicle as she waited for her supervisor. The colour of the paint chips was "Black Mamba", and fortunately it was only offer on a particular vehicle, Hummers. It makes sense, she thought, no wonder the second car was able to leave the scene. Her internal monologue was momentarily interrupted by the arrival of Grissom.
"Did you know I once worked a case where a couple had died of carbon monoxide poisoning, because they where having intercourse while parked in their garage and they had left their car idling?"
"Why didn't they just go up to their bedroom?"
"I don't know..." Grissom appeared really be pondering the question, and as a result missed the completely confused look Sara was giving him as to the relevance of his comment.
"Did Jacqui tell you anything useful?"
"The victim's prints on the seatbelt, husband's prints on the wheel, the seatbelt release however, was all smudges, she could not get any useable prints off it". As he said the last part he off handedly tossed her the smudges he had collected to illustrate his point. Not that it was necessary; Sara had seen smudged prints before. She didn't really even look at it; instead she turned back to Grissom.
"So we have motive, but no evidence to support a murder, and a second vehicle we know nothing about, except that it's a Hummer," Sara held up her results before he could ask how she acquired this new information.
"Okay, let's play it out. You're Jane Kenneth, I'm Adam and we are on our way home from our anniversary dinner".
"All right," Cast as a married couple, Sara wondered if Grissom saw the irony in that.
"Well if Jackie could get victims prints off the seatbelt we know that she had it one for at least some of the trip, but Mr. Kenneth said she took it off so she could get more comfortable and go to sleep".
"Then I suggest you go to sleep,"
Sara put her against the window, but instantly moved it because of the awkward angle it put her neck at. She tossed and turned on the seat, tried every conceivable position, but none of them yielded any comfort. "The vic was my height, right?"
"There abouts, why?"
"Whether the seatbelt's on or not I'm not going to be comfortable here. Unless I recline the seat, but it was upright when we found it".
"I'm sure you can manage it," Grissom had to smile at the insolent look that Sara gave him just before resting her head against the back of her seat, still facing him, and closing her eyes. "Alright, so it's late, we have been driving for a while, you've fallen asleep, and I"
"Take your eyes off the road for just a second".
"Right. I probably glance lovingly down at my sleeping wife". Sara quickly opened and shut one of her eyes, but it was enough to catch the loving look Grissom was giving her. She tried to figure out if he was: (a) role playing, (b) teasing, or (c) serious. It probably wasn't (c), She thought, and waited for him to continue. "And then we hit something, my airbag expanse, and you get flung from the vehicle".
"I don't have to act out being thrown through the window, do I?" With her character now deceased Sara sat up straight and rubbed the back of her neck. "It's too bad this was a 96 model, the newer cars have passenger side airbags. Even without a seat belt it would have..." Grissom was drumming his fingers against the steering wheel and it caught her attention, "Where were the husband's hands at the moment of impact?"
"On the wheel, I would suppose".
"They couldn't have been, I saw the paramedics treating him, he sustained no injuries to his wrists."
"So his hands were not on the steering wheel, his eyes were not on the road, is it any wonder why he hit something?"
Sara barely heard his rhetorical question. She was trying to put the whole thing together. Even if it was his plan to hit the Hummer it did not explain why he hadn't had his hands on the wheel. Although he had both a seatbelt and airbag, holding on to the wheel provided a bit support, at least mentally. It didn't make sense for him to just... let go. Sara began to glance around the car, trying to see what Adam Kenneth saw, searching for something, anything he might have reached for. Her eyes at last fell on the dash where she had placed Grissom's smudges. Picking it up, she now stared at the prints intently. Although most of the ridge detail hand been lost she was still able to make out that they were fingerprints. Her thoughts flashed back to the night before and in her mind's eye she saw Grissom collecting the prints. "I know where his hands were," Sara said triumphantly, holding up the seeming useless smudges. "These prints are upside-down. If I were going to undo the seatbelt I would have to reach over with my right hand, making my fingers point towards you, that's not the direction of these prints. If I thought sleeping in here was uncomfortable, it would be nothing compared to trying to twist my arm around, to make these prints. It had to be the Mr. Kenneth".
"He knew the Hummer would be there. He undid his wife seatbelt at the last second so that she would be thrown from the car".
"I think we should call Brass".
Although Nick and Warrick even practiced exactly what they would say when Grissom arrived, they both had to admit they were still rather nervous when it came to their performance.
"Okay he's on his way," Greg said as he reentered the DNA lab.
"What did you tell him?" Warrick asked, already sure Grissom could smell and setup mile away.
"I didn't say anything to him, I just paged him".
"You paged him?" Nick spluttered in disbelief, "You paged him to the DNA lab when he is working an auto accident? He couldn't have giving you any DNA evidence,"
"Oh, he didn't," Greg said offhandedly, keeping careful watch for Grissom.
"Then why should he come down here?"
"Curiosity, my dear boy. Because, like you said, what reason do I have to page him? And the man does not disappoint! Places everyone, it's time to begin".
Grissom was just about to take a break when he received Greg's page. Most days he would have ignored it, but they were making leeway on their case and that always put him in a good mood, so he was happy to oblige the young lab rat. He could just barely hear Nick and Warrick, but it wasn't until he was a metre from the door that he could understand what they were really saying.
"No way man, I don't believe you!"
"Come on," insisted Greg. "You can see just by looking at her that Sara is in love with him."
Upon hearing that Grissom froze. He desperately wanted to believe that they were talking about someone other than him. Nick, however quickly shattered that wish.
"I know she has a crush on Grissom, but love?"
"Yes love! Warrick, back me up."
"Sorry Nicky, but I agree with Greg. She's head over heels."
By this point Grissom had finally had enough sense to move to the left of the doorway to avoid being seen by any of the occupants of the lab. He stood there shell-shocked listening to his meddlesome colleges.
"Has she ever told you this?" Nick asked Greg, a little over the top.
"No... but I heard it from the next best person."
"Grissom?"
"Are you kidding?" Warrick added in, "She could be lying on his desk in wearing nothing but a bra and panties and he still wouldn't get it!"
"Tell me about it. If she gave me half the hints she throws at him I would have married her by now." Everyone was a little taken aback by how truthful Greg sounded.
"So," Warrick said, trying to steer the conversation back to the topic at hand, "Who is your source on Sara and Grissom?"
"Catherine."
Grissom had to admit that that did strengthen their argument. There were always rumours circling about Sara and him, but if Catherine was repeating it something must have changed. As if continuing from where Grissom had left off Nick asked, "So, what does Cathe know? Spill!"
"Well, you guys must solemnly swear to repeat this to no one. I'm serious! If Catherine finds out that I'm telling you this she'll... she'll never tell me gossip again." Even Grissom, shocked and confused as he was, had to roll his eyes at the last remark. "Okay, Cathe said she went into the locker room last Tuesday and found Sara sitting on the bench madly scribbling on a piece of paper. Catherine didn't think anything of it, but when she said "Hello," to her Sara jumped a mile and quickly hid the paper"
"Yeah, but how do you know it was a love letter?"
It was a good thing Grissom could no longer see them because Greg and Warrick had gone ghostly pale. Nick had skipped a bunch of lines. If they didn't act soon Grissom would figure out what they were doing. It was time for a little ... what was the word? ... Oh yes, adlibbing!
"For once your sarcasm is right. Believe it or not that's exactly what Catherine found. You see," Greg said, skillfully leading them back to their script. "As Sara left the locker room she tossed out what she had been writing. Catherine, of course, picked it up and found Sara and Grissom 'between the sheets'!" There was a dramatic pause before they continued again.
"Should we tell Grissom?"
"NO!" Warrick and Greg chorused, now fully in role.
"If you do that all the gossip dries up."
"Besides, who's to say he would even believe you?" Warrick added heartily. "And if he did, would he do anything about it?"
"So what do we do?"
"Nicky, my boy, this is out of our hands."
Having now completed their task the three occupants of the DNA lab all breathed a sign of relief. The rest of the plan was Catherine's responsibility now.
"Well," said Warrick heading towards the door, "We should get back to work. Catch you later, Grego!" and with that they were gone. They couldn't help but notice that Grissom was no longer standing in the doorway. "I hope we know what we're doing," Warrick mused as they headed to the layout room.
Grissom sat in his office replaying the whole conversation over in his mind, as if it were some TV flashback. It didn't seem possible; in fact it was decidedly impossible. Sara writing a love letter, it was absurd. He knew that he should ignore the whole conversation, the only thing that was holding him back was the fact that that was the exact course of action they had said he would take... Could Sara really be in love with him? She had asked him out last year, but she had made on inquiries since then.
Regardless of her feelings for him, Grissom began to realize he had no understanding of how he felt about her. She was his friend. But was that it? If that were true why was it that he let her get away with everything rather than get into an argument with her? Why was it that Debbie Marlin's case had affected him that much?
As if on clue Sara entered his office, "Hey Gris, Brass is still working on that warrant, there's some holdup at the clerks office, but he says we should have it in about an hour."
Grissom barely heard a word she said. He had tried to scan her face for some proof of what the others had been talking about, but she was all he saw. Much to his surprise he realized she was rather... beautiful. Had be noticed that before?
"Do you want to have lunch? Or whatever you call it at this hour." Grissom was speechless. They were right. She was asking him out! Or was she? "I mean I was just going to microwave some burritos, but I can make you some too."
"No thanks," he managed to get out semi-normally.
"Okay, I'll come find you when I have the warrant." She casually left his office unaware of the trap awaiting her.
(TBC)