Chapter 17

To say that the uniform guarding the scene was irritated was a gross understatement. From the moment Sara arrived he barraged her with questions and accusations. Not to mention the owner, who was very eager to get his business back up and running. Between the two of them, they made quite a racket.

"Look, the lab's been really busy. I'm sorry but we try to prioritize our cases as best we can," Sara replied to a series of questions, hoping that it would get them all to back off. The cop retreated sullenly and kept muttering under his breath while the owner dramatically threw up his arms in air and lit another cigarette to continue his chain smoking marathon.

The only thing that was left to do was for the scene to be processed. Detective Brass had spoken to the owner to get a list of stolen items and had spoken to the supposed witnesses.

Sara got to work and was delighted to find a few drops of blood on the inside of one of the display cases that was smashed open. It looked like the perpetrator had cut himself on a piece of broken glass as he was removing the jewelry. Sara reached for her phone to ask Brass to alert all the hospitals in the area to be on the lookout for a clean cut wound but as it was well over twelve hours since the crime happened, she doubted that the perp would still be at a hospital. She also found some dark blue, almost black fibers snagged on a piece of glass on the inside of the case. There were a lot of fingerprints but all on the outside of the glass. As there were none on the inside, Sara doubted that they'd be relevant, but she lifted them anyway.

She had barely released the crime scene when the owner bustled in with a broom. There would be no use in revisiting this scene later.

Sara made a quick pit stop at a nearby deli she knew Grissom liked and got him a ready-made pastrami and cheese sandwich with a SuperC-Wake-Me-Up smoothie.

Back at the lab, she left the packet with the smoothie and sandwich on his desk and dropped off her evidence at the various departments.

As expected the fingerprints were a colorful mix belonging to the owners and most of the shoppers of the previous day. Avis drew zilch, but she wasn't surprised. Even if one had a hit, all it would mean was that the person was in the shop at some point the previous day or so.

The fibers seemed more promising, as they were found on the inside of the display cabinet. They turned out to be dyed wool and Sara wondered who would wear a woolen sweater in the middle of summer in Vegas. Unless they were up to no good.

It was the DNA from the blood stains struck gold. Smirking as she looked at the results, Sara phoned Brass.

"Hi, it's Sara, I got a lead for you."

"Um, ok thanks. What case are you working on?" Brass sounded tired and Sara didn't blame him. He had been working just as hard as Grissom.

"The jewelry store heist on the strip. Grissom bumped it to me."

"Ah right. The jewelry-store case. Tell you the truth I'd forgotten about it. I'm with Grissom on the triple. What have you got?" Sara could imagine him rubbing his eyes.

"I found blood on the inside of one of the broken display cases. Matches Matthew Martin James. Released on bail two days ago."

Brass snorted. "Our boy works fast. What was he in for?"

"White collar stuff, he worked for an insurance company and was caught embezzled company money." Sara read of the screen.

"Ok, I'll put out a broadcast and have him brought in. Do you want me to come for the interview?"

"No I'm good. You concentrate on the murders."

"Ok, thanks Sara… Doesn't your shift start in 45min?"

This line of questioning made her more than uncomfortable, she had a feeling that Brass knew she was still working on the poaching case and that she came in considerably earlier than the rest of her team to do so. The fewer people knew about that the better.

"Oh, I just came in to catch up on some paperwork and to help Grissom. I'll let you know how it goes."

She rang off before Brass could have a chance to ask any more inconvenient questions. She knew she probably wasn't fooling him, but hoped that he would let it drop. At least for the time being.

Thirty minutes later Matthew Martin James was escorted into PD. Ten minutes after that he was officially arrested for armed robbery. The sutures on his arm were fresh and, when confronted with the DNA evidence, he capitulated. Sara phoned Brass to tell him that at least one case was off his desk as she was sitting in the break-room drinking coffee and doing the final paperwork for the case before it was passed on to the DA's office.

"When I come in early I'm usually bored stiff"

Greg sat down next to her with a cup of his own personal coffee. She had been so engrossed in her work that she didn't hear him come in. She looked up and smiled at him as he enclosed his hands protectively around the cup.

"You came in early and solved a case before the official start of shift," Greg sounded mournful as well as amused. "I would offer you some off this but you obviously don't need it." He eyed her over the rim of his cup as he took a thoughtful sip.

"What doesn't she need?" Warrick asked as he joined them on the table.

"Some of this Kopi Luwak," Greg said and took a sip, smacking his lips in satisfaction.

"Isn't that the brand they make from the poop of the common palm civet?" Sara asked, sitting back.

"For your information the Luwak eats only the ripest coffee beans, and during the passage through his digestive system, the digestive enzymes help to bring out the flavor." Greg told them in a 'professor-giving-a-lecture'-voice.

"Yeah well you just keep your weasel poop-coffee separate from the normal stuff, thank you." Warrick told him shaking his head.

Greg opened his mouth to retort, but Catherine came bustling in.

"Hi guys. Nick and Grissom are still working that triple. He asked me to hand these out. Sara, you and Greg have a dead teenager at Summerfield High. Warrick, you and I have what appears to be a body-dump outside a hotel. Oh and Sara, you need to finish your case report for the Ross case."

"Um I'm pretty sure I did," Sara frowned. She was never late with her paper work, ever.

"Hey I'm just passing on the message," Catherine said, shrugging. "Someone must have misplaced it or something"

Grabbing their stuff the CSI's got to work.