Chapter 12
Crime Scene
Disclaimer: CSI not mine
Rating: M
Warning: I'm going to describe a very graphic scene. Not for the weak.
Grissom quickly drove home to shower and change. Then he was on his way to meet Catherine. As he approached the scene his Denali was over whelmed with reporters. They were shouting questions and flashing cameras in his face. What were they doing around him, he hadn't even seen the scene or heard the details yet. Several officers broke through the mob and escorted him through to safety.
Catherine came out and greeted him. "Hey, we're gathered inside waiting your instruction."
"Why are you waiting for me? You guys know what you are doing."
"I know, ask the Sheriff."
"Ugh, is he hear already? Alright lets go."
Catherine went in first and Grissom followed. Brass spoke up and walked into the entryway. "Ok, listen up. Our DB has been ID as the mayors stepson, Danny Ray, age 19. He was found by the housekeeper in the den at 6:45p.m. The first call she made was to your honor then he called 911. There's approximately 1 hour from time of discovery to the 911 call. I'll try to get some info from the housekeeper. Happy hunting." And he turned and went outside.
"Ok, lets go have a look shall we." Grissom said as he walked towards the den. Catherine, Greg, Nick, and Warrick followed. Sure enough there was Danny lying on the floor. Next to him lay several pill bottles open and spilling the contents. Several open bottles of vodka and whiskey were on the end table. "Alright, high profile case means..."
"Don't say a thing to anyone" Greg spoke up.
"Very good Greg. You take the upstairs, Nick perimeter, Warrick start with the other rooms on this floor, Catherine your with me and him." he said pointing at the vic.
Everyone nodded and dispersed to their destinations. Grissom and Catherine began talking over the body. "Ok Catherine, you first."
"Well, son of the mayor, he's not in the spotlight and probably gets whatever he asks for, his own bank account and such. I'm going to say classic OD."
"It's a good theory by just looking over the body. We'll see what Doc Robbins has to say."
"What do I have to say Gil?"
"Hey Al, what are you doing here?"
"I was just about to ask you the same thing, Dad. Sheriff got onto me."
"Me too. Now get over here and give me a TOD." Just as he had finished speaking Greg ran by them towards the back door his hand over his mouth. Curious, Grissom got up and went to talk to Greg
When he got out the door Greg was no where to be seen. "Nick where did Greg go?"
"Oh he's over puking his guts out over where I have already cleared an area."
Grissom found Greg, "Are you sick Greg?"
"No, you need to go look upstairs." And with that thought he tried to empty his stomach once again.
Grissom raised an eyebrow and headed back into the house, "Nick come with me." His tone leaving no room for negotiation. Nick dropped what he was doing and followed. Grissom didn't say a word as Catherine and Doc watched Nick shrug at them as he followed Grissom up the stairs.
It wasn't till they got to the end of the hall way when that a too familiar coppery scent invaded their senses. Stopping Grissom turned and looked at Nick. No words were said as Grissom opened the door. They walked in and nothing seemed to be out of place in the bedroom that was apparently the vic's. But he didn't have a scratch on him so they knew they had another body. The smell intensified as the neared the bathroom. Grissom opened the door and understood why Greg ran out vomiting. A young woman lay in a pool of blood. Her belly was cut open and on the floor next to her was a fetus. The weapon that was used also lay in the blood next to the girl. She didn't aprear to be much older than 15. Her hands were tied under the toilet bowl and her feet tied to the feet of the porcelain tub. She was stretched out on her back, her shirt was ripped open to reveal her abdomen. The incision across her abdomen was smooth and deep opening her up with the intention of reaching the growing baby that used to be in her uterus. Apperently it was all done while she awake and aware of the pain. Her eyes were open staring towards the door. Although she died fast from the blood loss, this form of death seemed unusually cruel.
Nick began to feel sick and ran out to join Greg. Grissom slowly backed out of the room and headed back down to Catherine and Doc.
"I have a theory, Danny found out that his girlfriend was pregnant. She wasn't going to give up the baby but still wanted him to acept responsibility for the kid. He wasn't going to have any part of that so he ties her up, cuts out the fetus killing her in the process, grabs a few pill bottles and alcohol, eats the pills drinks the booze and OD's on purpose."
Both Catherine and Al looked at him like he was nuts. "Gil, What are you talking about?" asked Catherine.
"Oh, sorry, yeah. The girlfriend and her baby are lying dead on the bathroom floor in a pool of blood upstairs."
They looked at Grissom shocked when Nick walked back in with Greg. "Sorry Griss, I just couldn't hold it in anymore."
"That's fine Nick. Don't worry I understand Greg, it's a very disturbing scene. Catherine continue working on him I'll need one of you to help Catherine and the other to help me. I'll let you two decide who goes with who." And he turned to call Brass.
Several hours later Grissom finally let Doc in the bathroom to give TOD and estimate the age of the fetus.
"Well Gil she died only hours before Danny. The fetus appears to be around 18 to 20 weeks. She was just into her second trimester." he looked at Grissom. "What are you thinking?"
"I can't fathom what scared him so much about having a child that possessed him to kill them both. The thing is, I think he was just trying to remove the baby not knowing he would kill her in the process." he looked at his watch and it read 2 a.m then his phone went off. He glanced at the caller ID and frowned.
"Not going to answer it."
"It's the Sheriff. I don't have time for his shit right now. He and the mayor are not going to like this."
Brass appeared to confirm the ID. "Her name is Sandra Timms, 15 and she was seeing the mayors son for around 4 months. He's 19 and having sex with a 15 yr. old girl, gets her pregnant and then kills her trying to kill the baby."
"It's the evidence Jim." Grissom said as his phone rang again. "Damn it Sheriff." he said grabbing the phone looking again at the caller ID. It wasn't a number that he recognized so he answered it.
"Grissom."
"Mr. Grissom, it's Dr. Hathaway."
Brass saw all of the color drain out of Grissom's face when he listened to the caller speak.
"Thank you" and with that he hung up. "I need to get out of here without the Sheriff knowing I'm gone."
"What's wrong with Sara?"
"She's sick. Doc says she's been throwing up for an hour now and she's been asking for me."
Brass walked out to talk to Catherine. Doc Robbins and David continued with removal of the bodies. They had nearly all the evidence collected but it still needed processing. Catherine came in and they conspired to get Grissom out of the house without anyone knowing.
Nick went out to get Grissom's Denali and drove it around to the back of the house. He and Greg started loading it with evidence when the Sheriff walk up to them.
"Hey, have you guys seen your supervisor around?"
"I think he's around here somewhere." Nick said.
He waited until the Sheriff walked around to the front of the house before signaling Catherine. She came out and made sure the coast was clear. Then motioning to Grissom she helped him get into the back seat of the Denali. Greg began stacking lighter boxes on top of Grissom as he lay on the floor of the back seat. Nick climbed into the drivers seat and proceeded to drive around to the street. Well he almost got there when the Sheriff stopped him.
"Where are you off to Stokes?"
"Oh, I taking the first load of evidence back to the lab to start processing."
"Then why are you driving Grissom's Denali?" Grissom's Denali differed from the others fairly obviously. His truck boasted a larger push bumper on the front, lights that outlined the top luggage rack, and instead of midnight blue like the rest his was jet black.
"Well he told me to go ahead and take it and he was going to catch a ride with someone else."
The Sheriff just nodded and stepped back to allow Nick to proceed. After he was several blocks away he pulled on a side street to help Grissom get up.
"Sorry about this Grissom but it's the only thing we could think of on such short notice." he said taking evidence boxed off of Grissom.
"You know you guys could all get in serious trouble for this. God I feel like I'm a little kid hiding from my parents. How pathetic is this."
Nick just laughed as Grissom climbed out and into the drivers seat, and he got in the passenger side. Grissom drove off towards the hospital.
He stood in the doorway to her room and gazed over her sleeping form. He glanced at his watch again and this time it read 3:45 a.m. he sighed as his mind drifted to think what the Sheriff was going to do to him for ingoring his calls then skipping out on a high profile crime. Everything was just happening at once. He hasn't even slept more than a few uncomfortable hours in that chair that sat next to Sara's bed.
"You look exhausted."
"Oh I guess I've only slept a few hours in the last...Hell I can't remember how long I've been up." he said looking at Dr. Hathaway. "How is she doing?"
"She's better now. I think that she was so hungry that she ate too much at first after the surgery and just over did it."
"Well she didn't eat that much when I was here earlier."
"Yeah that wasn't the problem. She got a fruit basket as a gift and ate all the fruit, then a delivery of balloons and chocolates came, and she ate the chocolate. All of it. Then her dinner came she ate that. I didn't know that she had eaten so much until she was able to tell me."
Grissom just stared at the Doctor wide eyed. He had never heard Sara do such a thing. But if she was really, really hungry then it was possible. Then his cell phone broke the silence. It was Brass and he was afraid that his gig was up.
"Grissom"
"Hey Gil, it's Jim. You've been had so heads up cause the Sheriff and Mayor are pissed. Catherine and I tried to explain what was happening but they didn't seem to care."
"I'm not worried about them. I'll be here for a few hours then I'll be into the lab. If they want to bulldoze me there then let them."
"Ok, I'll let everyone know the plan so you will have back up. Good luck. Tell Sara Hi for me."
"I will and thanks Jim." he hung up and walked into Sara's room to sit in the chair and try to catch a few winks before they went to see Gabe and he had to go to the lab and watch the shit hit the fan.
Grissom was awaken by the ringing of his phone. "Damn it I thought I turned it off." he said checking the caller ID. Sure enough it was the Sheriff. Obviously Atwater had enough and was now sending Grissom text messages. Grissom scowled as he read the message. Sara giggled when she saw his face. He immediately looked up and went to her side.
"Hey, how are you feeling?"
"I feel better now. I guess I kinda over did it on the food. I just felt like I was starving. What time is it?"
He looked at his watch, "It's 7:30. Are you feeling up to seeing Gabe still?"
"Hell yes. I'm surprised they kept me away for this long."
"In a way so am I. I will go and find Dr. Hathaway."
A few minutes later he returned with the Doctor and a nurse in tow. They helped Sara into a wheel chair and Grissom pushed her in to the elevator.
"Gil, who's been trying to call you?"
"Sheriff Atwater."
"Well don't you suppose you should call him back?"
"No. I skipped out earlier at the Mayor's residence. Catherine and the guys hid me under some evidence boxes to get me away. I need to get to the lab as soon as we are done here. It was a little more than just a simple OD, but I'm not going to get into the details right now."
"So now you have the Mayor and Sheriff after your ass. They know that you are here so why don't they just come here?"
"Because they don't want me here. They don't care that my wife had an emergency C-section yesterday and my premature son is in intensive care. So I think when I get back to the lab there will be much to be said. But don't worry about me."
Then the elevator reached it's floor and Grissom pushed Sara to the NICU. Dr. Hathaway explained that they probably won't be able to hold him for a day or so yet.
Grissom rolled her up to Gabe's incubator. The infant was awake and squirming. Sara's eyes filled with tears as she laid her hand on the side and looked at her new baby boy. Grissom watched to bond begin between them even through the glass barrier. Sara began to whisper to him and he seemed content to hear her voice and calmed down. He was still hooked up to several monitors but Grissom was happy to see that they had removed to tube pushing oxygen into his nose.
"If he remains on the path he is headed we will be able to bring him out for an hour or so and you can begin to feed him Sara." the Doctor explained. "He won't be able to leave the NICU for at least a week. He's doing great at holding his body temp, he's breathing is on his own and unrestricted, his heart is strong, and he's obviously become very active. All in all I think he'll be a normally healthy little boy."
It was just the words that Grissom and Sara had longed to hear in the last day. Their baby would be normal and healthy. After an hour of visiting they retreated back to Sara's room and Grissom sighed as he had to leave to face the inevitable.
"I'll be back as soon as I can. I am going to need some real sleep soon or I'm going to just pass out somewhere." His eyes were heavy and really beginning to show his fatigue.
"Well don't say or do anything stupid. Tell the guys they can come visit whenever."
"I will." he leaned in and kissed her. He only intended it to be just a soft kiss but Sara had other intentions. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him in for a deep passionate kiss. She slid her tongue along his lips and he gratefully opened his mouth and accepted her invitation. When the need for air forced them to separate Grissom just smiled at her. "Bye, I'll call you after the battle to tell you who won."
Sara just laughed, "Ok bye."
And he turned and headed out of the door. He reached for his phone and called Catherine. "Hey, can someone come and bring me back to the lab?"
"Sure I think Brass is actually on his way to get you now."
"Ok thanks" he hung up and walked out into the bright sun just as Brass pulled up. Grissom got in and just stared out the front window.
"Are you ready for this?"
"As ready as I'll ever be Jim. Lets get this over with, I'm sure it's not going to be pretty."
Brass smiled and drove out of the parking lot.
I'll update this today. Thanks to the reviews.