Double Dealer

'Go to hell, Grissom.'

Grissom cocked his head. 'Is that any way to talk to a 'brother' officer?'

Culpepper muttered, 'Next time,' then turned on his heels and headed quickly down the corridor, almost on the run-away from the crowd.

And his witness.

'Culpepper!' Hyde yelled. 'What, you're gonna leave me hanging?'

'Actually,' Brass said, 'it's lethal injection.'

'Cul-pepper!' he wailed.

But Culpepper was gone.

Ambling up to Grissom's side, Catherine said, 'You know for somebody who smiles as much as he does, Culpepper doesn't seem to have much of a sense of humor.'

'He's lucky I didn't cap his ass,' Robinson said, 'goin' for that gun . . .'

The older marshal extended his hand to Grissom. 'Nice piece of work, even if we were on the receiving end of some of it. . . . I'm sorry, what was your name?'

Warrick-who had one of Hyde's arms-said, 'Why, that's the Lone Ranger,' and Nick-who had Hyde's other arm-grinned big.

Smiling, their boss said to the marshal, 'Gil Grissom, Las Vegas Criminalistics Bureau.'

As they shook hands, the marshal said, 'It's been a pleasure, Mr. Grissom.' He nodded toward Hyde, who stood between Warrick and Nick with his head low. 'We've been babysitting that stuck-up prick for too long. It'll be good to see him pay for his crimes, for a change.'

'See what we can do.'

Then the marshal turned to his young partner, saying, 'Come on, Ken-we better get goin'. We're gonna be filling out reports on this one for the next hundred years.'

Not as enthusiastic as his partner, the younger marshal followed the more experienced man up the hallway with a frown, apparently trying to assess how much damage he had just done to his career.

Brass moved in front of Hyde, gave him a nice wide smile. 'You have the right to remain silent . . .'

'Well,' Catherine said to Grissom. 'You got him-you happy?'

'We got him,' Grissom corrected. 'And, yes, I'm very happy.'

'You don't look happy.'

'Well, I am.'

The killer had been stopped, he was thinking; but what a swath of carnage this sociopath had cut. . . .

As Nick and Warrick led the prisoner toward the elevator-with Robinson accompanying them-Brass, Sara, Catherine and Grissom all fell in behind.

As they waited for the elevator, Catherine asked Grissom, 'So-what do we do now?'

Everyone except Hyde looked Grissom's way.

Bestowing them all a smile, Grissom said, 'Let's go back where it's warm.'

Author's Note

I would like to acknowledge the contribution of Matthew V. Clemens. Matt-who has collaborated with me on numerous published short stories-is an accomplished true crime writer, as well as a big fan of CSI. He helped develop the plot of this novel, and worked as my researcher.

Criminalist Sergeant Chris Kauffman CLPE, Bettendorf (Iowa) Police Department, provided comments, insights and information that were invaluable to this project. Books consulted include two works by Vernon J. Gerberth: Practical Homicide Investigation Checklist and Field Guide (1997), and Practical Homicide Investigation: Tactics, Procedures and Forensic Investigation (1996). Also helpful was Scene of the Crime: A Writer's Guide to Crime-Scene Investigations (1992), Anne Wingate, Ph.D. Any inaccuracies, however, are my own.

Jessica McGivney at Pocket Books and Michael Edelstein at CBS were remarkably helpful, providing support and guidance. The producers of CSI were gracious in providing scripts, background material and episode tapes, without which this novel would have been impossible.

Finally, the inventive Anthony E. Zuiker must be singled out as creator of this concept and these characters. Thanks to him and other Season One CSI writers-including Josh Berman, Ann Donahue, Elizabeth Devine, Andrew Lipsitz, Carol Mendelsohn, Jerry Stahl, and Eli Talbert-whose scripts provided information and inspiration.

MAX ALLAN COLLINS has earned an unprecedented nine Private Eye Writers of America 'Shamus' nominations for his 'Nathan Heller' historical thrillers, winning twice (True Detective, 1983, and Stolen Away, 1991).

A Mystery Writers of America 'Edgar' nominee in both fiction and nonfiction categories, Collins has been hailed as 'the Renaissance man of mystery fiction.' His credits include five suspense-novel series, film criticism, short fiction, songwriting, trading-card sets and movie/TV tie-in novels, including In the Line of Fire, Air Force One, and the New York Times--best-selling Saving Private Ryan.

He scripted the internationally syndicated comic strip Dick Tracy from 1977 to 1993, is co-creator of the comic-book features Ms. Tree, Wild Dog, and Mike Danger, has written the Batman comic book and newspaper strip, and the mini-series Johnny Dynamite. His graphic novel, Road to Perdition, has been made into a DreamWorks feature film starring Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, directed by Sam Mendes.

As an independent filmmaker in his native Iowa, he wrote and directed the suspense film Mommy, starring Patty McCormack, premiering on Lifetime in 1996, and a 1997 sequel, Mommy's Day. The recipient of a record five Iowa Motion Picture Awards for screenplays, he wrote The Expert, a 1995 HBO World Premiere, and wrote and directed the award- winning documentary Mike Hammer's Mickey Spillane (1999) and the innovative Real Time: Siege at Lucas Street Market (2000).