Just like Sara had predicted, the guy left little evidence to go on. No leads had presented themselves and it was wearing the team down. A case like this would've had them all pulling doubles and triples, but there was no evidence, there for, no leads to follow, or objects and samples to analyze.
"Damn it!" Warrick cursed as he kicked at the dirt in the park four nights after Vanessa White had been found. The next victim, #8, was lying in the morning light. She had also been raped and murdered.
Everyone had sat at CSI head quarters earlier that night waiting with baited breath for the call to come in, knowing that since it had been four days since Vanessa had been found, and despite having warned the public that there was a serial rapist and murderer on the loose, they knew that another victim would be found.
But the call hadn't come in until nearly 8am.
This time, the body was left near a childs play area. A young family had taken their twin sons to the park and just like one child, two had not been an exception. Both kept running, keeping their parents incredibly occupied. When the mother had chased her son into the trees near the garbage cans, she'd found the body and screamed loudly. Her husband had rushed over and quickly dialed 911, as had people who lived in the houses near the park who'd heard the blood curdling scream.
Nick had seen the way Sara looked at the young womans body and had immediately offered that they take the perimeter, wanting to get her as far away from the victim as possible. Like he'd promised her, he had been keeping his eye on her and though she was deeply invested in the case, as they all were, he was concerned. As much as he'd wanted to find the culprit, they had little evidence to go on. That didn't mean that he would ever stop looking, the desire to make the man who'd hurt her so badly pay, but it was taking a long time. Not that four days was a long time. Sometimes it took weeks. But given her 'involvement' for a lack of a better word, it couldn't be over fast enough.
He'd noticed that she ate only when she had to and she was surviving on coffee and occasional naps on the break room couch. He hadn't left her alone after they clocked out after shift either. He either went with her to her place, or took her to his - worried about what she might do if she were alone. He supposed it wasn't much different than what she was doing when they were together. She had made copies of the files to study when she wasn't working, and from time to time, he saw her making charts and diagrams trying to find a common link between the victims beyond their education majors, physical attributes and locations. At times, he'd fought her to take the files away, locking them away in his wall safe so she couldn't get to them. He knew she needed to sleep and with those files sitting freely around, he knew she wouldn't even try. Not that lying awake in bed was any better, but at least she could rest her eyes and maybe in her exhaustion, sleep would claim her. The times that it did, she would wake up in a cold sweat, or would be thrashing around. He would comfort her as best he could, like she had with him after he'd been freed from the plexiglass box he considered to be his coffin.
In the four days that they'd been spending all their time together, he realized that if he continued to wake her up from her nightmares, she would fight off sleep. But a soothing voice and whispers of "shh, it's OK, I'm here, you're safe," and a gentle hand on her arm, would slowly calm her down and she would fall out of the nightmare and into a restful slumber.
Grissom poured through the womans purse and once again ruled out robbery as a possibility. Her cash and credit cards were still in the wallet, as well as a student ID card from UNLV. He continued searching through the purses contents and found Student Union fees as well as receipts from the UNLV book store where she'd purchased used copies of Science text books.
"Looks like it was a body dump," Greg said, approaching Nick and Sara who were still scouring the earth for any sign that the attacker could have been there. But with a public park, it was a nearly impossible job. "Catherine is thinking that since we released the info to the public, women became more dilegent about parks near dusk and during the night. Looks like she worked at a convient store about a mile from here," he continued.
Grissom had given Warrick the girls name and he'd called the lab, intent on getting any and all information possible. Quickly, they'd learned that the victim drove a blue '98 Civic. Catherine had spotted one sitting the parking lot of a middle school just across the road, near the back of the lot. When they'd received confirmation that it was the victims car, she and Greg had processed it. The ALS light had shown sexual activity in the back seat, possible from the rape. And a pay stub had been found in the console with the address of her work place. Dirt was also smudged between the front and passenger side seats on the side. The floor in the backseat held some specs as well.
"Warrick called the store, and apparently she had been working last night. Shift started at four, and ended at ten," he sighed. "Apparently they aren't allowed to park in the lot because the spaces are only for customers, so employees have to park elsewhere. There is a lot directly next to the store that is abandon, so most of the employees have started parking there. But there are no street lamps or cameras."
"I'm going to check it out," Sara said, removing her gloves.
Nick held Greg's attention and nodded his head in Sara's direction, indicating he'd go with her.
"We're heading back to the lab in a few minutes," Greg stated. "Catherine already took some of the samples from the backseat in to have Mia analyze them, and Doc has apparently received the body and is starting the autopsy. Should have a post mortem SAE kit to Mia soon, too."
Quickly, the CSIs finished packing their kits back up and headed towards where the rest of the team had assembled, the young girls body long since having been removed. They motioned toward the silver Denali that they'd arrived in signalling that they were on their way out.
Upon arriving at the store, Sara and Nick spoke to the young woman behind the counter. She'd just taken over for another young woman who'd worked through the night. The girl before her had been there victim.
"Such a nice girl," Marilyn said quietly, sad that her co-worker had succumbed to such a horrible fate. "Heard about the guy being on the loose too. We've all been watching one anothers backs as best we can. Sometimes though, we just have to take our chances and hope for the best."
"What do you mean?" Sara asked.
"Mr. Parker didn't believe in letting his employees park in the parking lot," she motioned to the cement grounds outside of the convient store that was well lit up in the morning light. "At night, it's not so scary because we can see all around us. But he still wouldn't let anyone of us park in the lot after dark. We continually asked him. One of the girls who worked here thought it was a stupid rule. Mr. Parker is never here after four in the afternoon anyway, so she decided to move her car into the lit area. Well, that day he came back, saw her car and fired her on the spot. Said she didn't listen to his request. Insubordination or something. Maybe it saved her life. She was supposed to be the one working last night, not Mary."
Mary Bishop. The eighth victim.
The girl looked up at the photos that lined the wall above the cash register. Mary Bishop's photo was prominently hanging there the worlds "Employee of the Month" etched into a plaque. "This here," Marilyn continued, "is Annie. The one who was fired. She's pretty shaken up. She's room mates with my best friend at UNLV." Annie was a red head. Doubtful that she would've been a victim.
"Have you seen anyone hanging around here the past few days?" Nick asked. "Anyone at all?"
"Loitering isn't permitted," Marilyn said quietly.
"I'm not going to tell Mr. Parker," he said. The girl didn't look completely convinced. "Marilyn, if you saw anyone, anyone at all, it might help us find whoever it is that did this to Mary. And to the other girls."
The girl sighed. "There was this guy," she said. "Mary and I had been working together. After she left, he was gone. But while he was here, I saw him at the payphone. It didn't really look like he was talking to anyone. Just kinda held it up to his ear." She shrugged. "I saw him looking inside a few times, but that isn't exactly uncommon. He was here the entire time that Mary was, though."
"Are there any cameras outside?" Sara asked.
"No," she shook her blond curls. "We only have cameras inside," she pointed to a number of black orbs on the ceiling. "We watch them from the monitors here," she motioned to the small TV on the counter. "They are recorded though. Fancy little DVR system or something," she shrugged. "Mr. Parker always had the latest in security 'cause he didn't like feeling like his business wasn't safe," she rolled her eyes and her voice took on a bitter tone. "So what if you're workers aren't safe?" she tacked on.
"We're going to need to see those tapes," Nick nodded his head, understanding why the girl was upset. She'd lost a co-worker to a brutal crime and it very well could've been prevented had the owner of the store allowed the clerks to park their personal vehicles in a well lit area.
"Mr. Parker won't let you take them without a warrant," the girl answered. Sara sighed, and Nick pinched the bridge of his nose. Valuable time was being wasted. "But that prick isn't here, now is he?" she smiled sweetly, pulling out a key to the office.
"What've you found?" Nick asked as he and Sara entered the break room, each grabbing a quick cup of coffee and a donut from the box on the table.
"Her car was broken into. The lock on the drivers door was opened from the outside. Probably how the attacker got in. Figure he hid in the back of the car and waited until the girl got off shift," Brass answered, swallowing some of the cream filled donut.
"The prelim on the tox report shows chloriform. Probably passed out immediately which is why no one heard a commotion. After she passed out in the drivers seat, he probably slid her into the back before climbing up front and driving away. Somewhere between there and the park, he raped her and killed her. Good news is she probably never woke up. TOD is estimated at 1 am, three hours after she left work."
"What about you?" Catherine asked, rubbing her eyes. She was frustrated. Between the case, the hours and her arguments with Lindsay being at an all time high, all she wanted was to curl up in bed, throw the covers over her head and not come out until Christmas.
"Got the tapes," Nick smirked.
"Parker said he'd never give them up," Brass said, popping another bite of donut into his mouth. "We put in for a warrant."
"Girl at the counter this morning is pretty pissed at the guy. He sounds like a real winner," Sara shrugged. "She gave them to us voluntarily."
"She knows she'll probably get fired for this, right?" Catherine asked.
"It's what she's counting on," Nick answered. "If she gets canned, she's going to collect unemployment insurance."
"Where's Warrick and Greg?" Sara asked.
"Here we are my darling," Greg winked. Sara smirked and rolled her eyes.
"We just finished the door to doors," Warrick chimed in, collapsing in the a chair.
"My tootsies hurt," Greg pouted as he fell onto the break room couch. The room laughed a little at Greg's choice of words. Apparently they hadn't all been heading back to the lab like Greg had said earlier. Grissom decided that he and Warrick would do door to door questioning immediately. No time to waste.
"Anything?" Grissom asked the two, peering over his glasses.
"Nothing even remotely close to anything usable," Warrick's eyes were downcast. "There was an older eighties model chevy pick up. Not a truck anyone recalled having seen before. Everyone who mentioned the truck mentioned about having new neighbors and assuming the vehicle belonged to them or a friend who was helping them move in, so they didn't think much of it. Most of the people on that street who'd seen the truck are young families and went to bed before midnight, and when they woke up this morning, the truck was gone. The park is only a couple of blocks to the east of that street though. So, he probably had a game plan."
"Maybe he was checking out the park earlier in the day, deciding where to drop the body," Grissom said. "We did find dirt in the victims car."
Sara's pager started to buzz so she pulled it off of her belt. She turned to Nick. "It's Archie."
The two made there way to the A/V lab quickly.
"Sorry, guys," the tech said quietly. "I've gone over all the time codes that overlap when Mary and Marilyn were working together that day, and I'm just not getting anything. I can see someone standing over here," he pointed to the screen where a torso was present near the window at the payphone, "but I can't see his face at any point."
"It might not be a total loss," Nick said, leaning in a little closer. "Is that a sunglasses stand?"
Archie nodded smiling, "reflection in the mirror. Sorry I didn't catch that earlier."
"It's OK, man," Nick clapped Archie's shoulder and then leaned back on his heels. His hand quickly found Sara's and gave it a quick, reassuring squeeze. She glanced at him quickly, in appreciation. She was nervous. What if it really is the same guy? What if, by some miracle, some little detail that she'd surpressed came back from her own attack and she could ID the guy? She was terrified at the idea of coming face to face with him, but excited that maybe she, and the other victims, would get their justice.
"Just enhance this," Archie mumbled trying to make the frame a little clearer. "Well, it's the best I can do," he informed them.
"It's the best lead we have so far," Sara smiled gratefully at him. She grabbed the print off from the laser printer next to the door. "We'd better go show the others."
"I'll get this picture out there," Brass informed the group. "At the moment, we can't exactly call him a suspect, so try not to get your hopes up, alright?"
The group of people nodded their heads in understanding. The best Brass could do was release the picture, which was still grainy, to the local TV stations and send the picture to the newspapers to get it printed for the next issue coming out in the morning. At best, all they could say is that they were looking for this man who may have information about am on going investigation. Those public pleas rarely did anything in their favor, but every now and again, someone who paid close enough attention to TV and newspapers was able to make a connection . . . but even those, most of them ended up being a mistaken case of identity.
"Well," Grissom said, standing up, "I think we should call it a day. If something comes up, Brass will call me, and I'll contact you all, but until then, go home and get some sleep." And with out anything further, he walked out of the room and closed the door to his office behind him.
