AN: The next chapter will be posted Sunday evening. Thank you very much for reading.

Chapter 7

To her surprise, Sara actually managed a good six hours of sleep before a nightmare woke her. The sun was still streaming outside when she opened her black-out curtains. She went for a shower and felt surprisingly refreshed afterwards. She had a quick meal of fruit and muesli before she headed back to the lab. She gave the letters from her locker a considering look before putting them out of her mind for the time being.

First she collected all the outstanding lab results she had requested and worked them into the case file. They didn't really tell her more than what they knew already. Then she went back to the file from Wolmerans to continue looking for possible connections to her case. After a few hours Nick joined her and they were exchanging notes and updating their case file when Grissom found them.

Sara eyed him nervously, Ekclie's treat hanging like a cloud over her head. But Grissom just wanted to know where they were with the case. Apparently he hadn't spoken to Ekclie yet this shift. Sara knew it would be infinitely better if she spoke to Grissom before Ecklie did, but she could not bring herself to do so. Just thinking about the possibility of seeing disappointment in his icy blue eyes made her feel faint. She wasn't exactly sure when it happened, but somewhere along the line Grissom's approval became intimately intertwined with her own self worth and she felt powerless to change it.

"Excuse me. I'm looking for CSI Sara Sidle?"

A handsome middle aged man was standing in the door. He wasn't tall but the way he carried himself, he appeared to be taller. He had a self-assuredness that radiated of him and was clearly used to people listening to him. He had short cropped black hair that was flecked with grey at the sides.

"I'm Sara Sidle" Sara answered, getting up, mentally assessing the man. The others also got up to face the stranger.

"I'm James Reed from Interpol" the man introduced himself, extending his hand to Sara.

Please don't let him shout at me in front of Grissom, she shot a quick prayer. Sara took his hand, and then introduced her two colleagues. They exchanged pleasantries and Reed turned back to Sara.

"I understand you are leading the investigation into the death of one of our agents. Do you mind filling me in on the case?"

Sara felt her stomach turn into knots and she laid out the case to Reed. He made no comment and only asked the occasional question. He showed no reaction and Sara was becoming increasingly nervous. She was just finishing with the laptop incident when Ekclie entered, rather breathless. He interrupted Sara and thrust his hand at Reed.

"Conrad Ekclie, Lab Supervisor."

Reed shook his hand politely. "James Reed. We spoke on the phone. I must admit that CSI Sidle seems to be doing an exemplary job. I commend her on her diligence and competency."

Ekclie was staring at Reed with his mouth open but seemed to recover with lightning speed.

"We pride ourselves on the work we do," he replied smoothly.

Grissom was watching Ecklie, his eyebrows in danger of disappearing into his hairline, and Nick could barely contain the grin spreading over his face. Sara felt rather giddy with relief.

"We were worried that Agent Smith's computer might have fallen into the wrong hands, so we blocked access from it. I'm sorry if it caused undue problems. It came as quite a relief to find it in safe hands." Reed continued. Turning to Sara Reed added "I will see to it that you are granted access to the relevant information concerning your case."

He gave her his business card and turned back to the others.

"Please, give me a call should you need anything. It was nice meeting you all."

And with that he strode away.

Ekclie stared at his retreating back, glanced at the CSIs and hurried after Reed. Nick grabbed Sara in a tight hug and she nearly collapsed in his arms. She met Grissom's eyes and saw them sparkle with amusement.

Brass poked his head in unannounced.

"Word is some big shot from Interpol is snooping around here. What did I miss?"

Nick and Sara went with Brass to investigate the address that Smith frequented before his death. Sure enough, it led to a post-office. Using the key on a trial-and-error basis, they finally found the correct box. Nick dusted for prints, before opening it. There was a lot of junk mail, but also three letters, again addressed to Edward Casey. Sara carefully bagged them to be opened by the questionable documents department back at the lab.

There was still no sign of John Nkosazana.

They were just entering the lab, when Ekclie and the assistant DA met them coming the other way. Ekclie didn't bother with greetings.

"I have phoned the DA's office. He agrees with me that we have enough evidence to go ahead with the case. They are charging Sipho Nkosazana with the murder of Agent Smith. There is no need for further investigations into this case." Ekclie watched Sara's face intently.

"What about John Nkosazana?" Sara asked incredulously

"Have you found him?" Ekclie directed this question at Brass

"We're still looking."

"What about the Rhino-poaching ring?" Sara asked, she could feel her face becoming red.

If Ekclie had known her better, he would have been alarmed as her eyes darkened to almost black.

Brass noticed.

"That is no concern of ours," Ecklie pointed out. "This is as far as this case goes, Sidle. If the second suspect is apprehended, we can look at charging as well. Leave poaching syndicate alone, that's an order."

Ekclie and the lawyer brushed past them to go out of the building, Sara opened her mouth to say something but Brass grabbed her arm.

"Leave it. It's not worth it."

Brass led a fuming Sara and trailing Nick back to the break-room where they met Greg.

He took one look at their faces and said: "So you've heard"

Sara threw herself into an empty chair.

"I'll see you guys," Brass said to them as he left, looking preoccupied.

"That guy Reed you spoke to earlier?" Greg began as he got up and strode over to the coffee machine, eyeing Sara. "Apparently he is some top brass over at Interpol. Everyone in the lab knows about Ekclie's explosion yesterday, and now everyone knows what Reed said. They're laughing behind his back. I think that's why he went to the DA. He was made to look a proper idiot."

Greg always had a line tapped into the infamous lab-grapevine. He handed Sara a cup of coffee brewed from his private stash. It was a sign of how much sympathy Greg had with her situation. He guarded his stash closer than a mother-bear guarded her cub. Sipping slowly Sara reflected how much better this stuff was than the primordial sludge that usually passed for coffee in the break room.

"But I didn't do anything" Sara protested.

"Don't think he cares much about that." Nick added, finally voicing his opinion. "But to be honest, the poaching ring isn't really our responsibility. It's Interpol's."

Sara shot daggers out of her eyes. "Et tu Brute!"

"Did you know about this Griss?" Sara asked as he entered, hearing the last bit of their conversation. The amusement in his eyes at hearing her quote Shakespeare disappeared as he studied her face.

"I just found out. I'm sorry Sara, but there's not much more we can do."

He held her eyes for a moment, before glancing down at the slips in his hands. Sara groaned inwardly as she realized that Grissom was going to hand her a new case. She searched his face, but it was almost unreadable as she took the yellow slip of paper from him. She thought he at least regretted taking her of the poaching case. That did sooth a somewhat.

The new case was a car-jacking gone bad on the strip.

"Take Greg with you," Grissom said as he handed Nick and Warrick their own case. Catherine was due in court that day. Sara noticed that he didn't take a case himself

"I got sent a large sample from a case in Miami to provide an entomological evaluation." Grissom answered, reading the question in her eyes. He was clearly looking forward to it and there was undisguised anticipation on his face. Sara gave him a slight smile, knowing how much he enjoyed these assignments. She was glad he was happy, even if she wasn't herself.

Returning to her work station, Sara realized she still had the letters they collected from the post box. She added that to the evidence log. No doubt the DA wasn't very interested in them, but they could still prove useful. If nothing else, Sara was determent to have a look at them herself later.

The case Sara and Greg were given seemed quite straight forward. A couple had apparently been getting into their car when they were shot and the car stolen. Various people were on the street, but the eyewitness accounts varied considerably. The couple was identified as Mr. and Mrs. Williamson.

Sara and Greg photographed the scene and collected evidence, but Sara couldn't get her mind off the poaching case.

One of the eyewitnesses could provide a description and a partial plate number. So an APV was put out on the vehicle. Mr. Williamson was shot in the back twice at short range while Mrs. Williamson was shot once, also in the back. There was an oil spill to the side of the road that glistened with refraction iridescence in the lights of the nearest casino. She took photographs and a sample.

They were just arriving back at the lab when Detective Vega called. They found the car with a sixteen year old kid driving it. He claimed to have found it abandoned. The car was being towed to the CSI garage, and the kid brought in for questioning.

Greg was really coming to his own as a CSI, Sara thought proudly as she sent him to process the kid. She also reminded him to swab the kids clothes for GSR, and to check the shoe-soles for oil. Then, she headed for the change room, dropping the evidence they collected along the way. The poaching case was niggling in the back of her mind, but she refused to let it get in the way of her current case.

Upon reaching the garage she only had to wait a little while for the car to arrive. It was no accident that she sent Greg to process the suspect and assign the car to herself, she was looking forward to working on it. Maybe not quite as much as Grissom was looking forward to working with his bugs, she thought with a private smile. There was a bullet hole in the driver seat. At the bottom rim of the same side there was an oily footprint. Grinning to herself, Sara pictured the perp stepping in the oil stain on the tarmac and then stepping on the opened door as he got in the car. On a hunch she tested the top of the car roof for GSR. It was positive. Sara theorized that the perp shot Mr. Williamson first, then, standing on the instep of the opened car door to gain extra height, shot Mrs. Williamson in the back as she tried to run away.

She dusted for fingerprints on the steering wheel first, then on the gear shift. The gear shift only had smudges but the steering wheel had a few nice fingerprints with good ridge detail. Sara removed the driver seat and dug out the bullet. It was covered in blood.

All in all it was a pretty open and shut case. The sixteen year old had GSR and blood from Mr. Williams on his shirt and an oil stain on his shoe matching the oil on the tarmac as well as the car stain. Greg had no problem wrapping up the case and Sara let him run with it.

"Let's go get some breakfast" Greg said as he and Sara walked back to PD after securing a confession from the 16y old kid. Greg was bouncing on the balls of his feet, still riding the wave of exhilaration of closing a case. Sara didn't really feel it, but gave him a smile though she had to refuse his offer.

"I'm pretty tired, I think I'll go home."

"I could come with if you like." Greg teased.

"In your dreams."

"Constantly."

Sara had to laugh at his goofy lines, feeling some of her frustration about the poaching case melting away. Her usual high of closing a case were overshadowed by it. It rankled that she was expected to leave it there. Sure they had caught one of the killers, and it was a pretty air tight case, but that was only part of the story, the tip of the iceberg. Leaving it here felt like giving up and Sara was nowhere near ready to do that.

Sara grabbed two bottles of mineral water and went to find Grissom. He was still pouring over his bugs. She lightly tapped him on the shoulder and handed him the bottle. She glanced up surprised then smiled at her.

"Enjoying yourself?" she asked him as he sat across from him to take a sip from her own bottel.

"Immensely. I'm almost done. You?" he asked sitting back.

"We wrapped the case. Greg did a good job"

"Good. You heading home?"

She felt uncomfortable, she didn't want to lie to Grissom

"In a bit. I just have to wrap up a few things"

The conversation petered out, and before things got too uncomfortable Sara got up.

"Enjoy"

"Thank you"

Grissom wasn't quite as preoccupied with his bugs once she left.

She took an extra long shower, making sure everyone from her shift was gone before getting out. But rather that go home, she went back to the computer lab to pull everything she could on Edward Casey, the pseudonym used by Agent Smith. She was trying to determine if the South Africans knew of him. There was no-one by that name in their system. Sara wondered if he could have used a different cover while working there.

Sara retrieved the letters addressed to Edward Casey from the evidence locker. One letter in particular piqued her interest. It was a hotel bill, and it seemed Casey went there three to four times a month. The hotel was one of the smaller ones off the strip and Sara made a note to go check it out. Hopefully it was a link to the poaching syndicate Agent Smith was trying to penetrate.

She continued working till she spotted Catherine rounding the corner. Sara quickly closed everything she was working on and met Catherine at the door.

"What are you still doing here?" Catherine asked with a smile.

"Just wrapping up a case. How did court go?"

The two women walked to the change room. Catherine whined about the slimy tactics of lawyers, but Sara only listened enough to make the right noises at the right time.

"Well , see you tomorrow," Catherine said as Sara collected her things and headed for the parking lot.

Neither of the woman noticed Grissom following just behind them.

Grissom was just rounding the reception desk, when the receptionist called him back.

"Shoot, I was supposed to give this to CSI Sidle, would you mind giving it to her please Dr. Grissom?"

Giving her a tired smile he took the piece of paper from her.

"Thank you sir." the receptionist sat down gratefully.

"Don't mention it," Grissom replied, but the smile disappeared from his lips as he read the message. It was from James Reed, asking Sara to call him to discuss possible future job possibilities.

It was a very pensive Grissom that drove himself home.