A/N: This is my first story, but give me feedback! I'm always looking for ways to improve!
It was an abnormally boring day at the dispatch headquarters of the New York City Police Department. The most exciting call of the day had been a hit and run in a parking garage on Broadway, with the victim only suffering from minor injuries. Wanda Scorsberger sat observing the screens, trying desperately not to fall asleep. The phone rang and she lazily picked it up.
"911, how can I help you?"
"Please! Somebody!" The voice of a little girl was on the other end of the line. "My mommy's head is on fire!"
Danny Messer and Lindsay Monroe pulled up to the apartment complex in Belmont to see charring outside of a window closer to the top of the building.
"I just love arson, don't you?" Danny quipped to Lindsay, who just smirked. The two walked up the stairs to the 16th floor and met Detective Don Flack outside of apartment 1654.
"Vic's name is Charlene White, 35. Single mother, daughter Caitlyn is with EMS right now. Caitlyn called 911 at 12:30 PM crying that her mother was on fire. Fire Department responded immediately and took Miss White to Mount Sinai."
"So she's still alive?"
"She was very lucky, I'll give her that. She suffered from 3rd degree burns on 70% of her body. She was somewhat conscious when the paramedics found her, but she was out by the time the ambulance got to the hospital"
"Well, once the burns hit 3rd degree, the nerves are scorched and pain can no longer be felt, so maybe that explains why she was still conscious," Lindsay offered.
"Nevertheless," Flack interrupted, "This had to be pretty brutal. Somebody wanted this woman dead. Have fun, guys." He headed out the door and down the stairs, leaving Danny and Lindsay to observe their surroundings. Lindsay looked at the front door to the apartment.
"No sign of forced entry," she told Danny. "Either the vic knew the arsonist, or he had a key to the apartment."
"We'll check with the landlord, see who had access." They each grabbed a camera and started to process the scene. Danny took the living room while Lindsay started checking out the kitchen.
"It looks like the point of origin is at the kitchen table," Lindsay called over to him. "The burn marks on this chair are much bigger than in the points around it." She snapped several different pictures of the chair at several different angles.
"Montana." She looked up. Danny was holding up a can of lighter fluid. He flipped it upside down and shook it, showing her that nothing was coming out of it. "I think I found our accelerant."
"Wow," was all that Lindsay could manage to say. It was obvious that someone went to great lengths to see that Charlene White burned to death.
"I was taking a nap in my bedroom," Caitlyn White told Flack. "I woke up when I thought I heard something screaming, so I went out into the kitchen and saw Mommy with her hair on fire. She was screaming at me to call 911, so I did." Lindsay and Danny joined Flack outside behind the ambulance that Caitlyn was sitting in.
"How old are you, Caitlyn?" Lindsay asked her.
"Eight," was all that Caitlyn replied with.
"Why weren't you at school?"
"The school said that I couldn't go."
"Do you have any idea why?"
"I have lice, and they don't want me to infect the other kids or something."
Lindsay and Danny both subconsciously took a step back. "Were you using any special kind of shampoo or anything to get rid of the lice?" Danny inquired.
Caitlyn shook her head. "Mommy doesn't believe in the doctor. She says that whenever I get sick or anything like that I should just will myself to get better. She doesn't let me take medicine."
"Did you hear anyone come into or go out of your apartment before you found your mother in the kitchen?"
"No, and I'm a light sleeper so I think I would have heard something."
"Thanks Caitlyn." Flack turned to the head EMT. "Could you take her to Mount Sinai to be with her mother? We'll contact child services and make sure that she gets put in someone's care while Miss White is in the hospital."
"Sure thing, boss." They packed up the ambulance and drove quickly away. Danny and Lindsay moved towards their shared Yukon and put their evidence in the trunk.
"What did you guys find?" Flack asked them.
"A can of kerosene, a candlestick on the table with minimal traces of candle in it, and fingerprints on the door-handle. We have to test for prints on the can when we get back to the lab, it's not the right surface for print powder. The candle wax was also all over the table, which makes sense because the table was basically engulfed in flames. Other than that, nothing probative," Danny informed him.
"Hopefully the fingerprints will speak for themselves," Lindsay said somewhat hopelessly.
When they got to the lab, Lindsay headed for fingerprints to test for prints on the kerosene can and the candlestick and to run the prints on the door through AFIS. Danny decided to run a background check on Charlene White, checking up on her credit card reports and her recent phone calls. Danny got a hit first and met Lindsay in the print lab.
"Hey, Montana, here's something that I think you'll find interesting." He slapped a report down in front of her. Lindsay picked up the paper and read through it.
"The only incoming calls that Charlene White has gotten in the last month other than from the school that Caitlyn goes to have been from-"
"Her ex-husband," Danny finished from her. He slapped another file down in front of her. "Michael White, 35. Lives over in Highbridge."
"Oh, so we're dealing with a true winner, here," Lindsay joked.
"Turns out, they just got divorce two months ago." The computer that Lindsay was sitting at beeped at the two.
"AFIS gave us a hit on those prints from the front door. Surprise, surprise, they belong to none other than Michael White."
"Why is he in the system?" Danny asked her. She clicked on his file.
"Possession of narcotics in '00. Breaking and entering in '02. Assault in '04. Like I said, true winner," she grinned at him.
"Alright there, settle down, Montana. What were the ex-husband's prints doing on the door to his ex-wife's apartment?"
"Perhaps Mr. White can answer that."
"I told you, I used to live there, why is it so unusual that you would find my fingerprints on the door handle?" a very impatient Michael White informed the CSIs when he was brought in for questioning.
"And we told you, Mr. White, your fingerprints were found on top of all of the other prints we found on the handle," Lindsay caught him in his lie. "You were the last person to touch the doorknob before your ex-wife was burned."
Danny gave White an intimidating look and White rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine. I was there," White admitted. "We're still in a custody battle over Caitlyn. I went over there to discuss terms. We were supposed to meet with the judge tomorrow."
Danny shook his head. "Mr. White, if that was the case, why didn't you just say so." No reply. "Let me tell you what happened. You went to your ex-wife's apartment. You wanted sole custody of Caitlyn, and there was no way in hell she was going to let her ex-con ex-husband raise her daughter. She probably told you that in a less than cordial way, and you got pissed off. You poured a can of kerosene that you bought yesterday over her head," Lindsay placed a receipt in front of White that showed a purchase of kerosene at the local hardware store. "You took the candle that was lit on the table and you set her hair on fire. You thought the building would burn down and it would be ruled an accident, allowing you to have Caitlyn all to yourself. But here's what you didn't know: Caitlyn was home from school that day with lice. She smelled the smoke and called 9-1-1. Not only did your plan fail, Mr. White, but you almost killed your daughter in the process. What do you have to say for yourself?"
White looked at the pair incredulously. "You can't pin this on me. I was going to take Caitlyn camping in the Adirondacks this weekend, and I was going to bring my kerosene lamp with me. That's why I bought the kerosene yesterday. I didn't try to kill Charlene."
"We'll be the judge of that." Lindsay rose from her seat and stormed out the door.
Danny watched her leave in confusion. "We'll uh…we'll be in touch, Michael." He got up and raced after her.
"Montana, what's wrong?" He grabbed her arm and turned her around. When she saw him looking at her with concern, she sighed deeply.
"Nothing," she assured him. "I just don't believe him and it frustrates me."
"Well don't worry, we'll get him. I'm gonna go process the fingerprints we found on the can and the candlestick, and I guarantee you his fingerprints'll be all over them."
She nodded and gave him a weak smile. "I think I'll go down to the hospital and ask Caitlyn if her dad really was taking her up north this weekend."
"Alright, I'll page you with the results."
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