Disclaimer: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and all related characters, plots and sundry intellectual property are copyright. I do not own them and make no profit from referencing them in the fictional work below.
Warnings: References to child abuse, child pornography, coarse language, violence
"I think I know how to get Jerome to give us the locations of the bodies." Sara stood in the doorway to Ecklie's office looking as uncomfortable as she felt.
Ecklie sat back and looked at her sceptically. "So? Why haven't you run with it?"
"Grissom and Brass aren't going to like it." She admitted, well aware that this would make the proposal just as attractive to Ecklie as the possibility of getting the locations.
Sara walked into the interview room and sat down, putting a manilla folder down in front of her.
"I have a proposal for you." Sara began.
"I've already told the detective that I won't be giving you any locations without a reduced sentence." Jerome said, apparently bored by the whole process. He had received the same offers repeatedly over the past few hours, Brass hoping to break him down through repetition, boredom and periodic isolation.
"Just hear me out." Sara suggested. "I had a read through the evidence listing from the warrant executed on your property. That was an impressive collection of child porn film."
"What can I say? I'm a collector." Jerome grinned, looking like the classic all-American boy he had been about 15 years earlier.
"Sure. You got some rare stuff here." She pulled a piece of paper out and ran her eye over it. "You've even got almost everything made by Mr. R."
"Wrong." He held up a finger. "I do have everything made by Mr. R."
"Yeah?" Sara made a show of looking at the list again. "I can't see TB3 on here. Uniforms executing the warrant must have missed it."
Jerome narrowed his eyes at her, obviously wondering where this was going. "Mr R never got to distribute TB3, he was arrested first. It only exists by name in trial transcripts. No-one has a copy of it."
"Well the FBI do, obviously." Sara pointed out. "You seem familiar with the trial – maybe you're aware that there were three perpetrators visible in the footage and that only two were identified?"
"Where are you going with this?" Jerome finally just asked. "Obviously you're not going to try and pin it on me, I was...what, 10 years old at the time?"
"Here's my proposal. Having been caught with a mountain of evidence against you, the police have told you the judge may be lenient if you co-operate with the investigation. Not only do you provide the locations where you buried your previous victims, including Patricia Jason, but you agree to view the entirety of TB3 in the hope of identifying the third perpetrator through your vast knowledge of paedophiles operating in San Francisco at the time." Sara put her cards on the table and saw the sick hunger light up in Jerome's eyes.
"There's no way you could get approval for that." He stated.
"I already have." She answered calmly. "Now what do you say? Do you want to show how remorseful you are?"
"What's to stop me giving you the locations and then not...getting the opportunity to assist with TB3?" He asked, still suspicious.
"Here are some still images from the video. I'm sure a collector such as yourself can recognise Mr. R's directorship." She slid some glossy photos across the table to him. Critical sections were blurred, but he was taking the bait.
He lined the stills up and took his time viewing each, holding it with his fingertips at the edges like valuable artwork. He briefly stroked a finger over where the child's face would be.
"Obviously," Sara broke into his reverie, swallowing down her bile, "we would require proof that the locations were legitimate before trusting you to assist in an FBI matter. But once we have confirmation that bodies have been found at all the sites and get DNA results back on the location you tell us is Patricia Jason's, we will arrange for you to view the footage. Somewhere quiet so you can concentrate...on recognising the third man."
Jerome was staring at her now with hunger, excitement, and dark amusement.
"You must really want these kids found." He observed. "Did you know one of them?"
"No. I just know the importance of closure." She answered. Her face was calm, but her stomach was churning.
"We have a deal. Give me paper and a pen."
Catherine, Grissom and Brass didn't find out the basics of the deal until later. As soon as they had locations, all hands were on deck to find, unearth and collect evidence. Bodies were found at all locations, and Governor Jason was put on notice that his daughter's final resting place might finally be known.
"I've run it three times." Greg finally walked into one of the layout rooms holding up the results. "Location 1 given by Jerome is definitely Patty Jason."
"Damn." Catherine blew out a breath. "How much did the DA have to reduce his sentence to get this?" She asked miserably.
"He didn't." Brass answered, puzzled. "They must have cut a deal, but it can't have been for a shorter sentence. I worked him ten ways from Sunday with as much leverage as the DA could offer but didn't get anywhere."
"Strange." Grissom commented. "But if Loc 1 was Patty, it's likely the others are legitimate. At least all of their parents will know." He had been struck by the anguish of Maia Samson's parents who, like many parents of missing children, were tortured by the possibility of never knowing if she were dead or alive and always hoping against the odds that one day she would return to them.
Word eventually spread throughout the lab and PD that Sara had been in the interview room when the deal was cut, although specifics were still difficult to come by.
Catherine could tell something was up. She could feel it in her bones, and the fact that Sara was involved just made it twice as maddening. When she finally couldn't take it any more, she pulled strings and called in favours until she gained access to the interview room footage she would never otherwise be able to view.
Watching Sara casually bribe a paedophile with images of molestation and the promise of watching more explicit horrors took her beyond nausea to a state of all-consuming rage. Carefully closing off her access to the interview in the system, Catherine went to find Sara.
Sidle was in the locker rooms changing at the end of her shift and wondering how she would get through the night knowing what Jerome would be watching - and how much he would be enjoying it. She was so caught up in her thoughts she didn't notice Catherine come in until the blonde had shoved her from behind, face-first into a metal locker.
Bouncing off it she stumbled to the ground in shock, shuffling away from the irate blonde as quickly as she could while trying to stem the flow of blood from her forehead where it had caught one of the grill openings. Catherine turned and closed the door, locking it to give them some privacy.
"I knew you were ambitious Sara, but I never thought you would be willing to re-victimise someone for the sake of your career. Never thought you would help a paedophile get off just to get back in Ecklie's good books. What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Catherine hissed. "How could you bribe a child abuser with kiddie porn?"
Sara had been expecting this question, even if she wasn't expecting to be physically attacked.
"You told me once that if I was in your position, I'd do the same thing." Sara answered tiredly, wondering whether if she tried to get up Catherine would let her. She was already dizzy from lack of sleep and hunger and decided it was better not to risk it.
"Bullshit. This is nothing like the situation with Delhomme. I used his attraction towards me, not victims!"
"So did I, Catherine. How do you think I knew the film existed? How do you think I got permission to use it?" She let that sink in for a moment. "The only kid that gets raped in TB3 is me."
Catherine stepped back, visibly shocked and uncertain. "I..."
"You can see it if you want. To make sure I'm not lying. Although, if photos of Julie's vagina bothered you, you might want to avoid footage of three men raping a child." She let out some of her bitterness from Delhomme's case, feeling like it was justified after Catherine had given her a head injury.
"Don't you think it's wrong to give that bastard fuel for his fantasies? Even if you did...have permission?" The blonde asked, a lot less confident in her tirade.
"In exchange for giving twelve families closure? No." She pondered how to explain for a moment. "Most of what I said to Jerome was true. They never did identify the third man. I guess I know how not knowing can tear you up. Even knowing that Jerome did it, not knowing where the body of their child was, or not receiving full confirmation that she was dead would destroy those families."
They were silent for a few minutes as Catherine tried to get her head around what she had learned. Sara's comments had reminded her of some of the other drama during the Delhomme case, and the sickening insight into her co-worker's childhood brought to mind another conversation they held which Catherine had not given much thought to at the time.
"When I asked you if your father ever said you were pretty..." she began.
"I said, 'I guess'." Sara answered.
"What does that mean?" the blonde pushed, terrified of what either a yes or a no would imply.
"Do you really want an answer?" The brunette checked wearily.
"If you're willing to tell me." Catherine confirmed. She had a sudden all-consuming need to understand the circumstances that had helped to form her colleague and had long believed that what you were told about your looks growing up made up one critical aspect of that picture.
"He said that I was ugly, but that it didn't matter - 'cause his customers were paying for my holes and not my looks. Good thing I guess, it meant at least those were places he made sure not to damage me, even if they were the only ones."
Catherine struggled to hold down her dinner and wondered to what extent Mr Sidle had known Mr R.
Gauging that Catherine's mood had changed sufficiently, Sara pushed herself to her feet, still applying pressure to her forehead. She rested against the lockers for a moment to give her head a minute to stabilise.
"Damn, you're bleeding. I'm sorry, I-"
"Forget about it." Sara brushed it off. "You were sort of protecting me, in a way. By taking up for the kid in the video, I mean."
"Do you know if he's seen it yet?" The older woman asked. Sara's brain had to shift gears to keep up, but as she had been worrying about it all night caught up quickly.
"No. Ecklie will tell me once it's done, but I don't want to know... exactly when." The brunette admitted.
"Why are you even at work?" Willows asked, before realising the answer she had just received served to answer both questions. "Nevermind. I get it. But how about I treat that cut and then we go get something to eat instead?"
Sara considered this, not sure if she wanted to be trapped with Catherine's well-meaning interrogation. "Maybe some other time. But thanks."