From Chapter 1
"Are you out of your mind?" Jo finally uttered.
"I'm just saying." Ellie shrugged her shoulders and turned her eyes back to the movie.
Jo rolled her eyes at Ellie then shook her head.
"Enough, enough now." Andrew Lincoln said as he walked away.
Enough, Jo. Enough now.
Chapter 2
"Hi boss!" Adam greeted Jo when she walked out of the elevator.
"I'm not the boss, Adam." Jo said smiling amusingly at him.
"But Mac's not here so you're the boss for now."
Jo shook her head at him. It has been a week now with no serious crimes to solve and she's getting bored already. She would prefer to solve crimes than do the paperwork. The mountain of files and folders that used to be on Mac's desk, were now decorating the top of her desk, a part of the couch, and at the floor, near the window.
Jo sighed as she entered her office and took in her surroundings.
Where are the thugs when you needed them?! Jo thought forlornly.
She sat on her chair and started working, hoping that nobody would come in, in the next few hours to give her another batch of paper works.
It was already 1PM when her mobile rang.
"Danville"
"Hey Jo, heard you're missing field work." Flack said mockingly.
"Yeah, you got one for me? Please say yes!"
"Yup. I'm gonna say yes. Text you the address." Don said amused at her childish ardor.
"Thanks Don." Jo said hanging up.
Almost 2 hours later, Jo was already beside Don, listening to him as he briefs her over, Danny and Lindsay on their tail.
"Our victim is male, Caucasian, around 28 to 32 years old, stabbed twice at the neck, wallet burned to ashes, car racer, his name's…" Don took a look at his notes.
Jo walked over to the body and sucked in a breath when she saw the face.
"I know him" Jo said almost inaudibly.
Don looked at her unsure if he heard right.
"You know him?"
"Yes, he's the son of a friend of mine." Jo was now crouching over the body to take a better look at him.
Jo nodded again, now sure of the body's identity.
"Michael Wilmer"
The CSIs then started processing the crime scene after taking in the car wreck in front of them. It was one of those Super Late Models used in paved car racing. It was smashed against the wall of the arena, no hint of it once being a car. The interior of the car was doused in gasoline where they found the supposed to be wallet at the back seat. The wallet was now a pile of ash except for some part of leather which did not burned totally.
Another three hours later, they were back at the lab.
The case was a big puzzle to piece together. Clearly, the perp did not want anybody to find something inside the car that's why it was doused in gasoline. Wilmer's wallet was found at the backseat which was unlikely because even if he did not want it in his body, he could have tossed it at the passenger seat. And why would someone bring their wallet inside the oval when he could just keep it in his locker?
Such were the thoughts that were running through Jo's mind when she was asked by Sinclair to his office.
Lindsay was looking around the lab for Jo but she couldn't find her. She had found a partial print at the car door handle that confirmed Wilmer's identity.
When Jo got back to the lab, Lindsay was about to tell her about the print but stopped when she saw her tensed expression.
"Jo, are you alright?"
"Michael Wilmer, my friend's eldest son, was also Sinclair's godson." Jo said through gritted teeth.
Lindsay was stunned with what Jo said. What a small world.
"So now he was asking us to solve this crime as soon as possible, and leave other 'petty' crimes to another team. He wanted the perp to be behind bars as soon as possible. He's practically breathing down our necks." Jo said just as she saw the file on Lindsay's hand.
"Print result?" Jo asked Lindsay.
"Yes. Michael Wilmer's."
"No other prints there?"
Lindsay shook her head.
"How about the CCTV footages around the oval? Did it capture the face of the perp?"
"Nothing on those also. Because there was no race and nobody was scheduled to use the oval, all the CCTV's were turned off. The owner said Wilmer did not have any standing appointment with them but he came this morning and asked the owner to let him use the oval. He said he just wanted to drive around, release some stress. Since he'd known Wilmer for a long time already, and nobody was using the oval nor was anybody scheduled to use it, they let him in, even without prior appointment."
"How about the perp, did he ID him?"
"No. He said Wilmer went there all by himself and did not notice anybody else went in. Even on their log book, only Wilmer was logged in."
Jo frowned.
"So either he was lying about not seeing anybody else or our perp was already there when Wilmer arrived."
Lindsay nodded.
"The walls around the oval were too high for someone to climb up to so the perp should have gotten there without climbing the walls."
"Easy access. He went through the door. Only, when?"
Danny walked towards them with a tablet in his hand.
"Wilmer was stabbed twice with a utility knife. Common one that you could find everywhere. It went through his jugular vein, making him bleed to death quickly."
Jo took the tablet from Danny which she also returned to him right away, when she realized that the answer to who killed Wilmer wouldn't be found there.
Jo looked past Lindsay and Danny and stared at the man who just got out of the elevator and then recognition dawned on her.
"You know him, Jo?" Lindsay asked, following Jo's gaze.
Sadness crossed Jo's features when she nodded her head at Lindsay.
"Jonathan Wilmer. Michael's father." Jo said, walking towards the man.
"Jonathan." Jo called out when she was near enough.
Jonathan looked up at the sound of his name and was surprised to see Jo in front of him.
"Jo?"
"Jonathan, I'm sorry for what happened to Michael."
Jo gave her old friend a tight embrace.
Jonathan nodded his acceptance and then frowned when he realized something.
"Jo, I thought you were with the FBI? Is the FBI on my son's case?"
"No, Jon. I am not with the FBI anymore, for two years now. I am now a Detective."
Jonathan smiled a little before sadness took over him, once again.
"What happened to my son, Jo?" Jonathan asked, tears glistening his eyes.
"Let's go in there." Jo said pointing at Mac's empty office.
Jo led Jonathan to Mac's office and turned on the lamps beside the door and the couch, casting the office a warm soft glow that was not too glaring, perfect for a gloomy day for the grieving man.
"I'll be with you in a minute." Jo said mentioning to the couch.
"Can I offer you anything? Coffee, tea, or water?"
"Water is fine, Jo. Thank you."
Jo nodded at him as she walked out of Mac's office.
A few minutes later she came back with bottled water in her right hand and a folder in her left.
She offered him the bottled water before sinking herself down next to him.
Jo waited for Jonathan to take a sip of water first before opening the folder.
When Jonathan saw the picture of his son, tears started pouring.
"Michael." Jonathan whispered through tears.
"We found him at the race track in Chemung. The interior of his car was drenched in gasoline and then set to fire." Jo said gingerly, watching Jonathan's reaction to her every words. Every single word that came out of her mouth was like knife stabbing at his heart over and over again.
"Have you found the person who did this to my son, yet?" Jonathan asked her, looking sadly in her eyes, hoping that Jo would say yes.
"Not yet Jon. We were still finding evidence that would lead us to the person." Jo said, not able to look him in the eyes. She couldn't imagine how painful it was to him to see his son like that but she couldn't lie to him either.
"But you will, right?" Jonathan was looking for assurance that his son would not die without justice being served.
"I will, Jon. I promise." Jo said, now looking at his eyes as she vowed to him and more to herself, that she will find the perp who did this to her friend.
"Jon, I'd hate to do this right now, but if you would answer some of my questions, it might be able to help us get to the one who did this to your son." Jo asked daringly. She knew not everybody could handle this part of the procedure, but she had to try.
Jonathan nodded his permission.
"Would you know anyone who could have motive against Michael?"
"You know how it was in the racing world. It's full of camaraderie, friendship, support, but also of betrayal, envy, competition. Everybody could be the killer."
Jo nodded, understanding what he meant. Sometimes, what you thought was a healthy competition was not anywhere healthy at all. Or, a friendly match could really turn into a deadly one.
Jo shuffled through the folder and pulled out a picture that was taken from the crime scene.
"We found what we supposed was Michael's wallet at the backseat of the car. It was burned to ashes but we could still figure out the shape of the wallet and the little piece of leather that was not able to burn off."
"Why would he bring his wallet to the oval while practicing?" Jonathan frowned at the thought.
"That is also my question. He could have left it in his locker before going out to the oval. And even if he had forgotten about it being in his pant pocket, he could have thrown it anywhere near him, or the passenger's side but not at the backseat, right?"
"Yes. It doesn't add up Jo. He had been racing for more than 20 years already. He started when he was still a little child, just learning the ropes from his dad. Then when he was a teen, he started joining competitions. He knew what to do and what not to do. And carrying a wallet was just not like him. He knew he wouldn't need it so he shouldn't be having it with him inside the car. He could have sat on it and felt the bulge so he should have taken it back to the locker, and not just throw it at the backseat. It'll just serve as a distraction." Jonathan stopped suddenly when something caught his attention.
"Jon, what is it?" Jo sensed Jonathan's hesitation and thought he might have thought of something that could provide some answers to the too many questions involving Michael's death.
"There shouldn't be a backseat, Jo." Jonathan said a renewed vigor in his stance.
"I'm sorry?" Jo was confused at his statement.
"This car. It had a backseat. But Michael's car did not have a backseat. He already had it removed right after we purchased it. This was not his." Jonathan was looking at Jo with alert expression.
Jo stared at the picture in front of them.
"Then whose car was this?" Jo muttered more to herself than to her friend.
"Maybe that was the reason why he was killed." Jonathan offered as a suggestion.
"Adam, have you found a match to the chassis number of the burned car?" Jo asked as she walked towards Adam.
"No. It was tampered, Jo." Adam said calling up the image of the chassis number.
"Every single identification marks we could use were tampered with. Someone did not want to be found."
"Have you checked his phone records and laptop? Maybe we could find something there?" Jo tried, frustration starting to get the better of her. Sinclair had just gotten off the phone with her, asking her to give him even a name or anything at all, but she couldn't give him anything because she didn't have anything.
"Actually I found something from his laptop. There was an album here that was full of pictures that resembled the burnt car. There's nothing else though, aside from the car. Nobody around it, no captions, no background sceneries that we could work with. Dead end, Jo. I'm sorry." Adam said shrugging frustratedly at the pictures on his computer screen.
Jo squinted her eyes at the pictures on the screen.
"Wait a minute, Adam. Can you zoom here please?" Jo asked, pointing the small area to Adam.
"Yes. That's our clue. That's the signature of the shop where the car was redesigned. Search on the company name, Adam. Call me when you have it."
It was already nearing midnight when Adam went into her office.
"Jo, I found the shop and the address. The main branch was in Alabama…"
Jo's head snapped up to look at the tablet Adam was reading from, when she heard her hometown.
"…but they also have one here in New York, Queens to be exact." Adam continued, aware of the deep frown that had etched itself to Jo's forehead.
"I know this." Jo said, quite unbelieving her eyes.
"It was Wilmer's. It was Jon's shop." Jo shut her eyes. How was she supposed to tell Jonathan that the suspect who had killed his son was their client?
That night, Jo had a hard time sleeping. She couldn't shake off the image of Jon earlier that night. The anguish he felt over his son's death left a mark in Jo's mind. She couldn't imagine going through the same situation and she felt very vulnerable. Now that Tyler was living away from home, she couldn't be sure what he was doing in his free time. She knew she taught him everything that she thought he should know about the society but temptation could be too good to pass up. That was what scared her the most. She trusted him but everything could change with just a single, unintentional, wrong move.
She finally fell asleep somewhere between 2 and 3AM, with thoughts on how to tell Jonathan of the result they had found in his son's laptop, clogging her mind.
