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A/n: Thanks for being patient. I hope you like this chapter. :D:D

Chapter 15

Wendy hurried down the hall, looking from room to room. Finally, she found Grissom in the breakroom with Hodges. She could hardly refrain from rolling her eyes when she saw they were playing ‘the game’. She was still steaming over that whole ‘clumsy yet buxom’ description. Shaking her head, she knocked on the door. “Grissom, could I see you for a moment?”

Grissom looked up, distracted. “Can it wait?” he asked.

“Um, no, I’m afraid not.” Wendy patiently waited as he stood.

“Don’t forget where we were?” he said to Hodges.

Hodges smiled, and nodded. “DNA always takes forever anyway,” he said with a glance at Wendy.

Wendy took a deep breath and turned her gaze to Grissom. “If you wouldn’t mind, could you get Catherine and meet me in the DNA lab?”

He nodded and watched as she turned and hurried down the hall. He turned to look at Hodges. “I take it she’s seen her game counterpart? I don’t claim to be an expert, but, I do know that women don’t like to be belittled. If you like her, you might want to find a way to make it up to her.” He turned and headed for Catherine’s office.

Hodges slumped in his chair and mumbled. “Who said anything about liking her?”

Grissom and Catherine walked into the DNA lab fifteen minutes later.

“Okay, what’s so important that it’s keeping me from my comfy bed?” Catherine asked, coming to a halt next to the counter. “And it had better be good,” she warned.

Wendy smiled. “How about this?” She handed Catherine a file.

With a glance at Grissom, Catherine opened it. After she’d studied it for a minute, she looked up, aghast. “This has to be wrong?”

Grissom took the file and studied it. He looked up at Wendy. “You double checked this?”

“Yes, sir. In fact, I triple checked it.” She turned to Catherine. “And I can assure you, it is correct.”

“So, what does this mean?” Catherine asked.

Grissom shook his head. “I don’t know.” He looked back down at the DNA results, reading once again. Four DNA profiles, semen from four different men mixed into the soil.

Catherine shook her head. “I’ve heard of using some kooky things as fertilizer, but never anything like this.”

Greg sat down across from George Townsend. He wasn’t what he’d been expecting.

Townsend’s spiked blond hair and pierced eyebrows topped piercing blue eyes, and rather chubby cheeks. It would be polite to call the man chunky, but if you were honest he was definitely morbidly obese. He was in his mid thirties, was dressed in Armani, and had an air of entitlement about him.

Greg had watched him from the observation room, along with Vega, for a few minutes. Now, as Greg sat across from him, Greg could hardly swallow his repulsion. Not for the man’s physical appearance, but for the way he had been talking, nonstop, about how if they didn’t let him leave he was going to call his uncle and have them fired.

“…and if you think that I’m just going to sit here without being told why you dragged me down here, then I’ll have no recourse but to call my uncle,” he finished, staring at Greg.

Greg cleared his throat. “Sir, if you will give me a minute, we’d love to tell you why we brought you down here. Believe me, we don’t just drag people down to the police station for no reason.

George Townsend took out a crisp white handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Then why don’t you get to it, I have things to do.”

Vega leaned forward. “When was the last time you saw Donna Kennon?”

Townsend blinked. “Who?”

“C’mon, man, don’t give us that,” Vega urged. “Donna Kennon, when did you last see her?”

Townsend swallowed. “Oh, yeah, Donna. Uh, I don’t know, last week?”

Vega looked at Greg, Greg leaned forward. “Hmm, so, you’re saying that you haven’t seen this woman for a week?” He slid a picture over for Townsend to see.

Townsend glanced at the photo and shrugged. “About that, yeah.”

Greg slid another picture over, this one of the bills that had been found at her house, in his name. “And you pay her bills?”

Townsend stared at the new photo. “I-I was trying to help her out.” He didn’t sound so confident now.

Vega stood. “C’mon, Georgie, are you really telling us that you pay this woman’s bills, and own the house she lives in, and you haven’t seen her in a week? That wouldn’t hold much water, even if we didn’t have a witness placing you with Ms. Kennon, not two days ago.”

Townsend cleared his throat and straightened. “Hey, I don’t know who your ‘witness’ is, but I have my own witnesses to say I was nowhere near her in the last few days.” He stared them down.

“So, you would have been nowhere near her when she was killed?” Greg asked.

Townsend didn’t blink. “That’s what I’m saying.”

Greg raised his eyebrows. “You don’t seem surprised. That she’s dead, I mean.”

Townsend shrugged. “I figured it had to be something big for you to pull me down here.”

Greg was about to respond when he felt his phone vibrate against his side. He looked down and saw that Hodges was paging him. He looked up at Vega. “I’ll be right back.”

“This had better be good, Hodges. I was interrogating a suspect,” Greg said as he entered the Trace lab.

Hodges looked up. “Well, your plastic sheet finally got here, and I thought you’d like to know what I found.” Hodges was still in a bad mood over his tiff with Wendy. “Of course, if you don’t, I can just file it away.”

Greg rolled his eyes. “Of course I want it, Hodges.”

Hodges reluctantly picked up the file. “Then, here you go,” he said, handing it to Greg.

Greg studied it. “You didn’t find any trace?”

“That’s what it says, isn’t it. But read further,” he said as he turned back to his microscope.

Greg looked down. “You found a fingerprint?” he asked.

“Again, that’s what it says. Read further,” he said without looking up.

Rolling his eyes, Greg continued to read. “And you found an admixture of blood?”

Hodges hummed a yes.

And, have they been processed?” Greg pressed.

“You’d have to ask Wendy and Mandy, respectively, about that,” Hodges mumbled.

Greg shook his head and headed down the hall, going first to see Mandy, knowing fingerprints would be faster than DNA. He found her talking to Henry.

“So, you see, you should actually feel lucky. He didn’t even put me in one of his ‘crimes’, and you were in two.” Mandy patted Henry on the back.

Greg stepped in. “Sorry to interrupt, but…”

“You’re here for that fingerprint from the plastic sheet.” Mandy guessed. “Well, it’s still running.”

“Ah, well…” he was interrupted by a beep.

“Well, looks like you’re here just in time.” She smiled and walked over to the computer.

Henry said, “I’ll see you later.” He left, muttering something about not being a tweeker.

Greg walked over to stand beside Mandy. “So, what do we have?”

“Looks like your print belongs to one, George Townsend,” Mandy said with a smile.

Greg grinned. “That goes a long way to helping us prove who killed Ms. Kennon. It will get us a warrant for Mr. Townsend’s house.” He chucked her on the shoulder and walked out, dialing his phone.

Greg looked up as Vega walked up to him. “Looks like our day isn’t quite over.”

Vega nodded and said, “So, we got his print. That places him with the body, but does it mean he killed her?

“Unfortunately, no, it may prove that he covered the body, since the print was in blood, but it doesn’t mean that he did the deed.” Greg headed for the car. “But it does get us a warrant for his place, and that’s where we're headed now. What’d our friend say when you said you had to leave?”

“Not much, he just threatened to call his uncle again. I wish he would, I’d like to meet the guy who condones behavior like that.”

They arrived at Townsend’s residence after driving about ten minutes. He lived in the Penthouse of the Golden Nugget. They talked to the concierge and were led to a private elevator which took them quickly to the top floor.

“I-I’m not sure I should do this.” The concierge hesitated at the door.

Vega tapped him on the shoulder. “We already showed you the warrant; do you want to see it again?” Vega checked his name tag. “James?”

James nodded, and Vega sighed, but handed him the warrant.

James studied it for several moments before returning it to the burly cop. “Okay, I guess its okay,” he said nervously, sliding the key card to unlock the door.

The door swung open, and Vega pushed James back and pulled out his gun. He pointed to Greg to stay on the other side of the wall, and walked into the apartment.

Greg and James shared a look.

James wasn’t sure what was happening, Greg wasn’t too sure himself.

Vega called out that it was clear.

Greg inched his way into the apartment, scrunching up his nose at the smell. “What happened here?”

Vega shook his head, looking at the disaster of an apartment. “I don’t know.”

TBC…