2. chapter - 'Tribbiani's Bar'
Las Vegas, 'Tribbiani's Bar'
Although the two were wearing their official jackets with the huge CSI- print on front- and backside, it was hard work for them to make their way through the crowd.
"It's always the same", Sara shouted to Nick, "someone is murdered an five minutes later half the town comes around to see who and why!"
She rolled her eyes and Nick gave her a hearty smile.
After a while - and rich in a couple of bruises - they stood in front of the bar.
The building had been sealed off by the police, and the present policemen were busy with keeping away the crowd.
One policeman just turned to Nick and Sara and took measures to advice them to leave the scene, when he noticed their CSI-jackets.
The two hold up their CSI-cards and were allowed to pass the border.
*****
As they entered the bar, both took a look around.
The large room was more or less clearly organised. A huge bar, where normally a barkeeper should be doing his work at that time, took up one edge. Now it was unoccupied.
The main part of the room was divided into several small parts by espaliers - which were decorated with chains of spotlights - and were intended to give the guests the feeling of 'intimacy'.
The part opposite the entrance build up a dance floor, where normally cheerful visitors were likely to dance.
Now, nobody was dancing - but the dance floor was full of people - policemen and relatives of the victim were standing around the body of a young woman, lying on the floor.
Nick and Sara once more hold up their CSI-cards to prove their identity, then knelt down beneath the corpus.
The young woman was wearing a short, black skirt, which had lifted as she had broken down, and so enabled the people to catch a glimpse of her red slip - and a T-shirt that once had been white, but now was painted red with her own blood.
Nick put on his gloves, leaned forward and examined the wound in the woman's chest, while Sara stood up again and contacted the nearest police- officer.
"My name is Sara Sidle, CSI Las Vegas. - And what's her name?", she asked pointing at the dead woman.
"Maria Convaelos", the officer replied, "25 years old. Her parents immigrated from Spain ten years ago. They run this bar."
"Can you give me a brief description of what exactly happened?", Sara asked.
The officer nodded.
"Every Saturday from 9 p.m. onwards there's 'disco fever' in 'Tribbiani's bar'. The music was very loud, and Miss Convaelos danced between dozens of guests.
We questioned the visitors and all of them unanimously gave evidence, that they didn't hear any shot when suddenly Miss Convaelos broke down. The blood let most of them get hysteric."
Sara slightly nodded, thoughtful. Then she turned back to Nick, who had finished the examination. She had the impression he had already been watching her for a few moments - now he gave her a smile.
She returned his smile, then asked:
"What did you find out?"
"I'm not a court doctor, but to me it's quite obvious she's been shot to dead. Look-", he pointed at the wound, "-I'm pretty sure the bullet hit her heart."
"She must have died within a few seconds.", Sara mumbled to herself.
Nick sighed.
"Ok, Sara - lets hope they didn't destroy every trace."
*****
Both trained on team skills, they split up and while Sara stayed with the corpus to closely examine it, Nick talked to the policeman before starting to search the room for traces.
"Any more you could tell us?", he asked.
"Yeah, well-", the officer repeated, "-her parents told us she had had a violent argument with her boyfriend shortly before."
"What about?" Nick tried to find out if that boyfriend could have something to do with the dead woman on the dance floor.
"Basically money. Miss Convaelos had lent him a few thousand dollars, which he gambled away in a casino and so was unable to pay back. She threatened to leave him, what made him very angry. They had a small fight in the back room in which he beat her and she scratched with her long fingernails right through his face. They yelled at each other and afterwards she ran out onto the dance floor. Perhaps dancing was a way for her to forget what just had happened."
Nick nodded understandingly and made an imaginary note to have a closer look at that boyfriend. Then he took his kit and focused on the clues he had to find.
*****
When he and Sara came together again about half an hour later, they exchanged their results and Nick informed Sara of what the officer had told him before.
".and ran out onto the dance floor.", he finished.
"That fits in to what I found out. If you have a closer look at her fingernails-", she used a magnifying glass to show this to Nick, "-you can see skin pigments underneath them. I'm quite sure they're a bit bloody, what would indicate that she scratched him pretty seriously. But Greg'll find out - I took a sample."
She made a short pause, then went on.
"I also found quite a lot blue fibers on her T-shirt. Too many to believe this to be pure chance. 'Would say they're cotton - maybe from a T-shirt or pullover."
"Her boyfriends one?", Nick wanted to know.
"Certainly, yes. I'm sure if you ask her parents which colour the guy's shirt had, they'll tell you: royal blue."
Sara turned from the corpus to face Nick who knelt right next to her. She could smell his after-shave - and enjoyed it. It just smelled like. Nick! Simply Nick, and it was wonderful. She had to oppress the need to lean forward to get closer to him - the same time she was surprised of her own behaviour. Well - Nick was just her friend, wasn't he?
She tried to wipe these thoughts away to get professional again and asked:
"Now, Nick - what did you find out?"
"Well - there are definitely too many clues in this room. You now - lots of guests and policemen have been around here. I found lots of clues - footprints, fingerprints, hairs, cells. And the garbage can - the very thought of it is horrible. Full of cigarettes, used napkins, tissues and a lot more. Greg will be very busy the next few days.", he said with a huge smile, then went on:
"It'll be hard work for us to distinguish between traces from a mighty suspect and those from 'normal' guests and the officers. "
Sara agreed.
"That means we'll have to check the DNA of lots of people."
She smirked.
"Greg'll be very, very busy."
Las Vegas, 'Tribbiani's Bar'
Although the two were wearing their official jackets with the huge CSI- print on front- and backside, it was hard work for them to make their way through the crowd.
"It's always the same", Sara shouted to Nick, "someone is murdered an five minutes later half the town comes around to see who and why!"
She rolled her eyes and Nick gave her a hearty smile.
After a while - and rich in a couple of bruises - they stood in front of the bar.
The building had been sealed off by the police, and the present policemen were busy with keeping away the crowd.
One policeman just turned to Nick and Sara and took measures to advice them to leave the scene, when he noticed their CSI-jackets.
The two hold up their CSI-cards and were allowed to pass the border.
*****
As they entered the bar, both took a look around.
The large room was more or less clearly organised. A huge bar, where normally a barkeeper should be doing his work at that time, took up one edge. Now it was unoccupied.
The main part of the room was divided into several small parts by espaliers - which were decorated with chains of spotlights - and were intended to give the guests the feeling of 'intimacy'.
The part opposite the entrance build up a dance floor, where normally cheerful visitors were likely to dance.
Now, nobody was dancing - but the dance floor was full of people - policemen and relatives of the victim were standing around the body of a young woman, lying on the floor.
Nick and Sara once more hold up their CSI-cards to prove their identity, then knelt down beneath the corpus.
The young woman was wearing a short, black skirt, which had lifted as she had broken down, and so enabled the people to catch a glimpse of her red slip - and a T-shirt that once had been white, but now was painted red with her own blood.
Nick put on his gloves, leaned forward and examined the wound in the woman's chest, while Sara stood up again and contacted the nearest police- officer.
"My name is Sara Sidle, CSI Las Vegas. - And what's her name?", she asked pointing at the dead woman.
"Maria Convaelos", the officer replied, "25 years old. Her parents immigrated from Spain ten years ago. They run this bar."
"Can you give me a brief description of what exactly happened?", Sara asked.
The officer nodded.
"Every Saturday from 9 p.m. onwards there's 'disco fever' in 'Tribbiani's bar'. The music was very loud, and Miss Convaelos danced between dozens of guests.
We questioned the visitors and all of them unanimously gave evidence, that they didn't hear any shot when suddenly Miss Convaelos broke down. The blood let most of them get hysteric."
Sara slightly nodded, thoughtful. Then she turned back to Nick, who had finished the examination. She had the impression he had already been watching her for a few moments - now he gave her a smile.
She returned his smile, then asked:
"What did you find out?"
"I'm not a court doctor, but to me it's quite obvious she's been shot to dead. Look-", he pointed at the wound, "-I'm pretty sure the bullet hit her heart."
"She must have died within a few seconds.", Sara mumbled to herself.
Nick sighed.
"Ok, Sara - lets hope they didn't destroy every trace."
*****
Both trained on team skills, they split up and while Sara stayed with the corpus to closely examine it, Nick talked to the policeman before starting to search the room for traces.
"Any more you could tell us?", he asked.
"Yeah, well-", the officer repeated, "-her parents told us she had had a violent argument with her boyfriend shortly before."
"What about?" Nick tried to find out if that boyfriend could have something to do with the dead woman on the dance floor.
"Basically money. Miss Convaelos had lent him a few thousand dollars, which he gambled away in a casino and so was unable to pay back. She threatened to leave him, what made him very angry. They had a small fight in the back room in which he beat her and she scratched with her long fingernails right through his face. They yelled at each other and afterwards she ran out onto the dance floor. Perhaps dancing was a way for her to forget what just had happened."
Nick nodded understandingly and made an imaginary note to have a closer look at that boyfriend. Then he took his kit and focused on the clues he had to find.
*****
When he and Sara came together again about half an hour later, they exchanged their results and Nick informed Sara of what the officer had told him before.
".and ran out onto the dance floor.", he finished.
"That fits in to what I found out. If you have a closer look at her fingernails-", she used a magnifying glass to show this to Nick, "-you can see skin pigments underneath them. I'm quite sure they're a bit bloody, what would indicate that she scratched him pretty seriously. But Greg'll find out - I took a sample."
She made a short pause, then went on.
"I also found quite a lot blue fibers on her T-shirt. Too many to believe this to be pure chance. 'Would say they're cotton - maybe from a T-shirt or pullover."
"Her boyfriends one?", Nick wanted to know.
"Certainly, yes. I'm sure if you ask her parents which colour the guy's shirt had, they'll tell you: royal blue."
Sara turned from the corpus to face Nick who knelt right next to her. She could smell his after-shave - and enjoyed it. It just smelled like. Nick! Simply Nick, and it was wonderful. She had to oppress the need to lean forward to get closer to him - the same time she was surprised of her own behaviour. Well - Nick was just her friend, wasn't he?
She tried to wipe these thoughts away to get professional again and asked:
"Now, Nick - what did you find out?"
"Well - there are definitely too many clues in this room. You now - lots of guests and policemen have been around here. I found lots of clues - footprints, fingerprints, hairs, cells. And the garbage can - the very thought of it is horrible. Full of cigarettes, used napkins, tissues and a lot more. Greg will be very busy the next few days.", he said with a huge smile, then went on:
"It'll be hard work for us to distinguish between traces from a mighty suspect and those from 'normal' guests and the officers. "
Sara agreed.
"That means we'll have to check the DNA of lots of people."
She smirked.
"Greg'll be very, very busy."