Summary: Strange events in the form of murder leave nothing, but trouble and confusion. Nick and Warrick are pulled into a world they were not ready for. It threatens not only their lives, but their sanity.
Disclaimer: This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.
Author's Note: Well, seeing as how the last chapter didn't seem too exciting or interesting to anyone, I now give you my longest single chapter in history of my CSI writing! I find it interesting that my post 5 on my other story didn't get any reviews either. Must not be my best post. Oh well. But anyways….lots of stuff is going to happen and some things may or may not fall into place. Oh, and Nick gets himself into a little bit of trouble, again. But as always, enjoy and let me know what you think of how it is going. Thanks for reading! Later!
Title: Poisonous Fear
By: duffshel
#5
Warrick and Nick came upon the scene after what seemed to be the entire police department blocked the area off. The two CSI's walked around to the back of the large house, following Officer Kehls. The young office was quiet and walked stiffly. Nick would tell all this was beginning to wear on the newer man.
"Detective Brass and Vega are back here. They are by the wooden gazebo."
With a nod, Warrick took the lead and they left Andrew behind them. The two cops were standing close and were talking to each other. Neither seemed aware of anything around them.
"Hey Brass, what's going on? What did you call us for?"
"We found the husband. Mr. White is in there."
Nick didn't bother asking any questions and went straight for the doorway. The smell hit him first. It smelled like boiled pig fat. Mr. Ralph White was face down in the cooling water of the hot tub. He skin was bloated out and looked waxy. His left foot was hooked over the edge.
"Shit. What the hell is going on!"
The Texan stood to the side to allow for Warrick to enter the small space. The taller CSI looked around with hard, green eyes. Mr. White was only three houses from his own. It would be far fetched to believe the man walked to his neighbor's house to boil himself alive in a private tub.
"Where are the owners of this house?"
"Mr. and Mrs. Furber are away for the week. I have contacted them at her sister's house in New York. No one else lives here."
With a deep breath, Nick stepped closer to the side of the large green tube. It looked to hold up to six people and had several stairs around in it to get in and out easily. This was something Nick had always wanted for his home. Maybe not so much anymore.
"We are going to need to get this whole thing back to the lab. Drain the water and take it as well," Nick looked to Warrick for agreement.
"Yeah. We should process it all there. Who's the coroner coming?"
Vega popped his head in, "Phillips is on his way. I told him to be prepared for water log."
Warrick snapped a few photos of the tub and body. He leaned close to the ridge of the plastic and couldn't figure out any point where the body was dumped in. A look to his left proved there was only one door in and out. They would need to check out the lawn.
"How many people have been in this area?"
"Well, the neighbor that lives in that house," Brass pointed right, "Smelled something odd. He walked out into his backyard to see what it was and noticed the lights on in here. With the Furbers gone, he figured something was up and walked over to check it out. He found Mr. White and called 911. Other than him, Sam and I. That is it. I kept everyone else away and to the front of the house."
The taller CSI nodded and left his partner in the gazebo. His eyes swept the ground with his flashlight. In a few areas, the grass was compacted down, but there was no distinct sign of distress. He snapped a few more pictures of the entrance way and the surrounding lawn. This would all be ripped up when they removed the tub.
David Phillips walked around the house with a gurney following behind him. The black bag felt heavy in his hands. He could see Warrick walking around outside the wooden structure. Nick must still be inside of it. He didn't hesitate as he walked forward.
"Hey Warrick."
"Hey Dave. Body's in there, man."
The smell was strong, but David had been subject to much worst. He could deal with this. The body was no longer face down. Nick had turned the man over and pulled him closer to the edge. The CSI was looking over the white, bubbly face. There was no sign of trauma.
"Nick. Are you ready for me to take him?"
"Yeah, hey there Dave. You gonna need help getting him out?"
"I have help. Thanks though. You should probably get started on the tub processing."
Nick nodded and starred into the water depth. It was a fairly shallow tub. He could see the bottom with ease. There was a brown substance against the green. Warrick said there had been dirt turned up at the other house. They should be able to get a match between the samples.
The Texan walked out and headed towards the front of the house once again. He pulled out his cell phone and rang for Greg, "Hey boss. I need you to bring the wet vac and several large containers. We have a hot tub to drain and bring in to the lab….get the flatbed….see you then."
Now that the call was made, Nick stopped in his tracks. He bent forward and placed his left hand on his knee, the right one still clutching the phone. This was becoming one weird night and there were still a couple hours left before the sun rose over the horizon to scare away everything bad in the night.
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Grissom watched Greg gather the vacuum and head out to one of the company trucks. He had heard about what happened with their main suspect in the house fire and murder. Catherine hadn't dug up anything on the White's to give motive for murder. And now the husband was dead, most likely murdered as well.
The body was on the way to the lab with Dave. Grissom wanted to be in the room when Robbins began his work. Anything on the body could give another suspect to the team. They had nothing from the boy in terms of a guilty party. No missing person report fit the possible description of the kid. He was clean with no record so nothing came up with finger prints. They had nothing on the kid.
The senior CSI walked slowly down the deserted hallway and thought about everything that had happened in the short hours of that night. The locations of all the bodies were not that far from each other in all reality. And it was confirmed that the same frog was used on the two victims down in the freezers. It was a stretch to believe that Sherie White may have been cheating on her husband with the young man and the husband killed them both, then in guilt killed himself. Grissom was not going to buy suicide for any of them.
Through the glass walls he could see the techs hard at work on several different cases, trying to fix lives and bring peace for the people remaining. He was missing something. It was a small issue, but something in the back of his head was screaming at him. Grissom let his feet take over and they took him to the morgue. The lights were dim as he pushed open the door.
Frosted glass doors waited for him as he approached the freezers. Gil studied them until he picked one at random. He didn't know who was in any of them. But the chance proved safe. The young male was lying on the sliding table. Grissom pulled it out with ease. A new smell wafted out with it.
"What the hell!"
Grissom leaned in closer and his eyes got even wider. His phone was pulled from his belt and flipped open. Catherine answered in two rings.
"Catherine. The kid was at the damn house….he smells like lighter fluid."
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The bushes were low to the ground, but it kept the two huddled bodies safe from the eyes and ears of all the police hanging around. The larger of the two kept shifting around. His nerves were shot. This was not supposed to happen. The husband wasn't supposed to be found this quickly, not according to their master.
"Fuck! What are we going to do?"
"It's your fault for wearing a watch. We are not going to get it back. The cops are going to have it. Tough shit for you man," a feminine voice taunted, "Come on, let's go. We have to get back."
The bushes barely shuffled as they ducked and ran through the dark yards. Things were set in to motion and they had news for their master.
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Drowning victims were always interesting to work with, but Doc Albert Robbins never let anything get in his way. This body had been submerged under the boiling water in the beginning of his asphyxia. There was almost a half gallon of water that was pumped from the victim's lungs. It sat within a glass jar ready for processing.
Robbins studied the neck and shoulders the man. There was no sign of bruises or marks from strangulation by an object, but of course the maceration of the skin made it all the more difficult to tell. And since this body had been in extremely warm water, the skin absorbed a lot of water. Most of the hands were white and thick, covered in wrinkles. If the doctor didn't have the man's wallet with his picture ID inside, Robbins might have through this man was elderly by those hands.
Carefully, he picked up the right hand and examined the nails. They were soft, but still strongly attached to the hands. Using a wooden stick, he cleaned out from underneath all the nails on the hand. Not much other than bloated flesh fell from the nails. There was no sign of a struggle.
With a sigh, Robbins slowly made his way to the rolling table he had set up with tools and syringes. He picked one up and carefully located a vein in the arm of the victim. The blood slowly got pulled out the dead skin with a pull of the cork on the end of the vial. It would be a good sample to send to Mia.
The morgue door swung open and heavy footsteps echoed throughout the room. Grissom didn't even bother to say hello, which the coroner really didn't mind at all. The other man just wanted to know what he could from Mr. White.
"Well, this is an interesting case. I would have preferred they used cold water to drown this man. Warm to hot water does nothing, but speed up all the process of death. I will not be able to place a good T.O.D. on this, Gil. The body is still cooling from the inside as we speak."
"What do we have then?"
"Well, the maceration of the skin is greater than normal. Even if he had been in that water for only thirty minutes, he is showing signs of being in the tub for at least six hours. And as for the rigor mortis, as you know, persists longer when submerged. It seems that in the fourth stage of Mr. White's drowning he clutched his left hand together. I haven't tried to loosen the fingers yet," the doctor moved around the body a little, "As you can see his body has taken a pinkish color similar to those that die from carbon monoxide poisoning. Hypostasis confirms that the body was face down in the water when you found him. You can see it clearly in the face, the upper part of the chest, and the lower portion of his arms."
"Do you think the man was alive when he was placed in the tub?"
"Placed?"
Grissom nodded his head, "Yeah, I am not taking the easy way out with suicide on this one."
"Alright then," Robbins walked to the man's head and tipped it backwards, exposing the open mouth and throat, "As you can see, there is a froth cone present in his airway. There is some blood mixed in with the mucus and water, but I cannot say yet that there was a chest trauma. In fact, I haven't seen any signs of a struggle."
The two men stood and stared down at the body. Grissom didn't like any of this at all. If there had been someone else involved in all of this, it would seem odd that Mr. Ralph White didn't fight for his wife or even his own life. And if he had been placed into the hot tub while still breathing, wouldn't he have fought to get out?
"Did you get a blood sample?"
"Right here. Do you want to take it up to Mia?"
"Sure, I can do that. Keep working. See if you can find anything that might connect him to the other two murders. Look everywhere for something that might show a fight, defensive or offensive."
Grissom walked from the cool room with the blood vial in his hand. He looked down and read the label closely to make sure everything was correct even though he trusted Doc Robbins completely. It was just an anal thing about the way he worked. Double check everything, chance nothing.
He passed Catherine on his way to the DNA and blood lab. She looked pleased with herself, "Well, Hodges matched the lighter fluids. They are the same. But the boy doesn't have a burn mark on his body anywhere Gil. If he was in the same house and got some of the liquid on him, wouldn't he have some sign of a burn?"
"Remember what Warrick and Greg said. There was a sign of a struggle in the backyard and it looked like someone was dragged from the house. It is possible the boy was present in the house when Mrs. White was being doused, but not for the actual burning."
"I guess that is possible. What do you have there?"
Grissom looked down into his hand again, "A sample from Mr. White."
The blond CSI nodded her head and shifted her weight. She too was worried about this now-combined case. They had to come up with something or they were going to go nowhere really quickly. With another nod, she turned on her heels and continued on to her office.
Grissom found Mia starring at a blank computer screen. The black woman seemed to be in deep thoughts about something. Some other time he would feel guilty over disturbing her.
"I have some new blood for you to work with."
"I figured as much," the stool swiveled as she turned to face her night supervisor, "New vic?"
"Yeah, this belongs to Mr. White, the burn victim's husband. I need you to see what you can dig up on it. And…check for the frog toxin as well."
The tech's eyebrows shot up, "You think?"
"I never stop. Let me know what you find."
He handed off the vial and left the room. Once he was back in the hallway, Grissom could hear a commotion at that end of the hallway. It was the large lab room where they did most of their work with automobiles and large objects. He was pretty sure that was where Greg parked the hot tub from the Furber's backyard.
Sure enough, Nick, Greg and Warrick were all standing around it arguing with each other. The lead CSI simply stood in the doorway and took in the scene. None of them could decide on what to do with the damn thing.
"Oh come on Nicky! Why would we want to take the entire thing apart! I mean, damn! This thing is huge and we will get nothing out of it."
Nick shot Warrick a glare, "Just pulling out the filters will do nothing. We need to check out the entire filter system and that is inside the tube walls. How else do you propose we get to it?"
Greg just looked between the two. He had seen the fights these two could have over a case and was not interesting in getting in between them. Both could crush him in a second. He wasn't sure he had enough sick time to cover the hospital time. As Warrick slammed his hand down on the rim of the green plastic, Greg was once again trying to figure out how these two could be best friends most of the time.
"How much time do you think we have here, man? That will take hours!"
"Well, what the hell else do we have to do right now!"
Grissom had had enough, "Okay guys. What is going on in here?"
The three men whipped to face their boss, all different expressions. Greg looked guilty, Nick looked defiant, and Warrick looked like he could have cared less. Grissom would have smiled if it was under different circumstances.
"We are trying to figure out how to process the tube and all the water," Greg mumbled.
"It would seem best to me that we process the entire filtration system of this thing. Spilt up the jobs and take apart the tub. Let me know what you guys get."
Nick grinned as he watched his boss leave the room. When he looked over at Warrick, he was lucky that looks weren't lethal. He was going to hear about this one later that was for sure. The taller man would torture him somehow.
"Alright, since you, 'Rick decided the tub didn't need to come apart, I think you should take that step. Greg, you can take care of the actual filters and see if there is anything caught in the fibers. I'll take the tub itself and check out the inside."
"You sure sound like you are in charge here Nicky."
"Well, that is what happens, man, when the best of the group knows what is going on."
Warrick chuckled and smiled, "Best my ass. If you are the best that we have, I will eat a chicken head."
"A little gruesome isn't that bro?"
"First thing that came to mind, lay off."
"I would hate to know what other first things come to you mind."
Greg coughed, "Are you two done yet? We have work to do!"
Both men glanced at each other and then faced the newest member of the graveyard team, "We are working!"
The tones of their voices mixed well. Greg shook his head and turned from the laughter. He loved working with the two guys, but their sense of humor escaped even him on times. It was a wonder that Grissom didn't call in extra help just to keep those two under wraps.
The former lab rat watched the two CSI's begin to work together to work on the tub. Warrick bent down and began running his gloved hand over the edges trying to find the bolts. Nick sat down on the ground to slip some rubber boots over his shoes so he could climb on in. With a slight laugh to himself, Greg walked over and took a look at the filter entrances.
There were two. Careful not to fall in, Greg bent over the edge of the tube and looked into the hole in the plastic. It was a basic hot tub filter and he would be able to take the filter grate off with little problem. Greg leaned in a little farther in order to get his hand in. His body tensed when he felt a hand on his back. The added weight caused him to fight it and stand up.
Nick slid against the bottom once he lost Greg as his balance. The tube was slick from the mud and he had to lean on Greg for a second to stabilize his footing. Gravity was not on his side and with a soft grunt, he sat heavily down in the tube. Something hard jabbed into his right butt cheek.
"Thanks Greg."
"Damn Nick. You scared the crap out of me there. Don't do that!"
Warrick just laughed. He watched the scene play out and almost fell himself when Nick did. It was hilarious. Greg was breathing hard against his shock and sudden frustration. Nick was trying to stand up again.
"Do you need a hand, bro?"
Nick glared at him from his seated position in the tub, "That would be nice. You guys do suck though. Man, something is biting into my ass!"
Grabbing the hand that was thrust out at him, Warrick pulled and managed to get Nick on his feet. The Texan turned immediately and looked back down to where he had been forced to sit. There was something shiny standing out from the dark brown of the mud. He leaned down and dug the object out.
"Well I'll be. Either Mr. White likes to wear two watches or our killer got messy."
"What are you going on about?"
Nick smirked as he looked his partner in the eye, "When I was looking over Mr. White in the tub at the scene, he had his watch on. And I got bit by the other one. Here, take it."
Warrick took the watch and wiped some more dirt off of it. It was a Rolex knock off, but it was well done. It was made to actually work for longer than a day. Not a purchase from downtown or on the Strip, that was for sure. Warrick bagged it and wrote a few notes on the envelope for later.
Greg studied the trap he pulled out from the first filter. There was nothing major in it, but there were a few hair samples. Most would probably be from the owners, but some might be the victim. He was going to have to be careful to get them all from both.
"Well, nothing else, but a shit load of mud in here. Either Mr. White was rolled in it before he was dropped in here, or the killer got pulled in as well."
"Take a sample, then get out. I need to take the damn thing apart thanks to you," Warrick grumbled.
"Ya know," Nick smiled sweetly, "I was going to help you with it, but if you are going to cop that attitude, I think I won't."
The taller CSI gave Nick a slight push when the Texan tried to get out. It off balanced him again, but this time Nick ended up landing, hard, on the ground. Warrick stopped laughing as soon as he heard the moan. It wasn't one of embarrassment.
"Nick? Buddy?"
Greg helped Warrick as they reached down and pulled Nick up by the arms. Nick's face was twisted up in a pain filled grimace. "That hurt."
"Shit man! What happened? What hurts?"
"My arm."
Greg carefully took the limb out of Nick's hold and prodded it starting at the elbow. When he got to the wrist, Nick gave out a low hiss. His eyes scrunched up and he pulled to get his arm back from Greg's hands.
"You may have done something to you wrist. You need to get it looked at."
"Great. Just what I need."
Warrick looked crestfallen, "Shit Nicky. I'm sorry! I didn't mean for anything to happen!"
"Hey, it was an accident. Don't go all girly on me man," Nick tried to grin, but it didn't work as Greg continued to push on his hand.
"Whatever. I will take ya to Robbins. He might know what is up."
Nick didn't argue with Warrick as he grabbed him by the shoulder and started leading him from the room. His cheeks flushed at the stares they were getting, but Warrick wouldn't let him go. The other man was way too protective when he got in one of his moods. When Grissom looked up from his desk when they passed his office, Nick sped up a little. He wanted this over with so they could get back to work. And, damn, his wrist really hurt.
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Catherine looked up from some delayed paperwork when Grissom walked in. His face was void of any emotion and she didn't bother trying to find anything. She could only hope that he had some good news to tell her.
"Do you have any idea why Nick and Warrick are running around the lab?"
"What?"
"They both just ran past my office. I was wondering if they came to talk to you about it."
"I haven't seen either of them. Weren't they working with Greg?"
The senior CSI nodded his head once and then left the lab. Catherine got up and was hot on his heels. They both were almost to the room where they could see Greg struggling with the tub when Mia walked into their path.
"Hey boss. I have the results from Mr. White's sample. It came back positive for the frog toxin. He had about the same level as the other two. I would have to say he was drugged with it before he drowned since it isn't diluted."
"Well, that takes White out as our suspect. Robbins bagged his clothes, see if you can find Hodges and have him check to see if there is any trace of that lighter fluid on them."
The lab tech nodded and began to move away, "Sure thing."
Catherine called to stop the other woman, "Hey Mia, you know what Nick and Warrick are going on about?"
"No, but I do know that Warrick was moving them pretty quickly to the morgue when I saw them."
The two CSI's looked at each other and turned around. No one got in their way this time as they finally reached the steel double doors. They both stopped once they entered the room.
Nick was sitting up on top of one of the steel tables, his shirt sleeve rolled up. Warrick was hovering around behind the other man. Doc Robbins had his glasses on and the light focused on Nick's wrist. Every time he pushed on the area, Nick would wince.
"I would have to say, I think you may have a broken wrist. You should have this x-rayed. I'll call ahead over to Desert Palms so you can get right in. Warrick you will have to take him."
Grissom got over his silence, "Now what happened? And no excuses. You were only supposed to be looking over that hot tub."
"It's my fault."
"I slipped."
The two men answered at once, but Catherine had no problem getting all the words and the guilt behind Warrick's, "How did this happen?"
Warrick cleared his throat and started before Nick could say a word, "We were goofing around and when Nick was getting out of the tub, I gave him a little push. It was enough to cause him to fall and now his wrist might be broken."
"It was an accident," Nick threw in quickly at the end.
A sigh filled the room. The two CSI Level 3's glanced at each other as they took in their boss's face. This was not going to be good.
"Get to the hospital. Give me a call when you know what is going on. I'll go help Greg finish up with the tub. Catherine, go check with Mia and Hodges. See if you can gather all the evidence on the three vic's and create a scene."
Grissom turned around without another word. Catherine smiled, "You boys are going to be the death of me."
"Sorry mom."
"You both better be," her exit was just as quiet as Grissom's.
"Alright man. Lets go radiate your ass and see what's up."
Nick nodded and let Warrick help him off the table. It was pointless to fight the other man. He was going to go all big brother on him and there was little Nick could do to stop it. This always happened. It was easier to let it go. Nick grinded his teethe slightly as he felt the rush of blood back to his cheeks as they walked into the main lobby before the doors. People were starring again.
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The blindfold kept even the tiniest of light from reaching his pupils. He could hear the others around him, but couldn't keep the voices clear. They were constantly moving and not allowing him to place them. He knew who was here. This was nothing new to the group.
He was sitting in a chair they had placed in an empty pool. It wasn't a large pool, nothing to brag too much about. But it seemed deep and large now. And they were going to fill it. This was not supposed to happen to him. He couldn't keep the sobs in.
Stuff was floating through his veins. He knew what it was. They had all been colleagues, he knew their secrets. The frog toxin was something he knew very well. He just had never collected it, but he had spent a few hours over time watching the frogs in their glass world. He only wished they had given it sooner so that he would be more numb while this was happening.
"Why? Why me?"
No one said a word to him. They simply kept whispering around him. Something started to hum and churn. There was some excitement going on as he heard a liquid hitting the tile of the pool bottom. It took only a couple of seconds for whatever it was to begin to lap at his shoes. A hand touched his face and the blindfold was gone. He could see everything.
He watched the other person as they walked through the forming sea of yellow. It was getting higher as it poured out of the large mixer sitting on the back of a truck. He hated the color, feared it. His mother had always worn it when she used her belt on him or his siblings. Now they were using it against him, like they did with everyone.
The pleading was nothing to the others. They all simply sat there and watched as it reached up to his neck. It was pouring quicker than he would have thought. The taste was not what he expected. He was going to die in a world of complete yellow. He screamed as his throat filled.
TBC…