Okay once again, sorry for not sending replies to all my wonderful reviewers, but i've homework-swamped the past couple days... So big thank you: THANK YOU! Alright, enjoy chappie 8... (There'll be some Nick, Catherine action in the next one, i promise you!)
Chapter 8
"We're missing something Gris,"
Grissom didn't look. He didn't really hear her talking. Their investigation was giving them just as much information as the last few had given. The kidnappers, presumably the serial killer also had left no clues whatsoever. There was no sign of disturbance in the room, so either Nick or Catherine had not struggled, or they had and the kidnappers cleaned up after themselves. He couldn't bring himself to listen to the rest of the tape although he knew it might yield more evidence. They could hear it later in the lab. He'd dusted it for prints and found little. There were a few, and he ran them through AFIS on the laptop. They came back as belonging to Melissa Harrison. He vaguely wondered why Catherine's prints weren't on it then he remembered that she would have been wearing gloves. They'd found no traces of blood anywhere and Grissom wasn't about to get his hopes up that they would. They'd have to wait for the results from the lab until they would know whose blood it was. He'd sent Greg along shortly after Sara had gotten there and had not heard back from him yet. He didn't really expect to. Greg would come back on his own time, maybe with results, maybe Hodges would call him. It was Warrick that he was really worried about. Warrick and Lindsey. He hoped she was alright. He hoped that she was still there and that the kidnappers had not made good on their threat and if they did that Warrick had already gotten her out.
Sara was speaking, but he was still not listening. His thoughts were elsewhere. "There's no blood splatter," he muttered.
"That's what I just said."
He looked up at her as if he just realized she was there. "No blood splatter. How strange. Someone would have to have a big wound to lose that much blood."
"So he brought the blood with him?" Sara said, looking bewildered.
"Or he cleaned up after himself."
"We didn't find anything though. No traces." Grissom looked down at the floor thoughtfully. It was true. There were no traces of blood anywhere in the room or the hallway.
"A wound that big would definitely leave traces somewhere. You'd have to have a pretty big wound to lose that much blood." Sara said.
"Or many small ones," Grissom said, the thought striking him suddenly.
Sara looked surprised. "He'd have to be pretty clean about it though."
"He's already proven to us that he's capable of that." Grissom said.
"And he likes to torture his victims." Sara said. She looked disgusted. Grissom had to say he agreed with her expression.
He'd seen murderers with more disturbing fantasies, but the thought of one of his CSIs being the victim of such a fantasy made him feel sick. He was sure the blood belonged to either Nick or Catherine. His job had taught him to not be sure of anything, but it was very unlikely that the blood belonged to anyone else.
"Gris?"
Grissom looked up and saw Greg in the doorway.
"I took the sample to DNA. Hodges is working on it. He said he'll call you when he has results." Greg looked from Grissom to Sara. "Find anything?"
They both shook their heads at him. "We didn't find anything, but that's what we think is interesting." Grissom said.
Greg shot him a questioning look.
"There's no blood splatter." Grissom clarified.
Greg looked surprised. "Nothing?" He asked. Grissom shook his head. "Not even a blood trail?"
"Nothing," Grissom said. "We haven't checked outside the hall and the room though. You want to do that for us?"
"Sure," Greg replied, tossing Sara her keys to her Tahoe.
"Check outside first. If the kidnapper didn't let any blood spill in the hall and room, he was probably just as careful with the rest of the house. He might have forgotten about outside though." Grissom said.
Greg nodded and left. Grissom watched him go, a little worried. He knew Greg was trying to hide his worry. They all were. Grissom especially. He believed that if he showed fear, they would fall apart. Perhaps he was wrong, but at times, he felt as if the team looked to him for stability and sanity. He was able to hide his own feelings about a case and perhaps the others admired that in him and found comfort in his detachment from emotion. Something inside him told him this was ridiculous, but his absence of emotion had become such a part of him that it was hard to change, so he made up his own excuses for a behavior which he knew would get him in trouble one day. He sat back on his heels and surveyed the room, a little put out. The thing he wanted most at the time was to find Nick and Catherine, but they weren't getting anywhere. He knew the tape would reveal more, but it was for the whole team to hear together. Part of the team, he reminded himself.
Just then, his cell phone rang. He saw Sara jump out of the corner of his eye, and he answered it quickly. "Grissom…" he said.
"Gris, its Hodges." Grissom knew this already. He just wanted to know whose blood it was. "That blood sample that Greg brought over. It's Nick's… all of it."
TBC...