"Greg! We don't know where she is. Now help us by watching this video for clues.", Grissom reprimanded, shaking Greg off his arm and gesturing for him to sit.
Tara wasn't dead. She would have been, if her kidnapper had left her for death once he had shot her. Instead, he covered the camera lens and stitched her up while she was conscious and moving. She struggled, but he had a gun with him, so she stopped.Unfortunately, the video that by now all of the CSI's were watching for a clue, played with sound and video. They cried and felt sick as they heard Tara beg and scream in agony from the stitches. "Stop! Please, I'll do anything! Help! Can anyone hear me, help!", they heard her scream. He continued to hurt her, taking advantage of the fact that the camera lens was covered. Sara ran to the trash can and threw up from the disturbing noise. She sat down and Warrick put his arm comfortingly around her shoulders and wrapped her up in a hug. Archie was tapping away on his computer in the background, searching for the webcam's signal output location. He got a hit, but it was too broad a search area, so he focused on finding clues in the video's image.
After about a half hour of Tara's screams and moans, it was almost silent. But Archie heard something quiet in the background. He enhanced the sound, and realized what it was. Sobbing. He mentioned it to them and they all felt sick when they heard the awful noise. Out of nowhere, the lens was uncovered. They all stared in shock at the newly revealed, bruised, bleeding girl lying in the middle of the screen, shaking and sobbing. She was covered up now, but only barely. He put a towel around her. She reached for the pen and paper lying next to her, and began to write as she cried and whispered to herself.
"Archie, zoom in on the paper so we can read it.", Grissom commanded and Archie obediently listened. He zoomed in and isolated the image so they could read it."There's perfect. Catherine, I don't have my glasses on, what is she writing?"
Catherine forced herself to fnally look at the screen and read the sad letter, expecting the worst. "Dear everyone at CSI and my dear family. I am scared, I don't want it to end like this. I want you all to know that I will miss you, but I can't live through this. I want it to be over fast. Sara, I appreciate all you have taught me and showed me. Nick, you have been so comforting and helpful to me while I was working. Grissom, you have taken me in and shown me a great experience. Catherine and Warrick, you guys have been my best friends. Greg... ", Catherine paused, causing Greg to look at the screen and gasp quietly. She continued warily, and managed to say, "Greg, I want you to know something. I am going to die, so I need to get this off my chest. I love you."
Everyone turned to look at Greg, who was crying, with his head in his hands. Catherine, Nick, Sara and Warrick all came over to him and comforted him. He was traumatized, and he couldn't even speak. Archie broke the awkward silence. "Guys, look at this...", he paused to make the computer screen show up on the projector."The website was just updated, and it has a clue on it."
Grissom grabbed his glasses and read the page. "She is here, but you are not. You can't save her, but I'll help you find her body. Look for the 3a6c6c7c9a2a9c 2a8a 4a2a7d 7d8a2a8a4c6c6b 4 6c6b 4b4c4a4b9a2a9c I-17. What does that mean?"
Nick looked at it and said, "It's a code."