Grave Matters

'Yeah,' Vega said. 'But it's a big city and 'red Grand Prix' may not narrow it much…. Should we contact the airport and train station?'

'If you want, but Catherine says there's an escape route via car and interstate.'

'Better cover our bases,' Vega said, and got on his cell.

Warrick kept looking.

In the bathroom adjacent to the bedroom, he found a drawer filled with elaborate theatrical makeup. Later, in the kitchen wastebasket, amid coffee grounds and other trash, he discovered forensics treasure: a square envelope in Mabel Hinton's handwriting addressed to Vivian Elliot and three typing-paper sheets of practice attempts (presumably by Rene Fairmont) to duplicate the signature that was part of Mabel's handwritten return address.

After bagging and tagging, Warrick shared this gold with Vega, who was pleased, or as pleased as the man could be with their angel of mercy on the run.

Warrick got on the cell and updated Catherine.

'Not just the wig and dress,' he said, 'but the greasepaint and the works-never mind Derek Fairmont…Rene could have run the UWN drama department from Rustic Ridge Drive.'

'So,' Catherine's voice crackled over the cell, 'Rene went into Sunny Day in disguise, killed her victim, then just melted out of sight in all the distraction of the code blue.'

'Looks like it,' Warrick said. 'That way she never drew attention to herself. Didn't want all the victims to die on her shift…. And she seems to have swiped an envelope from a get-well card sent to Vivian at Sunny Day. I got three pages of forger practice sheets, Cath.'

'Sweet…. Look, Warrick, I'm going to the Rent-A-Box on Warm Springs. Why don't you and Sam meet up with me there?'

'How come?'

'If Rene's really splitting, maybe she'll stop to pick up some traveling money. One of the charities she used has a drop at the Rent-A-Box. I've been to two others with no luck.'

'Maybe she hadn't been there yet.'

'I called to post uniforms at both. Listen, I can't believe she won't stop at one of 'em, before she books it.'

'On our way. Where on Warm Springs?'

'Strip mall near Green Valley Parkway.'

'I know it,' Warrick said. 'See you there.'

A block away from the Rent-A-Box, Catherine turned off the flashers (she wasn't using the siren, not wanting to warn Rene Fairmont), slowed down slightly, then passed through the last intersection and wheeled the Tahoe into the parking lot.

Along with the mailboxes location, half a dozen or so other businesses made up the modest strip mall, with maybe fifteen cars in the parking lot. She quickly scanned the vehicles for Rene's Grand Prix, didn't see it, but then caught a glimpse of bright red beyond a big navy blue SUV….

Pulling forward, to see past the SUV, Catherine's flicker of red identified itself as a red Pontiac Grand Prix all right. The CSI was about to pull forward, to block the car's path, when the Pontiac suddenly backed out of its parking place, nearly hitting the Tahoe, and zoomed out of the parking lot to turn west onto Warm Springs Road.

Catherine, having slammed on the brakes when the Pontiac backed up, needed a few seconds to get moving forward again. By that time, the light at the exit had changed and she watched helplessly as several cars slowly eased past her while, up the road, the red Pontiac threatened to disappear.

Using her ear bud, Catherine could talk to Warrick on the phone and keep her hands free to drive. That was, of course, if the damned line of cars ever got out of her way….

Catherine was about to say the hell with it and hit the siren when she found a spot to get in. She could turn on the siren, and catch up to the Pontiac quickly; but she was in no big hurry to take down a murderer without backup.

She got through to Warrick as she began weaving through traffic. 'Where are you?'

'On the beltway,'Warrick said. 'We're headed your way.'

'Better find another route,' Catherine said. 'She's turning north on Eastern.'

'Roger that,'Warrick said. 'We're getting off on Paradise.'

Paradise would allow Warrick and Vega to run parallel with Rene and Catherine. If Rene turned left, the suspect would be turning right into their path. Catherine was getting nearer, and having an easier time keeping the Pontiac in sight. She wanted to pull the woman over-Warrick was closer now-but did she dare do so in the middle of all this traffic?

Though Rene was driving fast, the woman wasn't speeding any more than most of the drivers on the road- which was good, because it might mean the suspect didn't know Catherine was back here on her tail.

Maybe Catherine could afford to wait until Warrick was even closer, when they might get a chance to bust this woman without doing it in the middle of a traffic jam. Serving and protecting citizens was a concept at odds with putting them in the middle of a shoot-out or a high-speed chase….

Then Rene swung left on Sunset.

Catherine followed, three cars between them, and suddenly she had the feeling that everything was going to work out.

'Warrick,' she said. 'We're eastbound on Sunset, headed your way.'

'I'll be waiting,'his voice replied.

But Catherine's confidence took a dive as she saw the Pontiac lunge right, cross two lanes of traffic, and disappear into a parking lot. The CSI stomped the brakes, heard tires squeal behind her, then jumped the two lanes of traffic herself…only she missed the access drive!

She didn't want to hop the sidewalk, and-realizing she was in front of a branch of the First Monument Bank- caught the next drive into the bank, going in the one-way wrong. She kept her foot on the brake, pausing there, facing the one-way drive-thru (which was customerless at the moment), as if contemplating a right turn into the parking lot in front of the bank.

The red Pontiac was nowhere in sight and Catherine figured Rene had driven behind the bank building, to come back this way and around through the drive-thru.

'Warrick,' she said crisply, 'we're at the First Monument Bank on Sunset. Suspect seems about to use the drive-thru. Her driving may indicate she spotted me; or this could be a cash stop. In any event, we need to bust her before she leaves the bank.'

'We're onto Sunset,'Warrick's voice assured her.

Catherine saw the other Tahoe in her rearview mirror. 'I see you! Sight for sore eyes…'

'We'll go in the entrance, go around, and come up behind her.'

'Ten-four,' Catherine said, as Rene's Pontiac drew around the corner of the building.

Rene's hand came out the driver's side window, dropped something into the slide drawer, then disappeared back into the car.

Where was Warrick?He should've been coming around the building by now…and then, finally, there was Warrick and Vega in their own beautiful SUV, easing up behind Rene.

The drive-thru drawer opened again, and Rene withdrew an envelope. Her hand disappeared back inside the car and the Pontiac didn't move for endless seconds.

Catherine started creeping forward, hoping Rene wouldn't notice the Tahoe closing the distance between itself and the Grand Prix, and not turning into the parking lot. She needed to nail Rene just after the woman pulled away from the drive-thru window, before she got back on the road.

The glass of the drive-thru window would be bulletproof, but Catherine saw no reason to take any chances at all. Warrick was in line immediately behind Rene, and they would soon have her boxed in. The only thing left was to close the trap.