Chapter 4:

Nick slung his arm around my shoulder and led me out of the break room and down a bunch of hallways before going into the locker room. "So here is your locker, the combo is on the lock. Open it and you should have your stuff in there. You're certified to carry a gun, right?"

I spun the numbers on the lock and it opened with a click. "Yes, I am." I said as I grabbed my pager, cell phone, gun, and ID. "Now where?"

Nick led me out the door and said, "I actually have to make some stops if that's okay with you."

I grinned like a kid on Christmas and said, "I don't mind at all. Lead the way."

The first stop was the AV lab where I was introduced to Archie. Nick walked in the room and said, "Archie, you have that surveillance footage for me?"

He gave Nick a soft smile and said, "Right here. I can give you the make and model of the car, but the plate is a no-go. Too blurry."

I peeked over his shoulder and muttered, "Adjust the contrast…"

He turned and said, "What?"

I felt my face get red again. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to pry. I was just saying that if you adjust the contrast the light could maybe give you a partial plate…"

Nick chuckled as Archie started messing with a few things. Within minutes there was a partial license plate on the screen. Archie turned to me and said, "I may have to steal you from DNA. How did you…?"

"Oh um my dad works with computers and I used to mess with them when I was a kid."

The next stop was the Trace lab. "Hodges please give me some good news," Nick said as he opened the door.

"Good news, I have results." The man at the table said to Nick.

There was sort of an awkward silence before I piped up, "Are you gonna say something or…?" Hodges looked surprised and I continued, "I mean you know what you're talking about so we would greatly benefit from your expertise."

Nick gave me a what-the-heck look and Hodges grinned. "I like this one. So Nick the fibers on you vic were a blend of…"

I zoned out as he was explaining it and began to look around. I noticed one boy in particular, his back was to me so I didn't see his face, but he had brown hair and what looked like streaks of blonde. He was busy messing with a machine and I could faintly hear the music playing from the room. Nick tugged at my arm and led me out of the room, muttering something incoherent. "Marilyn. Nick. Just the two I was looking for," Warrick called from behind us. "Grissom just gave us a new case. Murder at the Tangiers."

I broke into a grin and said, "Cool. My first murder."

The two men exchanged a look before Warrick said, "I'll drive."

Nick and I glanced at each other before we both called, "SHOTGUN!" and took off down the hall.

I put my kit down in the middle of the room and took a look around. The man was lying on the floor of the small kitchen area, covered in blood. Nick brushed past and walked over to the coroner. "Whatcha got Super-Dave?"

I cocked my head to the side and made my way over to where they were and took a look at the body. The coroner smiled at me and said, "Hi. I'm David. And you are?"

"Mar," I said absentmindedly.

I slowly moved over to the knife rack sitting on the counter. Shining my flashlight on it, I grinned to myself.

"Help me roll her Dave." There was shuffling as the two men turned him onto his side.

"Lividity is fixed and it looks like the COD is…"

"Knife wound," I finished for him. Nick looked up at me and I shined my flashlight on the knife rack. "What do you notice?"

Nick shrugged. "The knives are all there. I don't see how you knew that."

I pointed. "One of the knives is facing the wrong way." I snapped a picture and pulled it slowly out of the holder. It was covered in blood.

"No wallet. No ID," Dave stated.

"Robbery gone wrong?" Nick asked.

"We won't know until we get back to the lab. There's blood on the handle, seems out of place."

Dave grinned and said, "Be careful. If she's around a lot longer some of you may be out of a job."

I grinned and turned back to the evidence.