A/N: Thank you to CalleighSaraCSI, Cherrydrops12, clarkson04, and MissyJane, for your comments on the previous chapter. I think I've got one more chapter to go, so I guess we'll see what happens! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
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Disclaimer: I do not own any part of CSI or its characters. That honor goes to the good folks over at CBS.
Title: Solved!
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Who the hell is that? Sara anxiously asked herself, pulling out her own gun, and training it on the nineteen-year old boy. And why does he have a bloody jacket? And… is Warrick trying to protect me? A tiny part of her brain wanted to know, even amidst the current crisis.
"Come on out, with your hands up!" Warrick yelled at the young man, squinting up at the window, looking for any sign that the boy was reaching for a weapon. And then a little bit more loudly, "Officer Pierce! We need some backup over here!"
"Okay, okay! I'm coming down," the boy nervously whispered, immediately sticking his hands up in the air, attempting to let the two criminalists know that he was coming down, and that he wasn't going to try to hurt them. "I'm going to climb down the ladder," he called out.
"Nice and slow," Warrick warned him, throwing a quick glance at Sara to ensure that she was actually safe. "And when you get to the bottom, put your hands up in the air again!"
"Okay," the boy swallowed, doing as Warrick ordered him to do, and climbing down the ladder as slowly as possible. With his feet firmly planted on the ground, the boy hesitantly turned around to face Warrick and Sara, once again returning his hands to the air.
"Who the hell are you?" Warrick repeated his earlier question.
"Jimmy," he anxiously told them, his eyes wide with fear. "Jimmy Dobson."
"What are you doing up there, Jimmy?" Sara asked him, her eyes scanning his body for any signs of something amiss. No blood, but then again, the crime was committed last week, so there is no really no reason to find blood on your clothing now. Your face, however, she observed. What happened to your face?
"I was," he paused to think. "I was getting something!" he informed Sara.
Warrick narrowed his eyes, glancing over his shoulder, and looking for Officer Pierce. "Are you a neighbor?" he questioned Jimmy.
"No, Sir. I'm a… friend."
"Of whom?" Sara frowned, a little bit confused. Her kids are seven and ten years old, so who, exactly, are you friends with? Jason Conte?
Jimmy slowly shook his head from side to side, his face pale. "Lindsey Conte."
Sara and Warrick exchanged surprised glances, as Officer Pierce finally arrived out back. "What's going on here?" he asked, his own gun out, and his eyes frantically searching the backyard.
"We need this man taken back to the station for questioning," Warrick informed the young officer.
"Questioning?" Jimmy swallowed, his nervousness palpable, as Pierce approached him, his gun still out in front of him.
Sara nodded, pursing her lips. "We would like to question you about Lindsey Conte's murder."
"But I didn't… I mean I wouldn't… I mean, I love her!" Jimmy blurted out, as Pierce patted him down, just to be sure.
"Let's go," the officer frowned, grabbing Jimmy by the elbow, and leading him back to the squad car.
"But I didn't—" Jimmy tried again.
"Save it," Pierce growled at him.
Once the two men were gone, Sara re-holstered her weapon, looking up at Warrick. "He loves her?" she hesitantly asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It would seem so," Warrick replied, glancing up at the tree house. "I'm going to take a quick look up there," he informed her, taking a step toward the tree house.
"No," Sara stopped him, reaching a hand out, and placing it on his shoulder. "No, let me do it," she confidentially told him, briskly walking toward the tree house, her kit clutched tightly in one hand.
"Sara, make sure that you clear the place first," he reminded her. "You never know who else could be up there."
"Got it," Sara assured him, as she took a deep breath, and very carefully climbed, hand over hand, and fist over fist, up to the tree house's platform. Her gun held out in front of her, Sara inched into the main room of the fort, glancing around. "It's clear," she called down to Warrick, who was anxiously peering up at the tree house.
"What else is up there?" he asked, his gun still out, as if prepared for something to jump out at them.
Looking around the fairly spacious room, Sara knelt down, studying the floor. "Uh—"
"Damn, Girl, what is it?" Warrick queried, his eyes still wide and alert.
Grabbing a swab, Sara took a sample of blood, her eyes traveling along the length of the floor, searching for more pieces of the elusive evidence. "More blood," she called down to him, scooting along the floor, and taking a couple of more samples of the dried substance. "None of this was here last week, though," she added with a slightly perplexed expression on her face.
"Anything else, besides the blood?" Warrick persisted.
Sara was about to shake her head no, when she spotted a chest in the corner of the room. Inching toward it, she very carefully studied the exterior of the container, taking several pictures of it, before opening up the top. Her breath catching in her throat, Sara let out a loud gasp of surprise.
"Sara? Are you okay?" Warrick nervously called out, already moving toward the ladder to assure himself of the fact that she was still unharmed.
"Yes, Warrick, I'm fine," she hesitated, peering into the chest, and taking several more pictures, before reaching for the object.
"What else did you find?" he asked, peering up the length of the ladder, still contemplating the idea of climbing up it in order to join her.
"Let's just say," Sara softly chuckled, still busy collecting the evidence.
"Let's just say what?" Warrick prompted her, one fist on the base of the ladder.
"Let's just say," Sara continued. "That we're going out to dinner and a movie."
"Damn, you found the hammer?" he eagerly asked, his entire face lighting up.
"No, Warrick," Sara chuckled, bagging the item. "We found the hammer."
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The Break Room, later the following day
"Seriously, Bro?" Nick asked Warrick, his eyes glued to him.
"Sara closed the case," Warrick nodded at his friend. "After she found the hammer, and finished processing the tree house, we brought all of the evidence back to the lab. The evidence, combined with Jimmy's statement, explained everything."
"What explained everything?" Sara asked, walking into the break room, and immediately heading toward the coffee maker. Pouring herself a cup of the tepid liquid, she grimaced, after taking a sip.
"Your case," Warrick grinned at her. "The evidence that you found, in conjunction with Jimmy's statement—and Jason Conte's confession—cleared everything up."
"It sure did," Sara agreed, sitting down beside Warrick, and across from Nick.
"So fill me in?" Nick asked. "What actually happened?"
Sara took another sip of the coffee, frowning at the taste. "Well apparently, Jason Conte isn't as faithful to his wife as he originally claimed," she began her story. "Because although he was actually at a bar, he was there with his mistress, rather than by himself."
"Mistress?" Catherine asked, walking into the room. "Someone has a mistress?"
"Jason Conte," Nick told her, glancing at her for a moment.
"Your case, Sara? You solved it?" Catherine queried, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes," Sara confirmed. "Warrick and I solved it this morning."
"So who did it?" Catherine prompted her, sitting down beside Nick, her hands on the table in front of her.
"As I was saying," Sara flashed each of her colleagues a small smile. "Jason Conte was at the bar with Juliette Smith, his mistress. The only thing is," she continued. "Is that Lindsey Conte was also seeing someone else on the side."
"Who?" Greg asked, joining the conversation, and throwing himself down on the couch. "Let me guess," he chuckled. "The someone on the side is a pool boy?"
"This isn't Desperate Housewives, Greg," Catherine rolled her eyes at him. "So no, she wasn't seeing the pool boy; she wasn't, right, Sara?"
Sara slowly shook her head no. "She was seeing Jimmy Dobson, a local car mechanic," she informed everyone. "When we spoke with him, he claimed that he was in love with her, and that he would have done anything to protect her."
"So he didn't kill her?" Nick furrowed his eyebrows in puzzlement.
"No, not exactly. Apparently, Jason Conte returned home early on the night that she was murdered, intoxicated beyond belief. He found Lindsey and Jimmy in bed with one another, and got pretty angry about it."
"Well I'd be angry, too," Warrick sulkily spoke up, glancing at the table. Because if you recall, I found my wife in bed with another man.
"That might be, Warrick, but you would never kill someone over an affair," Sara pointed out, her face slightly flushing. Shit… I forgot about his situation!
"True," Warrick agreed, sighing. "True. Okay, continue, Girl."
Sara nodded, swallowing. "So, Jason ran out to the garage, grabbed one of his hammers, and immediately ran back to his bedroom. He dragged Lindsey outside, completely ignoring Jimmy, and killed her with the hammer."
"And Jimmy just let this happen?" Nick frowned, raising an eyebrow. "No call to 9-1-1? No help to her?"
Sara shrugged. "He said that he was scared to death, and that by the time that he made it outside, Jason was already dragging Lindsey's limp body back inside. He walked through her blood—leaving the size seven footprints—and grabbed the hammer, thinking that Jason would try to kill him, as well, or even just try to destroy the evidence. He took it with him, returning to the home one week later, in order to re-hide it."
"I don't understand," Greg shook his head. "Jimmy let his lover die, stole the evidence, and then tried to re-plant it? Why would he do that?" he asked in confusion.
"Simple, man," Nick replied. "He didn't want to be blamed for the crime. Dobson. Ring a bell?"
Greg again slowly shook his head, trying to think of why that name should sound familiar to him.
"Dobson," Catherine quietly said the name aloud. "Jimmy Dobson. The senator's kid?" she raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"That's what I'm guessing. Am I right, Sara?" Nick asked, feeling pleased with himself fr deducing why the name was important.
"Yes," Sara simply replied. "Jimmy did not want to ruin his father's chances of re-election, so he attempted to separate himself from the crime."
"In a sense, almost letting a killer go free," Nick sighed, pushing his chair back, and standing up from the table.
"Exactly," Sara acknowledged, glancing up at Nick.
"Well in any event, nice job with your case, Sar," he flashed her a small smile, grabbing himself a cup of coffee, and heading toward the door. "And I'll see you all tomorrow," he added, immediately walking out of the break room.
"I need to get home to Lindsey," Catherine cleared her throat, also standing up, and rubbing the back of her neck. "It's been a long week," she mumbled, before turning around, and exiting the room.
"Do you guys have any fun plans for the weekend?" Greg then asked Sara and Warrick, getting up off of the couch, and walking toward the table.
Sara tried not to blush, glancing over at Greg. "I'm going out to dinner," she told Greg.
"And I'm watching a movie," Warrick added. "Well, at home, anyhow. I'm cooking dinner, and renting a movie," he explained, unobtrusively resting one of his hands on Sara's knee. With you, Girl; I hope that you like this idea, anyhow.
Sara's eyes widened in surprise, as her face flushed even harder. "Really? What are you making?" she curiously asked.
Warrick shrugged. "I'm thinking some Alfredo," he told her. "Or perhaps some pasta with garlic bread."
Sara swallowed, staring at Warrick. Are we doing the dinner and a movie date at your house? She wanted to ask him. Or have you changed your mind? You did say that you were still having dinner and a movie; it's got to be with me, right? Hence your hand on my knee?
"Can I come over, Dude?" Greg suddenly asked, raising his eyebrows at Warrick. "That sounds like some serious fun!"
"Sorry, man," Warrick chuckled. "I've got some very special plans."
"With a woman?" Greg grinned, raising a knowing eyebrow.
Sara tried not to choke on her coffee, as she stared straight ahead.
"Yes, Greg, with a woman."
"Well, enjoy your date, Warrick… and Sara," he laughed, bounding out of the break room.
"How does he do that?" Warrick asked, shaking his head in surprise. "How does he always do that?"
"It's a gift!" Greg poked his head back into the break room for a moment, before really taking off down the hallway.
Sara just smiled, trying to make the heat leave her face. "Are we really," she hesitated. "Are we really going to have dinner, and watch a movie, at your place?" she wanted to know.
Warrick slowly nodded yes, turning his head to the side so that he could look at her. "If that's okay with you…?" he asked. "I mean, I'm not afraid to be seen out in public with you or anything like that, Girl," he rambled on. "I don't care if people know that we're together, but… I feel like being selfish right now, and I want you all to myself." And I want to sit next to you, and I want to hold you, and I want to kiss you, and then I want to hold you some more.
Sara simply beamed at him. That's fine, because I want you all to myself, too.
Clearing his throat, Warrick continued. "My new apartment is small, but it's cozy."
"Cozy can be nice," Sara smiled. "Cozy can be very nice."
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TO BE CONTINUED