What The Eyes Can't See

Thanks to Goldie at FanFiction and Sara from AdultFanFiction for the reviews. I hope you will both continue to enjoy my little story.

Elfmaiden rocks in so many ways. A wonderful writer as well as a wonderful beta. Be sure to check out her fics at Mystifying Dreams.

Chapter 2

Five hours later, Warrick and Grissom were back at the CSI headquarters logging in the samples, they had found in various rooms of the Miller house, including the samples procured during the interviews for later comparison.

The only peculiar thing that they were able to find was that several items, from the boy’s room, were missing. Warrick concluded that several items had been taken by the empty spaces left on the otherwise full shelves. In the morning, he would contact Ann Miller and get a descriptive list of items contained in the boy’s room and cross check it to the pictures that he’d taken earlier.

Besides the one lead, nothing else seemed to turn up. There had been no forced entry, no sign of a struggle, and nothing else seemed to be out of place. Grissom and Warrick suspected that the hair strands and fingerprints collected in the boy’s room would either belong to the boy, the family and/or the nanny. If so, it would lead them to a dead-end. Warrick suspected that the perpetuator knew the boy and had gained easy access to the house from knowing the layout. No prints were left because the kidnapper had worn gloves.

Casing the other rooms of the house, as well as the surrounding landscape, led to the same frustrating end. There had been little to find except samples, more than likely, belonging to the inhabitants and to the staff of the mansion.

Brass had already started the two background checks on Martinez and Acker, as well as all the other employees hired by the Millers. He planned to interview the main staff of the Miller household and any temporary staff members that may have been hired within the past year. In the morning, he hoped to continue the interviews with several co-workers of the Mayor and Ann, hoping that it would lead him to a possible suspect.

Warrick yawned and glanced at the clock on the wall, noticing that his shift was almost up. He suspected that overtime would be approved before quitting time. He didn’t mind putting in extra hours any time a child was involved in a case. Children always caused a sense of urgency in him. The need to continue on and solve the case as soon as possible, no matter how long it took.

“Hey, what’s up?” Sara asked as she walked into the room.

“Mayor Miller’s grandson was kidnapped,” Grissom answered not looking up for the logbook.

Sara responded without hesitation, “Need help?”

“Yeah, take these employee fingerprints to Greg and compare them to the employment files of the staff that work at the Miller home. Also, run them through AFIS and see if you get any hits,” Grissom asked.

“No problem,” she said, picking up the tape that contained the fingerprints.

Once she left, Warrick asked, “Guess this takes priority?”

“Anytime a kid’s involved, it takes precedent, Warrick,” he said still not looking up from the book.

Warrick nodded, understanding Grissom’s need to solve this case quickly. Not because of the boy’s last name, but because he was an innocent child.

*****

Four days passed and the case was still pending. Warrick, as well as the rest of the CSI nightshift, was frustrated by the lack of leads. Toys were not the only missing items from the boy’s room. It was verified that some clothing had vanished as well. This further proved the suspicion that, whoever took the boy, did not plan to harm him, though that could always change.

Brass had interviewed Michael Acker the morning after the kidnapping. Mr. Acker had an alibi for that night as well as reaffirming his contention of having kids. Brass got the impression that Mr. Acker was still upset by his ex-wife’s obvious betrayal.

“Mr. Acker, Ann Miller stated that Henry is your child,” Brass stated.

“I don’t believe a word of it,” Acker said, his jaw clenching slightly.

“And why do you think your wife…” Brass started.

“Ex…ex-wife,” he clarified.

Brass continued without missing a beat, “What makes you so sure Henry is not your kid?”

Acker paused and stared at Brass intently before explaining; “I was two when my parents and I moved to India for dad’s business. We lived there for three years before I got sick. I contracted mumps and as a result, I’m infertile,” he stated without emotion.

Brass asked a few more questions regarding Acker’s whereabouts during the time before and after the kidnapping and than wrapped up the interview.

Later that day, Brass spoke to Ms. Miller and asked her about her ex-husband’s infertility. She was shocked to hear the news and was still very adamant about not cheating on Michael and Henry being Acker’s son. Brass figured that either one of them was lying or Acker’s infertility had been misdiagnosed. Due to doctor-patient privileges, Brass couldn’t just look up the information. Without further cause, he couldn’t get a warrant for Mr. Ackers medical records.

Over the four days, Brass interviewed the Miller’s paid staff along with anyone else that had visited the house during the last six months. He had visited the Miller’s place of employment and questioned several employees but nothing led him in a new direction to find the child.

The CSI nightshift continued to work on the case almost full time. Cases were shuffled to the day shift and when it wasn’t possible to do so, only two members of the nightshift would be allowed to work on other cases until completed. Once solved, they would return to the Miller kidnapping.

The afternoon of the fourth day, in the investigation, showed no improvement. No new leads, clues or suspects. No ransom note requesting a drop off had been received. Brass and the CSI agents continued to believe that the boy had been taken for reasons other than financial purposes, but that he was still alive and being taken care of.

Nick stood in a hallway that led to Grissom’s office; barely acknowledging the arrival of Catherine and Warrick.

“Hey,” Warrick greeted. He glanced down the hallway searching for the object that held Nick’s interest.

“Check it out,” Nick nodded toward Grissom’s office.

Seeing what had grabbed the younger man’s attention, Catherine shook her head, “Aren’t we above spying?”

“Man, they’re really going at it,” Warrick commented.

Through the glass of Grissom’s door, they could easily see Brass and Grissom arguing. It was a rare site to see either man lose their cool, but the heated discussion was obvious, even though none of the conversation was audibly through the thick glass.

“Come on, we don’t want to be caught when they finally finish,” Nick said as he walked toward the conference room where shift meetings were held.

With one last look at Grissom’s office, Warrick followed his two co-workers.

*****

The nightshift had been waiting for Grissom in the conference room for about half hour. During the wait, news of what had been seen was passed on to Sara and Greg.

“Do you think it had something to do with the Mayor’s case?” Sara asked.

“Probably. The last four days has turned nothing up. The mayor is probably all over them to find his grandson. Tension is high between those two. Brass wants results and Grissom wants to find the truth,” Catherine hypothesized.

Before the conversation could continue, Grissom and Brass walked through the door. Without greeting, Grissom started the meeting.

“Nick and Sara, you have a B&E on Fremont,” he said handing them an assignment sheet with all the needed information. “Warrick and Catherine, you have a suspicious fire at an art gallery. Two bodies.

“Greg, you’re on stand by, in case any of the teams need backup and also be ready to process any samples that comes in,” he ordered. He moved toward the door without any further conversation.

“Wait, what about the Miller case?” Sara asked.

“Don’t worry about that, Brass and I are handling it,” Grissom said with a hard edge that stopped any more interruptions.

He closed his folder and together, he and Brass left the room.

“Uh…Okay,” Greg stuttered.

The team was stunned by the abruptness of their superior’s departure.

“Well, I guess we should get started. Warrick,” Catherine nodded to her partner.

Without further discussion, the team left for their assigned duties. Throughout the night, questions reverberated through all their minds wondering what had happened in Grissom’s office.

Their questions and confusion grew when the morning news announced that Mayor Miller’s grandson had been found safe and sound.