Catherine rode in silence as Brass drove to the Rampart. She wasn't sure why Grissom sent her to talk to Sam, since it could seem to be compromising to the case. She shook it off and she and Brass walked into the Rampart and asked to speak to Sam Braun. They were quickly ushered into his office, where he was sitting with his back to them, speaking to someone quietly over the phone. Catherine moved closer and managed to catch the tail end of their conversation, "—ver the connections that I have. . . . Yes. . . . No, you idiot! . . . Well, shortly, now if you'll excuse me, there's a situation here I have to take care of. Good-bye." Sam hung up the phone and turned around, facing Brass and Catherine. "Catherine, Detective, I must say I was surprised to hear from my secretary that you were here. I heard about the escape of Darren White. Now, you can't possibly think I had anything to do with that, can you?" His voice was serious, but there was a twinkle in his gray eyes as he asked his question.

"Actually," Brass spoke up before Catherine could get a chance to, "we were wondering about a former employee of yours, John Stevens."

"Hmmm. Yes, I remember him. He was always too much of a friend to my son Walt and when I found out Stevens was still corresponding with Walt while he was in prison, I fired him." As he spoke, his mouth compressed into a thin line.

"Sam," Catherine's voice was soft, she knew how much Walt's betrayal had hurt him, "we found letters in White's cell that came from Stevens. Do you have any idea how they could be connected?"

Sam looked genuinely shocked, "No, not that I can think of." He paused. "Wait, perhaps there is something . . ." he trailed off and then jabbed his finger on the button to page his secretary.

"Yes, Mr. Braun?" a female voice came back over the intercom.

"Shelley, you remember that letter I received from Nevada Corrections about two months back?"

"Yes, sir."

"Did we keep it?"

"Yes we did, sir. It's in your file cabinet."

"Thank you, Shelley." Sam got up and walked over to his file cabinet and opened the top drawer, removing a thick file. He brought it back to his desk and opened it, riffling through a few of the papers until he found what he was looking for. He handed the letter to Catherine, who scanned it quickly, noting the poignant details.

"Can I keep this?" she asked.

"No, but I can have Shelley make you a copy."

"That'd be great, Sam," her face relaxed into a smile. Sam smiled back.


Ten minutes later, Catherine was seated next to Brass as he drove back to the crime lab. After a couple of minutes of uncomfortable silence, Brass asked the question that had been on his mind.

"What's so interesting in that letter?"

"Well," Catherine responded, "Sam may have been hurt by Walt killing Tony, but Walt was still his son, so Sam asked for regular updates on his son's condition. Not exactly legal, but something the warden of High Desert State Prison might be willing to help with. According to this letter, Walt was attacked as part of a riot in the exercise yard. According to the guards' statements, Walt would have died were it not for the actions of a fellow inmate who beat back the attackers and got the attention of one of the guards. This inmate was—"

"Darren White," Brass finished for her.

"Bingo."

"So, White saves poor Walt Braun's life, and like a good Braun, Walt pays his debts. He puts White in contact with Stevens, who has the connections to get White a car when he gets out of prison. The question is, why didn't Walt escape with White?"

"I don't know, but that doesn't matter right now. We have a connection. We should go to a judge and get a warrant for Stevens' place."

"I agree. Let's go to the courthouse, and you can call Grissom and tell him what we've learned."

Catherine picked up her phone and dialed Grissom's cel, informing him of the situation. He agreed that it was important that they get to Stevens as quickly as possible. He asked her to stay on the line as he had Archie pull up DMV records of Stevens. He noted that Stevens had a registered Ford Escort with Nevada plates, license number 1Q8-9P6L. He mentioned this to Catherine, then said he was putting all this in a package to send to Detective Mac Taylor in New York, but would wait until they could verify his suspicions about the car. Once they arrived at the courthouse, Brass rushed in and came back out five minutes later with a search warrant for John Stevens house. "That was fast," Catherine commented, "you must have caught a judge in a good mood." Brass merely nodded his agreement, still a little stunned at how easy that was.

They drove to Stevens' house and knocked on the door. "Mr. Stevens! Las Vegas Police! Open up!" Brass shouted into the door. No answer, and there was no car in the driveway. Brass drew his pistol and tried the door. It was unlocked. Catherine also drew her gun and followed him in. They found John Stevens lying on the floor of his living room practically decapitated. They did a quick search of the house and found no trace of Darren White. Catherine called Grissom while Brass called for backup.

"Grissom," he answered his phone.

"We're at Stevens' house and he's dead. His car is also missing. Once I get off the phone, I'm going to have Brass put out an APB on the car.

"Alright. Catherine, once I get this package sent off to New York, I'm going to go back home and go to bed. I'm still not feeling well."

She heard the pain in his voice, along with fatigue. "Maybe you should go to the doctor."

"I'm fine, it's just a headache."

"You sound like it really hurts."

"I get migraines, Catherine, you know that."

"Of course," skepticism still evident in her voice. She hung up and then went out to her Tahoe and retrieved her kit. She began to move through the house, processing the scene. She had just found an empty gun case when her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Nick. She answered the phone, "Hello Nick."

"Catherine!" panic was evident in his voice.

"What is it, Nick?" her voice edged in concern.

"Grissom just collapsed here at the lab. He was talking with Archie on his way out the door when he just put a hand to his head and fell over. He cracked his skull pretty hard on the floor, too."

"Where is he?"

"Warrick called an ambulance and he's being rushed to Desert Palms Hospital, Warrick rode with him. I called you and informed Sara, Greg and Ecklie. I'm on my way over there now."

"Alright, Nick. Thanks." She hung up her phone again, and went downstairs to talk to Brass.

"What is it, Cath?"

Tears sprang into her eyes as she picked up on the shortening of her name that Gil used. "Jim, Gil collapsed at the lab, they're taking him to Desert Palms Hospital."

Brass jerked back as if slapped, then sprang into action. He shouted to the officers there to seal the scene and then took off with Catherine in tow, flashing his siren.