All For Nothing
Chapter 2 – Graveyard
A few days later, Louise was sat nervously in Conrad Ecklie's office as he read her resume thoroughly. "And what makes you think that you are right for this position, Ms Carter."
"Look, Mr Ecklie, I know that you have been struggling to fill this spot for more than half a year and I am more than qualified for it. I left New York so that could do what I loved and this position is what I love."
"I do not deny that you are qualified; this is a very impressive resume and you have a glowing letter of recommendation." He replied, defeated, "I shouldn't really permit this, as you are Gil's niece, but we have been short staffed for too long now. Very well, Ms Carter, you can start next shift"
She stood up and shook his hand, "Thank you Mr Ecklie, I promise that you won't regret this."
He gestured towards the door, "Shall we? I could give you a tour, introduce you to a few people."
"Thanks for the offer, but I know this place well. Gil brought me here in Junior High, not much has changed since then." Louise smiled, not wanting to spend another moment with the cranky day shift dude.
She walked swiftly down the familiar corridors to his office, where he was examining a jar of bugs. His collection had expanded since she last saw him.
"Hey boss," She smiled as he looked up to see her standing in the doorway.
He grinned, "Ecklie gave you the job?"
Nodding, Louise pointed at the jar of bugs, "What's the deal with these guys?"
"We found them on a severely decomp'd body in the desert, but they really shouldn't have been there." He explained, "They should only be found in Mexico."
"Any chance that the body had been moved?" She asked, peering through the glass.
"Autopsy revealed that the guy died where we found him." He replied, flicking through a text book.
"Have you ID-ed the vic yet? Or any suspects?" The bugs crawled up the side of the container as she handed it back to him, "Maybe someone's been to Mexico recently."
"That still doesn't explain how the bugs got there." He sighed, staring at the bugs once more.
Louise shrugged, "You'll figure it out." She patted his shoulder, "I have an appointment with my realtor. I'll see you at the start of shift."
Ten houses later, Louise was tired of house hunting. Gil had looked over the list of available apartments that the realtor had emailed over and pointed out the ex-crime scenes. Nine of the ten were the site of homicides while the last was just as bad. Some old lady had recently been moved to a residential home and the apartment still smelt of cats and must.
"I'm sorry Nathalie," she sighed to her estate agent, "It's just too dated for me."
"That's alright Louise; I'll find another list for you." Nathalie crossed the last house off, "I take it that we will try to keep old crime scenes off the cards then."
"Yes please," Louise said, checking her watch, "Unfortunately, a coat of paint can't hide the blood stains."
"I'll let you know when I have some more properties for you." Nathalie's phone rang, "I'm sorry. I need to take this."
Louise nodded, climbing into her car as she waved goodbye. There was just enough time to grab a coffee before she hit the graveyard shift. Her feet were aching from walking about in heeled boots all day, so she was glad that she had dropped her CSI stuff in her locker before she left the lab. The caffeine shocked her system into believing that she wasn't exhausted and she pulled up outside the lab feeling slightly more awake.
"Louise Carter!" she heard from behind her, as she got out of the car. She jumped and spun around to see Catherine Willows walking towards her. Louise smiled broadly.
"Now there's a name I never thought I'd see on the shift rota." She smiled, holding her at arm's length. "You've grown up so much, darling."
"It's good to see you Catherine!" Louise replied, smiling at the lady who'd welcomed her all those years ago.
"You had us worried for a minute there." Catherine said, as the two women walked into the lab.
Louise grimaced, "I'm sorry about that. I hadn't even thought about how I was supposed to meet my parents for dinner."
Catherine smiled at her sympathetically, "How long had you been engaged?"
"Almost 3 months, but I've been…" she paused, the reality of the end of her relationship felt like a stake stabbed into her chest, "I had been with Jem since my sophomore year."
The red head wished she hadn't mentioned it, as she watched Louise's face fall, "Well, welcome to the graveyard shift," Catherine said cheerfully, "You ready for a long night?"
Louise grinned, "As I'll ever be."
Catherine pointed out the locker room, "And the break room is just around the corner. I'll see you in there."
The blonde thanked her guide and slipped into the locker room, consulting the slip of paper that she'd been given to locate her locker.
"Blonde, leather-clad and hot." Louise heard from the door way, "You must be the new girl."
She smiled at the young guy leaning against the doorframe and blushed, "And you must be the infamous Stanford Boy." she held her hand out, "Louise Carter."
"Greg Sanders," he replied, "How did you know I was from Stanford?"
"I graduated Omega Chi Delta a few years ago. I remember your name from the Phi Beta Kappa 'wall of success'." She said dramatically, forming quotation marks with her fingers.
"Really?" He looked surprised.
Louise laughed, "You were the only one with science major on the entire list."
"Yeah, I'm afraid despite its reputation for a frat house of science geeks, none of them actually majored in anything. I dated a couple of OCD's in my time" He flirted, as she shrugged her leather jacket off.
"In your time?" she scoffed, "I'm afraid 'our times' overlapped. I graduated in 2000."
He looked surprised, "We were in the same Greek system for two years and I never met you?"
"I think we took a criminology lecture together. I vaguely remember the geeky hair." Louise smiled, "And by the way, Omega Chi Delta's find that acronym extremely offensive."
"My apologies." He smiled, "So what are you doing in Vegas?"
"You don't even want to know the nicknames that we had for you boys." Louise smirked, while avoiding the question.
Sara walked in, "Greg, when you're quite finished flirting with the new girl. Get moving." She turned to Louise, "Sara Sidle, it's nice to meet you."
She raised an eyebrow and Sara shook her head slightly, "Louise Carter, I'm Grissom's niece."
Louise figured the introductions were just for show; she knew that inter-team relationships were against lab policy. The young women turned at the clatter from the corner, where Greg had knocked some stuff from his locker and they laughed together.
"Grissom's… niece?" He coughed, shaking his head. "This world is far too small."
"Greg." Snapped Sara, "Get moving!"
Louise quickly changed her shoes and followed Sara, where Catherine was waiting with some other guys. "Hey Louise," she smiled from her spot next to the coffee machine. "Guys, this is Louise Carter, Grissom's niece" She pointed to the two guys, "Nick Stokes and Warrick Brown."
She smiled at the two new faces, "Nice to meet you both."
Gil walked in, clutching a stack of cases and a box. "Nick, Warrick. There's a rape case out on the strip. Take Louise with you." she smiled as he threw the box to her, "Your pager. Ask one of the boys to set it up for you."
"Sara, Catherine, you're with me. 419 in the middle of nowhere." He grimaced, showing Catherine the paper.
"Gris," Catherine started, "Are you sure a rape case is appropriate…"
Louise interrupted, "It's no problem, don't worry."
"If you're sure…" she said, her motherly nature kicking in.
"Thanks for the concern, Catherine. I'll be fine." she smiled reassuringly, as she followed Warrick and Nick to the car.
"You ready, newbie?" Nick asked as Warrick started the car.
Louise laughed, "I've been doing this for 2 years already Nick; I'm raring to go. Although, I'm going to need help with the pager." She handed him the box over the seat and he laughed as she flashed him a grateful smile.
"Gris said that you were a computer Whizz," he smiled, "How come you picked forensics? And why can't you programme a pager?"
She laughed again, "When you're related the Gil, there aren't many options other than forensics, particularly when he's been shoving entomology down your throat since grade school. And I've blown up three pagers in the last year. I'm hopeless with the small beepie things."
Nick entertained them with pager rings until Warrick threatened to throw it out the window, when he handed it back to her. "You're going to have to learn everyone's pager codes."
Louise held up a sheet of numbers which had been attached to the box, "Already done."
Warrick raised his eyebrow in the review mirror so she explained, "Photographic memory. My uncle has been training me for a very long time."
The pair of them shook their heads in disbelief. "We always wondered about Gris. He doesn't seem like a family man."
She shook her head, "You're not supposed to have favourites. But try telling that to him. I was the only one in my family destined for anything scientific."
The Denali pulled up outside the crime scene, a casino on the strip near to where Louise was staying. Brass met them at the tape, "They just found her. Medics have been in and I managed to grab a few pictures before they moved her. " He turned to Louise, "I'm Jim Brass."
She extended her hand, "Louise Carter, it's nice to finally meet you. How is she?"
"She's a little disoriented, but her injuries aren't majorly traumatic… we haven't got an ID."
Warrick and Nick exchanged glances, captivated by their new colleague. "And she's hot!" Nick muttered under his breath."
Louise appeared next to him, "And she can hear you." She winked at them and they paused as the victim was wheeled past.
"Louise? Do you want to go with the vic and collect the SAE kit?" Warrick asked, "Brass can give you a ride."
Louise smiled in response before turning back to the captain, "I'll ride with the vic, if that's okay?" Brass watched as the blonde ran after the medics, her curls bouncing against her neck and catching the lights of the strip. He couldn't help but smile; the young girl was charming.
Louise slid her hand into the victim's and smiled as her eyes fluttered open, filled with tears, "Hey sweetheart, my name is Louise; I'm with the Crime Lab. Could you tell me your name?" The medic started, surprised at the soft, soothing tone of the CSI. Louise leant her ear closer to the victim and caught the whisper before the young girl became hysterical, "Jenny"
"Jenny, everything is going to be alright. We're going to take good care of you, I promise." The medic placed a hand on Louise's shoulder, "Her heartbeat is far too quick; she needs to calm down."
Louise nodded, whispering to the victim again, "Jenny. I need you to stay calm for me, darling."
Her kind words appeared to soothe the victim although her tears continued to flow. She held her gaze until the medic slid a needle into her arm, sedating her.
The ambulance pulled up at Desert Palms and she was immediately carted off to a ward; Louise had to run to keep up with her victim. The nurses worked quickly to ensure that Jenny had no life threatening injuries before drawing the curtain around her. Louise approached one of them, "I'm going to have to document her injuries and ask her a few questions. Will you let me know when the sedatives wear off?"
"I think she's coming round," she replied, "You can probably see her now."
Louise nodded, and slowly slipped through the curtain. Jenny was staring at her with blank eyes, still in shock about her attack. "Hi Jenny, do you remember me?" she asked softly.
The girl in the bed nodded slightly and Louise moved closer. "Now, I'm going to have to take pictures of your injuries, alright? And then I need to collect some evidence from you, so that we can catch the guy who did this."
Jenny nodded again and Louise pulled her camera out, documenting the various cuts and bruises. Tears filled the girl's eyes again as Louise collected the SAE kit and the blonde fought back her emotions. She bagged all of Jenny's clothing and set her kit on the side.
"Jenny?" she prompted, "Do you remember what happened?"
The girl nodded, but didn't say anything, "Do you know who did this to you?" she shook her head.
"Could you recognise him, do you think?" she paused before nodding.
Louise squeezed her hand, "I'm going to send a lady here and she's going to try and draw the man for you, okay?"
"It was dark," the girl stuttered, "I only saw his face... he was wearing gloves…"
Louise nodded, "Okay. That's good darling. Is there anyone that we can call for you?"
"Mum…" she muttered.
Louise waited until Jenny's mother had arrived before heading back to the lab. Jenny had clammed up after her mother got there and she called Warrick as she walked through the hospital.
"Hey, Blondie!" he answered the phone happily, "we're just finishing up here. How'd it go with the vic?"
"Well, she didn't say much. Although she did tell me that the guy wore gloves." Warrick drew his breath, "No prints?"
"Nothing. We'll pick you up from the hospital on our way back to the lab."
"Thanks." She clicked the phone closed and walked down to the hotel entrance. She only had to wait a few minutes before the Denali rolled up and she slid into the front seat. "Find anything useful?"
The pair shook their heads, "Absolutely nothing. No prints, no trace, no smears. This guy knows what he's doing."
"Well, she said that her attacker was wearing gloves so that accounts for the lack of prints, but no trace? That's insane." The blonde sighed, "Hopefully the SAE kit gives us something."
"Did she say anything about her attacker?" Nick asked, leaning forward between the seats.
Louise shrugged, "No description. But I'm going to get her to speak to the forensics artist; she said that she would be able to recognise him."
"At least we've got something."
She glared at him, "Don't jinx it."
"Greg," Louise walked into the trace lab frowning, "Why did you page me?"
He pulled a sheet from the printer and rolled his chair over to her, "I've got the results from under your vic's fingernails."
"Why do you have those? I gave them to DNA." she took the print out from him and skimmed over it.
"DNA kicked them over to me, no epithelials." He tapped the page, "I did find traces of latex, the kind that's used in our good ol' trusty gloves. Unfortunately, there are about 300 distributers in the greater Las Vegas area alone." Louise groaned. "Sorry."
"Okay… Thanks." She caught up to Nick and Warrick as they walked past, "Hey… There was no DNA left by this guy and trace only came back with generic latex gloves. I'm going to go back over all of her clothing and see if I can get anything."
Warrick pointed to the AV lab, "Archie is going over the security footage that the casino sent over, but he's come up with nothing so far."
"I'm heading over to the hospital to meet the artist," Nick said, "I'll keep you both posted."
About an hour later, Louise's phone rang, "Hey Nick, any luck with the forensics artist?"
"We got a pretty good image of the guy; the vic went hysterical when we showed it to her." He replied, "Did you find anything on the clothing?"
"No and Warrick came up empty on the casino footage." Louise frowned, "I think this guy is going to get away."
Louise could hear the tone of agreement hidden in the Texas drawl, "Don't think like that, okay Louise? We'll catch this bastard, before he strikes again."
Warrick paged her from the AV lab and she kept Nick on the phone as she went next door. "Nick, I think we've got something. Meet me back at the casino." She stared at the footage of a guy, shielding himself from the camera as he chucked a bag in the dumpster outside the service entrance.
"Hello DNA" she muttered, pulling the trash bag from under an empty cardboard box. Carefully untying the loose knot, she revealed a pair of latex gloves and a condom amongst a few paper napkins and handed the bag to Nick, who smirked.
"Nice job, blondie." He bagged the evidence and helped her out of the dumpster.
She shrugged, "I just went dumpster diving, we still need to run DNA."
"Maybe we'll get lucky." Nick said brightly.
Louise twitched impatiently as she waited in front of the printer with Greg and Nick breathing over her shoulder. She snatched the printout and stared at it in disbelief, "What was that you were saying about getting lucky?" She sighed, handing the results to Nick. Having managed to lift a perfect fingerprint from the bag and a load of DNA from the gloves and the condom, she was so frustrated at still having no identity for this guy. "This is ridiculous," she murmured as she walking quickly out of the DNA Trace lab and towards the break room, where the poured herself a cup of coffee and buried her head in her hands. The sofa creaked as someone sat next to her, touching her shoulder reassuringly. She looked up to see Nick perched beside her and Warrick leaning against the door.
"Are you okay?" he asked softly.
She pursed her lips, "I don't know. It's just… so annoying that we have nothing on this guy. I wanted to make a good impression, prove that I am a good CSI. Prove that I didn't just get this job because I'm Grissom's niece. I can't even solve my first case."
Warrick shook his head, "Louise, no one believes that. We can all see that you are an amazing CSI. The way you handled the victim, you don't see those sorts of people skills in our line of work."
Nick chimed in, "And just because we haven't got this guy now, doesn't mean that we won't get him."
A small smile crept to the blonde's lips, "Thanks." She paused, taking a gulp of her coffee and gagging, "God that stuff is awful!"
Both men laughed, "That's why we steal Greg's fancy stuff." They pointed to the pot on the other side of the room.
She tipped the rest of her cup down the sink, "Let's go catch some bad guys."
A.N. It makes me very sad that no one wants to review even a tiny bit. I genuinely want to know what my readers think of my OC, this fic and my writing style. It would mean the world to me if you reviewed. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but this part of the story is set around Season Three and I plan to keep going all the way to Season 12. September 26th could not come fast enough for me.
In other news ERIC SZMANDA tweeted me! And Louise Lombard followed me... ON THE SAME DAY!
:D xx