A/N: Chapter is up and this fic's back in business!

If you're a NBV fan, turn away for Daikonran's favorite hobby is to chew her alive.

Horatio and his team (c) CBS, Daikonran and Secondet (c) my sister litaannkino

3, Reception

Alexx Woods had just finished weighing another victim's organs when she heard unnaturally heavy footsteps down her corridor. She instinctively took a step back towards the nearest closet; the medical examiner still had fresh psychological scars from the Hong-Kim incident so long ago. Her relief came when she heard some coughing and when Horatio later entered the morgue.

"Are you ok, Horatio?" Noting the slight pale state, she continued. "You seem to be coming down with something." Caine shook his head, hiding the blood under the ME gowns provided. "Nothing a good sleep would cure. What about our victim?"

"Ran her ten-card, Cathleen Homer, age 29, prior convictions to prostitution, drug possession and money laundering." Alexx replied as she presented her clipboard. "She lived in a motel near Liberty City, no immediate family members have called or notified her missing."

The lieutenant cocked his head, observing the mangled corpse. "Did you find any evidence of drug pellets in her system?" Alexx's expression turned into an involuntary smirk. "With what?" Noting Horatio's bewilderment, the medical examiner lifted the surgical veil to what was now a reconstructed abdomen cavity.

By simply raising the skin flaps, Horatio saw what Alexx meant; anything below the liver was gone. "COD was exsanguinations, this was done ante mortem." Pointing at the condition of the esophagus and other connecting bodily tubing further illustrated Dr. Woods' findings. "So you're saying that this woman was disemboweled while she was still alive?" "Pretty much. Whoever did this wanted all trace of baby girl's digestive system gone."

Comparing shoe sizes was a bore to Daikonran while Natalia analyzed the glove. His arguably short attention span made him anxious to go anywhere than the spot he was. The heeled prints finally gave out a predictable result; 100 match to the victim's shoes. The other, the boots, was still being processed when Kino yawned uninterestedly.

"You could at least act like a real CSI." Boa Vista chided. "You first." The gloves were tricky to manage, considering their exposure to the Miami humidity and other factors that may have degraded any DNA left.

"Am I interrupting something?" Eric Delko's voice boomed in the small area. "No if you must ask. What brings you to this corner of the lab?" Kino responded rather annoyed. "Just arrived. I wanted to check up on Natalia but you're good." The Japanese/British American grinned as he tossed Eric a notebook with Cathleen's information included. "Get set for a long one, mate; you're tracking every single one of this girl's contacts within the 72-hour timeframe." Browsing the 30-or-more items on that list, Delko chuckled sarcastically as he walked away.

Back at the crime scene, Calliegh Duquesne alias Bullet Girl arrived with a warm smile to greet Frank and Ryan, who was still halfway through processing the blood. "Did I miss something?" "No not really; just a woman with her stomach ripped open." The CSI replied tiredly. "Sounds morbid. And who am I having the pleasure of working with?" Frank raised his hand slightly. "We're interrogating a Mr. Pedro Fierari, owner of the warehouse where the vic was found." Calleigh's smile never left her face as she replied, "Well, let's bring in Mr. Fierari and find out what happened here."

Mr. Pedro Fierari was a good 5 feet 6 inches in height, short black hair pulled back by what seemed eel slime; a car dealer if either CSI or detective had ever seen one. His talk was as jittery as the twitching fingers gave away. After the 'unkind' trip to the police station half an hour later, Calleigh could see a slightly nervous mess of a man. "Mr. Fierari, you have nothing to worry about; this is a simple interrogation on your whereabouts the day Cathleen Homer was killed."

"I am telling you, I don't know her! I haven't been near that warehouse for weeks! I even gave the lieutenant proof that I was VIP at a party this weekend!" Fierari insisted, quite the opposite of the confident person he was when Horatio had first met him.

"We already know that, genius. We just want to know anyone who had access your warehouse?" Frank retorted, fed up with the roundabout. Good thing Calleigh was there or he would've snapped. "Whaddya mean access?" "Any close family members, work associates and the like." The ballistics expert added calmly. The man hesitated, Calleigh noted, before answering. "Dunno. That warehouse is property of the dealership."

"That's right, you run a car dealership over at Coral Gables. Specializing in high-named brands like Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce; a rich kid's paradise." Duquesne followed up looking through the information Frank had commissioned from the police station database at the crime scene. "We serve the best for our customers."

"For your sake, it better be just cars and a complementary mojito." Frank spat as both he and Calleigh mentally braced themselves for an afternoon with Mr. Pedro Fierari.

A/N: Reviews are welcome