Getting Too Close
Chapter 2
One week earlier . . .
A loud, shrilling noise cut through the silent darkness. Lindsay Monroe emitted a loud groan and reached over her nightstand, searching blindly for her cell phone. Another piercing 'ring' went through the air, instigating Lindsay to be more desperate in her search. Her fingers finally encircled around a thin, cool object. Lindsay glanced at the caller ID. Mac Taylor. Lindsay sighed. Of course it was her boss; who else could it have been?
Lindsay flipped her phone open. "Yeah, Mac?"
"Lindsay? Sorry to be calling so early."
The young brunette rubbed her eyes as she tried to suppress a yawn. "No problem. So what's the problem?"
"A five year old's body was found in a dumpster near Central Park. Danny and Flack are already at the scene. I need you there, too."
Lindsay nodded, and almost smacked herself for doing so. It wasn't like Mac could actually see her through the phone. "Sure thing," she said.
Mac gave her the address and Lindsay quickly showered and got dressed. She took a quick glimpse at her watch. It was four in the morning.
'A CSI's work is never done,' she reflected.
Upon arriving at the crime scene, Lindsay suddenly felt unsure. Something in her gut told her this case was not going to be simple and trouble-free. A few NYPD patrol cars, with their light sirens still blaring, were parked on the street. Lindsay promptly parked her own behind what she recognized to be Danny's SUV.
Lindsay made her way through the crowd of goaded cops and fervent reporters. Danny was taking photos while Flack was talking to two local sanitary officials.
"Hey," she greeted Danny.
He snapped a few more shots before greeting her. "Morning, Montana."
Lindsay rolled her eyes at the nickname. "Quite a wake up call, huh?" she said, settling down her kit.
Danny walked slowly around to the other side of the dumpster and smiled at her. "Not a morning person, are we?"
"Not since I left Montana," Lindsay replied, shaking her head. "So, what have we got?"
"Five year old male," Flack answered for Danny. He walked over to the two CSIs, flipping through his notes. "Found a little under an hour ago by a couple of garbage men. They said they were coming by to pick up the trash when they saw an arm sticking out of a Hefty plastic bag. Called 911 immediately after that. They're both a little disturbed by the sight."
Lindsay nodded absentmindedly as she slipped on her latex gloves. Turning on her flashlight, she walked to the edge of the dumpster. Nothing could have prepared her for the sight she saw. Lying in a mangled mess was the body of a child – slashed and cut. Dark, red blood seeped from the open wounds and dripped onto the surrounding garbage. His sun-kissed blonde hair was crusty with blood, and his skin was white and pasty. Lindsay inaudibly gasped. There was just so much blood.
"You all right, Monroe?"
Blinking away her shock, Lindsay turned around and gave a half smile to Danny. "I'm fine," she replied. "Did we determine the cause of death?"
Danny shook his head. "I think it's pretty obvious, but you never know. We'll have to confirm it with Sid."
Lindsay carefully pushed back some of the garbage in the dumpster to get a closer inspection of the victim. "What about the time of death?"
"Judging by how fresh the gashes are, I'd say maybe two or three hours," Danny said, walking off to take more pictures.
He snapped another shot in the corner of the alley. "Hey," he called to Lindsay. "I found some traces of blood here."
Lindsay nodded as she maneuvered her flashlight around the dumpster. She couldn't help but shiver. The little guy was still wearing his pajamas. He was dragged out of his sleep in the middle of the night and killed. Lindsay frowned. Who would do such a thing? Who could do such a thing?
"Coroner is here," Flack announced. "We need to bring him back to the lab to process his body. The two of you done with everything?"
"Yeah," Lindsay said. Whoever this killer was, he was good. There were no signs of any identifiable prints.
Back at the lab, Lindsay couldn't concentrate. Danny had found some threads at the scene, but it matched the tear in Jake Price's pajamas – it didn't belong to the killer. The blood he'd discovered splattered against the wall of the dumpster matched Jake's, also. Those two facts only confirmed a struggle may have taken place, but it said nothing about who it was Jake Price had struggled against.
Lindsay lifted her head from the microscope and rubbed her temples. Three whole days on the case and there was nothing new. No breaking evidence. Not even a murder weapon. The parents had been informed, questioned, and interrogated individually, but still nothing. Lindsay couldn't get the sight of the weeping mother out of her head. She was so devastated; she'd collapsed immediately after being told, right into her husband's arms. Lindsay hated that part of her job.
A loud knock on the door snapped Lindsay out of her trance. She looked up into a pair of concerned eyes.
"Are you all right, Lindsay?" Stella asked. She was holding a file in her hand.
Lindsay almost groaned. That question had been circulating around her a lot lately.
"I'm fine," she answered for the millionth time. "Is that the result of the stains from our vic's pajamas?"
Stella placed the folder on the lab table for Lindsay. "Yes it is, and you're guess was right. It was chloroform."
Lindsay opened the report and glanced at it quickly. "So the chloroform was on the clothes, which seeped through to the body."
Stella nodded. "But it wasn't anywhere near Jake's nose," she added.
Lindsay grabbed another folder containing Jake's profile. "However, it was close enough for Jake to smell it, therefore causing him to become somewhat lightheaded. He was conscious enough to know what was going on, but not conscious enough to fight back. Or at least, fight back strongly. He struggled, but not enough to save his life," she said, reading over the notes on Jake's processed body. "That would explain the hints of sleep induced chemicals found in his nostrils and the state of his brain patterns from Sid's x-ray."
The tired CSI slapped the file on the lab table, irritated. This stuff was important, but it only reinforced what happened. It said nothing about who made it happen.
Stella reached out a hand and patted Lindsay's lighted. "Keep your chin up, Lindsay," she consoled. "Everyone on the team is working this case. We'll catch this guy."
Lindsay smiled jadedly.
Another knock sounded at the door, causing both women to look up.
Danny smiled sheepishly. "Am I interrupting something?"
Stella shook her head. "Only a little girl talk," she said, and then returned her attention to Lindsay. "Just keep doing what your doing. Keep processing. And have a little faith. That goes a long way. I'm going to check on Adam and see if he's found anything in the garbage of our dump site."
With that, she left.
Danny watched Stella's retreating form before questioning Lindsay. "Girl talk, huh?"
Lindsay quirked the corner of her lip slightly. "Nothing you would want to know."
Danny studied Lindsay for a moment before he changed the topic. "So, I heard it was chloroform."
Lindsay sighed. "Yeah. Chloroform."
"So what about the thread I found?" he asked hopefully.
"It belonged to Jake Price," Lindsay answered.
Danny heard the disappointment in her voice, and nudged her gently with his shoulder. "Something will come up, Monroe. Keep hope alive."
Lindsay shut her eyes and tried to block out all her rage and aggravation. Something will come up. They'll get a break in the case. They had to. For Jake's sake.
Back to the present . . .
They couldn't get a warrant to search the parent's home or the brother's dorm. Every single one of them tried to find a loophole, but it all pointed to one problem: lack of strong evidence. Everyone was at his or her wits ends.
Lindsay flipped through the law book for the hundredth time, but there was no luck. New York state law clearly confirmed that without solid proof, a warrant could not be issued.
'I guess intuition isn't proof enough,' Lindsay thought, dejectedly.
Everyone knew that they wouldn't be able to get anywhere if they couldn't search the house. Just one piece of evidence that pointed at either the parents or the brother would be sufficient enough to obtain a warrant, but they didn't have that. And now, the team was short three CSIs. Mac, Stella, and Hawkes were investigating the murder of a bartender.
"Monroe! Hey!"
Lindsay's head snapped up at her name being called.
Danny rushed into the lab and nearly slammed into the lab table in an attempt to keep himself from sliding.
Lindsay arched an eyebrow at her partner's behavior. "Where's the fire?"
"No fire," he replied excitedly. "More like 'where's the evidence?' "
Lindsay blinked. " . . . huh?"
Danny walked hastily around the lab table and grabbed Lindsay's arm, dragging her out of the lab. "Oh man, you – " he paused to point at Lindsay, " – are going to love me. I was finishing up the last pile of trash with Adam, and you are never going to believe what I found."
A sense of optimism began surging through Lindsay. "What?" she asked.
They entered another lab and Danny let go of her arm. He disappeared behind the enormous mound of trash that was in the middle of the room. Needless to say, it smelled worst than it looked. Danny hurried back to Lindsay, who was waiting at the door.
He held up something metal – possibly silver – that looked charred. "What would you say if I told you this was a potential murder weapon?"
Lindsay smiled her first genuine smile in days. "I'd say you were right."
Danny's eyes flickered in confusion. "Right about what?"
Lindsay took the burnt object from Danny and examined it. "I do love you."
They both returned back to their lab to process the item. Danny rubbed and cleaned off the burnt excess. He held it underneath a carefully placed light.
"It's definitely silver," Danny confirmed. "Looks like the rest of it was melted away."
Lindsay leaned over Danny's shoulder to take a look. "It's a handle," she said breathlessly. "The handle to a knife."
Danny licked his lips eagerly. "The knife that may have killed Jake Price."
At that moment, Mac and Stella barged into the room. Danny and Lindsay looked up, surprised.
Lindsay acknowledged them with a smile. "You're not going to believer this. Danny and I may have found the murder weapon that was used to kill Jake Price. We finally have a break in the case."
Mac nodded. "That's good. I do believe it. But there's something else that the two of you are not going to believe."
Danny and Lindsay exchange looks of perplexity. "What are you talking about, Mac?" Danny asked.
"We found blood traces and a fingerprint on our bartender," Stella stated.
"That's . . . good," Lindsay commented, still puzzled.
Stella exhaled noisily. "The blood traces belonged to Jake Price. The finger print matched Jake's father."
Danny and Lindsay looked at each other with incredulity.
"Told you, you wouldn't believe it," Mac noted.
(A/N)
Sooooo, how was it? R&R and let me know!