Disclaimer: I don't own CSI.
Author's Note:
This is a story that is mostly based around the character Greg Sanders from the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. However, it also gives a bit of a look into the lives of the other CSI's on the show, so there's a little bit for everyone. There are no pairings, but there's some angst and some humor. Mostly it's just an experiment of mine to try out a new style of writing.
I'm hoping that this fic is going to be one that I'll stick with. I'm hoping that this style comes out okay. Also, I'm hoping that I'll be getting a lot of readers and a lot of reviews. This story, as I've said before, won't have any pairings in it (at least as a main focus). It will have a lot of focus on cases as well as the characters, so I may occasionally go off from talking about Greg or whoever for a couple of chapters and follow the case instead.
I am one of the biggest CSI fans you will ever meet. However, I can't afford to buy all of the seasons on DVD and whatnot, so I will get details as correct as I possibly can. If I get something mixed up, such as saying that one case came before another, though the latter of the two actually came first, you can tell me about it politely so that it can be revised, but no flames, please. Or you can just leave it alone and play along…
Now, onto the story.
Chapter One
"They're always married, tall blondes, correct?"
"With dogs."
"Right. And never any other animals, if I'm not mistaken?"
"You got it."
"Is there anything else that they have in common that we're missing?"
"They could be going to the same supermarket or something."
"Yeah, but we can't really trace that well, can we? Another thing these women had in common was that they didn't communicate well with their husbands, and were probably near divorce. So if it's something like the supermarket or clothing store they go to, I doubt we can get it out of the husbands because they wouldn't have a clue."
"There's no way to know until we look into it, though."
"I'll take that if you want me to, Gil."
"Sure, Cat. But bring Nick with you. Judging by the way the husbands are, they probably won't want to answer questions with just a woman present."
Ah… they're discussing something… Best wait for the perfect moment…"All right, we'll go as soon as we've finished reviewing the evidence we have."
"Well, as we've established earlier, our killer is a neat freak. We haven't found any fingerprints, hairs, blood, or much other evidence. We don't even know where the women are killed; we only know where their bodies were dumped. The only physical evidence we have are the ropes and cloth that he binds the bodies in."
"Oh! Don't forget that possible murder weapons are always left in their refrigerators."
"Okay, so they're perfectly clean, no semen, bound, gagged, and dropped off in front of antique shops. And possible murder weapons are found perfectly clean in their fridges. What the hell is left?"
Perfect…"Hey guys," came an ever-familiar voice. The heads of Gil Grissom, Catherine Willows, Nick Stokes, Warrick Brown, and Sara Sidle all turned to peer at the anxious lab boy. They all braced themselves for a long introduction to something, for Greg Sanders never simply told someone information in a straightforward manner. It had to be told as if it was the most important thing in the world.
"Yes, Greg?" Grissom question with a raised eyebrow. "We're in the middle of discussing the serial killer cases, so if it's not related, we don't really want to hear it right now."
"Of course it's related, my dear co-workers. Now, since I love you all so much, I've been working my tush off to find something on the vics' bodies that I could possibly test. It had driven me so insane that I finally just asked Doc if he could scrape me up a bit of their skin. Now, I have a riddle for you…"
Gil closed his eyes in an attempt to remain patient, Catherine smiled at the familiar prolonged announcement of information, Sara rolled her eyes and shook her head, Warrick sighed and rested his head on his palm, and Nick slid down in his chair. It had begun so normally, but they hoped too soon for the entire announcement from Greg to go as such.
Once the lab tech saw that everyone had assumed their usual positions for listening to him, he continued on. "Okay, what's black and white and read all over?"
"Newspaper," Nick answered automatically.
Gil furrowed his eyebrows. "The victims were found with traces of newspaper on their bodies?"
"No," Greg said, a smile creeping across his lips. "I just wanted to see how good you guys are with riddles."
There was silence in the room for a few moments after the comment. The jokester cleared his throat, bouncing slightly as he stood.
"So anyway…" he said, his arms behind his back as he bounced. "Now it's serious… What do you get when you take NaCl, add it to H2O, then put it in the biggest fish bowl on earth?"
Silence stayed in the air for a few lingering seconds before Sara piped up, "Ocean."
"Correct!" Greg exclaimed, flashing her a smile. "And for your clever mind, you win an expense-free trip to Flounder Port."
"Why Flounder Port?" Catherine suddenly asked.
"Don't you remember when you gave me the food from the victims' refrigerators to process, just in case something was left behind in there?"
"Yeah? So what?" Warrick asked, looking up with more interest than he had earlier.
"Well, apparently all of the women had a taste for seafood. And all bags of chopped up fish and junk were from a little shack at Flounder Port called Toby's Seafood. The label was on the side, and there was a picture of a little fish head on it. Not very pleasant, eh?"
Warrick turned to Grissom. "Should I have Brass run a check on this Toby guy?"
"I'll do that. You and Sara can go check out one of the husbands to save time. By the time you're done with him, I should have Brass's results and possibly a warrant."
"All right," said Catherine, rising from her seat at the staff room table. "Nicky, we'd better get going."
"We'll take O'Riley," Sara told the other pair as she stood as well.
"Then we'll have Smith and Tomas," Nick confirmed, the last to stand.
Grissom left the room first, without another word, nor even so much as a glance at Greg. Then Sara and Warrick left, the tall and suave man giving the lab tech a glance and the attractive girl flashing him a smile. And next it was Nick, who put his hand on DNA boy's shoulder for a moment before exiting.
"Thanks Greg," Catherine made sure to say. She gave him a reassuring smile, which didn't help to shrink his ego.
"You're quite welcome, Ms. Willows," he responded, nodding to her. "Good luck with your questions… I hope everything turns out okay."
The mother of one didn't say anything else, but she did keep her smile on him and gave his shoulder a squeeze, much like Nick had done. Though hers was more sympathetic, and Greg could immediately read it as, "They really do appreciate you, you know."
They left the room together, but when they parted -Greg in the direction of the lab and Catherine towards the way to the lockers- the lab boy flashed her a smirk, then gave her leg a small tap with his foot. And the mother knew that with such simple gestures, he said, "Thanks."
Author's Note:
Short, I know… Chapters will be quite short until the story gets running, I'm afraid. But shorter chapters means more frequent posting…
I have three more chapters waiting, but I won't post any of them unless I know that I have readers. Please review. I won't know if I have readers unless I get reviews.
