Note: I had hoped to get this chapter up last night...but my dad pulled rank and took over the computer...the joys of living at home. So, this story is very much an adventure to write...as I get into each chapter...something new takes form, so we'll see where the rest of this thing takes me. I hope you're enjoying it so far...let me know your thoughts.
Sunday 12:00 p.m.
The scheduled graveyard shift had long since ended. Warrick had gone home to catch a few hours of sleep, as had Sara, Catherine and Greg. Nick, however, lingered in the lab. He couldn't make himself go home.
Walking through the lab he realized how quiet it had become for a Sunday afternoon. The hum of the DNA lab was muted by a closed door. Mia had gone home hours ago, the new day shift techie stood in her place. He'd have to wait for shift tonight to get any results back.
He found his way into the A/V lab not surprised to find Grissom hard at work viewing video. Nick took up the empty seat next to his boss.
"I thought you'd gone home," the man said turning his gaze toward the CSI.
"Nah," he shrugged taking a look at the stack of videos before him.
"What'd you get from the McCallum house?"
"An empty lock box and a few shell casings, that's about it. We got an address for the son. He's a student at UNLV. Warrick's coming' back early so we can head over there."
"How are you holding up?" the man asked, putting a pause on his video.
"I'm fine," Nick nodded with a small sigh. He really didn't want to start this right now... or really ever for that matter; at least not in the lab.
"You look tired."
"I'll live. No worries, Griss," he smiled, hoping it offered the man some reassurance. "What have you got on the video?" he pointed to the screen.
"Surveillance from the four grocery stores," he said turning back to the monitor. "I've already looked through the first two robberies. These guys are meticulous," Grissom said starting up the video.
"Looks like they're keeping a schedule?" Nick asked.
"They enter each store at the exact same time," Grissom nodded. "They do a walk through of the store…"
"Taking inventory of possible witnesses?" Nick asked.
"Maybe," his boss nodded. "Then they hold up the first cashier, and then…" he trailed off allowing the video to show what he didn't want to say. The cashier was shot once in the head and the suspects took the cash before corralling the patrons of the store into a back room.
"They only go for the first register," Nick nodded. "It doesn't make much sense. It's like they're not really interested in the cash."
"If they were, you'd think they'd hit all the registers and take their time doing it," Grissom said stopping the tape.
"These guys weren't just meticulous, they were scared. I saw it in the guy's eyes."
"We're missing something," Grissom said shaking his head as the phone in the lab rang. "A/V lab, Grissom," he said picking up the receiver next to him. "I'm looking at them now," he nodded after a pause. Nick's curiosity was peaked. "Alright, I'll look into it," he nodded hanging up the phone and rummaging through the stack of tapes. Finding the tape he wanted he quickly popped it into the video player. "That was Catherine," he said to Nick as if he had forgotten the man was sitting next to him. "She went back to the fourth scene. There was trace found on some bullets from the store."
"It came back cornstarch," Nick nodded.
"She found bottles off powder in the fourth store; several had erupted in the gunfire."
"Hopefully the videos caught something," Nick nodded picking up the man's trail of thinking. The men watched the video in silence as the two suspects entered the store; the surveillance clock read 5:00 p.m. Within five minutes they were back at the first register, their guns drawn. "Hold on," Nick said, "take it back a little."
"What'd you see?" Grissom asked rewinding the tape.
"There," Nick pointed to the top right corner of the screen. "Look, there're two suspects at the register, but there's a third guy. Right there," he pointed.
"They're evolving," Grissom said, almost questioned as he watched the third black-clad suspect in the video. He didn't stay in the screen long. "There were only two suspects at the first store, right?"
"Yeah," Nick nodded shuffling through video tapes to pull up a new angle. He handed Grissom the video and watched as the new angle gave them a better view of the third suspect. "There he is."
"He's staying in the rear of the store, near the back store room," Grissom noted.
"What's that in his hand?" Nick asked taking over the computer keyboard to zoom in on the focal point.
"Looks like a bottle of powder," Grissom said his brow furrowed.
"What the hell is he gonna do with that?" Nick asked quickly printing off the image and allowing the video to continue playing. It was then they watched as the suspect put the muzzle of his gun to the bottom of the bottle and fired a round causing the bottle to explode, a shower of powder causing a cloud. "What the hell?" Nick asked.
"Hang on," Grissom said cueing up the first tape. "Let's synchronize these tapes," he said tweaking a few knobs and starting the videos back up. "It's only a diversion," he said a smile tickling the corner of his mouth. "All the attention is on the back of the store."
"Damn, these guys are trying to get smart on us?" Nick shook his head.
"Not smart enough, though," Grissom said, this time a genuine smile coming across his face, this one almost reaching his eyes. "Look," he pointed.
"Amateur," Nick grinned, the frustration he was beginning to feel easing away. "Did Catherine pick up the fragments?"
"They're in trace," Grissom nodded.
"I'll get to work," Nick smiled getting up from his seat and heading to the lab.
"Find me when you're done," his boss nodded heading to his office. On the video monitor was a frozen image of the distracting suspect. He wore a ski mask as had the first two suspects, a gun in one hand powder in the other, and no gloves.
Amateurs, Nick thought as he began the process of printing the bottle fragments. Hopefully they'd have a more solid lead come the start of shift tonight. One could only hope.