Chapter Three
The body was found in an empty parking lot not far from where the
first victim was found. Greg took pictures as Grissom examined the
body with David.
"She died five hours ago," David announced.
"And dumped here from the lack of blood."
Greg brought out his flashlight and searched for shoe prints. Most
of what he found were overlapped with others, making it impossible to
tell where one ended and another began.
"No glass this time," Grissom said. "But found a hair. Black."
"Could be the killer's."
"Could also be a victim's. Let's get this to DNA."
Greg nodded and scanned the scene again. Obviously the killer
liked to dump the bodies in empty or abandoned lots.
"He wants the bodies to be found," Greg said.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he's taunting us."
Something caught Grissom's attention as the body was taken away.
Greg knelt beside him, shining his light where the body had been. He
brought out a swab and dipped it in the liquid. He then placed a drop
of clear liquid upon it and it turned pink.
"Blood," Grissom said. "More DNA."
"Like you said, he could be taunting us."
"His mistake."
They returned to the lab and dropped off the evidence in DNA. Greg
went back to the print lab and picked up where he left off.
The computer still hadn't produced a match. He decided to try
something else. He brought up the scanned print again, then
programmed the computer to find a match by searching through
companies whose business was custom made shoes.
"Please find a match," he whispered as the computer began its
search.
"Still at it?" Nick asked, entering the room.
"I'm starting over using companies who do custom orders."
"Good idea."
Greg stared at the computer, but his mind wasn't on the print. Who
could torture a person to death? Why would they do it? The answers
would come as soon as they caught the killer. Or he hoped they would.
The computer beeped, bringing him out of his thoughts. He blinked
as he and Nick glanced at the screen.
"Bout time," Greg said, bringing up the information and a picture
of the boot.
"Now all you have to do is find who ordered it."
"I'll get right on it."
"Good. Now get out of that chair. I need to match some
fingerprints."
Greg laughed and took the results out of the printer. He left the
room and headed down the hall. He stopped at Grissom's office to give
him an update.
"The print was from a custom made boot. I tracked down the company
and now I'm going to make a call to see who bought it."
"Good. I'm going to the morgue and see what victim number two can
tell us."
Greg nodded and went to make a call. Several minutes later, he
picked up the fax of who ordered the specific boots. There were two
names and only one of them lived in Vegas. Smiling, he headed for the
morgue.
Sara entered the print lab where Nick still searched for a match.
The computer beeped, signaling a match found.
"Bingo," Nick said as a picture of the perp appeared.
"Looks like we have our suspect."
"Yeah. For robbery and fraud."
Sara stared at the suspect's picture. It was the owner of the
robbed store.
"Wonder how he's going to explain this."
"Let's find out," Nick said, standing.
She followed him down the hallway, glad this case was almost over.
It had been a light case, one Nick could have done himself. Still,
she enjoyed it and looked forward to the next one.
One with Greg, she thought.
She did miss working on cases with him and hoped to do so again.
She saw the object of her thoughts coming down the hallway toward
her. The grin on his face told her something good happened.
"We have a suspect," Greg said, his dark eyes dancing. "Brass just
brought him in."
"We have a suspect as well."
"Yeah. The owner broke into his own store," Nick put in. "Probably
for the insurance he had on it."
"Better get him before he skips town," Sara said.
Greg kissed her and continued down the hallway. Sara motioned for
Nick to carry on down the hallway and their car.
Greg entered the interrogation room and sat beside Grissom. Brass
stood in the corner, his arms crossed. Greg felt a shiver run down
his spine as he looked at the suspect, a Mr. Joseph Stevens. The man
appeared casual as if nothing bothered him. The man's cold eyes took
everything in as if memorizing what he saw.
"It seems you left a boot print behind," Brass said. "From a
custom made boot."
"Only one other person ordered such a boot, but he lives in Reno,"
Greg said before the man could contradict the evidence.
"I found the body," Stevens remarked. "That's how my footprints
got there."
Greg looked over at Grissom, who raised an eyebrow. They didn't
have anything else to pin Stevens as the killer. Not, yet anyway.
"Brass, why didn't we know he was the one that found the body?"
Brass shrugged and moved toward the table. "All we got was a phone
call from a pay phone. The person didn't leave a name. Dispatch said
the voice was male, though."
Stevens smiled smugly and stood. "If you don't have any other
questions, I'll be going."
Greg watched their only suspect walk out the door. A fierce
frustration came over him, but he forced it down. He sighed and
closed his eyes.
"Don't worry, Greg," Grissom consoled. "They all make mistakes
eventually."
Greg nodded and leaned back in his chair. At least Sara caught a
break and her case was nearly over. He could be happy for her.
"Let's hope he screws up soon," he said, standing. "I'll check on
the blood and hair."
"Do that," Grissom agreed and followed Greg out of the room.