Back at the lab, Warrick was looking over the shoes seized from Derrick Lander. Wearing his latex gloves he picked up the left shoe. Picking up his flashlight with his free hand, Warrick carefully trailed the beam over the shoe. Squinting, he flipped it over so that the sole was exposed. Warrick used his flashlight to enhance any evidence that might be hidden in the shadows of the nooks and crannies of the shoe. Something red caught his eye. Warrick held his breath; he held the flashlight closer, and sure enough, there on the sole of the boot were several, small, red dots. Warrick placed his flashlight down on the table and rifled through his kit until he found a swab. The swab didn't immediately turn pink, so Warrick added a drop of hydrogen peroxide to the swab. The swab turned a lovely, bright pink. He held up the swab and said in a self-satisfied voice, "Bingo."
CSICSICSICSI
"You ready?" Sara asked Griffin.
"Are you?" Griffin replied. Sara grinned and walked over to the car. The two of them were in the CSI garage with Lander's car. Both had slipped into dark blue overalls over their street clothes.
"I'll take the backseat and the trunk if you want the front," said Griffin.
Sara shrugged as she opened the driver's side door. Griffin walked over with Sara, pulling her hair into a pony tail. She started with the trunk first. She clicked on her flashlight and went over the floor piece by piece.
"Looks like the carpet in here could match the fibres from Kimmy's clothes," Griffin called out to Sara, "I'll get a Sample to Zane."
The light bounced off something light on the dark carpet. Griffin frowned and reached into the pocket of her overall and pulled out a pair of tweezers. She grimaced as she reached into the trunk and grabbed the object between the prongs. Griffin held the tweezers closer to her face as she peered at the object. It was a hair. A fine, wavy, golden strand of hair.
"Hey, Sara?" called Griffin still looking at the hair.
"Yeah?" she answered, her voice was somewhat muffled because she was looking underneath the passenger's seat.
"I think I might have just found proof that Kimmy Barett was in this trunk."
Griffin heard some scraping and a muffled groan as Sara manoeuvred herself out from under the passenger's seat. Sara came around the car, her hair was pulling out of her pony tail and it hung haphazardly around her face.
"What you find?" she asked.
Griffin held the tweezers up and Sara took the tweezers from her staring at the hair.
"We won't know for sure until Greg gets through with it," said Sara.
"Though it's a pretty good guess that it's Kimmy's," said Griffin reclaiming the tweezers.
"Leave the guessing for the detectives, we work with facts. Let's get back to work," said Sara returning to the driver's door as she manoeuvred her torso under the steering wheel. Griffin bagged the hair and went back to the trunk. The rest of the trunk was clear, so Griffin moved on to the backseat. She opened the door and went over the carpet and the seat on the right side. Nothing. She climbed into the backseat and went over the left side. It was about ten minutes later when Sara said.
"Griffin?"
Griffin looked up, brushed the hair from her face and said, "Uh huh?"
"I've got blood."
Griffin carefully got out of the backseat and came around to stand next to Sara. Sara was kneeling by the driver's side and she had her orange goggles on her eyes and an ultra violet light in her hand.
"Where?" Griffin asked.
Sara handed Griffin the goggles, turned back to the car and switched on her UV light. The acceleration pedal lit up with a luminous blue colour. Griffin looked at Sara and asked, "Is there enough to get a sample?"
"Not on the pedal," said Sara, "But..." Sara sprayed some of the Luminol onto the carpet and a shoe print lit up in the luminous blue colour.
"We have enough here," said Sara.
CSICSICSICSI
Sara paced the length of the break room. Griffin was seated at one of the tables and her hand was once again flying over her sketch pad. The two of them were waiting on the lab results for the evidence that they had submitted; they couldn't continue with their case until they had their results. Warrick walked in and grabbed a cup of coffee before flopping down on the couch. He wiped a hand over his face and rested his head against the wall behind the couch.
"What you waiting for?" asked Sara not pausing her pacing.
" DNA. You?" said Warrick opening his juice and taking a sip.
"DNA and Trace. We found blood on the acceleration pedal," said Sara.
"And a long, blonde hair in the trunk," said Griffin not looking up from her pad.
Grissom entered in the room with a few files in his arms, Catherine by his side. Sara stopped pacing and looked up as her mentor entered the room and Griffin abandoned her sketch pad. Grissom stopped and said, "And you are all sitting around here...because?"
Taking another sip of his coffee Warrick replied, "We're waiting on the Lab Rats."
"Really?" said Grissom going over to the counter to place the files down. He poured himself a cup of coffee. Catherine sat down at the same table as Griffin and crossed her legs.
"Yeah, but," said Griffin crossing her arms, "the elves are taking a while in making our boots."
Grissom took a sip of his coffee, grimaced, and chucked it down the drain before picking up the files and coming to sit at the same table Griffin and Catherine was sitting at.
"Well," said Grissom picking up one file and throwing it to Warrick, "Christmas," Grissom tossed a file to Sara, "has come early," he slid the final file across the table to Griffin who stopped it with her hand. All three simultaneously opened the files. Warrick was the first one to speak, "The DNA on Lander's shoes matches the DNA of Michael Barett. The shoe size and pattern were also a match to the one Grissom found in the house."
Sara spoke next, "Carpet fibres that we found on Kimmy's clothes are a match to the carpet in Lander's Mercedes, and the tyres are a match to the tyre tracks found outside the Barett residence."
Sara looked up at Griffin and said, "The blood on the carpet on the driver's side and on the pedal is also a match to Michael Barett. What have you got?"
"DNA report from the hair we found in the trunk," said Griffin reading from the file.
"And?" asked Sara.
"And the DNA from the hair is a match to Kimmy," said Griffin looking up.
"That proves Kimmy's presence in the trunk of Lander's car," said Warrick.
"One more thing," said Griffin, "Greg matched the DNA I found on the duct tape, the DNA from underneath Kimmy's nails, and the errant DNA from the primary crime scene, as belonging to one donor...Derrick Lander."
"That's it," said Sara smiling, "We got the bastard."
Catherine gave a satisfied smile and Griffin asked eagerly, "We have enough for an arrest warrant?"
Grissom shrugged with his mouth, leaned forward, placed his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together saying, "We have his blood and his tyre tracks at both crime scenes, his shoe print at the first crime scene, and Kimmy's hair in the back of his trunk. He also has a nasty gash on his arm. I think we have enough for a warrant."
Sara smiled, Griffin relaxed in her chair and Grissom sat back crossing his arms, a satisfied smile on his face. At that moment Brass and Nick walked into the room, looking perplexed.
Grissom looked up and said, with the smile fading from his face, "Nick, what are you doing here? You're supposed to tailing Lander."
"Grissom ...I...I'm so sorry, we lost him," said Nick.
CSICSICSICSI
"You lost him?!" said Grissom bolting to his feet.
Brass stepped in between Grissom and Nick. He placed his hands up in front of him in a placating manner and said, "Grissom, it wasn't his fault. He and the officer were watching closely, but Lander climbed out the back window of his house and he had a motorcycle out back. He left via the back street. There was no way they could've known."
Grissom clenched his jaw and Catherine dropped her head into her hand, shaking her head. Everyone in the room was waiting for Grissom's response. Grissom took a deep breath before he whipped out his cell phone and dialled a number before holding it to his ear. He turned to Sara and said, "You and Griffin get ready, you two are going with me to check out Lander's house."
Sara and Griffin nodded, got up and left the room.
Just then someone picked up on the other side of Grissom's phone call.
"Culpepper."
"Rick, it's Grissom, we have a problem," said Grissom.
There was a pause then Culpepper said, "I'm not surprised. What did you screw up now?"
Grissom explained the situation in a clipped tone.
"Shit! That's all we need right now. Can't your team do anything right, Grissom?"
"Lander made my guys, Culpepper. And in case you haven't noticed my team has single handed solved this case. Can you say as much?" Grissom argued.
There was silence on the other end of the phone before Culpepper answered, "Listen, I can't come down there and clean up your mess right now, what do you need?"
"I need you to call a judge, we need a warrant to search Lander's house and a warrant for his arrest," said Grissom.
"Consider it done," said Culpepper and he hung up.
Grissom snapped his phone shut and turned to the rest of his team. "The rest of you wait here, any evidence we find will need to be processed immediately."
Catherine and Warrick nodded but Nick, still feeling guilty, said, "Grissom, please, let me come with you."
"No, Nick. I need you here," said Grissom already on his way out the door.
"Grissom, I know I screwed up but –"
"Nick," said Grissom a little more gently, "Right now I need you to stay here and wait for me to get back. Okay?"
Nick sighed and nodded his head. Grissom nodded at his team one last time then he was gone.
CSICSICSICSI
Grissom, Sara, and Griffin stood outside of Lander's house, field kits in their latex gloved hands. Twilight was creeping up on them bringing the cold temperatures down to an all time low. The house itself was not large but it had an adjoining double, lock-up garage on the left side. The lawn was neatly tended, but not extravagant. The windows were covered with blinds, not curtains and there was a walkway that led up to the red door. Grissom walked up to the door with Sara and Griffin flanking him. Officer Dean was standing by waiting with the warrant and would serve it should the need arise.
When Grissom reached the front door, he gingerly turned the knob and the door swung open slowly. The interior was getting darker rapidly, so Grissom pulled out his flashlight and clicked it on. They walked into the spacious living room. It had sort of a 'Sherlock Holmes' feel to it, with a fire place, oversized, stuffed, brown leather chairs. Round side tables a glass and mahogany coffee table. Instead of books though, there was a plasma TV and various sound equipment. Hundreds of CDs with varying artists, some of which Grissom had never heard of before, lined the back wall. To the left was the dining room and kitchen and against the far wall was a hall that led to the master bedroom and the bathroom.
"Sara," said Grissom, "You take the bedroom, then the kitchen. Griffin, you take the garage and living room."
"Where you going?" asked Sara.
"Brass said that this house had a basement; that's where I'm going," said Grissom. Sara and Griffin nodded and headed off to their assigned tasks.
CSICSICSICSI
Sara decided to start in the bedroom. She had clicked on her flashlight when they entered the house and she now allowed it to illuminate a path from the front door, past the living room, through the dining room, to the right and down the hall to the bedroom. The master bedroom was spacious. It was occupied by a queen sized bed covered with a dark blue and black duvet. There was a walk in closet to the left. Facing the bed was another plasma screen TV that hung on the wall.
Business must be good, thought Sara as she trailed her flashlight over the room. She walked over to the bed and placed her kit at the foot of it. She knelt down and flicked the case open, pulling out a pistol-like device and a pair of orange goggles. Straightening, Sara grasped the duvet by the top, left corner and pulled it back. She clicked her flashlight off, switched the device (known as RUVIS, an ultra violet tool that illuminated body fluids in the dark) on and ran it over the duvet. Sara didn't find any stains on the sheet, so she pulled that back too and once again ran the RUVIS light over the mattress. Still nothing. Sara turned her attention to the side table drawers. She found a small, plastic bag. Sara reached in and carefully pulled it out of the drawer hoping she wasn't ruining any prints. She lifted it higher and aimed her flashlight at it. The bag was filled with a white, powdery substance.
I guess Lander isn't as clean as he claimed, thought Sara as she bagged the cocaine packet. She went over the rest of the room and, other than finding another bag of cocaine, came up with nothing, so she moved onto the kitchen.
CSICSICSICSI
Griffin walked into the kitchen and saw a door between a cabinet and the sink. She reached out and opened it. It led to the double garage. She walked in and flicked the light on. The garage was empty, which wasn't surprising as they had Lander's car. A work bench lined the far wall and Griffin walked over to it. There was nothing out of the ordinary here; it was a standard tool bench. It contained some hammers and nails, a few electrical appliances even some cable ties, but no bicycle chain. What did catch her attention, though, was a silver roll of duct tape. Griffin reached into her forensic vest's pocket and pulled out a pair of tweezers and an evidence bag. She used the tweezers as leverage; she slipped it through the hole of the duct tape roll and lifted it. Griffin took a close look at the tape before she slipped it into the evidence bag. On the far corner of the bench stood a half open toolbox. Griffin turned her flashlight on it and something shiny winked at her. Griffin took the two steps necessary so that she stood in front of the tool box. She squinted as she shone the torch on the box.
Griffin reached out and hooked a finger under the lip of the lid so as not to disturb any potential fingerprints. She slowly lifted the lid and gave tight smile when she saw what the source of the glimmer was. Griffin reached in the box and picked up the kitchen knife at the edge of the handle. It looked as if the knife had been cleaned, but that didn't mean that it was clean. Griffin lifted her field kit up onto the bench and, still holding the knife in one hand, flicked the latches up to open it. First, she withdrew the fingerprint powder and her fingerprint brush. She screwed the lid off the bottle, dipped the brush into the black powder then lightly brushed the handle of the knife. Someone had wiped the handle off, but...Griffin squinted and ran the brush over the part of the knife where the blade met the handle. She smiled as she saw a partial print. Griffin pulled out a print lifter, which was really just a piece of tape. She pulled the backing off the tape exposing the sticky adhesive side and laid it over the print, careful to not smudge it. Griffin lifted the print and slipped into a small, brown envelope. Next, she reached into her kit again and pulled out a spray bottle with the word 'Luminol' written on it. Griffin sprayed the luminol liberally onto the knife and watched as the knife began to glow. Blood. She pulled out a swab from her kit and took a Sample of the blood before she bagged the knife for evidence.
CSICSICSICSI
Grissom walked down the hall that led towards the bedroom. He could hear Sara hard at work in the bedroom, but that wasn't his destination. Grissom stopped about half way down the hallway and turned to a door that was set in the wall. He turned the knob and opened the door. It was little more than a coat closet, but Grissom knew, from Lara's report, that there was a trap door in the floor. He reached down and, after he moved the shoes and carpet back, he revealed the trap door. The door opened to the left side and when Grissom shone his torch into the hole, he saw there were stairs going down. Grissom stood and placed his left foot into the hole. His foot touched the first step and Grissom placed his right foot in. He kept his flashlight on as he descended the stairs into total darkness. The stairs weren't very long, but in the dark it felt as if it took an eternity to descend. Grissom kept his eyes peeled for a light switch and he found one against the wall the minute he felt solid ground beneath his feet.
Grissom flicked the light switch up and a single light bulb illuminated the room, psycho style. Grissom looked around the room. Unexpectedly, he knew that this was where Kimmy Barett was held. There was a thin mattress in a corner with nothing but a pillow and a skimpy blanket, a bowl of half eaten, soggy cereal next to the bed. Against the wall was a tool bench with a bicycle lying upside down on top of it. There were various tools lying on the bench as well. Grissom went over, took a closer look, and concluded that Lander was obviously repairing the bicycle. Grissom looked back at the mattress and saw something black hiding behind the mattress. He frowned and made his way towards the mattress, but his foot nudge something metallic. Grissom looked down and aimed his flashlight at the object. He crouched to get a better look and he swallowed hard at what he saw.
There on the floor was an old bicycle chain. Undoubtedly from the bicycle Lander had been trying to fix. Grissom lifted his camera, which hung around his neck and snapped a few pics of the chain, before he lifted it and placed it in an evidence bag. Grissom was not, by nature, a betting man, but he would bet his next pay check that epithelia coated that chain and that the DNA would match Kimmy Barett. He returned his attention to the black object he had seen earlier by the bed. He bent down and picked it up. He'd found Kimmy's missing shoes.
CSICSICSICSI
Sara shone her flashlight on a knife block. The rack was made for a set of six knives. There were only five knives on the rack. Sara checked the sink; it was empty. She checked the dishwasher. Other than some plates and glasses, Sara didn't find anything. As she straightened, Griffin came in from the garage. She held her field kit her right hand along with a cellophane evidence bag. Sara looked up at Griffin and gestured to the knife rack saying, "Lander's missing a knife."
Griffin looked at the rack and then switched her field kit from her right hand to her left. She dangled the evidence bag in front of Sara.
"Could this be your missing knife?" asked Griffin.
Sara's mouth fell open. She took the evidence bag from Griffin and held up the bag to get a closer look at the knife. "Where did you find this?"
"In a tool box in the garage," shrugged Griffin, "Along with this," Griffin held up another evidence bag, this one with the roll of duct tape in it. Sara also took this bag from Griffin and said, "Didn't Lander say that his tool box with his duct tape in it was stolen?"
Griffin nodded her head once and said, "Yes, he did."
Sara studied the duct tape and the knife for a few more moments before Griffin asked, "Did you check the sink for blood? Lander could've washed his hands after he came home."
Sara handed the evidence bags back to Griffin, who put them into her field kit. Sara once again got out her bottle of luminol. They walked over to the kitchen sink. Sara sprayed the luminol in the sink and around the drain hole. Griffin handed Sara a pair of orange goggles and then slipped on a pair herself.
"Hit the lights, will you," said Sara slipping on her goggles. Griffin stepped away from the sink and hit the lights before stepping back to the sink, watching as Sara switched on her UV light. The drain hole lit up fluorescent blue. Griffin, who had a swab ready, reached into the drain and wiped along the inside.
Grissom appeared from the hall.
"You two find anything?" he asked.
Sara looked over her shoulder at him and said, "Only blood in the sink, drugs in the closet, and the duct tape we think was used to tie up Kimmy. Oh, and we also found the knife used to kill Michael."
Grissom looked impressed and said, "I found this." He held up his first evidence bag with the bicycle chain. "And this," he held up the bag with Kimmy's shoes.
Sara took that bag from Grissom and said, "It explains why Kimmy didn't have any shoes..."
"I don't think she had them on to begin with," said Grissom. Both women looked at him in confusion, so explained. "Lander has just killed a man and kidnapped a little girl. We have no idea what state of mind he was in, he'd brought Kimmy's clothes, but it's unlikely that he actually helped her dress."
"It wasn't a redress," said Griffin, "It was a five year old who didn't know how to do her own buttons."
"Or tie her shoes," added Grissom.
"Warrick photo enhanced the bruises on Kimmy's neck and confirmed that it was made by a bicycle chain," said Griffin looking at the evidence bag over Sara's shoulder.
Grissom nodded his head, then asked, "Are you two done here?"
Griffin shook her head and said, "I've still got the lounge to work."
Grissom nodded then said, "Okay, Sara, you stay and help her out. It's gonna take a while to work the lounge. Go through everything. Every CD, every DVD."
Sara nodded and said, "You got it."
"I'm going to take the stuff we've collected back to the lab," said Grissom collecting the evidence bags from them.
Grissom left Sara and Griffin in the house and made his way to his car. He knew the uniformed officer would give the two of them a lift back to the lab. Dark had now truly fallen like a thick curtain, pierced only by the twinkling stars, but Grissom knew that the curtain had not yet fallen in this case. It was not time for him and his team to take their bow and close this case. But the time was coming soon. Very soon. So Grissom Daniels left the crime scene and turned his vehicle in the direction of the lab.
CSICSICSICSI
Grissom sat in his office nursing a cup of coffee and going over some paperwork that had been left on his desk. He was waiting on lab results and trying not to get impatient. It had been four hours since he had left Lander's house and had submitted the evidence. Grissom had not heard anything back from Sara or Griffin as yet, but he knew they were most likely still working the living room. A BOLO had been put out for Lander and his car. There had been a few sightings, but so far none of them had panned out. Grissom knew that he couldn't rush the evidence. In order to go fast, they had to go slow. But this case was starting to grate on his nerves. He was tired; his people were tired. All of them had been pulling doubles, and Grissom also knew that Catherine had not seen her daughter in a while.
As if summoned by his thoughts, Catherine entered his office with files in her arms.
"You have something for me?" Grissom asked as Catherine took a seat in a chair in front of his desk.
Catherine threw the files onto his desk, crossed her legs and said, "There were two contributors to the epithelia found on the bicycle chain."
Epithelia aka skin cells.
Grissom flipped the file open as Catherine continued, "The epithelia found in the middle of the chain belong to Kimmy, but the epithelia found on the edge of the chain belong to Lander."
"What about the knife?" asked Grissom?
"Also two contributors. Michael Barett was the main contributor, but Gabrielle also found blood belonging to Lander," said Catherine.
"We found blood that belongs to Lander at the crime scene. Griffin had a theory that the killer cut himself, and by the looks of it her theory could be accurate."
"Yeah," said Catherine, "Have you decided if you are going to give her the job?"
Grissom looked at her and said, "No comment."
Catherine smiled and shook her head as she continued with her account, "The powdery substance Sara found in the bedroom is cocaine."
"Lander had fallen back into his nasty old habits," said Grissom.
"One more thing; the blood in the drain is also a match to Michael Barett," concluded Catherine.
Grissom pulled out his phone and said as he dialled Sara's number, "I'm going to give Sara the latest and see if there are any new developments on their side."
CSICSICSICSI
Griffin was standing in front of the wall of CDs when her phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled her phone out and brushed her fringe from her eyes as she checked the caller I.D. before she answered.
"Griffin."
"Griffin? It's Grissom. Why isn't Sara answering her phone?"
"Um, not sure," said Griffin looking around the room. She saw Sara behind her, close to the door, going through the magazines on the side tables.
"Is there anything new on your side?" asked Grissom.
"No, nothing so far. How about you?" asked Griffin. She cradled her cell phone between her ear and her shoulder as she continued to go through the CDs.
Grissom filled her in on the lab results of the evidence that had been submitted.
"So we have an airtight case," said Griffin.
"It would be, if we had Lander," said Grissom.
Griffin held her phone in her hand again and asked, "Still no sign of him?"
"No, nothing yet, but Brass and Nick are working on the sightings. We will find Lander."
"Great –" Griffin broke off midsentence when she heard a thump and she turned. The hand that held her cell phone fell away from her ear as she did. The only thing she saw was the butt of a gun as it sailed towards her face, before pain exploded on the side of her head and she collapsed.
Griffin lay on the ground; the only thing she registered before she blacked out, was black shoes and the sound of Grissom 's voice, coming from her phone, calling her name. The pain took over and Griffin blacked out.