Ch. 5 is mostly just to move things along, but it picks up at the end, I promise.
It was the next night at work, and their time had run out to hold Laura, they had to let her go. They were all upset at this. They knew she would strike again, and all they could do is wait for the call, and hope she left more evidence behind than the previous time.
They were right, only about two hours after she was released they got a call. 4-19. They arrived at the crime scene only a few minutes later. David confirmed he had only been dead for about an hour, and emptied the contents from the victim's pockets.
Catherine took the contents from David. "Texas driver's license. His name was Eddie Almond, 36." She looked through the rest of his wallet, and found pictures of his family. She found a picture that made her heart drop. The picture had the victim with his wife, two daughters and one son. They looked so happy, and the kids were so young.
Then the phone started to ring in her hand. The name came up as Tammi Almond, and a picture of Eddie with his wife. "It's his wife." She said before answering. "Hello, Tammi?"
"Who is this?" She heard coming from the other end.
"My name is Catherine Willows, I'm with the Las Vegas Crime Lab."
"What?"
"Your husband, Eddie, was killed in his hotel room a couple hours ago. I'm so sorry for your loss." Catherine could just hear sobbing from the other end, then Tammi hung up, and so did Catherine.
They searched every inch of the hotel room, but it was a hotel room, and it had evidence of many different people being in there. It was hard to differentiate what was important from what the last hotel guest had left behind.
Nick finally broke the silence he had been in since he arrived at the scene. He asked, "You said he was from Texas, right?"
"Yeah, he has a Texas driver's license." Catherine told him.
"What if she... what if it's her? He could've been another one of the kids, he's the right age."
"Just because he's from Texas doesn't mean that-"
"-Yeah two hours after we released her? It does mean that."
Catherine walked into the DNA lab hoping Henry had the results for her. "You get the results from my crime scene yet?"
"Yes, well sort of. All the blood that was collected belongs to the victim, Eddie Almond. There were many other contributors at the scene, but only two have a record. Ben Thomas and Richard Alvarez, do those names mean anything to you?"
"No, are they supposed to?"
"No, I mean, it wouldn't be a bad thing if they did, but I just thought maybe you had an idea of who they are."
"Thanks Henry." Catherine said and waked out.
Greg walked into the trace lab hoping to get something that would lead them to the killer. Hodges was, as usual, in his own little world. He had music on, and was doing pathetic dance moves while he was processing the evidence. Greg just shook his head, and turned off the music. Hodges quickly turned around, he didn't know anyone was in his lab. "Oh, hey, didn't see you come in." Hodges said trying to act professional.
"Do you have the results ready?"
"Only if you ask nicely."
"Hodges can you give me the results? We don't have time for this." Greg said, frustrated.
"Ask nicely."
"Fine, I'll just have Catherine come over, and get the results herself. She's not going to be too happy with you."
"Fine, fine, I'll give you the results. It's lipstick."
"What is?"
"The red substance found on the victim's cheek."
"Thanks."
Tammi Almond along with her three kids came in the crime lab. The kids were unaware of what was going on, and Tammi couldn't stop crying. Nick and Sara saw her coming in, and went over to her. "Hello, are you Tammi Almond?" Nick asked.
"Yes, and these are my kids." Tammi said with a sweet southern drawl.
"Well I'm Nick Stokes, and this is Sara Sidle. We are the CSIs working your husband's case."
"Do you mind if I talk to you separately." Sara said meaning she didn't want the kids to hear.
"No, I don't mind." Tammi said. Then, Sara led her to Nick's office while Nick took the kids.
"I'm really sorry for your loss. I just have a few questions I need to ask you."
"May I see my husband after?"
"I don't know if that's a good idea."
"I need to, I just need to see him one more time."
"Okay. Now. Your husband, did he have any enemies?"
"No, not that I know of." She pauses for a moment to think. "Actually, there was this one girl, but it was a long time ago."
"Who is she?"
"I don't know her name, but she molested my husband when he was little. It took him a long time to tell me. He would sometimes jump or get scared when I touched him. I finally got it out of him what it was that was bothering him. His babysitter molested him, and he never told anyone but me. If I would've done something about it, he might still be alive."
This hit Sara like a ton of bricks. She knew what was going on with Nick, and she hasn't done anything about it. If Laura killed him, she would never forgive herself for keeping quiet, even though it was at her boss' request that she didn't do anything.
"Thank you for your help ma'am, I think you just solved the case."
"I did?"
"Let me have an officer take you to see your husband."
"Thank you."
After Sara brought Tammi to an officer to lead her to the morgue, she rushed over to find Catherine. She found Catherine in her office, and Catherine invited Sara in, and told her to take a seat. "What'd you get from the wife?"
"It's Laura. I think we need to do whatever it takes to get a conviction this time. Even if it means forcing Nick to press charges. I think if we don't, he's going to end up at one of the crime scenes. And the guilt we will feel... will be unbearable. She's going after the men she babysat as kids! Nick could be next!"
"I know, and if we don't find the evidence we need, he's going to have to suck it up." Catherine said.
Nick was still talking with the kids, when Catherine came in. "Nick."
"I'll be right back, okay?" He said to the kids, then stood up to talk to his boss.
"Nicky, we may need your testimony. It's her. She struck again, and she's not getting away this time."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying, if we don't get sufficient evidence; I'm going to arrest her for molestation... and you're the only person that can verify that." She said, choosing her words very carefully. She was very careful not to call him a victim, or say anything else that would make him upset.
Tammi came in, she had obviously been crying for a while. Her eyes were all red and puffy. She said to her kids, "Come on, let's go guys."
"Where's Daddy? When will he come back? I miss him." The little boy asked as they walked out.
Catherine looked at Nick, "You can't let him get away with this, and right now, it doesn't look like we're going to have the evidence."
"I don't expect you to understand. But, I can't, I'm sorry." Nick said as he walked out.
Nick had just got home later that day, when he heard a knock at the door. Sara was standing there. "Sara? What are you doing here?"
"I just wanted to say, no matter what, we're here for you, Nick. We always will be."
"What did Catherine tell you?"
I know it was a little boring in the beginning, and that's mostly why it took longer to write. I didn't want to go too much into detail with the case because, that's a completely different road, I didn't want to go all the way down. But I wanted to put Hodges and Henry in the story. So did you like how I covered the case, or do you want me to go into more detail in the next chapter? Please review. If you have anything to say, I'd love to hear it.
