01 – The New Girl In Town

It was 8:50pm when a young woman in her early twenties entered the front door of the Las Vegas crime lab. Nervously she flashed her ID badge and quickly made her way through the small maze of hallways. It was her first day on the job for the new level one CSI and she was already running late. She rushed in the direction she hoped her new supervisor’s office was and prayed she wasn’t about to make a horrible first impression… well, at least not as bad as the one in Ketchikan had been (1).

She pulled a small piece of paper out of her jacket pocket and read the name she’d scrawled on it. After glancing around, she stopped and doubled back as she spied the name she was looking for two doors back. She shoved the paper back into her pocket before knocking on the open door. An older man, looking to be in his late forties to early fifties, sat behind the desk and was looking admiringly at something that was currently residing in a glass tank sitting in front of him.

“Good evening,” the man said and he looked up at her as she hazarded a glance at what was in the tank. She felt her skin crawl for a second as she realized it was a very large spider.

“Hi,” she said as she slowly inched closer, giving the spider one last wary glance before turning her attention to the man before her and extended her hand. “I’m Kassi Mather, the new hire.”

“Nice to meet you Miss Mather,” he replied as he shook her hand. “My name’s Gil Grissom and I’ll be your supervisor on nightshift. Welcome to the Las Vegas crime lab.” She noticed one of his eyebrows raise as he glanced higher, taking in her short spiky hair. She blushed but he didn’t comment on her choice of bright red dye. “You’re just in time, I was about to head over to the break room to hand out assignments.” Kassi nodded her understanding and followed Grissom out of his office.

They made their way further into the mini-maze and entered a room that looked like a government issued combo dining room-kitchen-living room, also known as the “Break Room” as noted by the sign on the door. She glanced around the room, trying to appear at ease with being in a room filled with complete strangers as opposed to the nervous wreck she was on the inside. She took in the six people who already occupied the space. Three women were seated at the table (one blond, one strawberry blond, and one brunette); by the coffee maker stood what looked like the youngest person in the room, excluding herself. The young man in question looked like a would-be rock star and was currently bobbing his head to the music playing through an as of yet unidentified type of mp3 player while pouring himself a cup of coffee. She could smell it from where she stood by the door and recognized it as the type that her older brother was particular to: Blue Hawaiian, if she remembered correctly; on the couch sat a smooth looking black man talking to another man who had his back to her.

When the group noticed Grissom had entered the room, they immediately turned their attention to him. She listened as Grissom introduced her, giving a shy smile and a small wave to the group before glancing up at the second man on the couch – and her brain stopped working…

“… and Kassi will handle a B&E at this address.” She registered Grissom’s voice as he finished handing out assignments. She blushed slightly as she realized the rest were all standing and heading out the door, embarrassed that she’d spaced out in the middle of assignments.

“So, Kassi, looks like it’s you and me tonight.” She shook her head slightly and looked up to see the owner of a Texas drawl – the man from the couch. She grinned and blushed a bit more.

“Looks like.”

“C’mon, I’ll drive,” he said as he led the way to the parking lot after they’d picked up their kits and vests from the locker room. “My name’s Nick, by the way. I noticed you kind of zoned out and probably missed the introductions.” She blushed yet again as they exited the building.

“Wow, a GMC Yukon Denali: 6.2-liter V-8 and six-speed engine, all-wheel drive, and in onyx black with an ebony nuance leather-appointed interior. Nice.” (2)

“You seem to know a lot about cars,” Nick commented as he took his place behind the wheel.

“I know enough to suit my purposes,” she returned slyly.

“Hmm, now that’s interesting.” She just grinned and stared out the window without comment as he pulled out of the parking lot and drove to their destination. As they turned the first corner her phone rang and she opened it to reveal a text message from her best friend who was currently located in Miami. All that the message said was ‘107.1 FM’. She raised one eyebrow and turned to her partner. (3)

“Mind if I change the radio station for a minute?” He similarly raised an eyebrow before shaking his head.

“No, go ahead.” She did so and the DJ’s voice could be heard, saying something uninteresting to Kassi before catching her full attention.

”Next up we have a dedication all the way from Miami Florida. This next song goes out to Kass in congratulations on the new job, from best friend Char. This is ‘The New Girl In Town’ from the 2007 motion picture ‘Hairspray’, dedicated to Kass from Char.” Kassi couldn’t help but laugh as the song started.

Hey look out for that moving van
Driving down our streets
You better lock up your man
Before he meets

“What’s so funny?” Nick asked as he navigated through traffic.

“Only Charliee could send a dedication from another time-zone, and not to mention find the only music station in Vegas that takes dedications and requests at any time of the day,” was all she could reply as she continued to snicker.

The New Girl in Town
Who just came on the scene
The New Girl in Town
Can't be more than sixteen

After hearing the lyrics Nick joined in on the laughing.

And she's got a way of makin'
A boy act like a clown
Wo-oo, wo-oo, wo-oo, wo-oo, wo-oo
We don't know what to do
'Bout the new girl in town
The New Girl in Town

They arrived at the scene and, after grabbing their kits from the back seat, Kassi followed Nick into the rather expensive looking house. Nick nodded a greeting to the detective at the door and Kassi ignored the raised eyebrows and questioning stares the detective and other assorted law enforcement gave her hair and pierced upper ear.

“Nice digs,” she commented, taking in the high-class setting of the foyer – the dining room located to the right, the living room to the left, and a somewhat grand stair case directly across from the front door leading to the more personal rooms of what she would describe as a mini-estate. “Bit too Posh and Becks for my liking.”

Nick chuckled. “Yeah, well according to the housekeeper there was a disturbance in the kitchen area,” he said, leading the way through the dining room and into said area. “Photograph the door and surrounding area outside while I process in here.” She went where directed to the open kitchen door with a broken window and processed.

That night the two CSI’s processed two ‘Break & Enters’, three trick-rolls (all connected), and one minor traffic accident – all of which were miraculously open and shut in the span of one shift. Kassi was thankful for the distraction of work to keep her mind occupied on something other than her Southern Gentleman of a partner, and thankful she’d always had the ability to focus solely on the job.

She was thankful she hadn’t been witness to the many forms of death during her first night in Vegas. She’d had experience with processing scenes with dead bodies before, but it was nice not to have to endure it on the first day of work. As she was pulling on her casual shoes in the locker room (having already changed back into her non-work clothes) she heard some of her co-workers enter the door that was located on the other side of this row of lockers.

“Oh, c’mon Rick, I’m sure it’s not–” came the sound of the same drawl she’d heard all shift.

“Not that bad?” came another voice, one that she’d heard a couple time from the tall black man whom she couldn’t remember the name of. “Cath hasn’t talked to me in three days,” his voice had turned to a whisper. “I gotta do something to make it up to her, and to do that I need help.” Even though she wasn’t listening – or so she’d claim later – Kassi could hear the desperation in the man’s voice. She couldn’t help but grin, remembering her brother getting the same tone in his voice whenever he was in the doghouse and needed to make some grand gesture to make it up to his girlfriend. Tying her shoes and grabbing her casual vest before locking her locker, she slipped out of the room. Before the door shut she caught a glimpse of the two older CSI’s in a whispered conversation, one looking very serious and the other trying not to look amused.

She climbed behind the wheel of her own SUV – a vista blue Ford Escape with a fuchsia tribal style tiger along the right side, and a similar crimson dragon along the left. Wondering what scheme the two men would come up with to woo the woman ‘Cath’, she turned the ignition and the engine kicked to life. She switched the radio to 107.1 FM and pulled out of the parking lot with a smile on her face. She was certainly going to like it here.

- 30 -

Footnotes:

(1) Ketchikan is in Alaska. I have no idea how big Ketchikan is (I’m Canadian), I just randomly picked it.

(2) I couldn't decide between the Denali’s or the Tahoe’s so I looked at both and just picked what I liked best. Also, I have no idea how to describe this car, as I really don’t have knowledge of vehicles (other than the direction they’re suppose to go in).

(3) I don’t know any radio stations in Las Vegas, I just know that 107.1 is what I put my radio on if I use this nifty little FM transmitter to listen to my MP3 player on a stereo.

02 – Siberia/Umbrella

It was going on two weeks since Kassi (hadn’t) heard Warrick and Nick whispering about dear Mr. Brown needing to find a way to make it up to one Catherine Willows. So far her observations told her the two were still clueless. Everything they’d come up with was shot down by the strong willed nightshift second-in-command (1). Kassi decided she was going to give it until the end of this shift before taking pity on the poor man and trying to help him out.

As fate would have it, Kassi was partnered up with Catherine for a 419 along the highway. She followed the older woman to her car.

“So how do you like Las Vegas so far, Kassi?” Catherine asked as she drove to the crime scene. This was the first time the two women were working a case together and also their first opportunity for any sort of discussion.

“I love it, actually,” Kassi replied. “My last position was all the way up in Alaska.”

“Alaska? How’d you end up all the way up there? And how did you get all the way down here?”

“Well, my mom lives there, near Ketchikan where I did my proficiency and worked for the past year,” Kassi explained. “She thought it was a good idea for me to be closer to her. Her and my dad divorced when I was four and my brother was nine. We grew up in Canada with our dad, and after I graduated high school, mom decided she wanted to be more of a parent and paid for my post-secondary education.” Talking about her family life so matter-of-factly seemed strange to Kassi, and she was surprised she felt like she could be so honest with a woman she really didn’t know all that well. “But Ketchikan being what it is, I haven’t been able to get much of a case load so if I stayed there, I would be level one for longer than I cared for,” she managed a wry grin.

Catherine laughed. “I’ll bet. So why Vegas?” Kassi was beginning to like Catherine’s straight to the point, no nonsense attitude.

“Well, aside from the fact that it’s got one of the highest rated crime labs in the country, my brother lives here,” Kassi replied as they pulled up to an area along the highway fenced off by bright yellow crime scene tape. With instructions from Catherine, Kassi photographed the scene, starting with the body.

“According to the liver temp, I’d guess she’s been dead anywhere from 8 to 12 hours,” said the coroner’s assistant, David Phillips, to Catherine.

“At a glance, she has a bullet wound to the lower abdominal area, seems to be right around the area her uterus is located,” Catherine commented as a detective approached.

“Vic’s name is Kelly Mars,” said Captain Jim Brass from where he stood on the other side of the crime scene tape. “Age 26, she’s a local. Works as a waitress at a 24 hour diner on the other side of Vegas. Talked to her parents, who she still lives with, they last heard from her two days ago before she went to work that evening. Filed a missing persons report yesterday when she didn’t come home from work and hadn’t called to say she was running late.”

“Okay, well David you can take her, we’ll continue to process the scene.”

David nodded. “We’ll have a more accurate time of death when we do the autopsy.” Kassi continued to photograph the area surrounding the body.

“What in the heck is this, and why does it look vaguely familiar?” Kassi walked over to where Catherine was squatting and photographed a stick-like object before Catherine picked it up to examine.

“Well, I can tell you right now it’s a wand.” She took it from Catherine’s hands and took a closer look at it.

“A what?”

“A wand. Y’know, like from Harry Potter? A magic wand?” Catherine looked at the younger woman like she’d gone insane. “I’m serious… well, not that it’s magic…” Kassi turned back to it and studied it. “I know this wand.” If Catherine looked confused or stunned in any way before, she was surpassing it now.

“How?”

“I wasn’t aware it had even been sold yet…”

“What are you talking about?”

“This is an Alivan’s wand, the Marquetire Original #15, and it sold for $74.00.”

“$74.00 for a toy wand?”

“Well, they’re not exactly toys, they’re more like collectables. I think some of them are replicas of the wands used in the Harry Potter movies. Alivan wands are made of wood, and tend to be made from the actual wood they advertise. This particular wand is made of ebony, bloodwood, leopardwood, and possibly walnut. Besides, it’s one of a kind.”

“And you know this because…?”

“It’s from the Solitaire Collection, manufacturer only makes one of each design.”

“You certainly know a lot about this.”

“I had been admiring it a while back,” Kassi replied, shrugging.

“Is there anything else of particular significance about this wand?”

“Only that all wands from the Solitaire Collection must be paid for with a credit card.” (2)

On the drive back to the lab Kassi got a text message, like the one she’d received when she was riding shotgun with Nick, telling her to change the radio station. This one, however, was from her older brother.

“Mind if I change the station?”

“Not at all.”

”Hey you all listening out there, this song is a message to Kassi from big brother Karl. Up next is Backstreet Boys song ‘Siberia’.”

“When you come back, I won't be here.”
She said and gently pulled me near
“If you wanna talk, you can call
And, no, it's not your fault.”

I just smiled and said “Let go of me,
Now, there's something I just gotta know
Did someone else steal my part?”
She said it's not my fault

“Is that from your brother?” Catherine asked as they listened to the melancholy words accompanying the similar feeling music.

“Yeah,” Kassi replied. “Looks like she finally walked out.”

Then my heart did time in Siberia
Was waiting for the lie to come true
'Cause it's all so dark and mysterious
When the one you want doesn't want you too

“Damn,” Kassi said as she pulled out her cell again and punched in a series of buttons, sending a text message before closing it again. They drove as the rest of the song played out.

”Karl, man, I hope you’re still listening. This next song goes out to you from you little sis Kass. Here we have ‘Umbrella’ by Rihanna featuring Jay-Z. Karl, good luck man, it’ll get easier.”

When the sun shines, we’ll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be your friend
Took an oath I'mma stick it out 'till the end
Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh eh eh eh)

Hearing the lyrics of the chorus, Catherine felt tears in her eyes. “That is so sweet of you.” By the emotion in Catherine’s voice, Kassi could tell she also was no stranger to the suffering of a broken heart.

“Oh, it’s just something he and I came up with when I was still in high school and there was a station back home that took requests and dedications all day. Our friends do it too,” Kassi explained, remembering the dedication her friend sent her a few weeks prior. “It’s kind of like us declaring things in public. Y’know, like we’re not afraid of people knowing when we’re happy or sad or there for each other.”

“That’s actually a really neat idea. I’ve never gotten a dedication or anything like that before.” Catherine pulled into the parking lot of the lab, and the two women gathered all the evidence and carried it for further processing. As they were dropping off evidence in the various labs (DNA, trace, etc.) an idea formed in Kassi’s mind.

A few hours later found the two in the morgue going over the coroner’s findings. “I found this orange substance under the victim’s finger nails,” Doc Robbins began. “I sent a sample to trace earlier and results came back as cheese.”

“Cheese?” Catherine asked bewildered.

“Didn’t the vic work at a diner?”

“Yeah, but she was a waitress. She wouldn’t have any reason to handle the food.” Robbins shrugged. “Anything else you can tell us? Time of death?”

“I’ve narrowed it down to 12 hours ago.”

“So that would place her death at about… 1PM yesterday. Thanks Doc.”

“I’ll page you if I find anything else,” Robbins said as the two women exited the morgue.

- 30 -

Footnotes:

(1) I’m disregarding the fact that the team was ever broken up and that Catherine is now a supervisor herself (or I guess I could also say it’s the team almost as they are when they get back together).

(2) Alivan’s is a real wand manufacturer online And the wand I have outlined is real, but at the time I wrote this, it hadn’t yet been sold.

03 – Off My Rocker

It was a three days later, Catherine and Kassi were closer to solving the case, but not by much.

“Okay, let’s outline what we know so far,” Catherine began. “We know that the victim was a 26-year-old waitress.”

“She had cheese under her fingernails, but because she was a waitress she really didn’t have a reason to be handling the food,” Kassi continued.

“She had a gunshot wound to her lower abdomen but the cause of death was strangulation with an unidentified object, probably a rope or a cord.”

“Victim was approximately 12 weeks pregnant at time of death. The bullet was two inches away from the uterus, it isn’t impossible that whoever shot her was trying to hit the baby.”

“Right, and according to her parents, she was involved with this man,” Catherine said as she held up a picture of a man in his early thirties. “That would give us a possible suspect, but his alibi about being in Seattle for the past two weeks checks out.”

“The gunshot wound was antemortem, not perimortem.” (1)

“And the most intriguing piece of evidence is a rare hand-carved wand. The company that made the wand just faxed over the information of the buyer. Card belongs to a Sabrina Spellman. Typical.”

“At least it wasn’t Voldemort,” Kassi joked. “However, it would make more sense.”

“I’ll get in touch with the credit card company and see if this ‘Sabrina Spellman’ is a local,” Catherine said as she stood and exited the layout room.

After everyone finished a double shift, Kassi found herself sitting in her car watching as the rest drove away. Nick waved to her as he drove by. She noticed Warrick sitting in his car with his cell in his hands and she remembered a few hours earlier she’d pulled him aside when they’d both taken a break at almost the same time and suggested something he could do about his Catherine situation.

She turned the ignition and the radio came on as she seen the woman in question walk out of the building and pull out her cell phone before reading a text message as she started her own car.

“That was ‘Ole, Ole’ by 11:30 here on 107.1 FM. Up next we have a dedication going out from Warrick to the love of his life Catherine in apology. Here we have ‘Off My Rocker’ by Billy Currington.”

Well we know it ain't the first time
We know it used to be my past time
And a couple times back we agreed
That was gonna be my last time
But I guess last night I plum forgot
Who's runnin' this show and who's not

Kassi laughed a bit as the song played and watched as Catherine sat back listening to the song.

No there ain't no need to stay mad
No need to waste a whole day mad
Though I have to admit honey
You look pretty darn cute mad
Oh baby workin' this out can't be that hard
Hahaha, I said I'm gonna be in charge?

Kassi pulled out of the parking lot, hoping the two were able to patch things up. She glanced at her rear view mirror before turning out of the lot and smiled. Catherine was getting out of her car and into Warrick’s.

Oh I must've been off of my rocker
I must've got some wires crossed
To come in hear claimin' that from here on out
I'ma gonna be the boss
Oh it must've been me the big talker
I had a little too much of Johnny Walker
So let's forget about it baby
I must've been off of my rocker

Yeah let's forget about it baby
I must've been off of my rocker
Oh I'm sorry about that baby

“Now who in their right mind would get sand in their leather shoes?” came Greg’s voice from the doorway outside the layout room Kassi was in reviewing evidence from a homicide unrelated to the Mars case. It had been over two weeks since she and Catherine processed the Mars scene along the highway, and so far the trail had gone cold. It turned out that while ‘Sabrina Spellman’ was registered as a local, the last known address had been vacated months ago.

“Greg, the body was in the middle of the desert,” reasoned Nick.

“They say ‘Made in Italy’,” Greg said as if this explained everything. Through the glass walls, Kassi watched as they entered the next layout room without closing the door.

“I’m more interested in this ornate stick we found at the scene.” This peaked her interest a bit.

“Okay, what does a stick have that is more significant than Italian leather shoes?”

“It’s not a normal stick,” Nick said, holding up the evidence bag with the item in question. Kassi immediately recognized the stick as one oddly similar to the one Catherine had found. “I mean, look at it.”

“And your point is … what?” Kassi slipped out of her layout room and into theirs.

“I believe his point is that not only is it not normal, it’s unique,” The two men spun around to look at her, having obviously not heard her enter the room. “Even if he doesn’t know that was his point.”

“And your point is …?” Greg repeated with a small eye-roll.

“We found this at our crime scene in the desert,” Nick said indicating the stick in the evidence bag. Kassi moved forward and picked it up.

“Looks like an Alivan’s wand made of kingwood and ebony,” Kassi commented as the two men eyed her curiously.

“Wand?” Nick asked disbelievingly.

“Yeah, Nicky, you know those stick-like thingies that wizards wave around and use to cast magic spells?” Greg teasingly explained.

“I know what a wand is Greggo,” Nick shot back good naturedly with a glare.

“Did I hear someone say ‘wand’?” Catherine’s voice said as she walked into the layout room. “We found one at our crime scene along the highway,” Catherine continued.

“Ours was the Marquetire Original #15 made of ebony, bloodwood, leaopardwood and walnut,” Kassi explained. “This one’s the ‘Kingwood and Ebony’ number 761. Also, this one sold for $78.00” (2)

“How the hell do you know all that?” Greg asked in an annoyed voice.

“I like to browse the website,” Kassi replied offhandedly.

“Impressive,” Nick commented. “And obscure. You understand cars and magic wands. What else do you know about that you’re not telling us?” He asked as he leaned on the layout table facing her.

“Nick, stop flirting,” came Sara’s voice from the hallway. “Hey everyone,” she greeted as she and Warrick passed with their evidence to enter the last layout room.

“I was not flirting. I was just… talking,” Nick protested as his cheeks flushed slightly.

“Oh, so that’s what you kids call it these days,” Warrick teased. Nick grumbled something as he turned back to the evidence and set about logging it in.

“Great, so we’re after Voldemort?” Greg commented sarcastically, turning back to what he thought of as an insanely overpriced stick.

“Who’s Voldemort?” a new voice sounded. The four turned to find their boss and Sophia Curtis standing in the doorway. (3)

“A very bad wizard that Mr. Potter here is going to try put behind bars,” Kassi cheekily replied, indicating Greg.

“Me? Sadly I believe that is we.”

“Oh forgive me, young Mr. Malfoy.” Greg glared at her and turned away from her to begin logging in evidence with Nick.

“Why are you having a conversation about fictional characters while you are supposed to be working?” Grissom asked.

“Nick and Greg found a hand-crafted wand in the desert, and Kassi and I found one along the highway,” Catherine summarized.

“Strange. We found this wooden knob-like thing,” Sophia said as she showed the group the item in an evidence bag.

“So what do you know about this?” Greg sarcastically shot in Kassi’s direction. Kassi glared at him, rolled her eyes and took the item from Sophia.

“Well, it’s not a knob. It’s an "inkwell" stand for a quill pen. Sold for $10.99 on Alivan’s online store,” she commented apathetically before handing it back. The rest looked at her with expressions varying from impressed to annoyance.

“Thank you Hermione Granger.” Ignoring Greg’s sarcastic reply, Kassi side stepped her boss and went back to her layout table to continue reviewing evidence. She was mildly happy at the tiny victory of being able to identify the objects, but it was becoming evident that the previously youngest member of the Las Vegas nightshift team disliked her.

Since her arrival she’d noticed that the nightshift was a great deal like a family in the way they interacted with each other. It made sense that she was like the new baby that had finally been brought home from the hospital and Greg, feeling like the prospect of a new sibling was now overrated, was having issues with no longer being the center of attention. She just wondered what methods of acting out he would put into practice… aside from constantly teasing and prodding her. At least she’d already learned to toddle by the time she’d arrived because she could readily believe the California-native to be the type of new older brother to push her when she tried to stand.

At the end of shift she was sitting in her car when Nick came up to the driver’s side window. “Sorry about Greg.” Kassi looked up at the kind face of the resident Texan as he leaned casually against the vehicle. “He’s not normally so spiteful when he’s sarcastic.” She gave a small grin in return.

“That’s alright. Baby Brother’s just not use to having a younger sibling to play with,” she replied, drawing on her earlier comparison. “He’s just got ‘New Sibling Syndrome’, it should pass.” Nick laughed at this assessment.

“Ah, yes, sibling jealousy. I expect that’s what all my older siblings felt when I came along.”

“How many siblings do you have?”

“Six. All older, and all with families of their own,” he explained.

“Oh, wow. Must be lovely at Christmas.” He laughed again and was about to say something but seemed to think better of it.

“Well, I’ll see you next shift Kassi,” he said as he moved towards his own vehicle.

“Bye Nick.” Again she watched as the rest of the team pulled out of the car park. She felt a bit downhearted when she watched Greg get into his car and drive away. She hadn’t felt this distanced from a person since high school when the majority of the school treated her much the same way he did. She sighed and shrugged to herself before heading home, the radio playing the usual station.

- 30 -

Footnotes:

(1) For those who are curious: Antemortem before death; Perimortem at or around time of death; Postmortem after death.

(2) If you look at the Solitaire Collection on Alivan’s website, it tends to change every month or so (depending on how many new models they come out with and how many are sold.) (I seem to be using a lot of things from this website, lol, oh well. It is and interesting website though.)

(3) I know she became a Detective, but I for the story’s sake, I’ll keep her as a CSI.