A/N: Are the team getting somewhere? A suspect maybe? We shall see :)
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 to calim for the beta, suggestions and friendship :)
On we go….
Chapter 20
"Can I get you anything to drink?" Mia asked.
"I'm fine, thank you," Grissom answered.
"Same," Sara added.
"Could you grab me some water?" Emma asked her sister.
"Of course," she said giving her a sweet smile before looking at their guests. "Be right back."
With a sigh, Emma looked back at the CSI's. "So, how close are you to finding the monster who murdered my daughter?"
They exchanged a look, then Sara took the lead.
"We have a lot of people working on it, Mrs. Jones. That I can assure you. We want to catch this person as soon as we possibly can but we have a lot of evidence to collect and a lot of processing to do."
Emma closed her eyes. "I can't get the blood out of my mind."
Sara's face saddened watching as Emma's fingers clutched tightly around her knees and then her eyes opened.
"How could anyone do that to another human being?" she sobbed.
"Mrs. Jones," Grissom began, his voice soft. "You may be able to help us find the person who did this."
Sniffing, Emma pulled a tissue from her pocket and wiped her nose. "How can I do that?"
"By answering some questions for us," he said then. "Do you think you can do that?" Emma nodded. "Did your daughter have any enemies? Anyone who held a grudge against her or someone who you think may have been capable of this?"
"Meryl was by no means perfect," Emma admitted. "She liked to party. Had a lot of men in her life. But to do that to her?"
The couple's eyes found each other again. Sara had already taken a notebook from her pocket and was writing down any information she thought they may find useful.
Sucking on his lip, Grissom then cleared his throat. "We're you informed we found another body at the house?"
Emma nodded. "The Detective Lady said there were remains in the trash. But she didn't say who. That's all I remember. Sorry. I was… pretty out of it."
"We understand," Sara said. "The 2nd victim we found has been identified as Lucas Henry. Did you know him at all?"
Before she could answer, Mia returned, holding out a glass of water before sitting next to her sister. Emma took a sip then held the glass in her lap.
"Meryl changed boyfriends a lot," she admitted. "I saw him a few times at her place. She rarely ever brought anyone here."
Sara continued to write. "So, he was her current boyfriend?" Emma nodded. "Do you know how long they were together?"
"Actually, a lot longer than Meryl usually stayed with someone. I mean, she never seemed serious about a relationship. Had a lot of one nighters, you know. She just enjoyed life and didn't want to get tied down. But lately… she seemed a little happier and to be honest, this past month or so I don't think I even saw her with anyone else. And she never mentioned anyone."
"So," Grissom began, "you think maybe she was a little more serious about Lucas?"
Emma shrugged. "It's possible. He was a nice guy. From what I saw anyway."
Grissom gave a slow nod. "Do you know how they met?"
"At Desert Palms. They both worked there."
A thought hit Sara then. "Meryl moved jobs recently, correct?"
Taking another drink of water, Emma once again nodded. "Yeah."
"Do you know why?"
Emma looked at Mia who reached out and took her hand, giving it an encouraging squeeze.
"From what she told me she was having issues," Emma said. "Someone she'd had a relationship with wasn't too happy she'd called it off. I think he got a little too heavy in his pursuit of rekindling the romance."
"Someone at the hospital?" Grissom asked and she nodded again. "Did she report it?"
"I don't think so. She said it was just easier to leave. She didn't trust her superiors to take it seriously and she seemed to think they wouldn't believe her, and it would just cause her more issues than it was worth."
Grissom scratched his cheek for a second. "Do you know who this man was?"
"She didn't talk about him much. I think he was a doctor but, I'm sorry, I just couldn't keep up with her sometimes."
"It's okay," Grissom reassured.
Trying to smile, Emma took another drink.
"Did you want to look in Meryl's room? She had her own key and didn't stay often but has a few things here. Maybe there's something in there that might assist you."
"That would be very helpful," Sara answered. "Thank you."
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
As the trio exited the office, Catherine read off the name that had been circled after being informed he was in the depot somewhere.
"Jack Flynn," she said, glancing to her co-workers. "Let's see if we can find him."
Folsom pointed to someone who was hosing down the outside of a truck. "Let's ask this guy."
Catherine nodded and they headed across the yard, stopping a few feet away from the worker who seemed to be so occupied in what he was doing he didn't hear them.
"Excuse me!" Catherine called out when he didn't acknowledge their arrival.
Slowly, the man turned, splashes of water hitting the truck spurting all around them. Swiftly, he turned off the hose.
"Can I help you guys?" he asked. "You know you shouldn't be walking around here, right? No fun getting hit by a truck."
Serena pulled out her badge. "LVPD," she announced.
The man took a closer look at the badge and gave a casual shrug.
"Is my hosing not up to par?" he joked.
Josh smirked. "We just spoke to your manager and we're looking for someone."
Dropping the hose, the man wiped off his hands on his dirty overalls then folded his arms. "Ahhh, aren't we all?"
Catherine laughed. She liked this guy. It made a change to be greeted with a sense of humor rather than the F word.
"And who is it you are looking for?" he then inquired.
Josh looked down at the paper in his hand. "Erm, Jack Flynn. Is he here?"
The man pointed over his shoulder. "Building over there is the staff canteen. He's on a break so, no doubt, out back in the smoking area killing his lungs."
"And who are you?" Serena asked him.
"Raul Gomez."
Josh checked the list and ticked off the name. "Have you heard about the murders on Madison Avenue?"
"Can't say I have," Raul told them. "Even if I had, this is Vegas. Seems to be more death than winning hands in Blackjack these days."
"Ain't that the truth," Catherine agreed.
Serena took out her notebook and a pen. "Are you okay with giving us your contact number in case we need to speak with you again?"
"Sure," Raul agreed. Taking the pad from her he wrote his number down then handed it back.
Catherine nodded towards the canteen building. "Well, shall we?"
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
Mia showed Grissom and Sara to the Meryl's bedroom.
"Just give me a call if you need anything or have any questions," she said. "I'll leave you to it."
"Thank you," Sara said to Mia who gave them a nod as she stepped away.
The couple entered the room and looked around both taking gloves from their pockets and slipping them on.
"I don't know if we'll find anything useful here," Sara said, eyes working over the neatly made double bed and then the nightstand next to it. "Especially if she was barely here."
Letting out a gentle sigh, Grissom moved to a wardrobe and opened it. "Maybe not but no harm in looking."
"True," Sara replied, opening the drawer of the nightstand.
Looking over clothing hung up in the wardrobe, Grissom lifted a hand to shift each item across the rail, examining them as he went.
"Couple of dresses, pants and jackets," he told Sara. "Not much."
Nodding, Sara reach into the drawer and rummaged through the contents. The items were typical for such a drawer – things you should probably toss out but don't. She did find a condom packet and held it up.
"Maybe she did bring people back here and her mother didn't know," she suggested.
Grissom turned a bit to look at her, eyebrow lifting when he saw the packet then her smirk.
"At least she was careful," he hit back.
Pursing her lips, Sara put the packet back where she found it and was about to close the drawer when a piece of folded paper tucked against the side caught her eye. Picking it up, she unfolded it, her eyes scanning the written message.
"Errr, Gil."
"Hmmm?" Casually closing the wardrobe, he turned to face her. "Are you okay?"
She held out the paper. "Found this in the nightstand."
With a frown, he took the paper from her and put on his glasses.
'Why aren't you answering my calls? I've left you so many messages. You can't hide forever. You can't just use me and throw me away like this. I'm not a Kleenex! Call me or I'm going to make life very difficult for you!'
After reading the note, his eyebrows rose as he looked back at Sara.
"The man Meryl was having issues with perhaps?"
"My thoughts exactly," Sara agreed. "And coming here would certainly be a good place to avoid him."
Grissom nodded. "I think we should ask if we can take this. Maybe the only solid thing we have to a suspect right now."
Sara gave him a smile thinking exactly the same thing.
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
After asking several workers where Jack Flynn was in the staff area, the group moved through an open door at the back of the building and stepped outside into an area surrounded by a large wooden fence. Several tables, chairs and benches were scattered about the space and only one person, a man, was leaning against the fence. Cigarette in his mouth, he was looking down at a cellphone in his hand.
Catherine nodded towards him, and the others followed her as she headed his way.
"Mr. Flynn?" she asked stopping in front of him.
He looked up, eyes flicking to each person before settling back on Catherine.
"Yeah. Who's asking?"
"Las Vegas crime lab," she told him, showing her badge.
Looking confused, he slipped the phone into his pocket.
"We'd like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind."
"Questions? About what?"
Catherine's eyes zoned in on the ground as he dropped the cigarette and stubbed it out with his shoe.
She blinked.
The last thing she'd done the previous night before leaving the lab was help Penny identify the brand of shoe which had made the shoe prints outside of the victim's window. And, after running the print through the system, they'd been hit with an identical match. Doc Marten boots. And low and behold, what was he wearing? The same boot.
She leaned closer to Folsom.
"Check out his feet," she whispered.
Folsom's eyes flicked downwards, his eyebrows rising the second he saw what Catherine obviously had.
After giving her nose a quick scratch, Catherine pointed to their observation.
"Nice boots, Jack. Do they come with the job?"
He looked down and then at Catherine with a shrug. "Yeah. Safety boots. We all have to wear them."
"Do you have just the one pair, Buddy?" Folsom asked him.
Jack frowned and looked quite confused. "Errr, yes. We get a new pair every six months. Why the interest in my shoes?"
"Can we see the soles, please?"
Catherine's request caused his frown to deepen.
"Why?"
"Why not?" she challenged.
"Look," Jack said, holding up a hand. "I have no idea what's going on here or what you want but I know my rights and I was always taught never to trust cops or give them anything for free."
Pushing fists into her hips, Serena took a step closer. "Rather defensive aren't you, Mr. Flynn? Were you at home yesterday?"
"No. I've been out of town for the last couple of days. I drove back this morning and came straight to work."
Serena looked at her colleagues for a second. "Where've you been?"
"Family in California."
Taking a photograph from the folder in her hand, Serena held it up. "Do you know this woman?"
Jack glanced at the photograph, his eyes noticeably widening a little before he cleared his throat.
"Um, sure. She's my neighbor. I live a few doors down."
"And when was the last time you saw her?" Catherine asked, her eye twitching, sensing something a little off with him suddenly.
His eyes narrowed at her question. "Why? What the hell is this about?"
Serena put the photograph back in the folder.
"Meryl Jones' body was discovered at her home yesterday. Murdered. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?"
With no warning whatsoever, Jack suddenly spun around and bolted towards the fence.
"Hey!" Folsom hollered, giving chase. "Stop!"
Catherine and Serena looked at each other as Jack scaled the fence with ease, quickly followed by the pursuing CSI.
"Well, I'm certainly not doing that," Catherine deadpanned.
Serena rolled her eyes and they both turned, running back the way they came…
A/N: Image of Catherine trying to scale a fence hahahaha :P