He listened to his cries of help echo through the garage until he felt himself slip into the blackness.

Chapter 2

4 Days Earlier

They approached the crime scene with care. The old man was spread eagle on his desk, slashes and blood everywhere. His dress shirt was hanging open all the way from his neck to his waist. The blood had glued his shirt to his body in places.

Eames surveyed the scene. "No defensive marks. Abrasions on his wrists. He was tied up, couldn't resist. Cuts look clean, like a dagger."

Goren nodded agreement. He motioned to the man's shirt. "Buttons were cut off, he mumbled. He caught a passing CSU officer by the shoulder. "Look for buttons." The man nodded and moved on.

Goren moved closer to the body and touched the man's skin, gently pulling back to look at one of the slashes. "Pretty deep, I'd say at least a 5 or 6 inch blade."

"What's up with the positioning?" Eames asked.

Goren shrugged. "Could be sexual, could be domination, demonstration of power…"

Eames surveyed the room, leaving Goren with the body. She saw a stack of books on the shelf. The dust pattern indicated one was missing. She nudged the photographer. "Get a picture of this," she said. He did as he was told, and then she collected the other books into evidence, scanning the titles. "These look like fashion catalogs, pretty old… 1967, 1953… 1945," she told Bobby, reading off the covers.

"There are no… nick marks on the skin near the button line of his shirt." He looked up at Eames. "The buttons were cut off…after…he was killed."

"Button," one of the CSU agents called. He held up a baggie and showed Detective Goren.

Bobby held the bag still and looked carefully. "Blue." He thanked the CSU officer and looked back at the old man's amethyst shirt.


Eames showed her badge to the nurse, and he let her enter. Bobby looked like a corpse. She shuddered, and pushed back the thought. He was still alive, even if just barely. He was on a ventilator and they were trying to replace some of the blood he'd lost.

Eames looked him over with scrutiny. His clothing had been cut off, but they had not done anything to clean him up beyond his wound. She looked closely at his bloody hands. In the fingernails of his right hand, she saw flesh. She looked out the window to the hall and motioned for a CSU officer to enter. The young woman came in hurriedly, carrying her kit. Alex held up Bobby's hand. "He got a piece of him," she explained, then moved out of the way and allowed her mind to shift back from detective mode to concerned friend. She took a deep breath and bit back tears, reminding herself again that he was still here, still fighting.

The doctor came in and checked Goren's chart. He turned to Eames, who flashed her badge. "You his partner?"

She nodded.

"Any family?"

"N-no. His mother is… in a home. Brother's an addict, good at vanishing for months at a time." She looked at the doctor and swallowed hard. "I'm it."

The doctor glanced around. This was not typical, but he knew how strong the bonds between police partners were. He nodded. "We're trying to get him strong enough for surgery. The knife damaged his bowels. We need to get in there, repair it, clean it up. We need to make sure his other organs are all right. He lost a lot of blood. It may be another hour or two before we can get him into surgery." His eyes conveyed compassion. "Stay close."


Mike Logan canvassed the crime scene with several uniformed officers. He pointed out the blood spots on the concrete. "The attack was here…" he pointed to the next one, "then he moved over there? That's pretty far for a guy with his guts cut open." Mike was chilled by his own choice of words.

"We found his cell phone over there," explained a younger detective. "It's in evidence."

Logan nodded. "He was trying to get to his phone. Call for help." He looked back to the junior detective. "His weapon?"
The man shook his head. "No sign of it."

"You guys find anything else out here?"

"Yeah." The man walked over to the car and held up a large bag containing the binder. "Just this."

"Yeah, we're gonna need that. That's where he keeps everything on the case he's working."

"We'll process it ASAP and get it back to you," the young man promised.

Logan looked back at the door to the stairwell, the blood stains on the floor, and around the garage in general. Looking back at the stairwell, he knew that Bobby hadn't seen his attack coming. He came in through the door and they were on him. Logan's face was grim.


3 Days Earlier

Leslie Hearne, the receptionist, walked into the conference room hesitantly. Goren held the door for her, thanking her for coming in. Eames held out a chair for her and she sat down.

"I'm sorry about yesterday," Leslie said. "I was just so…" She choked up and Goren saved her from explaining further.

"It was a terrible shock for you," he said. "We understand, and we're very sorry for your loss," he said sincerely.

Eames bent down next to the woman. "Can I get you anything? Coffee, soda?"

"Uhm, maybe a soda, thanks."

Eames whispered, "Be right back," and left the room.

Goren sat down with Leslie, his notebook open to a blank page and pencil in hand. "Mrs. Hearne, maybe let's just start by you running through the events of yesterday for me."

"Uh, I came in to work and the door wasn't locked. That was odd, so I went in cautiously and I noticed Mr. Purcell's door was open and-" tears started and Goren handed her a tissue from the box on the table. "I found him, on the desk like that- I ran out of the room and called 911."

"Okay, uhm, thanks." Goren wrote something down. Eames returned with a soda for Leslie and coffees for herself and her partner. She sat them down in front of each person and then settled in next to Leslie. "What about the day before?" Goren asked. "Just kind of… review that day for me."

She sipped from the cold can and started to speak. "I went in at 8 like I usually do. Mr. Purcell wasn't in yet, sometimes he comes in later on Tuesdays."

"Why?" pressed Goren.

"What does he do on Tuesday mornings?" Eames asked more softly.

"Uh, he goes to a gym, I think. He always has extra clothes with him on Tuesday mornings… well, had."

Again, Goren scribbled a note on his ledger. "Continue," he prompted.

She thought back to Tuesday morning. "At about 9:30, Mr. Purcell came in, said good morning. He took the garment bag in his office with him and I didn't see him again until after I took my lunch."

"Any calls in or out during that time?" asked Bobby.

"Only a handful. It was a quiet day."

"Is there a record of who called?" Eames asked.

She nodded, "Not all of them, because Mr. Purcell accepted some of the calls. But the rest should be in the phone message book. There was a lady. She called a couple of times, but he didn't take her call."

Eames leaned in a little. "You think her calls might be significant?"

"I don't know, she was just somebody new. And the last time she called that day, she said she was sorry for bothering me. I thought that was nice, you know? And something about the way she said 'sorry,' like she pronounced the 'O.' I hadn't really ever heard anyone say it that way before."

Goren pronounced it for them. "Soorry."

"Yeah, that was it!"

He looked at Eames. "Chicago."

"Did she leave her number?"

"No she said she'd just send him an email." Goren glanced at Eames.


Deakins was holding a bullpen session in the hospital waiting room. Eames, Logan, and Carver were all there.

"I'll get the warrants," Carver said. "We're lucky to get that DNA evidence."

"It's not luck," said Mike. "Bobby knew exactly what he was doing." Deakins and Eames' agreement was written on their faces. Logan straightened up. He hated hospitals. He turned to his Captain. "I'll go bring the bastard in."

Logan and Carver left. Deakins went over to Eames and handed her a fresh cup of coffee. He cleared his throat. "I'm going to go track down some grub. You want something? Some soup or salad, maybe?"

Alex shook her head slightly. She wasn't the least bit hungry; it was the last thing on her mind.

Deakins' face softened a bit. "I'll get you a soup. In case you change your mind." His cell phone rang as he walked down the hall. "Deakins," he barked into the phone. He was in for the long haul. In essence, he'd made the hospital his office.

Major Case had also organized a vigil around Goren and Eames. Besides Alex and the Captain, at least one of the other detectives in the squad would always be present until they knew one way or another how things were going to come out.