Chapter Three

Even though it was a little past nine o'clock, Grissom and Nick headed over to Emily Trent's condo. She lived in a gated community in an upper middle class neighborhood. It was a single story condo located on the end of the street. The lawn was well-maintained, having recently been mowed, and her garden was picturesque with pink roses that were in full bloom.

Grissom had decided that they needed to talk to Emily as soon as possible. They had no leads and one confusing clue that made no sense in relation to the crime and the victim. The only thing that connected Adam to Las Vegas was the photograph of him and Emily. It was a lead worth pursuing as it was their only one at the moment.

Nick was apprehensive as Grissom knocked on Emily's door. There could be any number of reasons why the victim had a photo of Emily and himself. Maybe they were friends. Maybe he was an ex-boyfriend. Maybe he was a current boyfriend. Though if he was a current boyfriend, why hadn't she mentioned him before? He felt that they had spent a lot of time together over the past few months and had gotten to know each other fairly well. The mention of a boyfriend had never come up.

He silently chided himself for worrying too much. There had to be some kind of logical explanation for the photo. Of course there was. Nick was sure of it.

Emily answered the door in jeans and a t-shirt which caught Nick off-guard. He was so used to seeing her in suits that he almost didn't recognize her in casual clothes. He liked it though. She looked carefree and about five years younger.

"Mr. Grissom. Nick. Pleasure to see you. Please come in." She ushered them inside with a smile. She was not surprised to see them as Grissom had the courtesy to call her before coming over.

"We're sorry to bother you at this hour, but it's important to our investigation." Grissom apologized, as he and Nick followed her into the house. The wooden floor creaked under their feet as they followed Emily into her living room.

She sat down in a red leather recliner, leaving the couch for Grissom and Nick. Her posture was open and inviting. She appeared to be completely unphased by their late-night intrusion. Nick wondered vaguely how she would feel after Grissom started questioning her.

"Not at all. I just hope I can be of service." The tone of her voice was as genuine as the smile on her face.

Grissom wasted no time in getting down to business.

"Emily, do you know a man by the name of Adam Pryor? He's a cop from Los Angeles."

"Adam Pryor." Emily repeated the name. She inclined her head to one side and appeared to think for a moment. Both CSIs were carefully studying her every move, looking for any sign of recognition. "No, I don't think I know anyone by that name."

"Are you sure? He's not a boyfriend, old or current?" Nick asked, a slight edge to his voice. He moved to the edge of his seat and rested his elbows on his knees, fixing her with a penetrating gaze.

Emily's brow furrowed a touch as her eyes flickered towards Nick. Her voice lost a touch of its former warmth as she replied, "No. Never dated an Adam."

"Well, can you explain this?" Grissom handed her the photo that Nick had recovered from Pryor's vehicle. "That is you, isn't it?"

Emily's back went rigid as she stared at the photo. Nick got the distinct impression that she was doing some quick thinking which disturbed him. He felt his own body tense as he watched her. Everything rested on the words that were about to come out of her mouth. He saw this kind of behavior every day when someone was confronted with evidence that contradicted what they had claimed to be true.

Finally, she clamped a hand on her forehead.

"Yes, that's me. Oh, I'd completely forgotten about him!" She ran her fingers through her hair, keeping her eyes on the photo. "A few years ago, I was in San Francisco and I was trying to get to the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. I got lost and this guy, Adam, helped me get there. We ended up spending the rest of the day together. I remember him being a really nice guy. Where'd you get this photo?"

Nick fought the urge to shake his head in disappointment at her fairly lame story. He would have thought that a prosecutor could have come up with a better one that that. His disappointment faded though when Emily finally looked up. Nick saw that her face did not match the emotion in her voice. She was speaking as if she were merely shocked by the recollection of a forgotten encounter, but her eyes were almost fearful.

"We found it in his car this afternoon. He died earlier today." Grissom informed her, never taking his eyes off of her face.

As he said this, Nick thought he a detected a flash of panic pass over Emily's face but it was gone before he could be sure. Her voice was quivered a touch when she asked, "How did he die?"

"He was murdered." Nick answered bluntly. "Did you know he was in Vegas? Did he try to contact you?"

Emily shook her head. "No. I haven't seen or heard from him since San Francisco."

"If that's true, why does he keep a picture of the two of you in his car? To me that suggests you had a relationship with him that lasted more than one day. Either that or you made quite an impression on him." Nick countered, his eyes locking with Emily's for a moment before she looked away.

Tiny beads of perspiration began to dot Emily's forehead and she swiped a hand across it. Struggling to keep her voice calm, she breathed, "I don't know why it was there. It doesn't make sense."

This was the first statement out of her mouth regarding the photo that Nick believed. She did seem genuinely confused as to why the photograph had been inAdam's car.

Switching tactics, Grissom leaned forward and asked, "Do you know who Peter and Hannah are?"

Emily stared at Grissom with a blank expression on her face. She seemed to be lost in thought. "Miss Trent? Do you know who they are?" Grissom asked again.

Emily snapped to attention and stood up so abruptly that it threw the CSIs off-guard. Her movements were jerky and when she spoke, her words were rushed and her tone was rather flustered. "No, I don't know who they are. I don't know anyone by those names. I'm sorry that I can't be more helpful. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Grissom shook his head and stood up. Nick followed suit. "Thank you for your time, Miss Trent."

Without another word, she shooed them to the door and shut it tightly behind them. As they made their way to the SUV, Nick looked at Grissom. "So, you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Most definitely. Our Miss Trent is lying."

"So what do we do now?" Nick asked as he turned the key in the ignition.

"Back to the lab. For the moment, we can only assume she's lying about the length of their relationship but that doesn't mean she killed him or that she even knows who did." Grissom said.

"But she was so upset. That's gotta mean something, doesn't it?" Nick stole a glance at his passenger who did not respond.

Nick drove in silence for a few minutes, lost in his thoughts. Why would Emily lie to them? Was she hiding something? If so, what was it? It frustrated Nick to no end that someone he trusted and cared about could look him in the face and lie to him like that. He gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white, feeling his anger begin to rise.

The sound of Grissom's cell phone snapped Nick out of his reverie.

"Grissom." he answered.

"Hey boss. It's Greg. I extracted some DNA from the sample Nick collected from the rope. It was enough for a comparison so I ran it against the cop's DNA in order to rule it out and I got a partial match. Thirteen alleles in common." Greg informed him.

"That would mean he's related to his killer." Grissom's thoughts were racing at the implications.

"Yup and the DNA belongs to a male." Greg said.

"Good work, Greg." Grissom hung up the phone and barked an order to Nick. "Turn around. We're going back."

Nick obeyed and shot his boss a look. "You gonna tell me what's up?"

"Adam Pryor was killed by a male relative which I find interesting since his partner told me that his parents are dead, and he doesn't have any kids." Grissom's voice had a trace of excitement in it which told Nick that the man's mind was moving at a rapid pace, fitting the pieces of their case together.

"What does this have to do with Emily?" Nick asked. His question was met with silence so Nick turned his attention to the road.

They arrived at Emily's house a few minutes later and found it dark. Grissom marched purposefully to the front door and gave a determined knock.

Instead of hearing the sound of feet approaching, they heard the garage door open. Backtracking, they saw Emily preparing to back her car out of the garage. She stopped when she saw the black SUV blocking her way.

Grissom made his way to the driver's side and Emily rolled her window down. "Going somewhere Miss Trent?" The CSI's tone was casual.

"Actually, yes. I was heading to my office. I realized that there was some paperwork that I needed to finish for a case I'm working on." Emily was slightly breathless and her movements were erratic. Grissom noticed that she was wearing a jacket and had a backpack in the seat next to her.

With a boyish grin, Grissom rested one hand on the roof of her car and leaned closer. "I'm sorry, but I realized that there was another question I wanted to ask you. Do you mind?"

Emily had no choice but to agree.

"Do you have any family living nearby?" Grissom asked.

Nick was taken by surprise. He hadn't been expecting that question. Where was Grissom going with this?

Emily also looked surprised at this question but answered it. "No. My parents died awhile ago and I'm an only child. Now can you please move your car? I need to get to my office."

Grissom ignored her request. "Did they die in a car crash? About ten years ago?"

"Yes. Now, please, let me go. I need to go." Emily was becoming frantic. She kept stealing glances at her rearview mirror as if expecting to catch someone sneaking up on her.

"That's interesting." Grissom replied with feigned interest. He took no notice Emily's emotional state. "Did you know that the same thing happened to Adam Pryor's parents?"

"No." she answered, shaking her head repeatedly. Her already fragile state was beginning to deteriorate even further and Nick was rapidly becoming concerned. Whatever anger he had been feeling towards Emily had long since dissipated. He placed a warning hand on Grissom's shoulder, but the supervisor ignored it. The younger man hoped his boss knew what he was doing.

"Did you know that Adam was also an only child? That's another thing you have in common." Grissom told her with a smile.

At this, Emily abandoned all pretenses and gave way to tears. "You don't understand! You have to let me go! Please! He's going to find me!" she begged the scientist, her face stricken with fear.

"Who? Who's going to find you, Hannah?" Grissom's tone switched instantly from the casual, almost mocking one he had adopted to one of deep, genuine concern and he leaned even closer to her.

Emily gave an involuntary shudder at being addressed by that name. With her fists, she pounded the steering wheel in frustration, tears streaking down her face, and shouted, "That's not my name! Hannah Douglass is dead!"

"Who's Hannah Douglass? Emily, I need you to look at me! Talk to me! I can't help you if you don't talk to me!" Grissom reached into the car and placed a hand on the sobbing woman's shoulder, but she shook it off with a violent jerk.

Emily turned her tear-stricken face to Nick and whispered, "Please. Help me. Let me go." Her eyes pleaded with his.

The look in her eyes made Nick's heart ache. He wanted to forcibly move Grissom out of the way and let Emily go, but deep down, he knew better and shook his head. "If someone's trying to hurt you, you have to tell us. We can help you. You don't have to be afraid."

Nick lowered himself to Emily's line of sight and forced Grissom to move over. He spoke to her in a calm soothing tone, his eyes never leaving hers. "Come back to the lab with us."

"I can't! He'll find me! I can't let him find me!" Emily whispered in quiet desperation.

"He won't find you. You'll be safe at the lab. We'll take care of you and we can talk safely there. I promise that he's not going to hurt you. I won't let him. You can trust me. You do trust me, right?" Nick asked with a small smile.

Emily nodded.

Nick nodded his head to reassure her and ever so slowly reached inside to unlock the car door. He moved back slightly so he could open it. Nick held his hand out for her. Taking it, shestepped out of the car.