A/N: Please read chapter 14 first if you haven't already. Thanks. The most challenging part is pacing. I'm trying not to bombard you guys with too much at once, so expect shorter chapters going forward.

Ch. 15:

Detective Brass walked into the police department and made a beeline to his office. Waiting for him on his office fax machine was the printout that David Hodges had sent over to him. He removed it, read it over, and headed back outside. Since all the night shift guys were in court, he requested a CSI from days to meet him at the full-service car wash off Blue Light Boulevard, next to the Sonic fast food resturant, as he exited the department.

On the way to his car, he heard someone call out behind him. Turning around, he saw it was Sheriff Atwater. "Sheriff, I was just on my way out—"

Atwater stopped in front of him, hands in his pockets, as he said, "This about the Julia Holden murder?"

"It could be," he said as he held up the printout. "Got a lead from the crime lab."

Atwater eyed the sheet in his hand before saying, "I don't have to tell you that the whole entire justice system is on trial with this case. The DA prosecuting a CSI for a murder, meanwhile the lead detective on the case is still running around trying to find another suspect—"

"Hey, look, I'm not trying to cause any problems, but unlike you, I don't get elected. I'm here because I do my job—"

"You don't think I do my job—"

"I think you do what the Mayor and Governor want you to do."

Atwater looked ready to start yelling at him when he stopped himself and shook his head, saying, "They want results—"

"And I'm working on getting the right ones. Not the ones that are the most convenient. Grissom was convenient, but he's not guilty."

"And I agree with you. None of us what a miscarriage of justice. The District Attorney's office thought differently—"

"Jefferson was newly appointed as well, and got a big, high-profile case the moment he took office and he decided to use it to make do on his promise to make radical change in the LVPD ranks, all without the care of truth and justice—"

"What other choice did he have? All the evidence pointed to Grissom—"

"Which should have been a red flag," he said as he slipped on his sunglasses as he turned around to head towards his car. "Grissom leaving behind evidence? C'mon, not in a million years." He got into his car and saw through the windshield Atwater pulling out his cell phone to make a phone call. Most likely to the Governor.

Nearly fifteen minutes later, he was arriving at the Sparkle Car Wash and awaiting him, leaning against the passenger door of the department issued SUV, was day shift CSI Sofia Curtis.

She smirked slightly as she immediately busted his balls for being late. "Since when does the crime scene tech arrive on scene before the detective?"

"Sheriff Atwater caught me coming out of the department. Wanted to talk."

"About?"

"What else?"

Sofia walked with him to the front door of the car wash as she said, "Politics, religion, or the fact that the Marlins beat his Diamondbacks last night."

"He's a Diamondbacks fan?"

"Who'd you root for?" she asked as he held out the door for her.

"I'm from Jersey. Mets all the way. They swept the Rockies. You?"

She was nearly turning red, but smiling as she told him, "I'm from Colorado."

"Oh," he said with a smirk as he followed her into the lobby. "This is going to be fun working with you. My team beat your team—"

"Rub it in, why don't you."

"Hey, to show no hard feelings, I'll buy you lunch. There's a Sonic right next door."

"Greasy burgers, hot dogs, and root beer. How can I resist that offer?" she shot back at him, making him laugh as the manager walked out from the office in the back.

"Welcome to Sparkle, how can I help you?" the manager asked. It was the day manager, and not the same guy he'd questioned about Grissom's presence the night of Julia Holden's disappearance.

His name tag read "Ray" and below his name were five gold star stickers. Pulling out his badge, he showed it to Ray as he told him, "Detective Brass. This is CSI Curtis. I have a few questions about the products you use here."

"Okay. Uh, I can get you a product list with the Material Data Safety Sheets. We make sure we use—"

"Easy. I just need to know if you use this." He slid the sheet over to Ray while saying, "It's used on leather."

Ray took the sheet and looked it over before heading back into the office, saying, "Give me one moment."

"We're coming with you, unless you don't want to cooperate."

Ray looked visibly shocked as he said, "Oh, no, uh, of course not. You can check our supplies."

"Thanks," he said as he and Sofia rounded the counter and walked into the office, through the open door, and into a hallway where there was a supply closet.

While Sofia searched through the supplies, he asked, "How'd you earn five stars?"

Ray nearly beamed as he told him, "By completing all the training to become a manager. We have courses we have to take, you know, on customer service, product knowledge, how to properly clean the exterior and interior of cars. You might not realize it, but a lot goes into cleaning a car. You don't want to ruin the paint job on a roadster or the leather of a Porsche by using the wrong products."

"And this product?" he asked as Sofia found the container she was searching for and handed it over to him. "What is it and what's it used for?"

"Saddle soap."

"Isn't this used for saddles?" Sofia asked as she bagged the canister after he'd given it back to her.

Ray smiled as he said, "Usually yes. We're the only car wash in Las Vegas who uses it on all our leather interiors. See, saddle soap constricts the leather, drawing dirt, oils, and stains out of it while at the same time polishing it and putting moisture back into the leather. That's important. You don't want leather to dry out. If it's good enough for horse saddles and leather boots, it's good enough for a car's leather steering wheel and seats."

"Hey, uh, thanks" he said before telling Ray, "And we're going to need to know who worked here the night of March 21st and the morning of March 22nd." Ray left to get him those employee names as he took the bag from Sofia and looked it over. "Saddle soap? You know, when Grissom and I were questioning an employee of Anonymous, he said that this drug dealer would meet him at the back door of the club. He was supplying the customers with coke. The odd thing was, he said that the guy had a smell. Not like a dirty smell, but a smell."

"You're thinking he smelt like this leather cleaner?"

"Could be. Once I get the names of the employees, I'm going to show the guy a lineup. See if he recognizes any of them."

Ray returned with the list of names. "Anything else I can help you with?"

"Have any of these employees quit or gotten fired since that night?" he asked.

Taking a look at the names, Ray frowned slightly as he pointed to one. "Yeah, him. He quit back in, uh…April, I think."

The name Ray pointed to registered in him as he muttered, "Son-of-a-bitch." Along with the employee names, he also had their phone numbers and address. Patting Ray on the shoulder, he told him, "Thanks for the help."

Once he and Sofia were outside on the sidewalk, he said, "Roger Jennings."

"Who's he?"

Getting to his car, he opened the door as he told her as he slipped on his sunglasses, "A suspect."

Sitting once again at the defense table, he tried to focus on controlling his breathing as he lifted his head and listened to Doc Robbins describe the brutality of Juila's death.

"Abrasions and ligature marks around the neck," Doc Robbins was saying as a diagram of a female body was shown on a screen for the jury to see, "indicate strangulation. Her tissue and muscles around the neck were bruised and her larynx broken pre-mortem—"

"Meaning?" Jefferson asked.

Doc Robbins shifted in his seat as he said, while looking towards the jury, "Meaning, her voice box was broken before she died."

Jefferson gave a nod as he stood behind the podium. "What else?"

"Abrasions and bruising on her wrists indicate that she'd been bound and given her torn rotator cuff of the right shoulder, her arms had been behind her back. Cuts and scrapes on her palms and knees, as well as puncture wounds from her own nails—"

As Doc Robbins gave his statement, he couldn't help but visualize the position Julia's body had been in. Hands and knees, arms bound behind her back, while being strangled. How many times had he had her in that position? How many times had he had Sara in that position? Was it intentional? How could the killer know that? Could it have been erotica asphyxiation gone wrong?

"—She'd been raped, violently and repeatedly. There was bruising, torn tissue, and evidence of bleeding—"

He knew it was coming, but still hearing the words made him wince in pain as his stomach twisted in knots. He'd seen the report, looked at the pictures, while he prepared for his defense while in a jail cell for the past month. Imagining the last weeks of Julia's life before she was killed was sickening. No one deserved that, especially not her. He was thankful that his mother and daughter did not stay for the rest of the trial. This was probably why. Charlotte did not need to know how her mother had died.

Once Jefferson was done with his questioning, he sat his pen down and stood as he stepped over to the podium. Meeting Doc Robbins eyes, he saw that he held no ill contempt towards him. He also believed in his innocence because if he hadn't, he was certain Robbins would have shot him a death glare. That man never made his discontent subtle. "Doctor Robbins, you said that she'd been raped. Was there semen found?"

"No."

"And from that you concluded…?"

"That either a condom or object was used."

Giving a nod he moved on. "Was there any discoloration on the body that you noted?"

Robbins gave a nod as he said, "Yes. The body had blue-ish purple discoloration of the skin here," Doc Robbins said, using a laser pointer to indicate the front of the body. "On the torso, along the thighs and lower legs as well as the forearms and upper arm area. This is called lividity," he told the jury. "It's a sign of livor mortis and it occurs within hours after death and becomes fixed between four to six hours due to cooling of the body, the fat surrounding the capillaries solidifies, constricting the capillaries and preventing the return of blood into them."

"And this indicates the position the body was in when the person died and whether they stayed in that position. Is that correct?"

"You know it is." He nearly smiled but caught the look Judge Mason gave Doc Robbins, who immediately rephrased his answer to, "Yes, that's correct. The lividity indicates that Julia Holden died on her stomach, she'd been strangled from behind, and her body left in that position for at least four to six hours."

He winced again as he felt the growing anger in his chest and the sadness in his heart. He just didn't understand it. How could anyone treat a person like that, he had no idea. It was dehumanizing. "To establish time of death, you relied on several determining factors, one of which was the stages of human decomposition. Could you please explain to the jury what those are?"

"There are five stages of death, or human decomposition. Fresh which occurs during the first three to four days, then bloat, which occurs between four to ten days after death, and then active decay, advanced decay, and then finally dry remains, when the body is reduced to its skeleton."

"And can various elements affect the rate of the process from one stage to the other?"

"Yes, there are many different elements, including environmental factors: temperature, humidity, and the availability of oxygen, as well as the body size, clothing, and the cause of death that can hinder or expedite the decomposition process."

"Did burial cause a delay or did it speed up the process?"

"Objection," Jefferson said. "Compound question."

He frowned as he realized that could be considered two questions in one. "I'll rephrase. Was the decomposition process affected by the burial of the body?"

Doc Robbins shook his head as he answered, "From my examination of the body, burial had absolutely no effect on the decay process of the body."

"Is that typical?"

"It is not," he said before stating to the jury, "Burial, of any kind, whether it's in a shallow grave or six feet under, would have delayed decomposition significantly. It limits access to oxygen, bacteria, and access by blow flies that help the process along. It should have taken more time, seven days, to reach stage two of the human decomposition process. Sometimes it's longer."

"And when was the time of death?" he asked.

"Time of death was April 20th. Four days before her body was found."

"And at what stage of the human decomposition process was the body in when you received it?"

"It was in the early stages of bloating, which is stage two."

"Given your expertise, what conclusion can you draw from that concerning the burial of the body?"

Doc Robbins once again addressed the jury as he told them, "That she hadn't been buried long. I would estimate a few hours to a day max."

"Not four days?"

"No. She was not buried immediately after she died. It took four days from the time of death to the time of burial."

He felt himself smile slightly as he said, "Thank you, Doc. I have no further questions," he told the Judge before he sat back down while he looked to see who the next witness was to be called. It was supposed to be Detective Jim Brass, but since he was away from the courtroom, Rodriguez was called to testify about the same evidence since they were both on scene.

As Rodriguez took the stand, he wrote down everything Doc Robbins had disclosed in his testimony. He had no desire to object to anything Jefferson asked the detective. He let him set the foundation for the discovery of the body starting with the 9-1-1 tip call that came at 10 pm that evening to his arrival at the site that was situated between the state prison and the town of Indian Springs. Finding the gravesite by spotting the mound of loose soil.

"No questions," he called out without looking up from writing when it was his turn to ask questions.

Catherine was next as she was the one to process the scene where Julia's body was found. Jefferson was only interested in the identification of the body as Julia Holden and how deep the body was buried and what she had observed.

And then he asked about the location. "Ms. Willows, you recovered Julia Holden's body in the open desert of I-95, near mile marker 116?" He had a PowerPoint slide up and a photo was shown of the desert area where she'd been found. There was nothing but mountains and desert and power lines.

"Yes," she answered as she saw the pictures that she had taken.

He knew where this line of questioning was going and readied himself as he sat back in the chair. Sara was directly behind him, and she whispered to him, "I didn't know you drove around the desert at night."

"Only when you're not around," he whispered right back. "We should go together some time. It's relaxing."

Catherine answered the question Jefferson asked her by saying, "When we questioned the defendant, he informed us that he liked to go there to get away from the city. That spot was preferable to him because of the proximity to Indian Springs, specifically the Air Force base. They conduct night flight training drills, and he likes to watch."

"The defendant is familiar with the area?"

"I would say so," she answered, and he heard the constriction in her voice as she glanced his way.

This had to be hard for her, hard for everyone, to have to testify against him. However, they weren't testifying against him. They were presenting the evidence. One of the reasons why he didn't want his attorney to represent him was because he would have been attacking the evidence. He would have also been attacking the witnesses presenting the evidence. He didn't want to attack anyone, and he especially didn't want to attack the evidence in the case. It was correct.

But just because it was correct didn't mean it was right.

"Upon processing the scene, you recovered the body of the deceased and identified it as Julia Holden?"

"I did," Catherine answered as the jury was shown the photo she had taken of Julia's face as it was still in the ground.

He felt his jaw twitch at the presentation of the photos. He had tried to get them suppressed so that the jury didn't see the actual crime scene photographs of Julia's body, but Judge Mason had denied his request. He denied all his requests. He had wanted a bench trial, but it was shot down. He wanted the pictures suppressed but that was shot down. He didn't want his daughter to testify, but she did. And so far, none of his objections were sustained. He'd been overruled on all of them. Judge Mason said that he would give him a fair trial, but so far, he saw nothing fair about it.

Jefferson ended his questioning and stepped away from the podium. He stood up but didn't go to the podium, instead, he leaned on the front of the defense table as he asked Catherine, "To your knowledge, where was I when you discovered the body?"

"You were at home."

"You called me that night, didn't you?"

"I did. I wanted to be the one to tell you that we found Julia."

"What time was that?"

She checked her notes and said, "I called you at 12:12 exactly."

"Detective Rodridguez had stated that the anonymous tip came in at 10 pm. Took an hour to drive to the desert and find the body. And a little over an hour to dig out enough of the body to make a formal positive identification based on facial features. Did I get that timeline correct?"

"You did," she said with a nod as she followed along with her own notes on the recovery of the body.

"What was the depth of the body in the ground?"

She checked her notes and answered, "From topsoil to body, seven inches."

"And she was found lying on her right side?"

"Yes."

Giving it some thought, he said, "Width of an average female body is one foot—The depth of the grave was less than two feet deep?"

"Approximately one foot, seven inches."

"Were there bugs at the scene?" he asked as he picked up the file that was behind him on the table.

Catherine gave a nod, saying, "There were a lot of bugs at the scene. I even made a comment about it to CSI Stokes."

Smiling at Catherine, he asked, "How many crime scenes have you worked where there has been a dead body?"

"You're kidding?" She immediately raised her hands and let out a breath. She took a moment to think about it before shrugging, answering, "I've been a CSI for over a decade. It has to be in upwards of a hundred or more, at least."

"How many times have you seen the beetles arrive before the flies?"

"Never," she said as she shook her head. "Until that night."

"There were no flies at all at the crime scene?" he asked in confusion.

Catherine again shook her head. "None that I saw."

"Your Honor," he said as he walked the photocopy of Julia's body to the bench along with the entomology report of the bugs collected at the scene. "These are the photographs of the crime scene where Juila's body was found."

"Objection," Jefferson said behind him. He turned and saw the D.A. standing up from behind the prosecution table. "He's asking questions of facts not covered by direct examination."

"Yes, I am," he said in confusion as he held up the file. "These are the photographs taken by CSI Supervisor Willows as evidence to the case. You asked her about the recovery of the body and showed photographs she had taken at the scene. The bugs were documented and noted during the recovery process of the body."

"Then I object as it's incompetent. Ms. Willows isn't an entomologist—"

"She's not a grave digger either, but she's highly qualified to answer questions on the burial of a body. As she stated, she's been a CSI for over a decade. She's a forensic expert, and regardless of the fact that she herself isn't an entomologist, she has worked on hundreds of scenes involving entomological evidence."

Judge Mason actually took his time to think it over as he considered the objections. So far, he had sustained all of Jefferson's and overruled all of his. He let out a breath as he shook his head. There was no such thing as getting a fair trial in this courtroom. If Jefferson's objection held, then part of his defense would be gone. He wouldn't be able to ask any more questions about the bug evidence in the case.

"Objection overruled." He jerked his head up in surprise at the ruling. Judge Mason gestured to him as he said, "You may ask the question."

He was so surprised that he nearly forgot what it was. "Thank you, Judge." Turning his attention back to Catherine, who was also stunned, he asked her, "Based on your expertise as a forensic scientist, what's always the first insect to arrive at a dead body?"

"Flies, particularly blowflies. They're attracted to the gases and fluids."

"Then what happens?" he asked as he wanted to smile as it was dawning on her why he was asking these questions.

Catherine's eyes lit up as she said, "They lay their eggs. After two days, there are maggots."

"Exactly. Now, when do the beetles arrive?" he asked.

"When the body starts to decay. They're attracted to body fat."

"And as Doctor Robbins already stated in his testimony, active decay is what stage of the human decomposition process?"

Catherine smiled as she answered, "Stage three. The body was found at the beginning stages of bloating, which is stage two. There shouldn't have been any beetles on the body."

He handed her the photograph and asked her, "Catherine, are there maggots on the body?"

"No."

"What are the only bugs that you see in the crime scene photographs?"

"Beetles," she said as she looked over the photographs.

"Even with the body being buried, the first bugs to arrive are flies. A fly can burrow about four inches in a day. Seven inches in less than two days. Two more days to lay eggs. By day four, there should have been maggots on the body. There weren't. Given this evidence, as an expert, what conclusions can you draw?"

Jefferson was on his feet again as he said, "Objection, calls for a conclusion of the witness."

"Science isn't an opinion," he shot back at Jefferson. "Conclusion of the witness is only objectionable if I'm asking for an opinion. Her answer isn't an opinion, but fact based on the evidence. You didn't object when I asked Doctor Robbins what conclusions he drew about the body based on the evidence?"

Judge Mason nearly smirked as he said, "Overruled—"

"Your Honor—" Jefferson went to protest.

"I will allow the question, Jefferson. Dr. Grissom is correct. He's not asking for an opinion. Besides," Judge Mason said as he looked at Jefferson, "you didn't object to his cross-examination when he asked the same of Doctor Robbins."

Jefferson wasn't too happy about that, but he sat down and from the way he worked his jaw, he knew his teeth had to be hurting. Addressing Catherine again, he asked, "I ask again, what conclusions can you draw from this evidence?"

Catherine matter-of-factly stated, "That the bug evidence was planted to confuse the time of burial, and the body wasn't in the ground for two days. Since there were no flies at the scene, most likely, as Doctor Robbins already concluded, she had been buried only a few hours before recovery of the body."

Smiling, he said, "Thank you. I have one more question. Was the body cleaned prior to burial?"

She gave a nod, saying, "Since no other DNA, hair, fibers or blood was found on the body…I would say it's likely that she'd been cleaned, yes."

Taking the photographs back, he put them in the file as he told Judge Mason, "I have no more questions, Your Honor."

As he walked back to the defense table, he spotted Sara trying to repress a smile. It wasn't working.

A B.O.L.O. was sent out for Roger Jennings the moment he arrived at his last known residence only to find him missing. The door was unlocked, and it looked like it had been ransacked. He hadn't been home for quite some time. Sofia started processing the moment he declared it an active crime scene and so far, she hadn't found anything.

He was checking the mail, seeing if any of it had some other address listed on it, when Sofia walked out of the bedroom with a leather jacket in one hand and a pair of boots in the other. "Change of wardrobe?"

"They smell. Take a whiff," she said as she tossed him the jacket.

He caught it and put it up to his nose and pulled it away, saying, "Saddle soap. He used his employer's products."

"All right," Sofia said as she started talking it out. "So, Jennings worked at the car wash where Grissom was dropped off the morning of Julia's disappearance. That would account for why the search for the mysterious driver turned up empty. He didn't take a bus or catch a cab to get away. Jennings drops him off at his work. While Grissom stumbles in, all messed up on sleeping pills, Roger Jennings clocks in. I bet he even cleaned his car for him. His connection to Julia Holden is that he moonlights as a coke dealer at the Anonymous club. But what I don't understand is why. Why frame Grissom?"

Brass bagged the jacket as he told her, "Roger Jennings had a brother, Ben Jennings, who was convicted of a murder he didn't commit. The lead CSI on the case was Grissom."

"Who was the killer?"

"Roger. We all knew it, including Grissom, but…the evidence—" He stopped talking as he thought about the evidence in the case. "The evidence that convicted Ben of the murder was a tie. His epithelial cells were all over the tie that belonged to the victim."

Sofia bagged the boots as she shook her head, saying, "Talk about getting even."

"There's no evidence of Julia being held in this house for weeks," he said once they looked further around and checked the basement. They were standing in the backyard, under a tree as the sun started setting, as he said, "Either this isn't the secondary location, or—"

"We're looking for an accomplice." Sofia had a SUV full of evidence and she started towards it as she said, "I'll get all these swabs to the lab and see if anything hits on DNA. What're you going to do?"

"Me? I'm goin' clubin'."

She smirked as she swung open the gate as she exited the yard. "Don't forget your masquerade mask."

TBC…