Morning, Las Vegas.
The sun was bright and beating down on Las Vegas with extreme heat and haze. Wishing it was so much cooler Sara parked in the drive and instantly mourned the air conditioning when she pushed the drivers door open with her foot and held it there for a moment as she reached over the centre console to grabbed her coat and groceries.
"Good morning Sara!" A voice called loudly from the garden.
Startled, Sara held the grocery bag tighter. "Ms Helens." She graced the older woman with a grateful smile. "You are a too kind to Gil. Truly." She shook her head as she carefully crossed the damp grass, having just missed the sprinklers. "He should be out here doing the garden himself."
Pushing herself up from her knees and brushing her hands over her already dirty apron, Ms Helens gave Sara a motherly smile. "My dear, you both work such long hours. It's the least I can do for two of our best law enforcement officers."
"We're scientists." Sara laughed. "Nerds. Not the police. We do what we can. Still," She motioned to the perfectly planted and well tended to flower beds. "I'm very thankful to you for keeping these beautiful flowers alive. I'm sure Gil would love to do it himself, but he never has the time."
Ms Helens laughed and adjusted her floppy and well worn summer hat. "I'm surprised you have time to sleep, my dear. It's already ten in the morning."
"The city does live up to it's reputation. Would you like to come in, Ms Helens?" Sara offered.
"That would be lovely, dear. Thank you. Though I'm afraid I am quite a mess this morning." She held up her hands to show off her muddy palms.
Sara chuckled as she led the way up to the front door. Once it was open, she held it. "For the lovely things you do to the garden, you don't have to worry about mud being tracked in, honestly."
"Well," Ms Helens smiled. "I'm glad you are here. Gil always offers, but I usually turn him down. He always seems in a rush and never really seems to have time to himself."
"We have busy jobs." Sara placed the grocery bag on the breakfast bar and draped her coat over a stool. "Please, make yourself at home." She pointed vaguely across the room. "Just don't touch the desk over there and he won't even realise I had a visitor."
"How are you today, my dear?" Ms Helens asked after seating herself on the couch.
"Busy. Hectic." Sara paused the stream of water as she filled the kettle. She stared into the sink for a long and quiet minute.
"Are you sure you're all right? Sara?" Ms Helens stood and approached the kitchen.
Looking up with a brief smile, Sara nodded. "Not very polite, zoning out on you like that."
"It's quite alright." She took the kettle and crossed the kitchen. "Why don't you sit down and let me do this?"
Los Angeles, Downtown Police Department.
Grissom stood in front of the mirror and stared at his reflection. For the past two hours he and Brass had been waiting on Deputy Paul. A squad car had been following Miss Goatherd for most the night when a news crew suddenly made an appearance outside the police department.
It was almost ten-fifteen in the morning and still no word on the whereabouts of baby Blackwell. Almost ten days had past and all hope of finding AJ was fading. Grissom knew that if they stopped looking, Sara would never be the same. She had only seen AJ once, shortly after he was born, but she loved her brother, however strained their relationship was at times, and Anthony was her only connection to him. Grissom wasn't going to give up and he knew Sara wasn't going to either.
A sharp knock on the restroom door broke his thoughts. "Gil?" Brass called from the hallway.
"I'll be right out." Quickly washing his hands and drying them, Grissom left the room pulling on his jacket. It was time to face the press.
Las Vegas.
The television played in the background as Olivia Helens refilled two glasses. "Have you spoken to this Briggs person?"
Sara sighed, keeping one eye on the TV. "I'm involved in the investigation. It would jeopardise the case if I had any contact with him."
"But surely he isn't involved."
"It's hard to tell. And we won't know until all the evidence is checked in. He was responsible for AJ, so he would be the number one suspect."
Olivia placed the orange juice back in the fridge. "And the mother?"
"Gil tells me she is also a suspect. Though they couldn't hold her. Richard wasn't arrested, but he was detained for a few hours before released. They couldn't find anything on him. He's telling the truth for all we know."
Placing one glass in Sara's hand, Olivia sat down next to her, looking at the TV to follow a political report on drugs and vandalism. "What are the police doing now if they have no suspects?"
Sara leaned forward and placed her drink on the table. "We look for other clues linking either one to the kidnapping." She used the remote to turn the volume up to hear the News Anchorman.
"-the kidnapping of a four-month-old baby hit the news a few moments ago. We go live to Los Angeles."
Los Angeles.
"We are investigating the kidnapping of Anthony Jack Blackwell. He is only four-months-old and has been missing for ten days-"
"Ten days?" Most of the reporters yelled over the clicks and snaps of cameras and tape recorders.
"Due to the death of the child's father in a still unsolved investigation, friends of the deceased were given temporary custody. They failed to inform the assigned guardian of any legalities and as a result, someone impersonating the child's mother, turned up at the babysitter's house and took the baby."
"Who's the guardian?"
"Have you any suspects?"
"Why ten days?"
"I'll answer all your questions. I can not divulge the guardian's name as I'm sure you'll agree that it is already a shock to discover Anthony Blackwell is missing without knowing that you are named as the guardian in the first place.
"As to the investigation, we do have several suspects, though we haven't enough evidence to hold either one. If anyone has any information that can help, there is a help line available. And to answer your question on why it has taken so long, is because no one knew the child was missing."
"Surely someone would notice a baby was missing, Deputy."
"I'm afraid that is a question we are currently trying to find the answer to. When we have more information pertaining the investigation, you will be the first to know. Thank you."
San Francisco Crime Lab.
Listening to the statement on the TV was enough to get Warrick on the phone to push on evidence collection and interviews. They needed to find AJ now before really bad news was broadcasted.
"I'll be driving over to talk to the sister any second. Can you give Catherine Willows an update on the evidence being processed?" He asked Kyle as he dialled Detective Timmons, the officer in charge of the investigation here in San Francisco.
Kyle nodded, but didn't stop what he was doing with a pipette and a test tube. "Want me to call your Brass friend too?"
"No, I'll call him later. Thanks."
Las Vegas.
Sara smiled sadly at Olivia as she reached for the box of tissues on the table. "I'm just tired. I haven't slept properly since I found out. I think Gil is just as exhausted."
"I know you would rather be alone or doing something, but would you like me to stick around for a while?." Olivia offered, patting Sara's hand gently.
Thinking about what she would be doing if Grissom were home, Sara thought that she should try to get some rest before work, so she shook her head. "I'll be fine. Thank you. I'm going to sleep and call Gil before work."
Nodding, Olivia stood. As she gathered her apron and hat, she smiled as Sara showed her to the door. "I will bring you some nice vegetable stew and dumplings."
"Oh." Sara laughed lightly. "That's ok. I'll find something."
"Nonsense." Olivia pulled on her hat. "I make too much anyway. Any leftovers you can freeze. I'm sure Gil wouldn't mind something easy to prepare."
Sara nodded slowly. "Thank you. That's a good idea. I didn't think about that. I guess we both tend to skip a meal or two when we get tired."
"I'd noticed." Olivia chuckled. "Well, dear, get some sleep and I'll finish tending to that lovely flowerbed."
"Thank you again. For the company and the garden."
"Anytime, dear." Olivia trundled down the path and across the garden.
Inside the quiet and cool house, Sara could feel the tiredness in her bones and the faint fog that was hovering over her brain. It was definitely time to get some rest. Later, she would call Grissom, hoping he had gotten some sleep himself.
Five Hours Later.
Los Angeles.
Brass stood on the other side of the corridor with his phone to his ear, listening and talking to someone on the other end. Grissom was flipping through the case file and observing Deputy Paul talking to a young female officer, who was holding out a clipboard and pen. Deputy Paul was obviously listening rather attentively, because he didn't notice the shove Brass accidentally gave when he walked past.
"Warrick says he might have something." Brass informed Grissom, which also caught Deputy Paul's attention.
Grissom closed the file and handed it to Paul as he stopped beside Brass. "The sister?"
Brass arched an eyebrow. "How'd you know?"
Turning and walking away from them, he talked as they followed. "I've been studying the case file and gathering information from all parties. From what I can make out, Miss Goatherd didn't like the idea of her baby going to someone else, so she some how managed to get her sister involved."
"Well, nothing confirmed, but Angela Hutchinson, the sister in-law, just happens to be home alone with a baby."
Grissom stopped and twirled around. "Do we have an ID or birth certificate? Proof that the baby is AJ?" He could literally feel his heart cram to a halt.
Brass sighed, knowing this was difficult. "Warrick got the warrant for a DNA test and we won't know for at least another few hours."
Staring at the detective for a minute longer, Grissom slowly looked down and then around them before turning and continuing towards the front of the building. Once outside, Grissom twisted out his cell phone and pressed speed dial.
"Yo, Griss, give me a second." Warrick's voice echoed.
Brass pulled on his shades as Deputy Paul sat on a wall and opened the case file. "Have we checked all family connected to the Blackwell's?" Brass asked both.
Grissom turned away as Warrick started talking. "I'm just driving towards the brother-in-law. Frank Hutchinson just got a call from Timmons, you know, ask some basic questions-"
"Whether or not he's seen a baby lately?"
Warrick chuckled. "Exactly. And guess what detective Timmons heard in the background?"
"A baby?" Grissom turned to Brass with both eyebrows raised. "Where are you?"
"The Hutchinson's have a place that's fairly close to, get this, the Goatherd's. I was there last night but didn't find anything. Timmons and some lab guys turned the place upside down and did some old fashion door knocking. They took all the info they got from neighbours and apart from some Chinese whispers, pointed in the direction of an old vacation house the Goatherd's used to spend their summers at. I'm meeting some uniforms there. Figured if they found anything, I could get on the horn and let you know."
"Thanks Warrick. Keep me posted. Oh, and get that DNA test back to me ASAP. We can't start taking any baby that cross our path." Grissom snapped his phone shut and let out a fast rush of air. "Jim, I need you to check further back into the Goatherd's history. Family. Name changes. Addresses. Just in case this lead turns out to be nothing."
"Sure. Figured there was more of a family vibe going on here."
San Francisco Crime Lab.
Kylie leaned his chin into his fist and looked down at the DNA results with a sad and disappointed sigh. The Hutchinson's baby was the Hutchinson's baby. Back to square one. Just as he was getting ready to clean out the Mass Spec for another set of tests, Kylie grabbed the phone and dialled Warrick to tell him the bad news.
To Be Continued.
