Chapter Three
"The male's name is Julian Cape, 47 years old, and the owner of this house," the coroner, David, read off the driver's license in his hand before looking over the body. "Time of death was approximately four hours ago. No sign of struggle and no wounds suggest he died of natural causes or was poisoned. Need to run a tox-screen to confirm or dispute that."
Grissom photographed the woman, having already gotten pictures of the man.
"Did the woman die at the same time?" Grissom inquired, pulling the camera away from his face, his attention fixated on the woman as he listened to David.
"Can't know for sure, but at least withina couple of hours. Suffered a single gunshot wound to the head."
Grissom squatted down beside the woman, examining her more closely.
"Traces of GSR. She was shot at close range."
David looked up at Grissom. "Could be sucide."
"I don't know. I mean, plausibly, there is the option that both deaths were the result of suicide. Anything's possible." He stood up and moved away from the body.
"If you're done with the bodies, I'll get them delivered to the lab."
"Thanks, David." Pulling his attention away from the woman, Grissom looked around the room and found the woman's purse on a desk beside one of the entryways. He went over to the desk and started looking for an ID.
"Nice purse." It was Warrick Brown. He appeared behind Grissom, followed close behind by Greg Sanders. "I'm not sure glitter goes with that outfit, though."
"Or those shoes," Greg put in.
Grissom glanced over at the two of them, flashing them the license he had found in the purse.
"Romy Montgomery, age 42 years."
"Relation to—" Warrick wondered.
"One, Julian Cape," Grissom supplied. "Don't know the nature of the relationship just yet. Brass is talking with housekeeper."
Having unpacked their equipment, Warrick and Greg set about collecting evidence. Warrick began by swabbing some of the blood and checking for other pieces of evidence on the floor where the bodies had been. Greg started to dust the coffee table and the wine glasses found at one end.
"Grissom, did you collect the gun?"
"No, gun was gone when we got here," Brass ianswered forGrissom. "Talked with the housekeeper. Says she first arrived at 6 am as she does every morning. Went about her usual jobs, cooking, cleaning, you know the deal.
"At 5:30PM she had dinner ready for Mr. Cape. He asked her to go shopping for him and gave her a list of names. He asked if she could have that finished tonight and drop off the gifts, as she had the rest of the year off to enjoy the holidays with her family.
"She came back around 10:30 PM, let herself in with her key, heard the record playing, and walked in the living room where she found our dearly departed."
"Coroner has time of death placed around 7:30PM give or take an hour," Grissom added. "If it turns out the man was murdered, it would have happened shortly after the housekeeper left."
"Anyone else stop by while the housekeeper was here?" Warrick asked.
"Not while she was here."
Greg stepped up. "But if it turns out the guy was poisoned, the housekeeper could have poisoned him easily. She could have slipped him something before heading out the door, finding him dead upon her return."
"Well, if the man died first, then where did the gun go after the woman shot herself, assuming she shot herself? Did you find a gun anywhere else in the house?" Warrick looked over at Grissom.
"No. But let's get this evidence back to the lab for processing, before we start theorizing."