Jessie had just entered the break room when Catherine came up to her.
"Good, you're just in time. Someone just reported a murder and Grissom wants me to take you with me. You ready?" Catherine stated.
"Yeah, just let me get my stuff."
"Okay, meet me outside," said Catherine as she left.
Jessie ran to her car and grabbed her kit out of the trunk. Then she met Catherine and together they walked to the black Tahoe. Catherine drove them to an exquisite two floor house complete with an in ground pool and hot tub. They went in the front door and climbed the stairs to the top floor. They went into the master bedroom and found David Phillips, the assistant coroner, with the body.
"Hi, David. This is Jessie Madden. Jessie, this is David Phillips, the assistant coroner."
They acknowledged each other before David went back to the body.
"Rigor has just set in. Body temp is 92.1 degrees Fahrenheit and the body hasn't been moved. I'd estimate that she's been dead about four hours," David told the two CSIs.
"Thanks, David. You do the body and I'll do the rest of the room," Catherine said to Jessie.
The victim was lying on her back with her shirt still on properly but her pants were done up clumsily. They looked as though the murderer had put them on after he had killed her. Her black hair was a mess, as if she hadn't brushed it. The apparent murder weapon, a ligature, was still around her neck. Jessie noticed that the belt had been done up wrong; the belt was worn one spot tighter than it was done up. Jessie also noticed that the girl was wearing a wedding ring.
"Where's the husband?" Jessie called to Catherine.
"There's a husband?" Catherine called back.
"Yes. There's a wedding ring."
"Well, there's no evidence that a man lived in this room."
"Hmm. That's interesting."
Jessie turned back to the body and started snapping pictures. Once she had taken enough, she went in for a closer look. She grabbed her fingerprint powder and brush and started dusting for prints.
"What are you doing?" Catherine asked coming up behind her.
"Dusting for prints." Jessie stopped herself from adding 'obviously!' just in time.
"Why are you doing that? The only prints on that belt are going to be the vic's."
"Not necessarily. Look here," she pointed at the worn spot. "See how the belt is done up on the wrong hole? I'm thinking that the killer tried to redress her before he left."
Jessie continued dusting and finally uncovered two obviously different prints. She collected them and then went over to the ligature. It appeared to be a pair of panty hose. Jessie pulled the nylons from under the victim's body, careful not to touch them where the killer likely had. She bagged them before turning towards the bathroom Catherine had just entered.
"Hey, Cath! I think I got the murder weapon here!"
"Well this just seals it. Our murderer wasn't very smart. I just found a used condom in the garbage."
"Looks like our killer just became a rapist."
The pair finished collecting evidence, which included hairs, fibers, and the like, then drove back to the lab.
"I want you to take the DNA down to Greg. Shadow him because otherwise he'll get lazy." Catherine had expected some resistance from that statement, knowing how people usually responded to Greg, but she only got a nod of confirmation.
Jessie walked over to the DNA lab and looked in. Greg was blasting his music insanely loud and was dancing around in his swivel chair while silently singing along. The sight made Jessie snort with laughter. Greg had his back to her so he hadn't seen her enter. She chose this opportunity to sneak up behind him and poke him in the side. He spun around in his chair with his eyes huge in surprise. What he saw was Jessie standing there innocently trying to contain her laughter.
"I've got some work for you rock star."
On the outside, she was smiling happily but on the inside, she was completely freaking out.
'Oh, my God! Did I just do that? Did I just say that! I can't believe I'm not turning red right now. Probably am.'
Her hands were shaking slightly as she handed the bag over to him.
"Catherine and I got a murder turned rape and she wants you to analyze this."
"How many times do I have to tell you guys that this is useless unless I have something to compare it to?" Greg asked exasperatedly.
"Don't look at me! She told me to give this to you and to not leave you alone until you did something," she replied in defence.
"Fine! Well, you're gonna be here for a bit then. I can't do anything until Cath gives me something."
"I think she planned this," Jessie remarked, thinking back to Catherine's barely concealed smile.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"She practically shoved the evidence into my hands and told me that I had to follow you and she was trying to hide this huge grin the entire time," she explained.
"Hmmm. Weird."
Greg opened the bag and pulled out the nylons. He went to work extracting the DNA and preparing it for a profile. Jessie went over to the chair she had occupied earlier and sat down. Greg's voice suddenly broke the silence and startled Jessie out of her thoughts.
"Y'know, it's weird having someone watch me work. I'm so used to being alone with my music that the quietness is starting to freak me out."
"Sorry, I don't usually talk all that much," she answered.
Greg smiled. "That's okay. I'll talk. People usually can't get me to shut up. I need a topic first though. What should I ramble on about?"
"I dunno. Ummm," Jessie muttered to herself. "How about what you were like in high school?"
"All right, well, I wasn't a fan of the whole organized sports thing. I still hate it, except for our annual softball game against days. Anyways, I was captain of the chess team," Jessie laughed silently at this information. "I also surfed and scuba dived. And before you say anything, I realize Vegas is in the middle of the desert but this isn't where I was born. So, back to high school. I took as many chem. classes as I could with biology and physics close behind. I detested gym class and only took it the mandatory year. I also took all the possible math classes. Yes, I realize I was a nerd but I was comfortable in my nerdiness. At one point one of my non-nerdy friends called me a nark."
Jessie laughed aloud at this. Greg looked up from his work with a slightly hurt expression on his face.
"I'm sorry!" Jessie remarked, noticing Greg's face. "It just reminded me of this one time when I was sixteen when one of my friends called me a nark. It was summer vacation and I said something intelligent so she wanted me to go drinking with her. She said I should be unnarkish for one day and I told her that I wouldn't because I was happy in my narkiness. We both found that hilarious but I think the fact that it was like three in the morning was the reason."
Jessie was so busy remembering that incident that she forgot to be shy. It was as if she was back with her friends at home. Before she had time to become embarrassed, Greg spoke up.
"I finished the nylon profiles. I'll compare the epithelials from the ligature to the semen inside the condom and I'll run them both through CODIS."
"Awesome. That's probably all Catherine wanted me to stay for so I guess I better go."
Greg raised a mischievous eyebrow and said, "You know, I've always wondered what it was like to wear these things."
He grabbed the panty hose off the desk and ran to the bathroom across the hall.
"Wait! But…but those are evidence!" Jessie called after his retreating back. When he didn't turn around, she sighed and shook her head in defeat.
When it had been a couple minutes and Greg still hadn't returned, she decided to leave. She stood up, turned around, and saw Greg enter the lab. When she got a good look at him she bust into laughter. She sank back into the chair and rested her head against the desk. She laughed so hard her shoulders shook and tears started running down her face. After a minute or two, she managed to compose herself enough to raise her head off the desk. She wiped the tears out of her eyes and tried to speak.
"Wh-why?" she managed, gesturing at Greg's ensemble.
He shrugged. "I told you, I wanted to know what it was like to wear these things. I dunno how you girls manage it; these things are uncomfortable."
Greg pulled at one of the legs of the panty hose he was wearing under his lab coat.
"Won't you get in trouble?" Jessie asked, almost over her giggles.
"As long as Catherine doesn't catch me wearing the evidence again, I'll be okay."
"Again?" Jessie questioned in shock.
"Long story. Anyways, I'm okay as long as Catherine doesn't see," Greg repeated.
"Well then you might want to run."
"Why?"
"She's coming," she stated, pointing out one of the lab's many doors.
"Crap."
Jessie averted her eyes as Greg struggled to remove the hosiery. He flung them back onto the desk and scampered back to the bathroom in only a t-shirt, his lab coat, and his boxers. Jessie silently thanked God that Greg's lab coat was nearly knee length. That wasn't something she wanted to see her first day. At that precise moment, Catherine entered the lab.
"Where's Greg?" she queried.
"In the bathroom," Jessie answered while trying to suppress a new fit of giggles.
"Why isn't he working on our evidence?" Catherine demanded.
"Don't worry. He's finished with the nylons and everything is running through CODIS as we speak. He just has to do the semen and he's finished," Jessie explained.
"Oh, well, all right, good," Catherine said, calming down. "It looks like you're finished here. I could use some help over in the layout room."
Catherine turned around and led Jessie down the hall. Just as they left, Greg came out of the washroom, ready to apologize for taking so long. He stopped short when he realized no one was in the lab to hear his apology. Greg mumbled something to his self, turned his stereo back on, and went to work on the condom.