Part 1
" You rang?"
At the slightly sarcastic drawl, Captain Jim Brass' head jerked up from the papers and files scattered over his desk. Leaning against the doorjamb with arms and ankles crossed, the ever-present toothpick accenting the slight smirk on her face, was Detective Sofia Curtis. At his nod and wave of hand, she moved into his office and settled into one of the chairs in front of his desk and eyed him thoughtfully.
Having been partnered with him on and off since her return from Boulder City 2 years ago, where she had pursued her dream of getting her detectives shield, Sofia could read his dour face and as a result, she could read the concern evident there.
"So, what was so important that you had to call me in on my day off. I haven't had a day off in 3 weeks; the Duvall case is sewn up tight thanks to the evidence Sara dug up, ha ha, from his garden. What's up?"
Brass cleared his throat and rested his clasped hands on the file in front of him. "Don't worry, that case is solid and no, we're not short staffed tonight," the last said with a small smile. "How would you like to take off to San Francisco for a little while?" His smile grew a bit bigger as Sofia just blinked a couple of times, obviously processing the seemingly random comment.
"Well, I've always wanted to visit. Any particular reason you called me in to ask that?" Sofia's bewilderment was obvious.
"Do you remember the Tabletop murders, it was about 4 years ago when you were still working the labs with Grissom. Four vics, same MO. We never caught the killer. There was just not enough evidence to tie anyone to the murders." The expression on Brass' face showed just how disappointed he was with the unsolved case.
Sofia's brow furrowed as she tried to call up the details, her hand brushed her long, blonde hair out of her face as she leaned forward.
"That was the one where the killer nailed his vics to their dining room table by their hands and tormented them for 2 days before finally raping and killing them, yes? I remember that one clearly. Such brutality over a span of 4 weeks, one a weekend, then nothing. All we could ascertain was that the perp was right handed and certainly knew how to use a knife with precision. All the trace we found was generic. White cotton fibres, used for a multitude of things, rope that could have been bought at any hardware store and traces of the chemicals used for Polaroid photos. Not a single trace of DNA, not a fingerprint anywhere. The perp had scrubbed the houses down to get rid of the last trace of himself, then emailed the crime reporter at the Las Vegas Tribune with the address and a Polaroid of the mess he had left behind. And as suddenly as he had appeared, he was gone. We had checked all the databases, trying to see if there were any like murders elsewhere but there were no hits."
Sofia's blue eyes were clouded with memories of the 4 dead women. All four had been in their mid to late twenties, all single, all professionals - two were lawyers, one a bank manager and the other a chartered accountant, all with blonde hair and blue eyes. And she still carried the images of their bodies posed in death, bodies raped and mutilated, all but their faces. It had really gotten to her when they couldn't get a solid lead on a suspect.
Brass watched as various thoughts flickered across Sofia's face, waiting for that moment of realisation. He didn't have long to wait.
"Wait a minute! You mean he's back? He's started up again? Where? Oh, San Francisco, that's right. They linked their case up with ours?"
Brass smiled quietly to himself, pleased to see the fire igniting in Sofia's bright blue eyes, her hands tightly gripping the armrests of her chair.
"That's right. All those details you so painstakingly entered into the database 4 years ago match 2 dead women in San Francisco. An Inspector Boxer of the San Francisco PD called me about an hour ago asking about our case. I've emailed her our reports and such and I asked to be kept in the loop. We have since received a request from their Chief of Police for any assistance we can offer. The Sheriff kindly offered one of the people who worked on the original case. So, what do you say?" Brass peered at Sofia from under his eyebrows, knowing the answer before he even asked the question.
Sitting up straight, Sofia smiled fiercely in anticipation. Maybe now she had a chance to catch the bastard.
"I'll go pack my bags. When do I leave?"
With a smirk, Brass moved one of the papers on his desk, revealing some travel documents. "Here are your e-tickets. Your flight departs tomorrow morning at 0655 on UA1431. That gives you enough time to get all your notes together, get packed and get some sleep. Inspector Boxer will meet you at the airport on the other side. Accommodation has been organised by the people in San Francisco. You'll have an expense account, just please, don't blow it. I have to justify it to the Sheriff's bean counters later."
At that last comment, Sofia snorted softly. Paperwork was the bane of any cop's job, though the Sheriff seemed to delight in it.
"Thanks, Brass. I'll dig out my old notebooks as well; I want to bring as much info to the tale as possible. I don't want this guy to get away again. We only have 2 more weeks if he keeps to his pattern."
Sofia's brow creased as she started planning the rest of her time. She was jerked out of her thoughts by a small cough from Brass. A soft thud on the desk in front of her had her bringing her attention back to the here and now. A small notebook sat on the edge of the desk in front of her. At Sofia's quizzical look, Brass shrugged.
"My notebook from the Tabletop case. Thought you may want to read through it, add it to the mix."
A smile slowly curved Sofia's lips.
"Thanks, Jim."
With that, Sofia collected all her papers and headed for the office door and the lab of Sara Sidle, the other CSI who had been assigned to the Tabletop murders.
"Get the bastard for us, Sophia."
With one last nod and a very determined tread, Sofia headed out.
Continued...