Death of a Straw Hat

Part Two : Search for a hat killer

Grissom wiped his brow as he readied himself for the formidable task he would soon undertake. Sure he'd investigated crime scene upon crime scene, every kind of possible crime committed in every possible way...but never in his career had a case affected him like this. Never before had he stood before a victim, a victim he'd known, perhaps even loved, for quite some time. It had never been this hard. He raised the camera as he took yet another photo, covering every possible angle, every possible pathway the killer could have taken.

The flash lit up the room time and time again as Grissom made sure he'd covered the office as thoroughly as possible before he would begin analyzing the crime scene. He set the camera down beside his kit and began dusting for prints. By the time he was done most almost 99 of the work surfaces in his office were covered in dust. Prints were scattered everywhere. Most of these would be his, of course, but the others could easily have just been placed anyone who had business in his office. What he needed was the murder weapon.

He moved a sample of straw to the microscope set up on the opposite side of the office. He examined the cut. He moved back to the hat, trying to picture the weapon used to inflict the fatal injuries. He ruled out some obvious lab equipment. It wasn't a scalpel, and it couldn't have been a saw. The cuts were made with a sharp implement, but each cut wasn't precisely identical, leading to the idea of an object with more than one constituent...scissors. Grissom needed a second opinion.

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"Can one of you please tell me that the call that brought me here was some kind of set up." Jim Brass said as he entered the break room. He was more than just a little annoyed with one Gilbert Grissom. Being called in to investigate a 'crime' such as this, it had to be a joke.

"He's crazy in the coconut." Greg added.

"Greg..."

"Hey, you know it's true. What is he gonna do? Figure out the hat's C.O.D? Maybe he can figure that out by the amount of straw lost."

"Nah man, he'll find a witness. One of those bugs in there must have seen it go down. He can interrogate them, threaten them with insecticide 'till one of them cracks."

Warrick and Greg laughed at the situation once more. It really was the only thing they could do. Nick couldn't help but let out a chuckle before considering the situation seriously.

"We can't do anything, we just have to sit back and let him investigate it. Who knows how far he's going to take this." Nick said as he leant against the table.

"The way I see it the smartest thing to do is play along. The sooner this 'case' is solved, the faster I get back to the usual crimes of Vegas." Brass sighed. He really didn't need to be opposing Grissom. He just wanted to get this done, get it solved, and get out. He left the break room, readying himself for the scene that awaited him. He wondered...exactly what would happen once they found the perp? What exactly was the penalty for the killing of a hat? Only one way to find out...

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Robbins cleared a workspace as we waited for Grissom to arrive with his 'body'. His previous conversation with Catherine had informed him of all that he needed to know. He wondered about the sanity of his colleague, though he'd long since learned that Grissom was one person should never really doubt. He remembered Catherine's remark, questioning the doctor about the shape of a hat's body bag. The sound of approaching footsteps ensured him that he'd soon have the answer to this question.

He watched Grissom approach, carefully balancing two bags in his hands. He appeared to be so careful with the items in his possession, Robbins almost felt as though Grissom was carrying the body of a beloved childhood pet...but the reality was far from it. He remained silent as the 'body bag' was placed in front of him along with an evidence bag containing a small sample of straw. Why Grissom hadn't taken this to anyone else at first was a mystery, but he soon realized that they were all considered suspects. He on the other hand, was not.

Grissom carefully unzipped the self-made body bag, removing the straw hat and placing it on the cold steel surface.

"I need your opinion."

"Well, the anatomy of hats really isn't my area of expertise. But I'll see what I can do." He said as he adjusted his glasses, realizing that he had to tread as carefully as possible.

"The murder weapon. Every weapon has its own signature, I want to know what you think did this." Grissom said. Robbins noted the level of emotion in his voice. He'd never heard it before, at least not at that degree. The poor man really did have an attachment to this hat.

"Well," he began as he studied the hat. He quickly noted down his observations mentally before coming to a fast conclusion. "Scissors. But they're sharp, possibly dissecting scissors from any standard dissecting kit." Robbins could do nothing more for Grissom now, although he really hadn't done much at all. Dissecting scissors in a crime lab…they wouldn't exactly be a scarce item.

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"So what do we know?" Brass asked, hating that for one he wasn't the one with the initial details. He didn't know anything about this case, if you could call it that.

"The murder weapon was a pair of dissecting scissors." Grissom said, knowing exactly how weak this case was at this point in time.

Brass noted Grissom's use of the term 'murder weapon' before he frowned. They had hit a wall. They needed help. They needed fresh eyes, probably someone who didn't have such an emotional attachment to that damn hat. They needed another investigator's perspective, and they needed it now.

"Look Grissom why don't you get one of your..."

"No."

"Not even...?" Brass tried again.

"No. No one can be trusted. Any one of them could have done this, and if given the chance any one of them could cover their tracks, and I'm not going to give them that opportunity." Grissom said sternly.

Brass was confused. If any one of the CSI's, or lab techs working in the crime lab for that matter would have already covered their tracks the best way they knew how. They, of all people would have the greatest idea on how to commit the 'perfect' crime, if such a thing existed. He sighed inwardly. No one really held a solid grudge against Grissom...the hat on the other hand...that was a different matter. This really wasn't going anywhere. There wasn't any DNA, no substantial fingerprints that couldn't otherwise be explained, and no unusual fibers. All they had was a weapon, and that was it. But wait...

"Surveillance." Brass said, speaking his thoughts aloud. "There's a camera at the end of the corridor, if it faces in this direction, anyone entering or leaving this office would be recorded, wouldn't they?"

Grissom didn't even need to give him a response. He swiftly moved from his office and towards security. Why the hell hadn't he thought of that earlier?

Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you're enjoying this. I know this chapter was a little slow and a little dry, but I'm hoping the next and final chapter will be a lot better. As always, lemme know what y'all thought of this chapter, reviews really are appreciated. / Britt