Implied Connections
Chapter 12 – Ballistic Intent
By: Braidless Baka
Disclaimer: *insert another witty disclaimer here*
A/N: many thanks to my wonderful betas, RainbowsnStars and KrazyKid197, my fic's would be so… typo-filled without you guys ^_^;;
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Thanks to Sara's previous conversation with Nick, Rachel and Catherine received a much warmer welcome than either of them had anticipated upon reaching the Sidle residence.
"She doesn't like me much," Rachel had said as they walked up the path to the relatively small house. The garden was neat, like Sara herself, even the weeds looked like they were lining up for an inspection.
"I wouldn't say that…"
Rachel shrugged, swapping her kit to the opposite hand as they reached the door, pressing on the doorbell. "I don't really think anyone thinks much of me."
"Nick likes you," Catherine pointed out. Nick really likes you… she added mentally as an afterthought.
Rachel paused for a moment, before smiling slightly, her expression sunnier. "I guess you're right."
Then, sharply, the door was pulled open, to reveal Sara – apparently on her way out. "You going somewhere?"
Sara smiled slightly at Catherine's remark. It wasn't a genuine smile, but at least she was trying. Nick must've called ahead of them, Catherine realised in relief. She was glad of it.
"They want me down at the lab, they want to do something with my sneakers." She paused, taking the opportunity to shoot a glare at Rachel, before returning her gaze to Catherine. "What they need me there for, I'll never know."
"Is it okay if we take a look around?"
Sara renewed her glare as Rachel spoke, looking down at her from the door with distaste. "I guess so. Knock yourselves out. I've got nothing to hide."
With that sentiment, Sara left. Catherine could only hope Nick would have more luck in cheering her up a little. It was sad that Sara had to be coiled up in this; her record thus far was spotless. And with that thought in mind, the two blondes started their investigation of Sara's house.
It was as tidy on the inside as it was on the outside, Catherine noticed. She'd half expected Sara to be a slob. A lot of people are the opposite on the inside of their houses than they appear on the outside. There were photographs of various people on the kitchen wall. Her mother and father. A young boy, possibly a brother or a nephew. Several animals, Sara herself at about college age with a group of others. Catherine somehow felt like she was prying.
"Where does she keep her shoes?"
This question brought Catherine out of her train of thought to look up at Rachel. Taking a few seconds to work out the answer, she pointed back towards the front door. "Over there, by the door."
Nodding, Rachel got to her feet and went over to see. "What're we trying to find here?"
"Something that might tell us who took her sneakers."
Rachel paused at that, and turned to Catherine with a frown, contradictory to the 'ditzy' smile she wore everywhere else. "What makes you think she's innocent?"
The question was one that had never occurred to Catherine. The closest she'd come yet was when Greg was quizzing her on their way to the Hodgeson residence. "She couldn't do it," was the simple reply.
"Lots of things will drive people to murder," came the light reply, as Rachel put her gloves on and was looking through Sara's shoes. "People can have clean records and still wind up in the slammer."
Catherine paused at this. Where was Rachel headed with this?
"I mean," the younger CSI continued after a pause, "What if a guy's totally innocent, but ends up getting killed for it?"
"By a perpetrator?"
"By the law," came the swift response, as Rachel turned over a shoe. "Lots of people get unfairly convicted Catherine. Even if you know Sara's innocent, and even if you collect all the evidence you can, she might still get convicted for a crime she didn't commit."
This speech infuriated Catherine a little, causing her to turn to Rachel with a sharp gaze. "This isn't about not doing enough, Simmons. This is about proving that someone I know is innocent; is actually innocent."
"How do you know?"
I know Sara. That's the main thing. Catherine's earlier answer to Greg's same question swam to the front of her mind. This wasn't about evidence anymore. It was about gut feeling. But she didn't imagine Rachel would take that at full value. "That hair, at the Hodgeson home? That was planted. There was too much of it in one place. Like someone had ripped it out of her hairbrush and dumped it there."
"Don't you think a killer would know better than that? It's kind of obvious."
Catherine shrugged, delicately picking up Sara's hairbrush and dusting at it with her fingerprint brush. She smiled as a fingerprint showed up, a thumbprint on the underside of the handle. Exactly where someone would have to hold it to pull hair out of it. "People do stupid things when they're about to kill someone," she said, with a note of triumph in her voice as she lifted the print.
She was just labelling it, when she heard Rachel gasp. "Oh my, God…"
"What is it?" Quickly Catherine stood, and walked over to where Rachel was still crouched near the shoes. "What've you found?"
Pale, Rachel held up the gun by the butt. Sub-machine sized. Capable of firing off dozens of rounds a minute. "It was in the back of the shoes, like she'd thrown it there after walking in."
Everyone's allowed to carry guns, Catherine told herself quickly. There's nothing illegal about owning a registered firearm. With that thought to steel her nerve, she said quickly, "Bag it. We'll have ballistics eliminate it." Just not machine guns…
"Or match it," said Rachel quietly, obediently getting up to bag the weapon. "Whichever it turns out to be."
"Rachel," snapped Catherine suddenly, making the other woman turn. "I will stake my career on Sara Sidle's innocence. Stop talking about the case as though she's guilty."
"It's hardly fair to slant everything to her innocence. If she is innocent, the evidence will tell us so." She paused, her next sentence taut, as though there was a hidden message in the words. "After all, the evidence never lies, does it?"
"If you're trying to imply something Rachel, just spit it out. I'm not in the mood for riddles right now."
"Catherine, it's a machine gun! It would be hard for someone to plant without Sara noticing it. Why didn't she see it just now when she was getting her shoes?!" She watched Catherine carefully. "You can deny it all you want, but it's just not logical to assume she's innocent."
"It's illogical to assume she's guilty. And if you were from around here you'd know that."
"It's because I'm not from around here that I can see it." She shook her head, returning to the task at hand. "I'm not biased like everyone else in that building."
It was at that point at Catherine really wanted to swing at Rachel. She didn't have a clue what she was talking about. She was preaching to the choir. She really thought that Catherine didn't see the way the evidence was adding up, that she wasn't desperately scrabbling for something to clear Sara's name. The trace evidence would prove it. The trace evidence would rule Sara out.
Having no suspects would be better than just having Sara.