So sorry about the long absence. I've had major writer's block. Don't seem to have any inspiration around me lately. The good news is that's it's affecting all my stories, not just this one. Hopefully this will inspire me to write more. Of course some reviews could do that too. Hint hint.
The scene
Looking at the contents of the living room Sara began hearing a sharp ringing in her ears. Knowing the signs she stumbled away from the door, her hand flying to her mouth to keep in the small amount of food she had ingested. Images flashed in front of her eyes of similar scenes, ones that had haunted her for the past four years.
Grim faced Nick joined her at the porch railing where she was taking gulping breaths. "It's not something to be ashamed of." He told her gently.
"I don't know how anyone could look at that and not be sick." She said in horror. She turned to look at the young officer she had harassed on arrival.
"There's a lot more than a crime scene in there." Nick agreed softly. He stared blankly into the darkness.
Sara took one last cleansing breathe as her brain kicked into overdrive. "I saw enough to know he dismantled the victim." She pushed the overlapping images out of her head.
"Skinned for sure." Nick said thinking of the paper thin material he had viewed hanging off the TV. "I saw a clump that looked to be muscle tissue. And there was some kind of string- like stuff hanging off the lamp."
"Tendons, ligaments." She turned to study the open doorway. "He scraped the bones clean."
"I didn't see a whole lot of blood." Greg muttered from the sidewalk below them. He groaned as another wave of nausea hit.
Nick frowned as he stepped back to the doorway. "He's right, there's barely any blood. He didn't do this in there."
"No, it happened in another part of the house and then he decorated every room with pieces of her body like they were Christmas decorations." Sara told them her voice void of any emotion.
Greg looked up at the small white lights hanging off the eves. "Tis the season." He quipped. He leaned weakly against the house.
"He must have been in there for days." Brass commented as he walked up behind them.
"If he was then there's going to be evidence leading us to him." Nick nodded as he spotted the coroner van pull into the driveway.
Sara shook her head. "I don't think it took that long. He's very good at what he does." She said causing Nick to give her a searching look.
"Sorry I'm late." David called as he climbed the porch steps. He took the time to peer curiously at the bent over DNA tech before turning to smile at the new girl.
"Hi, I'm David….." He introduced himself nervously. He held out his hand before realizing it was full of supplies. "Sorry." He mumbled, embarrassed.
Sara smiled softly. "That's okay."
"David this is Sara Sidle from San Francisco. She came down to help us out for awhile." Nick supplied. He looked hard at the other man. "Uh, you haven't eaten anything lately have you?"
David gave the comment serious thought. "Um no. I had Bran flakes for breakfast about two o'clock." He paused. "Oh and a cup of coffee." He added. He looked at the pale faces in front of him. "Is there something I should know about?"
Dinner with DA
"Why are we here Pat?" Grissom asked the district attorney across the expanse of the table.
"I wanted to go over your testimony for tomorrow." Patrick McClean answered as he covered his salad in a vinaigrette dressing.
"But I testified on the evidence today. My part in this trial is done." Gris pointed out, confusion plainly written on his face.
The DA waved his comments away. "I have the right to recall you." He pointed out.
"For what?" The older man demanded. He ignored the plate of food in front of him.
"The jury isn't going our way." Mclean clarified as he smoothed his silk tie. "I can see the way they shift their eyes and won't look at the defendant."
"What do I have to do with that?" The CSI supervisor asked as he tracked the other man's nervous movements.
"I want to place you back on the stand and have you describe the condition of the bodies as you found them."
"I'm not a medical doctor. You would be better served with Doc Robbins." Gris pointed out.
"I can't introduce a new witness at this point." Attorney McClean answered gruffly. He let out a long breath. "I just need you to describe what you saw when you walked in the door."
"I can't do that." Grissom said simply.
"What?" Pat demanded sharply. "You will be on the witness stand, under oath. You have no choice but to testify."
Grissom shrugged. "I can't testify on what I don't know."
The DA rubbed his head. "You're a nice guy Gil, but it can be damn frustrating talking to you."
"I wasn't the investigator on this case Pat. As Supervisor I have the ability to fill in for one of my team in court, but I wasn't at the scene. I can't tell them what I saw." He explained.
Patrick closed his eyes in frustration. "And I don't suppose you would consider reading Catherine's words as if they were your own?" He held up a hand at the other man's look. "It was just a wayward thought. Forget I voiced it."
"I can't afford to stay in court for another day. I need to get back to my team." Grissom sighed as he pushed away from the table.
The DA waited until the older man had left the restaurant before picking up his phone.
"Grissom." The gravelly voice answered.
"I need one more day."
Grissom sighed as he considered throwing his phone out the window of his car. "I don't really have a choice do I?"
"I'm sorry to do this to you Gil. I need you in my office at 8am."
The CSI supervisor snapped his phone shut before looking at his watch. Ten pm. He could spare a couple hours to check on his team before he had to be in the DA's office.
The Scene
"I found a leg bone." Sara called. Picking up a camera she began to photograph it from all angles.
"I found the other one in the bedroom." Nick said as he walked into the kitchen.
"No, Nick you found a tibia. I believe that bone is a femur." A strange male voice observed.
Startled Sara immediately stood up and placed her hands on her gun. Nick smiled as the older man held up a hand. "Sara this is Doc Robbins. He's our medical examiner."
"Sorry." She said as she relaxed. "This has me a little on edge."
"Who wouldn't be?" He answered gruffly. "David called me in. He didn't feel like he has the expertise for something on this scale." He gestured to the containers Greg was bringing into the kitchen. "And I brought more supplies."
"Greg, are you okay being in here?" Sara asked in concern. She watched as the young man gave her a weak smile.
"I'll be okay. All long as I don't think about it." He went to set the container's down on the table.
"Don't put them there." Nick said sharply causing Greg to rear back and almost lose his balance. He glanced down at the table, spotting the large mass of grey mush that was dripping on to the floor.
Seeing his face turn a sickly white Sara hurried to grab the armload from him. "Why don't you go back outside?" She suggested. He nodded weakly as he hurried from the room.
Nick stepped forward to examine the grey substance on the table. "Is that the brain?" He asked in sick fascination. He leaned down to peer more closely at it.
"I would say at least part of it." Doc Robbins agreed as he came up beside the young CSI. "He would have had to have some kind of hand tool with witch to saw through the bone."
"You don't think he could have used something he found around the house? Something he happened on?"
Sara rubbed her head. "He came prepared. Brought with him everything he would have needed to dismantle a body." Nick gave her a searching look as Brass came in the door.
"Have you found all the parts yet?" The older man asked as he looked around the room.
"Everything but the head." Nick answered. He looked back down at the table. "Found what was inside but not the bone itself."
"It's going to take hours for us to bag and tag all the pieces." Sara informed him.
"Well you might have some help. I just got off the phone with Grissom. He'll be here soon." Brass told them as he walked back out the door.
Sara tried to ignore the way her heart speeded up at the news. "I thought you said he was in court all week?" She asked her fellow CSI as she picked up the camera to photograph the mushy substance on the table.
Nick shrugged. "Knowing Grissom he'll stay all night helping and then spend all day in court. I don't think he knows how to sleep." Giving her a smile he left to bag the pieces he had found in the other room.
Sara gave a little smile as she remembered similar times with the CSI supervisor.
"He's told me a lot about you."
Startled out her thoughts Sara looked up in guilty embarrassment. Doc Robbins smiled gently before walking out of the room.
"Get a grip girl. So what if Grissom's going to be here soon. And so what if he's been talking about you. It doesn't mean anything." She lectured herself sternly. She stood there for another minute lecturing her before she picked up her camera and got back to work.
Across town.
Warrick prowled around the living room of his apartment, restlessness making him surly. Walking over to the built in bookcases he pulled out a new Stephen King book he had purchased the week before. Flipping through the pages he growled in disgust and shoved it back onto the shelf.
Wandering across the room he flopped on the couch and picked up the remote. After several minutes he settled on a show of mindless comedy. Settling more comfortably into the couch he reached for the bottle of narcotics sitting on the coffee table. Popping the bottle open he downed that last three. Frowning he threw the now empty bottle onto the coffee table.
