<< Chapter 8: Game for Four >>

“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?”

“I do.” Gil replied, almost automatically. The oath did not even register in his head as he raised his hand mechanically and put it down as he took a seat. His posture was infallibly straight, and to the people in the courtroom his look conveyed a sort of dismay for the procedures of law, and he seemed to not care for the trial. But his answers were straight forward, and no one in the room doubted the truth in his statements for even a fleeting moment.

“State your name for the court, please.”

“Dr. Gilbert Grissom, G-R-I-S-S-O-M.”

“Dr. Grissom, my questions will be straight forward, and I assume you know the drill.” The district attorney looked at him with a doubtful look and Gil closed his eyes in a silent nod. Gil just hoped the questions would be as the DA said they would be.

------------------------------------------------

“Can you describe for the jury, what happened at the residence of Mr. Caine?”

Gil did not like this question as he drew a sharp intake of breath. Then he saw Catherine walk in along with Ian and he cursed their timing.

“Well, we had gone to Mr. Caine’s residence under authority of a search warrant for his house. He let us in reluctantly and Assistant Director Catherine Willows, Detective McMullen, and myself searched the house and found an abundance of evidence. Suddenly, he…he pulled a knife and threatened AD Willows.” He told the DA and he searched for her eyes and found them staring right back at him.

“What happened next, Dr. Grissom?”

“The detective and I both drew our weapons and as soon as he started to run the knife along Ms. Willows’s neck, I…before I knew it, I had pulled the trigger.” Gil replied, reluctantly and with an immense feeling of guilt, still holding her gaze. When he felt Ian’s gaze on him, he turned his eyes away.

“So it was strictly for defense of the Assistant Director’s safety and life, was it not?”

“Yes, it most definitely was.”

“No more questions, your honour.”

-----------------------------------------------------

    The sound of the gavel hitting the wood echoed through out the room and rang in Gil’s ears. He painfully got up from his seat and headed straight for the door, without looking anywhere else. But it wasn’t before he was held back by Ian.

    “Gil. Nice job up there.”

“Just doing my job.” Gil replied, nodding as he saw Catherine come near.

“You seem to say that a lot. You must love doing it. You do it with such precision.” Ian replied.

“You better believe it.” Catherine broke in as she touched Ian on the arm. She kept her eyes on Gil. He could feel a vibe coming from her that he certainly knew to be one of anger and tension. He heard heels click and soon Jennifer was by his side and he sighed in relief.

“Hi guys. Great job, Gil.” Jennifer told him as she patted him on the arm. He nodded.

“What do you say to dinner? On my tab?” Ian suggested, and Gil raised his head.

“What about the press? They’ve got to be swarming like bees around this place.” Gil replied, hoping he could get out of this.

“I’ll deal with it. I just have to give them a statement, and they’ll take it from there. Don’t worry. I have that covered.” Ian replied, smiling.

“I don’t know…”

“Come on, Gris. Live a little. It’s on Ian’s tab!” Jennifer replied, all excited now. Gil sighed as he knew he couldn’t refuse the offer and break the mood.

“Lead the way.” Gil replied, hanging his head and following the three of them out the now empty courtroom.

---------------------------------------------------

“I’ll go with the lobster, Mr. Grissom will have the calamari. Ms. Willows will have the oven-baked cod, and Ms. McMullen will have the Sirloin Steak.” Ian ordered without looking at the menus, and without asking them, but Gil was surprised; calamari was what he was in the mood for. Gil realized that Ian must frequent Alessandro’s. Gil smiled at the waitress and took a sip of his water. He was sitting next to Jen, across from Ian and Catherine. Ian had his arm on the back of Catherine’s chair, and he was casually conversing with Jen. Gil excused himself as he went to the bathroom.

He washed his hands and splashed his face as he breathed deeply. He looked at himself in the mirror; the suit, the tie, matched his graying hair and for a minute it was as if he was staring a stranger in the face. He fixed his slightly ruffled hair and headed back out, telling himself to keep his tensed vibe in check.

He opened the door and saw Catherine coming from the opposite direction. He clenched his teeth and just headed back to the table, just passing her without a word, just as if she was a stranger. He sat back at the table where Ian and Jen were passionately engaged in a conversation about TV shows nowadays.

“Don’t you think there are too many explicit shows, Grissom?”

“Huh?” Gil hadn’t been listening.

“I mean…the gore and the violence in kid’s cartoons nowadays. It’s appalling.”

“Mhm. I agree.” Gil said, without much thought.

“And the forensic shows. They make me laugh. I mean they’re accurate and everything, but...It’s unwanted attention on our part, am I right?” Ian asked.

“Totally. Well I watch them every now and then. They’re pretty good. The guys are quite dreamy.” Jen added.

“So…Gil. Tell us a little about yourself.” Ian said, and Gil frowned.

“About myself?”

“Well..I don’t really know who you are, other than the fact that you’re one of the best CSIs out there. Catherine hasn’t really told me a lot about you.” Ian said, chuckling nervously, briefly glancing at Jen. Gil’s heart dropped a beat.

“What is there to tell?” Gil asked as he raised an eyebrow, wondering if this is what usually happened at dinners with the Director or the Sheriff.

“Where are you from?”

“California, originally.”

“Ah, down south, huh. I lived in LA for a brief time. It was a sweet city.”

“That it is. That it is.” Gil repeated as he focused on Catherine coming back from the washroom or better yet, trying not to focus on her. She sat down gracefully and without a word.

“So how’d you get to be one of the best CSI’s in the country?” Ian continued, and Gil bit his lips.

“Well..I’m not really sure how to answer that. I’ve just been interested in bugs ever since I was a teenager then I got a job at the morgue down in LA and that’s really how I got started.” Gil finished and he turned his attention back to his food.

“Well,” Catherine started, surprising Gil enough for him to look directly at her, “when I was working in Vegas, the rumour in the lab was that he became this...total workaholic-type person. You know, Ian…someone kind of like you but worse. His work was his life, apparently.” Catherine finished, not glancing once at Gil, but just casually eating her food. Ian and Jen both chuckled and Gil just smiled. He was not expecting this “attack” on him.

“I was…a workaholic, I admit.” Gil replied, clenching his teeth.

“It can even be an understatement.” Catherine added, not missing a beat.

“Well I hear you had a lot of personal problems which spilled over onto cases.” Gil replied, his voice rigid.

“Really, where’d you hear that.”

“Oh you know, the lab talks.” Gil shot back, and Catherine drew in a silenced gasp. He knew he had hit her where it hurt the most and he cursed himself.

“Which shift were you two working?” Jen asked, trying to change the subject. She could even see Ian shift in his chair.

“I was working Swing, and Grissom was working Graveyard.” Catherine replied, slightly attacking her food.

“So you must have seen each other.”

“Oh yeah. We passed by, and we were just sort of…acquaintances. We didn’t know each other well enough to be friends.” Catherine replied, casually. Gil tilted his head, in surprise that she could make up something so effortlessly. But somehow, Gil got the feeling that Catherine was not telling a lie but rather, the truth which frightened him to a great extent.

As they finished, one by one, contented sighs were drawn from their lips and satisfied hungers. Jen was looking at Catherine who seemed to be focused on Gil, who in turn was focused on the table and the empty plates. Jen wanted to ask Gil what the story was between him and Catherine, along with the explanation for this immense amount of tension surrounding the table. She guessed that they had perhaps once loved each other, and had had a bad break-up. Ian paid the bill with ease, and was thanked by everyone attending the dinner. They got out to the parking lot where Catherine got into Ian’s car after a brief goodbye, without a backward glance, but Jen saw Gil watch her every step walking out of the lot.

“Let’s go. I’ll drive you back.” Jen said, nudging him on the arm. He nodded, and followed her without a word. They got in the car and they started to drive away, and Gil sighed.

“What is going on between you two?”

“Between me and who?” Gil asked, sounding half-genuine.

“You know very well who, Gil. Don’t try to pretend like there’s nothing there. Ian and I aren’t idiots.” Jen replied, already sounding angry.

Gil felt exposed. He knew he had gone too far at dinner and he had been afraid that perhaps Ian or Jen may figure out the nature of his relationship with Catherine.

“We…don’t agree with each other, so what.”

“You know better than me that that’s not it! Just tell me! Why won’t you tell me?” Jen asked, frustrated.

“Because it’s the past.”

“But it’s affecting the present, Gil.”

“Why are you so curious?” Gil was starting to be slightly bothered and annoyed.

“Because! Ever since that dinner when you met them at the restaurant, there was a strange vibe emanating from both of you.”

“There was not a vibe.” Gil argued, his voice not wavering at all.

“Then you explain to me how you lost your cool with Caine.” Jen shot back, driving slightly faster now.

“She was in danger, Jen! It’s my job to protect!”

“Protect her by shooting the suspect, point-blank? You scared me! Your face was rigid, no emotion, no mercy. For a second, I almost couldn’t believe that it was you standing there. And you explain to me why you tense and freeze up whenever someone even mentions her name?”

Gil was struck dumb and he wanted to bolt out of the car.

“It’s none of your business, Jen.”

“You’re damn right it isn’t. But it’s affected our work, our case! You screwed up, Gil!”

The car was filled with a deafening silence and Gil sighed, losing all hope and desire to argue any longer.

“We were close and she left with a very short notice and I’m just upset. That’s all I’m going to say.”

Jen could not push him on further, not because he said he wouldn’t talk, but because of the pain in his voice. She knew there was more to the story but fell silent as she sighed, trembling slightly from the sudden rush.

“But would you do me a favour and…keep this between us? I wouldn’t want Ian to know something that Catherine chose not to tell him.” Gil asked as he got out of the car. She didn’t reply and watched him walk away. She suddenly felt sorry she ever asked him, when she fully knew it might hurt him beyond what she could see. She realized he was a man of placid appearance, but inside, it wasn’t a heart made of tin. He felt, and he felt with all his being, just the way he immersed himself into his work. Taking in his last request, she realized Gil had let on the fact that he cared about Catherine, and did not want to put her in any kind of trouble or a fix she didn’t want to be in.

She had felt like she was being judged tonight, and she had never been so awkward and speechless at a dinner. It all felt like Gil and Catherine were playing a game. It had originally started with two players, and Jen felt almost as if Ian and she were now also a part of it.