(Disclaimers et all in first chapter)
Notes: For Angie who has waited patiently for her delayed birthday present. Two months and counting, huh?
Chapter Two
"Where's Rick and Nick?"
Gil side-stepped a puddle of mud, all the while trying to answer the stressed police captain. "Warrick already had a case to tend to. Crimes shouldn't have priority over the other." He stated sagely, though more of an insight to himself.
"And Nick?"
"We're in the woods, Jim. The evidence around us is already in a fragile state." Placing both his hands on a rocky ledge, he hoisted himself up, the hint of a boyish pride at still being able to tough the great outdoors. "The fewer people, the better." He held out his hand, his eyes taking in the open crime scene.
Catherine watched as Gil helped Sara up the steep area, grinding her teeth as she watched the younger CSI place her other hand over his, lingering in touch.
Gil turned to his partner, offering his hand and holding her gaze. His eyes quickly clouded upon seeing her daggered stare, and he silently inquired with a quirked eyebrow. He watched as she mimicked his previous position, placing her field kit beside his feet. His eyes held the kits position, and then blinked towards her, watching her arm muscles tense as she lifted herself up. Under the guise of aid, he placed his hand on the small of her back, helping her steady herself as she stood up. A small wink surfaced in retort to her sheepish thankful smile.
"Victim's name is Alexandra Greetly." Jim started, stepping under the yellow tape. He turned, watching the three CSIs stopping right before the tape. "Twenty-five years old, currently working as a nurse at the Desert Surgery center, and I think I have a lead as to where we can start looking for a suspect." Jim swept his hand across the crime scene, calling attention to the trolley on which the victim was resting on. Her naked body boasted fresh stitches along the side of her breasts, another diagonally across a fainter scar on her tummy, a scar right across her breastbone and a cast was still fastened to her face, covering half of her cheeks and all of her nose.
"Surgery to go?" Gil raised and eyebrow.
"Seems like it." Catherine stepped in front of him, shaking her head. "That's horrible..." She muttered, swallowing hard.
"What, the nature of the crime?" Sara placed herself beside Catherine, both their eyes glued to the victim.
"No..." She whispered. "How men and women can subject themselves to the pain of plastic surgery."
"Yeah, easy for you to say..." Sara muttered under her breath, stepping under the crime scene tape.
"Hey!" Catherine grabbed her by the arm, jerking her back on her side of the tape. "What does that mean?"
Sara wrestled her arm out of Catherine's grip. "Those that have it all are always quick to judge those who had to work for their bread."
She roughly let go of the brunette's arm, watching her sway due to the force. "I worked damn hard to get where I am right now..." The words slipped out through clenched teeth. "You have no idea what I've been through, Sara..."
"Cath."
She turned around, staring into his calming eyes before turning back to the younger CSI. "Don't think you're the only one in the world with problems, Sara..." Catherine breathed heavily, anger festering in the pit of her belly. She crossed the yellow barricade and carefully walked towards the dead body, her emotions immediately dissipating as her investigative mind took the reigns of her interest. Her eyes scanned the light porcelain skin of the woman in front of her, taking in how the scars, still with the blackened stitches, stood out, vehemently opposing any natural beauty. She bent down at the waist, her eyes noticing a light film on the body. "What do you think...dew?"
Gil squinted, stepping beside her and echoing her pose. "Temperature's too dry. It's not sweat either - she's been dead too long for her glands to continue to produce moisture." He glanced over his shoulder, watching David duck under the yellow tape. "Watch where you step, David."
David nodded and took smaller steps, his eyes perusing the dusty mud as he placed one foot in front of the other, directing himself towards the body. He stepped up and opened his kit, producing his liver thermometer. "Just a quick check, and I'll give you a ball-park figure on the time of death." He mumbled, cleaning the sharp end of the tool. Pressing his gloved hands against the woman's abdomen, he placed the thermometer against the skin, centering it between his index and middle finger. With a little pressure, he slid it in, and waited for the results.
Gil glanced at Catherine who was still staring at the body. He knew that Sara's words had come back to rile her, and he glanced back at the bold brunette, who was now busying herself by taking pictures of the single set of footprints that led to and from the crime scene. His eyes swam back to the strawberry-blonde beside him, who was know looking at him with a hint sadness in her eyes. He wanted to place the problem's stem on the victim and it's effect, but he knew the root was sprouting further underground.
"Grissom?"
He glanced up at David, studying a flash of panic cross the young man's face.
"I'm not getting a liver temp. reading."
Gil rubbed the back of his neck, feeling perspiration begin to form. "Too hot?" He asked, glancing at the body.
"No," David continued, removing the thermometer with a surprising amount of difficulty, "no liver."
Gil side-glanced at Catherine, who had opted to search for the same cryptic answers in his eyes.
David held up the thermometer, as Gil clicked on his Mag-Lite and shone it on the tip. "Looks like..." David peeled some off and rolled it between his index and his thumb. "Wax."
"Wax?" Catherine asked, the wheels of her mind turning, trying to remember any information on such a blood replacement. "Wax..." She repeated to herself, before snapping her fingers, gaining Gil's attention. "Alexander the Great."
He watched her for a few moments, seemingly reading her mind through the excitement in her eyes.
"Embalming." He nodded, standing up to find Jim. "Jim." He called out to the captain, who was busy discussing the foot print patterns with Sara. "Sara." Gil motioned both of them to join him. "Okay, Jim, I need you to find the most recent organ transplants, listing the donors and recipients." He glanced at the body, before continuing. "I'm guessing heart, kidneys and liver - in the past two days." He nodded consent to David to have the body removed, opting to analyse it back at the lab, rather than let nature continue to hinder their collective process. "Hopefully the Surgery center keeps records, else DNA identification problems might result." He sighed, wiping the back of his wrist across his sweaty brow. "Sara, have you gathered everything you need, here?"
She nodded, her eyes sweeping the area one last time. "What about the removal and transportation of the trolley?"
Gil pondered, before turning back to David. "Keep the body on the original trolley." He ordered the young coroner while pointing to an officer on the scene. "Have him help you load the body and trolley together, okay?"
"Sure thing, Grissom." David acquiesced, heading over to transfer the directions to the armed officer.
The team watched the body being carted away by David and the officer. Gil bent down on one knee and opened his kit, producing two spindles of string. He handed one to Catherine, and motioned her to follow him. Tying one end into a little ball, he attached it to a hooped nail, and planted it in the ground. Walking alongside the fresh tracks that the trolley's removal produced, he waited for Catherine to follow his lead. The two stood back, admiring the reflective string box in the newer set of tracks, allowing them to distinguish those from the crime scene. "Let's head back to the lab, and start analysing what we have." He held up the tape for both Sara and Catherine to cross, following close behind as they made their way back to their Denali.
–TBC–