ACID BATH
Chapter 5
Thank you for all of your reviews. I hope you are enjoying this story. Had a busy week and things might be getting busier, so I don't know how soon the next installment will come out. Please continue to read and review. Let me know of any of your fiction that I might like to read. Thanks.
Nick and Warrick dusted the cabin for prints while Sara photographed the man in the bathtub. At first glance, this appeared to be a suicide, but she'd have to wait to hear what Doc Robbins had to say. The long, thin slice across his jugular meant business. She wondered how someone could slit his own throat – and why. Did he get wind that they knew who he was and what he had done?
She reached a gloved hand into the bath water to remove the knife. It was sharpened to scalpel thinness with a long, pearl handle. This looked like a collectors item. Wouldn't get much from this after the soaking it had received, but she'd let Hodges try, anyway.
David stood waiting to take the body, which she gladly gave into his capable hands. "Difficult to accurately predict time of death," he whispered as he jabbed the thermometer deep into the victim's liver. "But, probably within the hour." He stated, nodding for the attendants to take the body away. "Lividity is not fixed and rigor has not set, yet. We'll know more after the autopsy." With that, he walked out, leaving her again to her thoughts.
She slowly scooped the contents out of the tub into a bucket, eyeing it suspiciously for any trace of evidence that might point to something besides suicide. Something felt wrong in this bathroom, but she couldn't place her finger on it. It was as if she was being watched.
She jumped and suppressed a scream as something brushed her ankle. She looked down and smiled at the gentle creature purring by her side. "Hello, there," she said, leaning over to pick up the tabby. "Where did you come from?" She checked the license that hung from the cat's collar. "Good to meet you, Betty Lou Who…." She stroked the trembling kitten's wet fur. Warrick walked to the door.
"Sara, who—" he grinned at the CSI and her new friend. "Oh, I wondered who you were talking to," he nodded. "Where'd you find her?"
"I didn't," Sara explained. "She found me. Betty Lou Who, meet Warrick Brown."
The cat's emerald eyes twinkled as she answered with a "meow."
"So, he the owner," he asked.
Sara shrugged. "Could be. She's awfully damp and shivering."
"You think she's a witness?"
"Yeah. Could be she's our only witness. We'll have to process her for evidence." He nodded as he came forward to pet the poor creature.
zzzzzzzzzzzzz
He sat in his pickup truck watching the cabin and what transpired inside on his laptop computer. The female CSI was easy on the eyes, so he spent lots of time watching her. She looked slightly perplexed. A gratified sigh passed his lips. Wouldn't he like to get hold of her!
The men were rummaging around the house for clues and coming up empty, as he knew they would. He took a sip of his lukewarm beer and raised it to the screen in a salute. "Sorry, Matt," he thought, "I couldn't risk it. But, hey, you'd be in prison if it weren't for me."
His gaze was suddenly transfixed onto the screen again. What was she doing? What did she pick up?
He looked closer, zooming in with a click of the mouse. "That dumb cat," he hissed. He had tried to drown her, but she got out of his grasp and flew out the bathroom door before he could react. Not before getting a few licks of her claws into him, though. He looked at his left forearm, red and bloody from her attack. "Shoulda killed her when I had the chance," he mumbled. Now, he'd just hope they called for Animal Control so he could get her back.
"Meanwhile, he pulled a Jump Card out of his pocket and sneered, "I have another surprise up my sleeve."
AAAAAAAA
Roger walked into his home, his head hanging down and his shoulders drooping. It had been a long day. When they called and told him what had happened to the Judge, he couldn't believe it. They wouldn't let him see her, even though he was her clerk, but he did get a chance to talk to Detective Brass and was filled in on her condition. She was in very serious shape. His heart broke for her. One more thing in a long line of tragedy to befall his boss and friend.
His wife greeted him at the door, a look of concern on her face. Her smile beamed through the café au lait skin tone to try to brighten his demeanor. "Roger," she questioned.
"She's bad, Dixie. I can't describe how much damage was done. She's going to have a long recovery period, if the edema in her lungs doesn't get her first."
"Oh, Baby!" she reached out to hold him in her arms. "I'm so sorry." She let him cry silently on her shoulder for a while. Then, he stood to his full six feet and smiled down on her.
"I need a shower and change. You suppose we could stay in tonight? I don't feel like going to the MGM."
"Sure. Anything you want. I'll order in." He kissed her full, red lips and moved to the bedroom.
She pulled out the Yellow Pages and started rummaging through the restaurants for a good one that she knew would help comfort him, as only food can. "Ah, Thai. His favorite." She dialed the number and listened while it rang. "Thai Chow," the man on the other end answered with a distinctive accent. She began to order the food."
"Is that all, Miss?"
"Yes, I think so, how long before it is here?"
"About 45 minutes."
"Thanks." She rung off and called out to Roger as she walked into the bedroom.
Suddenly, she heard a crash from the bathroom and the unmistakable screams of her husband.
BBBBBBBBBBB
Warrick and Sara arrived in record time, wondering what could have happened to Brina's clerk. They pulled out their bags and headed for the door of the home, as the ambulance crew brought him out on a stretcher, his eyes covered with bandages.
"Just a minute," Warrick said, kneeling down so he could hear better. "Roger, it's Warrick Brown, CSI. What happened?"
"Don't know," he whispered between gasps of air. "Was standing in shower, looking up at the water. Then…" he shuddered, "pain in my eyes. Terrible pain."
"We have to go, now." The paramedic instructed. Warrick nodded and moved toward the door along side Sara.
"Mrs. Marriott," Sara was asking, "what can you tell us?"
"Not much." She wept. "Roger was coming in from work and wanted to take a shower. I ordered Thai in. Then…" she looked over at the ambulance. "Can I go, now?"
"Your in no state to drive, Mrs. Marriott," Warrick said. "I'll have one of the officers take you."
"Thank you."
As she left, Sara raised an eyebrow toward Warrick. "It all happened in the bathroom," Warrick explained.
"Well, that's getting to be a habit. This guy got a cleanliness fixation, do you think?"
"No, I just think he's playing the game and hoping the water will wash away all the evidence. Let's see what we can find."
They walked silently into the bathroom, looking around at the broken glass and blood stained floor. Sara took in a shocked breath as she registered the similarity in this scene from Brina's bathroom. What was happening here? Without a word, they began to look over things in the room. Sara used the ALS on the tub, finding fine glass or plastic fibers, similar to the ones she had found at the judge's house. She swabbed the water in the tub, then stepped in to check the showerhead. Unscrewing it, she gave out a whistle. "Well, look at this," she smirked. "He didn't get the same result as last time." She took a pair of forceps and tweezed out a small vial from the side of the head. Some clear fluid was still inside. "Maybe Mia can find out what this is," she suggested.
"Interesting," Warrick nodded. "Could he be slipping up, or is he testing us?"
"It was poised in such a manner," Sara explained, "that if you were in the shower, looking up at the water, it would go straight into your eyes."
"That's exactly what Roger said he was doing." Sara took one last look with the flashlight and pulled another fiber from the showerhead, placing it into a coin envelope. "Well, we have the same filament fiber, too."
"Then, it's definitely the same perp."
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Gil and Brass looked over at the man who had breached their solitude. The taller man smiled down upon them slightly. "Hello, Doctor Grissom, Detective Brass," he whispered.
They nodded. "Hello," Gil looked over at the ruddy face and boyish, shy grin. "You just get in?"
The redhead nodded, stepping slightly into the room. The men continued to size one another up. Catherine watched this show of testosterone. They reminded her of roosters at a cockfight. "Glad I'm here," she thought. "I'll have to make sure these three behave themselves in public." She was glad she had called him after she saw the picture of him and Brina in the house. He had boarded the first plane and made really good time, she thought. She finally stepped outside, as she decided the men would be fine together, and went to get some coffee.
Brass and Gil looked over at the newcomer, wondering what to say or do. Brass looked at the others then decided to join Catherine out the door. "If you two boys promise to play nice," he said, "Mommy and Daddy are going to get some coffee."
Gil looked over at Bree's friend and cocked an eyebrow. His gaze was met by a "Grinch Who Stole Christmas" smirk from the other man. "Okay, Dad," Gil whispered with a chuckle. The two men stood across from each other for a long few seconds before Gil finally spoke. "Glad you came, Horatio," he smiled, putting out a hand of friendship.
"Glad I came," Horatio Caine answered as he accepted the handshake.
So, had you guessed? Oh, by the way, this is a crossover (LOL). Couldn't let you know it advance. That wouldn't have been any fun. (smirk) Let me know what you think. B.