A/N I'm fascinated by all of your suggestions. Here's more factors to consider… BTW, while I usually writer huge chapters, I made these shorter on purpose, to enhance the summer reading experience and to attempt to build up more suspense.
Chapter 5
I know, I'm being paranoid. But he's my friend and something's not right.
Catherine had just left work. Since she'd put in so much overtime, it was relatively early, for her timetable. It was only eight o'clock. She was exhausted yet instead of driving home, she was going thirty minutes out of her way to cruise by Grissom's town house.
Where could he be?
She wasn't sure what she was hoping to find. If he'd gone fishing or to one of his entomology conventions, she'd just see an empty condo. But she wasn't going to just drive by.
Many years ago, when Eddy had been so abusive to her, Grissom had given her a key to his townhouse so she'd have a safe place for she and Lindsay, just in case. Thankfully she'd never had to use it, yet she'd never gotten around to returning it, and Grissom had forgotten all about it. Hopefully he wouldn't consider this an abuse of his trust.
She pulled into his driveway. No SUV. He too left only his pager and cell phone numbers so if he was going away, it wasn't far.
Feeling guilty, she walked up the front sidewalk. Was she snooping? What did she hope to find? However, any information could be helpful. After taking a breath, she used her key to open the door.
She hadn't been here for a while. Grissom had a bizarre sense of style but it suited him. Bookshelves filled to overflowing were everywhere. His walls were covered with displays of insects, moths, and butterflies. He even had little containers of bugs, some dead and some very much alive. She steered clear of them.
On an odd impulse, she tried his cell phone again. Seven rings later, no pick up.
Where are you Grissom?
The kitchen was clean and there weren't any notations on the calendar by the phone. Neither was there any vacation information on his overflowing desk, which was piled high with magazines.
How many bug and forensic journals can one guy read?
His bathroom provided some answers for her secondary questions. She knew Grissom was unusual but he certainly didn't wear women's makeup or perfume, which were on the vanity counter. And he definitely had no need for the tampons she found underneath the sink. Her trained investigator's eye recognized a shoulder-length dark hair on the bathroom floor.
Catherine smiled, she'd suspected as much. They'd been getting along so much better these days, working on cases together, and even joking around with each other. The horrible friction that existed between them for over a year was gone. She'd wanted to ask Gil about it, but sensed that it would be overstepping the boundaries of their friendship. His personal life was unapproachable, and thus that was partly why she was walking on eggshells about her suspicions.
No doubt about it, they both seemed much happier these days. And now she knew why.
She hurried to the bedroom to confirm her findings. A section of his closet was set aside for some women's clothes. She even had a few drawers in the dresser; Catherine recognized some of the clothing.
So they are together. But that doesn't prove that they were with each other that night or that he's in danger. He could still be at a conference and just forgotten to charge his phone. Where is he?
She pulled out her cell phone and dialed. "Jim, can you put out an APB on Grissom's SUV? I still can't reach him. I know it hasn't even been twenty-four hours and I don't want to disturb him on vacation but something's not right. "
She listened. "Thanks Jim, I'll take the heat for this if I'm wrong. Call me when you get any information. I want to follow it up personally."
XXXXXXX
Warrick was slouched in front of the computer, pausing to rub his eyes. Although they'd scoured the crime scene, including the dumpster, for the possible assault weapon, they had yet to identify it. He was playing around with computer simulations. He'd scanned photos of Sara's facial injuries into a computer program so he could run tests to determine what may've been used to assault her. After forty-five minutes, he didn't have a definitive answer but he felt he was making some headway, so he kept plugging away.
A lab technician interrupted him. "Hey, I was able to ID the fingerprint you gave me."
Warrick gratefully rose from the computer to follow the tech into another lab to examine her computer terminal. A graphic of the fingerprint obtained from the duct tape roll was on the left side of the screen. On the other side, was its mate. Someone named Marcus Hayes.
"Who is this guy?" he was dying to know. "Is he in the system?"
"It's on screen," the tech replied. The report read:
Marcus HayesDOB 1966
Served in the US army: 1986-1993, Gulf war veteran
Vehicle registered: 1997 Ford Sonoma Plate SYN 223
Current address rural Rt 6 Henderson NV
Record: convicted 1995 robbery - served 3 years
Petty larceny - community service
1985 robbery - fine
1984 robbery- fine
"Hmm, the vehicle and the army record are a possible fit but not the MO. The store wasn't robbed. He doesn't have a record for violent crimes."
Warrick made a quick phone call to contact one of the detectives to arrange for questioning the suspect and for a warrant to search his truck.
TBC