Detective Jim Brass walked into the crime lab carrying two videotapes. They contained the footage from the ATM machine and the streetlight cameras from Tennison and 1st that Nick had requested.
He just about walked past the DNA lab when he spotted Warrick and Sara in the lab with Hodges; he walked in and stood near the door. The group did not notice him.
They were all listening to Hodges who was soaking in the attention. Hodges wasn't a very likable guy, he got on one's nerves rather quickly, but he knew his job, and he did it well.
The printer sitting on the table next to Hodges spit out a piece of paper, Hodges grabbed and read it.
"OK. It looks like we got a hit off of your blond hair from your crime scene."
He handed the paper to Warrick who began to read it.
"It looks like our hair belongs to a Riley Nestor. She's in the system for felony trespassing and shoplifting. It gives her current address at 1232 S. Covington Street. I guess will have to get in touch with Brass, and take a ride over there."
Brass took this as his queue to speak up.
"Someone looking for me? I was in the area with these tapes and I thought I'd stop by." He said holding the tapes up.
Warrick's eyes widened. "Is that the footage of our crime scene?"
"The one and the same."
Brass walked over and handed Warrick the videotapes. "The footage goes back as far as 10pm. I believe our victim was shot around 11 though. Let me know if they help with the case. Now what's this I hear about getting in touch with me?"
"Well we found a strand of hair at the crime scene on our victim. We ran it through DNA and found it belongs to a Riley Nestor. She's already in the system for felony trespassing and shoplifting, we were thinking about taking a ride."
"A ride sounds nice. It is kind of stuffy in here." Brass replied with a smirk.
Nick chose that moment to enter the room. "What's this I hear about going for a ride?"
"The hair I found belongs to a Riley Nestor, we were thinking of going for a ride, if you get my drift."
"Sounds fun, I'm in." Nick said as he noticed Warrick was holding the tapes that Brass gave to him.
"Are those my tapes from the crime scene?"
"Yeah, Brass just brought them in, here you go." Warrick handed the tapes to Nick. "Did you find anything out on our victim?"
"Brian Daeber is originally from my home town. He moved to Las Vegas about a year and half ago. He had a clean record, however all his credit cards were maxed out, and he was in the middle of filing bankruptcy. I also found out that he was way in the hole at the casino."
"Hmm, interesting. We'll follow-up on the angle later. Let's get going over the Riley Nestor's home, she may be able to answer some questions." Warrick suggested.
Nick walked over to Sara, and handed her the videotapes. "Sara could you take a look at these tapes? I think that either one or both of these might have recorded the crime. Just as Brass said the victim was shot around 11pm. So see what you can find. Could you also ask Greg to see what he can get off of the molds I made off the tire marks?"
"Sure think Nick, I'll get right on it."
"Thanks Sara."
Sara grabbed the tapes from Nick and walked out heading for the AV Lab.
"Hodges, how soon do you think you can get me the results on that paint scraping I took?" Warrick asked.
"It shouldn't be too long, I should have that for you by the time you return from your interview, providing nothing with more priority comes in." Hodges replied.
"OK. Thanks. Should we go gentlemen?" Warrick said heading towards the door.
"Let's do it." Nick replied following Warrick.
With the rising of the sun, it usually indicated that the shift was over. But for Nick, Warrick and Brass it looked like they were going into some overtime. Though none of them really minded. The extra money was always put to good use.
As the three of them walked out of the Crime Lab, Warrick called shotgun. Nick just shook his head with a smile. They all got into Brass's Taurus and drove off to interview Riley Nestor.
The dark sedan roared to life and pulled out after them. The driver, who Brent called Mav, pulled out his cell phone, and dialed.
"Yea they are on the move again, so far they haven't noticed us. When do you want to grab this guy?"
"Tonight." replied Brent. "I want to grab him under all of their noses. Keep track of him. We will need everyone for this. I'll get in touch with the other guys and we'll meet up with you."
"Got it." Mav hung up the phone, and spoke to the three other guys in the car with him. "The Boss says that we are going to meet up with him and the others, and grab Stokes tonight. In the meantime we still tail him."
The three guys nodded in understanding, each itching for some action. The look of anticipation could be seen on their faces. Yep, they would have some fun tonight.
Brass's Taurus pulled into a driveway of a run-down house. The house was white or what seemed to be white. The gutters were dangling down and rusting. A few windows were broken, but were covered up with boards. The rest of the windows were dirty, from dirt and bird droppings.
Warrick, Nick and Brass exited the car, walked up the sidewalk, and knocked on the door. From inside they could here someone moving around.
"Who is it?" the person screamed from the other side of the door.
"Las Vegas Police." Brass replied.
They could here the person on the other side of the door unlocking the locks. The door finally opened, and their stood a girl no older than 23. She had long brown hair with brown eyes. She wore no make-up and was still in her nightshirt, as if she had just been woken up. She looked at all three men."
Brass held up his badge. "I'm Captain Brass, this is Warrick Brown, and Nick Stokes with the Crime Lab. We are looking for a Riley Nestor."
"Riley isn't home. What did she do anyway?" the girl asked.
"I'm sorry miss? Brass made it into a question to get her name.
"Sharon, Sharon Nestor.
"Sharon, nice to meet you." he said with a smile. "Do you mind if we come in and ask you a few questions?" Brass said avoiding her question.
"I guess. She opened the door all the way and the three men entered the house and looked around.
The inside of the house was just as bad as the outside. The living room had what used to be tan carpeting but with all the dirt and grime it was now a dark brown. The sofa in the corner was stained and singed from cigarettes and god only knows what.
The girl closed the door and walked in. "Won't you please sit down."
None of them took up her offer. "No thank-you." Brass replied as he took out his notepad. Nick and Warrick walked around the room taking it in.
"What relation are you to Riley Nestor?"
"I'm her younger sister." She answered as she plopped down on the sofa watching Nick and Warrick.
"Do you know where your sister is?"
"I have no idea. I'm not her keeper"
"Does she work?"
"Yea she's a waitress over at Blackie's Bar on 101st street."
"What time does she work, and what days?"
"She works Monday through Friday from 6pm till about 2am, when the bar closes."
"Did she work last night?"
"What's going on? Is she is some sort of trouble?" Sharon asked as she sat up straighter on the couch.
"So far she's not in any trouble, we just need to question her." He answered, and then continued with the questioning. "Could you please answer the question?"
"Yes she worked last night."
"When was the last time you saw your sister?"
"I saw her yesterday morning, she was going out with her boyfriend."
That answer peaked Brass's interest. He looked over at Nick and Warrick to see if they heard what she said. They looked back at him waiting for him to continue the questioning.
"Do you know the name of her boyfriend?"
"Yea, his name is Brian Daeber, they've been dating on and off for about a year now."
"Do you know where they went?"
"I have no idea, I stay out of my sister's business and she stays out of mine."
"I take it your sister's scheduled to work tonight?"
Sharon rolled her eyes, and responded with a huff. "That's what I said earlier."
"OK Sharon thanks for your help." Brass said as he put away his notepad.
Warrick and Nick walked back over to Brass, and waited from him to finish.
"Here's my card, if you can think of anything about your sister's whereabouts please give me a call." Brass took a business card out of his jacket pocket, and handed it to Sharon.
She got up and walked them to the door. Brass, Nick and Warrick left the house and walked back down the sidewalk. As Sharon closed the door she looked at Brass's card and chucked it on the floor, and went back to bed.
The three men got back into the Taurus and cranked up the air. It was beginning to get really hot.
"So what do you think?" Brass asked.
"Well at least we know that the victim was dating the sister. That would explain why her hair was found on his pants. However, we need to prove that she was indeed at work last night. I say we hit the bar and question her tonight." Nick replied while leaning back into his seat.
"Yea, I agree with Nick. We need to get back to the lab, and see what Hodges came up with on my paint scrapings. After that let's call it a day. Can you guys make it in a few hours early tonight say around 8pm? We can head over to the bar early and question Riley." Warrick suggested.
"Sounds like a plan to me." Nick replied.
Brass pulled out of the driveway and the three of them headed back to the lab, with their shadow in tow.
It took them a little longer to get back to the lab with morning traffic and all. When the three men finally arrived back at the Lab, Warrick and Nick hopped out, and Brass took off.
Warrick and Nick entered the crime lab and went straight over to Hodges.
"There you guys are. I came up with your make and color." He said proud of himself.
"That's great news. Let's see what you got." Warrick replied.
Hodges handed him the paper.
"2005 GMC Savana Cargo Van, Onyx Black. Great now we have something to go off of."
Just as Warrick finished reading off the information Greg walked in with a piece of paper. He nodded to everyone in the room.
"I was able to get a match of your tire molds. The tires are a LT225 / 75R16E, they belong to a 2500 extended wheel based GMC Van."
Warrick and Nick looked at each other with smiles. They now identified the type of van that was used, through the physical evidence left at the scene. The next step would be to see if it could be identified in the footage that was collected from that evening.
The two CSIs left Hodges and headed over to Sara in the A/V lab. Sara was sitting at table working on a computer. She looked up when Warrick and Nick walked in.
"Hey guys, how did your interview go?"
"Riley wasn't there, but we were able to determine from interviewing her sister that she was dating the victim. So did you find anything?" Nick asked.
"This is your lucky day, Mr. Stokes." Sara replied. That statement brought a smile to Nick's face.
"The ATM camera shows what happened, here take a look." Sara clicked an icon on the monitor, and the footage begins to play.
"The footage shows the Camero driving down Tennison. He had the green light. He's just getting to the intersection when the GMC van blows through the red light crashing into the Camero. The driver of the Camero is shaken but OK. One lone person exists the van runs over to the Camero and shoots the driver. The person gets back into the van, and the van drives off."
"Well we already knew by the physical evidence that the vehicle involved was a 2005 GMC van. Now with the video footage we know that for certain. Thanks Sara."
The three of them called it a day. Warrick and Nick went to the locker room to change and to secure their guns in their lockers. They walked out of the lab together into the scorching heat, which was one of the many things that made Las Vegas famous.
As Nick reached his car, he yelled over to Warrick, "I'll see you tonight then. Get some rest."
"Well, you need the beauty sleep more than I do my friend." Warrick yelled back with a smile.
"Your such the comedian, don't quit your night job." Nick said as he got into his truck.
Both Warrick and Nick pulled out of the parking lot heading to their beds and dreams. Little did Nick know that time was ticking away … until he was faced with a new nightmare.
Well there you have it. Chapter 4. Please keep the reviews coming.