LOST AND FOUND
CHAPTER 5Sara escorted Rachel to the interrogation room. Rachel sat down and Sara went to find the others.
Warrick and Greg were in the DNA lab. The blood on the bracelet was Rachel's. A moment after the test came back, Grissom strolled in.
"Hey!" Warrick exclaimed, "We might be able to prove Rachel was taken by force." He said, showing him the broken bracelet. Grissom was impressed.
"We'll ask her if it's hers, if she was wearing it that day." He said.
"Rachel's ready…" Sara informed, as she appeared at the door.
Rachel sat in the interrogation room staring at the two-way glass. As Grissom and Warrick entered, she greeted them with her gaze.
"Hello Rachel, I'm Gil Grissom, this is Warrick Brown. We need to ask a few questions about yesterday, if that's alright." Grissom announced as he and Warrick each took a seat facing Rachel, who nodded slightly, not knowing what to expect.
"Can you tell us about… exactly what happened from the time you left your class to when Sara met you at the hospital?" Warrick asked. Rachel smiled nervously and ran her tongue along her lips.
"I went to the office…" Rachel started, "I handed my note to the receptionist and told her I was going to the dentist." She explained, and then paused to remember more. "Then, I left the school. I sat outside on the curb to wait for my mom, I was thinking about… things… and suddenly my dad was there," she said.
"Did you see him arrive?" Warrick asked.
"No, I was thinking. And I had a headache. He came up behind me." Rachel replied.
"What did he say?" Grissom wondered.
"He said… I can't remember… he said… no, wait. He asked me how I was doing, and I reminded him he was on a restraining order and he had to leave, or he'd get in trouble," Rachel said quickly, like she was overflowing with information she would forget. Grissom nodded.
"Is that when he cut you?" Warrick asked Rachel, pointing to her injured arm. Rachel nodded and fiddled nervously with the bandage.
"He grabbed me, and I panicked. I realized I was in trouble… I tried to get my phone, but I think I dropped it. I can't really remember the rest. Sorry…" Rachel said. Grissom shifted in his seat.
"Rachel," he said, leaning forwards, "how did it come to be… that… that someone like you, like yourself… attends Butterfield Academy? It's for out of hand kids…" he asked, a question that was clearly eating at him, yet irrelevant to the current investigation. Rachel's gaze grew dark.
"I ran away from home," She replied. Which surprised everyone considering none of her current friends knew that.
"Why was that?" Grissom asked her. He could tell she was being vague on purpose.
"I was nine. It was a long time ago." She said. She was putting off telling him the real reason and like treading water, she'd soon cave. Grissom kept his patience.
"Rachel." He said slowly to make sure she was listening. She was. In fact, she was very focused which was odd since she seemed completely incapable of giving a strait answer. Or she was going over an elaborate way to stretch the procrastination of telling the real reason, which seemed quite ingenious. "Rachel… why did you run away?" Grissom asked. She bit her lip.
"I found out…" she said with such a great sadness nobody could relate to.
"How did you find out?" Grissom asked… skipping the essential 'why' in case the 'how' led to it without her noticing. She was quick and caught his trick. Smirking, Rachel drummed her fingers on the shiny table.
"I found out how I could prove it, and I did research… and I asked a police officer for an address… and I found her," Rachel said.
"You were nine, Rachel… what were you researching?" Grissom asked, finally convinced the conversation was going nowhere.
"You'll never believe me…" Rachel said in a singsong voice, like she was trying to get a kid to give her something she wanted.
"Rachel, I believe you," Grissom insisted. Surprisingly, Rachel smiled and giggled silently to herself. It was unclear for a second weather or not she was incredibly pleased or sad, mystified, or frightened.
"Is there something wrong?" Warrick asked, definitely confused. Rachel turned her mysterious gaze to him, bursting now with happiness.
"Nobody believes me!" Rachel said excitedly, smiling almost fiendishly. Turning to Grissom she whispered, "people think I'm crazy." Grissom shifted awkwardly in his seat again.
"I wouldn't say that…" he assured her. In the observation room, Greg turned to Sara and Nick;
"Is she insane?" He speculated. Sara just shook her head. What else could possibly have happened to Rachel was beyond her.
"I don't think you're crazy, Rachel. You're smart. I know you are, you don't know who to trust, or to whom to return the favor," Grissom said. Rachel glanced at him in admiration.
"Then, Mr. Grissom… would you believe me if I told you I was kidnapped at age two by Pauline and George Weiss… and no matter what I could prove it? With science?" Rachel said, like it was a rehearsed speech she'd longed to perform. Although it was a lot to digest, Grissom kept his promise.
"Rachel I would believe you, because I know you are brilliant. You and I are both scientists, so let's talk it out scientifically." He offered, overjoyed he'd finally pried it out of her. Rachel looked pleased.
"Rachel? What about San Francisco?" Warrick asked, not knowing what to make of the kidnapping story. Rachel froze. Grissom shot him a look. The girl stood up uncertainly, her gaze fixed on the CSI who asked about what she didn't want to tell. As if she was finished sending him a sub conscious message, she turned away and strolled over to the two-way glass. She turned back to Grissom and Warrick.
"Y'know what I like about this room, Mr. Brown?" Rachel asked, with a sudden perk to her tone.
"What's that?" Warrick asked, playing along as he was already in deep.
"It's safe. There's good people here. Good people of science. Like you. And… they're locked on the outside, with all the liars and assholes they belong with… San Francisco isn't any of that." Rachel explained, referring to her parents as 'them'.
"Rachel, there was something you wanted to share with me, remember?" Grissom reminded the girl. She looked at him reluctantly.
"I'm sorry," Rachel said with a sigh. "You're gonna have to figure it out yourselves now." She replied sadly. She wandered over to the glass that separated her from the other CSI's who she was unknowingly being watched by. She approached the mirror and blew a puff of mist on the surface, and started to write backwards letters S-R-O-R-R-I-M. Sara, Greg and Nick watched as Rachel hauntingly spelt out "Mirrors" for them. Rachel turned back to Grissom, smiled sweetly, and as the message faded away, she left the room.