Chapter Five
Back at the lab Catherine, Nick, Warrick, and Greg all sat about in the break room discussing their latest case and plans for the holidays. At one point Nick stood up with his baseball cape turned over in his hand, shaking it a little.
"Alright, I put all our names in this cap and we're all goin' ta pick one name and that person is the person you shop for. If you get your own name, you can pick again. Remember, don't put your name on the tag; just sign it 'From: Secret Santa.'"
He looked around. They all nodded in assent.
"Alright, Catherine, you pick first."
Soon they were all checking the paper in their hands, looking around suspiciously at each other, trying to get a clue. Greg was acting the most cautious, going out of his way to show the other people in the room that no one was looking at his paper.
"Guys, new lead in our investigation," Grissom said as he walked in the room with a file in his hand. He stopped when he saw the look on all their faces. "What?"
"You have to pick your secret Santa." Nick stretched the hat out toward him.
Just then Sara entered the break room, her head in a file. "Hey guys, as you know, we didn't find any prints at the store, video shows they were all wearing gloves, but mall security sent over the names of the two Santa impersonators working at the mall."
She looked up as she finished, noticing the cap that Nick was brandishing towards Grissom.
Smiling her understanding, she said, "Secret Santa drawing."
"You got it. Now come on you two," urged Nick.
Grissom and Sara both reached into the cap. They both glanced at the other when their hands touched slightly, and quickly grabbed a slip of paper, drawing their hands back close to their bodies.
With the last two names drawn, Nick moved to recover his garbage and get back to business, the others following his lead. Everyone seemed oblivious to the two late comers who now stood in silence.
Their silence lasted only a couple seconds, Sara recovering first. She turned and walked out the door, followed closely by Nick and Catherine.
After they had gone, Grissom turned toward Warrick and Greg.
"Turns out, our Romy Montgomery was a Mrs. Tyler Montgomery before she died," Grissom started, mind back on the case.
"So she's married and found dead in another man's house," Warrick stated, his blue eyes focused deep in thought.
"Lovers?" Greg chimed in. "Wait. Why would Romy Montgomery drug her lover and then shoot herself?"
"You're so certain she's the one who drugged him?" Grissom shot an inquisitorial look at Greg.
"Well, this was a murder-suicide, right?"
Warrick spoke up, "It'spossible that Mrs. Montgomery drugged Mr. Cape, but motive's tricky. Meanwhile, Mrs. Fermera, the housekeeper, works at the residence and has all the opportunity in the world."
"Motive?" Grissom interrupted.
"I'll look into it, but she's still a probable suspect. Also, we have no reason to assume Mr. Montgomery didn't find out about the affair. If he did, anger, betrayal, jealousy, all motive."
Grissom nodded absently as he mulled over Warrick's list of suspects.
"Results on the fingerprints on the two wine glasses came back. Matches to three different people include Mr. Cape, Mrs. Montgomery, and Mrs. Fermera," Greg read from a file folder he laid out on the table before him.
No one stopped him so he went on, "Tox report on Mr. Cape came back as well. Mr. Cape died of an overdose. Doxepin hydrochloride."
"Antidepressant," Grissom stated. "Probably prescription."
"Wine came back positive for the doxepin hydrochloride as well."
"Means his death could have been suicide," Grissom looked down at the table, focused on it but not seeing it as his mind was elsewhere.
"It could still be murder. Some of the fingerprints on the wine glass withthe doxepin hydrochloridebelonged to Mr. Cape, Mrs. Fermera, and Mrs. Montgomery. Mrs. Montgomery and Mrs. Fermera were the only ones to touch the other glass," Greg finished.
"Shoe prints have a match to all three with a fourth set that are unknown," Warrick added, finishing his own report.
Grissom looked up to address Warrick and Greg.
"Warrick, check out the housekeeper's story, background, possible motive. Greg, find out where the pills came from, and how they ended up in the wine. I'm going with Brass to talk with Mrs. Montgomery's husband."
On that final note, all of them started collecting their files.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Greg interjected with a smile, winning glances from Grissom and Warrick as they were leaving. "So, whose names d'ya guys pick?"
Warrick rolled his eyes and walked out of the break room.
"It's a secret, Greg," Grissom half scolded him. In the doorway, he turned back to look at Greg.
"Figure it out." He smiled as he turned and walked away, leaving Greg with another challenge.