"So what have we got, Ella?" Horatio asked the next day.
"Well, I've found a few fibres in the bag," she looked at him shyly, "I've also have been looking around the garage." She sighed. "I think we have a secondary crime scene up the hill, Horatio."
Horatio looked at her from the photographs, the lighting not giving justice to the unique red of his hair. Dressed in a well cut black suit with a startling white shirt, Horatio made an imposing picture. Ella on the other hand, sitting on the floor with multitudes of crime scene photographs and a pencil holding her hair from her face, looked tired and frazzled.
"What did you find?" he crouched down to her eye level.
"Drag marks in the dirt around the back of the garage," Ella pointed out a few pictures. "They all lead back to the dock where I am very sure that a boat as moored recently with these rope marks on the pole," she indicated to a few others. "And until we find that boat, we don't know anything more about what happened and we don't have a primary crime scene."
Ella sighed violently in frustration, causing a tendril of hair to fall in her face. "I found out something else with Alexx. There were children's heads, Horatio."
Horatio looked at her compassionately. He had left her place late the previous night and ended up not sleeping at all. Despite the lack of sleep, he felt remarkably refreshed as he turned up for work. However, he noticed Ella was more run down than he was. Several times Isabelle had woken up with nightmares while he had been visiting and Horatio assumed that Isabelle had woken up a few more times after he had left. He remembered that the few times that the young child woke up were particularly harrowing for Ella as she tried to consol her screaming daughter.
"How are you feeling?" Horatio tucked the runaway hair behind her ear.
"Drained," she replied. "Isabelle couldn't get back to sleep after you left. She spent the night tossing next to me."
"Alright, here is what I want you to do," he began, giving her a soft smile. "I want you to take a break, talk to Isabelle and then go back to the crime scene." She met his gaze. "Stay the night with me. Isabelle probably needs to get away from the house for a while and I think you two need to take a break."
Ella smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Horatio."
"It's my pleasure. I am going down to see Alexx about those skulls. I will meet you back here in about three hours. Is that enough time for you?"
"It should be. However, if I need more time I'll page you," Ella answered, picking up the pictures. Horatio began helping her, only to fall back as their foreheads connected. Grunting in slight pain, he looked over at Ella who was holding her forehead and laughing at him. Grinning, Horatio stood up and offered her his hand. Taking it, Ella allowed him to haul her up.
"I'm going to see if I can get Tim to work through these fibres on my way out." Giving Horatio a tender smile, Ella started to gather her things, only to be pulled into a gentle kiss.
"Horatio," she said softly, a hand placed on his chest.
"I know that we shouldn't so this at work," he began, "but I had to."
Giving him a soft look and a caress on the cheek, Ella picked up the few envelopes and made her way out the door.
"Hey baby," Ella said, phone tucked between her shoulder and ear as she made herself a coffee.
"Hey mommy. Clare and I have been baking with your cookie book," Isabelle said cheerfully.
"That's great, honey. What are you making?" Ella laughed.
"Chocolate fudge. Do you think Horatio will like them?" Isabelle asked.
"Well, I was wondering if you would like to accept Horatio's offer for us to stay at his place for the night." Ella paused for a moment, letting the offer sink in. "It would give you the chance to test your cookies on him," she added, trying to sweeten the deal.
Ella took a mouthful of coffee, knowing that Isabelle was analysing the offer. She felt particularly blessed to have a daughter that had a very analytical mind. It made Isabelle one of the smartest students in her school.
"How far is Horatio's house from ours?" Isabelle asked finally.
"A couple of streets over," answered Ella.
Isabelle paused for a moment. "I don't want to disturb you two if I have nightmares again, mama," Isabelle sounded distressed at the thought.
"Horatio thought that perhaps if you were away from home for a bit that you might be able to get some sleep."
"Alright, but if I have nightmares I want to go home. Horatio is nice and I don't want him to think that I am a complete sissy," Isabelle warned.
Ella laughed and agreed. After a few more minutes of chatter, she got off the phone and finished her coffee. To be completely honest with her, Ella was worried that perhaps she and Horatio were going a little fast. However, she had spent the night at his place before, mainly going over cases and bouncing ideas with him. She had to consol herself with that fact. Pretend that it was a work visit. After all, she did have a lot of work to go over and Ella did want a chance to go over the X-rays and try to put faces and identities with the decapitated heads that were in the ME's office.
Rinsing her cup, she placed it next to Horatio's and Calleigh's before gathering her evidence and walking over to Tim in Trace. Rick Stetler passed and gave her a curious glance before continuing. Ella blushed, knowing that her hickey was still visible despite all of her attempts otherwise. A few of the techs had given her a decent ribbing and Horatio tended to get a smug grin playing at the corners of his lips every time he glanced at it.
Just as she got to the door, she paused. Calleigh and Tim were engaged in a heated embrace in one of the darker corners of the room. Ella would not have noticed it if she did not see a lock of blonde hair underneath Tim's arm. To be perfectly honest, Ella would not have thought it was Calleigh if they had not of had the girl's night a few days before. Knocking, Ella walked in, giving a subtle cough, alerting her presence. Snicking as they sprang apart, Ella looked at Tim.
"Can you run these for me? Horatio wants me to go back to the crime scene and I really need these done." Ella waited patiently as Tim tidied himself a little.
"Um…sure, I'll get right on to it."
"Thanks Tim." Ella walked to the door before turning, "You have a bit of gypsy red on your lips. It really isn't your colour."
Ring, Ring.
"Ella Marshall speaking." Ella said while looking at a print.
"It's Horatio," came the husky voice on the other end.
"Hey, I think I may have a lead," Ella said as she poured a casting into the print.
"You seem to have better news than what I do." She sat back on her haunches and waited patiently for the plaster to dry. "Bad news first, I always say."
"There was a baby's corpse amongst the heads, Ella." Horatio sounded apologetic. Feeling her blood freeze, Ella turned her full attention to the conversation.
"What was the cause of death?" she said quietly.
"Poisoning. Some animal poisoned a three week old baby." Ella could tell how angry Horatio was by the cold fury in his voice.
She sighed, running a hand through her hair that had long since come out of its holding. A criminalist always hated to hear or work on a case when a baby was killed. As a mother herself, Ella could not see how a person could kill their child. It chilled her to the born. Not envying Alexx, Ella decided to try and consol Horatio.
"We are going to catch these animals, Horatio," Ella said fiercely. "You have my word."
Almost hearing him mull over her words, Ella picked up the now dry plaster and put it into an evidence bag.
"So what leads do you have?" He finally asked.
"Well, I checked with the real estate records about who owned the place. Apparently, a Mr and Mrs Spelling own this house and a motor boat. Hold on for a sec." Ella took a few photographs. "Sorry. Anyway, they have three kids and had a baby that was about three weeks old. I asked around about them and the neighbours say that they have not heard anything about the baby for about a month. Did Alex say anything about the time of death?"
"Around the same time," Horatio sighed. "I think that it is time that we talk to Mr and Mrs Spelling."
Ella pulled her hair back and slipped it into a flawless knot. Horatio glanced at her with a slight grin. Returning the sentiment, she looked out at Miami as they drove to the Coral Groves.
"We don't have enough for a warrant, do we?" Ella asked softly.
"Only circumstantial evidence, not really enough for even the most favourable judge," Horatio answered. "These people own a few houses and several boats which the husband uses as an excursion service for tourists. They have three boys ranging from seventeen to thirteen. What about that shoe print you lifted?" He glanced at her through his sunglasses.
"Size twelve, big enough for a teen or an adult male. The weight is distributed normally and is a converse sneaker with a distinctive wear pattern. I brought a print for comparison, just in case," Ella listed, to the satisfaction of Horatio.
"Good work, we'll be able to use that. Make sure that you bring some shoe lifts in with your kit." Horatio instructed.