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Disclaimer: I do not own any part of CSI or its characters. That honor goes to the good folks over at CBS.
Title: The Planetarium: Part 1
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Grissom checked his kit once more, before throwing it in the backseat of the Denali. It had been quite some time since he had last processed a scene on his own, but he was looking forward to the solitude of it. Although murders and crimes were grisly affairs, and completely unnecessary, there was something to be said about collecting the evidence that made prosecuting the bad guys possible. Without the crime scene investigators and the lab technicians, Grissom knew, well, there would be chaos and crime on every street corner.
Pulling up to the planetarium, Grissom stopped his vehicle just behind Brass's Taurus. "What do we have, Jim?" he asked his colleague, after getting out of the car, and grabbing his kit.
"Well," Brass said with a heavy sigh, "We have a room full of angry visitors, one dead body, and a silent seven year old boy with blood all over his hands and clothes. The scene has been released," he added.
Grissom raised an eyebrow, glancing over at the crowd of people gathered around the outside of the planetarium. To his left, he saw the coroner wheeling away the body, and an ambulance standing by 'just in case.' Grissom's eyes narrowed as he once again searched the crowd. He did not understand the humor in death, and was inwardly furious with the individuals who showed up at the scene of a crime just to gawk. "Did anyone see anything, Jim?" he then asked.
"So far, no," the detective replied. "We have interviewed five adults—two males and three females—and have three more to go. We haven't been able to get the boy to talk yet, although the paramedics have already checked him out. They are going to take him to the hospital in a couple of minutes, just to be sure that he is really unharmed. And," he added, "to try to figure out who he is. So far, no one is claiming him."
Grissom nodded, before taking his gloves out of his kit. Quickly slipping them on, he headed over toward the planetarium, with Brass walking beside him. Before getting too far, however, the duo ran into Al Robbins. "Doc?" he asked, surprised to see the man at the scene.
"Busy night," Al Robbins replied, leaning on his cane for a moment.
"So, what do we have?" Grissom inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Gun-shot wound to the head," the chief coroner said. "One hole, straight through. I'll know more when we autopsy."
"And Jim," Grissom said, "No one heard the shot?" he asked, completely surprised.
"The show playing had to deal with nature," Brass indicated, looking at Grissom. "And apparently, they were in the middle of the thunder scene."
Grissom nodded, understanding that the planetarium also doubled as an IMAX theater at times. "Okay. Thank you," he told the two gentlemen, continuing on toward the scene.
Entering the building, Grissom stopped just inside of the lobby, as he noticed the young boy sitting on a chair, staring blankly at absolutely nothing in front of him. "Hello," he said to the child, looking down at him. Grissom knew that whatever else was going on, the boy was probably in shock—and would be, for quite some time. He also realized that the child had to be processed, and soon. Grissom sighed. "What's your name?" he asked, in a quiet voice. The boy continued to stare at nothing, refusing to alter his gaze or even acknowledge Grissom's presence. "Okay. We will talk later," he kindly said, continuing to head toward the planetarium theater.
This is going to be difficult. Very, very difficult, Grissom thought to himself. Although a skilled scientist, he felt uncomfortable around emotional situations. He did not always know how to reach out to people, and preferred bugs to humans. At least insects were predictable, he always said to himself.
But this boy was an important key to this case, and someone needed to reach out to him. Grissom just wasn't sure if he was the right person for the job. Taking out his cell phone, Grissom hit one of the speed dials, waited for the person on the other end of the line to pick up, and then said: "I'm pulling you off of your case. I need you here." With that, he took out his flashlight, and began his search for the missing bullet.
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TO BE CONTINUED