Disclaimer: I don't own CSI, but I am playing with the characters(:
Note: Thoughts will be in italics.
"Brass, we've got a 419." Nick gave up on trying to sound sick.
"What? Where? In your house? I thought you were sick, where are you?" Now Brass was annoyed and Nick could hear it in his voice.
"Jassie's horse show, I texted you my address."
"What are you doing near a bunch of horses if you're sick?" Brass wanted a confession from Nick, he never hesitated to interrogate one of the CSI's when he got the chance.
"Brass, stop messing with me. You know how important she is to me, she's my only niece. I only called in sick because I'm saving my vacation days to visit my parents, who I've seen once in the past six months."
"Fill me in on the details." Brass jotted down notes as Nick recited what Jassie had told him.
"Did she touch anything?"
"No. Well, a ring." Nick spoke quickly. He wanted to get back to Jassie and Roger to see if they were okay.
"A ring?"
"Yes, she found it on the ground before finding the body. I already bagged it…I had my kit in the trunk."
"I'll tell Grissom and the team, officers will be out there shortly." Brass hung up.
Brass exited his office. As he headed to Grissom's office he observed the CSI's at work, he really did admire them for being so good at their jobs. Catherine was finger printing a 2011 BMW M3 engine when Brass walked by. She looked up when he whistled at the car, but went back to work when he didn't acknowledge her. Warrick was doing paperwork, and Greg had his face in the microscope.
The kid finally gets to be in the field and somehow always finds his way back to the lab. Brass sighed, but kept walking.
"Grissom, Nick has a " Grissom wasn't in his office.
No sign of Grissom…no sign of Sara.
Brass headed back down the hall and called out to Catherine.
"Catherine?" She looked up, "Have you seen Gil? Nick has a 419, I called it in but I can't find him or Sara."
"No, I " Her sentence was cut off.
"Brass, you were looking for me?" Grissom asked, he seemed to be out of breath, like he was just running. He had a twinkle in his eye and half of a grin on his face.
Weird.
"Yes, Nick has a 419 at one of Jassie's horseshows, she found a body in a pile of shit. Let's go. Oh, by the way, where's Sara?"
"My office." Grissom replied quickly.
Too quickly.
"I thought Nick was home sick?" Grissom turned to look at Brass.
"Our Nicky was playing hooky to go to Jassie's show." Brass grinned.
The two men started off down the hall with Catherine, Greg and Warrick following a few steps behind.
Brass thought he would humor himself, "It's funny because I was just in your office."
"Oh…I.." Grissom stuttered.
"Hey guys!" Sara said excitingly coming out of the office, "What's up?"
It's funny, she has the same twinkle in her eye. Doesn't take a CSI to know what's up.
"419, Jassie's horseshow. Lets go." Greg said, sounding happier than he should be about a 419. Jassie was like a niece to him and he loved her company.
"How long is it going to take to get the manure off of her?" Warrick asked.
"Shouldn't be too long, we have a couple officers headed over here now with shovels." Detective Vartann put his hands in his pockets and took a deep breath.
"Smells." Vartann wrinkled his nose.
Warrick shrugged. "You get used to it. Can't be worse than a fully decomposed body, right?
Vartann gave Warrick a quick sideways glance and left the building to get fresh air. Grissom, Sara, and Greg passed him on his way out.
"Where'd Catherine go?" Greg looked behind him.
"She went to talk to Nick, Jassie, and Roger. Nick will be over here soon, he's just concerned about them. Jassie must be shaken up a bit." Greg nodded and offered a hand to help Sara reach the ladder to get down to the pile of manure.
"Ladies first." Greg smiled, Sara laughed, and Grissom raised an eyebrow.
"Gil, you and your posse owe me new shoes." Brass lifted his foot and showed his soles covered in horse manure.
Vartann found Catherine with Nick, Jassie, and Roger. To his surprise, Jassie was calm but Roger wasn't. His eyes seemed worried and wouldn't leave Jassie.
"Nick, Catherine and I will stay with Jassie and Roger, you should go help process the scene."
Nick nodded, picked up his kit and headed away from them. Super Dave and Doc Robbins just arrived, Nick joined them on their walk to the scene.
"So Jassie, what classes are you going to be in?" Catherine asked, all the while eyeing Roger and watching his reactions.
"First Level 1 and 2. The first class isn't for another…" Jassie checked the time on her phone, "Four hours though. We got here early so Charles can relax and get used to the place."
"Jassie, is it okay if I take a sample of your DNA and take your fingerprints? Its procedure." Catherine pulled a swab from her kit.
"Yeah, no problem."
The manure had finally been removed from on top of the body. Dave was brushing the remaining manure debris off. He looked her over, her skin was filthy from the manure. No sign of ligature or penetration marks or bruises. After taking the liver temperature he stood up and looked at Grissom.
"We won't know the cause of death until we get her back to the lab. No visible bruises or contusions on her body, but we'll know for sure soon enough."
"Warrick, can you do a perimeter?" Grissom noticed Nick standing beside Sara and Brass talking. He knew Nick was concerned about Jassie and wanted to keep him busy. "Nick, fingerprint the floor on the edge of the manure drop off. To get out of this you have to put your hands on the ledge to get out. Maybe you will find boot prints too. You're going to have to exclude ours and Jassie's as well." Nick nodded.
"How long has she been dead?" Grissom looked at the young girl. She couldn't be older than fifteen or sixteen, Jassie's age.
"According to her liver temperature, about five hours." Dave nodded to Sara, silently saying it was okay to touch or move the body.
"Thank you, David." Grissom knelt down near the body. He shined his flashlight on the girl's legs and feet. "She must have been going to ride today. She's dressed in breaches and riding boots. But no jacket." Mentally taking note her boots had been recently polished over the scuff on the heels and toes.
"I've got grey fibers in her hair." Sara pulled out her tweezers and slipped the fibers into an envelope.
"Okay David, you can get her out of here. I'll help you." Sara said.
"I'll meet you guys back outside." Brass left via the ladder he had brought to get in and out of the crime scene.
"Are we going to have to take all this manure back to the lab?" Greg was standing in front of the huge pile.
"No." Grissom looked at Greg.
"Good." Greg sounded relieved.
"But we will have to take back what was within a foot of her body. Brass had the officers make a separate pile for the manure that was around her." Grissom tilted his head to the pile to Greg's right.
"You can be the one to process it, if you want." Grissom offered with a smile. Greg groaned. Knowing his duty as a field CSI he wasn't going to pass up the offer just because it smelt horrible. He would do it, but gagged at the thought.
"Sara, would you like to join me?" Flashing his white smile which he hoped Sara wouldn't resist. She smiled and was about to answer when Grissom interrupted her.
"No, once we get the body out of here, she's going to join me back at the lab for the autopsy with Doc. Robbins and then go over every inch of the victims clothes with me so we don't miss anything."
Sara's smile disappeared and was replaced by a grin. "Maybe some other time, Greg."
Warrick was walking the perimeter of the scene looking for anything. No blood trail, no dust, no nothing. Only manure.
Did the killer sweep?
He notice a single broom bristle on the floor and bagged it.
"Greg, it wouldn't make sense to bag the manure. It would just leak through the bag. Go to the Denali and get the plastic bins out of the trunk. Put a square foot of manure into each." Grissom instructed. "Warrick, did you find anything?"
"A single broom bristle, nothing else."
"Okay, he or she swept this area." Sara pondered.
"Warrick, could you help Greg with the bins and manure?" Grissom asked with a straight face, not expecting any resistance from his CSI. Warrick just glared, shrugged, and climbed up the ladder.
"You didn't have to do that, Greg's a big boy." Sara turned to face Grissom. He mimicked her actions.
"I know. I just wanted to be alone with you." He smiled.