Valentine

 

Chapter Two – Multiples

 

 

‘Earth to Grissom,’ Catherine’s impatient voice said.

 

 

Grissom looked up to see Catherine standing in front of his desk. He hadn’t heard her come in.

 

 

‘Hi, Catherine,’ he said. ‘Did you say something?’

 

 

‘Uh, yeah. I said are you coming to the briefing, or would you like me to hand out the assignments for you?’

 

 

‘Still after my job?’ he said with a smile.

 

 

‘Well, someone needs to do it.’

 

 

Grissom gathered up the paperwork on his desk. ‘I’ll be right there.’

 

 

But Catherine didn’t leave. ‘So. Who is she?’

 

 

Getting to his feet, Grissom frowned in confusion. ‘Who’s who?’

 

 

‘Well, you’re sitting there with a dopey look on your face, which I haven’t seen since… wait, is Terri Miller in town?’

 

 

‘What?’ Grissom asked, still confused. ‘What are you talking about?’

 

 

‘Well, Nick mentioned something about you having a date last night, and between that and that look on your face, I put two and two together…’

 

 

‘And got five,’ Grissom remarked. ‘Terri’s married, Catherine.’

 

 

‘Okay, if not her, then who?’

 

 

‘Does there have to be someone?’

 

 

‘What? You went on a date alone last night,’ Catherine said with a hint of sarcasm. ‘Fine, play it your way. But I will be viewing every blonde I see with suspicion until I narrow it down.’

 

 

Walking past her into the corridor, Grissom rolled his eyes. ‘Why blondes? Surely you don’t think I’m so shallow as to have a type?’

 

 

‘Ah, yeah… of course. There was Lady Heather…’

 

 

‘You swore never to mention that, Cath,’ he frowned at her.

 

 

‘Sorry. It slipped out,’ Catherine grinned.

 

 

They turned into the break room, where Warrick and Nick were arguing good-naturedly about a basketball game they’d been to see, Greg was onto his second cup of coffee and Sara was tucking into a yogurt. As the sight of her, Grissom flashed the hint of a smile, which she covertly returned.

 

 

‘Let’s get to work,’ Grissom called them to order. ‘Just the one case so far. The double murder in the desert. Here’s what we know so far. Victims’ names are Clive Johnson and Mary Gibson. Last seen four days ago, at 8pm when Clive picked Mary up from her parents house for a date. When they weren’t back by the next morning, Mary’s parents called the police. We haven’t finalised the timeline, but from what the Doc and I can figure, they probably died the night they were last seen. When the bugs are done maturing, we’ll have a more accurate timeline.’

 

 

Nick took up the story. ‘From what Brass can gather from the parents, Clive and Mary were on a double date that night. With a Missy Emerson and a Daniel Clifford. He’s tracking them down so we can talk to them. According to Mary’s parents these were their best friends.’

 

 

‘No history of any animosity?’ Sara asked. ‘Maybe they had a fight?’

 

 

‘Anything’s possible at this stage,’ Grissom replied. ‘But the MO is more like a signature than revenge for a falling out. Both victims were shot in the head and then their hearts were removed.’

 

 

‘Just in time for Valentine’s day,’ Greg remarked. At Grissom’s sharp look, Greg looked abashed. ‘Sorry.’

 

 

‘No, don’t be,’ Grissom told him. ‘That hadn’t actually occurred to me. We can’t rule out the possibility that removing the hearts has some kind of ritual or seasonal significance to the killer.’

 

 

‘Cupid in reverse,’ Catherine remarked dryly.

 

 

‘Nick, Warrick. Brass called a little while ago to say that the couple’s car had been found a few miles from the crime scene. Can you guys head out their now and take a look, then have it towed back to the garage?’

 

 

‘No problem,’ Warrick replied.

 

 

Before Grissom could finish handing out jobs for the others, Brass walked in.

 

 

‘Hey, sorry to break up the party,’ the New Jersey cop said, ‘but we got us another double homicide in the desert.’

 

---

 

 

Catherine and Sara got out of their Tahoe, eagerly followed by Greg, whom Grissom felt need the experience of this kind of crime scene. But despite having spent his career analysing blood, he wasn’t quite prepared for the sheer volume of it present at this particular scene. It stained the sand red for several meters around the bodies. He could feel the emotion of the scene. It wasn’t rage. It was worse than that.

 

 

Sara immediately began taking photographs, wide shots of the scene, before moving in for close ups. Catherine went to talk to David, who was pulling off his gloves, having finished his examination of the bodies.

 

 

‘What can you tell me, David?’ she asked the coroner.

 

 

‘Haley Michaels and Jason Clements. Based on temperature and lividity, they’ve been here no more than six hours,’ he replied. ‘Similar injuries to the first couple. Gun shot wound to the back of the head. Incised wounds to the chest. Hearts appear to be missing. But the girl’s injuries are different. Even more violent.’

 

 

‘More violent than having your heart ripped out?’ Catherine said.

 

 

‘She has multiple defensive wounds. Hands, arms and upped body have multiple incised wounds from a knife. She put up a fight. The killer may have cut into one or more arteries, which would account for all the blood.’

 

 

‘Thanks, David.’

 

 

‘No problem. They’re all yours.’

 

 

Now that David had released the bodies, Catherine moved in to begin her own examination. Starting with Haley. She could barely see the girl’s skin under all the blood. Cuts on her hands went right to the bone. ‘This girl fought to the death,’ she commented.

 

 

Sara was examining the boyfriend, Jason. ‘He doesn’t have a mark on him, apart from the chest wound and the bullet wound. What do you think, Greg?’ she asked, looking up at the new CSI.

 

 

Greg considered for a moment. ‘He didn’t put up a fight. He was being as meek as a lamb ‘because the killer had his girlfriend. Killer shot the boyfriend first.’

 

 

Sara nodded. ‘Makes sense. The boyfriend’s a big guy. The killer would have wanted to get him out of the way first. He seemed to be the biggest threat.’

 

 

‘But the killer didn’t count on Haley being a wild cat,’ Catherine remarked.

 

 

‘She sees her boyfriend murdered, knows what’s next,’ Greg continued. ‘Now, she’s got nothing to lose. She fights back. Killer defends himself, cutting her until she can’t fight anymore.’

 

 

‘Makes you wonder if all that blood is just Haley’s,’ Sara speculated.

 

 

Catherine was taking a closer look at Haley’s right hand. ‘Well, I don’t know about the blood yet,’ she said. ‘But the killer left something behind. Our girl was a scratcher.’ She carefully scraped the flesh from underneath the girl’s fingernails into a bindle.

 

 

‘Hello DNA,’ Greg remarked. Frowning, he bent down to take a closer look at the male victim’s jacket. Using tweezers, he plucked a dark hair off the clothing. ‘Our vic’s blonde,’ he said.

 

 

‘Yeah,’ Sara answered, still examining the chest wound. ‘You find something?’

 

 

‘Short dark hair,’ Greg declared. ‘Complete with skin tag. DNA times two.’

 

---

 

 

Grissom was bent over his calculations when Sara found him. Standing at the door quietly she watched the pure glee on his face. Obviously he liked the way his experiment turned out. He double checked the pin-board of maggots, and made a final note on the clipboard in front of him, before taking his glasses with a look of self-satisfaction.

 

 

‘I was waiting for you to yell Eureka!’ Sara teased him.

 

 

Jumping slightly, he turned and smiled at her. ‘We’ve got our timeline. Time of death, approximately 94 to 96 hours ago.’

 

 

‘So that’s four days ago, between midnight and 2am, Thursday morning,’ Sara calculated in a flash. ‘They were last seen at 8pm Wednesday night. Then, four to six hours later, someone brings them to the desert and kills them. The couple they were on a double date with?’

 

 

‘Brass is bringing them in for questioning now,’ Grissom told her. ‘Want to have a chat with them?’

 

 

‘Don’t mind if I do,’ Sara replied with a smile.

 

 

Grissom began gathering up his notes from the desk. ‘So, have you forgiven me yet?’ he asked her in a low voice.

 

 

Sara matched his conspiratorial tone with one of her own. ‘What for?’

 

 

‘For cutting our evening short last night.’

 

 

‘Nothing to forgive, Gris,’ Sara said. ‘It’s the job. We don’t have any control over when people are murdered. Anyway, I know you’ll make it up to me on our second date,’ she added with a grin.

 

 

‘Second date, huh?’ Grissom smirked.

 

 

‘Well, I figured we’d better do something about that batting average you were complaining about last week,’ she replied.

 

 

Smiling, he was about to reply when someone cleared his throat behind them. They turned, startled, to see Ecklie standing at the door.

 

 

‘Can I have a word, Grissom,’ he asked.

 

 

Grissom and Sara exchanged a fleeting glance. How much had he heard? Sara moved to the door.

 

 

‘I’ll, uh… see you at the interview, Grissom,’ she said to him over her shoulder.

 

 

‘Yeah, tell Brass I’ll be there soon,’ Grissom replied before giving Ecklie his full attention. ‘Conrad, it’s 1 am. What brings you to the lab this late?’

 

 

‘Your latest crime scene. Are you aware of who one of the victims is?’

 

 

‘Haley Michaels and Jason Clements, right?’

 

 

‘Haley Michaels. As in Scott Michaels. Entrepreneur, businessman. Very close friend of the Mayor,’ Ecklie told him, frustrated as ever by Grissom’s lack of political savvy.

 

 

‘Ah. Major contributor,’ Grissom caught up fast.

 

 

‘Exactly,’ Ecklie replied. ‘So, what are you doing to expedite the case?’

 

 

‘The same thing I always do, Conrad. I’m following the evidence. Now if you don’t mind, I have an interview to attend.’ With that, Grissom walked by him and into the hallway.

 

 

‘The Mayor’s going to be looking for results on this one, Grissom,’ Ecklie called after him.

 

 

Grissom walked on, playing deaf.

 

Chapter Three

 

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