Hello, all you wonderful people!
So, I've been struggling the past two days with a severe case of writer's block, but I finally managed to break through it! This chapter might be a bit rough around the edges, so excuse me if it is a little...weak. Also, I'm not sure about the process of gaining American Citizenship, but Leona had some questions regarding Griffin. Unfortunately, I can't reveal to much of Griffin's past, Leona, because that will come in later on in the series, but I hope this helps some. I was so happy to see that my story has been viewed over 950 times! Which is awesome, but I would love to hear from some of you viewers. Let me know what you think. Anyway, enjoy and review at the end please.
Xxx
IronAngel 420
CSICSICSICSI
Some people thought of Grissom's office as profoundly creepy. With the low lighting, the bugs on boards and a baby pig in a formaldehyde jar, people got a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde vibe from him. But to Grissom it was the perfect place to think; and with the low lighting, a perfect place to ward of a migraine. Grissom was contemplating the case. Grissom still could not believe that he had to deal with Culpepper once again. Grissom's blood had boiled when the FBI had turned up and seized what precious little evidence they had.
Culpepper. Even the name made Grissom seethe. He would never forget the feeling of pure panic he felt when the FBI agent had used Sara, his Sara, as bait for the Strip Strangler case. Before Grissom could mull over the past any longer, Catherine walked in. The attractive blonde sat down in front of him and crossed her legs.
"Can I help you, Catherine?" Grissom asked raising one eyebrow.
"So, who is she?"
"Who is who?" asked Grissom, confused.
"Griffin of course," said Catherine with a smirk. "The last time you brought someone in like this it was Sara. So what is your history with Griffin?"
Grissom shrugged, "Firstly, I didn't bring her in, the lab did. And there is no history. I received a phone call from the Lab Director last week saying that there would be a transfer from Miami Dade joining the lab."
"So you've never met her?" Catherine asked incredulously.
"I did speak to her on the phone briefly, other than that; I have never had contact with her."
"I wonder what her story is..." said Catherine in a thoughtful voice.
"Story?"
"Yeah, I mean, she's an eighteen year old, South African, a CSI level 2, and this doesn't strike you the least bit odd?" Catherine asked.
"I'm sure there is an explanation," shrugged Grissom. "When I spoke to her reference, a Detective Horatio Cane, he said she was the most promising CSI he had ever met. He said that she has more potential in her left index finger that his whole lab put together."
"But where is her family?" asked Catherine.
"I've got no clue. Why don't you asked Griffin yourself?" said Grissom.
"Ask me what?"
Grissom looked up and Catherine turned around in her seat to see Griffin standing in the doorway.
"Um, about your family," said Catherine cautiously.
Griffin just shrugged and said, "There's not much to tell, they still live in South Africa."
"How long have you been in America?" Catherine asked.
"Since I was fifteen. I got my citizenship at 16 and I've never been back to South Africa."
"There you have it, Catherine. Case closed," said Grissom. "What do you have for me, Griffin?"
"Just wanted to let you know the sex offenders were a bust (thank God). But...we have no more leads," said Griffin.
"And the FBI has seized all our evidence...so our case is running cold," sighed Grissom.
"That might not necessarily be true," said Griffin.
"How come?" asked Grissom.
"Remember I was looking into the FBI database for the MO?" Griffin asked Grissom.
"I remember. You said you hit a wall."
"Yeah, well, I've found that not even the strongest wall can stand against a wrecking ball," said Griffin with a sly smile.
"So, you found something?" said Catherine hopefully.
"I did," said Griffin. "And I suggest you get the rest of the team in here."
CSICSICSICSI
The team had assembled in Grissom's office. Catherine and Sara had claimed the two chairs in front of Grissom's desk; Warrick lounged on the sofa with Nick leaning against the wall next to him. Grissom sat behind his desk and Griffin stood next to him.
"The reason I asked you all here," Grissom said, "Is because Griffin has uncovered some information concerning our killer's MO."
"What kind of information?" Warrick asked.
"The helpful kind," said Griffin. "The backward 'r' we found carved into Michael Barett's neck is consistent with a killer known as The Reaper."
"The Reaper?" asked Sara.
"As in the Grim Reaper," explained Griffin, "The 'r' is actually a scythe."
"And he carves this into his victims?" said Nick.
Griffin nodded, "This guy is a contract killer. He has nearly fifty hits to his name...that the FBI knows about anyway."
"No wonder the FBI took over our case," said Catherine. "But who would take a hit out on a computer programmer who is a stay at home dad, and works from home?"
"No one," said Griffin, "Because this 'Reaper' didn't kill Michael Barett."
Sara frowned and shook her head, "Wait, I'm confused. I thought you said the MO is consistent with this 'Reaper'."
"The scythe symbol is," said Griffin, "But that is where the similarities end. Someone wanted us to think that it was the Reaper."
"How do you know it's not really The Reaper?" Sara questioned.
"There were a few things that tipped me off. Firstly, the Reaper uses a .22 calibre double tap to the back of the head. Old school, executioner style. This guy used a knife; and a hell of a lot of rage went into the stabbing. It was extremely personal."
"So, why go through all the trouble of carving the scythe into Michael's neck?" asked Grissom.
"A half ass attempt at covering it up?" suggested Nick.
"Or," said Catherine, "He was interrupted."
"Kimmy," said Sara, "The perp wasn't counting on her being there."
"So maybe kidnapping her wasn't part of the plan," said Warrick.
"Which means he's impulsive," said Griffin.
"Or unstable," put in Nick.
"Either way it makes it even more dangerous for Kimmy to be around him," said Griffin.
"But why take her in the first place?" Catherine mused.
"Like Griffin said," answered Grissom, "This is personal."
Grissom looked at Nick and Warrick and asked, "Background checks?"
Warrick was the one who answered, "As far as we could find the Barett's have no skeleton's in their closets. Vanessa has made a few enemies as an ADA, but none of them match our profile."
Just then Grissom's phone rang. He answered it whilst the rest of the team continued to talk.
"Michael Barett is clean," said Nick, "Though; Mr. and Mrs. Barett have been having some marital problems. They've been seeing a therapist for the last two months. I tried speaking to the doctor, but he hid behind the Doctor/patient confidentiality thing."
"This will have to wait," said Grissom as he put the phone down.
"Whassup, Boss?" asked Warrick.
"Brass just called. We've got a D.B. just off the Strip. The first officer on the scene called it in, said the D.B. matched Kimmy Barett's description. We won't know for sure until the mother positively I.D.'s the body, but so far it looks like it's her," said Grissom
CSICSICSICSI
The desert was a barren place all year round, but add to the fact that it was winter and cold as hell, even the stars that were more prominent this time of year couldn't make up for the dusty, dingy surroundings. Grissom stepped out of the Denali and looked at their new crime scene. The vegetation was scarce and scanty, all coarse, dead grass and sand. From their position, Grissom could see the main road about four miles away. He could hear the humming of cars as they drove by on their way to their respective destinations, oblivious to the tragedy that had occurred just off the Strip. A little off the road, half hidden by vegetation was the small body of a young girl.
Catherine came up beside him and the two of them made their way towards the body.
"I don't see any footprints, though there seem to be wipe marks. Killer tried to hide his tracks," she said aiming her camera and taking a series of photos. The flash of her camera lit up their surroundings like tiny flashes of daylight with each photo she took. Grissom ran the beam of his flashlight over the wipe marks up until the half hidden body. The DB's legs were bound with what seemed to be duct tape, and what Grissom could see of her upper body her hands seemed to be tied behind her back.
Another car arrived and Grissom looked up as the beam of its headlights trailed over them. The car stopped and Sara and Griffin got out of it, their field kits in their hands. The pair began to walk up to Grissom and Catherine when Griffin looked to her left and paused. She reached into the pocket of her black, leather coat and produced a mini flashlight. Griffin clicked it on then trailed the beam over whatever she seemed so interested in. Sara left her colleague behind and had walked up to Grissom.
"Hey, I'm gonna go get my kit," said Catherine slipping her camera over her neck as she headed off towards the car, being careful where she stepped.
"Hey," said Sara, now next to him.
Grissom turned to her and nodded his head in greeting.
"Kimmy?" she asked looking over at the body.
"Not sure; I haven't actually seen the body yet," he said. Grissom looked back at Griffin who was kneeling and peering hard at something. She looked up and pointed the beam of her torch towards the cars.
"How does she seem to you?" asked Grissom nodding his head towards Griffin.
Sara was quiet for a moment then said slowly, "She seems...to know what she's doing."
"You don't sound so sure."
Sara smirked at him and said, "One thing's for sure, she's young. To young maybe?"
Grissom looked back at Griffin and then back at Sara and said, "I remember I said the same thing about you when we first met at the Forensic Conference."
Sara threw him a sharp look.
"Shall we have a look at the body?" Grissom asked abruptly changing the subject.
Sara shrugged and said, "Sure."
Gesturing with his hand Grissom said, "Ladies first."
Sara smirked and shook her head at him, before she ducked under the crime tape. Grissom followed her and they carefully made their way towards the crime scene.
The young girl lay on her side her hands bound behind her back, and her face in the dirt. Grissom felt a surge of sadness at the loss of a child's life, and the fact that they could not save her ate at his conscience.
"Hey, you okay?" asked Sara looking up at her boss from her kneeling position next to the body, and shining her torch on his face.
Grissom smiled down at her; Sara had always been attuned to his emotions, always knowing when he was upset or angry. "I'm fine,"
"You're not gonna get sick on me are you?" she asked throwing him a knowing smile.
Grissom smiled a little wider. He had asked her the same thing the first time they had worked a case together, it had not been her first time, however, as she had already been a CSI for three years. Grissom shook his head and looked back down at the body; he crouched down to get a better look. The girl's mouth was covered with a silver piece of duct tape. The same brand, no doubt, as the tape around her wrists and ankles. Sara started taking a series of photos with her camera documenting the body position and the surrounding area.
"Redress?" she asked as she lowered her camera frowning.
"Possibly; the buttons on her shirt are out of order," said Grissom.
"You're thinking sexual assault?" Sara asked.
'I'm not thinking anything, let's collect the evidence then find out what it is telling us," corrected Grissom.
"I'm sure the Doc Robbins will administer a sexual assault examination," said Sara going back to taking photos.
"I have no doubt he will." Grissom looked up to see Griffin finally making her way over along with Catherine.
"You find something interesting?" he asked.
Griffin stopped behind the crime tape and looked at him for a moment before she said, "Yeah, actually, I did. I found tyre marks that don't match any of the police vehicles. I used dental stone to cast the track, along with documenting with photos."
"It was a nice catch, Grissom. You and I both over looked it," admitted Catherine.
Grissom narrowed his eyes and then beckoned for Griffin to join him on the other side of the crime tape. Griffin hesitated for the briefest of seconds before she ducked under the yellow tape and stood next to the boss.
"Alright, Griffin. Tell me what you see," challenged Grissom.
Griffin hitched the legs of her jeans up slightly as she crouched down and peered at the body with her dark, mysterious eyes.
"She wasn't killed here; this is an obvious body dump."
"Why do you say that?" Grissom asked.
Griffin looked up at him and shrugged with her mouth, "The ground around the body is undisturbed, and there are wipe marks ranging from the body up to tyre tracks."
Grissom nodded his head in silent agreement.
Returning to her evaluation, Griffin continued saying, "She's been redressed, but there is no obvious sign of sexual assault or semen." She reached out with her gloved hand and gently brushed the golden hair from the girl's neck. "There's bruising around the neck, which suggests manual strangulation. The pattern is strange though, probably a foreign object."
Griffin looked down at the beautiful, little girl and sighed, "She was a brave little girl."
"How so?" asked Grissom.
Griffin reached over the body and gently cradled the girl's cold fingers and looked up at Grissom, "She fought back. There's skin and blood under her finger nails."
Griffin reached out and thumbed the eyelid open revealing a lifeless blue eye, "Petechial haemorrhaging, which will confirm my theory of strangulation. Coroner will have to confirm cause of death though."
Grissom looked at Catherine, and Catherine looked at Grissom. They were equally impressed. They had both been on the job for many years and not once had either of them seen such a young person posses such natural skills in the field.
"Good," said Grissom, "Do you see anything else?"
Griffin narrowed her eyes and Sara stopped what she was doing to watch the young woman work. "There are some bluish fibres on her clothes. Could be transfer from the trunk of a car, or a carpet in a house."
Grissom smiled and Catherine grinned. They definitely had a gem here. "Good, very good," said Grissom and Sara seemed to look harder at Griffin, as if re-evaluating the younger woman. Griffin barely smiled at the complement, but continued to peer at the body.
"There is a triangular birthmark on her neck," said Griffin pointing with her black gloved finger. Sara came a little closer and looked to where Griffin was pointing. She handed a marker to Griffin, who held it in place as Sara took some pictures.
"We should be able to make a positive I.D. with that," said Grissom. Dave Phillips arrived and Sara and Griffin stepped aside.
Dave pierced the DB's abdomen with his liver probe and took a reading. "TOD is about eight hours ago."
Brass walked up and said, "I just got a phone call."
"How wonderful for you," Grissom said.
Brass smirked and said, "So which of you geniuses forgot to inform the FBI that you possibly found the body of a kidnap victim of theirs?"