Thanks for all the reviews again. And 3 from MC New York - thank you! I was indeed very humbled to receive a review from Kristen Elizabeth as she is such a wonderful writer. It is amazing to think she actually read my story!

Em xxx

"I think you know why you're here, Sara." The police officer, who had identified himself as Captain Carl Palmer, replied. He stopped his pacing of the small interview room and took a seat opposite her. Sara raised her tired eyes to meet his.

"I'm not an idiot, Captain."

"I never said you were."

"As you well know, I have experience in these matters. I know the procedure. You would not have brought me here unless you had something good to say. So can we cut the small talk? Adam Sidle is dead. What has that got to do with me?"

"Aside from the fact he's your brother?"

"A brother I only found out existed yesterday."

Captain Palmer smiled. "He was still a blood relation. That must be hard for you."

Sara sighed. She was not falling for this. "It's a shock, Captain Palmer. Of course it is. But the honest truth is that right now I feel very little. A week ago I could have walked past Adam in the street and not have known who he was. It takes weeks, months…years to build a relationship with someone. I had a day."

"But they do say blood is thicker than water."

Sara pushed back her chair and stood up in exasperation. "If you have nothing better to say, Captain-"

"Sit down, Sara."

"Can you give me one reason why I should?"

"I can give you several."

"Good reasons?"

"You're the kind of person who believes that evidence never lies, I believe, Sara." The words resonated in her head. That was the kind of thing that Grissom would say. Grissom – she wondered what he had done when he had awoken. But there was no time to ponder such matters. "So yes, I would say they were good reasons." She turned to look at him. His face now was stern and solemn. "Sit down, Sara," he commanded. She did so. "Sara Sidle, we have good reason to believe you were involved in the murder of your brother, Adam Sidle."

I.I.I.I.I

"What do you mean we can't speak to her?" Grissom asked the young officer standing in the reception area. He looked nervous, being confronted by Grissom's angry figure, but stood his ground.

"She's being questioned, sir. You will have to wait until she's released."

"What do you mean released? Has she been arrested?"

"Not yet, as far as I am aware."

"What do you mean, not yet?" Grissom was full of questions. So many things were unclear. "What's going on?"

"I can't tell you any more, I'm afraid," the young officer replied, avoiding Grissom's eye. "You will have to wait."

Grissom opened his mouth to continue arguing but Catherine's hand on his arm stopped him before he said anything. "Come on, Gil. It's not his fault. Come and sit down." She turned to face the officer. "If anything happens could you please inform us?" she asked him. He nodded, grateful for the respite. "Let's go and sit down."

I.I.I.I.I

"I don't believe this!" Sara cried out, not sure whether to laugh or cry. "I didn't kill my brother!"

"I thought you said he meant nothing to you."

"He was still my brother!"

"We have evidence to support the claim, Sara. Now would be the time to tell us exactly what occurred last night. We know you were at Adam's house."

"How about you tell me what evidence you have first? Then I can tell you why you're wrong."

Captain Palmer looked angry for a moment but then evidently decided that co-operating with Sara was the best way forward. "If that's what you would prefer."

"It certainly is." Sara smiled, sickeningly sweet. "So why don't you explain to me exactly why you have brought me here?"

"We found your jacket at Adam's house, Sara. We know you were there last night."

"I never denied that-"

Captain Palmer interrupted her defence. "Do you want to listen or not, Sara?" She nodded and lowered her eyes to the table.

"A neighbour said they heard an argument between Adam and a female voice. Your fingerprints were found on a glass, a photo frame, the door handle…and on the knife that was used to kill Adam."

"What?" Now Sara was genuinely shocked. "That can't be right."

"You shouldn't have left the knife in the sink, Sara. With Adam's blood. As a CSI, I would have thought you'd know better." Now Captain Palmer looked smug but Sara's slower than usual brain began to catch up.

"In the sink?" She shook her head. "You don't know how mistaken you are."

Captain Palmer still looked confident. "Why don't you try and tell me?"

"I did go to Adam's house. For dinner. Hence my fingerprints on the glass, the photo frame, the door handle. And probably on the plates, the knives, the forks, a pan…the list goes on. And yes, we argued. That's why I left early and in a hurry. That's why I forgot my jacket."

"That's all very nice, but it does not explain how your fingerprints ended up on a kitchen knife which was covered in Adam's blood."

"Covered?" Sara snorted. "I doubt it. He cut his finger chopping peppers."

"How convenient." Captain Palmer still did not appear rattled.

"As you said yourself, Captain Palmer, I am a crime scene investigator. Should I have wanted to murder Adam Sidle, I am sure I could have done so without leaving a trail of such obvious evidence."

"Perhaps that didn't occur to you. Maybe it was spur of the moment thing. You got angry with Adam. It had been a bad day."

"So I killed him?" Sara sounded disbelieving. "Come on, Captain. Surely you can do better than that?"

Captain Palmer stood up suddenly, pushing his chair away from the table and placing his hands upon it as he loomed over Sara. He was attempting to assert his authority, but Sara could tell he was feeling less certain of himself.

"What time did Adam die?" she asked him shortly.

"We don't have an exact time of death yet."

"It doesn't have to be exact. Even an estimate would prove I was not present at the time, I'm sure."

"Oh, yes?" Captain Palmer sneered. "Who can back you up on that?"

Sara hesitated for a moment. Her first night with Gil Grissom was turning out to be anything but romantic. She did not want to publicise it. But one look at Captain Palmer's face and she knew she had no option. "Gilbert Grissom," she replied. "He was with me all night."

And the look on the Captain's face made the revelation almost worthwhile.

I.I.I.I.I

"Gilbert Grissom?" the young officer approached Grissom and Catherine, who were sitting silently on the uncomfortable waiting room chairs.

Grissom looked up in anticipation. "Yes? Are you done with Sara?"

"No, sir."

The hope faded from Grissom's eyes. "Then what do you want?"

"We have some questions for you, Dr Grissom."

"Me?"

"Him?" Catherine echoed.

"You."

"Why me?"

"Why him?"

The young officer looked confusedly from Catherine to Grissom. "If you would just come with me?" he offered hesitantly.

Grissom slowly pulled himself out of the chair. "Do I have a choice?"

"Well-" the officer began, but Grissom immediately interrupted.

"It was a rhetorical question."

"Ah." The officer went silent as Grissom fell into step alongside him, Catherine watching the two men walk away. They walked down the corridor. Passing doors on either side of him, Grissom glanced through the windows into empty offices and questioning rooms. Another man turned around the corner at the other end of the corridor. He spotted Grissom and the young officer and quickened his pace towards them. "Officer Martin, can you take Dr Grissom to Room 10?"

The officer nodded his head and signaled for Grissom to follow him. Grissom did not query. He had a feeling he needed to preserve his energy for the questions he was about to face. They turned the corner at the top of the corridor and the officer glanced into a room labeled number 10. He looked slightly confused as he turned to Grissom. "Could you just wait here a moment please?"

Grissom's lack of reply was taken as affirmation as Officer Martin hurried back around the corner. Out of interest, Grissom glanced briefly through the window of room 10. A police officer, looking slightly rattled, was sitting opposite a brunette woman.

Hang on…a brunette woman…Grissom looked once more through the window. "Sara?" he murmured. She could not possibly have heard him but evidently something stirred inside her as she turned to look up at the window and met his eye, apparently not at all surprised to see him there. For a moment they just stared. He could barely comprehend the mix of emotions in her eyes; desperation, sadness, frustration, anger. He tried to smile reassuringly, but his lips refused to comply. Instead he found himself looking away.

What have you done, Gil? he asked himself. It wasn't meant to be like this. The morning after your first night together and you're both being questioned with regard to murder. Angrily he kicked the wall, just as Officer Martin turned the corner once again.

"Dr Grissom?" he questioned. "Are you alright?"

Grissom looked up. "No," he replied. "No, I'm not. So can we just get this done?"