The C.S.I.'s all meet in the briefing room as Jack & Melissa address them:
"What's this all about? Why are we all in here?" Ann asked. "These two murders are connected." Jack stated. The rest of the C.S.I.'s gasped in shock and awe. "Let us explain: Rachel Maddox was a patron at the Hauser & Wirth Art Gallery for quite some time; However, we found a message on her hotel answering machine that she filed a lawsuit against them quite some time ago. We don't know for what yet. We need to find that out." Melissa explained. "She needed leverage against the gallery for her lawsuit, so she hired a private investigator to find something incriminating that she could use against them; That private investigator, was our other victim Gary Melvin." Jack explained. "So that's the connection between the two victims." Adam stated. "Not the only connection; The key is the art gallery. We found out Gary actually wrote a check to the co-owner Nathan Adams in the amount of $85,000 for some time of ceramic pottery. I've got a feeling that's the same kind of pottery we found broken fragments of in that crate at the alley where we found Gary's body." Jack stated. "Rachel also ordered a piece of pottery from the art gallery as well; It was supposed to be delivered to her the next morning, along with a self-portrait painting." Melissa stated. "I've got a feeling that Gary Melvin was murdered not only because he stumbled onto something the gallery didn't want him to find, but because he also witnessed Rachel Maddox' murder." Jack stated. "Nathan Adams did say that there was an unidentified man wearing a detective's jacket at the gallery the night of the murder. He didn't get an extremely good look at him though." Ann stated. "We need to have a chat with both co-owners." Melissa stated. "You and I will have a chat with the two of them." Jack instructed. Melissa nodded in agreement.
"What exactly did Gary Melvin stumble upon that the gallery didn't want him to find?" Adam asked. "Based on the evidence, and we can only guess on this, art wasn't the only thing that gallery was into; We found traces of cocaine in that crate on the pieces of the broken ceramic vase; I'm guessing that gallery was just a front for their illegal smuggling activity." Jack stated. "We need to evidence to support that theory." George stated. "Our lab techs are analyzing the digital camera and shotgun microphone we found at Gary's trailer. Let me know when they have the results." Jack instructed. "Got it." George replied. "We still need to find out who killed Rachel Maddox and why." Ann stated. "Trace results came back on the semen and blood found on the shirt in the bedroom." Adam stated. "The semen matches her fiancé Mark Stevens, and her blood is on the shirt as well." He said.
"Has her fiancé been notified yet?" Melissa asked. "He's on his way here to identify the body and answer a few questions." Ann replied. "You will handle that job; Tread carefully, he's probably grieving." Melissa stated. "Unless he's the killer and he's putting on a façade." Ann stated. "We also should have a chat with Patrick Mills." Adam stated. "That job falls to you." Melissa replied. "I'm on it." Jake stated. "We need to get the gallery's camera surveillance." Melissa stated. "While we're at the gallery, It might be best to have a look inside their office." George stated. "We can't do any of those two things without a warrant, and right now, we don't have enough evidence to support our theory." Jack rebutted. "Well it's obvious they're trying to cover something up." George rebuffed. "Yeah, but if we go over there guns blazing and start asking questions about it, they'll lawyer up in a heartbeat and then finding our two victims' killers will be a lot harder to do." Jack stated. "This situation sucks." George sniped. "I hear you, but we only have a theory at this point which seems to fit the facts; We need some straight up evidence to support it." Jack stated.
"Do you have an L.K.A. on Patrick Mills?" Adam asked. "This can't be right. It's another art studio: Avenue 50 Studio, Inc." Ann said, looking it up on the computer. "Some artists live, breathe, and die in their artwork and studio. Sometimes they even live in the studio, but nobody ever seems to care." Jack corrected her. "I'm headed over there now." Adam said. "Tread carefully." Melissa stated. "Will do." Adam replied. "Alright everybody know their assignments?" Jack asked. "Yes sir." The other C.S.I.'s replied. "Alright, let's move out!" Jack commanded.
The C.S.I.'s have combined all their resources into solving these two murders.
Time for suspect interrogations in the next chapter!!!
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CSI: LA Season 3, Episode 15: "Gallery of a Private Murder"
FanfictionThe C.S.I.'s investigate two seemingly unrelated cases: A woman bludgeoned to death at a private art gallery, and the shooting of a private investigator in an abandoned alley. Further investigation reveals a deadly connection between the two cases a...
