CSI
Night: filled with the bustle of bodies searching for a temporary escape from their lives. Some push their ways into bars, others stumble out. Some dress nicely, some scantily for movies, plays, and dinners, laughing or rubbing seductively on their companions. Two people sit in an Italian restaurant. Both are smiling. She wears an ankle-length black dress contrasting with her long blond hair. His attire is a deep green thin sweater and slacks. She reaches for the bill but he snatches it from her hand before she can look at it.
“Now what kind of date would I be if I made the lady pay for her meal?” he asks.
“So chivalrous,” she replies.
“That’s why you drove so far to see me, Miss Duquesne,” he says with a wink.
She laughs lightly. “It’s certainly an incentive.”
He is caught up in the magic of her laughter and suddenly nervous. He asks with mock haughtiness, “Shall we pay for our dining and make way to the next event of the evening?”
“Why Mr. Clayton, I’d love to,” she says matching his haughty tone. Her Southern accent makes her sound like a belle.
Eric takes the bill and reaches for his wallet.
As they step onto the sidewalk Eric begins to approach a cab. Calleigh stops him. “We don’t have far to go. Why don’t we walk?”
He looks into her eyes then smiles. “Okay.” As they walk she takes his hand. His eyes almost glaze over at her touch, and he struggles for something to say. Finally he manages, “Such a quiet night.”
The night is, in fact, not the least bit quiet. Horns honk, motors rev, music booms, people yell. But Eric is oblivious to all of it. Calleigh feels a tingle at being the center of his attention so completely. She walks a little closer to him.
“You will have to come to
“I’ll come wherever you are,” he replies.
Realizing what he has said he rushes to cover the statement with one less
revealing of his emotions. “I mean
I’d love to see
As he speaks he becomes aware of a presence other than their own.
Two shadows in front of them. He
shakes it off and turns his attention back to the lady beside him.
“And any time you want to get out of
The emergency room is quieter than the night outside. People sit in chairs along each wall, and the receptionist stares down at her desk. Over the steady but low thrum of noise a voice screams, “I need a doctor!” Eric kicks his way though the door looking around frantically. He is bloody and tousled and carrying the limp body of Calliegh Duquesne.
Eric sits with his head in his hands. He is in a room devoid of objects other than a simple metal table and two chairs. His shape is as bad as it was in the ER. He is worried but resigned to sit where he’s been told. Movement in the hallway catches his eye and he focuses on two men approaching each other near his door. Both are about the same height, both wiry, but one seems to be much more imposing than the other. There is a fire in this man’s eyes that outshines the red in his hair.
“Lieutenant Caine,” says the dark haired man in the hallway.
“Lt. Van Allen,” Caine replies as he removes his shades. The two shake hands. “What have you got?”
“I’ve got an assault case and a suspect in custody,” Van Allen says matter of factly his eyes saying that it is all the information he cares to give.
“I’m not here to step on your toes, Lt, but that assault is on one of my CSI’s. I want to know what happened to her.”
Van Allen sighs. “Fine, alright. We found the suspect’s blood on Miss Duquesne, and her blood on him. He has multiple contusions on his knuckles consistent with striking an object such as your CSI. The cuts and bruises on her look like they came from his hands.”
“As I understand it, Lt, he was the one that brought Miss Duquesne to the ER.”
“Right, what better way to cover his tracks? He’s beaten her to the point of being brain dead, there’s no harm in acting like he’s trying to save her life. If she doesn’t recover he’s in the clear with the perfect defense.”
“You don’t know Calleigh Duquesne. She’s strong. If there is a woman on this Earth that can pull through this it is her. Let’s see if your suspect knows her that well.”
“I can handle this interrogation on my own, thank you very much.”
“Lt. Van Allen, I am Miss Duquesne’s direct supervisor…”
“And you expect a favor.” Van Allen cuts him off.
“I would like one, yes, but what I mean is if he lies about something she did, I am in a better position to pick up on that.”
“Okay, okay, you can come in. But this is my case. Don’t forget that.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Caine says mockingly just barely loud enough for Van Allen to hear.
Van Allen opens the door and the pair walks in. Clayton eyes him then turns his focus to the second man. “You must be Lt. Caine,” he says as he stands and offers his hand.
“Sit down!” Van Allen growls.
Eric’s lips tighten, but he lowers his hand slowly and sits. His face softens again as he asks, “How’s Calleigh?”
“Afraid she’ll wake up and tell us what really happened?” Van Allen spits out.
“What are you talking about? I’m in here praying to God she does exactly that!” Eric shoots back.
“Sure you are. Why don’t you tell us what really happened?”
“I have, and you haven’t checked it out or you would be trying to get more information on those guys rather than making stupid accusations!”
Van Allen opens his mouth to reply, but Caine beats him to it. “What guys?”
“We were jumped. Street thugs I guess. They hurt Calleigh, not me. I saved her.” His voice gets quiet. “At least I hope I did.”
Van Allen is glowering at Caine who shoots a venomous look right back. Truth or not, Van Allen held out on him. Finally Van Allen speaks up, “Yet you can’t tell us exactly where this happened.”
“No, not exactly. I told you I wasn’t paying attention. Once it happened I grabbed a cab and headed to the hospital. I never had a reason to find a street sign. But we were on the way to the Fox Theatre. Surely you can trace the path back and find the location.”
“Why didn’t you call for help from where you were?” Caine asks.
“What, and put Calleigh in more danger? How did I know there weren’t more guys just around the corner? Besides I didn’t see a pay phone and I left my cell at home.”
“Why is that, Mr. Clayton? Who leaves their cell phone while they’re out for the night?” Van Allen asks.
“I was on a date. I didn’t want the distraction.”
“I ask again, who leaves their cell phone home just because they’re on a date? Why not just turn it off?”
Eric looks at the man questioningly. “Why carry around a phone that’s off?”
“I just think it’s convenient to not have it around when you supposedly need it to call for help.”
“Yeah, it was real convenient to have my night with the most beautiful woman in the state ruined because of a couple of low-lifes wanting two bucks for crack.”
“I just think I would have my phone with me even if I were on a date.”
“You’ve never been out with a woman like Calleigh, then. I wanted her to know she had my full attention for the evening.”
There is no malice in Eric’s voice when he says this, but Van Allen glares at him as if he’s been slapped. He fingers his wedding ring unconsciously.
“Lt. Caine, you’ve got to find those guys. You’ve got to know I would never hurt Calleigh.”
Caine looks at Eric thoughtfully for a moment. Finally he says, “The evidence will tell her story until she can herself. But if I find out you had anything to do with her injuries, Heaven help you.”
Outside of the building Caine opens his cell phone and punches in a number. “Eric, how is Calleigh?”
Eric Delco’s face is tight with anger and worry. “She’s in rough shape, H. She just been processed, and they found epithelials under her fingernail. Do they have a suspect, yet?”
“Yes, yes, they do, and he has a scratch on his right arm. What else did they find?”
“Blood. It’s being sent to DNA. And there’s something else. There’s an abrasion on her hand. She was holding something that left a pattern when it was taken from her.”
“Okay, interesting. Keep me posted, please. Thank you.” Caine hangs up without waiting for an answer and punches in another number.
“Wolfe, I need you to dig up everything you can find on Eric Clayton. If he has so much as a parking ticket I want to know about it”
“I’m on it, H. How’s Calleigh?”
“She’ll pull through. And we’re going to have whoever did this locked away by the time she’s awake.”
“You got it. What’s next?”
“Taking a walk to the Fox Theatre.” Caine trails off as he loses himself in thought.
Delco watches as the investigator exits Calleigh’s room. He clenches his teeth. He should be the one on this case. If he could get his hands on the person that put his friend here he would make them regret what they had done. He steps in and gazes at her emotionless face.
“Calleigh? Can you hear me? Listen, we are going to get him. You know we will. You can count on us. You just hang in there.” He turns to the investigator. “Did you get shots of those abrasions?” he asks her.
She is tall and slender with flowing dark hair. An eye-catching beauty Delco doesn’t notice. His focus is on the pattern on his friend, a bit of evidence to which he can apply his deductive skills. Investigating he can feel like he’s doing something productive.
She walks over as he lifts Calleigh’s hand. “I did. It looks like a band of some kind. Maybe the straps of her purse?”
“No. No, I don’t think so.” A twinge of excitement enters Delco’s voice. “Look at this. Calleigh would have a purse with a solid strap. This looks like it had links of some kind. See how it has ridges? Her purse strap would have been more smooth and more of a burn than an abrasion.”
“Hmm, okay, if not a purse then what about jewelry of some kind? A necklace or a bracelet maybe?”
“Could be, but Calleigh doesn’t usually wear anything like that. It could be something from our attacker.”
“Sounds like you know her well,” Lopez says looking up at Delco.
“I’ve worked with her everyday for years. She would give up her life for any of us that needed it. I’d better know a little about her.”
“She’ll be alright. I just know it,” the woman says putting her hand on Delco’s. He doesn’t notice.
Instead he says, “Let’s find out what made that mark.” He picks up his phone.
“Who are you calling?” Lopez asks suddenly afraid that he is about to try to strongarm her out of her investigation.
“Calleigh doesn’t need to be alone. If I’m going with you to the lab I need to make sure someone else is here.” The line picks up, and he says, “Alexx, how long until you get here?”
“I’m pulling in right now. How is she?”
“You know Calleigh. She’s tough. Listen, I’m headed out. We found something that I want to check. You don’t mind staying with her?”
“You know I don’t. You go ahead. I’ll be there in just a minute.”
Van Allen walks into the room with Eric Clayton. “Seems you scratched up your girlfriend’s hands.”
Eric looks at him questingly. “What?”
“You’re full of questions, aren’t you tough guy? Empty your pockets.”
Eric complies. He has a dime, a gum wrapper, and a gold cross on a chain covered in blood. Van Allen picks up the cross and looks at it thoughtfully. “Got you.”
Eric sighs and fights the urge to say “what” yet again. “What you got is a cross my mother gave me before she passed away.”
“No, what I got is blood on something Miss Duquesne was holding, now in your pocket.”
“So she was holding it? She knew what it meant to me and tried to take it back from the mugger. It’s why he hit her in the first place. Once they were down it was lying right beside her. I picked it up to show her when she got better, so she could know I saw her bravery and it wasn’t in vain.”
“But she isn’t better is she?”
“You act like it just convicted me.”
“Maybe it did, we’ll see when my lab takes a look at it.”
Van Allen drops the cross into an evidence bag and exits.
Caine’s phone rings as he stands gazing into an alley. “Caine,” he says quickly.
“H, I got something,” Delco said.
“Talk to me,” Caine replies.
“The marks on Calleigh’s hand matches a chain Van Allen found on the suspect. There are traces of blood from both of them on it. And that’s not all. She is definitely the one that scratched him. It looks like we got our guy.”
“Maybe, but we still need to check his story. It looks like we have a primary crime scene here that Van Allen hasn’t bothered to find.”
“H, there’s something else you need to know, something urgent.”
“What is it, Eric?”
“No, I need to show you. Where can I meet you?”
“I’m about to call in Van Allen’s team. Catch a ride with them. We’ll talk when you get here.”
Several investigators look through Caine’s alley. Van Allen is at the back of his truck when Caine walks up. “We really don’t need you here Lt. You and this guy Delco are only going to slow us down. Whatever’s here we can handle without you.”
“You might want to rethink that, Lt.” Caine says as he slaps an envelope down in front of the other man.
“What’s this?”
“The lab results of the cross you retrieved from Mr. Clayton. We lifted a fingerprint.”
Van Allen looks at him as if to say “So? Get on with it.”
“The print we found,” Caine continues, “is yours. You were so intent on nailing this guy before we could find any doubt in his story that you mishandled evidence.”
Van Allen’s jaw clenched. He starts to speak, clenches again and barely manages to say, “What do you want?”
“What I want is for my CSI’s to be included in this investigation. Delco and I will work with your crime lab, Alexx Woods will work with the coroner.”
“Why do we need help with the coroner?” Van Allen asks his rage only slightly usurped by his curiosity.
“Take a look at the crime scene.” is the only reply he gets from Caine.
Delco is watching from the side and joins the group when Caine gives him a nod. The three walk into the alley where Lopez is already taking photographs.
“Looks like three stiffs,” she says.
Van Allen looks at Caine hatefully. “I’ll get my coroner out here.”
“No need,” Caine replies. “Mine will be here any time now. Meanwhile let’s see what we’ve got.”
Delco begins looking around. “Got medium velocity blood spatter. Blood smear here.” He points to the left wall. Lopez snaps a picture.
Caine looks more closely. “And a tooth to go with it. Get a picture of this, please” He picks up the object with gloved hands and places it in an evidence bag.
Alexx ducks under the crime scene tape in front of the alley. “Looks like a bar room brawl went down back here.”
Caine looks up at her. “Alexx, let’s find out if that’s what killed these men.”
While Delco continues to search the scene and Lopez photographs, Alexx and Caine kneel over the body deepest in the alley. She begins feeling his bones and searching his skin. “Well, no entrance wounds. Look at this, his arm is snapped in two. Nasal cavity appears to be collapsed. My guess is bone fragments in the brain caused hemorrhaging.”
“Okay, let’s look at the next one.”
“Looks like his throat was crushed. I think we found the owner of that tooth. No entrance wounds. Doesn’t look there is any other trauma”
“Victim number three. What have you got to tell us? Horatio, look at this. This man’s head was beaten in. Looks like blunt force trauma, but look at the bruising.”
“Looks like fists doesn’t it,” Caine says. “Delco what did you find?”
“Got three knives. All look pretty much the same, found on or near each of the vics.”
“Hmm, okay, so we have three knives and three bodies yet none of them appears to have been stabbed.”
“So, what? Three armed men are beaten to death?” Van Allen asks incredulously.
“That is what we are going to find out,” replies Caine. “Alexx, see what else you can find out about these men. Eric, find out if blood from these men are on Calleigh or our suspect. I’m going to see what else he has to say.”
Back at the headquarters Caine steps out of his Hummer. He immediately opens his phone and punches in a number. “Wolfe, what have you got on our suspect?”
“This guy is clean as a whistle. Computer technician, volunteers at churches and charities. No priors, looks like an upstanding citizen.”
“But?”
“You’re going to love this. Black belt in Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Hapkido, and Jujitsu. This guy knows hand to hand combat.”
“It would seem so. Thank you, Wolfe.”
“You gonna nail this guy, H?”
“That depends on what he says next. Let me know if anything else turns up. Thank you.” Caine hangs up and walks inside.
Eric looks up when Caine enters. He is surprised when only one person enters. “Just you this time?” he asks wearily. “Where’s the illustrious Lt. Van Allen?”
“Mr. Clayton, tell me about that scratch on your arm. We know it came from Calleigh.”
“Sure, I never said it didn’t. After the attack I tried to help her to her feet.”
In the dark alley Eric grips the forearm of a battered Calleigh. She struggles up but sinks back to the ground scraping her nails across Eric’s skin.
“It’s okay,” he says soothingly but with a hint of worry. “I’ve got you.” He stoops down to lift her up.
“I had to carry her. She couldn’t even walk after what they did to her,” Eric says to Caine with a slight tremor.
“We found three dead men in an alley. You wouldn’t know anything about that would you?” Caine asks.
Eric’s eyes brighten slightly. “You found the alley. So you know we were jumped!”
“What we know is that three men were beaten to death, and you have a history with hand to hand combat.”
“Right, sure I do. I was the small kid in school. I got tired of getting picked on so I took up Martial Arts to defend myself. I just kind of kept going with it, learning new styles. It’s interesting to see how different cultures develop differences in techniques, and it provides me with exercise.”
“So you used it on these attackers?”
“Absolutely I did! What good is all that training if I can’t defend myself and the woman I… The woman I’m dating? We were jumped like I said. I only saw two at first, and I was willing to give them what money I had if they’d just leave us alone.”
Caine’s mind begins imagining the events as Eric speaks.
Two men surround Eric after forcing him into the alley. One takes his wallet and the gold cross from his neck then steps over the Calleigh and reaches for her purse.
“You don’t want to do this,” she says. “I’m a police officer.”
“Oh, yeah?” says the man. “I’d sure like to see where you got that badge hid.”
“Calleigh knew how much that cross meant to me,” Eric says to Caine. “She tried to get it back.”
Calleigh has a grip on the chain and pulls back with it and her purse only to run into a third man who has stepped unseen into the alley.
“Where you going, little lady?” he asks with a laugh then yanks the chain from her hand.
“It’s okay, Calleigh, let him have it,” Eric calls out.
“Yeah, Calleigh, let me have it,” the man taunts shoving her. Her response is kicking his groin. As he groans and bends over the other guy backhands her.
Eric’s face sets in a fierce expression. He starts towards the group when the man behind lunges forward with his knife. He digs the point into Eric’s shoulder just enough to be felt without actually cutting him. “You stay put,” he tells Eric.
Eric replies by sweeping the man’s arm aside with lightning speed. He grabs the mans wrist and pulls it to lock the elbow then drives his arm through the joint. He backhands the man then as the face is exposed from reeling, Eric lashes out with a vicious punch that catches the man in the nose so hard his neck snaps back.
The man that hit Calleigh sees this happen and charges Eric. Eric lashes out with a kick driving his heel into the man’s gut. While the man is still off balance, Eric hops forward and sends another kick into his attacker knocking the man off his feet.
Eric looks up to see the third man standing over Calleigh. He has her by the arm. The strap over that shoulder has snapped and her dress is torn in several places. She has a dazed expression and doesn’t seem able to support her own weight.
With a guttural scream Eric leaps forward and drives his knuckle into the man’s throat with all his might. With wide eyes the man gasps for breath. Eric grabs a handful of hair and slams the man’s face into the wall then throws him to the ground.
The man he kicked in the gut is clamoring for his weapon. Eric walks over to him and uppercuts him while the man is still bent over.
“I hit him, and then I looked up at Calleigh. She was just laying there a bloody mess. And what could I do? I wasn’t even sure if she was alive. I snapped. I hit that guy with everything I had.” Eric’s voice cracks with emotion. “I completely lost control but all I could think about was what they had done to her and I had to make them pay for it! I hit him again and again and I couldn’t stop! And now I can’t even get someone to tell me if she’s alive or not!” With this last word he punches down at the desk hitting it so hard he leaves a slight dent. Tears streak his face as he stares pleadingly at Caine.
Caine stares back but doesn’t say anything. After a moment he rises and walks quietly to the door. Once outside he stares into space lips pressed tightly together. Once he has composed himself. He walks down the hall.
Caine enters the morgue to find Alexx and the local coroner, a middle aged man, working on different cadavers. “What have you found, Alexx?”
“Not much you didn’t already know,” she replies. “I’ve confirmed cause of death was what we determined at the scene”
“Victim number three, the one with the head trauma, did he have bruising around his ribs?”
“More than that. He has two broken ribs and a third one that is cracked. Do you know what did that?”
“Not what, who.” Caine approaches the cadaver. “This looks like a bruise from a knuckle doesn’t it? Let’s get a sample of blood from this area here. Where’s our man with the crushed throat.”
Alexx leads him to the next cadaver. “Look at his hand here. This abrasion is consistent with the one Delco found on Calleigh. Thank you, Alexx, I’ll take that sample over to trace.”
“Here you go, Horatio.”
In the lab Delco is going over clothing with a magnifying lens. “What have you got for me?” Caine asks.
“It looks like blood from 5 different sources everywhere: walls, clothes, skin.”
“Not surprising. What about the clothes from the victim number two?”
“Got blood from the vic, from the suspect, and from Calleigh.”
“What’s the pattern of Calleigh’s blood?”
“Low velocity spatter on the shirt, gravitational drops on the pants around the cuffs.”
“Which supports the suspect’s story.”
“What story?”
“Our suspect may have just killed these three men to save Calleigh’s life. ”
Caine’s phone rings. “Just a moment,” he says to Delco as he answers the ring. “Yes. Great. Thank you.” He hangs up and turns back to Delco. “Calleigh’s awake. I’m going to go check on her.”
Delco sighs heavily with relief. He looks around and disappointment clouds his face. “I guess I better finish up here.”
“You’ll be able to see her soon.”
“Yeah. Tell I said ‘hey’ huh?”
“Will do,” Caine says with a smile.
Back in the interrogation room. Eric jumps up at the sight of Caine coming through the door. “Lt, can I please know how Calleigh is?”
“She’s doing quite well.”
“Oh, thank God.” Eric says as he slumps down into his chair.
“She’s also telling her side of the story. It seems, Mr. Clayton, that I owe you an apology.” Caine offers his hand.
“No, you don’t owe me anything. You were watching out for Calleigh, and I will never ask anyone to apologize for that,” Eric says taking the hand in a firm shake. “Can I see her?”
“Soon,” Caine replies. “She’s been asking for you.”
Eric smiles then frowns as the door bursts open to reveal Lt. Van Allen. “Eric Clayton, you’re under arrest for three counts of manslaughter.”
Caine stands between the two men in a challenge. “Lt, he acted in self-defense and in defense of an officer.
“He still killed three men. I heard him say how he beat that last man to death out of pure rage. That wasn’t defense, that was homicidal.”
“You’re going to regret this.”
“What because of the cross? So what if it’s inadmissible? His confession is more than enough.”
“I’ll make sure the jury know about your personal vendetta. How you failed to follow up on what you were told. If I hadn’t gone looking myself you would only just now be starting on the actual crime scene.”
“Yeah, because I didn’t have cause to believe him until then. I don’t waste my time on false leads.”
No,
instead you waste time trying to break an innocent man.
In
Calleigh stands outside of a jail cell as the guard unlocks it. Eric gets to his feet with a smile as she enters. “How are you holding up?” he asks gently.
“I’m alive for another day thanks to you. Horatio and I are going to be there for your defense.”
“I know you will. But if a little jail time is the price of your life, I’ll take it, and I’d do it again.”
“I have something for you.” She produces the cross from her pocket. “It’s inadmissible as evidence so I was able to get it back.”
He stares at it momentarily then closes her fingers over it. “Why don’t you hang on to it for me? I’ll get it back when I can get you back.”
“You already have me,” she says and kisses him deeply. They embrace, and he is careful not to squeeze her too hard, but it takes a conscious effort. She pulls away but doesn’t let his hand go until the cell door is open. She steps out still gazing at him, and he touches the bars lightly as he watches her leave.
“Good bye, my love,” he says softly and walks back to the bed where he sits to await the fate the justice system will deem appropriate for him.