Case 9: And Death Smiled

[scorpii]

One of the men clicked the magazine in his gun. The other man looked at the first man and nodded. "It's time" he said.
The first man nodded, too, and both of them got out of the car.

Both of the men hid their gun and bought a ticket for the small circus.

Milly Blue, six years old, enjoyed the show. She loved clowns, she thought they were funny and...

One of the clowns pretended to be sad while the second clown made fun of him.

Little Milly laughed.

The two men with their guns walked past their seats and jumped into the ring.

The first clown, the one that pretended to be sad, walked up to the men and tried to get them back on where he belonged.

The first man looked at his accomplice and both drew their gun.

Little Milly stopped laughing and cried, when she saw the two clowns dying. The clowns were her father and her mother.

The audience screamed and shouted and hurried out of the circus, together with the two men who'd shot the clowns.

Little Milly Blue was left behind, all by herself.

More than one spectator called 9-1-1.

The only people left in the circus were Milly and her parents. Milly's hot tears fell on the sand in the ring when she walked over to them. Little did she know about her parents' history. But, although the truth would have to be simplified for her because of her age, she'd soon find out.

[mystic]

Sighing Rhia pushed the glass doors to the lab open. She had just gotten a call from the Sheriff. There was a high priority case - a murder in a famous circus. Of course, the press was already there. Besides, she had to made another two announcements concerning two members of her team. The only good thing today would be that Sam was on the team again. That thought made her smile while she was stalking through the corridors.

Her feet led her first to her bureau, then to the meeting room. She had summoned everyone in - to tell them the news.

[briguy4588]

Brian thought the day would be an easy one -- just transfering his junk from his CSI desk to his new detective office. He passed his exams with flying colors, as he had expected. He had just finished putting everything in a box when his pager went off. Sighing, he grabbed his box and headed into the meeting room.

The eyes in the room were first drawn to the badge on his belt, then to the gun in the shoulder holster, then to the tie, dark green button-up shirt, and black slacks, and polished black shoes. Brian had even gotten a haircut; his hair was shorter and he spiked it a little with some gel. Sometimes, image is everything. He set his box on the table and smiled at Rhia.

[scorpii]

Sam walked into the building. God, was she glad to be back. She walked past her lab. Well, Charlie had made a mess out of it. But that was okay with her, since she had the tendency to do that as well. Sam had received Rhia's message to meet in the meeting room. At first, she hadn't even the slightest clue why, since she was still a lab tech, but as soon as she entered the meeting room, she understood why. Brian wore a badge, which meant he now was a detective.
"Wow Brian. Detective Shefkowitz..." she smiled. Then she looked at Rhia. "Rhia, I'm so glad to be back here."

[mystic]

Rhia pulled her friend in a short hug. "Yeah, me too. Sorry for the mess Charlie left...."
She turned around to smile at Brian.

"Well, first change's standing right here. Brian decided to be a Detective from now on. I heard you passed your tests with bravour... as I had expected.", she winked at him.

"Yeah, and we'll have another new member, too. Her name's Lily Heart and she's a psychologist. Actually, I wanted to introduce her to you, but she isn't here yet. So...let's get working. I'll show her around as soon as she's arrived.", Rhia nodded to their colleagues and another smile swirled about her mouth.

"There's still lot of paperwork to do from the last case...", she sighed and made her way to the exit.

[scorpii]

"Okay" Sam replied. "It's better to have a full-time psychologist than the bit of course stuff I've done" she smiled, letting Rhia know she did not mean this sarcastically but seriously. "So, what's the case? And how's lab life been in the weeks that I wasn't here?"

[freewilly1991]

lilly walked in the building. what a great way to start a new job, she thought sarcasticly. she couldn't believe her roommate forgot to set the alarm! madeline, her roommate, usually goes up early to write while she's still in "sleep mode" how she likes to call it. but just this day, especially this day, she decides to sleep a little longer! lilly groaned. she could just hope her new collegues wouldn't think she didn't take work serious. she finally found the meeting room and runned in. "i'm so, so sorry!" she said. "i won't be late ever again!" she was really nervous.

[briguy4588]

Brian turned and sized her up, along with everyone else. He extended his hand towards her.

"Hi, nice to meet you, So So Sorry. I'm Brian Shefkowitz, NYPD." Brian grinned a goofy grin, hoping that some humor would help her calm down. He wondered why every new CSI was always late to their first meeting. Shrugging, he decided there were more pressing matters to devote his brainpower to.

[freewilly1991]

lilly grinned. "funny" she said. "just call me lilly, okay?" she looked around to see her new collegues. they seemed nice. "what do you want me to do?" she asked them. "coz i don't think i've been hired to see you guys do your jobs."

[mystic]

"Oh Sam...the last case really was awful. I would've needed you out there...", before she could go into detail, the door was flung open and a young woman entered, looking stressed.

"Well, I've never met anyone so full of beans...", Rhia smiled and took a step closer to Lilly.

"I'm Rhiannon Nerice, your supervisor. Please call me Rhia like everyone else does. So...now first you'll meet the guys that are here today. That's Brian, as you already know...", she smiled while she pointed at Brian. "...and this is Sam - she's our specialist for writing things."

She paused, then continued. "Actually, I just got a call from the Sheriff. There's been a double murder at Picadelli Circus. The two clowns have been shot during a perfomance. Names of the vics are Mr. Robert and Mrs. Jennifer Blue. Their daughter Milly had to witness, so this would be your part then, Lilly.", Rhia nodded at the newbie.

"Any questions before we leave here...?"

[freewilly1991]

"that poor milly," Lilly said. "it's awfull to lose both your parents on a young age. does she have any more relatives?"

[briguy4588]

"Shot down in the circus? How many other witnesses were present during the murder?" Brian frowned. As a detective, part of is job was interviewing witnesses. Who knows how many were in the audience for this show. Hundreds? Thousands? Maybe he picked the wrong case to be a detective on.

[mystic]

"Well, the sister of Mrs. Blue - a Miss Valery Tingle - also works in the circus, as a aerial acrobat. To answer your question, Lilly...", Rhia said, then turned around to face Brian.

"We've got exactly 236 tickets bought for the show. The people are all kept there - so maybe we should hurry. Otherwise they'll be inpatient and so on. Oh - and Sam? I know it's a huge favour I'm asking, but could you aid us? I know you're capable of asking the right questions and it seems that we need any help available...", Rhia sounded a bit tantalised.

"Okay...let's get going then..."

[scorpii]

"Really? Oh Rhia, that's not a huge favour to ask me - I consider it to be a privilige!" Sam answered Rhia's question. "Yes. Let's get going!"

[briguy4588]

Brian grabbed his coat from his office on the way out, and decided to also take a bunch of fingerprinting cards, ink, several notebooks, and a handfull of pens. Stepping outside, he put on his coat and sunglasses, slipped into his Mustang, and drove off towards the circus.

He smiled ruefully. He was going to have to try very hard not to make any corny circus jokes while he was there.