For Disclaimer see Default Chapter
Chapter Ten – Conspiracy"Hey Cath!" Nick shouted along the hall way, just returning from his crime scene. "I've heard you already bagged your case. Any chance we can get a hand with our BEs? Same MO as the last five cases, forced entry concentrating on main floor level, cutting the window with a diamond knife near the lever, in and out within seconds. The perp or plural, we don't know that yet, is just grabbing what's lying around. Mostly even worthless stuff. Low profile, no witnesses, no viable suspect, this case sucks. I'm stuck here."
"Alright, Nicky. What do we have? Any coincidences? What do the locations have in common?" Catherine tried to help.
Greg answered "Well, same area, main floor entry, victims are young females, break in is pretty easy, old fashioned locks. Big windows, also good to spy in. We didn't find any semen or viable foot prints though. Perhaps somebody is using binoculars. That's how I would do it." He grinned.
"Sounds like somebody's escalating, huh?. It may have started as peeping, now BE, trophy hunting, maybe? What's missing? Underwear, maybe shoes or scarf?" Warrick said.
Nick nodded "That's exactly what I was thinking. Well, the only guy who was hanging around and getting on my nerves with his over-helpfulness was the janitor, Paul Whatshisname. His fingerprints were all over the scenes. Which does make sense, because he's doing all the repairing. But why should this guy break in if he's got all the apartment keys?"
"Perhaps he wanted a look-alike, so that he can be the good guy. Let Brass get a warrant for his place, perhaps we get lucky and find evidence. If we imply trophy collecting, then somebody definitely likes to keep it." Catherine suggested.
Later the day Nick, Greg and Brass returned to the crime scene and paid janitor Paul Redovski a particular visit. Hidden behind a secret door in his closet they finally found what they were looking for.
"He kept piles of lady's gown, underwear, shirts and so on in this locker. Well, it was definitely not La Perla, but some pieces were, well, very, hmm, zestfully." Brass reported to Catherine after bringing in the suspect.
"Best was what we found on his computer. Redovski set up a homepage where he sold this stuff. There are actually people paying lot's of Georges for worn lady's clothing. He had orders coming in from all over the country. Gross! But he made quite a buck with it, keeping FedEx busy. When he started his, uh, particular business, Redovski just went shopping and crumpled the stuff to make it look like it was worn. But the customers wanted authentic stuff, he had claims. I rather not talk about the details of what had been missing. Anyway, to meet his customer's expectations he looked for new opportunities of supply. So he entered the apartments using the front door with his main key, grabbed what he needed and left. Later on in the dark he set up the BE to avert suspicion from him. But he insisted that he never harmed or scared the girls living in. He always made sure that they left before he went in. Perhaps if he just would have asked and shared the profit, some of the girls would have happily provided him with this stuff voluntarily"
"Jim, please don't even think about it!" Catherine stopped him. "You definitely need a woman to control your pheromones and fantasy." Brass blushed slightly.
"Well, guys. Case closed then." Catherine sighed. "Nick, Warrick, Greg, Jim. You are free either to go home now and pretend that everything is going to be alright in this place or you stay and listen what I have to say."
"Jim, you are not, how should I say it, a team member, so to say. So if you would rather to prefer to step out now, it is perfectly ok." Catherine looked at him very seriously.
"Catherine, don't offend me. It is about Grissom, isn't it? He's a friend. I rather stay and listen, you can trust me, whatever you are going to say. But first, I would suggest any other place than the office if you wanna talk, uh, in private."
"Yeah, Jim. Let's meet at Charlie's. That's less conspicuous." She smirked. "At least then we all can have something to eat, right?"
They nodded in agreement and split. Nobody in the lab noticed at all, that something was going on with this team besides business. That there was a specific re-bonding, like back in the days they worked together as a team in graveyard. A certain spirit was back.
Catherine brought them up to scratch about the conversation with Ecklie, Grissom's non-responsiveness and fallback. She shared her feelings about this, and about the undeserved second promotion. "I rather prefer getting promoted by merit not by Ecklie's courtesy. Now I'm afraid if Grissom finally makes his mind up, that he may quit. He kept his distance in the past couple of weeks and started talking about a request from University in Wisconsin. They want to have him as lecturer for entomology in crime scene investigation. I must admit that I do not feel very comfortable with loosing him. And I'm not talking about the lab here, I also don't want to loose a friend." Catherine almost burst into tears.
"Well, guys. Help me out here. What are we going to do? I myself already decided to go to Ecklie and resign, if Grissom would decide to leave the lab because of this. But I can just speak for myself."
Warrick was the first to answer. "Grissom always had my back. I wouldn't even have a job and a future, if he hadn't been more than a boss, uh, back the days when I messed up and Holly died. Not to forget how he supported me with my gambling issues. As for a friend, I'm also going to quit. I can find a job in San Francisco or wherever."
"I'm on the same page here" Nick's answer came after some awkward seconds of silence. "I never really liked the team split anyway. Sorry Cath, it's not about you and your leadership style. I just liked the team as it was. And if we aren't a team anymore, I rather go look for another location. We CSI's are needed everywhere."
Everybody looked at Greg. He was feeling quite uncomfortable with all eyes resting on him. "Look, sorry guys, I really need the money. I cannot afford to quit. Moreover I do not have the professional experience you have to easily find another CSI job." Greg went silent again. Then he lifted his head and showed them a grim smile. "But, I can go back to the lab anytime. Buh bye crime scene investigator, hello again lab rat."
Brass didn't say anything. He listened and learned. What a great team Grissom has. No wait, not his team anymore, but still. They are great people. What's his secret, he wondered. This deep loyalty and sympathy. Grissom did some things right here. Grissom would never have asked for friendship though and he also would never admit that he needs people he can rely on, but here they are, his friends. Acting without asking for his permission, willingly choosing a way to help him out, even if it would have bad consequences.
Brass had to clear his throat before he could answer, quite affected by their statements. "As member of the law enforcement I have to tell you that this plan is pretty close a mutiny. You all can get fired for this and loose your professional reputation. You might as well end up in facility management or at a gas filling station, just to name two options. And I'm not exaggerating here. I myself probably could still get a job as private-eye though." He lifted the collar of his jacket and imagined smoking a cigarette."So not too bad perspectives for me here. Well, I'm on it. Catherine, how are you going to handle this?"
"Well, I thought about giving Ecklie a lap-dance while telling him." Brass swallowed but got it. "You're not serious." She started laughing. "No, but I will invite him to dinner and talk it out. I plan on having you guys all waiting somewhere in the background and on call in case he wouldn't believe. I am pretty sure that Ecklie cannot afford loosing a whole shift. He may be able to replace one or two of us without creating too much fuss, but the whole team? This will backfire on him personally. HR will call in an internal investigation and probably ask some uncomfortable questions, and create some unwanted negative publicity. Yeah, it's cheap blackmail, but it is the only weapon we've got." Cath picked up her mobile and made the call.