Disclaimer – Please see chapter 1
A/N – Thank you so very much to those of you that left a review for the last chapter. I really appreciate you taking the time to give me any and all feedback you send. My sincere apologies for not having time to reply to them all, and also for making the error with posting of the wrong chapter for chapter 6, which has now been rectified. Some of this chapter is Grissom POV. Story is beta'd by myself so any remaining mistakes are all mine, so I apologize in advance. R & R Enjoy!
Fall Out Boy – Chapter 8 – What does the evidence tell me?
Snapping on one of his latex gloves taken from his jacket pocket, so as not to contaminate the crime scene as he did his search and collection, Grissom then opened up the door and entered.
First port of call was the living room, as he scanned around the surfaces trying to locate any framed pictures that might end the uncomfortable feeling he was still getting as to the real identity of the female victim, he had to find out, because it could complicate things further back at the lab, and with Sara.
Not seeing any evidence of any family photographs around, he then stepped up to a small bookcase containing books and crouched down to read the titles, a set of encyclopaedia's, a few children's nursery rhyme and fables books, four Chemistry text books along with others on different science subjects.
Running his finger above the spines not touching just keeping track of where he was, he then saw numerous books on animals and wildlife in general, general world history, a book on herbal and plant medicines, then his finger stopped and hovered above a set of three recently published forensic text books.
Well Charlotte did work as a fingerprint technician in the lab, so maybe it is her, and she was keeping abreast of the new forensic techniques to keep her hand in the game.....He thought before circling around the room slowly to try to spot any more clues to the woman's identity.
Hang on,.........Didn't Nick also tell me that the woman worked at the pharmacy in the town? A logical sort of transitional job for someone on the run with her work history........he mused as his eyes wandered absorbing everything in his memory.
Stepping around the blood pool on the floor, Grissom spotted a picture frame face down, in a mess of broken glass, hidden slightly under the couch.
Crouching down and making a mental note to make sure he recorded finding the frame in case Nick and Greg had missed it, he turned it over, but it was just a picture of Kye dressed in summer cloths sat on a beach digging in the sand, it looked to be pretty recent too, possibly taken prior to them coming to live here.
Putting the frame back where he found it, he did another quick scan of the room, and apart from the obvious signs of a struggle that must have taken place prior to the murders, the room was pretty sparsely filled with furniture after the couch, bookcase, open cupboard, upturned coffee table and rug.
Grissom entered the kitchen, and after opening & shutting various cupboards and drawers found nothing to either confirm or deny the female victim's identity to him, but he did spend a little more time looking over the scattered books and stuff on the kitchen table.
I'll grab a few of those on the way out, after I find some kind of bag to put Kye's stuff in to, Sara may need them to keep him occupied and distracted from what has happened to him.
Now taking the stairs he pushed open the first door, bathroom, better remember to grab any of Kye's stuff from there, he absently thought moving on to the next door and pushing it open, ah master bedroom, might find a clue in here.
Entering he saw the bloodied and messed up bedding on the double bed right away, and tried not to imagine the Charlotte he had known dead and sprawled out on top.
Keeping focussed on the task at hand, he quickly spotted a picture frame sat next to the lamp on the night stand, opposite to the side where a struggle had taken place, going by the evidence on the floor.
Walking around the bed, ever careful not to stand in any blood spatter, or any disrupted items on the floor he reached the other side and picked up the frame.
His eyes landed on the image of a woman sat on the sand on a beach cross legged, her hair blowing in the wind, Kye sat in her lap grinning, and a man he presumed to be the male victim Martin Jacobs sat behind her, legs either side as he embraced the two in front.
"Oh god! No! Not Charlotte" he said out loud to himself.
It's her without a doubt, a little extra weight on her, but there's no mistaking it now........... Jeez, what the hell did you get involved in to end up like this?
Grissom was in some kind of mild shock as his eyes flicked from the photograph to the bloodied bed and then back, this was the very first time a case had come quite this close to home for him personally, and it unsettled him tremendously.
Oh god !I'm glad I never took this scene now, how would I have reacted to seeing her body? Worse than just getting confirmation like now?
How would my involvement have influenced the case in future going to court? And the defence calling into question our former relationship.
I'm so glad I've only had minimal contact with the crime scene now, after being at the hospital most of the night.
Well I certainly can't have any further involvement with the investigation into this case now. Catherine is going to have to supervise Nick and Greg on this one,while I step back from it.
Oh god, He groaned lightly, and I'm gonna have to let Catherine know the reason's why too, then the guys are going to want to know the reason.
Shit! This is all I needed right now, having to tell Sara she's going to be looking after the child of a former bed mate of mine.
Crap!How in the hell am I supposed to tell her this kind of news now?
Hows she gonna react? Push me away like before, when anything gets difficult or awkward between us, like I've done on numerous occasions before too?
How would I react to finding out one of Sara's former lovers are part of a case? That we are both now getting pretty deeply personally involved in?
I don't know how I'd feel, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be at all happy hearing any sordid details of a relationship of hers. God I could just imagine the jealousy rising within me without restraint even after the fact.
All I want to do is get closer to Sara, explore the possibility of us being able to become a couple, so we can share our lives. I'm ready to fully let her in, let her see the real me that I've always been too frightened to show her.
Why can't things between us just be simple? Why do they always have to be so complicated and fucked up all the time.
God! Charlotte why?
Grissom's thoughts rambled on until he heard the front door to the lodge open and the officer shout up "Dr Grissom I'm going off shift, my buddy officer Devon Marshall's taking over from me, okay".
Broken from his thoughts, he replaced the frame to its place on the night stand, and called back "Yeah sure. No problem, I should be out of here soon myself in any case".
"Okay, take your time. Bye" the officer said back loudly.
Bending down he decided to get to the job at hand collecting Kye's stuff, he wasn't sure how long he'd drifted off thinking, but he needed to get the stuff back to the hospital for the boy soon or else Sara would encounter Mrs Wilson alone.
Seeing a large holdall shoved underneath the bed, he hauled it out, turned to the nigh stand and grabbed the framed picture once more, he might want this, heaven knows if he'll ever see any of this stuff again, he thought stuffing it into the bag, then leaving the room.
Going into the last of the rooms on the floor, Grissom quickly saw that it was obviously Kye's, he spotted a chest of drawers so proceeded to open them and gently take out piles of cloths filling the bag.
Looking around at the pile of books on the night stand, the light up world globe, and the poster of the periodic table above the chest, he then glanced at the poster of a wide range of prehistoric dinosaurs, one of star constellations, then he began to think just how intelligent this child could really be.
This stuff on show in the room was way more advanced than any other five year old child he'd seen before, but then again, his own childhood bedroom had been pretty much like this.
Spotting a toy chest in the corner, he packed the last of the socks he had in his hands then went over to it, sorting through it he selected several items that actually looked more age appropriate for Kye, so packed some of them too.
The bag now pretty stuffed, he then spotted a pair of sneakers below a coat rack, so grabbed them and a small tan coloured jacket adding them as well before heading to the bathroom once more.
He knew he'd probably been in the lodge longer than he'd first intended, so he quickly grabbed up some shampoo and stuff that looked to be the boys, before going down stairs to collect the books of the kitchen table, then headed out to the car.
Back at the hospital he'd just come through the double doors when he spotted Mrs Wilson, so quickened his pace up to the nurses station "Hello Mrs Wilson, I believe you should have some paperwork for my colleague to sign, then we can hopefully take Kye back to Sara'a home, when the doctor has released him" he said feeling slightly smug at gaining the upper hand on the obnoxious woman.
Mrs Wilson turned to him shaking her head "Well I just hope Miss Sidle fits the right criteria as a foster carer, and has an appropriate home to accommodate a child with emotional needs" she threw back still clearly annoyed with the situation and the unaccustomed change of practice.
"Oh I'm more than sure Sara will meet all of your departments requirements, and some. Do you have all the necessary paperwork so I can take it into her to fill out?" Grissom asked wanting to get any interaction with the woman over with as soon as possible.
Opening her battered leather briefcase, Mrs Wilson pulled out a slim file containing papers "Here you go, make sure she signs them all please" she said handing them over, before he walked off towards the hospital room "Oh, and I take it Miss Sidle has a two bedroomed home back in Vegas Mr Grissom" she added just as he reached the door.
Grissom momentarily paused hearing her words, shit! She only has one bedroom in her apartment I think, will need to come up with an option with Sara on that one. He thought as he glanced in through the window then slowly pushed open the door.
Twenty minutes later all the paperwork was filled in and Kye was still sleeping, I'll tell her about Charlotte and my connection to her later, I need to put my idea to her first, that's gonna be hard enough to convince her its the best option for now, he thought as Sara closed the file'
Clearing his throat gently Grissom shuffled in his seat in the cold plastic chair, "Urm,.....Sara....." he started to say, then decided to chicken out at the last minute, I'll tell her about the bedroom situation requirement, then put my suggestion to her on the ride back to Vegas, he thought.
He sighed heavily, The other news needs some serious thought on how to break it to her, besides it will probably be better received when she is in a more comfortable setting, and Kye is settled in.
"Griss? Did you want something?" Sara asked turning from Kye to him, after his aborted attempt to say something to her.
"Urmm, No. It's okay. It can keep" he said standing up and grabbing the now filled paper work in the file, Crap! Sara and her acute perception with me, she knows there's more we need to discuss, she just doesn't know what, and I am really not looking forward to both conversations, he thought as he walked to the door "I'll get these back to Mrs Wilson. Then we can see if a doctor will release Kye. Okay" he said changing the subject quickly.
"Uh, Okay" Sara said with a slight frown.
A/N – I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and that I didn't confuse you all too much with messing up with the previously posted chapters. The next chapter will cover a new problem, the journey home back to Vegas, a suggestion and a difficult conversation. Next post weekend, sooner if I get the time to write!
Please leave a review for the story or the chapter, I really do enjoy reading them and appreciate you all taking the time to do so.