A/N: A new chapter for the weekend!
In Search of Truth
Chapter 4
The summer afternoon blazed beyond the wall of glass windows while inside the thermostat was set at a comfortable sixty-eight degrees. The Nevada landscape burned and broiled beyond the manmade city of Las Vegas. The two people working at the table seldom noticed the clear sky or the busy streets or the temperature in the room.
After four days of watching tapes and reviewing employee records, Sara felt they were no closer to discovery than they were on the first day in the courthouse conference room. They had lists of names, charts and diagrams, videos and files but nothing that really pushed progress in solving the puzzling problem.
Jim Brass had figured out she was not working on back-logged cases. As he said, he was a detective and knew she wasn't working at the lab but at the courthouse. Another deduction brought him to the rash of court cases that had suddenly been dismissed. She was not confirming or denying anything.
"The Vegas law enforcement pipeline is alive and well," he'd said with a chuckle. As a result, he showed up every morning at Catherine's with a bag of goodies, toys, and candy for the kids, staying until Sara returned. Catherine invited him to stay at the house, but he insisted he needed to sleep in his own bed.
Her children thought they were having the perfect vacation with their 'Baba' around every day, a nanny who was teaching Everett and Libby to swim, and Catherine and her daughters entertaining everyone. She was almost certain her kids did not miss her during the hours she spent at the courthouse.
In a few days, she'd learned much from Lahn about searching files, viewing video tapes, identifying every employee who entered the evidence room.
Sara's eyes were blurred from watching the screen showing the evidence room as she and Lahn checked off each person who had entered the vast storage area.
Tapping the screen, Sara asked, "How do we know the video hasn't been tampered with?"
"It's got a time stamp," Lahn answered.
"Yeah, I see that—but I'm watching this and the time stamp is showing five minutes have passed. The time stamp is a digital clock—it doesn't show seconds."
Lahn looked up, bewilderment on his face, before he tapped several keys. He said, "If it's been edited—I had not thought of that—I think the video would speed up to catch up with the time."
"Who could edit the video?"
He stared at the screen for a minute, shaking his head, before saying, "How would we know where to begin?"
Sara turned her yellow legal pad around so he could see her writing. She said, "I've found three times this woman has gone into the evidence room and I'm almost certain, the time is off. It appears she has reason to be there—but something is not right." She clicked keys, adding, "I've checked two of her entries with the timer on my phone—both times she's inside for twelve and fourteen minutes by the time stamp. But my clock shows ten and twelve minutes."
"Two minutes each time." Lahan's fingers clicked on the keyboard and a few minutes later, he said, "It would flutter—where the video has been spliced—it might not be noticeable."
Sara moved around the table, turned her laptop so it was next to Lahn's. She said, "Go back to the first one—six months. Perhaps that's the one most likely to have a mistake."
The young man worked for several moments to bring up the video, checking Sara's list to find the time of entry. A minute later, he said, "Here she is."
"Her name is Anna McCall—hired two years ago as a ballistic analyst." Sara said as she pulled a chair near Lahn and sat down. "Run the tape back—who comes in with her."
Their heads bent toward the screen as the black and white images showed three people enter the evidence room. Together, they walked to an aisle of lockers where a second camera recorded their movements as several boxes and bags were placed into three small cabinets. As they turned to leave, a flutter so slight it would not have been noticed by most viewers flicked on the screen.
"Back it up," Sara whispered.
They watched again as the trio entered the room, opened a locker, then another and another, and turned to leave. Sara's finger had moved to the pause key and she pressed it as the two cameras overlapped in recording movement.
"Look—right there. What is that?" She pointed to a blurred image, almost a shadow.
Lahn hit several keys and sharpened the image. "It's a reflection of a profile—that should not be there."
"The splice missed the reflection." Sara reached for a diagram of the evidence room, quickly pointing to the lockers the three had opened and then to the locker holding evidence for one of the court cases. "There is enough time—only takes a few seconds. I think she did not remove or destroy evidence—she moved it—from one locker to another. And it—it—is it random?"
Lahn said, "Do we know how many times she entered the evidence room. In six months?"
"Geez," Sara chuckled. "That information is in this book." She reached for a thick log book where every person entering the evidence locker room signed in and out.
The young man grimaced, saying, "Let's look at the tapes—if she's the one, we should be able to find her and, with luck, where the tapes were spliced."
Sara groaned. "My eyes are blurred from watching that room." She stood, stretching, and said, "I want to find out more about Anna McCall."
With a few keystrokes, Lahn pulled up the employee file for the young woman and turned the laptop so Sara could see a photograph of dark-eyes, strawberry blonde bangs swept across the forehead, lips a bright red.
"She's young," Sara said as she scrolled passed the photograph. The file had the original application, several reference forms, a six-month evaluation, another one at a year. Going back to the application, she read the standard knowledge, skills, and abilities provided by Anna McCall. She said, "She has provided a very compelling document. I'd have hired her based on this."
Moving on to personal information, Sara found several colleges attended and two previous workplaces—both out of state in smaller crime labs. After a few minutes of reading, she scrolled back to the photograph, studying it closely.
Lahn noticed, saying, "Do you know her?"
"No, I don't." Sara answered slowly. "But she looks faintly familiar—like I knew her sister—or her mother."
"Did you check her next of kin?"
"A Mark McCall—spouse." Squinting her eyes, she examined the photo again. "Let's look at the tapes again—something needs to tick in my brain."
As they watched the tape, Lahn said, "Why aren't the cameras better? I think the lens has an inch of grime and dust on it."
Laughing, Sara said, "When I worked here, there was nothing like this—a dozen lockers for evidence from active cases. Then it was put in boxes and stored in a huge warehouse. Around the time I left, this state-of-the-art facility was being built."
Sara watched as Anna McCall moved around the aisles, finally saying, "It's her face that's familiar." Finally, she shrugged and said, "Let's go back to watching videos. At least, we know to watch for a flutter."
Later, as she and her husband lay together in the bathtub—an enjoyable nightly routine they used as a time to be alone—Sara mused about the photograph, saying, "She looks familiar and the longer I think about it, the more certain I am that I should know who she is—or at least a sister or mother."
"No other name listed on her application?" Grissom was submerged to his shoulders in water, his arms folded around Sara's body.
"Only her married name—she's probably thirty based on her previous employment and college."
Grissom kissed Sara's cheek, saying, "Forget about her for a while. It will come to you—your memory for people and events is remarkable. Sleep on it."
Sara leaned forward and reached for a towel. "As much as I love being here with you, we need to sleep."
Her husband groaned and closed his eyes as she pushed away from him. He said, "I like this tub."
Stepping out of the tub, Sara laughed as she wrapped a towel around her body. "Get out, stud muffin. You don't fool me—you enjoy sex in the tub!"
He opened one eye and grinned. "True, dear wife, true!"
A/N: Seems a glitch occurred with Chapter 3-so if you had a problem with this chapter, please send fanfiction a message. Thanks for reading...a special thanks to those who review! Provides encouragement! Keeps GSR alive!