The Past Catching Up
The room was dark. His partner was more edgy than normal. At first he thought it was something to do with Eddie, but the evidence didn't fit that theory. She had been fine at the office. Joking with Gary and Dewey, laughing and sharing a story about Lindsey. She didn't know that he saw her, but the moment she registered his presence the walls came up. It was like she was trying to keep something out. Or maybe in?
"You take the right and I'll take the left."
"Right. Meet in the middle by the bed?"
No response. There were days when she could feel the urge to strangle the guy swell up inside her. Gary had already taken the room pictures. "Mind if I shed light on the scene?"
The light switched on as a response. She looked up and saw him looking at the bedside table intently.
"Three Altoids tins."
"Think he could be behind it?"
"I don't know yet. The evidence hasn't been looked at."
"Evidence aside. What does your gut tell you?"
Grissom set his kit down on the floor and opened it as he considered her question. He never liked to formulate a theory without looking at all the facts. In truth, the scene had flashed him back to the case that he thought of as a turning point for them, both personally and professionally. "Gut says too many coincidences."
And there were. The address, time it was called in, even the position of the body was exactly the same as the crime twelve years earlier. Catherine took pictures of the room, starting from the doorway and worked counter-clockwise. Grissom snapped on a pair of gloves then started to examine the right side of the room. Catherine set the camera down and started on the left.
It was almost eerie in how the two cases presented themselves. Except this time she wasn't worried that Grissom would find out why she was so uneasy around him. This time she hoped that he wouldn't question her about Thanksgiving.
They worked silently, cataloging fibers and lifting prints. The bed served as our meeting point, just like before. David came in before either could say anything.
"You guys done with the body?" he asked breaking the long silence between them. Grissom looked at the body momentarily and did a mental check list.
"Yeah, you can take it away."
"You done with the victim's body?" The coroner on the scene asked.
"Yeah," I said looking at the body. The coroner bagged the body and disappeared leaving us alone again. I don't know what Jerry was thinking sending us both on this. Sure, we get along with each other and we have a perfect record working together, but lately something has been wrong between us. It's like she's hiding something from everyone. "So what do you think?"
She looks at me like I've been replaced by someone else. Her eyes betrayed what she was thinking. "You want me to-" I nod in the affirmative. "Right. No signs of violence. Three tins of Altoids next to the bed, one open. Victim expires in the middle of the room, head facing toward the door. What killed him?"
"Drugs," I offer. While she walked through the scene, I had knelt by the table and looked at the open tin. There were ten tablets and a lot of powder in it.
"Drugs? And how did you come to this conclusion, Sherlock?" I hold up the presumptive test I performed. "Oh."
"Doesn't this creep you out at all?" she asked after David left.
"What do you mean?" he responded looking at the bedside table.
"All the coincidences. It's like walking down memory lane."