DISCLAIMER: CSI and its characters are the property of Jerry Bruckheimer and CBS. No infringement intended.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Luck Be A Lady
By Ann
Sara and Greg strolled into the luxury penthouse suite with kits in hand, ready to process the murder scene of the infamous high roller, Georgia McBride. The woman was notorious for her high stakes poker games as well as the occasional invitation-only strip poker contests which involved only women players. She'd gladly accept money from the males, but when it came to the collection of undergarments and such, women were the only gender she was interested in.
"I'd always wondered why someone would want to live in a hotel above a casino, but now I understand," Greg stated, glancing around the beautifully decorated room in awe.
Shaking her head, Sara replied, "Quit daydreaming, Greg; it'll never happen to us. Let's just get to work processing the rooms."
Nodding, Greg began to unpack his kit while Sara glanced around the room, looking for anything out of place, and she frowned when she saw a small slit in the nearby wall. Walking over, she smiled when she noted the pocket door.
Donning her gloves, she slid the door back to reveal a small room fitted with wall to wall glass cases. Flipping on her flashlight, she slowly entered the space.
The first case contained individual poker chips, each with an etched nametag underneath. Looking at the alphabetized names of some very influential individuals, Sara realized this must be some sort of trophy case kept by Georgia McBride. Some of the chips had the same person's nametag attached so the brunette looked closer to note that a date and a dollar amount were also assigned to each chip. She whistled aloud at the sight of some of the dollar figures associated with a few of the chips.
Greg ventured in behind the brunette and moved to peer in the glass cases on the other side of the room. His quiet exclamation had the brunette reluctantly leaving her find to see what her colleague had discovered.
"Holy shit, would you look at that?"
Standing beside Greg, Sara's eyes widened as she looked into yet another trophy case. Only this time, it wasn't filled with alphabetized chips; it was filled with alphabetized underwear. However, Ms. McBride was a little more discrete with the undergarments as she only noted the first and last initials of the 'donors.'
"Why would she collect other women's underwear?" Greg asked, his mind not quite grasping the fact that the woman was a lesbian as well as a collector of her most prized winnings.
Instead of replying to the question, Sara said, "Why don't you check out that second case? The glass appears to be broken, and maybe the killer took something from it."
Stepping away from the underwear collection, Greg looked over his shoulder one more time before he finally acquiesced to the brunette's suggestion. Finding an empty spot amongst the many coins, the spiky haired investigator said, "I'll be right back. I just need to get my kit to dust for fingerprints," and turning, he quickly left the room.
Sara took advantage of the moment alone to scan through the underwear, and she mentally noted the many initials associated with each. Just as she got to S. C., a voice from the doorway made a quiet request.
"Sara? Can I talk to you for a moment?" Sofia asked, nervously stepping into the room.
"Sure, Sofia. What's up?"
"Um, well, you see," the blonde stuttered, trying to formulate a sentence.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Sara questioned, stepping towards the skittish detective.
Glancing over her shoulder to be certain that they were alone, Sofia gestured towards the far case and whispered, "There's something of mine in there."
Confused, Sara turned towards the case and frowned, not understanding why Sofia would be indicating the underwear case, but suddenly, the last initials she'd seen pushed their way into the forefront along with the black silky panties displayed prominently above the letters.
Pointing to the pair in question, Sara asked, "Those are yours?"
Looking down at the floor, the detective whispered, "Yes. Is there any way you can keep my name out of this investigation?"
Grinning, Sara replied, "Probably. I'm pretty sure the killer is associated with the poker chip collection, not the underwear collection."
Relieved, Sofia lifted her head and smiled, asking, "Really?"
"Yes, really. For now, I don't see any reason to bring this particular case into the investigation; however, if the poker chip theory doesn't pan out, I can't promise that we won't turn our attentions elsewhere."
"Thank you, Sara, and listen, if you do have to process the underwear, I'd appreciate a heads up," Sofia replied, extending her hand in thanks.
Sara gripped the blonde's hand and smiled just as Greg returned. Sofia nodded at the brunette and turned to leave the room, greeting Greg on her way out. The junior investigator mumbled a hello and immediately turned to the broken case.
Sara watched the detective leave and waited until Greg's attention was on the case before she looked down at her hand to find a gold key sitting prominently in her palm. Looking closer, she smiled when she made out the room number, 212. She quickly pocketed the key and turned to help her colleague.
The two had just finished lifting the first print when Catherine entered the room, ordering, "Greg, I need to speak to Sara for a moment. Would you excuse us, please?"
Shrugging, Greg stood and left the room, giving the women some privacy. Catherine watched him go and made it a point to close the door with her gloved hand. Turning to the brunette, she asked, "What've you found?"
Slightly pissed that Catherine had shown up at her scene, Sara asked, "What's it to you? This is my scene; not yours."
Not wanting to fight with the brunette, especially since she had to ask for a huge favor, the redhead calmly stated, "I'm not trying to take over your case, Sara. I just need for you to tell me what you've found. Can you do that, please?"
Surprised that Catherine hadn't pulled out the seniority card, Sara replied, "We think the killer tried to cover his tracks by taking his 'chip' from the case."
Relieved, the redhead asked, "What about the underwear case?"
The proverbial light immediately came on in Sara's head. She'd seen a red pair of underwear right above the initials C. W. Going with her theory, the brunette replied, "I don't think we'll have to process your thong if that's what you're asking."
"Thank God," Catherine whispered just as Greg knocked on the door and peeked into the room.
"Um, sorry. Sara, I think I may know who has the missing chip," Greg reported, smiling as he held up a gold piece of metal displaying the name, Bob Thomas.
Excusing herself, Catherine said, "Well, let me get out of your way. I think you two have everything under control."
The two remaining investigators watched the redhead leave, and Sara asked, "Where did you find it?"
Grinning, Greg said, "It was stuck on the sliding door. I guess he must've dropped it when he left, and it adhered to the door."
"Good job, Greg. Why don't you finish up here, and I'll go check out the rest of the suite?" Sara suggested as she turned to leave the room.
As she walked into the nearby bedroom, she extracted the item Catherine had slipped into her pocket. Smiling, she pulled out another golden key, and this one sported the room number as well, 214.
By the end of the shift, the scene had been processed, and the tests had been run. All the evidence pointed to Bob Thomas, and Brass had immediately issued an APB on the man.
Sara left Greg to follow up on the case since he had found the key piece of evidence, and speaking of keys, she had a couple of appointments to keep.
Making her way through the casino, Sara quickly located the elevator and, arriving at the second floor, the brunette tried to decide which key to use first. Unable to make a decision, she shuffled the keys in her hand, and closing her eyes, she made a random selection. 214 was sitting in her palm, so Catherine it was. Sofia was going to have to wait for a bit.
Sliding the key in the lock, the brunette walked into the room. A small bedside lamp was on, but more importantly, a redhead was lying in the bed wearing nothing but a smile. As Sara stepped forward, a pair of hands slid around her waist.
Surprised, she turned into the teasing eyes of Sofia who merely nodded towards the wall with her head. Sara immediately turned towards the location to see the open door.
Adjoining rooms; the brunette smiled at her good fortune as she allowed the blonde detective to lead her towards the bed.
Who needed strip poker? She was about to become the luckiest lady alive.
The End