ACID BATH
CHAPTER 6
Haggard and weary, Gil trudged into Headquarters. He knew he should be home asleep, but the case weighed heavily on his mind. Now that Horatio and he had worked out a schedule with Brass to watch over Bree, he and Brass could work and get some much-needed rest. It felt as if a huge weight had lifted off his shoulders.
"What are you doing here?" Ecklie's voice came from behind him.
"Working, of course," Gil answered, annoyed at having to deal with his supervisor so soon. "if that meets with your approval."
"You sure you're up to it," Ecklie responded, a hint of true concern in his voice. "That hospital vigil has to have worn you out."
"I've had worse days," Gil pushed past the man and headed for the front desk to retrieve his messages and mail. He was handed a 5x7-manila envelope with his name on it in sticker letters. "When did this come," he asked and was informed it was hand delivered moments before his arrival. Thanking the receptionist, he headed for his office.
As he entered his workspace, he opened the package and slid out the DVD. "For your viewing and listening pleasure," it read on the cover, again in sticker letters. Gil sighed. Someone was playing games and he wasn't in the mood.
"Nonetheless," he shrugged, "let's see what's on it." He popped the disc into his computer and waited until it loaded. An old-fashioned flickering film title came on the screen. "The Perils of BG," it read. Gil sat up straighter as he watched the screen. His eyes grew wide with horror. His face turned pale, then blushed pink, and then flushed red and then deep crimson with fury as the movie continued. "Son of a…" he yelled as he stood, his chair crashing to the floor behind him. He hit the eject button on the computer, grabbed the disc and raced out of the room, flipping on his cell phone as he did.
DDDDDD
Catherine stood in the toxicology lab waiting for spectrographic analysis of the samples taken in Bree's bathroom. Travis was busy looking in a microscope, quietly contemplating the view before him.
Catherine despised waiting for results. She'd rather be active, searching for a clue or going over a DB with Doc Robbins, but in this case, Bree was not in the morgue. "Thankfully," she thought.
"You know what they say about a watched pot," he grinned at her. She nodded and opened her mouth to speak, just as the spectrograph beeped and spit out an analysis sheet. "And our culprit is…" Travis's eyes grew large as he read the report. "This guy is bad," he whispered, handing the paper to Catherine. "Hydrofluoric acid ----14.5 solution. He meant to kill, not just maim."
"Where would your average person get this stuff?" Catherine queried.
"Except in a lab, you mean? Well, glass etchers use it. It is also found in some rust removers, but one would have to know how to distill it to get this strong a solution."
"Well, our boy isn't stupid, is he?" Catherine shook her head as her cell phone vibrated on her hip. Reading the message, she headed for the door. "Gotta run. Thanks."
"Any time."
EEEEE
Sara walked into the DNA lab and grinned at Mia, who was busy placing samples in a centrifuge. "What have you got," she asked.
Mia smiled over at her. "Hello to you, too." She smirked. "Waiting for the final report on the substance you found in Roger Marriott's bathtub. So far, I can tell you it is definitely animal, not human."
"Not chemical then?"
"Exactly. This time he didn't use an acid."
"He's very clever," Sara frowned.
Mia nodded. "How's the vic doing?"
"Doesn't look good. He may lose his eyesight."
"Rough," Mia murmured as a computer printed out the final analysis. She scanned the sheet quickly. "Wow!"
"What?" Sara took the sheet and scanned it, jerking her head up in shock to stare at Mia. "Cobra venom?"
"Doubled checked." Mia nodded. Sara's cell ringer made her jump. Looking down at it, she nodded. "Thank Mia."
FFFFFNick and Greg had prepared slides for analysis and were now looking intently through their microscopes at them. "So, Nick," Greg started, "I hear Bree has company from Florida."
"Yeah. Don't know if Brass is too thrilled about it, though."
"Really? You think he's got a thing for her?"
"Hard not to see that. He lights up when she is around."
"This has to be tough on him, then."
"Yeah, I guess. It would be for me."
"Then this tall, thin, pretty boy from Florida shows up. Can't make it very pleasant for him."
"Umm---" Nick studied the image before him. This looks like glass, Greg."
"Well, we'll know shortly. Waiting for analysis now." A beep caught their attention. Greg pulled a sheet of paper from the machine beside him. "And you win the prize! 100 glass." Pagers went off and they quickly deposited their evidence in a bag as they left the lab.
GGGGG
"What have you got for me, Doc," Warrick asked as he and Doc Robbins moved toward the table. The naked body of the cabin victim lay in front of them.
"Meet Matthew 'Mac' Fontaine, all around low-life, hustler and hood for hire. Rap sheet as long as the Vegas Strip."
"That's not surprising. We figured he was into something illegal."
"Well, he paid dearly for it."
'So, you're saying this wasn't a suicide?"
"Exactly. Take a look." Doc pointed to the slit on Fontaine's neck. "No hesitation marks. Someone who is going to cut his own throat would hesitate, from the pain if nothing else."
"Well, he had been drinking…"
"Blood alcohol was 0.8, a couple of beers could have done that. Not enough to deaden the nerve that much."
"So, we're looking for another killer?" Warrick rubbed the back of his neck.
"Looks that way. He sat in the tub and didn't fight back. I suspect he wasn't even expecting an attack."
Warrick nodded as his pager went off. "Gotta go. Thanks Doc."
HHHHH
Gil sat in the audiovisual lab as the tech worked to extract any evidence he could from the DVD. The room was hushed and solemn as they viewed it over and over.
Catherine, Sara, Greg, Nick and Warrick entered together, curious and questioning looks on their faces. The tension in the room was palpable. "What's up, Boss," Nick asked for them all.
"Got this when I came in today," Gil replied through gritted teeth. "Take a look." The clip was run once more for their benefit.
The ladies slowly lowered themselves into chairs, looks of horror on their faces. Nick clamped his jaw shut, a nerve jumping on the side of his face. Warrick's eyes grew angry and Greg closed his to shut out the horror of the scene.
They watched as Bree entered her bathroom, disrobed, entered the shower and the horrible consequences of the maniacal and diabolical stunt played out before them. Sara held her stomach in hopes of not throwing up. Catherine shook with rage. "The S.O.B. had actually taped his handiwork," she thought. Then the realization hit her. That meant she and Sara had missed something while processing the scene.
Gil turned to look at her, a flicker of anger still in his eyes. "Gil, I---"
"didn't find anything at the scene?" he finished for her quietly. She hated it when he got quiet. It meant trouble.
"We didn't expect anything like this. We didn't know what to look for…" she tried to apologize.
"You and Sara get back out there and go through every inch of that place. Don't come back until you've exhausted every possibility."
The ladies got up to leave, but Sara turned around in the doorway. "Grissom," she stated, "when we were at the cabin, I got the distinct impression I was being watched. I thought it was the cat, but…"
"Okay. Greg, you and Nick check it out. Warrick…"
"The Marriott home. On it."
IIIIII
Mrs. Marriott stepped into her house, thumbing through the mail as she walked. "Junk mail and bills," she sighed, "but…what's this?" She held a 5x7 manila envelope in her hand. Her name was printed in sticker letters on the front, but there was no postmark. It looked as if it were hand delivered.
She opened the package, pulling out a DVD. "For your viewing and listening pleasure" was on the cover in those same sticker letters.
She moved to the den, putting the DVD in the player and turning on the TV.
TBC