At nine that morning, Grissom, Nick and Brass were standing McDonalds door thinking about how to approach this. They walked in together and were greeted by a red head behind the counter in a turquoise shirt and matching visor with a name tag that said "Jen."
"Hi, how may I help you this morning?" Jen asked.
"Is your manager available?" Jim Brass asked.
Jen looked a little surprised, but replied, "Let me go check for you, sir."
Jen then hurried off to the back. Grissom was already wandering around near the drink bar getting a feel for the restaurant. There was a handful of people in the dining room eating various breakfast foods. Grissom turned around just as a woman about five-five in height with shoulder length blonde hair came around a corner in the back kitchen. She was dressed in a khaki colored button down shirt and a tie. "My name's Sandy, the store manager," she said as she got to the counter. "How can I help you gentlemen?"
Brass held up his badge. "I'm Detective Jim Brass. Nick Stokes and Gill Grissom of the Las Vegas Crime Lab," he said, indicating each of the men in turn. "We'd like to talk to you about one of your employees."
Sandy McPherson raised an eyebrow. "Which one?"
"Krystal Davies."
Sandy smiled. "Krystal's not here right now. She typically works nights," Sandy said quickly.
Brass held out his hand palm up, "Let's go sit down, Sandy." He led Sandy to a booth and she purposefully sat facing the counter so she could watch the crew work. Brass sat down opposite her while Nick grabbed a nearby chair and pulled it up to the table. Grissom stood off to side, watching the whole exchange.
"So what's this about Krystal?" she asked placing her hands on the painted wood surface.
Brass cleared his throat. "We found Krystal early this morning outside your restaurant. She appears to be the victim of a homicide. We need to talk to your crew to find out what happened last night."
Sandy stared at the men before her. She couldn't believe the words she was hearing. Krystal was one of her best employees. "How'd she die?" she asked, stoically.
Nick and Grissom exchanged glances before Nick stated, "Strangulation. Who was she working with her last night?"
Sandy thought for a minute. "Um, I know David was the closing manager. Um, Steve and Julie were also there, oh and Dylan, but he left at twelve-thirty. Do you think someone on my crew did it?"
"Possibly," Brass said.
"Did Krystal have any enemies that you knew of?" Nick asked looking over at the manager.
"Not that I know of, but I don't work with her much. So you probably would want to check with the people she works with."
"Did you know Krystal was pregnant?" Grissom asked.
Sandy blinked. "Yes. She told me yesterday."
"When would we be able to speak with the people who were working last night?" Brass inquired.
"They're all scheduled to work tonight. I guess this means I need to call in another drive through person. Krystal was scheduled tonight. So, um, probably tonight sometime. After eight though, because of dinner."
"Thank you," Brass said as the group got up to leave. As they walked out the door, Nick glanced at Grissom again.
"Was it just me, or was she acting a little weird?"
"It wasn't just you," Grissom replied.
Said Brass as they reached their respected vehicles, "She's hiding something. Let's come back tonight and dig it up."
"More OT, huh?" Nick asked as the two investigators climbed into the sport utility vehicle.
Grissom tilted his head. "Only long enough to talk to her parents," he commented, as Nick maneuvered the vehicle to follow Brass to Krystal's parents' house, which Brass had dug up while they had waited for the restaurant to open.
The meeting with Krystal's parents didn't go well. Initially, they thought that the two CSIs where there to let them know of their daughter's internship, but when the found out the news, Krystal's mother was in tears and her father was trying his best to keep his composure.
"She talked a lot about you Dr. Grissom," Mrs. Davies told the CSI supervisor. "She always called to tell me how you would solve a case using insects or some other strange way. I regret that I never took much interest in her chosen field." Mrs. Davies broke down into a fresh set of tears.
As the trio was ushered out, Mr. Davies thanked them for letting them know what had happened, and also told the officers to keep them informed, of which Brass said they would do.