Chpt 3

"So Catherine," Gil said, "reviewing, we need to know where Ron's car is, why Geoff has his DNA on the jacket, and see about the jacket similarity… that's all?"

"Yeah that's all."

Gil parked the same spot he had before even though the parking had slightly improved.

"Hey maybe these kids can drive!" Catherine laughed.

"Maybe… maybe not." Gil testified.

When they got there they first asked Geoff where Ron's car was, and he showed them in the parking lot. His was a blue civic near the back of the lot clearly showing he wasn't interested in getting his car nicked. Catherine, noticing the unlocked door, checked everything out, but found nothing.

"Does he usually leave his car unlocked?" Catherine questioned.

"Yeah, you see, most of the guys here are friends, like we trust each other, so there's no point in locking up, and he left a note saying he HAD to leave, right, so maybe he was in a rush, but I'd say it was my first answer."

"Ah," Gil remarked, "Mr. Flick, we have a few more questions for you, do you mind?"

"No, go ahead, and you can call me Geoff."

"Alright, as you may not be aware, there was a jean jacket similar to the one you are wearing at the cabin, that we did a DNA testing on the zipper and a liquid we found on it, which we discovered, was saliva. The fingerprint on the zipper was yours. Can you explain this?"

"Yeah, Ron and I had the same jackets, maybe he left it there, I don't know. And I gave him the jacket, which explains the prints. Whose spit was it?"

"The spit wasn't yours; however, it was the janitors."

"You don't think it was Ron, do you? I mean, he wasn't that kind of guy, I mean sure me and him got into some fights and stuff, so maybe he got into a fight with the janitor, but he's not violent, and would never, EVER do this!"

"We follow the evidence, and the evidence is suggesting…"

"Don't give me that, it wasn't him!"

"Geoff, it isn't for you to say unless you have some real evidence to prove his innocence."

"Fine, but stay in touch."

Catherine, realizing Gil was getting nerve racked, decided to reply, "Yes, we will."

They got into the Tahoe and Gil drove them home while they both discussed the crime.

Sara and Nick were in Sara's office looking through the phone book for a number. When they found it they decided on letting Sara make the call. It rang five times before a lady answered the phone.

"Hello, Mrs. Bakers speaking, how may I help you?"

"Hello, this is Sara Sidle from the crime lab; I need to know… do I need a warrant to get information on if Ron Helmington took a flight from last Saturday at four to ten this morning?"

"I'll get the manager ma'am," and put Sara on hold without even hearing Sara give her the 'okay'.

Ten seconds later, a male voice came on and said, "'Hello?"

"Hi, can I get…"

"No, you need a warrant for any of our customers personal information, sorry, and I need to receive this warrant personally. My name is Ray Holder. Come by and ask for me if you really are who you say you are. Is that all?"

"Yes, thank you, and good bye."

Then Sara told Nick their situation, and they were no sooner on their way to the airport, Nick with a warrant in hand. When they got there, Ray was at the front counter so it didn't take long to contact him. They introduced themselves, and he already had the information ready, so once he saw, and read every word from the warrant, and the ID's from both the CSI's, he gave them the printed papers, that indicated he had not taken any plane ride in the time period they had given him. So after this short meeting they headed back to the DNA lab to check with the blood spatter.

"You got that DNA done, Greg?"

"Yep, here you are Mrs. Sidle."

"It's Sara, Greg, and thank you," Sara then said the results out loud to Nick, "And looks like the blood was Geoff's so he was telling the truth.

"Great, that leaves us with a dead end, he didn't take a plane, didn't drive, and it was his blood. I guess that leaves us waiting here for…"

And he stopped when he heard Grissom and Willows enter.

"No one," he finished.

"No on what Nick?" Catherine joked.

"Well?" Sara was expecting their news to be told first, "you first."

"Ok, so Geoff gave Ron the jacket, which explains his fingerprints; the car was there, unlocked. Geoff says he goes by trust, so the car can be safe that way, and he also says Ron was a good guy, they used to fight, but not violently… anyone else gets the vibe Geoff might be…"

"Gay," Nick finished Gil's sentence, "Which means Ron might be too. Here's what I think: Geoff walked out his 'study buddy,' Jon, out the door, and he had a pink key, and he had a clean place. So there's no discussing it. He was."

Sara giggled at the last one.

Catherine had a weird look on her face… suggesting maybe she thought there might be something with Sara and Nick, but no one else noticed.

"No real guy has a clean place," he finished.

Sara started by saying, "Okay, so what we do next is see if Ron has borrowed any car from anybody he knew… mom, dad maybe, any brothers, any sisters, cousins, anyone who lives near him, any friends, any one. We should start by calling his parents and Geoff and see if they could give us a start."

Then Gil suggested that they split it up, "Me and someone else will look for anyone who is blood related, and the other two will go for friends or even enemies… maybe he stole the car… anything's possible."

"I'll go with Sara," Nick said smiling, then explaining, "oh… umm… well it only makes sense to continue working with the same partner don't you think?"

Sara smiled but replied, "Yeah, I think so too."

"Okay, then that leaves me Grissom…" she said in a joking voice.

Then Gil left the room and headed for his office followed by Catherine and Nick followed Sara into her office so they could get started. First Sara and Nick looked up all the guys from Ron's study group, and found their addresses, while Gil and Catherine looked up the numbers of the separated parents. After they had all the addresses of all the possible relations they knew about, they all got together and decided to call it a night, because by that time it wasn't night anymore, it was morning… three in the morning.

The next day Nick and Sara had a late start, while Gil and Catherine woke up early and got an early start. (Very surprising for Sara to be the one behind anyone else for that matter) Gil and Catherine first drove to the Far East side of Las Vegas, to a small town called Henderson, so they could visit the divorced and re-married wife Veronica Helmington Basin. She kept her old married name. When they saw the house they were headed to, Gil almost gasped, it was big, very big, but it was so worn down they thought it might be a haunted house. Catherine was just glad that it wasn't that dark out yet. All that left their mouth was 'wow' before they headed toward the door. They rang the doorbell twice before they got a very crude welcoming.

"Hello, what the hell do you want?" Probably the new husband, "Were kind of… busy, if you know what I mean."

Gil peaked inside and was surprised and all around relieved that the house looked much less creepy, even pleasant inside. Catherine couldn't see so she was still nervous. Gil turned his gaze to the man who opened the door. He was an average height, big guy, with one of those natural grins that are there, even when you aren't smiling.

"Yeah, we know what you mean, I'm Catherine from the crime lab, and this is Grissom. If you're Mr. Basin, than we have some questions to ask your wife."

"If this is about the disappearance of her son, she had nothing to do with it; he just called and said he was leaving, and yes my names Dick Basin."

Then Veronica came into the picture, opening the door wider, wrapped in a towel. She was an attractive female, fit, blonde hair, green eyes, and tanned skin.

"Hello, what's this about, is there a problem?" She said slightly but noticeably nicer.

Catherine ignored her and continued her conversation with Dick. "You said he called, what time and did he indicate whether he was coming back and when?"

Realizing they weren't leaving Veronica invited them in and offered them coffee.

"No thank you," from Catherine and, "No thanks," from Gil.

They were offered a seat and chose they both chose to accept that, Catherine taking the sofa, and Gil taking the right side of an older looking couch, closest to Catherine, while the home owners took the newer couch at the other side of the coffee table.

"Mrs. Basin," Gil started, "your son, Ron, he called you before he left."

"Yes, he did, he said he didn't know when he was coming back, and he wouldn't tell us where he was going… called 'round seven on Saturday. I haven't heard from him since."

"Did he sound like he was okay, no stress or anything?" Catherine said not knowing where she was going with it.

"He, actually, sounded like he was about to jump off a bridge, ya know? Like, he seemed like he didn't wanna be calling, sort of…" She trailed off when she finished talking, like she didn't really know how to say it.

"Getting to the point we came here… did you lend Ron your car or anything he could use to get away in?" Catherine said.

"No and neither did Dick. Dick and Ron didn't get along too well… Ron always told us he ripped apart my previous marriage, which is of course absurd… Leo was always… actually… (She smirked)… Leo was never into it… you know… he never wanted to get sexual. But that all changed when I met Dick… I decided it wasn't fair… Leo never touched me… (She slowly started to cry)… I loved him but it just… wasn't… fair, anyway, (Now she whipped her eyes, Dick was comforting her) I fell in love with this man and filed for divorce. I never did anything with him until I did so… I'm just not a cheating type, and Dick helped me so many times after that… when I got emotional, we decided to get married."

Catherine and Gil were thinking the same thing, 'well thanks for that long explanation, we didn't really ask for your life story but I'm not rude so please carry on…'

"Thank you Mrs. Basin and I am sorry for barging in on… you guys."

Then Gil shook Dick's hand and they exited their home. They Headed for their vehicle, and towards west Las Vegas to a place called Summerlin.

The house they were now approaching wasn't as big; it was an average sized, green and white bi-level split with a satisfying garden in front, over flowing with flowers planted in a bed of rocks. They had a mailbox at the front of the house, a watering can of the second step up to the door, and a 'welcome' mat by the door. The door was burgundy, which was the only asset that didn't go. Catherine liked it but Gil found it too superficial.

They decided to knock this time. Gil put his hand out, indicating that it was Catherine's turn to knock. She knocked once on the door and within a half a minute a brown haired, tall man, with flattering blue eyes answered the door. He was wearing a laid back dark blue sweater, and dark blue jeans, surprising Catherine. She thought, 'this guy isn't sexually active? Wow.' Gil didn't notice.

"Hello." He said with an enthusiastic grin.

"Hi were from the crime lab. I'm Gil Grissom, and this is Catherine." He said pointing to his date. Could we come in?"

"Certainly." He said opening the door wider to a neat home. "Come in and have a seat."

Catherine and Gil both came in and shook his hand, with a smile, before sitting down. "You are Lee Helmington, aren't you?" Catherine began.

"Yes, I am, am I going to need a lawyer? And my wife's not home. Should she be home for this?" Lee was much more of a jittery man than Dick was.

"That depends." Gil replied, "Can we ask you a few questions about your son?"

"Oh… ya sure… (He gave out a big sigh)… Anything at all."

"You know your son has disappeared. Umm… did he contact you at all?"

"No, he called my ex-wife, and she called me, she said he couldn't call me so she had to."

"I see… One more question… did you lend your son any means of transportation?"

"No."

"Thank you. We'll be on our way."

"If you get in contact of my son, have him call me or at least would you stay in touch with me?"

"Yes, we will."

Margaret Helmington was the name of Lee's new wife. She entered right as they were leaving. Gil even bumped heads with her. He apologized, and explained why she was there, noticing she was going to ask anyway, and was soon back in the vehicle with Catherine.

"That was weird." Catherine started the conversation.

"What was weird? They seemed normal to me."

"Don't tell me you didn't notice."

"Sorry." He said, not really meaning an apology, "Fill me in."

"Well Veronica said he wasn't sexual at all. He looked like the type to be."

"Oh… well Catherine, never judge a book by its cover."

"I guess."

Noticing that 'I guess' wasn't the reply Gil was looking for she added, "I understand."

Meanwhile

Nick and Sara both got to HQ at the same time that morning. Sara quickly ran inside to put her coat down, it was too warm for that, and they took off, once again, in the Tahoe.

"So," Sara eager to talk with Nick began, "we need to ask if they lend Ronny a car, but anything else worth asking?"

"I actually thought about that a little… Was he involved with anyone? Did he have any past relationships? Did he know anyone who had a second car? Did he know anyone who worked at a used car dealership? Did he have a car that Geoff didn't know about? I say Geoff because he was the one who showed Cath and Gil his car at UNLV."

"Good job Nick. Nicely done. You must have put more than a little thought into it."

"Well…" Nick said while adding a small arrogant laugh.

"Don't get cocky though."

"Hah. So first you think Geoff, Jon, Shawn, or Paul?"

"Well don't forget the other sixteen original suspects. He may have known them too."

"I suppose."

"But still, you're right; Geoff is so far, seeming to be the closest to Ron." Sara said

finally answering his question, "we could get them all together in a room, first the study group, then the sixteen.

"Okay."

Nick parked the Tahoe using the parking lot, near the end, feeling pretty safe about not getting hit. They quickly entered the UNLV for hopefully the last time, and were about to go to see the secretary. That was un necessary though because Geoff and Jon were standing right outside her office.

"Hey," Geoff and Jon greeted, "let me guess. Are you here to talk to us?"

You guessed it, smart ass! Sara thought.

There was something about Geoff that bugged her.

"Yeah Geoff, but a… not just you. Could get your study group together we have some questions to ask you guys."

"No problem, there upstairs. Follow… us."

And they led them to two separate rooms; one was Shawns and the other, Pauls. Anyway, they got both the guys into the hallway in a big group. Both Shawn and Paul had girlfriends waiting for them in their rooms.

"Hey, ok, we'll try n' make this as quickly as possible. We have a few questions. You are all friends with Ron? No fights recently." Sara was talked to all the boys.

They all said they were friends and had resent no fights.

"And did any of you lend him a car, or anything?"

No.

"Did he have a girlfriend or ex-girlfriend that was still his friend?"

They laughed and said no. He wasn't the type to have tons of girlfriends.

"Why is that funny?"

They told her it was no reason. He just was more interested in other things.

"Has he contacted any of you since he left?"

No.

"Do you have a picture of him?"

Yeah, Geoff and Jon did.

Geoff got his picture and handed it to Sara who was surprised. Nick understood why.

"You're telling me this guy didn't get girls off the hook?"

"Well he certainly got some offers," Paul smirked.

"And he, what? Refused them all?"

Apparently so.

Nick thanked the guys and walked along side (closely) with Sara. Sara knew something was funny. No guy turns down so many girls when they look like that. When they got in the car, Sara started.

"Ron is gay. No girls, no guy."

"You mean if he has no girls, he's not a real guy?"

"Yep."

Catherine and Gil, in Gil's office, were talking while they waited for Nick and Sara.

"Hey Cath?"

"Yes?"

"What do I look better in: sweater and jeans, or suit and tie?"

Catherine laughed and pretended she didn't know why he was asking and she said, "Umm… I'd say a suit, why do you ask?"

"No reason! I wasn't talking about that because… it's a, a… a family get together… and my old friend Amy… do you think she'll like flowers or chocolates?"

"Both."

And that's the end of chapter 3. And by the way, I changed a few things from 1 & 2 so you might want to read them through. And if anything in my storyline doesn't make sense. PLEASE tell me so I can change it.