Here is Chapter 7. Up to this weekend I hadn't realised that a lot of the background to the story and especially the relationship between Catherine, Sam and theentire Willows/Braun family dynamic mayhave been overtaken by events in Kiss Kiss Bye Bye. That's not due to be shown here in the UK until next week so I'm going to watch the episode and decide if I could or should introduce elements from that into this one.
Anyway, until the next update!
Chapter 7
"Wow!" exclaimed Greg examining Emma's wardrobe, "Gucci, Calvin Klein, Nina Ricci. Her monthly allowance must be more than I earn in a year!"
"According to Lindsey, Emma was wearing a pair of James jeans and a red DKNY sleeveless blouse when she went to see D'Arto the first time but bag and tag everything in there Greg." Warrick said practically, "she could have changed when she went out again later. I'll check the rest of the room for trace. And remember, Grissom and Brass had a lot of trouble getting a judge to sign the search warrant. It only covers this room and the laundry basket, so don't go wandering. The Greyson's have powerful friends and enough money to make our lives difficult if we overstep the mark by even a little bit."
Greg Sanders looked insulted, "Hey, I've been doing this for a couple of years now. Don't treat me like the newbie. OK?" He carefully blew into his latex gloves and put them on before diving into the wardrobe while Warrick fell to his knees and began to slowly and methodically go over the carpet.
"So, how did Lindsey get to know Emma? I wouldn't have thought they'd move in the same circles." Greg asked conversationally as they worked.
"They go to the same school." Warrick replied shortly.
Greg held up a blazer with a badge embroidered on the left pocket. "St. Agnes Academy?" he asked, then whistled, "That takes serious money. How can Catherine afford it on a CSI's salary? Even a Shift Supervisor doesn't make that much!""
Warrick gave him an appraising look, then realised he genuinely didn't know. "Sam Braun dropped $250 grand on her shortly after she found out he was her father. Catherine put it into a trust fund for Lindsey's education."
"Right." Greg's next words came out slowly, "So, that would also be shortly after he was acquitted of murder the last time?"
"Don't even think it!" Warrick said; his voice edged with a faint trace of anger, "If you don't know Catherine better than that, you've been spending too much time with your test tubes. But it's exactly that sort of thinking Catherine was worried about and why she hasn't exactly advertised the gift."
"Hey," Greg replied defensively, "I never meant anything. I was just thinking what the press might say if they ever found out."
Warrick shrugged, "They never will, unless one of us tells them." He was about to go on when something caught his eye and he tensed, "There's a dark smear here; looks like Emma tried to clean it up. She did a pretty bad job of it, but then she's probably never done any housework before in her life!"
Greg wandered over and looked down at the stain, "Could be mud or blood, but it hasn't rained in Vegas recently so my money is on blood."
Warrick nodded and took out a swab. He carefully moistened it with distilled water and rubbed it along the edge of the smear, then got out his vial of Amido Black. He transferred some to the damp swab and watched as it turned a blue black colour.
"Yep," he confirmed, "definitely blood." He got out the field testing kit and placed the swab inside. Now, it turned violet. "Human blood." he added. "Greg, make sure you don't forget the shoes. I'm going to give the rest of the carpet a run over with the UV light in case there's more transfer."
Warrick stood up and pulled the curtains, then put on his eye protection before switching on the glowing, blue light.
Emma Greyson stood sullenly on a large sheet of paper laid on the floor of the Interview Room at Police Headquarters. The blinds were drawn as she was stripped to her bra and panties. Sara Sidle had already examined her body for marks and taken samples from under her fingernails, now she was carefully brushing out her hair, placing any foreign matter into evidence envelopes that were immediately sealed and signed. Away to one side a female representative from the law firm the Greyson's had hired, watched eagle eyed for any breach of the warrant or evidence gathering protocols.
It had been difficult getting the Emma's parents to leave the room, even after what Sara was going to do had been explained to them. Mrs Greyson had finally only agreed when Emma herself had insisted that she go. Both parents now sat tensely on a bench outside, tightly holding hands for mutual support.
Initially Emma had tried to ignore Sara and her activities, obeying instructions without comment or eye contact but, as the examination proceeded, Sara had noticed her beginning to sneak glances when she thought nobody was looking. She wasn't entirely surprised, therefore, when Emma suddenly spoke.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
There were two schools of thought among CSI's concerning what to tell suspects about forensic procedures. One was to say nothing on the principle that fear of the unknown increased pressure on the guilty to confess and prevented them from learning how to avoid mistakes in the future; the other was to tell the suspect everything they wanted to know on the basis that knowledge re-assured the innocent but when it was allied to a guilty conscience caused the guilty to confess and seek a deal before the evidence was found anyway. Sara wasn't a signed up member of either camp, she tended to go on a reading of each suspect. Here, she felt full disclosure was the best option. This suspect was a close friend of Lindsey's after all.
"Everywhere we go, we take something from that place away with us and leave something of ourselves behind." she explained, "It might only be a carpet fibre or a shed hair but we have the technology to find those things and match them. Forensic science is one of the most effective crime fighting tools we have. It convicts the guilty and exonerates the innocent."
Emma considered, "Like DNA?" she asked.
Sara nodded, "Exactly." she confirmed. "We've been able to prove someone was in a certain place by showing they'd left something containing their DNA there and it's also been used to show that some people who'd been convicted of crimes couldn't have committed them."
"Are you going to take a DNA from me?"
"Yeah. Don't worry it won't hurt. Open your mouth."
Emma did so and Sara deftly inserted the swab, brushed it around the back of her mouth, then took it out, placed it in a container and sealed it in one swift movement. "There you go." she said, "All done. You can get dressed now. Then wait here, Captain Brass and Mr Grissom will be along shortly to interview you. Do you want me to send your parents in when I leave?"
Emma nodded, "Yes, please." she replied in a low voice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Catherine and Lindsey sat in the visitors' room of the County Jail. Although her work often took her to the jail, she usually met prisoners in the private rooms set aside for consultations with lawyers. This was the first time she had entered this part of the prison or met an inmate under these circumstances. She and Lindsey were sat in an open booth along one of the walls. In front of them was a glass window through which they could see into the booth beyond. The window had a small metal section in the centre pitted with holes big enough to allow sound to carry through but small enough to prevent contraband being passed between prisoner and visitor.
The booth was currently empty as they waited for Sam to be brought in. They had been waiting for a while now and Lindsey was becoming impatient.
"Where is he?" she asked, and then a horrible thought seemed to hit her, "Maybe he doesn't want to see us!"
"We had to go through his lawyer to arrange this visit." Catherine reminded her. "Sam could have stopped us from coming then if he wanted to. Sweetheart, it takes a while to clear the security procedures, he'll be here soon."
As she spoke she wondered what she would say to him when he finally did appear. She had agreed to come primarily because Lindsey had been so adamant about visiting Sam and she wanted to be there to support her through what would be a traumatic experience, not because she herself had any particular desire to see her father.
She was still wondering this when Sam's orange, jumpsuit clad figure appeared.
"Lindsey, Mugs." He greeted them as he sat down in the booth opposite.
Catherine studied him. As usual his face was set in a benevolent half smile that gave nothing of his real feelings and thoughts away. A poker player face, she thought, not for the first time. Then she saw the lines at the corner of his eyes and knew that he was worried about something. She listened with half an ear as Lindsey launched into a series of questions about Sam's treatment and protestations of her belief in his innocence.
As he answered, Catherine saw he was carefully studying them both. He caught her glance and looked away, interrupting Lindsey in mid question to ask "How are you, Mugs? How's all this affecting your career? "
"I'm fine. I've been put on administrative leave until this is all over." She paused for a few seconds, in for a penny, in for a pound she thought guilty or innocent, he's going to find out sometime. Taking a deep breath, she began; "There's some facts about the night of the murder you need to know." she began.
Sam jumped in before she could finish, talking over her, "It'll be over soon. The D.A.'s going for an early sentencing hearing. Then you'll have your wish and I'll be out of your life for good. You need to think of Lindsey now. She's young, beautiful, with a bright future ahead of her." Then with emphasis, "You must protect her, keep her safe."
Then he turned to Lindsey who had stopped talking and was listening to the exchange between her mother and grandfather intently. "Lindsey, sweetheart," Sam began, "I don't want any of this to ruin your life. I've got more years behind me than ahead of me and I'm not exactly an innocent. One day I'd have to leave you anyway, it just happens to be earlier than I'd hoped. I want you to remember that and go on with your life."
Lindsey looked at him and understanding dawned, "You think I killed that man and you've been covering for me! Sam, I didn't do it and I've told the police all about why I was at his place. You don't have to lie to protect me!"
Sam looked at Catherine and read the truth of Lindsey's words there. He smiled with relief and reached out his hand to touch the window that separated him from his granddaughter. On the other side of the pane, Lindsey copied his gesture and the two looked affectionately at each other for a long moment.
Then Braun turned to Catherine, "Can you arrange for me to see your friend Grissom?" he asked. "I think my lawyer and I need to have a long talk with him."
T.B.C.