Chapter 2
Monday August 15th, 2004
6:08 a.m.
CSI Lab
He still remembered the day she arrived in Vegas. He had been running the experiment with Nick on Norman...
"Wouldn't you if you were married to Mrs. Roper?"
Grissom lowered the camera at the sound of that voice and smiled. "I don't even have to turn around. Sara Sidle."
Sara smiled as he turned around. "That's me. Still tossing simulation dummies? There are other ways to tell, you know?"
"How? Computer simulation? No thanks. I'm a scientist I like to see it. Newton dropped the apple, I drop dummies."
"You're old school," she teased
"Exactly," he agreed. "And this guy was pushed."
Sara smiled once before she sighed as her face took on a more serious look. "How's the girl?"
"She's still in surgery. She's not doing very well," he replied after a second
"That's too bad."
"God, Sara, I have so many unanswered 'why's'," Grissom whispered
"There's only one why that matters now. Why did Warrick Brown leave that scene?" she answered softly.
Then there had been the Garris case...
Grissom walked into the bedroom to find Sara standing at the dresser taking photographs. Walking further in he looked around.
"Cursory call, looks like a professional job," Sara spoke up. He remained silent as he looked at the various framed pictures, so she continued to call it. "Our guy bypasses the security system, surprises the wife in the back hall. Drags her in here. She grabs onto the doorway…sign of struggle. No sign of sexual assault. He's in, they're out. Probably...egress through those doors. Excuse me, is my evaluation interrupting you?" she asked as he inspected a smudge on the carpet.
"No, no, no. I barely heard you."
"Glad I have a healthy ego," she had answered, no doubt rolling her eyes. "You find something interesting there?"
"Dirt."
"You're...so...technical...I can hardly keep up, but…"
"Oh, sorry, but, uh...out of context, it's...just dirt," he replied before stepping through the open balcony doors and out into the backyard patio. Sara followed him, as he looked around, Sara sniffed the air.
"Did you just slap on bad cologne?"
"I never wear it. It interferes with the job."
"It's almost sweet," she continued as he spotted something.
"Hmm," he mused as he found a cloth on the ground. Picking it up he smelt it before offering it to Sara to smell.
"Can't be chloroform."
"Halothane, maybe."
"We'll confirm it in GC mass spec," Sara answered as she reached into her bag for an evidence bag.
"Looks like a professional job, I think you said," Sara glanced up at him and smiled. "Care to amend your evaluation? I mean, if the guy forgets the rag he used to knock her out, he can't be much of a pro," he continued as he put the cloth in the evidence bag she was holding open for him.
She smiled. "I keep trying to be your star pupil."
"Sara, that was a seminar. This is real. Pebbles, tile…the front is all concrete," he answered
"No dirt. Context…there is dirt on the carpeting inside."
"In an otherwise spotless house."
"You're saying kidnapper tracked the dirt in."
"Possible. As of now, that's about all we have, so...I guess we follow the dirt," he continued before walking past her and back into the house.
They went through hell finding Mrs. Garris...If he remembered correctly, both of them had scraped hands from digging for her...
Then later that same case Catherine nearly laughed when Sara appeared in the hallway with the question...he did love his job...
Behind them, Sara called getting his and Catherine's attention. "Hey, Grissom...could you come tape me up?" without waiting for an answer she had ducked back into the room before he turned to look at Catherine.
"I love my work."
"It shows," she had answered before he turned and headed for a garage. Of course he loved his work, it wasn't every day you got to tape a beautiful woman up after all.
A few minutes later Sara was sitting inside the car with her hands taped together in front of her. Grissom stood outside the passenger seat adding the last of the tape. "So, you found Laura's hairs here...passenger side, front seat?"
"Right. Not in the back. Which made me ask, what kind of a kidnapper puts a woman bound and unconscious in the front seat? The back of my arm isn't touching the sheepskin, see?"
"Yeah. So?"
"But, there is sheepskin fiber on the back of Laura's sleeve. That tells us Laura sat back like a normal person would," she explained before holding out her taped wrists. "Cut me, Mack." After he cut the tape off she continued. "Like this," she began as she pushed her arms back against the front seat.
"So she wasn't bound at all?" Grissom summarized
"Correct. But, would a kidnapper risk putting an unconscious woman in the front seat of his car, even unbound? Answer is usually in the question, you taught me that. So, was she unconscious? We found halothane on the patio. Halothane knocks you out...if you take it."
"So, you're saying she never inhaled the halothane?"
"Proof would be in her blood. Halothane stays in the system up to 48 hours."
"How pleased am I that I got a sample of her blood?" he had answered before she sighed seeing as he trumped her. "So you can go check at the lab, see how it turned out."
Standing up she shook her head. "Damn it, I wanted to carry the ball over the line."
"I know," he had answered before Sara headed out and Brass walked in.
Next case they had together was the Collins case...He had never been as happy to hear her voice as he was that night...
Of course there was the confession about her sleeping patterns...
Grissom had had to shake his head when the poor man started losing it, he hadn't been so thankful for someone to show up as he was when he heard Sara's voice.
"I got it. Go get some fresh air." Turning Grissom stared at her. "I heard on the scanner. Quadruple. Figured you might need a hand."
"You don't sleep, do you?" he had asked
Sara shook her head un-offended "No."
Grissom had turned back to look around. Sara had also looked around and latched on the bulls-eye symbol on the wall. "Blood swirl on the wall. Are you thinking cult? Manson?"
He shook his head; he had no idea "Somebody left a message. I need to see the rest of it," he replied before looking around.
Next they had gone to the bedroom as he recited, she wrote. "Female Caucasian. Appears to be one stab wound to the throat. Transection of left and right carotid arteries with exsanguinating hemorrhage. No defense marks. Cursory opinion: She was killed in her sleep."
Sara was looking around listening to something. He had stopped and looked around, now that it was silent they could both hear what had caught their attention. Something was dripping. As they leaned towards the body they found the source, her blood was dripping down her fingertips to the floor. He sighed as he looked up "Do you feel this?"
Sara had nodded before speaking quietly. "Her soul's still in the room."
"But there's something else," he had answered
That case had gotten to all of them...although he always suspected little Brenda had really gotten to Sara...
Then there was the case on the plane...
This one stood out in his mind, when he had learned about her being a member of the 'mile-high club'…now that was an interesting conversation to say the least.
"Oh, the mile-high club. That means the two passengers may have had no idea what was going on inside that cabin."
"You know, high altitude enhances the entire sexual experience. It increases the euphoria," he had answered.
Sara thought about it for a moment "Well...it's good. I don't know if it's that good."
Hearing her comment he slowly turned to look up at her. She saw his reaction and had to ask. "Cite your source."
"Hand me a swab, please," he had answered
"You're avoiding the question. "'Enhances sexual experience. Increases euphoria.' Cite your source."
"A magazine."
"What magazine?"
"Applied Psychodynamics in Forensic Science."
"Never heard of it," she replied with a shrug
"I'll get you a subscription," he replied, as she stayed silent. Calmly he repeated her question to her. "Now, cite your source."
"Oh...now you want to go down that route?"
"Yeah," he had answered, part of him wasn't exactly sure he wanted the information, but his curiosity had the better of him.
She had smiled and shook her head. "Nah. Never mind."
"You started it," he challenged.
"Delta Airlines, Flight 1109, Boston-Miami, March '93, Ken Fuller. Hazel eyes, Organic Chem Lab TA, BMOC...overrated...in...every aspect," she replied before he looked up at her. "Could...we...get back to work, please?"
"Yeah. I think, due to your, uh...firsthand knowledge and experience in airplane bathrooms, you should do the swab," he had stepped out of the lavatory and walked past Sara back into the main cabin.
"Fine," she had answered.
Then there was Kaye Shelton...
And they worked together on the 'bugs'...
They had been setting up the 'bug board' as Catherine called it when Sara spoke up. "Okay, bear with me," she began as he walked over to the counter and picked up another insect in a bottle. "I mean, you're one of ten guys in the country that understands this stuff."
"I think there's at least fifteen, but go on. What don't you get?" he asked with a smirk.
"Insects arrive at a corpse in a specific order, right?"
"Like summer follows the spring," he answered.
"And you can pinpoint time of death based on the type and age of insects present on the body?"
"I watch the insects mature from eggs to larvae to adults and then count backwards," he explained
"Linear regression," Sara answered
"How old are those creepy crawlers?" Jim asked as he entered the doorway
"They're not done maturing yet," Grissom answered.
"Oh."
"But when they are, I'll be able to tell you how old they were when I found the body."
"Which will tell us when the woman died," Sara agreed
"I ID'd her body through AFIS, and located her husband."
"Let me guess. Downtown? The Fremont District?" Grissom answered
Jim's face had fallen. "You know, I'm not even going to ask."
"Synthesiomyia nudiseta is the Latin name."
"It's a muscid fly. Only breeds in urban areas but Grissom found one on our girl which means she was probably killed downtown and then carried into the mountains," Sara explained
"Well, the neighbors heard a gunshot at their apartment five days ago. The "grieving" husband..." Jim paused as he looked down at his notes. "...his name is Scott Shelton."
"What was her name?" Sara asked after a moment.
She had really pushed Shelton. It was clear by the end of the interview that he didn't like Sara, or her ways. But they had the opportunity to go to the house. Course then all hell had broken loose there...He remembered that day, when they were at the Shelton place well...And she just lost it...
"It "got there" when you shot your wife in the head before you wrapped her in a blanket and you dumped her in the mountains!" Sara had replied angrily to the man as she stood up and got into his face. He knocked her hand out of the way so she pushed him back.
"Get your finger out of my face, bitch!" Shelton had yelled
"Sara!" Grissom grabbed her and pulled her back.
"You touch me again, you draw back a stump!" she had continued to Shelton, ignoring Grissom.
"Look at her."
"Sara!" Grissom tried again as Shelton spoke
"Can't you control her?"
"Get him out of here, Jim," Grissom had told the other man as Shelton continued to talk about Sara.
"I told you she was a handful," Shelton continued as Jim walked over
"Come on."
"You don't know a handful!" Sara yelled at him as Jim led him back into the main room.
"Hey. Hey. What is the matter with you?" Grissom had asked concerned
"I am a woman, and I have a gun. And look how he treated me. I can only imagine how he treated his wife," she replied beyond upset before turning and walking away.
He remembered how shocked she had been when his report came back three days later...He couldn't forget the look on her face. Then after they had talked with Shelton and his lawyer...
Sara watched them carefully as they left the room. As soon as the door closed, she fell forward and hit her head against the table. All he could do was watch her frustration.
Then the day he asked her to follow Warrick...So much happened during that case...
She was sleeping in the break room, with her arms folded and head resting against the table. The kettle started whistling, so he walked over and picked the empty teakettle up off the burner.
"Sara?" he had asked as she woke up. "Sara? You okay?" he asked softer.
"Fine. Yeah."
"Did you sleep here?" he asked after a moment.
"I was working till 4:00 A.M. I combed every demo Scott's driven. Zilch. What's up?"
"I need you to do some background for me on Warrick without letting him know why."
"Oh. Warrick…your favorite CSI."
"That's why I want you to handle it, so that Ecklie can't accuse me of favoritism if it turns out that Warrick's clean." Grissom replied softly
"What do you want to know?" she had asked, no questions.
Then when she came to him...and asked that question...
He admitted it, when she first asked it shocked him to death...
After she clarified...part of him wanted to say yes...just so she wouldn't have the look that was in her eyes in that moment...
Grissom was in his office working. Sara appeared in the doorway and leaned against the doorframe. When he finally looked up she spoke, "Hey."
"Did you find out anything about Warrick?" he had asked figuring that was why she was there.
"Um...I'm-I'm here about something else. You...you know how you say, "We're the victim's last voice"?"
"Mm-hmm," he answered turning back to his dinner
"I thought it was our job to speak for Kaye Shelton."
"You don't crunch evidence to fit a theory," he pointed out softly.
"What if you hear the victim's screams? In the car, at the store." Looking up at her he had smiled sadly
"You have empathy for her, Sara. You want someone to pay for what was done to her. That's normal."
"You want to sleep with me?"
Grissom froze. He put down his food and took off his glasses as he looked up at her. "Did you just say what I think you said?"
"That way, when I wake up in a cold sweat under the blanket, hearing Kaye's screams...you can tell me it's nothing," she explained before remaining silent for a beat. "It's just empathy." Having said her piece, Sara turned and walked away.
Grissom stared at the doorway. He leaned back in his chair, thinking.
Surprisingly, he often admitted that if it weren't for that conversation he would probably have never even realized about the blanket and then they would have never gotten justice for Kaye...
So he had set it up, and got ready to wait and he was shocked to see Sara arrive...Thankful…Glad for the company. But still shocked...
Sara walked up to him, an appreciative smile on her face. She put her kit down next to his open one. Without a word, she put her bag down and took the seat next to Grissom. Grissom took off his glasses and Sara handed him the thermos. He uncapped the thermos without a word while she took out a fresh blanket, which she had opened and wrapped around his shoulders. He looked at her and smiled.
"Thanks," she had spoke quietly.
She had stayed with him to the end, although a few times he did catch her turning green. But still she stayed and then it hadn't been enough for the Sheriff...and she was heartbroken once more...Then she came after him when he was preparing for the autopsy and she was pissed...
Grissom was leaning against the wall and reading a file when Sara walked up to him.
"I heard you were going into an autopsy," she began clearly upset. "How can you just move on to another case? They're laughing at us. You know that, right? They think we're a couple of 'science nerds'. They threw out our findings."
Before he had a chance to respond David had arrived to tell them the body would be up in a few minutes. After thanking the other man and watching him leave he turned his attention back to Sara.
"You know, there was a murder recently in a village on the other side of the world. Every man in the village denied having any part of it. The victim's throat had been slashed with a shovel. So this one guy, I guess you could call him a 'science nerd' asked all the men in the village to bring their shovels to the center of town and hold them spade-side up. And he waited. Eventually, flies started showing up on one specific shovel looking for microscopic bits of blood and flesh."
Sara nodded "First witness to a crime."
"The investigator got his murderer, and..." Grissom continued
"...and forensic science was born. Sung T'su, 1235 A.D. You call 800 years ago recent?" she challenged slightly.
"To an astronomer, it is," he replied before pausing. "But then people forgot about forensic science, didn't they? And they had to be reminded again by Francesco Redi in the 1600s."
"And again by Bergeret D'Arbois in the 1800s," she continued down the timeline.
"Every civilization learns what it needs to know and the next one forgets it. The sheriff...well...it's not personal," Grissom shrugged slightly.
"We're part of the cycle."
Grissom nodded. "Yeah, they laughed at fingerprints 70 years ago, and now it's law."
"Except somebody had to push for prints. And you're standing there saying "all things in their own time"," Sara argued
"You're confused, right?"
Sara shook her head, and then nodded. "Yes."
"That's the best place for a scientist to be," Grissom replied with a half smile. Behind her he saw the gurney coming. "My body's here," he continued as the Coroner's Assistant pushed the gurney between Grissom and Sara towards the door. Grissom reached over and lifted up the sheet before Sara looked down and smiled.
"Kaye Shelton..." she spoke as she looked up at Grissom. He smiled and motioned to the door.
"Shall we?" They both pushed the door opened and walked inside, the body on the gurney right behind them.
After they found the blue spot she was off like a bullet. He had caught up with her later in the lab; she was nearly giddy when she turned to look at him...
"And? So?" he had asked after she pointed at the scope.
"Strand of hair from our lady in the mountains," she explained as he sat down and looked in the scope. "The blue dust from around her entrance wound, that's from the bullet's impact. It's made of Teflon. Now look at the next specimen," she explained as he stood and moved to the next scope.
"The bullet is from Scott's personal ammo supply which I test-fired. See, the Teflon disintegrated into blue powder at the moment of impact."
"You did very good," he began and she beamed. "But this is just more circumstantial evidence. We're a long way from a conviction."
"But we can bury him under evidence. You're the one who's always saying it's better to have one piece of forensic evidence than ten eyewitnesses," she countered
Grissom stopped and stared at her "What, do you tape everything I say?" seeing her shrug he continued. "You still have to educate the jury."
"On bullets," she countered. "It's got to be easier than bugs," she continued as Grissom smiled. Letting a beat pass she continued again. "Less Latin."
Sara smiled. It was too contagious and Grissom smiled as well.
He had to admit; he loved being able to work with her after so many years of friendship and it was great fun watching her thrive in her work. She had talked about it, but seeing it first hand...Then they had the case that really got to her...Pamela Anders...
Through the window in the door, Grissom watched as Sara pulled her seat closer to Jane Doe. He pushed the door open and heard what Sara said quietly.
"This shouldn't have happened to you. But, I promise I will find out who did this. I promise," sitting back in her seat she noticed him in the doorway.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey," she replied. As he remained silent, she stood up. "Sexual assault kit's ready to process."
"How's it look?" he asked as she stopped in front of him, a little off-balance by his question.
"We'll see. She's, um..." Sara nodded gathering her composure. "...breathing."
"She's evidence," Grissom pointed out softly. She didn't like his response and remained silent as she turned around back to the bed. "Sara?" he asked after a moment.
"Yeah?"
"If you try and chase two rabbits you end up losing them both."
She stared at him; sighing mentally he slowly backed away from the door, letting it close between them.
Probably should have known that wouldn't go over well, but he couldn't help it. He didn't want to see her get too attached and then they found out she already was...
Grissom, Nick and Sara were going through the evidence from the case when Nick spoke up. "Hey, you guys, this North Vegas shooting with the same casings as our Jane Doe's?"
"Mm-hmm."
"It was gang-related. And homicide never found the shooter," Nick continued after Grissom's answer
"It's almost impossible in gang neighborhoods. Nobody wants to talk. People are afraid. Listen, let's see if we have any evidence that's not attributed to the victim," Grissom replied
"Here you go," Sara began as she found something. She took out a cap with a snake logo sewn on the front.
"Snakebacks."
"Gang shooters mark their kills by tossing down their hats," Grissom continued after Nick identified it. "Some sort of anthropological quirk of territoriality. Like cats spraying on a bush," he added before Nick laughed as Sara took the hat back.
"Lets the opposition know who was responsible," Nick said as Sara looked closer at the hat.
"Somebody wore this hat a lot. This sweatband might give us DNA and I could compare it to the samples I collected off of Jane at the hospital."
Grissom looked at Sara, surprised. "Jane?"
"Our...Jane Doe. My 'death imminent'."
"First-name basis, Sara?" Nick asked
Sara looked at him for a moment. "I'll be in DNA," she replied not answering his question.
It wasn't till later that he realized just how attached she was...
Sara was sitting in front of the computer going file by file through the missing persons list. She was humming softly to herself when Grissom walked down the hallway and noticed her. He watched her for a moment before stepping inside.
"Hey."
Sara glanced up at him before going back to the listings "Any luck on 23rd street?"
"I, uh, broke in my new shoes," he began " That's about it. What'd the lab say?"
"The DNA from the ball cap is a match to the semen we found on our Jane Doe. But CODIS hasn't kicked out a name," she explained
"So you're just looking at missing persons reports?" he stated the obvious
"We're not having any luck finding the shooter from his DNA with a belt loop so I thought I would at least try and identify the poor woman before she dies," Sara replied as he took a step forward and leaned in close to her.
"Sara. Do you have any diversions?"
"Do I what?" she asked surprised
"You max out on overtime every month. You go home and listen to your police scanner," he spoke as she turned to look at him. "You read forensic textbooks..." he continued
"Yeah," she replied before going back to the computer. Grissom pulled out the chair next to her and sat down.
"Look, every day we meet people on the worst day of their lives. It's a lot to deal with. Everyone who's had any time on this job knows that you have to have a diversion in order to cope with what we see. What do you do for fun?"
"I chase rabbits. And...I read crime books. And I listen to the scanner," she replied.
"You need something outside of law enforcement. Catherine has her kid, you know? I sometimes ride roller coasters," he admitted as she again turned to look at him. "What do you do?" he asked once more
She turned back to the computer before replying. "Nothing."
"Okay. What do you like?" he asked after a moment
"I don't like anything," she replied evenly
"You've got to find something to like. You can't get too close to the victims," he argued softly, although surprised by her answer.
"She's special to me. I can't help it," Sara replied not looking at him.
"If you don't find something they'll all become special and you'll burn out," he spoke and for a moment she stopped looking through the list. Grissom stood up and headed for the door, when he reached it, he turned back to her. "Sara."
"Okay. I'm almost done. I just got to log off."
Taking her at her word he left.
He knew when he left that she wouldn't leave but he had pushed enough. Then there was the day after she saw the husband. God that hurt when she said what she did before leaving...
Sara sat in Grissom's office across the desk from him. She's quiet. He listens intently to her. "The husband doesn't get it," she said before shaking her head and brushing a tear from her eye. "He's so happy she's going to live. He doesn't realize she's going to be in a vegetative state for the rest of her life," she continued before her voice broke. "And that kid Thorpe, is going to be out of juvie in 48 months," she continued before whispering, "It's not fair."
Grissom took a breath as she wiped her eyes. "It's the system," he spoke after a moment.
"What kind of system rewards the suspect when the victim is too tough to die?" she asked looking up at him. He had no answer, so she got up and turned, heading for the door. Until he stopped her, turning back to him she waited.
"Sara, you got to learn to let this go or you're going to spend all your time in hospitals trying to help the people you couldn't save," he said slowly.
"I wish I was like you, Grissom. I wish I didn't feel anything," she spoke softly before turning and leaving the office, he watched as the door closed behind her.
Once she was gone he turned away from the door and took a deep breath. "Oh," he whispered after exhaling.
Part of him often wondered if that was when their relationship started to drift from what they once had, it moved slower then, the loss of their friendship. Maybe they were better a few hundred miles apart than close together. Long distance friends instead of friends who lived just across town. After that things had only gone downhill. The explosion, his hearing loss, her request about dinner. The promotion...so many other things. And now he'd never get the chance to possibly make things right. Shaking his head he sighed softly when he still was unable to find anything in regards to where she was. Glancing at his clock he realized that he was late and shut off his computer before making his way out of the room.
Monday August 16th, 2004
8:43 a.m.
Local Diner
"Hey guys," Grissom said as he joined the others at the diner. He smiled slightly before sitting down. "Sorry I'm late."
"That's okay," Catherine replied with a half-smile. "Did you find anything?"
Grissom glanced up at them suddenly perplexed as the others just shook their heads.
"Come on boss, we know you. You're keeping us busy as can be so we can't go looking, doesn't mean you aren't," Warrick explained before Grissom shook his head.
"We're investigators, if you guys hadn't figured it out I would probably had to have fired you," he began before sighing. "And no, nothing. You know, always thought she could get away with murd, but disappearing off the face of the earth…"
"Yeah, I only thought you or Greggo could pull that one off," Nick agreed with a smile.
"So true," Catherine agreed with a grin as Grissom rolled his eyes.
"Cute."
"Thank you, I try so," Nick answered with a smirk and the others smiled. "You know, ever since we found out, I can't help but remember all these moments spent with Sara."
"You and me both," Warrick agreed as the other two just nodded softly in agreement. "Hey Nick, you remember that time Sara really got the best of Griss and Cath? The Collins case?" he continued with a grin.
"Oh do I ever," Nick agreed with a grin.
"What did you find out about the psych exam on the little girl?" Grissom asked as he looked over at Sara
"The shrink says the kid is in a catatonic state from a trauma. I could've told you that. But she did respond to the name "Buffalo."
"Respond how?" Catherine asked concerned
"She freaked out."
Catherine stared at Sara and took a deep breath. "And what are you doing about it now?" Grissom had asked as Sara nodded while she looked up at him.
"Going back to the girl," she answered before taking a beat. "I left her in the car."
Grissom looked at her in surprise as Catherine just stared at her in shock.
"The windows are cracked," Sara continued, he continued to stare at her, absolutely no expression on his face. She broke out into a smile and stood up. "Give me a little credit. She's at the hospital."
"Man that was a good one she pulled on you two," Nick mused as he chuckled. Warrick was snickering with the memory.
"Funny you two, funny," Catherine replied with a shake of her head. "Well then, I suppose it's my turn to remember something…" she mused for a moment. "Oh I know, hey Nick you remember when you forged her signature?"
"Hell yeah."
"Well, according to her credit card statements Portia Richmond hasn't spent a dime since she's been in the Mediterranean," Catherine said with a sigh.
"She's dead," Sara concluded
"Oh, not necessarily. Maybe she's been swept off her feet," Catherine suggested
"Hmm. Yeah, some guys still like to foot the bill," Nick agreed
"Really? How would you know?" Sara asked skeptically
"Hey, I only go Dutch if girls ask the wrong question." he defended himself
"And what question is that, Nick?" Catherine asked with a smirk
"What do you drive?"
"It's an honest question."
"No. No, it's not. What it means is, 'How much money do you make? So you can take care of me'."
Sara grinned. "Well, not this girl," she replied as Catherine held up a cancelled check.
"Boys and girls, we've got ourselves a forgery."
"Ooh. Either that or a dimpled ballot," Nick replied as they took in the punches as he looked through the back side of the cheque and saw the holes there too.
"Well, his name is "Chad"," Catherine offered.
Nick cleared his throat. "Hmm. Let's connect the dots."
"What does that mean?" Sara asked confused, she was beyond exhausted.
Nick put a pad of paper on the table. "Here, I'll show you. Catherine, you wear pierced earrings. May I?"
"All right, but I've had them on for a week. Can't account for what's on it," she replied as she took the earring and handed it to Nick.
"Sign your name, please," Nick continued to Sara
"Okay," she shrugged before signing her name on the paper and handing it back to him.
"Now, nobody signs their signature exactly the same way twice. Not even you, chicken scratch. If they do, then one of them's a forgery. Here's where connecting the dots comes in," he explained before he started poking holes along Sara's signature. "We dot the lines and curves of the signature."
"Which leaves small indentations on the blank sheet. All you do now is connect the dots, then get rid of the evidence but, obviously, they didn't," Catherine continued
"Well, that's scary. All you need is one signature to break somebody," Sara realized as Nick started 'forging' Sara's signature.
"Suddenly a personal shredder sounds like a mighty fine investment."
"You know, I actually got a personal shredder not long after that," Catherine mused.
"Really? Wonder if Sara did too…"
"That would be a no," Grissom answered Nick before the three turned to him. "What? She came to me for advice on which one to get…"
"And you talked her out of it?" Catherine asked rolling her eyes.
"Not exactly," he replied with a shrug. "Do you remember the case with young Mr. Clemonds?"
"Do we ever, you know, I don't think you ever did explain how it is that you know sign language," Warrick began looking over at Grissom.
"You know, I never did get a lot of details about that case. What did happen?" Nick asked curious.
"Well, I suppose it all began, at least with Grissom being involved, when Sara and I returned from the school."
Sara and Warrick drove in to the parking lot and parked the car just as Grissom was getting out of his car.
"Hey," Warrick called
"How'd it go at the college?" Grissom asked
"They're not cooperating," Sara replied
"Yeah, we didn't have a warrant, so she kicked us out," Warrick continued
"What did you do?" Grissom asked perplexed
"What did we do?" Sara repeated. "We met with the president, asked a few questions."
"She was kind of hostile," Warrick added
"Like it's our fault we can hear."
"All right. Let's go," Grissom replied after Sara's comment.
Back at the college, Grissom, Warrick and Sara made their way across campus to the President's office. Grissom walked in first and began to talk with her. "Dr. Gilbert? I'm Gil Grissom, with the Crime lab. You kicked my people out of your office."
"Well, I'm kicking you out, too," she replied as she stood and indicated the door.
Grissom stopped her before starting to talk once more, while signing. "Look, your student is dead. Don't you want to know who's responsible? I do." Behind him, Sara and Warrick turned to look at each other in surprise
"Your people can't solve this crime," Dr. Gilbert argued
"Why? 'Cause they don't understand the victim? Help them understand," Grissom answered as he continued to speak and sign.
"When a deaf person meets a hearing person the hearing person so much as says, "I'm normal, you're not."
"Is that what you think I'm saying?" Grissom asked. "A student is dead. Maybe you feel responsible. Maybe you're angry. But don't be angry with us. We want to help you."
"If I agree to cooperate you will include me in your investigation?" she asked after a moment.
"Yes, I will. I welcome your involvement. Now, may I see Brian Clemonds' file? Please?" Grissom asked
"Whoa, sounds interesting," Nick mused.
"So how long did it take you two to ask about how he knew to sign?" Catherine asked with a smirk as she looked at Warrick.
"When we were waiting for Paul Arrington," Warrick replied as he sat back. "Although Sara did beat me to it. I just stayed silent after she stuck her foot in her mouth."
"So, you going to tell us how you learned to sign?"
"No."
Sara looked at Warrick. He didn't say anything so she turned back to Grissom. "Well, the president of the college is a real whack job."
"Sara, you see deafness as a pathology," Grissom began looking at her. "For Dr. Gilbert, her deafness is not her handicap, it's her way of life."
"You know, I think you might be siding with her."
"As long as you see this as us versus them, you're going to have problems on this case," Grissom answered as Warrick turned to look past them.
"The roommate's here," he spoke before Grissom went to meet them.
"Hmm, that did not go well, did it," Nick smirked as Grissom shook his head. "So anything else interesting happen on that case?"
Warrick pressed his lips together but remained silent as he thought back to when they were going over the car.
"Hmm," Warrick mused as he looked at the driver's seat. Sara was standing on the passenger side shinning her flashlight at him.
"Lice?"
"Creepy critters in the driver's seat," he replied as Sara stood up.
"So...that's why Grissom's late," she spoke as he looked up to see Grissom and Dr. Gilbert.
"You just don't like other women in his life," Warrick replied with a knowing look
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," she replied with a slight glare
"Warrick? Anything interesting?" Nick prompted once more as Warrick looked up at him. "Oh, well I think it was a pretty regular case after that…" he trailed off with a shrug. No way this side of heaven he was going to admit that to anyone, Sara wasn't here, but she'd still kill him.
"Pretty much," Grissom agreed with a shrug.
"Heard you four were here." Brass' voice gathered their attention. "Mind if I join you?"
"No, pull up a chair Jim," Grissom replied with a smile.
"Thanks, so what are you four up to?"
"Sharing Sara memories," Catherine replied with a smile.
"Ahh, thought I was the only one having Sara memories lately."
"Guess not," Warrick replied with a smile. "So, any particular case you remember about Sara especially?"
Jim remained silent for a moment as he thought before nodding slightly. "Probably the Strip Strangler."
"I think we all remember that case," Catherine softly added after a beat.
"She was so upset when we found the third victim," Grissom whispered.
"I think that's putting it lightly Gil," Jim agreed.
"Damn it," Sara's swear got Jim's attention as he turned to look at her.
"Sara."
"Damn that guy," she continued before walking out of the bedroom. Grissom followed her outside to the hallway.
"Listen, no emotions in here."
"He's escalating, Grissom."
"That's the pattern; it's a continuum."
"Guess he wants to get caught."
"Signature killers never want to get caught. And they won't stop until they do," Grissom answered
"I can bet she wasn't happy when you said that…" Warrick mused. "Then we got called in by the Feds for that meeting."
"Yeah, and I found out about her plan to go undercover," Grissom whispered as he shook his head.
"How many of us didn't see that one coming?" Catherine murmured. "By the way, we never did know, what happened when you found out, better yet how did you find out?"
Grissom shook his head softly.
"Okay. We have an operation in place. Your CSI, Sidle, has expressed an interest to my agents in availing herself. I wanted to let you know before we made the official offer." Culpepper explained.
"Really? What kind of operation?" Grissom asked.
"All this talk about your great capacity for observation. Sara Sidle matches the victim prototype to a "T." She's a young woman, brunette, tall for a female," he explained before Grissom turned to look at Sara as she walked into the room. She met his gaze before he turned back to the agent.
"You're not serious."
"And by all reports, she's steady. Has the right personality for a decoy operation."
"You're going to bait this guy with a human being? This is your big FBI plan," Grissom challenged slightly
"Before he kills again, yes. Got a better idea?" Culpepper challenged outright
"Understanding him first, completely, so that we can get out ahead of him."
"And if he kills again while we're trying to understand him?"
"Well, I'm sorry, but he's not going to kill my CSI," Grissom replied as he indicated Sara.
"I'm going to do it, Grissom," Sara interrupted and he turned around surprised. "I want to."
"You want to put yourself in the path of a psychotic killer?" he asked shocked.
"I'm trained in weaponless defense," she answered
"Too bad, because that's what turns him on, women fighting back. Gives him a greater sense of power when he makes his final kill."
"Grissom…" she began
"Sit down, Sara," Grissom replied abruptly before turning back to the agent. It was easy to tell the other man was greatly amused by the exchange between the two CSIs, and behind him Grissom could sense her moving to take a seat.
"Okay. If we're to follow your line of thinking, are you out ahead of him?"
"Not yet. He knows just enough about forensics to be dangerous. He thinks he's throwing us off track by planting confederate hairs. He probably shaves his head maybe his entire body as DNA protection. He may gag his victims using a garden-variety bath towel which he then takes with him as part of his murder kit. He will go after another tall brunette and the torture will be worse. But this time, he won't ejaculate. At least not at the scene."
"At home, later. He's learning control," the agent agreed
"Think he knows his next victim?" Sara asked
Grissom didn't turn to look at her as he answered. "Signature killers always know their next victim. But they don't know him…" he turned to look at her finally. "...until he tortures, rapes and kills them."
"No wonder she was slightly spooked after that meeting," Warrick mused for a moment. "Not that it stopped her of course."
"Nothing stopped her, God knows even we discussed it," Jim replied as he thought back.
"So none of us ever saw the tapes, what happened that night?" Warrick asked after a moment.
Sara had just stepped out of the van as Grissom reached it. And it was obvious that he was pissed. "This is a pretty flimsy excuse to get your circus up and running, don't you think?"
"Lives are at stake. I'll take flimsy over nothing," Culpepper replied as he stepped down from the van.
"This is action for action's sake Culpepper. You're risking my CSI's life," Grissom argued, Culpepper simply walked away as Sara stepped up to him.
"Look, this is my idea. I want to do something before another girl gets killed and…"
"Listen to me, Sara. If we study his past, we can predict his future," Grissom interrupted
"You've been saying that for weeks. It's taking too long. Someone else is going to die and you're still going to be figuring it out," Sara countered and Grissom looked at her almost as if he was seeing her for the first time.
"Okay, Sidle we're good to go," Culpepper called
"Wish me luck," Sara spoke softly before she turned and walked away. Grissom just stood their still stunned, Culpepper watched the other man as Sara stepped into the van past him.
A few minutes later, inside the van, Culpepper and Grissom sat side-by-side watching the various camera monitors on Sara. Inside the store, Sara continued to troll the aisles. She stopped and stared at a male shopper. He turned to look at her. His companion walked up to the cart and put something in it and Sara moved along.
Inside the van, Culpepper looked at his watch and sighed. "Oh, it's three hours expended," he began before clearing his throat. "Maybe we should reposition over at that Borders book store. Gets a lot of foot traffic in there according to the field agents." Grissom continued to watch the monitor.
Inside the store, Sara walked up to a display and took an item off the shelf to look at it. A man carrying his own basket appeared in the aisle. Sara glanced at him, and then put the item in her hand back on the shelf. The man walked past the aisle. Sara looked up, then back at the shelf. The man turned around and walked back into the aisle where Sara was. He watched her intently, and then turned around to pick something up off the shelf. He turned back to her.
Inside the van on the monitors, Grissom saw the double take and the man head for Sara. "Whoa," he began as Culpepper looked up at the monitor. Grissom pointed at the monitor as he continued, "That guy's coming back."
Inside the store, the male shopper walked up to Sara. "Would you happen to have a cigarette?"
"Uh, yeah, actually," Sara began as she reached into her bag to get the cigarettes.
"Culpepper... " Grissom began nervous.
"Let her play," Culpepper replied
"I've been trying to quit," the man pulled their attention back to the monitor. "Didn't want to buy a pack."
"Me, too. This is my last pack but, uh, I say that every week, so…" Sara replied as she offered it to him. He took a cigarette out of the pack. She put the pack back in her bag.
"Non-filtered. The women I know smoke filtered, you know those long, skinny cigarettes?" he smiled at her.
"Guess it depends on the woman," Sara countered
"Guess it does," he replied as he put the cigarette between his lips. "You got a light?"
"Sure. Yeah," Sara looked down into her bag to search for the light. She took her eyes off of the shopper in front of her. He glanced around.
"You live around here?"
"Maybe," she replied as he tucked the cigarette on his right ear. Sara looked up at him. "I don't usually give out that kind of information."
"It's probably smart. I wouldn't tell me either. You're cute."
"Thanks," she smiled as he glanced to the side. Sara automatically glanced to the side, too. He reached for her bag, his hand slipping inside.
"All right, we're on the move. Let's go," Culpepper spoke before the van doors opened and Grissom jumped out of the van. Culpepper and the other officers following, their guns drawn and cocking them as they ran. He heads for the store.
The male shopper reached into Sara's bag and grabbed something. She turned around and shouted. "Hey!"
"Don't move!" an officer yelled as the officers covered Sara and the man. The man immediately took a step back and held up Sara's wallet.
"I'll give it back. Here," He dropped the wallet to the floor as the FBI agent cuffed him behind his back. Grissom picked up the wallet as a cell-phone rang and Culpepper answered it.
"Yeah, Culpepper," he paused "Time and coordinate?" he paused once more. "Yeah, will do," he finished before hanging up. "All right, gentlemen. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I do not believe this is our man."
"What was your first clue?" Grissom replied
"Murder at the Monaco Hotel. Woman found bound in her room stripped and strangled," Culpepper turned and left. Grissom turned and looked at Sara.
"He met the profile," Sara spoke softly as he handed her wallet back to her.
"Sometimes, the hardest thing to do is to do nothing," Grissom replied before they both turned and headed out of the store.
"That was the hardest case we had I think. Still wonder how it is that no one ever caught on to the fact that we were 'civilians'," Warrick mused.
"That's the truth. Then again, only goes to show that we're the best investigators the Lab has," Nick countered with a grin.
"Yeah, but I was never as happy as I was when we were having breakfast after the case was over. Even as we watched Culpepper be an ass," Catherine smiled.
"I'd like to thank you, sheriff, Las Vegas Police. I'd also like to thank the citizens of Las Vegas for their courage. We at the Federal Bureau of Investigation are proud to have served you. Thank you," Culpepper spoke on the TV screen at the local dinner.
"Aw, that's cool. We don't need props. At the end of the day, we know what time it is," Warrick shrugged
"Give me some of that," Nick spoke up about the coffee pot that was passing around the table
"Do we have a breakfast budget, Grissom?" Sara asked ignoring the man.
"I believe Catherine was going to requisition one."
"Good, cause our plates are up, and nobody has any money," Sara replied with a smile as she stood to go get the plates.
"Right behind you," Warrick spoke as he rose to follow her.
"You, uh...you got me, right, War?" Nick asked smiling at the man.
"Yeah. Picture that," Warrick answered before Nick rose to help, leaving Grissom and Catherine sitting across from each other in the booth.
"I never should have put you in that position, Catherine. I'm sorry."
"What position? Never doubt and never okay back. That's how I live my life," Catherine countered
"I admire that," Grissom smiled before everyone returned with the plates.
"Whole wheat and fruit? Who ordered that?" Sara asked and Grissom motioned for the plate.
"Here," he ordered slightly.
"How's this for service?" Nick asked as they distributed the plates and Warrick slipped back into his seat.
"Very good," Catherine smiled.
"Refried beans. Mmm!" Nick sighed happily. Around him the others laughed while Sara pulled up her chair to the table and took her seat.
"You know, I think those were some of the best times we had. Breakfasts sitting around here," Catherine sighed softly.
"You and me both sister," Nick agreed as he glanced around the building.
"Well, I hate to break up the memories but we all have to work tonight..." Grissom began after a few moments of silence.
"He's right. So, see you guys tonight then," Catherine agreed as she rose from her chair.
"I got breakfast, you guys go ahead and head out," Grissom spoke before anyone could protest. Watching them go as he paid he couldn't help looking back at the table and picturing Sara there at the end, that space was going to be too empty without her.