Post by scorpii on Aug 31, 2006 16:48:10 GMT 1
Okay, another one. I know, this one ends horrible, but I had to think something up and school just started this week so it's not too good. But still, I hope you'll enjoy it.
The Crime Lab – case 4: It’s beginning to look a lot like murder
It was a week before Christmas.
Outside it was cold and snowy, but inside the Harper field Mall, it was a warm and cosy happening.
A whole lot of people were there to buy this year’s Christmas gifts.
Santa Claus was selling Christmas trees.
"Ho ho ho".
A woman and her daughter saw him.
"Oh right, I forgot. We still need a Christmas tree!"
After looking for a few minutes, they thought they found the perfect one.
"Go on, Lilly, you can tell Santa we found one".
The girl tried to find Santa Claus, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Then she spotted something red through some trees.
"Santa?"
He didn't move.
Warrick was on his off day and heard about the mysterious Santa death. He decided to come into work.
Warrick gets to the crime scene and looked around. Nothing. No tape, no paramedics, no other CSI's. Warrick asked himself "Am I at the right place?"
People were shopping like nothing has happened. Then he heard a scream and a shout saying "HEEELLLLPPPP!"
Warrick ran to where the cluster was and said, "MOVE! CSI coming through!" Warrick radioed for help. "This is CSI-3 Warrick Brown requesting help!"
Gil Grissom's Tahoe pulled up outside the Harper field Mall. The police were right behind him. New York traffic didn’t seem to part for anything, including the police. His radio beeped and Warrick’s voice came over it.
"Warrick, it's Grissom. Calm down, I’m right outside the mall, the police are here too." Grissom said as he grabbed his kit out of the back seat. He started up the stairs to the front door. He pulled it open and headed in. Not even in the city 5 minutes and there was already a case. He gave a small smile and headed for Warrick.
The mall was crowded with shoppers and people looking who were making it very hard for Cali to get to the crime scene. After shouting several times at the top of her lungs that she was with the police a few kind citizens made an opening large enough for her to squeeze through.
The first CSIs on the scene were some she didn't know yet. "Hey, I'm Cali. You must be Grissom and Warrick. Luke told me you were coming. What do we have so far?"
By the time Doreen arrived at the crime scene, 3 CSIs were already there. It wasn't hard to tell that they were the right people she was looking for because of the huge "FORENSICS" print on the back of their jackets.
"Hey guys," she greeted them. "What a time for crime to happen, eh? Just when I was almost done with the Christmas tree in my apartment. So what's going on? I heard something about a dead Santa."
Warrick replied to Doreen: "Yep, its a bad time for a DB isn’t it? When the case is done, you can do your tree. Yep, you were right it’s a dead Santa, nothing wrong with him. Just selling trees and wham! He’s dead!"
When Luke Versteeg arrived he was surprised that so many people showed up.
But well, a dead Santa is something everybody needs to take a look at. The crime level was always low during the Christmas holidays, so it's good there were so many CSI's available.
He got under the yellow tape.
"Hello everybody."
He looked over at Santa.
"Ah it's a shame. After so many years, he appears to be mortal after all."
He spoke to everyone: "Well, how incredible abnormal the circumstances are, this is still a serious crime scene. Let's do this."
He walked over to Gil Grissom.
"Hello, Dr. Grissom. I don't want to look geeky, but I'm kind of a fan of yours. It's great that you're here to work at our Crime Lab, as well as Warrick Brown."
"Hi Luke, how are you?" Warrick greeted him and then started to look for evidence.
"Guys, I got a blood trail!"
Warrick followed the blood trail into a storeroom of a meat shop in the mall. He drew his gun and walked very slowly into the storeroom, his heart was beating more than normal, and he opened the door. "FREEZE!!” he found a man putting a body-like figure into a freezer. Warrick brought the man to the original crime scene.
"Guys can anyone get a police officer here please?"
He went back into the mall and into the freezer room, "GUYS ANOTHER DB!!" Warrick started CPR.
Casey ducked under the yellow tape and set her kit down. "Ho ho ho.." she said, looking over at the body. "Sorry I'm a bit late… had some problems at home."
She followed the blood trail also, bringing her to Kiora and Warrick. She checked the man's pulse. "Better get the coroner. No pulse." she said, starting to put on a pair of gloves.
While Warrick, Kiora, and Casey were waiting for the coroner, Cali began to take pictures of the first scene and the body.
"The guy must have put up a fight," she commented, "there's blood everywhere. How can no one have heard this?"
She was checking near the trashcan when she noticed a bloodied blade reflecting under some papers.
"Merry Christmas to us," she said preparing it to go back to the lab.
Doreen walked over to join Cali. "Hey, need any help there?"
Cali nodded and Doreen began processing the scene. "What a case, eh? Santa gets killed, probably scaring all the little kids."
"Hey Doreen, Cali, you two got a minute?"
They looked up simultaneously.
"I've got a pretty nice Christmas present for one of you girls. This case will give clarity of which one of you will get the promotion spot of CSI Level 3. The decision is on me and I will ask Dr. Grissom's opinion as well. Remember that this is still about solving the case, instead of a competition. But I guess that you both aren't very competitive. Good luck!" Luke said. Then he heard some running and looked up. It was Warrick.
"Luke, what should I do about the 2nd db?"
He was shaking.
"Thanks, Luke," said Doreen to Luke and left him alone with Warrick. She and Cali continued to process the crime scene.
"First a dead Santa and now a possible chance to get promoted. The day is certainly full of surprises."
"As if there wasn't enough pressure already," remarked Cali. "Oh well, what have we here?"
She took tweezers out of her kit and gathered up a bullet casing. "Looks like a .22, a knife and a gun? Doreen, did the coroner say anything yet?"
"No, the coroner hasn't said anything yet. He must be busy. After all, it is almost Christmas and like it or not, Christmas shopping still has to be done."
Kiora also put on a pair of gloves. "Hey Casey. What were you doing when you got the call?"
"First of all, calm down a bit. Just start taking pictures, looking for anything unusual. Just like you are used to." Luke tried to calm down Warrick.
Luke checked the pockets of the second DB. He found an ID. "Will Danes, New York Times. Oh, this is the guy who writes that nice column in the newspaper."
"Ok, ok Luke, I will calm down. It's just the shock of a second DB, because one was enough! But that man scared me, go my nerves all racked up! Can I have a quick brake please?”
Kiora started looking for evidence on the floor. She came to a corner of the scene and saw that the floor was different than at the entrance. "Casey, this floor looks suspicious. What do you think?"
Casey walked over to Kiora and squatted down to look at the floor. "Oh, it was nothing. I just got a call from my brother about something important." She gazed quickly over the floor. "What do you see?"
Kiora pointed to a spot on the floor. "You don't see it? The material used on this part of the floor is different from the material used at the entrance. I think that something is being covered up right here."
Doreen looked at the bullet in Cali's hand and slipped on a pair of latex gloves. "Let's bag it and see if ballistics can identify which gun it was shot from."
Warrick walked up to Cali and said, "well, if something is being covered up, for sure I’m not going down there!" he went into Starbucks and got a coffee, taking the short brake he had asked for.
As he sat down and drank his coffee, he suddenly started shaking, and collapsed....
Kiora watched Warrick walk into the Starbucks, and went back to work. She looked at the floor and noticed a switch near by. "Casey, do you see the button on the wall?"
Luke took a look at all the cast-off. It seemed like something was missing. There was a big void at the on the wall. Maybe someone was standing there. Could it have been Santa?
Sheldon looked down at the dead Santa and sighed. His holiday was just getting better and better. He knelt down next to the body and looked it over, trying to ignore the hustle and bustle around him. He wasn't a fan of coming into the field to examine the bodies, he preferred when they were brought to the morgue.
He looked at the bullet wound and searched for any other wounds in the victim. He lifted the Santa's sleeves and looked at his hands, there was definitely skin under his nails.
He took out a thermometer and took the liver temp.
"Time of death wasn't too long ago, maybe an hour, possibly more. COD appears to be a bullet wound to the chest, but I can't be certain until I can perform and autopsy. There are some cuts in his suit that go through to his skin, but I can't know the extent of the wounds until the autopsy." He said. He stood up. "I need him in the morgue as soon as you can get him there."
Sheldon slipped off his gloves and put them in his kit, then made his way through the mall to the other DB. He waved at Casey and Kiora as he knelt down next to the body, slipping on a new pair of gloves. He looked at the body and let out another sigh.
"Happy holidays," he muttered. "This guys tricky, but it looks like he was strangled." He took the liver temp. "Probably died about two hours ago. I need to get him to the morgue, but this stupid weather isn't helping the traffic."
He smiled at Kiora and Casey as he stood up and spoke to an ambulance driver about getting the body to the morgue. He left the scene and went in search of Luke.
"I've got to get back to the morgue and perform some autopsies," he said, when he found him.
"Thanks, Sheldon," said Doreen. She got up and turned to face Cali.
"Well, Sheldon's done his thing. Hey, what's this?"
She used a pair of tweezers to pick out something from the dead Santa's clothes. It was a strand of long, blonde hair.
"Hair fibre. Could belong to the killer. I'll bag it."
Once she did, she and Cali continued processing the scene.
Cali nodded as Doreen showed her the hair strand. Something was bothering her about what Sheldon had said. If there were no knife wounds, whose blood was on the knife she had found? But there were.
She said aloud, “So far we have a bullet, one hair sample, and one bloody knife, where else haven’t we looked?”
As she spoke her eyes travelled around the room, then she thought for a moment. Her gaze shifted upward to focus on the ceiling. “Doreen, if you’ve got a minute let’s turn out the lights and use the crime lights. There might be something on the walls and the ceiling.”
Casey looked back at where Kiora was pointing. "Yeah, that I see..." She took out her flashlight and shone it on the button. "Maybe it opens to a back-door or something."
Warrick walked into the second crime scene and started processing it.
He found a blood drop and swabbed it. "Maybe the vic’s? Or killers?" Warrick said to himself.
Sheldon came up to Luke and told him he was heading back to the morgue.
"Thanks Sheldon, I'll catch up with you in the lab."
Luke heard a woman shout: "Where is he? Where's Will?"
"Hello ma'am. I'm with the crime lab. Is your husband Will Danes?"
"Yes, yes he is. I heard that two people died here, so I thought I'd check it out if he was all right."
"Why was Will here?"
"Was? He's not here anymore? Or is he...?
Luke sighed. "I'm sorry, miss."
"Oh my god...I can't believe it. He was just here to pick up some Christmas gifts. He is always late with that sort of stuff..."
"Do you know if there are any people that might have something against your husband?"
She thought for a moment.
"Normally no... But he does have a beef with stand-up comedian Craig Mason."
"Ah right...In his latest column he criticized his show, didn't he?"
"Yes. They have been threatening each other for over a week. I hated it, it's almost Christmas for God's sake."
Doreen nodded at Cali's suggestions. She told the other CSIs that she and Cali are going to use the crime lights for a moment to see something.
They turned off the lights and shined the crime lights onto the walls and ceilings.
"Wow, you're right, Cali," said Doreen, squinting her eyes to look at what she saw.
Kiora nodded. "Or maybe the switch that opens this trap-door." She got up and dusted the button for fingerprints. "Well it's clean, so maybe the killer used gloves." She pushed the button and the trap door opened to reveal a lighted area below. "Well look at that. Maybe the killer went down there to escape through another door? What do you think Casey?"
Casey crouched down and looked through the hole in the floor. "Possibly. We might want to get an officer over here before we do anything though."
Kiora looked through the hole and smelled something very faint. "We should get the officer over here quick because I want to see what's making that smell."
Warrick radioed for an officer "We need an officer over here ASAP, we can smell something! Hurry!" Warrick walked over to Kiora and said "I have radioed for an officer they should be here any time now"
Squinting alongside Doreen, Cali took a swab of the white sticky substance on the wall. "Umm, I could be wrong but I think that's semen."
The two CSI's continued their search, finishing with the ceiling. There was a bloody handprint on the vent.
"I think we should bag the whole thing," said Cali. "We can raise the prints at the lab."
As she photographed the vent cover, her friend continued to look for other clues.
"Thanks Warrick. I really want to see what's down there, but there might be a suspect hiding to get one of us if we go." Kiora sat back up and sighed. "I wish that officer gets here soon."
Doreen searched the area for clues but couldn't find anymore. Looks like the others already did that.
"I can't find anything else," she told Cali. "Wanna go back to the lab to process the evidence? I'll treat you to a doughnut on the way back," she added.
"Sounds like a plan," answered Cali as they gathered up their equipment and evidence. On their way they filled Luke in on what they had so far.
"Good job, keep me informed. I myself am going to talk to the guy our 2nd DB has a grudge with."
Warrick rang Cali and said "Cali, Doreen, you need any help processing the evidence?"
Cali spoke to him on her cell phone, "If you need something to work on, I'm sure we've got something for you. How are you with fingerprints?"
Warrick replied with, "I’m great with fingerprints, I will meet you in the lab! See ya there Cali!"
Warrick hung up and drove to base and walked into the lab
Back at the lab, Cali showed Warrick the prints left on the vent cover. "Do you think you can raise these? I'll be in DNA with the blood and semen samples if you need anything."
Warrick replied with "Yep, I can do anything..."
After leaving Warrick to do his job, Cali was off to DNA.
She began to go through the evidence and what needed to be done in her head; the victim's blood needs to be run as well as his fingerprints for identification. We need to test the blood on the knife against the victim. The skin under the victim's fingernails should also be tested. The bullet needs to be identified. The semen needed to be run, as does the hair Doreen found. Doreen has got the hair and the bullet covered, and Warrick has got the bloody prints.
"So I guess while we wait for the DNA, I'll examine the knife," she said aloud to herself.
The knife proved to have only partials on the handle, but there was some trace on it. Some tiny fibres had been caught in the small, shredded part of the blade near the base. Some of them matched the Santa suit. The others were tan with a mysterious, microscopic stain.
In the trace lab, she learned that the stain was a rather unique chemical used to clean industrial ceilings. There was only one place in the area that used that particular brand. "Next stop, Spotless Sparkle."
While she was on her way out, the DNA results on the semen finished. The technician handed her the report, and Cali quickly glanced over it. "Hmm, two donors. Could be a case of the jealous lover."
As she drove to the cleaning service, she called Doreen and Luke with the updates.
"Thanks for the update," said Doreen. "I'll try to run the DNA of the hair on CODIS; see if we can come up with anything."
She did and came up with nothing. She called Cali and Luke.
"We came up with nothing. Nothing on CODIS," she told them.
Warrick started running the prints and he started running them through AFIS.
TBC...
The Crime Lab – case 4: It’s beginning to look a lot like murder
It was a week before Christmas.
Outside it was cold and snowy, but inside the Harper field Mall, it was a warm and cosy happening.
A whole lot of people were there to buy this year’s Christmas gifts.
Santa Claus was selling Christmas trees.
"Ho ho ho".
A woman and her daughter saw him.
"Oh right, I forgot. We still need a Christmas tree!"
After looking for a few minutes, they thought they found the perfect one.
"Go on, Lilly, you can tell Santa we found one".
The girl tried to find Santa Claus, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Then she spotted something red through some trees.
"Santa?"
He didn't move.
Warrick was on his off day and heard about the mysterious Santa death. He decided to come into work.
Warrick gets to the crime scene and looked around. Nothing. No tape, no paramedics, no other CSI's. Warrick asked himself "Am I at the right place?"
People were shopping like nothing has happened. Then he heard a scream and a shout saying "HEEELLLLPPPP!"
Warrick ran to where the cluster was and said, "MOVE! CSI coming through!" Warrick radioed for help. "This is CSI-3 Warrick Brown requesting help!"
Gil Grissom's Tahoe pulled up outside the Harper field Mall. The police were right behind him. New York traffic didn’t seem to part for anything, including the police. His radio beeped and Warrick’s voice came over it.
"Warrick, it's Grissom. Calm down, I’m right outside the mall, the police are here too." Grissom said as he grabbed his kit out of the back seat. He started up the stairs to the front door. He pulled it open and headed in. Not even in the city 5 minutes and there was already a case. He gave a small smile and headed for Warrick.
The mall was crowded with shoppers and people looking who were making it very hard for Cali to get to the crime scene. After shouting several times at the top of her lungs that she was with the police a few kind citizens made an opening large enough for her to squeeze through.
The first CSIs on the scene were some she didn't know yet. "Hey, I'm Cali. You must be Grissom and Warrick. Luke told me you were coming. What do we have so far?"
By the time Doreen arrived at the crime scene, 3 CSIs were already there. It wasn't hard to tell that they were the right people she was looking for because of the huge "FORENSICS" print on the back of their jackets.
"Hey guys," she greeted them. "What a time for crime to happen, eh? Just when I was almost done with the Christmas tree in my apartment. So what's going on? I heard something about a dead Santa."
Warrick replied to Doreen: "Yep, its a bad time for a DB isn’t it? When the case is done, you can do your tree. Yep, you were right it’s a dead Santa, nothing wrong with him. Just selling trees and wham! He’s dead!"
When Luke Versteeg arrived he was surprised that so many people showed up.
But well, a dead Santa is something everybody needs to take a look at. The crime level was always low during the Christmas holidays, so it's good there were so many CSI's available.
He got under the yellow tape.
"Hello everybody."
He looked over at Santa.
"Ah it's a shame. After so many years, he appears to be mortal after all."
He spoke to everyone: "Well, how incredible abnormal the circumstances are, this is still a serious crime scene. Let's do this."
He walked over to Gil Grissom.
"Hello, Dr. Grissom. I don't want to look geeky, but I'm kind of a fan of yours. It's great that you're here to work at our Crime Lab, as well as Warrick Brown."
"Hi Luke, how are you?" Warrick greeted him and then started to look for evidence.
"Guys, I got a blood trail!"
Warrick followed the blood trail into a storeroom of a meat shop in the mall. He drew his gun and walked very slowly into the storeroom, his heart was beating more than normal, and he opened the door. "FREEZE!!” he found a man putting a body-like figure into a freezer. Warrick brought the man to the original crime scene.
"Guys can anyone get a police officer here please?"
He went back into the mall and into the freezer room, "GUYS ANOTHER DB!!" Warrick started CPR.
Casey ducked under the yellow tape and set her kit down. "Ho ho ho.." she said, looking over at the body. "Sorry I'm a bit late… had some problems at home."
She followed the blood trail also, bringing her to Kiora and Warrick. She checked the man's pulse. "Better get the coroner. No pulse." she said, starting to put on a pair of gloves.
While Warrick, Kiora, and Casey were waiting for the coroner, Cali began to take pictures of the first scene and the body.
"The guy must have put up a fight," she commented, "there's blood everywhere. How can no one have heard this?"
She was checking near the trashcan when she noticed a bloodied blade reflecting under some papers.
"Merry Christmas to us," she said preparing it to go back to the lab.
Doreen walked over to join Cali. "Hey, need any help there?"
Cali nodded and Doreen began processing the scene. "What a case, eh? Santa gets killed, probably scaring all the little kids."
"Hey Doreen, Cali, you two got a minute?"
They looked up simultaneously.
"I've got a pretty nice Christmas present for one of you girls. This case will give clarity of which one of you will get the promotion spot of CSI Level 3. The decision is on me and I will ask Dr. Grissom's opinion as well. Remember that this is still about solving the case, instead of a competition. But I guess that you both aren't very competitive. Good luck!" Luke said. Then he heard some running and looked up. It was Warrick.
"Luke, what should I do about the 2nd db?"
He was shaking.
"Thanks, Luke," said Doreen to Luke and left him alone with Warrick. She and Cali continued to process the crime scene.
"First a dead Santa and now a possible chance to get promoted. The day is certainly full of surprises."
"As if there wasn't enough pressure already," remarked Cali. "Oh well, what have we here?"
She took tweezers out of her kit and gathered up a bullet casing. "Looks like a .22, a knife and a gun? Doreen, did the coroner say anything yet?"
"No, the coroner hasn't said anything yet. He must be busy. After all, it is almost Christmas and like it or not, Christmas shopping still has to be done."
Kiora also put on a pair of gloves. "Hey Casey. What were you doing when you got the call?"
"First of all, calm down a bit. Just start taking pictures, looking for anything unusual. Just like you are used to." Luke tried to calm down Warrick.
Luke checked the pockets of the second DB. He found an ID. "Will Danes, New York Times. Oh, this is the guy who writes that nice column in the newspaper."
"Ok, ok Luke, I will calm down. It's just the shock of a second DB, because one was enough! But that man scared me, go my nerves all racked up! Can I have a quick brake please?”
Kiora started looking for evidence on the floor. She came to a corner of the scene and saw that the floor was different than at the entrance. "Casey, this floor looks suspicious. What do you think?"
Casey walked over to Kiora and squatted down to look at the floor. "Oh, it was nothing. I just got a call from my brother about something important." She gazed quickly over the floor. "What do you see?"
Kiora pointed to a spot on the floor. "You don't see it? The material used on this part of the floor is different from the material used at the entrance. I think that something is being covered up right here."
Doreen looked at the bullet in Cali's hand and slipped on a pair of latex gloves. "Let's bag it and see if ballistics can identify which gun it was shot from."
Warrick walked up to Cali and said, "well, if something is being covered up, for sure I’m not going down there!" he went into Starbucks and got a coffee, taking the short brake he had asked for.
As he sat down and drank his coffee, he suddenly started shaking, and collapsed....
Kiora watched Warrick walk into the Starbucks, and went back to work. She looked at the floor and noticed a switch near by. "Casey, do you see the button on the wall?"
Luke took a look at all the cast-off. It seemed like something was missing. There was a big void at the on the wall. Maybe someone was standing there. Could it have been Santa?
Sheldon looked down at the dead Santa and sighed. His holiday was just getting better and better. He knelt down next to the body and looked it over, trying to ignore the hustle and bustle around him. He wasn't a fan of coming into the field to examine the bodies, he preferred when they were brought to the morgue.
He looked at the bullet wound and searched for any other wounds in the victim. He lifted the Santa's sleeves and looked at his hands, there was definitely skin under his nails.
He took out a thermometer and took the liver temp.
"Time of death wasn't too long ago, maybe an hour, possibly more. COD appears to be a bullet wound to the chest, but I can't be certain until I can perform and autopsy. There are some cuts in his suit that go through to his skin, but I can't know the extent of the wounds until the autopsy." He said. He stood up. "I need him in the morgue as soon as you can get him there."
Sheldon slipped off his gloves and put them in his kit, then made his way through the mall to the other DB. He waved at Casey and Kiora as he knelt down next to the body, slipping on a new pair of gloves. He looked at the body and let out another sigh.
"Happy holidays," he muttered. "This guys tricky, but it looks like he was strangled." He took the liver temp. "Probably died about two hours ago. I need to get him to the morgue, but this stupid weather isn't helping the traffic."
He smiled at Kiora and Casey as he stood up and spoke to an ambulance driver about getting the body to the morgue. He left the scene and went in search of Luke.
"I've got to get back to the morgue and perform some autopsies," he said, when he found him.
"Thanks, Sheldon," said Doreen. She got up and turned to face Cali.
"Well, Sheldon's done his thing. Hey, what's this?"
She used a pair of tweezers to pick out something from the dead Santa's clothes. It was a strand of long, blonde hair.
"Hair fibre. Could belong to the killer. I'll bag it."
Once she did, she and Cali continued processing the scene.
Cali nodded as Doreen showed her the hair strand. Something was bothering her about what Sheldon had said. If there were no knife wounds, whose blood was on the knife she had found? But there were.
She said aloud, “So far we have a bullet, one hair sample, and one bloody knife, where else haven’t we looked?”
As she spoke her eyes travelled around the room, then she thought for a moment. Her gaze shifted upward to focus on the ceiling. “Doreen, if you’ve got a minute let’s turn out the lights and use the crime lights. There might be something on the walls and the ceiling.”
Casey looked back at where Kiora was pointing. "Yeah, that I see..." She took out her flashlight and shone it on the button. "Maybe it opens to a back-door or something."
Warrick walked into the second crime scene and started processing it.
He found a blood drop and swabbed it. "Maybe the vic’s? Or killers?" Warrick said to himself.
Sheldon came up to Luke and told him he was heading back to the morgue.
"Thanks Sheldon, I'll catch up with you in the lab."
Luke heard a woman shout: "Where is he? Where's Will?"
"Hello ma'am. I'm with the crime lab. Is your husband Will Danes?"
"Yes, yes he is. I heard that two people died here, so I thought I'd check it out if he was all right."
"Why was Will here?"
"Was? He's not here anymore? Or is he...?
Luke sighed. "I'm sorry, miss."
"Oh my god...I can't believe it. He was just here to pick up some Christmas gifts. He is always late with that sort of stuff..."
"Do you know if there are any people that might have something against your husband?"
She thought for a moment.
"Normally no... But he does have a beef with stand-up comedian Craig Mason."
"Ah right...In his latest column he criticized his show, didn't he?"
"Yes. They have been threatening each other for over a week. I hated it, it's almost Christmas for God's sake."
Doreen nodded at Cali's suggestions. She told the other CSIs that she and Cali are going to use the crime lights for a moment to see something.
They turned off the lights and shined the crime lights onto the walls and ceilings.
"Wow, you're right, Cali," said Doreen, squinting her eyes to look at what she saw.
Kiora nodded. "Or maybe the switch that opens this trap-door." She got up and dusted the button for fingerprints. "Well it's clean, so maybe the killer used gloves." She pushed the button and the trap door opened to reveal a lighted area below. "Well look at that. Maybe the killer went down there to escape through another door? What do you think Casey?"
Casey crouched down and looked through the hole in the floor. "Possibly. We might want to get an officer over here before we do anything though."
Kiora looked through the hole and smelled something very faint. "We should get the officer over here quick because I want to see what's making that smell."
Warrick radioed for an officer "We need an officer over here ASAP, we can smell something! Hurry!" Warrick walked over to Kiora and said "I have radioed for an officer they should be here any time now"
Squinting alongside Doreen, Cali took a swab of the white sticky substance on the wall. "Umm, I could be wrong but I think that's semen."
The two CSI's continued their search, finishing with the ceiling. There was a bloody handprint on the vent.
"I think we should bag the whole thing," said Cali. "We can raise the prints at the lab."
As she photographed the vent cover, her friend continued to look for other clues.
"Thanks Warrick. I really want to see what's down there, but there might be a suspect hiding to get one of us if we go." Kiora sat back up and sighed. "I wish that officer gets here soon."
Doreen searched the area for clues but couldn't find anymore. Looks like the others already did that.
"I can't find anything else," she told Cali. "Wanna go back to the lab to process the evidence? I'll treat you to a doughnut on the way back," she added.
"Sounds like a plan," answered Cali as they gathered up their equipment and evidence. On their way they filled Luke in on what they had so far.
"Good job, keep me informed. I myself am going to talk to the guy our 2nd DB has a grudge with."
Warrick rang Cali and said "Cali, Doreen, you need any help processing the evidence?"
Cali spoke to him on her cell phone, "If you need something to work on, I'm sure we've got something for you. How are you with fingerprints?"
Warrick replied with, "I’m great with fingerprints, I will meet you in the lab! See ya there Cali!"
Warrick hung up and drove to base and walked into the lab
Back at the lab, Cali showed Warrick the prints left on the vent cover. "Do you think you can raise these? I'll be in DNA with the blood and semen samples if you need anything."
Warrick replied with "Yep, I can do anything..."
After leaving Warrick to do his job, Cali was off to DNA.
She began to go through the evidence and what needed to be done in her head; the victim's blood needs to be run as well as his fingerprints for identification. We need to test the blood on the knife against the victim. The skin under the victim's fingernails should also be tested. The bullet needs to be identified. The semen needed to be run, as does the hair Doreen found. Doreen has got the hair and the bullet covered, and Warrick has got the bloody prints.
"So I guess while we wait for the DNA, I'll examine the knife," she said aloud to herself.
The knife proved to have only partials on the handle, but there was some trace on it. Some tiny fibres had been caught in the small, shredded part of the blade near the base. Some of them matched the Santa suit. The others were tan with a mysterious, microscopic stain.
In the trace lab, she learned that the stain was a rather unique chemical used to clean industrial ceilings. There was only one place in the area that used that particular brand. "Next stop, Spotless Sparkle."
While she was on her way out, the DNA results on the semen finished. The technician handed her the report, and Cali quickly glanced over it. "Hmm, two donors. Could be a case of the jealous lover."
As she drove to the cleaning service, she called Doreen and Luke with the updates.
"Thanks for the update," said Doreen. "I'll try to run the DNA of the hair on CODIS; see if we can come up with anything."
She did and came up with nothing. She called Cali and Luke.
"We came up with nothing. Nothing on CODIS," she told them.
Warrick started running the prints and he started running them through AFIS.
TBC...
