KRYSTALNACHT

Chapter One: Trick or Treat?

This is a revised version of Chapter One, Krystallnacht, a Charlie-centric story starting at Halloween and going into November. I do not own Numb3rs and am making no money from this little endeavor. In fact, I'm on Social Security-Disability and retirement, so trust me...I don't make money period! Not worth suing. I don't think there are really any spoilers in the story Review if you like. I do accept bribery in the form of reviews. It encourages the muse, ya know. Revisions completed on 11/11/06. Hopefully, I have satisfied those who felt some characters were OOC. Also had my work reviewed by beta – Thanks Alice. More mistakes may have cropped up in the process, but that is all on me.

Amita walked into Larry's office and offered a relieved smile when the first eyes she made contact with belonged to Megan Reeves. "Oh, hi, Megan…um, I was hoping you might be here."

Megan raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Okay? Should I point out this is Larry's office and a weekday and I would USUALLY be at work now? Or just go with, what can I do for you, Amita?" Larry wiggled his fingers at his fellow CalSci professor in greeting, but remained silent.

"I'd like both of you to come with me. Something is very wrong. Charlie's office has been completely torn apart. I was afraid campus security might think it's just a Halloween prank gone overboard, but…" Amita was shaking slightly, as she spoke, "one of my students is also in Charlie's first class. She came to tell me that he never showed up for class this morning."

Larry interrupted. "Charles missed his first class, without notifying anyone. Indeed, Megan, that is most unlike him."

Charlie's former grad student, sort of, girlfriend went on, guiltily. "I actually started out this morning really angry with Charlie. He was supposed to pick me up last night. We were going to a costume party together. It was a costume party raising funds for Charlie's special charity. When he never showed up, I called both his home and his cell, but it just kept going to voice mail. I was so mad he stood me up. I just went to the party by myself."

As they talked, she was leading the way through the halls towards Charlie's office. She bit her lip. "I had stopped by and seen Charlie before I left to go home and change into my costume, to make sure we were still on for it; or, that nothing had come up like Don needing his help or…well, you know." Megan and Larry both nodded understanding. "Charlie made such a big deal about not telling what he was coming as. Said his costume was great, but he didn't want to spoil it. He seemed really up for it. He said he would be over to my place to pick me up within 90 minutes. I assumed he had just gotten distracted. He's been doing better but…" Amita suddenly stopped in the hall, rubbing her arms as if cold. "When Jennifer came to my class this morning, I had a bad feeling that something was really wrong. I went to check in his office. He gave me a key a while back."

Larry placed a gentle hand on the arm closest to him. "What did you find?"

The younger woman nervously began walking again. They were almost to Charlie's office door which was closed, but a group of students was clumped outside, clearly waiting to see their professor and she shooed them away. "Please everyone, back up. If Professor Eppes was available, the door would be open and unlocked. You all know that."

Larry joined her in making shooing motions. "Everyone please, back off! It is not the professor's office hours now, at any rate. Please clear away."

Amita tried to unlock the door, but she was having trouble getting the key to slip in the lock. She seemed nothing, but relieved when Megan gently pried the key out of her hand, slipped it in the lock and turned it….opening the door to utter and uncontrolled chaos that made the FBI profiler swallow in reflexive nervousness, as the associate professor explained. "Charlie may not be the king of neat, but he does have an order to things and the office has been looking so GOOD this year. He would never have done this."

Papers and torn books were scattered throughout the area, furniture had been slashed open with stuffing strewn about, and many of the professor's beloved odds and ends lay broken, or, at least, tossed on the floor. Megan's experienced eyes ran over everything with her lovely face drawn into an increasingly grim expression, as she spoke quietly to Larry, whose hands were up on either cheek as his mouth formed a perfectly dismayed O. "Could you have someone summon the campus police to secure this area? I think I had better tell Don to get over here and bring CSU with him."

Larry nodded. "Although I hope this is some Halloween prank gone horribly awry, I think we would be remiss if we didn't approach this as a possible crime scene. Do you think Charles is in here somewhere, needing assistance?"

Megan held her hand out in a stopping motion to indicate she didn't want Amita or Larry to actually enter the office, but she opened her purse, drew out her gun – thinking 'just in case', and stated firmly. "I don't think so, but I will do a quick careful sweep to be sure." She edged carefully around the office, past the desk, behind a chalk board and a white board, over to a bookcase which blocked off part of the office from easy view from the door to be certain the younger Eppes was not laying back there, napping or injured. Although she saw several stains that might be blood and plenty of evidence there had been a struggle before the area was rifled and ransacked, no one was present. She flipped open her phone and hit the speed dial for her boss.

"Eppes." Don answered with a slight grin, as he noted her name on caller ID. "If you need help with Larry, Megan, you have got the wrong brother!"

Megan had no smile or banter to respond with. She simply said seriously. "Don, did you happen to see or talk to Charlie at all last night or this morning?"

"No, Agent Reeves, some of us are not taking a personal day." Don retorted, a tad facetiously. "Some of us are working. Why are you asking me about my brother?" He was shifting into professional mode, but there was a tone of confusion in it.

"I'm in his office, right now, Don. You need to get over here with a crime scene unit. I think we may have a serious problem here." She frowned as she noticed a piece of white paper taped to his blackboard amidst a typically unreadable flurry of mathematical writing. Drawing closer, she was able to read a single word written on the outside of the paper. "Don, does 'Krystalnacht' mean anything special to you?" She heard Larry taking in a breath in what could only be described as a horrified gasp, but Don's reply was.

"Sounds German…isn't that the name of a rock band or something?"

"I don't think that is the usage intended here." She glanced over at Larry whose hands were now covering his face as he seemed to shudder in fear. "Get here, fast."

"On our way, Megan. Preserve the scene." Don was all business now.

"Will do." Megan responded, snapped shut her cell and turned to her beau. "Larry, that word rings a bell with me, but I can't place it. You seem to know it."

"Kristallnacht," Larry explained, rather breathlessly, "On the night of November 9, 1938, Nazi youth and sympathizers broke into the homes and businesses of all the Jews they could find, destroying, killing, looting, and breaking things. The next morning there was so much broken glass on the streets that the people called the night Kristallnacht, or "Night of Broken Glass."

Amita stared at Larry, aghast. "Larry, are you saying that Charlie is….?"

"Oh, heaven's no, Amita, I certainly don't mean Charles is dead. Not every Jew was killed that night, but it was the start of the strongest approved aggression against Jews and was even used as an excuse for the state to gather them into the ghettos, to 'protect' them from society at large. Many times it is pointed to as the start of the Holocaust." The professor seemed ill at ease on how to handle his younger colleague's upset. When he threw Megan a pleading look, she came back to the doorway and put her arms around the other woman.

"Charlie is not in here, Amita. Don't jump to the worst possible conclusion. I agree this is not just a joke or a prank though. With the Nazi reference and the damage which has been done, this looks like a hate crime, which is federal jurisdiction. You were right to bring it to my attention. Even if the good doctor wasn't his brother, I would be calling Don."

"I can state with certainty that Charlie would never have anything to do with a prank or joke about Kristallnacht." Larry stated, vehemently. "Charles would never joke about anything remotely connected with those terrible times."

"Don didn't seem to make an immediate connection when I mentioned the word." Megan seemed surprised.

Larry gently pointed out. "Neither did you, right away, Megan. Charles would. He did some research about…" His voice trailed off. Swallowing deeply, he added. "Charles is very aware of his Judaic roots."

Puzzled, she remarked. "It has never appeared to me the Eppes are particularly observant."

Larry elaborated. "Just because they may, or may not, be observant of the Jewish religion does not alter, in the least, the fact they are Jewish, Megan." He hesitated a moment, but said. "Charles explored his heritage a great deal when he was first at Princeton, but I don't believe he has ever shared that fact with his father or Don."

Megan looked intrigued, but said. "I won't say anything, Larry. Don't worry."

Amita was getting a better look around the room and seemed to have missed most of the last exchange. "So many things Charlie treasures are broken. Are those torn books on the floor?"

Megan tightened her grasp, firmly forestalling any instinct the other woman might have towards tidying up. "Amita, we have to keep everything the way it is. When you came here earlier, did you actually enter the office?"

Pushing her dark hair behind her ear, the relatively new teacher replied. "No. No. I knocked and called out his name, but when he didn't answer, I used my key and opened the door. I looked in, kind of freaked, I guess…called out to him again, asking if he was in here. I pulled out my cell phone and hit the speed dial for his cell to see if I'd hear it ring. When I didn't, I called his home real quick, but it went straight to the answering machine, so neither he nor Mr. Eppes answered there. I was going to call Larry to see if you might be with him, but I decided to lock back up and go over there."

"That's good. You did just the right thing." Reeves assured her. She noticed some of the students were starting to try to 'drift away' behind them past the open door, so she pulled the door shut as she gently edged both Amita and Larry out of the entry way. "We'll just close the door until Don and the team get here."

Larry agreed. "Excellent idea, Agent Reeves. Students, I'm sure you all have other places to be. Clear the hallway, people. Professor Eppes is not available at this time, please move along." He clapped his hands and the groups began to scatter with some grumbling about assignments and questions.

A rather overweight, but professional looking campus cop came up to Larry. "Professor Fleinhardt, what seems to be the problem here?"

Megan took charge, pulling out her badge and showing it to him. "I'm Special Agent Megan Reeves with the LA FBI office. Professor Eppes office has been vandalized and it looks like a hate crime, so the FBI will be handling the investigation, but I'd like you to secure this area as a crime scene. Can you block off this corridor until it has been properly processed, Officer?"

"Harrison, Gregory Harrison. I'll make arrangements to get this area cordoned off. Do you need to co-ordinate this with the area police? I realize hate crimes fall within Federal jurisdiction, but I never heard of the FBI reporting one before."

"Technically, Greg," Larry explained, "Professor Ramajuan reported it to both me and Agent Reeves who happened to be on site."

"Ah, yes. Professor Eppes mentioned that Professor Ramajuan had a key. I do have to complete an incident report so it is important I get the chain of events correct here." The officer took out a pad and began to note information.