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Chapter Twelve – Crashed

Sheriff Brooks stood dumbfounded when he peered through the open back office door where he found Grissom and his younger female co-worker still in bed, together, asleep. Grissom's arms were wrapped around her in a protective gesture, she cuddling against his chest. Silently he closed the door. It was about ten in the morning, they must have been pretty exhausted. From what? He wondered. Anyway none of my business, but I wonder what his wife would say to this. Brooks shook his head.

Shirley Vincent still hadn't arrived yet and Brooks was already musing if she had just played a role and was on the run by now. She would have about half a day head start. I better get state police to run a search on her. He started to make some loud noises when calling his colleagues from NSP, raising his voice so that his guests in the back would have the chance to wake up and settle themselves.

When Grissom woke up first, startled by in the front office noises. He felt quite rested. "Honey, wake up." He gently touched Sara's shoulder. Sara opened her eyes and gave him a soft glance. "Hurry up, Sheriff's already arrived. We don't want him to think to much about this, huh?"

"Morn, Gil" she mumbled and rubbed her eyes. My god, she looks so cute. I hope that I will never wake up again without her by my side. It does feel so right. He thought. "Go, go! Wake up, dress up, gear up! We have to work!" Grissom managed to say in a playfully demanding tone.

Twenty minutes later they sat together with the Sheriff sipping on their coffees. More than one time Brooks' eyes wandered back and forth between them, but he would bite his tongue before anything would slip out about his earlier findings.

"We need to search Shirley's car, as soon as she arrives, Sheriff." Grissom said. "We need a judge to sign a warrant."

"Judge Wheeler lives hundred fifty miles up north. Normally we have no need for warrants here. My authority has been enough. So this may take some time." Brooks opened his desk drawer. "But just in case you really would need one, Doctor, I've got some here. Just fill in the blanks." He grinned like a Cheshire Cat.

"You keep plain signed warrants in your office?" Grissom asked upset. "If a jury would get intelligence of this kind of procedure, a case can get busted, you know!"

"Well, it's like with you guys", Brooks meaningful raised an eyebrow, "As long as nobody knows, nobody cares, right?" he smirked.

"This would be none of your business, Sheriff! But ok then, let's do it your way." Grissom sighed.

Two hours later Nevada State Police called back to notify an accident. They had found a car just twenty miles away from Jackpot. "Fatal high speeding" Brooks reported to Grissom and Sara. "Burned rubber indicates that the driver was trying to avoid a deer or another obstacle on the road, driver lost control, car hit a ditch and overturned several times. The female driver had not been buckled up. She was tossed out of the car and probably died when going through the windshield. Positive ID on Shirley Vincent. They are towing the vehicle in so that we can have a look at it anyway."

When the car arrived at the gas station, Grissom asked Cooperman for support to break into it. "Accidental vehicle, evidence as such, no warrant necessary." He explained more to himself. Cooperman shrugged, he didn't care anyway. They opened the trunk and found some yellow rain boots covered with dried mud. "Sara, go swab it and compare it to the dirt we have found on the crime scene. I'm convinced that we get a match." Grissom was not even merely surprised when he also found a nine mm weapon in the glove compartment. The gun had been fired and not cleaned afterwards. He taped it for finger prints and would later match it to Shirley's.

Sara did as being told and returned with the result a few minutes later. "Positive! Mineral findings place her at the crime scene, Gil. But we will never be able to exactly reconstruct what had happened and why."

"Three people are dead. Some of them ended as victims, some of them as suspects. Whatever happened, Sara, is irrelevant now. They all have been culprits and victims long before that and finally it has just been nature itself that made them pay their debts. What's remarkable in this case is the fact that the landslide occurred on the exact time of the crime and more surprising instead of burying the bodies they were uplifted by the debris flow and ended up as milestones apparent on the surface. And let's not forget Sheriff Brooks following his gut feeling." He gave Brooks an appreciated nod. "Case closed." Brooks answered.

Later, after they had stored their kits and baggage in the trunk of the Denali, Grissom and Sara met Brooks in the Diner for a last time, where he had just ordered a pie from Gloria.

"Well, Sheriff. It had been a pleasure to work with you again." Grissom shook Brooks' hand firmly. "And this time my car wasn't damaged and nothing was stolen, as far as I can see that." He smiled.

"Well, something had been stolen." Brooks smirked with a meaningful glance to Sara. "Be sure that you get it back in time." Grissom had no expression on his face but retorted. "You rather mind you own business, Brooks, and get your pie issues sorted out. I tell you what, in my case, it's more that I might have found something." He blinked and left with Sara on his arm. Brooks stood dumbfounded again and hastened to give himself over the hot fresh apple pie which Gloria handed him with a meaningful smile.