Summary: Sometimes the criminal is someone you start to care deeply for.
AN: Inspired/taken from a Danish crime/drama TV Show. I changed some parts of the story.
-I-
As the arson and explosives expert Horatio was the obvious choice to put in charge of a night-shift case. A hotel had burnt down. 32 dead. No sign of any suspects so far. Horatio surveyed the scene and sighed. Of the 32 dead, 11 had been children under the age of 13. One family had been cooked in the bathtub, when they had tried to fill the tub with water to protect themselves from the fire. Horatio had called in his team after several hours of processing the crime scene. The night-shift team was happy to hand over the case, since they felt they couldn't do much anyway and that Horatio's team could take over.
"What we know so far is that the fire started on the first floor, right outside a room where an 8-year-old boy had been left alone for an hour." Horatio said, "The fire started when someone put a poster on fire, without lighter fluid."
"Who leaves their 8-year-old kid alone in a hotel?" Ryan asked.
"A couple who was only gone for an hour to eat. Their son was asleep when they left." Horatio said.
"But?" Calleigh asked, knowing that it wasn't everything.
"But he was alive during the fire. The fire started right outside his door. He fought all he could to get out." Horatio sighed sadly.
The team surveyed the scene in front of them with sad eyes. Poor Alexx would have the job of performing autopsy on the 32 bodies and then have a family member identify each body.
"Walter and Natalia, when it comes time for identification I want you to head to the morgue and help Alexx with that." Horatio said.
Walter and Natalia nodded. It wasn't an enjoyable part of the job, but it was necessary. Horatio lead the team to the origin of the fire and then around the rest of the hotel, or what was left of it. Frank was outside, interviewing people who lived in the nearby buildings, survivors of the fire and the press.
"Mr. Wolfe, why don't you head back to the lab to see if you can find any possible suspects? Check for recent arsonists who were just released from prison or institutions." Horatio said.
"Sure H." Ryan said and left.
Calleigh and Jesse were the four new eyes on the scene and got the job of processing the crime scene all over again. Horatio was being called by his boss and his boss's bosses every five minutes. This case was top priority and if it wasn't solved, it would look very bad.
-I-
Alexx sighed as she zipped the last body bag up. It was time for identification of the bodies. Natalia and Walter joined her and tried not to show how bad they thought the smell was.
"I know it smells. There is no point in hiding it." Alexx sighed heavily, "They look worse than they smell though. Many of these bodies will look almost unrecognizable to the families."
Alexx grabbed a few files and handed them to Walter and Natalia. Each file contained a number, COD and a name. The number was the same as on the toe-tag on the victims and the name was the assumed name based on the check in list from the hotel that had been saved from the fire. Natalia and Walter split the files up and started doing what they had come for. Alexx grabbed some files for herself. The victims had all died from smoke inhalation, but after they had died they had remained on the floor and therefore the bodies had been burned.
Natalia brought in the parents of the 8-year-old boy and lead them towards a small body bag. The mother started crying before Natalia had even opened the bag. The father hugged his wife.
"I know this is hard, we can do it quick." Natalia said.
The father nodded and Natalia opened the bag to reveal the face. The father nodded and confirmed that it was indeed his son. Natalia closed the bag again. She turned around at the sound of a woman breaking down, crying and screaming as she indentified her sister and niece. Alexx tried to comfort the woman and then lead her outside so she wouldn't have to stay by the bodies and in the awful smell. Natalia walked out with the father and mother and then came back in with another person. Walter was bringing in the grandmother of the family that had been cooked. Two parents and three children. The youngest child was only five months old.
"That's them." The grandmother said and drew in a shaky breath.
Walter put his hand on her shoulder and walked outside with her. The mother of that family was the old ladie's only child. She now had no one she told Walter.
"My husband died two years ago." She said sadly and then turned to walk away.
-I-
Ryan had found a suspect. A known arsonist that had been released from a psychiatric institution two months earlier. Frank and Horatio were now interrogating him. The man's name was Harold Young and he reached his hands out to Frank as he sat down by the table.
"It was me." He said sadly, "I did it."
Horatio and Frank glanced at each other. Harold Young had checked in at the hotel and he had been photographed by the press, smiling as he had looked at the burning hotel. But it could still be somebody other than Harold that had put the hotel on fire.
"Tell me why you did it Harold?" Horatio asked.
"I had a fight with my boss and he fired me. I had only had the job for two months. I'm seeing a psychiatrist. I hadn't felt the need to burn something down until last night." Harold said, "I thought I could handle it, but it got too hard. I started drinking and played with some matches."
"How did you start the fire?" Frank asked.
"I put the sheets in my room on fire. That's how it must have happened. I remember waking up and my sheets were on fire. The door was too. I opened the window and then the firemen rescued me. I don't deserve to live after this."
Horatio and Frank sighed. Harold was not their man.
"Harold, the fire started on the first floor. You lived on the second floor. Your sheets were on fire because the fire had burned down your door. If you hadn't woken up you would have died." Horatio said.
"No, it must have been me!" Harold exclaimed.
"No, Harold. It wasn't you. You managed to control yourself last night." Horatio sighed, "You can go."
Harold looked at Horatio and Frank for a long time before standing up. He stopped in the doorway and looked back at them again, as if he still wasn't sure he could really go. Once he was gone, Frank slumped down on a chair.
"Who else could it be?" Frank asked.
The door opened and Ryan walked in with a picture.
"I got this from a photographer; this man was standing behind the crowd that was looking at the fire. He's video-taping it, H." Ryan said and showed the two older men a photo of a smiling man with a thick beard and videp-camera in his hands.
"Ask the news to put him on TV and tell their viewers that we're looking for this man. He's a potential witness not a suspect. If people think we're suspecting him they might find him first and kill him." Horatio said.
Ryan nodded and left the two men alone again.
"If we don't solve this H…"
"We will."
"But if we don't then the press will be all over it and the people of Miami will hate us. Not to mention our boss will hate us." Frank sighed.
"We will solve this case." Horatio said.
Frank nodded. Horatio always believed he and his team would solve a case. It was important to believe in it. But Frank felt desperate to find the arsonist responsible for the 32 deaths. Not for his sake, but for the sake and the peace of the relatives to the victims.
-I-
Calleigh entered the locker room to take a break. She had spend hours at the scene with Jesse and just needed to take a moment to calm down. She had found what was left of the crib that the five-month-old baby had slept in. It broke her heart whenever she found something that belonged to a victim. In the locker room she found Natalia and Walter. The identification of the victims was finally over.
"Hey." Calleigh said quietly and sat down on a bench next to Natalia.
Walter sat across from them and sighed heavily.
"I never want to do this again." He said, "To see all of those victims. They are so badly burned."
"The worst part was to see the families break down. I can only imagine their sorrow." Natalia sighed, "Especially that old woman you talked to Walter. She lost what was left of her family in the fire."
Calleigh shook her head sadly. The door opened and Jesse joined them. Jesse had come across several toys at the crime scene. Toys belonging to the young victims. He had found iPods, cameras and cell phones belonging to adults or older kids too.
"Did you guys see the news?" Natalia asked.
"Yeah, we're looking for someone." Jesse sighed.
The door opened and Ryan walked in, announcing that they had found the guy on TV. The team went to the interrogation room and met Horatio outside.
"I want Natalia, Walter and Jesse to search through this guy's apartment. His name is Otto Lane." Horatio said and gave Natalia a note with the address on it.
"And what should Cal and I do?" Ryan asked.
"Watch or just take a break for now." Horatio said.
Ryan and Calleigh decided to watch and Frank soon joined them behind the two-way mirror. Horatio was interrogating Otto alone. It had been obvious when they arrested him that Otto was slow and mentally retarded. He seemed to have the mind of a young child.
"Hi Otto, I'm Horatio Caine." Horatio said and sat down across from Otto.
"That's a weird name." Otto said and then giggled at himself.
"Yes it is. But Otto is also a little strange, right?"
"Yeah, I only know one person named Otto and that is me." Otto announced proudly.
"Who else do you know?"
"Michelle my foster mother." Otto said, "And Julia my girlfriend."
"Where is Julia now?"
"I don't know. I have not seen here since Saturday. She is probably angry at me." Otto giggled.
"Two days ago." Horatio said, "Why would Julia be angry at you?"
Otto chuckled and then lowered his voice.
"Because we had a fight." He whispered.
"You have to speak louder because the microphone can't hear you when you whisper." Horatio smiled gently.
Otto nodded and grabbed the microphone.
"We had a fight."
"What about?" Horatio asked.
"She doesn't want to move in with me." Otto sighed, "I asked her several times."
"Where were you last night at ten pm?"
"At home."
"That's not true is it Otto?" Horatio asked.
Otto blushed and shook his head, "I only say that so Michelle won't know that I was out late." Otto whispered.
Horatio pointed at the microphone and Otto grabbed it again.
"I said I was home so Michelle, that's my foster-mother, won't be angry because I was out late." Otto announced.
"Why can't you be out late Otto? You're 23 years old."
"Michelle says I can't take care of myself. Says I act like child." Otto shrugged, "I am a grown up."
"Yes you are." Horatio smiled, "So where were you last night?"
"Outside."
"Outside where?"
"Grand Hotel." Otto said and then giggled, "I saw a couple making out through a window."
Horatio smiled and nodded.
-I-
Walter, Natalia and Jesse were in Otto's apartment, right next to his foster-mother Michelle's apartment. Otto had several video-tapes of when he had set small abandoned buildings on fire. He had also video-taped himself and Julia having sex and Otto often slapped Julia when she didn't want to have sex anymore. The date of the sex-tapes matched the date of the video-tapes of the fires. Every time Julia refused to have sex, Otto would get mad and two to four hours later something was set on fire. Up until last night no one had got hurt.
"This is the tape from yesterday. It puts Otto at the scene." Jesse said and played the last video-tape.
"This is two days after he last saw Julia though." Natalia said.
Ryan had called her to update her and the boys on the case.
"It's not actually. This video is shot three hours before Otto set the hotel on fire. He slaps Julia when she tries to escape from the bed." Jesse said and showed Natalia anoher tape.
"I spoke to Michelle and she hasn't seen Julia since last night." Walter said, "I got Julia's phone number and she's not answering."
"Maybe Otto killed her." Natalia suggested.
"Maybe. Let's take the tapes back to the lab." Jesse said.
-I-
Three hours had passed. The team had watched all the tapes and found Julia's dead body in the woods. However, a witness had seen a man leave Julia's body in the woods. It wasn't Otto. TOD proved that Otto had been outside the hotel at the time of Julia's death. Who Julia's killer was the team didn't know. But there was no longer any doubt that Otto was the arsonist. He had video-taped it like all the other times he had set something on fire. He had even commented on the video that he had done it again.
In the interrogation room Otto was waiting for Horatio to come back. An officer was watching him in the meantime. Otto grabbed the microphone that was used to record all the interrogations and pressed play.
"This it Otto Lane speaking, it's 16:30 and I am at Miami Dade Police Department. Also in the room is…?" Otto said and reached out the microphone to record the officer's voice.
"Officer Harris."
"Officer Harris and soon Horatio, who is my friend, will be here." Otto smiled.
Officer Harris grinned as Otto continued speaking.
"I, Otto Lane, have been here for... many hours… When is Horatio coming?"
"I don't know."
"I want to talk to him. He is my friend." Otto said.
"He'll be here soon."
"Officer Harris says Horatio will be here soon. We'll just have to wait then." Otto smiled proudly and stopped the recording.
After two minutes Otto got bored and recorded himself again.
"This is Otto Lane again; Officer Harris is still in the room. Horatio is not here. How much longer do I have to wait?" Otto asked.
"He'll be here soon."
"Can you please go get him?"
"No." Officer Harris smiled.
"Horatio is my new friend." Otto explained and then ended the recording again.
The door to the interrogation room opened and Horatio walked in.
"Horatio!" Otto exclaimed as he stood up and hugged Horatio.
Horatio was surprised to be hugged, but hugged Otto back. Otto and Horatio sat down by the table and Horatio started the recording.
"Otto, you lied to me when you said you last saw Julia on Saturday." Horatio said, "You saw her last night before the fire."
Otto blushed and nodded, "We had sex."
"I saw your tapes."
"Julia always tries to run away."
"Why did you lie to me?" Horatio asked.
"Because I slapped Julia and if I had told you the truth you would have been angry at me like Michelle." Otto said, "I gave Julia a black eye last night. I didn't mean to, but she hit me where you're not supposed to ever hit a man."
"Where is that?" Horatio asked, although he had a pretty good idea what Otto meant.
"Under the belly, but over the knees. Michelle says it ugly to say that word, so I won't say it." Otto said.
"Does Michelle hurt you, Otto?"
"No, she just yells a lot." Otto shrugged.
"Otto, we also saw your tapes of all the fires you started."
Otto giggled, "I like fire."
"Did you start the hotel fire last night?" Horatio asked.
Otto sighed heavily and nodded.
"You have to speak so the microphone can hear you."
"Yes, I did." Otto said louder.
"Why?"
Otto looked surprised at Horatio and then sighed.
"They had misspelled Menu." Otto said as if he had expected Horatio to know this, "They had spelled it with a Y at the end and not a U."
Horatio nodded, "Okay and therefore you put it on fire?"
"No… I just decided to start it there." Otto sighed, "With a poster of the menu. That's supposed to be a menu with a U."
"So why did you set the hotel on fire Otto?"
"Julia had made me angry." Otto said.
Horatio nodded. The team had quickly understood that every time he got angry at Julia, Otto started a fire. He hadn't hurt anyone before last night.
"Otto, did you know there were people in that hotel?" Horatio asked.
"Yes, but I started the fire on the first floor. There is only the kitchen there." Otto said.
"No, Otto there was several rooms there." Horatio said, "32 people died in the fire, Otto."
Otto gasped and looked at Horatio.
"Who killed them?" Otto asked.
Horatio took a deep breath. Otto didn't understand the gravity of what he had done.
"Well, the person who started the fire killed them."
"That's me." Otto said.
"Yes, that's you."
Otto giggled and then lowered his voice again.
"You're not supposed to kill someone Horatio." Otto said, "It's a crime."
Horatio nodded.
"Where is Julia? Can I see her?" Otto asked.
"Otto, do you know what it means when someone is dead?" Horatio asked.
"It means you are away, sort off." Otto shrugged.
"Well, Julia is dead."
"Okay, but why can't she come see me?" Otto asked.
"She's dead, Otto. She can never come see you." Horatio said sadly.
"But Horatio, she can come see me tomorrow." Otto said, "I want to see her."
"I can see if maybe she can come tomorrow." Horatio smiled.
Otto smiled widely and stood up to hug Horatio again. Horatio hugged him back and then nodded for Officer Harris to take Otto to a holding cell.
"Can I go home now?" Otto asked.
"No, Otto you're going to have to go somewhere else." Horatio said.
"Can Julia come see me tomorrow?"
"Maybe."
Otto nodded and then waved goodbye as Officer Harris lead him away without cuffs. Frank entered the interrogation room after Otto had left.
"I never thought I would meet a killer that I actually like." Frank said, "I feel sympathy for Otto. He doesn't completely understand what he's done. How much pain he's caused others or that he's taken 32 lives."
"I know. Otto is a sweet guy most of the time. He just doesn't understand his crime. I wish I could have met him under better circumstances." Horatio sighed sadly.
Frank nodded in agreement. At the end of the day the team felt sorry for the man that would spend the rest of his life in an institution for a crime he would never fully understand. They felt sorry because it was like putting a 5-year-old behind bars. Of course Otto still had to pay for his crime.
The End!
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