CHAPTER NINE
Iris returned to the CSI lab with Annie. They'd been frank with one another and their conversation level never deteriorated. Annie found herself admiring the "other woman" in spite of herself. Iris had carried herself with a grace Annie found unique. She walked into Brass's office to take a seat and await his return as Iris headed back to check surveillance tapes. As she did so, she saw the pictures of Ellie and Iris.
Grissom had left a voicemail on her cell phone to report the male victim's wife had an airtight alibi, so they were back to square one to try to find the assailant. As Iris reviewed the tapes yet again, her heart skipped a beat as she saw a section of film that caused her mind to click from earlier. She called Grissom right away and asked for him to join her as she continued reviewing the tape.
"Okay, show me what you've got," Gil said in his straightforward way. He was still amazed that Iris had taken Annie to lunch and there'd been no report of an out-and-out altercation at the restaurant. Yet he was growing to understand how Iris was cut from more special cloth than that.
"Remember the night clerk saying he heard shots at 1:30 AM and running outside to see a dark car speeding away from the parking lot? Now here's the time record here from 1:20 AM to 1:45 AM on the tapes. I've got them synced to the where the clerk sits and outside in the parking lot. Do you see the clerk hoofing it out to the parking lot at all?"Iris finished, knowing that when she was a bit nervous she talked too quickly. She looked to Gil for affirmation.
"Iris, I think you may have something here. I'm calling Brass to get the clerk picked up for further questioning. Good work." Gil finished, patting her on the shoulder. He noted her suddenly sad expression.
"What's got you down?" He knew the answer but waited on her.
"You know the iris is a flower that blooms from a bulb in the spring and then it becomes dormant until it blooms again. For the first time in my life, I feel I've bloomed since I've been here with you all and even more so knowing Jim. I don't want to go dormant again. Sort of sounds clichéd I know." Iris said, her voice soft and quiet, looking toward Gil with haunted eyes.
"I also know the Greek word Iris means rainbow and got its name from the Greek goddess Iris, the goddess of the rainbow, who was a messenger on Mount Olympus, taking messages from the eye of Heaven to earth by the arc of the rainbow, acting as a bridge between the mortals and immortals. The three leaves of the iris represent faith, wisdom and valor. I think you're well-named and imbued with all the qualities of the flower. You won't go dormant." Gil tried in reassuring her.
"Griss, you know your flora as well as your fauna, and I appreciate all that, truly. Either way, Gil, I hope it's worthy on that night clerk. I've got choir practice tonight so if you need me back in just call my cell," Iris replied switching gears and rising suddenly to take her leave of Grissom.
On the way home, she'd gone by Warrick's place to check on him and drop off some more chicken soup she'd made up. He was still looking and feeling rugged, but improving and happy for the soup and company. She told him to call if he needed anything. Warrick told her he enjoyed having his own personal Florence Nightingale.
Upon pulling into her driveway and going inside her town home, she was greeted her dogs, Cyrano and Durante, as they whined softly before she walked them later. They seemed to sense her distress. Before she headed to church for choir practice, she wanted a little down time and to warm up her voice. She felt like listening to Martina McBride tonight and put on a CD to sing to. She opened the French doors to her balcony and sat outside in a lawn chair with her dogs laying beside as the music began and in her own clear alto sang with Martina "Safe in the Arms of Love":
"My heart's not ready
for the rocking chair
I need somebody who really cares
So tired
of livin' solitaire
Someday I'm gonna be
Safe in the arms of
love
Strip your heart and it starts to snow
Love is a
high-wire act I know
Someday I'll find a net below
Someday
I'm gonna be
Safe in the arms of love
Safe in the arms of
love
CHORUS
I want arms that know how to rock me
Safe in
the arms of love
I wanna fall and know that love has caught
me
Safe in the arms of love
Safe in the arms of love
I
want a heart to be forever mine
Want eyes to see me
satisfied
Gonna hang my heartaches out to dry
Some day I'm
gonna be safe in the arms of love
Safe in the arms of love."
Unknown to her, Brass sat in his car outside her town home and heard her as she sang into the evening sky. His cell phone rang. It was Annie as he took the call.
