"Why did you do it?" asked Brass.

He and Grissom sat side by side at the table in the interrogation room. They were both leaning on the polished surface and looking intently at the subject on the other side.

Liz Novia was slouched in her chair. Her arms were folded across her red spaghetti-strap top, and she was tapping the fingers of her left hand on her right arm. Though she was cornered like a rabbit, she still looked proud and defiant. She tossed her almond-streaked hair back and said, "You don't remember me?"

Brass gave it a bit of thought for a moment and said, "No."

"Well, do you remember Lily Hawkins?" she asked.

"Lily Hawkins died eight years ago," said Brass. "We were both on that case."

"Then I should have killed you first," replied Liz coldly.

Something clicked in Grissom's mind, and he leaned forward, an expression of understanding crossing his features. "Ashley Hawkins?"

Liz turned her head so her eyes bored into Grissom's. To his immense surprise, she smiled. "No one's called me that for seven years," she said. "You see, a year after Lily's murder, the case went cold. You stopped investigating, and I was powerless to do anything. I swore I would get revenge, no matter what the cost. So I changed my identity, dyed my hair, even got plastic surgery, so that I would not be recognized when the time came. But you recognized me," she said, turning back to Grissom. "How did you do that?"

"It was your eyes," he replied. "As soon as you mentioned your sister, I could tell. I always remember eyes, especially ones like yours."

She had an unusual expression on her face. It was clear she considered it a blow that he recognized her, but it also seemed she thought it a compliment.

"So where does Gaston Moreau enter into this?" asked Brass.

"I met him about a year ago," replied Liz, or rather, Ashley. "A little while after Tony and I started dating. He took me to that restaurant every week, and we got to know him. He and I got really friendly – a little more than Tony realized. I learned that he hated the law just as much as I did. His parents were murdered when he was twelve, and the murderer got off.

"Anyway, after our affair had gone on for a year, I knew I could trust him. So I formed my plan, and then proposed it to Gaston. He agreed, and placed the phone threat the next day.

"I gave him the key to Tony's house, where he called from. He stole the Japanese knife from the house – the knife that Tony had stolen from Dustin Orwell. We hoped the evidence would lead you to Tony, so then you'd put him away and Gaston and I could be together while we took our revenge. We covered our tracks perfectly."

"Until Gaston screwed up," Grissom corrected her.

"Completely," added Brass. "All of your targets survived."

She looked at him coldly.

"There's one thing I don't understand, though," he said. "Why the precise pattern? You were killing the ones who had been CSIs the least time, and working your way up. Why?"

"So you'd know what it was like to lose someone you were supposed to look after," she replied. "Like I lost Lily."

"Come on," said Brass. "There had to be a better way to get justice."

"An old Chinese proverb says that 'It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.' I took action."

"I know another old Chinese proverb," said Grissom. "It goes something like this: 'Schools of fish come to those who wait patiently; if the big ones don't come, the little ones will.'"

There was utter contempt in Ashley's eyes when she looked over at Grissom again. "Well, the little ones weren't going to do much for me."

Grissom sat there, his features unreadable, as Brass put the cuffs around Ashley's wrists and led her away to her fate. Her eyes never left Grissom the whole time.

THE END

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And they all lived happily ever after! Except for Ashley, who's going away for life, and Gaston, who's not going to be doing much in the way of living at all.

So, I've got to know: What did y'all think? Did everyone get what they deserved? Please review!

Until next time, my faithful readers. I'll just leave you with a few words. Remember: the evidence never lies!