Wicked Game [Nick Stokes] (CSI Las Vegas)

4. Echo

"Anybody out there? 'Cause I don't hear a sound. I'm out on the edge and I'm screaming my name like a fool at the top of my lungs but it's never enough 'cause my echo is the only voice coming back"

-¿Why don't you just get over it?

-Because you cheated –Warrick answered while he was driving.

-No, I did not –I laughed at the accusation- I told you, I'm good at playing pool.

-I've never met a woman who is good at billiards.

-¿Since when do you have a master's degree at the macho university? –I exclaimed surprised by his comment- That doesn't sound like you at all.

-It is not macho, it is statistical –he looked at me from the corner of his eye and smiled. I knew he was provoking me on purpose- ¿How many female billiards champions do you know?

-Oh my god, I'm so jumping off the car right now.

-No need to –he parked the car- We're here.

We got out of the car and opened the trunk to get the field kits. I already had my own kit, since after I've been with them for a while, Grissom said that it was time for me to go from observation to practice, obviously with supervision. Apparently, this case wasn't very complicated; two girls had run over a boy.

-First of all, ¿do you remember the rule of the Seven S's? –Warrick asked me.

-The first two are in charge of the police; Secure the scene and Separate the witnesses –I looked at the cordoned area and remember the other five- Scan the scene, Seeing the scene, Sketch the scene, Search for evidence and Secure the collected evidence.

The first marker I put was on a bag full of beer cans that I had found on the sidewalk. The next evidence I found was a broken tail light, and after taking the evidence pictures, I bagged it. Warrick was crouched down watching the victim's torso when he called me.

-¿You see it? –he asked me pointing at the boy.

-Two distinct tire treads; one wide and one narrow.

-Given the extensive bruising from the wide trade mark, victim was killed by a larger vehicle, not that compact –he explained- The two girls ran over a corpse.

After collecting the evidence found at the crime scene, I sealed them by writing my initials and the date on each evidence container. The chain of custody is the documentation and preservation of the evidence. If the chain of custody is broken, that means that all the evidence collected it inadmissible in court. Sloppy chain of custody work can mean failing to serve justice and letting a criminal walk free.

While we collected the evidence at the scene, they took the body to the coroner and performed the autopsy so when we got back to the Lab, Warrick checked in the evidence while I went to the morgue with Sara and Grissom.