Death of a Straw Hat

Part Three : ...the vicious, murderous, brutal hat killer!

Grissom sat at the desk once more, the desk he'd confined himself to until the case had been solved. Everything about the case lay spread out before him with the hope that having each item in its own space would allow for the evidence to speak to him, to tell him the story, and inevitably close the case. But the evidence before him had been exhausted. It had led them nowhere, and now he could only wait for the file to be sent to him. Once the security footage was in his possession, then he would know...that is, if they weren't wearing a mask or hadn't somehow erased the footage already. He sighed, he hated his thought processes. They always managed to bring him down.

Grissom resisted the urge to pace across the room as he waited. It took every inch of his mind to keep him seated, to keep him still and focused on that computer screen. The only thing that kept him sane was the thought of justice. The identity of the killer would free his mind and finally let the hat rest in total peace knowing that justice had been served. Any minute now it would all be over...

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Brass jotted down some final notes onto his pad of paper as he finished asking the set of questions Grissom had given him. Each of the main suspects had already been questioned, mostly concerning alibi's and proof of their whereabouts during the time of death. All had put up with him and answered the questions, and for that he was thankful. He checked over all that he'd written down. Everyone had an alibi that checked out...He snorted. He couldn't believe he actually had to verify their whereabouts. Brass knew how pointless this all was. The only answer would come from the footage, not stupid questions about an alibi during an inanimate object's time of death. Hopefully by the time he returned to Grissom's office it would all be over.

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"Where were you on the night of the victim's death?" Catherine asked Sara, imitating Brass the best she could. "Can you believe it?"

"I don't know how he could keep a straight face. Verifying our whereabouts, what the hell is that?" Sara replied. Sure she'd been questioned before, but that had to be the most hilarious situation she'd found herself in. She still hadn't managed to get over the fact that it was just a stupid, and incredibly unfashionable hat.

"I don't get why Brass is bothering at all...the man hated the hat as much as all of us. For all we know he's the one who did it." Nick offered.

"So what, first you suck up to Grissom and now you're pointing fingers?" Sara raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Hey, I'm just trying to figure this out is all." He put up his hands in his defense.

"I really don't care who did this, but whoever did should get some kind of medal."

"They had the balls to cross Grissom." Warrick added.

"What, like it's hard to cut up a stupid hat?" Greg asked. "I would've, I just never thought about it, at least not seriously."

"I wonder if Grissom knew that he looked like a hillbilly..." Sara trailed off as she pictured Grissom in that hat once more, suddenly missing the idea of never seeing it on top of his head ever again. Now what were they going to poke fun at?

"Farmer Grissom. Y'know, a guy like him, you'd think of all the hats he'd wear he'd have a little more class than that." Catherine mused.

"What, like a top hat?" Sara asked, now finding herself with the image of Grissom in a full tuxedo and top hat, bend down over a body in the middle of the desert.

"Haha yeah. I could see that." Nick chuckled. He was glad he'd chosen to stick with the baseball cap and not a Stetson from back home. You could never go wrong with a baseball cap.

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Grissom stared at the screen. The video file was now open, ready to reveal to him the identity of the killer just as soon as he would hit play. He couldn't bring himself to do it. He could lift his finger to click the mouse, he just stared at the screen. He was preparing himself, not only because of the victim's closeness to himself, but the idea that the person who'd taken that from him could be someone just as close. That idea frightened him more than anything.

He turned his attention away from the screen and focused on the darkness within the office. He'd dimmed down the room as much as possible. Nothing but the computer screen lit up the room with a soft glow, allowing him to picture the scene before him. He saw the culprit enter the room, closing the door behind themselves before crossing the room and pausing in front of spot where the straw hat had once resided. He stared at the figure, unable to make out the face. Grissom sighed. It was time to give the figure a face, and time to face what he'd been avoiding.

He looked back at the screen, the brightness blinding him temporarily. "It's time to meet you…" he thought as he hovered the arrow over play, making sure that he really was ready for this. He drew in a deep breath before hitting play. The timer on the footage began to count the seconds as the corridors remained empty. Grissom's heart sank as the seconds began to build up, now just passing 24…the suspense was killing him. He was ready to begin fast forwarding the footage when movement suddenly filled the screen. In the distance, at the other end of the corridor a figure approached….a man…

He watched as the man walked slowly down the corridor towards his office. Grissom glared at the figure. He was so calm, so collected, like he didn't have a worry in the world. The man's face came in to view, but was clouded in shadow. "Look up….look up…" Grissom urged as the man stopped outside his office door, and looked directly up at the camera. Grissom's heart pounded in his ears. His eyes went wide with shock at the sight before him. He hit pause and stared at the image of himself looking up at the camera. He shook his head, he didn't understand… "How could I…?"

The pounding in his ears made it hard for him to think. He hit play once more and watched himself pull something from his pocket…the scissors…and enter his own office. He continued to stare on in utter confusion as the footage played on repeat, over and over again he saw himself enter his own office and close the door behind him. Over and over he focused on the dissecting scissors that he had carried in his hands. He frowned and tried to search his mind for the answers. He didn't know why, but he looked down to his right at the top drawer. He dropped the scissors, the metal clattering to the floor as the footage continued to play on repeat. He'd done this. He'd been the cause of it all...he shuddered to think...Gil Grissom...the vicious, murderous, brutal hat killer!

So, that's it. In my head it was different but what can ya do? Let me know what y'all thought. It's weird, I know. I spent a while thinking about who would've killed the hat, I know most fans would've like to kill the hat but all of us wouldn't have been able to fit inside the office. Can anyone tell that I'd just watched Hide & Seek before writing this part? Heh. I was going to have him going to therapy to figure out his motivations behind the butchering of the hat, but I'll leave his motivations for y'all to decide. Thanks for reading and reviewing, makes it all worth it. That, and the satisfaction of the dead straw hat. Thanks again. / Britt