Chapter Two "Shall we"

The cold blue flashing lights illuminated the front of the typical suburban house on the out skirts of the Las Vegas city. Different crime scene but the familiar yellow tape was ever present cordoning off the area. A mixed crowd of neighbours and a few police drifted aimlessly at the edge of the tape. As Grissom approached Brass his eyes scanned the scene before him clinically storing everything away in his memory for future reference. Warrick came up behind nodding to Brass when they reached him.

"The Vic's name is Samantha, Samantha Dyer. Found by her husband just under an hour ago, coroner pronounced it 20 minutes later She bled out from slit wrists.Looks like this ones a straight forward suicide. She's in the kitchen second room on the left. No signs of forced entry" Brass finished as they reached the front door.

Grissom entered the house stopping for a moment before entering the kitchen. Slightly ajar the kitchen door a pitiful reminder that this was no normal visit. Grissom gently pushed it with the tips of his fingers causing it to swing open fully. He took a moment to visualise and take in every detail of the scene before him, behind Warrick stood waiting.

"er hay Griss, you er going to go in?"

Grissom paused slightly and gave Warrick a little look,

"Warrick you know when most people look at something they don't really see it, they only see what their brain tells them to see. We are taking in millions of bits of visual information every second and the conscious mind cannot cope with that; it's a limit of attention. So only a small amount is actually built up into the picture we see the rest is filled in by what our Brian thinks we should be seeing. I'm just making sure everything I see gets my attention. Shall we"

Warrick with a sigh of frustration followed Grissom. Griss was sure weird when it came to crime scenes, hell when it came to about anything but after years of working with him you get used to the Shakespeare quotes and pearls of wisdom. What was it they say genius comes hand in hand with madness? Look even he was at it now.

The body was sprawled on the kitchen floor slightly against some cabinets, blood was everywhere mainly around the body but some on the counter and in the sink.

"Pity its Cath's day off, we should have her on this she the blood splatter expert."

He said getting out the camera, knowing Grissom would want him to do a scout of the rest of the house to rule out a brake in.

"You telling me you can't handle this Warrick?"

Looking up Warrick wondered if Griss was kidding or not, sometimes it was hard to tell. "I can handle it, just knowing Catharine she would probably enjoy this."

Grissom raised an eyebrow his piercing blue eyes meeting Warricks.

"Good you can make a start here then while I investigate the rest of the house."

Warrick shocked frowned slightly at Grissom letting him take the lead but then his face turned into a broad grin, "Already on it".

5 minutes later and Warrick was ready to look at the body having photographed every single drop of blood he could find in the kitchen. It started in the sink. He could imagine her there, standing left arm in the sink while she cut her self with the sharp kitchen knife he had found and bagged held in her right hand. That made sense many suicide victims thought beyond their deaths doing it over the sink made less of a mess, but then she left the sink. There was a trail of blood drops and smudges as she crossed the floor, they where confused in the middle where she'd been stepping in her own blood, pacing?

Why turn away from the sink, why not stay there and finish the job, why didn't she cut her other wrist as well, it felt like she had become distracted, had she panicked? And then there was blood over the counter and the phone. She had picked up the phone he'd lifted some bloody prints but no call had been made, there was no 911 on the redial he'd checked. The blood loss had to have been having an effect because she dropped the knife before lowering her self to the floor.

She'd probably have passed out continued to loose blood and died while unconscious. Taking a few photos from standing he then put down the camera. There was blood all over her, Warrick crouched down carefully making sure he didn't get any blood on him self on contaminate any evidence not that there was really anything to find. A few hairs but they looked like hers. Nothing to indicate fowl play. Sighing he stood up just to see Grissom reappear at the doorway.

Warrick gave him a quick run down of what He'd found and what he thought of it all. "Grissom I'm telling you I'm seeing this as a simple suicide, but there's something that just doesn't add up about her behaviour."

Grissom smiled "Nothing is ever simple Warrick. Would you still think that if I told you I found some partial fingerprints in blood on the back door"

"I'd tell you some one else had to have been here, because they can't be hers. She never left the kitchen. You thinking this is murder, because I ant seeing that in any scenario."

"I just interested to know if there was some one else present witnessing Mrs Dyer's death...."

"Mommy"

Both men turned to see a small girl standing in the doorway.

"Hello," Grissom said in a soft voice "I'm Grissom and this is Warrick...."