Chapter 8

Tuesday, September 5th, 2006
5:04 PM

There was a different kind of life to the lab in the late afternoon. Outside the office door, he could hear the shifts changing as Days were rushing each lab to hurry with the results and Swing was checking in on results they'd left the night before. Inside the office, it was quiet, the faint murmur of the activity outside barely noticeable.

He'd come in early to get work done, finding the quiet of the townhouse almost oppressive in a way it had been only one short year ago. It astounded him how much had changed in the past year, and how much more had changed over the summer. His days of staying at the lab or out in the field eighteen hours of the day were over, with the exception of the past few days, where the quiet of the townhouse only reminded him of his old life, the life he hoped he'd never have to return to, and caused him to escape back into the solace of the bustling lab.

The files sat in front of him. They'd been opened and closed dozens of times by that point, but no new ideas had sprung forth. The case was stalled, and the amount of energy being spent on it made him tired beyond reason. He still had other cases to work on, his case from the previous night for instance. Yet, as he sat in the dimly lit office, his mind kept wandering back to the mutilated woman. He needed to find answers. He needed a break. He needed a cup of coffee.

Warrick was the only person in the break room when he arrived. Most of Days had left for the afternoon; Swing had just left on their own cases. The halls of the lab reflected the abandonment, growing silent as people dispersed. Grissom moved towards the coffee pot, glancing occasionally at Warrick. After pouring himself his cup of coffee, he moved to the sofa and sat down next to the young man. Warrick was staring straight ahead at the TV as the local news went through the top stories. "Warrick, what are you doing here at this time?"

"Working my case; watching the news." Grissom nodded, sipping on his coffee. Warrick continued to stare straight ahead, leaning forward, elbows resting on his knees. "Coverage has slowed, but…"

"There's more pressure than ever to close your case."

Warrick sighed. "Yeah. I just can't seem to get anywhere."

"Warrick…" He paused, debating whether to continue on with his line of thought, knowing that what he was thinking also applied to him. He was trying very hard not to be hypocritical, recognizing that he also was wandering around the lab at, what was for them, an unusual hour. Besides, the team followed his example, and the example he was setting was of a man, obsessed with a case, who didn't want to be at home. And, just as he had for years, Warrick was following that example. Grissom stopped.

The relationship he'd developed with his team over the years, was such that they almost always knew what he was about to say when it pertained to their reaction to a case. It was particularly telling when he would start a sentence with a name and then stop speaking altogether. It was something that he often did when he worried about his team, and something he'd employed, especially with Sara, more times than he could count. He'd either lost his words, or stopped himself, knowing how his words wouldn't match his actions. His team always knew where he was going though, and Warrick was no different. It was why Grissom wasn't surprised when Warrick acknowledged his name and began to speak. "Look Griss, I'd be at home, but Tina left for work, and I was thinking too much…about nothing, so I decided to come in and think about my case instead. I haven't been here long."

He nodded. He could relate. It was the exact same reason he was in the lab. "Okay."

After the quiet acceptance of each other's presence, it became silent again. Both men turned to the news, watching as the station moved onto the story of Catherine's and Nick's burnt bodies. Grissom felt Warrick shudder beside him, and knowing what the case pertained, he shuddered as well. The news anchors ended the story by asking for people to step forward with information, when Ecklie entered the room. "Gil, you're here."

Grissom furrowed his brow. "Yes I am, Conrad."

"You didn't answer your cell."

"My cell is in my office. I just stepped out."

"Well, I needed to get a hold of you. A woman's body has just been found off Blue Diamond Road. Days and Swing are both tapped out. I need your team to take it."

He took the slip from Ecklie's hand, studying it. The slip reported a battered woman's body being found about four-hundred meters from the road. After giving Ecklie a quick nod, he watched Ecklie exit the break room. Grissom sighed. "Who goes to bed and dreams up this horror every night?"

Warrick was looking at him, head cocked, intense green eyes gazing at his. "Who said that?"

"Hawkeye Pierce." He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "Here." He handed Warrick the slip. "Greg and I have open cases from last night to work through. Catherine and Nick have their case. I hate to have to give this to you, but you're here and your case is at a standstill…"

"I've got it, Grissom."

"Thank you."

Warrick nodded, sharing an understanding look with him. He watched as Warrick put his coffee cup into the sink and headed out the door. Grissom followed, heading back to his own office, his coffee cup in his hand.

Back in his office, he closed the door behind him and sat behind his desk. His hands ran over the dead woman's file, but he forced himself not to pick it up. Instead, he picked up a file containing a burglary from the previous night, and began to sift through it. His eyes kept darting over to the other file, and finally he closed the file on the burglary and shut his eyes. He was tired.

Time passed slowly as he sat, eyes closed, behind the desk. He wasn't asleep, just resting, yet his cell phone woke him, bringing his thoughts back to his location, to the files in front of him, and back to reality. At first he was annoyed at the intrusion into the first semblence of peace he'd had in days, but when he glanced at the screen and his home phone number reflected back at him, a smile formed on his face. He opened the phone and placed it next to his ear. "Sara, you're home."

"Excuse me?"

His heart stopped for one second. His eyes grew wide, before he realized what had happened. He relaxed. "That wasn't funny."

"It was from this end." He heard her snicker and he had to smile.

"So, you're back?"

"Obviously. I got in early, thought I'd come over and surprise you. Where are you?"

He sighed. "At the lab. I had to come in early."

"Rough week?"

He nodded to himself, running a hand through his hair. But, she was home, and that made everything better. He thought about heading home, but remembered that he just sent Warrick out on a case. Warrick could use some help. "Yeah. Listen, I would love to go home and see you, but I just sent Warrick out. Do you think you could give him a hand?"

"Sure."

He smiled. There was no hesitation in her answer. There were only a few times when she was reluctant to take a case, and that was only when they were finally spending time together after many long hours of working apart. He gave her the details and hung up on a goodbye and a promise to meet up later.

5:41 PM

Sara hung up the phone with a smile on her face. Grissom's promise to meet up later was enough to keep her smiling all evening. Things had changed so much between them over the summer. He was opening himself up to her, had given her a key to his townhouse. Two months before she never would have shown up at his place unexpected, regardless of the relationship they'd been in for a year. Now, it was okay, completely okay. He didn't question her presence in his home, or that she'd used his home phone to call him. He'd accepted her into his life. Brass's shooting had been a catalyst for it all, and while she hated what had occurred for it to happen, she wouldn't return to the way it was before for anything.

Grabbing her keys and leaving Grissom a short note to let him know she missed him, she exited the townhouse, climbed into her car and started the engine. Her smile never left her face as she drove to meet Warrick at his scene.

Vartann met her as she pulled her car to a stop. He opened the door for her and she climbed out of the car, giving Vartann a smile. Rounding to the back of her vehicle, she pulled out her kit and began walking towards Warrick. He was bent over the body, examining it. She approached him from behind. "Grissom said you could use a hand."

Warrick turned and beamed at her. "Hey Sara, you're back."

"Yeah, I just got in."

"How was Los Angeles?"

"It was alright. So, what have we got?"

"Dead woman, early-twenties. It looks like she was beaten to death. Look at all the contusions."

Sara bent down next to him. She nodded, wincing at the cuts and bruises littered across the body. She hated cases involving battered women, but Warrick was there with her, and she'd always found him a calming presence. He would keep things light for her without ever approaching anything inappropriate. Besides, his intensity matched hers, and it was a great combination for solving cases. He could keep her grounded and keep her involved at the same time. They'd go to the edge together, but he'd pull her back before they fell. Sara turned her face towards Warrick, giving him a half smile that contained both her relief that she was working with him on this, and that showed her immediate investment in the case. Warrick returned the smile with a knowing look of his own. His eyes told her he was right there with her. She knew he had her back, and would be there if she needed.

Moving over the victim's body, Sara's hand came up to brush the hair from the victim's face, but stopped short. She glanced up at David by the coroner's van, then back down at the victim. "Has David examined her yet?"

"Yeah. You can touch her. The body is coming out of Rigor. She's been dead for at least eight hours."

A gloved hand came down to brush the errant hairs away from the face. Through the latex, Sara could feel the heat. "The body is still warm."

"It's been out in the sun all day."

She nodded. Her eyes wandered over the face of the young woman, before heading down the body, taking in each mark on her exposed skin. She shook her head sadly. "Any id on the body?"

"No. Her pockets were empty."

"Hmm," she mumbled half to herself as she continued to study the woman's face.

"Glad to be back?"

She knew he was joking, but she was happy to be back. "Actually, yes I am."

"So, what did you do? Get back and immediately call Grissom to check in?" She turned, finding Warrick right next to her. His voice was teasing and she couldn't help but smile.

"Something like that," she answered, turning her head away, trying to hide her blush.

"Can't stay away from work, can you?"

Stifling a laugh, Sara had to bite down on her lip. She shrugged. "You know me." Needing to change the subject, she stood and began taking photographs, directing both their attention back to the case. "Could David give you COD?"

"Blunt force trauma. His estimate was that she was beaten to death."

"That explains the bruises. What about all of the cuts?" Sara's camera snapped photos of the body, as she spoke. "There are a lot of places where the killer broke skin."

"She was beaten with something. The weapon probably had a sharp edge of some sort." Warrick stood, taking his own photographs and placing down evidence markers. "Sara, what do you make of all this rock around here? I've never seen so many rocks here before."

"I'm not sure. What are you thinking?"

"Normally, if we processed a body here, it would be a body dump, right?"

"Yeah."

"So, it the body was dumped here, maybe the rocks were as well."

"For what purpose?"

"I don't know. Any ideas?"

"No." Her eyes wandered around the rocks. Taking more pictures, she bent down to the stones and studied them. "Warrick," she paused, picking up a rock and examining it, running her finger along the rough edge. "This one has blood on it."

"What?" Warrick moved next to her. She held up the rock and showed it to him. He took it from her hand, studying the trace amount of blood. "She was beaten with a rock?"

"Weapon of opportunity?"

"So then, where was she killed? I am having a hard time believing she was killed here. This rock had to have been brought in. Besides, she's been dead for hours. There aren't any signs of animal activity; there aren't any bugs present…"

"So, she was killed somewhere else, and dumped with the object she was killed with."

"Why all the other rocks?" Warrick moved amongst the stones, fingering each one. "Sara, more that one of these rocks has trace amounts of blood on them. The jagged edges on at least four of these rocks have blood."

Sara paused from her position, staring at Warrick with wide eyes. "Only the jagged edges? Not the smooth parts?"

"No. I've only spotted blood where the surface of the rock is sharp."

She moved next to Warrick, photographing each rock before picking it up and studying it. "You're right. If all this blood matches the victim, she was beaten by more than one rock."

"And possibly more than one person. A single killer wouldn't keep dropping his rock only to pick up another to use on her….unless he was throwing them at her."

"You think she could have been stoned to death?"

"I think it's a possibility. The stones with the jagged edges cut into the victim while the other stones merely bruised her. Besides, look at her cuts and contusions. If she was beaten by the rocks, wouldn't there be more damage and more blood on the rocks? Right now, stoning makes more sense."

"You know, the traditional practice of stoning has the victim being partially buried before being stoned. Within the common method, men are buried to their waist and women are buried to their shoulders before they're stoned to death. This woman's body is exposed."

"Sounds like something you'd know."

Sara slapped him good-naturedly across the shoulder. "Ouch." Warrick faked the emission of pain, earning a laugh from her. "So, if she was stoned to death, it wasn't by the traditional method. Maybe it was a chase; she was running from her killer, he was throwing rocks to incapacitate her."

"There are no signs of a chase here. A few blown over tracks, but nothing to indicate a chase." She stood up, surveying the area and adding confirmation to her words.

"But we've decided it was more likely she was killed elsewhere."

"I haven't quite decided that yet. Besides, if it was a chase, and the killer wanted to cover his tracks, he would have had to pick up every stone he threw."

"That could account for all the others. He over compensated, and picked up every stone he found, dumping them all with the body." Warrick stood beside her. They both looked around at the stones spread around their feet.

"Well, we need to find out where these stones came from. That could give us a potential crime scene, if we aren't already standing on it."

"And we'll have to check all of these rocks for blood."

"Leave no stone unturned."

Her joke caused Warrick to groan. "That was so…Grissom."

She laughed, smiling inwardly at the mention of Grissom's name. "Come on, we've got a lot of work to do."

8:22 PM

They'd gathered every stone in the surrounding area, bagging each bloodied one individually, and placing all the others in a separate box. David had left with the body an hour before. Warrick packed away the box containing all of the stones and returned to where Sara and Vartann were standing. "Well, that's the last of them. Are you ready to get back to the lab?"

He watched as Sara wiped her brow. He handed her a bottle of water he'd brought back with him. She took it, giving him a smile. "Thanks." Sara took the bottle, pouring the liquid down her throat. She handed the bottle back to him. "I'm ready." He nodded, watching her move towards her vehicle. He remained in his place, staring out over the desert. There was still some light out, but the light was fading, making way for night and the moon was visible in the evening light. He heard steps behind him and knew Sara had come to rest beside him. "Something wrong, Warrick?"

The sigh he omitted was heavy. "I was just thinking about this past week."

"Grissom said you had a tough one. Did you get anywhere with the homicide you and Catherine were working when I left?"

"No, it's still open."

"It's always harder when it involves children." The lilt of her voice was soothing and accepting.

Sara's hand was warm on his shoulder. He turned his face and looked down at her hand resting on him. He looked down at his own hands, his wedding band glinting in the dying sun. Everyone had offered him comfort that past week, with the exception of his wife. She hadn't wanted to hear it, but he figured it was because his other case had been close to her too. It had happened in her hospital. Tina didn't want to hear how he didn't have any answers, and he couldn't really blame her. It wasn't that she didn't offer him any solace; she'd offered it silently. He just wished she could give him a little more. His colleagues around him were all there for him, despite being caught up in their own brutal cases. Now, it was Sara, who had to have been affected more deeply by this recent case than he. They were investigating the death of a battered woman, possibly stoned to death, and Sara was standing beside him, consoling him. Before, it was Grissom providing comfort when a case involving a mutilated woman had all of his attention. Catherine and Nick, when he had passed them, were there for him also, even though they were working on a case involving a woman burnt alive over her dead husband. They had all been dealing with really bizarre, shockingly dreadful cases. He shook his head. "It's not only that. It's the whole past week. The team has gone from one terrible case to another. It just so hard to deal with it all and be there for each other when we're all going through similar things on our own."

Sara's hand pushed him to the sand, sitting him down on it. She sat down next to him. "So, catch me up. I've missed it all. I'll help you all deal."

"You just stepped into this." He waved his arm and indicated the area that had previously held the woman's body and all the stones surrounding her.

"Rick."

He sighed. "Well, you know about the case Catherine and I were working on when you left." Sara nodded. "Well, after you left, Grissom and Greg pulled a case involving a dead hooker in a hotel. She was mutilated. They recovered almost no evidence, and with other new cases coming in, they've had to work around it. Grissom's been…well, acting very Grissom about it. You know how he is. Greg took it hard. He found it very disturbing."

"I bet." Sara's voice was soft. She looked at him, urging him to continue.

"Then, Catherine was pulled from our case to work on a new one with Nick. A woman was burnt alive over her husband's corpse. You can imagine how they both reacted to it…" Warrick felt Sara's body stiffen beside him. She sat straight up, looking at him, not with horror as her actions would normally express, but with a curious look, as though her mind was spinning and trying to work through something. "What is it?"

"Could these cases be connected? Same killer, different MO?"

Warrick stared at her, trying to read her thoughts. He spoke slowly. "Why?"

"The dead prostitute, how was she mutilated?"

"Her genitals were cut off, clitoris and vaginal folds."

"Warrick, walk through this with me. Dead prostitute – female genital mutilation, widow, burnt over her husband's corpse, and now, a woman stoned to death? These are all very old cultural practices that have survived centuries, and are still used on women in other parts of the world today. It can't be a coincidence that the lab has seen three separate cases in the past week." Sara stood, brushing the sand from her pants. Warrick looked up at her before standing beside her and following her quick stride back to their vehicles. "Let's get back to the lab. If Doc Robbins can confirm COD, we'll have a better idea of what we're looking at."

He nodded slowly, his mind now spinning as well. He caught Sara looking at him with soft, almost regretful eyes. "Sorry Rick, you okay?"

"Yeah," his mind was all over the place as he began making the connections Sara had made. All the other thoughts that had been troubling him were gone, replaced by new ones that added fear into the equation. He met her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, let's go. I'll follow you back."