A/N: Next chapter ahoy. Thank you to everyone reading. Reviews always welcome.
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 22
As Grissom and Sara entered the processing room with Nora Cross behind them, they spied Penny hunched over a microscope.
"Hey, Penny," Sara greeted as the young CSI looked up. "Mind if we crash a bit of your space? All the other rooms are a bit crazy."
Penny shook her head. "Not at all," she replied, her gaze falling on the IA detective.
"You remember Detective Cross?" Grissom asked her and she nodded. "Good, she's here to help us with the investigation."
Penny looked a little surprised but then smiled. "Oh. Good."
Smirking, Sara pointed to the table. "What are you working on?"
"Some samples the night shift collected from the house and the liquid and hair from the drain in the bathroom," she said, holding up a bag filled with swabs. "Blood trace from the kitchen. Looks like someone tried to clean up but missed a spot."
Frowning, Grissom scratched his right cheek. "Perhaps Lucas was killed in the kitchen and then moved into the bathroom to be cut up?"
"Possibly," Penny agreed putting the bag down. "Or at least he was attacked in the kitchen. Maybe. If it's his blood."
"Let us know when you find out, okay?"
Penny gave Grissom a smile. "Of course. What are you working on? Anything I can help with?"
Grissom held up their evidence bag. "We found a note at Meryl Jones' mothers. May very well be linked to her death. We need to check for prints and trace."
Leaning closer, Penny's eyes scanned the note.
"Would you like me to get the photos of the mirror writing? Perhaps it was written by the same person?"
Eyebrow soaring, Grissom turned to Sara. Neither of them had thought of that yet. They hadn't had much chance to think about anything with the arrival of Nora Cross.
Turning back to Penny, he held up a finger. "I absolutely love your thinking."
Giving him an even bigger smile, Penny took off her gloves. "I'll be right back."
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Vincent Lurie sat down at the table in the interview room while Max sat opposite him. She'd asked the officer to stand outside the door instead of inside thinking it might be less imposing for Lurie and, perhaps make him cooperate. Allie watched through the window.
After reading up on Debbie Marlin's murder, Max didn't feel entirely comfortable sitting across from the man whom her colleagues were sure had committed said atrocities on her own but for now she'd deal with it. If shit hit the fan she could call for help. Plus, she made sure she'd brought her gun, just in case.
"Thank you for coming down, Doctor Lurie," she began. "Are you sure you don't want anything to drink?"
Entwining his fingers on the table, Lurie shook his head. "I'm fine, thank you." He looked around the empty room. "A little different since the last time I paid a visit."
"Yes," Max agreed. "Brand new lab for a brand new time."
"So, what can I do for you?" he asked.
Opening her folder, Max took out a photograph of Meryl and slid it across the table.
"Do you know this women?"
Pulling glasses from his pocket, Lurie slipped them on and picked up the photograph, Max watching him closely as he did so.
A light frown hit his forehead and his head kinked a little to the right.
"Actually, she looks familiar but I'm not sure why."
Surprised at that admittance, Max considered her options. If he'd denied it, it might have been easier.
"So you think you may have known her?"
"Known her, no," he replied, sliding the photograph back across the table. "If I knew her then I'd know who she was, but I'd say with confidence I have seen her face before. Pretty ladies are hard to forget. Is she your victim?"
"One of them, yes," Max said as she picked up a photo of Lucas Henry and handed it to him. "How about him?"
Lurie looked down at the picture but this time his eyebrows rose, mouth opening a little.
"Well…," he began, clearing his throat, "… now he is a little more familiar."
"You know who that is?"
Lurie nodded. "Intern at the hospital. Training with one of my surgeons."
"He was the second victim."
Letting out a sigh, Lurie pushed the photograph back. "I'm sorry to hear that."
Max studied him as the words he spoke sounded genuine. Dare she push it so soon? He seemed chatty enough so why not.
"Can you tell me your whereabouts exactly a week ago?"
He smiled at her, taking off his glasses and dropping them into his jacket pocket.
"In Europe with my wife celebrating our wedding anniversary."
"Oh.…"
"Sorry to disappoint you. Feel free to check with her if you wish. You can even check with the airline. Would you like my ticket?"
Shaking her head, Max held up a hand. "That won't be necessary, but can you tell me how long you were there?"
"We landed back yesterday and were away for ten days. Paris. Wonderful city."
"Thank you," Max said appreciatively.
"Not a problem."
Considering Vincent Lurie's past, it pained Max to be asking this man for help but at this point in time any help was better than none.
"We believe the two victims were having a relationship and had been for some time. Our female victim also worked at Desert Palms previously and left several months ago. Probably why you recognized her. Can you think of anyone at the hospital who may have had a vendetta against Lucas either for the relationship or any other reason?"
Nipping on his lip, Lurie shook his head. "I didn't really have a lot to do with him. You'd be better asking one of the surgical managers. I'm more office based these days. Politics and running things, you know?"
"Okay," Max replied.
"Do you have pictures of the couple deceased?" he asked.
Frowning, Max sat back a little and shuffled.
"You know, the bodies, injuries and so forth."
Oh, now Max was really confused.
"I can perhaps give you an insight into the skills of your killer?" he said.
Ah. Now she understood but it still unsettled her.
"Are you okay with that?" she asked.
He smiled. "I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't. I have been a surgeon my entire working life and seen a lot of things, so it's rare anything bloody upsets me."
Bite your tongue, Max. Don't say what you really want to.
Wiping that thought from her mind, she took several more photographs from her folder.
"Anything I show you here or to do with this case, I would appreciate it remaining in this room."
"Not a problem," he confirmed.
Nodding, Max slid numerous photographs across to him.
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Sara processed the note for fingerprints and trace while Penny compared it to the mirror writing.
With two photographs side by side, she stood with a magnifying glass in her hand as Grissom and Nora looked on.
"So, all of these little notes weren't at your original scenes, right?" Nora asked.
"No," Grissom confirmed, glancing over his shoulder to see Sara picking up fingerprint powder. "Well, not the words anyway. Paul Milander left tape recordings and Kevin Greer left a drawing of his victim. He liked to sketch everyone he murdered."
Folding her arms, Nora's brow pinched. "Creepy."
"Mmmmm," Grissom agreed, watching as Penny moved back and forth between the two writing samples.
"And it doesn't alarm you that this killer is purposely aiming their vengeance against you?"
Tipping his head, Grissom looked at the detective. "I've be threatened before."
Nora gave him a smile. "Haven't we all? But have you ever been targeted in such a way previously? So personally?"
Sara, hearing the conversation, could imagine her husband beginning to feel uncomfortable, and when she lifted her head to glance his way, she noticed his jaw clicking a little. Telltale sign he wasn't enjoying the questioning. Hopefully, Nora didn't push this too far or she'd have to do something to break it up.
Clearing his throat, Grissom's attention returned to Penny just as she looked at him.
"I think it might be the same," she said, holding out the magnifying glass to him.
Obviously happy he had avoided Nora's question, Grissom took hold of it and leaned over the samples.
"See the 't'," Penny pointed out. "In both samples it looks identical. Same curve on the bottom, and crossed exactly the same way. The 'e' also looks the same to me."
After a real good look, Grissom stood straight. "You're right."
"If they match," Nora began, "then whoever wrote that note, also wrote the message on the mirror."
"We'd need to send it for proper analysis to be 100% certain but it's very possible," Grissom told her, turning and heading toward Sara.
She looked up as he neared, placing the newly acquired print with the pile she'd already gathered.
"I got two sets of prints on here," she told him. "One I'd suspect is Meryl's and the other I'd guess whoever wrote the note.
"Well, with the writing from the note maybe matching the mirror, I'd say we might be on a roll" he said.
Sara smirked.
"And, whoever it is, I'm sure they didn't contemplate their little note may very well lead us to their back door," she returned.
Grissom held up a hand. "We need to match the prints to someone first and confirm about the writing, so let's just take a breath and not put too much faith into something until we have all the facts."
Pursing her lips at him, she suddenly had a huge urge to just grab his cheeks and kiss him so hard she'd blow his lab coat right of his back. However, she managed to control herself for now.
"I'll start running the prints then."
"Okay," he agreed. "And I'll go see our document examiner."
Sara nodded, wriggling her eyebrows at him. "Have fun."
As he rolled his eyes and turned around, Sara smiled. For once, a feeling they were getting somewhere finally hit. Was it going to be a good day? She hoped so.
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Max watched as Lurie looked through photographs of their victims. First Meryl Jones and then the pieces of Lucas Henry. He paid particularly close attention to the photographs of Lucas, especially the individual body parts.
For the lab director it was extremely surreal to be having a civilian do this and it made her shudder a bit. Vincent Lurie was certainly not your ordinary fella.
Eventually, Lurie took off his glasses and gave Max his full attention.
"I would say your killer is very skilled," he told her. "And seeing how perfectly this body has been cut up, it wouldn't surprise me if they had professional experience in surgery."
"So, we could be looking for a surgeon?"
Lurie nodded. "Possibly. You could also be looking for a veterinarian. I couldn't tell you. This person just knows how to dissect a body very, very well. And, as the cuts are perfectly clean, they have the right tools to do so. Surgical scalpels can be acquired reasonably easily, but given my professional experience, that is your killer's tool of choice."
Max considered her options. They pretty much knew their killer was very skilled but considering Lucas' position at Desert Palms it was very possible their killer could be a surgeon there. It was certainly a very clear link to both victims given Meryl's relationship with Lucas and the hospital being her former workplace.
"We're going to need to speak to people at the hospital," she said to him. "Can we count on your co-operation for that?"
"You already have my co-operation, Doctor Roby. I can't force other people to be as polite." He opened up his hands. "However, I will ensure staff are available for questioning if they are on shift. I will let my managers know to expect your team in the next few days?"
"I'll likely send some people down there tomorrow," Max confirmed. "Sooner the better really."
"Then I will call after I leave here to inform them. Good enough?"
Max nodded. "Very helpful. Thank you."
He nodded back. "Is that everything you need?"
"Yeah. For now."
Lurie stood. "Glad I could help. You have my number if you require anything further."
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Grissom dropped the writing samples off with the examiner as he was in the middle of processing something when he arrived. Picking up some other results left by the night shift, he headed back towards processing to find out how Sara was getting on. Rounding the corner, he suddenly stopped dead.
Pressing the file he was carrying against his chest, the fingers of his free hand flexed in and out as Vincent Lurie, who was walking his way came to a stop in front of him…
A/N: Ugh ohhhh….