Oh, before I forget, I would like to dedicate this chapter to Duckyv91 for giving me an awesome review!
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Chapter Three – Unanswered QuestionsWarrick stood in the autopsy room watching Doc Robbins work on their dead woman. He had already discovered that besides being shot twice in the head, she was shot four times in the back. He removed the bullets and placed them in a jar for Warrick to take back to Sofia to process.
"So doc, which bullet do you think killed our vic?" Warrick watched as he pointed to the hole right above her left eyes.
"This one did it. The bullet hit a major artery causing severe blood loss. But this one," he pointed to one in her chest, just under her collarbone, "this one was a great help. Cut some arteries but not enough to cause substantial blood loss. But, mixed with the trauma in her head, it lead to her death." Warrick let out a whistle.
"Dang, she had a painful death then." Just then Nick poked his head into the room and called Warrick out. He had something to show him. Both walked down the hall and into a lab where Nick was doing a trace on the vic.
"I thought he vic looked familiar but this was a shock. I ran her through trace and looked who popped up." Nick turned the screen so Warrick could read her stats.
"Name is Brittany Coulson. Age, 30; height, 5'7; weight, 125 pounds…" Nick pointed to the bottom of the screen.
"Look where she works." Warrick scanned the screen until he found what he was looking for. His mouth opened a little and his eyes widened.
"Occupation: Lab Technician for the Las Vegas Crime Lab." Warrick was silent for a moment. "She was one of our lab techs."
"Yah, not just 'a' lab tech, the lab tech that was supposed to be working the prints and DNA for our case. When I read the name she sounded familiar but I couldn't match the vic's face with the name. That was because someone cut her hair. I looked at it through the microscope and saw that the ends were cut in one swift motion and definitely not by a professional."
"Like they were hiding something?"
"Maybe. But here's my problem. Sofia said Ecklie had told her that Brittany had called in sick and didn't know how long she would be gone."
"Do you think someone was stalking her?" Nick looked at the photo of the girl on the screen.
"It makes sense. But we have no idea who. She was new here and had barley any friends, at least none she would trust to tell. So basically we have no leads. This is going to be a long case." Warrick nodded. Both sat in silence for a moment before a thought popped into Nick's head. "Hey, did you have Catherine check out the shoe print?" Warrick sighed, pulling up a chair to sit on.
"I tried asking her earlier but she mumbled something about stress and her mother being a bitch, that was all I got. She took off down the hall and I haven't seen her since."
"Yah, apparently her mom is considering talking to child services and requesting that Lindsay live with her since Cath spends so much time here. Hopefully she won't but she's supposedly thinking hard about it." Warrick threw his hand in the air.
"How is it that you know this and I don't?" Warrick was getting frustrated but Nick sensed the sound of hurt in his voice.
"Warrick?" Nick asked cautiously. "This isn't just about you thinking you're losing a friend, is it?" Warrick was silent. "You like Catherine, don't you?" Warrick slumped his head and let out a long, desperate, sigh.
"Yah, I have for about a year now. I'm surprised no one noticed." He took a pause. "I'm surprised she didn't notice…" Warrick let his sentence linger so that it may sink into Nick's head.
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"Mrs. Scott, you have a lot of explaining to do." Grissom opened the closet door for Heather to see. When her eyes feel upon the site she looked away in shame.
"I have no idea what that is," she replied defensively. Sara felt her burning anger grow inside of her. She clenched her fists in anger bit let out a whimper of agony. Her cut had just been stitched the night before and was still tender. She smiled a little as she remembered how Gil had sat in the room with her as she was stitched.
"You know damn well what that is Heather so don't give us this 'I don't know' bullshit!" yelled Sara. Grissom caught her gaze and she tried to calm down. She took in a deep breath and let out a frustrated sigh.
"Heather, you've lied to us once, don't do it again, it's only going to get you in even more trouble." Heather sat down on her couch. Grissom followed but stood in front of her while Sara sat only the glass coffee table next to him.
"I don't know what you mean. I never lied." Heather continued to deny their gaze.
"Bullshit." Heather looked up at Sara, surprised at the harshness in her voice. "You lied the other day when you said James hit you while you were pregnant."
"He did!" she yelled defiantly.
"No he didn't, because you were never pregnant." Sara once again noticed that her temper was rising out of control. Heather's breathing stopped for a moment. She looked dead ahead but not focusing on anything. Sara and Grissom both noticed the tears skimming her eyes.
"Heather, we tested the DNA and DNA doesn't lie. You are not Melissa's biological mother. You lied to us. And I have a feeling you're lying to us now. You know very well what's in that closet." Grissom knelt down to face her. "Because you put it there, didn't you Heather. You put those chains in there. You put the belts in there, all varying in thickness depending on how mad you were and how much you wanted to hurt her." Heather forced her eyes shut as tears streamed down.
"I did nothing of the sort!"
"Yes you did Heather. You forgot that when you would hit her with the belts, not only would your fingerprints get onto them, but her blood would also get onto them from the seeping wounds. The lab is testing the blood and fingerprints and when they come back you can't lie because it's all in the evidence… But you didn't just chain her up and hit her in there, did you?" The room was filled with silence at Sara's question. "No, you would leave her in there in the dark. She was three and, judging by the numerous night-lights in her room, she was terrified of the dark! There are hundreds of nail marks on the door where she tried to claw her way out!" Sara's voice rose, emphasizing certain words.
"Why would I want to hurt my daughter?" she screamed.
"She wasn't your daughter. I think you couldn't handle the fact that she wasn't yours. I think James took Melissa to get her away from you." Heather began to shake at Sara's accusation. While her tremors continued she refused to speak. After an hour of probing with no comments out of her, they told the police to take her into custody until further notice, and left.
"This is bullshit Griss!" Sara screamed as she flung down on the couch in his office. He closed the door and sat at his desk.
"I know, but until the prints from the belts come back from trace we have no proof. And even if she did beat Melissa, all that means is that she's a liar. We can't rule out James until we find Melissa." Sara covered her eyes with her hands as she sighed.
"This is bullshit, you know that right?" Grissom smiled a little.
"Yes, I know that." There was an almost comforting silence. "Sara?" Grissom said after a few moments.
"Yes Gil?" She sat up, noticing the untraceable tone in his voice.
"How are you holdin' up? I can sense you're uneasy on this case but… Just remember, if you feel you can't handle it I can take you off the case. Don't feel like you can't talk to me about this. I just don't want you jumping to conclusions because of your past." Sara looked into his misty blue eyes and smiled. She stood up and knelt down beside him, taking his hand in hers.
"Grissom, trust me, I wont screw this up." She stood up and let go of his hand, noticing how it was making him uncomfortable. "I think my history with this type of case is what makes me work harder to find the facts. But if I need anything, I'll tell you." Sara walked out the door, giving Grissom one last look, just to mess with his head a little.
Grissom leaned back in his chair and took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes as he fought off the nagging voice in the back of his head. He knew he was getting too close. First the hand incident and now this. He let out a sigh of relief when he heard a knock at the door. By the way the person on the other side didn't wait for him to answer he knew it was Catherine.
"What are you doing here? It isn't your shift yet?" Catherine sat down in the chair across from Grissom.
"Eh, I'm having problems with my mom and didn't feel like dealing with the shrews nagging voice in the back of my head. Thought I'd come hear, get some work done."
"Yah. Sara and I were just thrown a loop in our case." Catherine's eyebrow raised questioningly and Grissom could tell it wasn't about the case. Catherine shifted slightly in the chair to seem more casual.
"Speaking of you and Sara, what was she doing in here just a minute ago? She left with a pretty smug smirk on her face."
"Taunting me," he replied without skipping a beat. Catherine chuckled a little.
"I can understand why. Grissom, when are you gonna pull your head out of your ass and just admit that you have feelings for her?" Grissom scoffed at the question.
"Cath, it's not that simple."
"Why is this so hard for you?" she asked in genuine concern.
"I have a job, I'm her boss, I'm 15 years her senior… A relationship with Sara would never work. Plus, I'm emotionally detached, remember?" Catherine leaned in a little.
"So does that mean you do like her?" Grissom, who was sifting through the mounds of paper work on his desk, looked above the rim of his glasses at her, never directly moving his head up.
"Catherine, don't go there." His voice was warning and told her to back off. She plopped back in her chair and sighed.
"Well, if you're going to be such a tight ass, how about we go out for some beers? On me." Grissom looked up and sighed. Deciding he had nothing better to do he reluctantly agreed.