A/N: Hey hey :) New chapter afoot. Thank you to those who have reviewed and left your thoughts.
A huge thank you to my current Pat reon supporters – Nat, Mrs Crabby, Dbackfan, AliceC, ChristineS, DawnS, Jillian, IngridT, Tracer85, NiniZ and NancyB.
Always, thank you calim. Your help and thoughts mean so much xx
Chapter 14
With Max gone to find information on Vincent Lurie, Grissom and Sara helped Jack try and piece the dismembered body back together. Folsom and Chris, collecting the trash cans once they had been emptied, began processing across the room on a large sheet of plastic to prevent any possible evidence from leaking onto the floor.
So far, two arms, two legs, two hands and two feet had been arranged on the table. Everyone noted that the body parts looked like those of a male, but they wouldn't confirm that until they were certain.
As Jack reached deep into the next trashcan he suddenly jumped back, his head snapping back in shock. His action startled both Grissom and Sara and their attention immediately shot to him.
"Are you okay?" Sara asked swiftly.
"Um," Jack swallowed and then pointed towards the can. "I was expecting to find a head but…."
Frowning, the couple slowly approached, both peering over the top of the trash can seeing a plastic bag with a….
Sara stepped back, her stomach turning a bit. Grissom reached in and pulled out the bag, all of them coming face to face with a, well, face.
Just like the original case, the victim's butchered face was pressed against the plastic, staring right at them. Well, almost staring. There were no eyes, just holes, so it didn't really count as staring.
"Oh, wow is that …"
Everyone turned to see Folsom standing there looking quite stunned at what he was seeing.
"It's a face," Grissom confirmed flatly, placing the bag down onto the table.
"I've never seen anything like it," Jack admitted. "I've had the whole head before but never just the face."
Sara looked at her husband who looked back.
"Just as brutal as the original," she said.
"It would take some serious skill to do that," Folsom pointed out, stepping closer. "It's hard enough to fillet a fish let alone an entire face from the bone."
Sara's nose screwed up at his comment. The thought of someone butchering a person like she'd filet a salmon, filled her mind. She quickly tried to quash that thought.
Folsom's head tipped as he looked closer at the grisly sight and then turned to Grissom.
"Did the killer also do this in your case?"
Grissom nodded and Folsom walked around the table, Sara noticing as he frowned.
"What are you thinking, Josh?" she asked him.
"I would assume all the gory details weren't released in any public reports," he answered.
Sucking on his bottom lip as it hid under the facemask he was wearing, Grissom shook his head.
"Since no one was ever charged, the case never went to court," he answered.
Both Folsom and Jack blinked with that new piece of information.
"I'll be right back," Josh said, taking off his gloves and apron before quickly leaving the room.
Sara and Grissom looked at each other confused.
"What was that all about?" Sara asked.
Grissom shrugged. "Beats me."
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
Max, sat at her desk waiting for her call to Desert Palms to be transferred. After discovering Vincent Lurie still worked at the same hospital it was certainly the best place to start in her quest to talk with him. But she had to be careful. At that point it was just an inkling she had to quash. He didn't have to talk to them so she would need to turn on the charm if she was going to get any information from him.
Grabbing the freshly opened energy drink, she took a long gulp just as a male voice popped into her ear.
"How may I help you?"
"Hi, yes," she said. "Who am I talking to please?"
"Carlton Croft. I'm the surgical manager in charge this evening. How can I help you?"
"My name is Doctor Maxine Roby. I'm the director of the Las Vegas Crime lab and I'm looking to speak with a Doctor Vincent Lurie."
"Doctor Lurie is on vacation at the moment. Can I help you?" Croft replied.
Picking up a pencil, Max twirled it between her fingers. "He's on vacation?"
"Yes."
Letting out a silent sigh, Max thought for a second. "Do you know when he is due back?"
"I believe in a few days."
"And how long has he been on vacation?"
Silence followed for a second. "Just over a week," Croft said.
"Do you happen to know if he remained in Vegas or…?"
Croft cut her off. "What is this about?"
"Just some routine inquiries Doctor Lurie may be able to help us with. Could you possibly provide me with his home address and contact number?"
"I'm sorry but I can't give out personal data without a warrant, especially for our director of surgery. Protection of personal information I'm sure is something you are well aware of."
Tapping the pencil on the desk, Max sat back, her mind ticking a million miles an hour. Director of surgery? Damn, she needed more info on Vincent Lurie ASAP.
"I understand," she replied professionally. "You could just save me a lot of time that's all."
"Well, unfortunately, I can't do that as it's more than my job's worth. I can inform Director Lurie of your call when he returns. You have a nice day, Doctor."
Max knew she wasn't going to get anything out of this guy, but she couldn't blame him for following the law.
"You, too."
That said, Croft ended the call and Max put the phone down. Next job, getting Vincent Lurie's details and as she was about to call the undersheriff to gain the warrant to access the information she required, a knock stopped her. Glancing towards it, she saw Folsom.
"Am I interrupting?" he asked.
"No, come on in."
"I Just had a thought," Folsom told her as he closed in on the desk.
Max's eyebrows lifted. "That's great. Congratulations."
Folsom chuckled. "Yeah well, thanks."
Smiling, Max picked up her drink. "Okay, I'm listening."
He pointed behind him. "I was just talking with Doctor Grissom after they found a face in one of the bags."
Almost choking, Max coughed. "A face? You mean a head right?"
Folsom shook his head. "No. Just the skin."
Max's face contorted a look of disgust. "That's just… I'm not even sure what to say to that."
"Yeah, it's not pretty," he agreed.
Clearing her throat, Max put the drink down as it suddenly settled like lead in her stomach.
"Carry on."
Pulling back a chair, Folsom sat down. "Well, Doctor Grissom said they found the same thing at the original scene. Just… a face in a bag."
"Okay."
"He also mentioned no one was charged with the murders back then."
"Yeah, I know," Max said. "Just found that out myself and I'm trying to track down the whereabouts of the suspect they had."
Folsom's eyebrows sored. "Oh. You think they are involved in the new killings?"
Max shrugged. "I don't know. Can we hurry this up?"
"Oh, yeah. Anyway, how did our killer know all the little details about their case? The face especially. Very little is released when a case doesn't go to trial. And the other murders, too. A lot of it is a carbon copy." Max frowned. "How do they know so much?"
Now Max's eyebrows soared. "That's a very good point."
Looking over his shoulder to ensure they were still alone, Folsom then leaned closer to the desk.
"I think that whoever is behind this knows these cases inside and out. Which would only mean one thing."
"Oooohhhh no no no no," Max waffled with a shocked expression, holding up a hand. "Not again."
"Well, technically, last time it wasn't someone in the lab," he said. "But whoever is doing this must have had access to the casefiles. Somehow. How else would they know everything about what happened?"
Letting out an almighty sigh, Max's eyes worked around and around. "You might be right," she admitted. "But there's a big problem with your theory."
"What's that?"
"How would we know when or from where?"
Folsom rubbed his chin as Max continued.
"Casefile storage has varied over the years from paper to computer. Thousands upon thousands of people work or have worked for the LVPD within its departments since the first original case in 2002 and most of them could have access. Plus, we wouldn't know if someone stole the information and passed it on to someone else outside of the organization."
"No," Folsom agreed. "But I think we should be cautious."
Max nodded. "Yeah. I agree. Who else have you told about this?"
"No one."
"Good. Keep it that way. I think for now until we know better, finer details for our investigation need to say within our immediate team. The people that we trust. I'll talk to everyone when I've finished what I'm doing here. Keep your eyes and ears open okay?"
With a firm nod, Folsom stood. "You got it."
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
Working separate from the others in the lab, Catherine pinned up the photos of the mirror that showed the word scrawled on it. Her eyes twitched as she looked at the lettering. It wasn't particularly neat, and the letters were smudgy. Her first assumption was it had been made with something reasonably thick like an old marker but the more she stared at it another thought struck – a finger had been used.
Turning, she moved to the table where the mirror sat now covered in fingerprint powder. It had been detached from its base and beside it sat numerous evidence bags and sample envelopes.
What to start with first?
She picked up two small packets, fingerprints in each of them. Both found on the mirror or its frame but different. Surely they weren't lucky enough to get a print from the killer?
Picking up a clipboard she read Allie's notes. 'Print 1: found on bottom center of frame (on wood). Print two: found in the writing top left of letter 'E' on glass'.
Blinking, Catherine read that again. Found in the writing? Her lips twitched. It couldn't be the victims print then. Could it?
Taking the prints over to the computer, she opened up two scanners, dropping one print into each, tapped on the keyboard and started AFIS rolling. She knew the drill, this could take hours if they even got a hit. Which wasn't a guarantee.
While that was running, she decided to work on the lettering. First break down the compounds from the swab samples and then find out what the hell was used to write it.
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
An hour later, all body parts from the trash cans had been removed and pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle on the table.
"Well," Sara said, walking around the table to stand next to Grissom. "We have confirmation the victim was male."
"Yeah," Grissom agreed, the torso of the man the last bit of the puzzle they'd pulled out. "But I expected that. It matches the other case."
As he said that, Max returned, a clipboard in her hand. When reaching them, she stopped and cleared her throat when her eyes found the table.
"Wow," she breathed. "You got a lot done."
Grissom nodded. "Now all we need to know is COD and who did it."
Narrowing her eyes at him, Sara pursed her lips when his head tipped her way.
"I was coming to let you know we have an ID for him."
The couple's attention returned to the director as she read from the information in her hand.
"Lucas Henry. 30 and, curiously, worked at Desert Palms hospital."
"Where did you get this information from?" Grissom asked.
"The team at the house called to say they found his clothes. All neatly folded at the bottom of a wardrobe in the bedroom. ID was in his pants pocket."
"We're going to have a lot of people to talk to," Sara said. "Families, people at the hospital, the garbage depot."
Max nodded. "Serena finally managed to get in touch with the depot. The supervisor has already left for the day, and they are about to close so, that can wait until tomorrow. In fact, I think all of the interviewing will have to wait as well. All hands we have are very, very occupied right now."
"Well," Sara began, giving Grissom a quick glance, "I'm sure Gil and I can help out with that tomorrow. Certainly breaks up the erm…" She looked down at the table. "Gore."
"I might take you up on that," Max told them. "In fact, why doesn't everyone take a break? There's something I wanted to update you two on anyway so, coffee?"
Taking off his mask, Grissom stepped back from the table as Sara did the same and gave him a nod. Anything to get away from the morgue for a few minutes.
"Coffee sounds great."
A/N: So much going on. I hope you can keep up :P