Scene 1:

“If you don’t clean up your toys Megan, there is no dinner.” Danny Betts told his daughter. Danny started to pick up after his lazy eight year old daughter. Sometimes he wished her mother was around more often. “Megan…? Did you hear me? Go pick up your toys.” He repeated. With no response, he went looking for her. First he searched the living room, then Megan’s room. No luck. Danny sighed. He felt tired. Danny walked back through the living room to the kitchen. A coffee would do him some good. He picked up his favorite mug of the LA Lakers, and poured a cup. He took one sip, and saw Megan run past him giggling. “Hey, little missy! You get back here now!” Danny yelled chasing after her. Finally cornering her in her room, he said, “Now are you going to clean your mess up young lady?”

“NO!” She screamed. Not caring about the consequences. “You do it!”

“I guess you don’t want dinner then…” Danny threatened. “I’m tired of fighting with you Megan. If you can’t clean up after yourself, than you can’t have dinner, Period. Now you can stay in here, while I go make dinner for your mother and myself. If you decide to clean up your toys, then you can have dinner. Is that understood?”

“Nooo!” she bawled as her father closed the door.

Scene 2:

Nick held up the police tape over his head, and let Catherine duck under first. It was a hot day, but the cool air of the night came quickly. The lights from the police vehicles blurred the spectators’ vision every few seconds, as they tried to see as much as possible. The reporters started to set up their cameras and crew for the latest scoop in Sin City. Nick could never figure out why there has to be such an audience for someone’s death. To him it should be more private for the grieving families and not the next reality top hit. He shook it off as usual and followed Catherine into the house.

“What do we got?” Catherine asked an officer standing beside the dead body.

“Male, Dr. Danny Betts, mid forties, no signs of struggle. The wife came home around 8:30pm and found her husband lying there. She says she didn’t move him, but she shook him trying to wake him up, and then called 9-1-1 after she realized he wasn’t breathing.” The officer reported, staring at his notes. “The daughter was in her room; she didn’t see or hear a thing.”

“Look’s like he was cooking something.” Catherine noted. “He was making some kind of stew, the water is all evaporated though. Stove is still on.” She said taking some pictures of the stove, and some chopped vegetables lying on a chopping board waiting to be put in the pot.

“Broken coffee cup on the floor, LA Lakers cup, with coffee spilled all around the vic and sprayed against some cupboards. The spray is going upwards, which means the coffee cup was dropped from above.” Nick continued. He pulled out a swab. “I’m going to take a sample, so Greg can process it.”

“I’m going to talk to the mother and daughter; do you want to finish up here for me Nicky?” Catherine inquired. She stood up, and looked around. Nothing felt out of the ordinary, except for the dead man lying in a pool of cold coffee. She gave a bit of a sigh thinking it was going to be a long night, and headed for the living room. As she entered the room, she noticed the daughter first. She was about the same age as Lindsey. She looked confused, and scared. The mother hugged her child comforting her. This seemed a little too familiar. This reminded Catherine of the night of when Eddie, her ex-husband, was killed. Catherine closed her eyes for a split second, to build enough courage to go on. When she opened her eyes, she realized that the mother was looking at her. Snapping out of the trance Catherine said, “Hi, I’m Catherine Willows, with the Crime Lab. Mrs. Betts, I need to ask you a few questions.”

“Y-Yes, anything, but please call me Miranda.” She insisted all shook up.

“Your husband, Mr. Betts, he was a doctor?” Catherine asked looking at some papers avoiding eye contact, trying to be professional. It was hard not to think of that night.

“Uhhh... yeah, He worked at ummm… Desert Springs Hospital. I don’t understand though. I talked to him on the phone an hour before I got home. Everything was fine. I should have been home earlier, but I… I was working late. He said that he just started to make super. Then I came home, went into the kitchen, and there he was just…” She paused trying so hard not to cry again. “…lying there. I ran towards him and shook him thinking he passed out or something. He wasn’t breathing. That’s when I called the police… Everything was fine…” She began to sob.

“I know this is hard Mrs. Betts” Catherine reassured forgetting to call her by her first name. “But… Can you think of anyone who might have a grudge, or anyone who would have wanted your husband dead?”

“Noo…No one… He was a doctor….He saved lives for god sakes.” She managed to sob out. “Excuse me…” she said getting up quickly and running for a private area to cry.

Catherine then glanced towards the daughter. The little girl had no emotions. She had not been crying. Catherine figured the daughter must not understand what’s going on. “What’s your name?” She asked softly.

“Allison.” The girl said quietly. Her hands were folded on her lap, as she sat slumped on the couch.

“That’s a beautiful name. How old are you Allison?” Catherine asked.

Allison lifted her hands and raised 8 of her fingers. Then finally said, “I’m eight”

Catherine questioned with a soothing voice, “Do you want to tell me what happened here Allison? Did you see anyone? Was their any visitors?”

“I was in my room, then mommy came home, and she screamed. I got scared, so I stayed in my room with my dolly.” Allison retorted.

“Okay, Honey. Thanks.” Catherine whispered. She got up and watched the coroners take the body out on a stretcher through the front door.

Scene 3:

Walking through the hallway towards the autopsy room, nick looked over some files he had in his hands. This case was just too weird. No sign’s of forced entry, no foreign finger prints, nothing so far. Nick couldn’t see why this would be under a homicide investigation at this point. There was no evidence saying it was. Opening the door into the autopsy room, Nick still had his head down. He was too focused to realize that Doc. Robbins had already began talking. “Oh sorry, what was that? I didn’t quite catch that Doc.” He apologized.

“That’s ok Nick. I was just saying that this was definitely not a natural cause of death.” Doc. Robbins repeated. “Aside from the minor laceration on the forehead, this man was just a normal healthy 45 year old. The head wound looks like it might have been from hitting something like an edge of the counter top.”

“I did find blood on the east side of the kitchen counter.” Nick stated.

“I did find traces of Sodium Fluoride, the most toxic, ionic molecule outside of Potassium Dichromate.” Doc Robbins informed. “I sent a sample over to trace.”

“Main ingredient for rat poison?” Catherine guessed looking a little stunned. “Wouldn’t you use something a little less traceable than that?”

Doc. Robbins smirked, ”Maybe the person was desperate, and thought rat poison would be hard to track, since it can be bought easily”

Nick looked over at Catherine, “I have a feeling it was an inside job. There was no forced entry, no signs of struggle. His daughter was home, so if he was going to kill himself, he would have made sure she wasn’t home. I'm going to head over to Greg and see what he found with the coffee, that's where the rat poison was probably put in"

Catherine replied, “Okay, I’m going to check out the hospital, and then check the wife out.”

Scene 4:

“Hey Greggo, what’s taking so long?” Nick asked walking into the lab.

Greg looked up from a microscope looking a little annoyed. “I’m fine thanks for asking. Results aren’t done yet for the sample you took from the coffee cup. The sample from the coffee pot came back normal. Nothing but cheap coffee beans and H20.” A beep interrupted him. Greg got up from his seat, and walked over to the printer. He read it and said, “Doc Robbins was right. Sodium fluoride. Whoever did it, was trying to kill a big rat. There is more than 9 times the lethal dosage in this coffee.” Walking back over to the table he was originally sitting at, he grabbed a piece of paper and compared both results. “It’s a match. Dr. Betts definitely drank the coffee and died instantly. Man… whoever wanted him dead, could have killed him plenty of times with that much sodium fluoride.“ Greg paused. “… So… You’re working with Catherine on this huh?”

“Uhh yeah Greg, why?” Nick said grabbing the papers out of Greg’s hand and studying them for himself.

Greg looked at Nick with a smirk on his face. “Ever wonder what she was like as a stripper back in the day?”

Nick’s raised his head and started to laugh. “No….No Greg I don’t.” Nick shook his head. “You got a two track mind, DNA, and woman.” He turned around and started to walk towards the hallway. “Thanks for the mental picture though. See ya later.”

Scene 5:

Heading towards her Tahoe, Catherine’s cell phone rang. She pulled her phone from her side, “Willows… Oh hey, what do you got?” Catherine said into the phone, unlocking her door and hoping into the front seat. “That much?! Well you might want to call brass, get a warrant. Mrs. Betts, wasn’t working late, she was having an affair. First I checked out the hospital, and found out that Dr. Betts was indeed having marriage problems. Mrs. Betts made a huge scene threatening to kill him just last week, so I figured, check out the wife’s story right. All I can say is that she wasn’t camera shy at work. The security camera’s caught her and her “friend” getting it on, in the elevator. Thing is… She left an hour before the time of death. I’m headed for the wife’s house; you and Brass want to meet me there? … Okay. See you in a bit then… Yup… Bye.”

Scene 6:

“You got the warrant?” Catherine asked walking towards Nick and Brass. She had been waiting across the street of the Betts residence for an hour.

“Yeah” Brass said waving the warrant, walking towards the house with them. “Is she home?”

“She’s been home since I’ve been here. I think she knows we’re coming to, she kept on looking out the window staring at me seeing if I was still here.” Catherine replied. They got to the door, and she knocked three times.

Mrs. Betts answered the door. She looked like she had just been hit by a bus. Her hair was a mess, and she wore ragged clothing. “I was wondering when you were going to come to the door, instead of staking out the place like I am a suspect.” She hissed.

“Well Mrs. Betts, you are a suspect. You got rats?” Brass questioned.

“Please, call me Miranda. What do you mean do I have rats? What kind of question is that?” She answered beginning to get aggravated. “Listen… I know my rights, and you can’t come in unless you have a warrant.”

“That’s wonderful. We have a search warrant to search your house.” Brass stated stepping into the house. “So do you have a rat problem, or did you take care of it already?”

“We had a rat problem about two months ago. I don’t see what that has to do with my husband’s death.” Miranda retorted.

“It has everything to do with it ma’am.” Nick spoke up. “See your husband was poisoned with rat poison. We believe that your husband had no idea it was in his coffee. He took one sip and DFO’s hitting his head on the counter top.”

“I checked out the hospital where your husband worked,” Catherine took over. “And his boss told me that last week you two got into an argument, and you made a scene in the hallway, you threatened him by telling him you were going to kill him. After I found that out, I checked out your story. You weren’t working late. You were having an affair Mrs. Betts. You also left your work an hour before your husband died. That makes you a suspect. Now where is the rat poison?”

“I didn’t kill my husband!!” Miranda yelled. “Yes. I was having an affair, and yes, I did threaten him, but I swear I didn’t kill him! The rat poison is in the kitchen, under the sink. Now take what you want, then you can get the hell out of my house!”

As Catherine went to the kitchen, Nick stood behind and pulled out a swab, finger print ink, and the finger print paper. “Ma’am we also have a warrant to get a DNA sample, and your finger prints for comparison. Now if you didn’t kill him as you say you didn’t, than this will clear you, and you will no longer be a suspect.” Nick expressed, taking both samples from Miranda. As soon as he finished Catherine walked back in the room with a box of rat poison in a evidence bag. “Thanks Ma’am”

“How many of these tablets did you use Mrs. Betts?” Catherine interrogated, holding up the evidence bag.

“I don’t know. Maybe ten tablets.” Miranda guessed not really knowing exactly how much. “It was a while ago. I didn’t really keep track. I’m positive that I didn’t use a lot.”

Catherine frowned, “Then do you want to explain how there is over 20 tablets missing?”

“I think I want to call my lawyer.” Miranda demanded.

“That would be a good idea Mrs. Betts,” Brass assured. “I think its best if you came with me.” Brass grabbed Miranda’s arm, and handcuffed her. He then escorted her to a police vehicle where two police officers awaited. As Brass walked back towards the house Catherine and Nick had met him half way. “We got enough to hold her for now.”

“I’m going to go get this processed now.” Catherine said walking back to her Tahoe.

Scene 7:

Nick checked his watch. 2:33Am. The night has just began. He laid on a couch, closing his eyes for a few minutes. Working a double shift again, made Nick tired. Sleep is what he needed right now. The results wouldn’t be in for another hour or so, and Grissom was out on another case with Warrick, so there was no way of getting caught. His watched beeped. 3Am. Everything went blank until he heard a noise.

“Sleeping on the job? Don’t let Grissom catch you.” A familiar voice called out.

“Huh?” Nick rose in a hurry. “What time is it?” looking up at Sara, than sat up to rub his face to wake himself up.

“Past your bedtime obviously.” Sara joked. She sat beside him and folded her arms. She couldn’t help but laugh a little. “You look so cute when you’re sleeping.”

“I wasn’t sleeping. I just had my eyes closed.” Nick denied. “What’s up? What are you working on?” Nick asked changing the subject.

“Sure you weren’t.” She laughed. “I got a 4-10 right now. I’m just taking a break. What about you?”

“Oh, Catherine and I are working on a 4-19. This guy, gets poisoned, by rat poison, we think the wife did it. She has motive, access to the poison, and the guy drank the stuff without even realizing it. Up close and personal. I’m just waiting for results.”

“Sounds fun.” Sara replied.

Just as Sara finished, Catherine walked into the room. “Hey Nick. Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” She leaned against the wall. “We got the results back. Get this, Mrs. Betts’ fingerprints were on the box, but the prints are faded. This means she was telling the truth. We did find smaller finger prints. Thankfully, during the investigation I took prints of the daughter to eliminate her from anything. Guess whose prints on the poison box match?”

“The daughter?” Sara interrupted being intrigued by the situation.

“Exact match.” Catherine said.

Scene 8:

The room was dim. Allison Betts sat slouched on the chair in the investigating room with her mother. Both Nick and Catherine walked into the room, with Brass. “Hi, Mrs. Betts. Thanks for coming to talk to us. We just have a couple questions for Allison.” Catherine started. “Allison, do you want to tell me what happened before you went to your room?”

Allison became very uncomfortable. “Daddy sent me to my room.”

“Why did he do that?” Catherine added. “I wouldn’t pick up my toys.” She answered looking down at the table.

“Allison, we know you poisoned your father. We just want to know why.” Catherine softy said trying not to provoke Allison.

“If I wasn’t going to have dinner, than no one was.” She bitterly answered.

Shocked by her answer Catherine’s mouth dropped. This eight year old girl didn’t seem so innocent anymore. She couldn’t believe what Allison just said. It was unbelievable that a little girl so young wanted to punish her father by killing him. “Did you mean to kill him?”

Allison sat quiet for several minutes. Catherine repeated her question, then Allison whispered, “No…”

Brass stopped the interrogation, “I think that should be enough.”

Catherine and Nick stayed behind as Allison and her mother left. Only in Vegas, they were both thinking to themselves.

Scene 9: ONE MONTH LATER…

Reading the news paper in the staff room Sara came across something familiar. “Hey guys, You remember that case you were both on, The guy got poisoned and died instantly, his daughter killed him?” She spoke up, still reading what the paper said. “Listen to this: ‘Eight year old Allison Betts, has been sent to a juvenile correction facility, on charges of attempted murder.’ It goes on saying about the case you guys did, and how the judge let her off because he felt she didn’t realize what she had done. One week ago, she tired to poison her mother the same way, reasons are unknown, but the mother survived.”

“What!?” Catherine exclaimed getting up from her chair to take a look. After skimming through the article Catherine sighed, “What kind of child wants to kill her own parents, because she doesn’t get her way?”

“It really makes you think that kids aren’t as innocent as they look.” Nick stated eating an apple. Looking over both Catherine’s and Sara’s shoulder.