Author GGgirl1.
This story takes place two weeks after Way to Go
TENSION
Grissom was playing with his tarantula, when he heard a knock on his office door. He looked up to see Catherine entering his office. She approached him, a frown on her face: “Gil, have you seen Ecklie? I have some paperwork to give him and I can’t find him anywhere. I even phoned him at home and on his cell, but got no answer.”
Grissom shook his head: “No. I haven’t seen him all day, in fact. Are you sure you’ve looked everywhere?”
“Of course I’m sure…” She scratched her head, looking away for a moment before she continued, looking back at Grissom: “The only place I haven’t looked is in the men’s room. But he couldn’t have been there all day, could he?”
Grissom carefully replaced his tarantula in its transparent box as he replied: “I’ll go take a look.” He put the lid on the box, got up from his chair and headed to the men’s room, Catherine on his heels. Once there, he entered, saw something on the floor near a sink, approached it and squatted nearby, telling Catherine: “Cath, would you go to my office and bring back my kit, please? I think these are his glasses.”
“Okay.” She left the doorway, went to Grissom’s office and brought him back his evidence kit.
“Thank you.” Grissom opened his kit and snapped on a pair of gloves, looking everywhere around him. He fished his own glasses from his shirt pocket, opened them, put them on and picked up the glasses to take a closer look: “Hum, one lens is broken.”
“Which suggests some kind of altercation, you think?”
“Maybe.”
Ecklie was standing at the sink when someone comes up behind him and attacks him. In the struggle, his glasses fall on the floor.
Grissom was standing up as Greg entered the room: “Catherine? What are you doing here? This is the men’s room.”
She turned back to face Greg: “Yeah, I know, Greg. Grissom and I are here to…”
Greg interrupted, smirking: “Grissom, huh?” Then he saw Grissom, sternly looking at him behind Catherine, and his smirk vanished: “Er… Hello, boss. I was not expecting you to be here. I came here just to take a leak and saw Catherine… I was surprised, you know.”
Grissom nodded: “Of course, Greg. Have you seen Ecklie today?”
“No. Is he missing?”
“It looks like it. Will you go ask around if anybody’s seen him?”
“Okay, boss. I’m on my way.” Greg quickly left as Catherine turned back to Grissom.
He was examining the glasses, holding them between the lenses to the light coming from the fixture above the sink and pointing with his left hand: “It looks like there’s a fingerprint on the intact lens. Do you see it?”
Catherine closed the distance between them: “Yes, I see it. Here, give them to me and I’ll bring them to Jacqui.” She bent down to fish a plastic bag from Grissom’s kit and he let the glasses drop into the bag as she stood up.
“I’ll process here.”
Catherine left and the door closed behind her. On her way to the fingerprint lab, she met Nick and Sara who were coming back to the lab with some evidence from the case they were working on: “Hey!”
Nick and Sara replied in unison: “Hey!” Nick continued: “Where are you going with these glasses?”
“Fingerprint lab. Have you seen Ecklie today?”
They looked at each other, shook their heads, and then turned back to her. Sara spoke: “No. Why, he’s not here?”
“I couldn’t find him, and neither Grissom nor Greg have seen him all day.”
Sara continued: “Good riddance. Now we’ll be able to work without being harrassed by him!” And she took off towards the evidence room. Nick shrugged and followed her.
*********
The whole team was assembled around the table in the conference room. Grissom, sitting at the head of the table, was showing the few items he was able to recover from the men’s room: “Brass and Sofia are at Ecklie’s house. I don’t know yet if they found anything.”
He picked up Ecklie’s glasses in their evidence bag: “I found these on the floor near the sink by the window. There is a partial fingerprint on the intact lens, but it belongs to Ecklie. I also collected a few blood drops on the floor nearby.”
He put down the bag on the table and picked up another containing a man’s black comb: “I found this comb outside the stall by the window. There are only partial fingerprints on them, but I found a couple of hairs and the lab is working on them.”
Grissom picked up photographs of boot prints: “I lifted these from the last stall by the window. Tough Tread Bruiser, size 13. They don’t belong to Ecklie, who wears Florsheim, size 12.”
Catherine said: “Hum, work boots. Certainly not Ecklie’s style.”
Nodding, Grissom put down the photographs and picked up the third and last bag from his examination of the men’s room: “And this is a necktie I found by the comb. Greg found epithelials on it, which are processed as we speak. The window has been left open and there were a few fingerprints on the sill. No match in AFIS so far, although they match the ones on the comb.”
Nick spoke up: “Sara and I have searched his office for an hour but we didn’t find anything which might be relevant to the case.”
Grissom was putting down the two bags on the table when Catherine said: “We really don’t have much, then.”
Grissom sighed: “No. And we have to make do with what we have, for now. We’ll know more when the results come in.”
Warrick pointed to the yellow and blue necktie in its plastic bag: “Do you know if this tie belongs to Ecklie? I don’t remember seeing him wearing it.” They all looked at one another, shaking their heads.
Grissom asked: “Greg, why don’t you call it?”
Ecklie stands at the sink, washing his hands, his head down. A man comes out of the stall closest to the window and attacks him. Ecklie, whirling to defend himself, catches the man’s necktie. They struggle. The tie becomes undone and falls. A black comb falls on the floor from the man’s pocket. The man knocks Ecklie out with a punch or two. Blood drops land on the floor. Ecklie falls , his glasses crashing on the floor. The man opens the window, picks up Ecklie, shoves him through the window and climbs out after him.
Warrick broke the silence: “Gris, you know you’ll have the sheriff on your tail. He’ll be harassing you to find his pet assistant lab director.”
Grissom nodded, pursing his lips: “Yes, I know…”
Sheriff Atwater chose this moment to enter the conference room, Brass and Sofia on his heels. Grissom heard their footsteps, sighed once again and stood up to face the sheriff and his posse. He looked at Brass, who shook his head.
Atwater closed the gap between them: “Gil, I want to know what you’re doing to find Conrad.”
While the team members stood up and filed past him, Grissom took a deep breath before answering: “Well, I’ve processed the men’s room and the few clues I found are being analyzed as we speak. Greg and Warrick have asked everyone in the building if they’d seen him but no one has, except for Judy who saw him come in this morning and go directly to the men’s room. Nick and Sara have searched his office but found nothing. His car is in the parking lot, but Catherine found no evidence he ever went back there after he started his shift today.”
Atwater asked him: “That’s all you have?” Grissom nodded. Atwater continued: “That’s not much… Have you notified his family?”
Grissom replied: “That’s what I was about to do.”
Atwater turned back, speaking over his shoulder: “There is no other crime scene in Vegas tonight. And I want to be informed as soon as you know something, every step of the way.” And he left before Grissom could answer.
Brass and Sofia were watching Grissom, who was standing there, his arms crossed, staring at the sheriff’s back. Seeing Atwater turn the corner at the other end of the corridor, Grissom looked at Brass and finally said: “I think that went well. Don’t you agree, Jim?”
********
Ecklie’s parents had just arrived in Grissom’s office, settling in two chairs at the other side of his desk as Grissom spoke, lacing his fingers in front of him: “Mrs. Ecklie, Mr. Ecklie, as I’ve already told you over the phone, Conrad has disappeared. We’ve tried to contact him at home and on his cell, and nobody has seen him in this building after the receptionist saw him when he arrived this morning. Did you have any contact with him?”
The grey-haired lady told him: “He doesn’t call very often, you know. In fact, we haven’t seen or heard from him in more than three weeks.”
Grissom frowned, elbows on his desk, resting his chin on his knuckles, and looked at her over his glasses: “You didn’t call him? In three weeks?”
She pursed her lips and answered: “Mr. Grissom, we are busy people. My husband and I are involved in many activities. We do not wait for him at home, watching TV, as so many other retired parents would do.”
Grissom was nodding slowly, looking at one to another: “I see…” His index fingers went to his lips as he collected his thoughts before continuing: “Do you know if he has any enemies? Maybe someone he met during an investigation…”
The woman shook her head: “We never were privy to his cases, Mr. Grissom, so we know absolutely nothing about that. However, that ex-wife of his is really something…”
Grissom leaned back in his chair, his hands returning to his desk and lifting an eyebrow: “What do you mean by that?”
“I mean that Conrad should never have married that woman. She’s always been bad news, you know.”
“Really?”
She continued, sharply nodding: “Really. She was a stripper in her twenties, for crying out loud! Can you imagine that? Conrad marrying that woman?” She snorted before continuing: “And I’ve heard that she’s had a string of sleazy boyfriends after their divorce. I know who the latest is.” She leaned forward to tell Grissom in a low voice: “He’s an ex-con, named Wilfrid James. That man has been convicted of burglary and spent five years in prison!”
“Oh? And how do you know that?”
Mrs. Ecklie opened her mouth to reply: “Well…”
Grissom heard a knock on his door and looked up as Greg stepped in: “Boss, boss! Hodges has disappeared too!”
********
Sara, biting on a plastic stick and mumbling to herself, was sitting in front of a computer, watching the screen, a forgotten coffee cup by her left hand: “I hate this. I really hate this. Damn that Ecklie!”
Nick and Warrick came in and approached her. Warrick asked: “Hey, girl, did you find anythin’?”
She took the coffee stick out of her mouth while turning around to look at them: “I’ve been at this for hours, using every search engine I could think of. Absolutely no reference to Wilfrid James anywhere. It’s as if that guy doesn’t exist!”
Nick said: “Aw, come on, Sara. Ecklie’s parents said he’d been in jail for five years. There must be a record somewhere!”
Her hands flew up in the air: “Do you think I don’t know that? They must have taken his prints and DNA at that time…”
Warrick took a seat next to her: “Don’t get your panties in a bunch, girl. We’re here to help.”
*********
Greg had been looking around in the parking lot behind the building, a few feet from the open window of the men’s room, when he spotted tire tracks in the dust. He bent down to put his field kit on the asphalt, took a few pictures and approached the tracks to take a closer look.
*********
The phone rang in Grissom’s office and he picked it up: “Grissom.”
“ This is Mrs. Ecklie.”
“What can I do for you, Mrs. Ecklie?”
“ We just arrived home and found a ransom note in our mailbox. They’re asking for $500,000 or Conrad dies.”
*********
Grissom and Brass arrived at the Ecklies’ house and Brass knocked on the door. Mrs. Ecklie opened it and they went inside.
Grissom asked: “Can you show me where the note is, please?”
“This way.”
She led them to the living room on the right side of the entrance. Her husband was sitting in a red leather easy chair at the far end of the room, near the fireplace. Grissom saw an envelope and a white sheet of paper laying on the dark coffee table in front of a large striped couch. He approached the table.
Brass stood by the door to question the mother: “Please tell me how you found the note.”
“After we came back from the station, we parked and went to the door. I opened the mailbox to pick up the mail while my husband was unlocking the door. There were a few bills and a white envelope. We came in, I opened the envelope and saw the letter. I read it, showed it to my husband and placed it on the table, and then I called Mr. Grissom.”
Grissom, crouched by the table, opened his kit. He put on his latex gloves, picked up ninhydrin and sprayed it on the letter and the envelope. A few fingerprints appeared.
Brass saw the pink stains on the paper and told the woman: “We’re gonna need to take your fingerprints, and your husband’s.”
Mrs. Ecklie frowned: “Why? We’re not suspects, are we? We are law abiding citizens. Our son has been kidnapped, for gawd’s sake!”
Brass tried to calm the woman down, smiling innocently: “Just to determine which prints are yours and which are the kidnapper’s, that’s all.”
Grissom carefully picked up the letter and the envelope and placed them in plastic bags.
She relented: “Okay, then. But my husband never touched the letter. Or the envelope. Why take his prints?”
Grissom stood up and turned to the woman: “Sometimes we don’t exactly remember what we do in certain circumstances. He may have touched them and you may have forgotten.”
She crossed her arms and frowned: “You doubt my word? I always remember what I did a few minutes before, Mr. Grissom. He never touched them.”
Brass continued: “Department policy. Just to be sure.”
Grissom told her: “Please, be seated. It’ll only take a minute.”
She pursed her lips: “Oh, all right, then.”
As she walked to the couch and sat down, Grissom placed the plastic bags on the floor and took his fingerprint paraphernalia out of his kit. He took her prints and turned to her husband. The man came towards him and sat down next to his wife. Grissom repeated the procedure.
“Thank you.”
He then gave them small moist towels to wipe the black ink off their fingers and placed the ten-cards inside his kit.
Standing up, his kit and plastic bags in his hands, he told them: “I also need to lift the prints off your mailbox.”
Mrs. Ecklie snorted: “Whatever.”
Brass asked the couple: “What do you plan to do about the ransom?”
Wiping her fingers on the towel, the woman said: “We’re certainly not paying that! Conrad works for the police, then it’s your problem. And we don’t have that kind of money.”
Raising an eyebrow, Brass looked at Grissom, who was coming towards him to lift the prints off the mailbox, before turning back to the mother: “Mrs. Ecklie…”
She interrupted Brass, giving the towel to her husband: “Captain Brass, Conrad made a fool of himself when he married that woman. I’m certain she’s behind this and I won’t give her a penny of our hard-earned money!” She snorted once again: “And I’m sure she won’t kill him. She doesn’t have the guts to do that.”
She motioned Brass to the door: “And I’ve seen enough of you. Go now.”
*********
Catherine was sitting in a chair, facing Grissom, in his office: “Hodges was last seen in his lab around 5 p.m., working on some evidence from the case Nick and Sara were working on before we discovered Ecklie was missing.”
“Brass and Sofia are at Hodges’ apartment at the moment. Brass hasn’t called yet, so I don’t know if they found anything.”
The phone rang and he answered: “Grissom.”
“ Brass. Nothing at Hodges apartment.”
“Have you spoken with Ecklie’s ex-wife?”
“ Not yet. We’re heading there right now.”
“Okay, see you.” Grissom hung up and was opening his mouth to speak when his phone rang again: “Grissom”
“ Tell me what’s new.”
Grissom took a deep breath before replying: “Well, hello, sheriff. Nice talking to you! As I told you before, we don’t have much at the moment. The evidence is still being processed. And Brass and Sofia are on their way to talk to Ecklie’s ex-wife.”
He heard Atwater’s anger in the voice at the other end of the line: “That is not what I wanted to hear..."
Grissom interrupted: “I’ll contact you when we’ll have something.” He hung up after hearing Atwater slam down his telephone.
********
The entire team, including Brass, was once again assembled in the conference room.
“The ransom note didn’t give us much: HP-4 laser printer, generic recycled paper and a few fingerprints. Some of the prints match Mrs. Ecklie’s and the others match those I lifted from the windowsill in the men’s room. As she told us, her husband didn’t touch either the letter or the envelope. As for the envelope, same prints. We found DNA on the flap, and it matches the one on the necktie and the hairs. On the mailbox, there were a few fingerprints: some from the Ecklies, some matching our perp, and other unknowns, probably from the mailmen.”
Grissom took a deep breath before continuing: “Jim, tell me you found something.”
Brass looked at Grissom while he was speaking: “Sofia and I have searched Hodges’ apartment and nothing seems out of place. He hasn’t been there since yesterday. And we’ve also interrogated Ecklie’s ex-wife, Natalie, at her home in Henderson. Says she was on her way to work and we’re checking her alibi. She gave us her new boyfriend’s address and we went to see him, but he was not home. I’ve put out an APB on his car.”
Catherine asked: “What do they drive?”
Brass replied: “The ex-wife, Nissan Axxess, 1995, burgundy. No other driver registered on her insurance policy. And the boyfriend, Chevrolet Blazer, 2000, red.”
Catherine mused: “Mmm, mini-vans. Could have been used in the kidnappings…”
Greg looked at his notes before saying: “I found some tire tracks behind the building, but no match to an Axxess or a Blazer. There were also similar ones farther from the building.”
Grissom snapped: “What could they match?”
Greg answered: “Caravan, Pathfinder, amongst others…”
Grissom shrugged: “For all we know, they could have rented one, or borrowed one from a friend... Prepare a list of all the registered owners, just in case.”
Greg nodded as Sara said: “I’ve searched every database in the country and could find nothing on Wilfrid James. No prints, no DNA.”
Grissom looked at her: “Maybe he’s been in emprisoned in another country… Did you contact Interpol?”
Sara nodded: “Yes, but no call back yet.”
Judy appeared in the open door and knocked: “Ms Sidle, there’s a phone call for you. It’s Inspector Riley, from Scotland Yard.”
“Coming.” Sara stood up and left the room.
Looking at Warrick, Nick and Greg, Grissom asked: “What about your search?”
Warrick answered for the three of them: “Absolutely nothing. No one has seen Ecklie since yesterday morning.”
Greg cut in: “And the last time I saw Hodges was when I was searching for Ecklie. That was around 2 p.m.”
“Catherine?”
She replied: “A couple of the blood samples were Ecklie’s, mixed with his saliva, the other samples matched the DNA of the hairs you found on the comb and the epithelials on the necktie. No match in CODIS.”
“What about the tie itself?”
Catherine shrugged: “30% cotton and 70% nylon blend, nothing particular about it.”
Sara came back and said, taking her seat at the table: “They have a file on Wilfrid James, fingerprints and DNA. They’ve sent them by fax but, to the naked eye, the fingerprints don’t match those you found.”
“Did Archie find anything on the lab tapes?”
Warrick answered for the others: “Sorry, Gris. Not yet.”
His elbows on the table, Grissom rested his head on his fingertips, gently massaging his forehead. He stayed silent for a moment or two before he looked back at his team, clasping his hands in front of him and shaking his head: “This is really frustrating… We’re running around in circles… No one has seen anything, every lead we have turns up blank…” His hands flew apart: “It’s imPOSSIBLE! Not only does Ecklie poison my existence with his presence when he’s working, but he does it when he’s missing!”
His outburst had caught the others by surprise. They looked at each other, clearly uncertain of what they should do.
After a beat, Nick cleared his throat: “Er, Grissom, I think I’ll go see if Archie has found something on the lab tapes…”
Greg eagerly said: “And I’ll go see about the ROs.”
Grissom nodded and went back to holding his head on his fingertips. Nick and Greg stood up and left the room, quickly followed by the others, all except for Catherine, who waited for a moment before softly asking: “Migraine?”
Grissom nodded, pressing his fingers to his eyebrows.
She continued: “Your medication still in your top right-hand drawer?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll get it.”
“Thank you.”
She stood up, gently squeezed his shoulder and left, leaving Grissom alone in the conference room.
********
“Grissom.”
“ Gil, we’ve found Wilfrid James. He’s on his way to interrogation.”
“Coming.” He hung up and left.
********
In the interrogation room, a dark haired man was sitting at the table. His hands flat on the table, his brown eyes were suspiciously watching the man in front of him and the other one farther away.
Grissom was sitting at the far end of the table, intensely observing James.
Brass spoke first: “Well, Mr. James, we finally found you.”
James looked at him: “So?”
“Where were you today, or rather, yesterday morning, between 7 and 9 a.m.?”
James frowned, crossing his arms: “Why do you wanna know?”
“I’m the one asking the questions here, and you’re the one who’s supposed to answer them. So answer me.”
James answered, staring at Brass: “I was at work, in Summerlin.”
Brass lifted his eyebrows: “You begin work that early, Mr. James?”
James snorted: “Yes I do. I’m a carpenter. I’m on site from 6 to 4. We’re building an apartment complex there. Ask my boss, he’ll tell you I was there.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll certainly ask him. By the way, which construction company do you work for?”
“Stel Construction. And the site supervisor’s name is Albert Taylor. He’s the one who hired me.”
Brasse nodded: “Did Mr. Taylor hire you knowing you’re an ex-con, Willie? Or did you hide that fact?”
James uncrossed his arms and once more put his hands flat on the table, bending forward to speak to Brass: “I told him. I decided to clean up my act during the five years I spent in prison, so I learned the trade there. And I don’t want to spend my whole life behind bars. So yes, I put all my cards on the table and told him. He hired me anyway.”
Grissom softly asked: “May I see your hands, please?”
James was startled, having completely forgotten about Grissom. He looked at him, and then at Brass: “Can he do that?”
Brass shrugged: “If you’ve got nothing to hide, just show him. If you don’t want to, we can always get a warrant.”
Grissom continued, still speaking softly: “I’ll just take a look.”
James extended his hands towards Grissom, who got up to move closer.
Grissom first examined the hands palms down. He noticed some scratches on the fingers and the back of the hands, and a blue, green and yellow fingernail on the left hand: “Turn them over, please.”
James showed his palms. There were calluses and more scratches on his fingers, as well as a deep red gouge in his left palm. Grissom asked, pointing at the gouge: “What happened here?”
James looked down to see what Grissom was pointing, then back at him: “Oh, that happened three or four days ago. Wasn’t looking and took a reciprocating saw by the wrong end.”
Grissom nodded, straightening his back: “Thank you.”
Brass said: “We’ll check your alibi. If it’s confirmed by your supervisor, you’ll be free to go. In the meantime,” he smiled, “we’re keeping you a little longer.”
********
The lights were out and his office was silent, but Grissom was still there, meditating, elbows on his desk and his head resting on his fists. His migraine had somewhat abaited but he did not yet feel completely recovered. His double shift had turned into a triple and he felt exhausted, this endless day far from over. He heard footsteps rapidly coming towards him in the corridor and looked up to see Nick, who spoke from the doorframe: “Grissom, Archie found something.”
Some energy returning, Grissom stood up and followed Nick to the AV lab. Archie was waiting for them, an image frozen on the screen in front of him.
Grissom and Nick flanking him, Archie said: “I found this when I was watching the tapes recorded yesterday morning.” His back to the camera, a dark haired man was entering the men’s room, wearing a lab coat over dark pants. The time index at the bottom of the screen showed 7:30. Archie continued: “I watched every frame but never saw him come out.”
Nick asked: “Did you see his face before he went into the men’s room?”
“No. But I'll continue searching.”
Grissom looked at Nick: “He waited for Ecklie in there.” Turning back to Archie, Grissom asked: “When did Conrad come in?”
Archie changed the picture on the screen, saying: “7:53. He went directly to the bathroom and never came out either.”
“So, he really left through the window, with Ecklie.” Nick nodded as Grissom continued speaking: “And what about Hodges?”
Archie replied, once again changing pictures on the screen: “I saw him come in at 8:00 a.m., and this is the last time I saw him on the tapes.”
They could see Hodges going through the back door, stretching his arms, obviously in need of a breath of fresh air. The time index showed 17:15.
Grissom said: “Print these pictures, will you?” A moment later, he took he tooks the prints and left the room, leaving Nick and Archie staring at his back. Archie looked at Nick, shrugged, and turned back to his screen.
Grissom popped his head in Catherine’s door on his way to his office: “Cath, I need your little grey cells. Will you come with me?”
“Oh, it’s Poirot today?”
He tilted his head: “My moustache is not long enough to twirl.”
She stood up from her desk and followed him to his darkened office, saying: “As long as you don’t call me Miss Marple…”
He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, a glint in his eyes: “You look more like Tuppence to me.”
She smiled: “Well, thank you, Tommy!”
They entered his office and took their seats. He placed the stills on top of his desk. The light coming in from the corridor accentuated the grey half-moons under his eyes, the tired expression on his face, and she said, worry written all over her face: “Gil, you look terrible.”
He snorted and scratched his beard: “Why, thank you, Cath… It’s been the most wonderful day of my life.” He took a deep breath before continuing: “I can’t think straight, with this headache.” He closed his eyes for a second and opened them again: “Let’s recap, okay?”
“Okay. Now, what do we have?”
Grissom turned on his desk light and blinked, the brightness of the lightbulb hurting his eyes: “One, Ecklie came to work yesterday morning. Judy said she saw him coming in at the end of her shift and go into the men’s room. Archie showed me a still of him entering the bathroom at”, he picked up the one showing Ecklie, “7:53. He also showed me this one of a man entering the men’s room at 7:30. That man never came out, so he waited for Ecklie inside, hidden in the last stall.”
Catherine bent forward to pick up the two stills and studied them for a minute: “Look, the man is taller than Ecklie.” She put the stills side by side on his desk, pointing: “The top of his head is about five or six inches from the doorframe, while Ecklie’s is about seven or eight inches from it.”
He looked down and nodded: “That would make him, hmm, about 6’2. Which is consistent with the shoe size. Taller man, bigger shoes.”
He looked back at her: “Okay, number two, Archie saw Hodges come in at 8:00 a.m. and he said the last time he saw him on the tapes was at 17:15, which is confirmed by this one.” He showed her Hodges’ picture leaving by the back door.
Catherine said: “So, this means that something happened outside between 7:30 and 8:00, before Hodges came in, something that caused him to be kidnapped when he first went out of the building at 17:15. I’m thinking he saw the kidnapper drive away.”
A man wearing a lab coat over dark pants comes into the men’s room. After checking the other stalls, he enters the one closest to the window, closes and locks the door, and stands in wait, watching through the crack between the door and the doorframe when he hears a noise. At 7:53, Ecklie enters the men’s room and goes to the sink to wash his hands, his head down. The man silently unlocks the door, comes out of the last stall and attacks him. Ecklie, whirling to defend himself, catches the man’s necktie. They struggle. The tie becomes undone and falls. A black comb falls on the floor from the man’s pocket. The man knocks Ecklie out with a few punches on the jaw and mouth. Blood drops land on the floor, some from Ecklie’s mouth, some from the kidnapper, whose hand was wounded when his fist came into contact with Ecklie’s teeth. Ecklie falls, unconscious, his head cracking and his glasses crashing on the floor. The man opens the window, picks up Ecklie, shoves him through the window and climbs out after him. A car door slams shut in the parking lot, a motor roars to life, tires screech, and the car drives away, carrying Ecklie and the kidnapper. His hand on the door handle, Hodges sees the car, shrugs and comes into the building to work.
“That makes sense… But why wait until 17:15 to kidnap Hodges?”
Catherine shrugged: “Too many people in the building? No opportunity to abduct him before?”
Grissom nodded: “Yeah, that’s probably it. Now, the suspects. Brass found Wilfrid James and we interrogated him 90 minutes ago. He claims he was at work while Ecklie was abducted and Brass will contact his supervisor.”
Grissom continued: “He works as a carpenter in a construction site in Summerlin. They begin working around 6 a.m. I examined his hands; there were some bruises on the backs and the palms, as well as a deep gouge in his left palm, but they’re consistent with construction work. He also had a blue fingernail, probably from an unlucky hammer blow.”
“And his prints don’t match those you found. What about his DNA?”
Grissom shook his head: “No match there either. But he still could have participated in the kidnapping, waiting in the car outside. We’re holding him until his supervisor confirms his alibi.”
He sighed: “Ecklie’s ex-wife has an alibi. Brass confirmed she stopped at a gas station, at 7:45 a.m., in Henderson, while she was on her way to work.”
Catherine asked him: “And where does that leave us? No suspects?”
He laced his fingers behind his head, stretching his back and closing his eyes: “No suspects.” He thought for a few seconds, his lips pursed, going over the sequence of events in his mind, and suddenly opened his eyes: “I forgot something.”
She looked stunned: “You? Forgot?”
He nodded. His hands hit his desk with a thud: “Yes. The Ecklies.”
Her eyes opening wide, Catherine exclaimed: “Are you kidding me? His parents?”
Grissom nodded: “It wouldn’t be the first time…”
She interrupted him: “Oh, come on, Gil! His parents are elderly people! They couldn’t possibly be behind his kidnapping!”
“I didn’t tell you how they reacted when I talked with them, did I?” She shook her head and he continued: “His mother was the one talking. His father did not say one word. She’s the iron hand in the velvet glove and he’s a wimp. She told me they hadn’t talked with him or heard from him in more than three weeks. Too busy, she said… Do you really think parents who really cared for their son would not contact him in all this time? Furthermore, they refuse to pay the ransom, accusing the ex-wife, and we know now that his ex-wife has an alibi. And Wilfrid James, she’s the one who told me about him.”
“But how could she know?”
“She was starting to answer that very question when Greg came in to say Hodges was missing too. I left the office and forgot about them.”
“Then, we need to have a talk with them. And soon.”
Grissom picked up the phone and dialed quickly.
********
Grissom and Brass were in the interrogation room, facing the Ecklies.
The woman spoke, glaring at them, incensed: “What is going on here? The police knock on the door in the middle of the night and we are brought here, no explanation given by anyone! We’ve done nothing wrong!”
Grissom was looking at her: “Mrs. Ecklie, you were starting to tell me something yesterday, when we were interrupted and I left my office. What was it?”
She looked at him, confused: “What are you talking about?”
Grissom continued: “You told me about Wilfrid James, Natalie’s new boyfriend, having been in prison for five years. I’ll repeat my question: how do you know that?”
She pursed her lips, crossed her arms and just stared at them.
Brass bent forward: “We’ll find that out, you know, one way or another. Don’t you think it’ll be best for you to cooperate?”
After a beat, she loudly sighed, uncrossing her arms: “Oh, all right. I’ll tell you.” She looked at her husband before continuing: “We hired a private detective a week or two ago, to follow her.”
Grissom asked her: “And why would you do that?”
“I heard from someone, at my bridge club, that she had been seen with a shady character, in a pool joint off the strip. I talked about that with my husband and we thought she wanted to get back at us. But we didn’t know how she planned to do that, or why.”
Still looking at Grissom, she continued: “That’s when we hired that detective, to find out what she was up to. He reported he hadn’t found anything, except that her new boyfriend was an ex-con. And when you called to tell us Conrad had been abducted, everything gelled in our minds: she had asked her boyfriend to kidnap him to milk money from us. That’s why.”
Brass asked: “Why would she”, his fingers made quotation marks in the air, “get back” at you?”
The woman said: “Because we’ve been opposed to their marriage from the beginning, and we fought all the time. She was not the best daughter-in-law, you know.”
“Because she refused to see your point of view?”
She was furious at Brass, her voice raising: “Because she’s a very headstrong woman, and she wrapped Conrad around her little finger. Some people say she’s beautiful and he was smitten, doing everything she said, obeying her every word.”
Brass nodded: “Uh huh…” He was beginning to see the picture. He continued: “Could you tell us the PI’s name?”
She said, calming down a bit: “Paul Johnston.”
Upon hearing that name, Brass and Grissom glanced at each other. She noticed their look and asked: “What is it? Do you know him?”
Raising from his chair, Brass answered: “Yes, we do. Stay here a little longer, will you?”
The woman asked: “And what about Wilfrid James?”
Brass answered as Grissom was standing up: “His alibi has been confirmed. He’s not involved in this.”
And he left the room, Grissom on his heels, leaving very confused Ecklies at the table.
********
Once more, Grissom was at his desk, going over every piece of evidence scattered around him, his migraine finally a distant memory.
Archie approached him, photographs in hand: “Grissom, I found something else on our man.”
Grissom motioned him to the chair in front of him and Archie sat down, presenting his findings: “See these pictures here. He came in at 7:15, and then went to the locker room.”
Grissom said: “Probably to look for some kind of disguise, to blend in.”
The first photograph showed the back of a man entering the building, wearing a grey sports jacket over dark pants. On the second one, the man was turning to his right, showing his profile to the camera. On the third one, his face was more visible as he entered the locker room.
Archie continued, presenting other pictures: “He came out of the locker room at 7:28 and went directly to the men’s room.”
On the first picture, the same man, this time wearing a lab coat, was emerging from the locker room. On the second one, he was crossing the corridor in front of the reception desk.
Grissom looked up at Archie: “Can you generate a composite of his face, using his profile?”
Archie nodded, presenting his last picture, in two copies: “I did. This is what he looks like.”
Grissom took the photographs. He saw a young man in his early twenties, with short dark hair and dark eyes under bushy eyebrows. The face was elongated, the cheeks sunken, and the ears rather small for the face.
He looked up at Archie, smiling slightly: “Good work. Now, go get some rest.”
Archie smiled: “Thank you. I really need that.” He got up and left the office as the phone rang.
“Grissom.”
“Brass. We picked up Johnston. He’s waiting for us in the interrogation room.”
********
On their way to the interrogation room, Grissom and Brass met Warrick and Sofia, who were coming towards them. Warrick asked: “Hey! What’s up?”
Grissom answered: “I think we’re about to find out what happened. Stay here, both of you, will you?” They nodded.
Grissom showed them the pictures Archie had given him, Sofia taking one of the copies of the composite.
Brass flipped through them: “He certainly doesn’t look like Johnston.”
Grissom replied: “I know that. But if he’s Johnston’s accomplice, his fingerprints and DNA will match what we have.”
Brass nodded and he entered the interrogation room, Grissom, Warrick and Sofia going into the observation room. Sitting at the table, a heavyset man in his late fifties was waiting for Brass, his lawyer sitting besides him. A uniform was standing, arms crossed, at the far end of the room.
Brass took his seat in front of them. He put sheets of paper, face down, on the table and said, his arms on the table: “Well, Mr. Johnston, we meet again. How sweet of you to come and see us.”
Johnston replied: “I had no choice! You people burst in my apartment and took me in without an explanation. I’ve done nothing! What do you want?”
Brass said, bending forward: “Where were you yesterday morning, let’s say between 6 and 9 a.m.?”
Johnston frowned: “Why do you wanna know that?”
Brass smiled, shrugging: “It’s a simple question, Paul. Don’t wanna answer it? It’d look bad for you…”
The lawyer whispered in Johnston’s ear, who looked at Brass: “I was home. Alone.”
“So, no one can confirm that…”
Johnston shook his head.
Brass sighed: “Okay, then. We’ll try something else. Tell me about the Ecklies.”
Johnston frowned: “Who?”
Brass bent forward: “The Ecklies, Paul. Arthur Ecklie and his wife. You know, the man who never says a word and the woman who talks for both of them?”
Once more, Johnston shook his head: “I don’t know who you’re talkin’ about.”
Brass’s eyebrows shot up: “You don’t know them? Never met them?”
“I told you. No.”
Brass laughed, sarcastic: “That’s funny, you know. They told us they hired you to follow their ex daughter-in-law…” Taking a sheet of paper from the pile in front of him, he continued: “And we can prove it. You see…”
Grissom and Brass enter the Ecklie household, after their interrogation of the couple. Grissom examines the living room and, using his flashlight, finally finds something on the coffee table. He crouches next to it and opens his field kit.
“We went back to their house, after talking with them tonight, and we found these fingerprints on the coffee table. And what do you know… They’re a match to yours…”
Johnston did not answer. Brass continued: “Now, explain to me how your fingerprints can be found in a house you never entered, since you don’t know them. Because, you see, it’s a complete mystery to me…”
The lawyer once more whispered in Johnston’s ear.
Johnston cleared his throat: “Okay, I’ll tell you. Yes, they hired me a few weeks ago, and I went to see them with my report on their ex daughter-in-law. But that’s the only contacts we’ve had. When they hired me and when I came back with my report.”
Brass asked: “If that’s the only contacts you had with them, why lie to me before and tell me you didn’t know them?”
Johnston looked down, shrugging: “I didn’t want to get involved.”
“Get involved in what?”
Johnston shrugged once more: “I don’t know…” He looked up at Brass: “You tell me. They must have done something for you to bring me here and interrogate me…”
Sitting back, Brass said quietly: “I never said they did something. Did you?”
“Did I what?”
“Do something.”
“No!”
Brass pursed his lips before asking: “What do you drive?”
Johnston looked confused at the sudden change in subject: “Huh?”
Raising his hands, Brass continued: “It’s an easy question, Paul. What kind of car do you drive?”
Johnston looked at his lawyer, who nodded. Turning back to Brass, Johnston replied: “1996 Pathfinder.” His eyes narrowed: “But you already knew that.”
Grissom looked at Warrick, who nodded and left the observation room.
Brass was nodding, a slight smile on his lips.
“Then why ask me if you already knew?”
Brass shrugged: “Just to see if you’d lie to me…”
He picked up the composite Archie had made and showed it to Johnston: “Who is this man?”
Johnston looked at the picture, all blood draining from his face. After a moment, he said in a weak voice, looking down: “Don’t know.”
His hands slamming on the table, Brass bent forward, his voice hard: “Stop lying to me, Paul. I really don’t like liars. Who is this man?”
Johnston jumped upon hearing the sudden noise.
Brass continued, his voice softening: “We’ll find out one way or another, you know. Don’t you think it’ll be better for you if you cooperate?”
Johnston thought for a moment and swallowed before answering: “His name is Jonathan Kelly.”
Brass nodded slowly: “That’s a good start. Now, tell me about him.”
Looking down, Johnston started to talk: “We met in a pool joint. I saw him with his croonies and we played a pool game. I won.”
“Where was that?”
“Huh?”
“This place you met. What’s it called?”
“Er, it’s the Pool Palace, on South Pecos Road. He hangs there.”
In the observation room, Sofia told Grissom: “I’m on it,” and left.
********
Grissom asked, looking at his team: “So, is our holy trinity complete?”
Warrick said: “The tire threads on Johnston’s car match those Greg found in the parking lot.”
Sara continued: “We found fingerprints and DNA all over the car, and the fingerprints match our unknowns from the men’s room. So they’re definitely in it together.”
Jonathan Kelly enters the CSI building, looks around for a minute and then turns to his right. He enters the locker room and searches for something to blend in with the people working in the building. Finding a lab coat in a locker after a few minutes, he puts it over his jacket and leaves to find the men’s room, where he waits for Ecklie in the stall near the window. At 7:53, Ecklie enters the men’s room and goes to the sink to wash his hands, his head down. Kelly silently unlocks the door, comes out of the last stall and attacks him. Ecklie, whirling to defend himself, catches Kelly’s necktie. They struggle. The tie becomes undone and falls. A black comb falls on the floor from Kelly’s pocket. He knocks Ecklie out with a few punches on the jaw and mouth. Blood drops land on the floor, some from Ecklie’s mouth, some from Kelly, whose hand was wounded when his fist came into contact with Ecklie’s teeth. Ecklie falls, unconscious, his head cracking and his glasses crashing on the floor. Kelly opens the window, picks up Ecklie, shoves him through the window and climbs out after him. Johnston is waiting in his car. Seeing Kelly with Ecklie, he climbs out to help him put Ecklie in the car, and then both climb in, slamming their doors shut. The key already in the ignition, Johnston starts the car and drives away, burning rubber on the asphalt. Looking over his shoulder, Kelly sees Hodges, his hand on the door handle, staring at the car.
Greg asked: “Why not abduct Hodges at that time?”
Catherine answered: “Maybe because they already were on the street and decided to come back for him later. And they couldn’t get to him until he went out of the building, at 17:15.”
Grissom’s cell phone rang: “Grissom.”
“I've got the address.”
********
A SWAT team was already in place, surrounding a rambler in Henderson, when the CSIs arrived. Police cars and ambulances were everywhere, lights flashing, and snipers at the ready.
They quickly left their vehicles and approached Sheriff Atwater and Brass, who told Grissom: “One of our men spotted Ecklie and Hodges in the kitchen. They seem to be tied up to the kitchen table. And Kelly’s in the living room, by the window.”
“Are they all right?”
Brass nodded: “I think so. We could see them moving a bit.”
Turning back towards the house, Brass raised the megaphone to his lips: “Jonathan Kelly, drop your weapon and come out with your hands over your head. The house is surrounded and we’ve got your accomplice.”
He repeated his orders a couple of times before the front door slowly opened. The tall, young man silhouetted in the doorframe yelled: “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! I’m coming out!”
He threw his weapon on the ground and raised his hands before taking a few hesitant steps forward.
“On your knees, hands behind your back, now! Get down! Down! Down!”
He obeyed, kneeling on the grass, all weapons pointed towards him. A few police officers approached him and quickly handcuffed and frisked him, while others went inside the house. They came back a few seconds later: “All clear!”
The CSIs picked up their field kits and entered the house as the police shoved Kelly in the back seat of a police car and slammed the door shut.
Followed by Brass, Grissom and Catherine went directly to the kitchen, finding Ecklie and Hodges tied with ropes to a heavy marble table. They approached them as Grissom asked: “Are you all right?”
While Catherine was freeing him, Ecklie answered: “I’ve been better…” There was dried blood on his chin and a shiner on his left eye.
Grissom was cutting the rope around Hodges, who said: “Thanks, boss. I always knew you’d come for us.”
Grissom shrugged: “Just doing my job.”
They could hear Sara and Warrick, who were processing the living room: “We’ve got the printer and paper!” “And white envelopes.”
Getting up, Grissom told Brass: “Get these two to the hospital, will you? We’ve got to process the scene.”
Brass nodded and called for paramedics as Ecklie and Hodges slowly stood up.
********
After interrogating Kelly, who quickly confessed his involvement in the kidnapping and blamed everything on Johnston, and accompanying him to detention, Brass was back in the interrogation room facing Johnston, who this time was wearing an orange jumpsuit.
“Why kidnap Ecklie, Paulie? What has he done to you?”
Johnston shrugged: “Nuthin’.”
Brass looked confused: “If he’s done nothing to you, why kidnap him?”
Johnston bent forward, placing his hands on the table: “It’s his parents’ fault!”
“His parents? How so?”
“They refused to pay me!”
Brass’s eyebrows shot up: “They refuse to pay you and you kidnap their son? That’s a new way to do business...”
“I wanted them to pay and figured that they would do it, to save their son’s life, you know.”
“How much did they owe you? And why refuse to pay?”
Johnston exclaimed: “The agreement was for fifty thou, and they gave me only five!” Calming down slightly, he continued: “As for the reason, they said I hadn’t delivered what they wanted: dirt on their ex daughter-in-law.”
Brass studied the man in front of him before saying: “Hum! And what would you have done with Ecklie and Hodges, had we not found them?”
Johnston shrugged: “Nothing. I would have freed them after a couple of days. I’m not a murderer!”
Brass shook his head: “No, just a dumb ass.”
********
Ecklie was standing in front of Grissom, who was sitting at his desk: “I have to thank you, Gil. You found us in record time. You did a great job.”
Grissom nodded: “I have a great team, Conrad. They always do good work. They’re the best CSIs in the lab.”
“I know. I’ll give a recommendation for each and every one of them to the sheriff.”
Grissom continued: “Thank you. And I’m glad you’re not too badly hurt.”
Ecklie said: “The doctors said I suffered a concussion when my head hit the floor, but I’m supposed to feel better in a few days.”
Grissom nodded: “That’s good.” He studied Ecklie for a few moments before continuing: “You know, Conrad, I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.”
Ecklie frowned: “How so?”
“Brass told you, didn’t he?”
“Told me what?”
“About your parents.”
Ecklie nodded sadly and left Grissom’s office.
********
Grissom was putting the finishing touches on his report when Sara knocked on the doorframe and entered.
He looked up: “Yes?”
She approached his desk: “Grissom, why don’t we go someplace for dinner? We could talk and...”
He closed the file on his desk, not looking at her, and then he took off his glasses and stood up: “I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
He sighed: “I’d rather go home.”
She smiled: “Yeah, we could do that.”
He crossed his arms, lips pursed, and shook his head, finally looking at her. He was frowning as he said: “Sara, how many times do I have to say no?”
She opened her mouth to speak, her smile vanishing, while he uncrossed his arms and took a few steps towards the door, saying over his shoulder: “We tried it your way, and you know what happened...”
“Well, it could work, this time...”
He whirled towards her, exasperated: “Okay, that’s it. I’ve had enough.”
Taking a deep breath, he continued, his voice raising: “Sara, I can’t do this. I tried to let you down gently, but you never heard what I was saying. You didn’t WANT to hear it. So, I’m telling you right now, plainly, and for the last time: I don’t feel for you what you feel for me. Love can’t be forced, and you’re supposed to be old enough to know that. We are coworkers, that’s all. Nothing more.”
She stood there, speechless, as he turned back to the door, saying as he was walking away, his steps resounding: “Furthermore, I have feelings for someone else, and I’ve finally decided to tell her. I’ve waited long enough as it is. Now, LEAVE ME ALONE!!!”
