ADD-ON TO EPISODE INFLUENCES: Alter Boys (This was omitted from my original posting).
Chapter Four
A Hispanic man with a handsome face that showed a hint of cruelty peered through the curtains of the living room window as several LVPD squad cars and unmarked cars pulled up in front of the house. He tensed as his mind raced to form a plan, wondering angrily why the police were there in the first place. Brass stepped out of his car as Sofia exited on the passenger side. He adjusted the bullet proof vest he wore under his suit jacket, chafing at the tight fit and silently bemoaning Iris' cooking for a moment. He unsnapped his gun holster and kept it ready, hoping at the same time it wouldn't be necessary.
The man peering through the curtains was Armando Suarez whose eyes narrowed as he cursed in Spanish before he rapidly addressed his brother, Guillermo, who stood behind him. They would act casually and cooperate with the police officers so as not to arouse their suspicion.
Brass carefully approached the front door and knocked, Sofia following close behind with her weapon drawn behind her. Brass announced himself. "This is Detective Jim Brass of the LVPD. We're executing a search warrant. Open the door!"
Armando took a deep breath and then calmly opened the door. "Detective?"
"Your home is being searched for suspicion of the selling and dealing of illegal drugs, namely heroin and cocaine, and involvement in the disappearance of Taryn McGregor and Jeremy Towers. What are your names, please?" Brass demanded in a no-nonsense voice.
"My name is Armando Suarez and this is my brother, Guillermo. We are from Colombia but here in the United States on a visitor's visa and have our green cards," Armando replied in a monotone voice.
"May I see your identification, please?" Brass requested.
The brothers reluctantly produced their wallets and extracted their identification cards. Brass and Sofia both scrutinized the cards closely. The brothers exchanged worried glances surreptitiously before Brass handed them their cards back.
"We'll need you to come outside while we search the premises for your safety as well as our own," Brass instructed.
The brothers walked out to the lawn, flanked by officers as the home proceeded to be searched by several other officers and a K-9 officer with a dog specially trained to sniff out drugs. As soon as the dog entered the living room, it began to sniff excitedly and scratch at the floor before going to the hallway where it rose up on its haunches to bark at a door which opened to a basement. Brass and Sofia went there at the K-9 officer's request.
"Captain Brass, something's down in the basement and it's got my dog all worked up!" the K-9 officer cried, giving his dog a sharp tug on the leash that caused the excited animal to obediently sit.
"Thanks, Officer Torrance, your dog's earned his pay for the day." Brass now put on gloves and pulled out his pocket flashlight, opened the basement door slowly and turned on the light. Sofia followed behind him, and also gloved up, with her flashlight handy.
A disturbing sight met their eyes.
The walls of the basement had been soundproofed with special acoustic wall materials. Two beds were in separate corners. Pornographic pictures were posted on the walls by the beds, as well as adult magazines piled on the floor by each bed. A DVD video camera on a tripod was positioned by one of the beds. On a table was a set of scales with white residue dusting it and the table's surface. Several foil-wrapped packets were piled beside the scales, as well as clear sandwich bags with crushed green leafy plant material and tight Saran-wrapped little balls of white crystalline powder. Brass suddenly spied several blondish hairs on one of the beds and pointed this out to Sofia. Jim whipped out his phone to call Grissom.
"Gil, pal, I need you here like yesterday!"
"I'm about five minutes away, Jim."
"How's that?"
"I decided to head down there on a hunch."
"You had a hunch? I thought you didn't believe in hunches?"
"First time for everything, Jim. Actually I decided to come after updating Ecklie."
"Heh, okay, pal, see you in five." Brass closed the phone shaking his head at the behavior of his good friend, grateful to know the best CSI the crime lab had was in route.
Sofia noted a padlocked door and radioed for a set of bolt cutters to be brought to her by another officer. Within moments, a patrolman trotted down the stairs and went to the door Sofia stood by. He snapped through the padlock as it were butter with the bolt cutters making a brittle metallic sound. Sofia stood back again with her weapon drawn as a precaution.
Brass joined her to step inside the now unlocked room. A huge cache of weapons ranging from pistols to shotguns to AK-47 rifles were found neatly stacked as well as a variety of boxes of ammunition. Jim let go a low whistle. This was enough to supply a small army he thought to himself.
More steps were heard on the stairs as Grissom now came into the basement accompanied by Sara.
"Jim, it looks interesting down here as opposed to a very generic upstairs on a quick walk through," Grissom commented as he opened his kit. Sara had her camera ready to begin taking pictures of what was now a crime scene.
"No doubt to throw off suspicion. We've got two male suspects outside, supposedly brothers from Colombia here on visas, although I have my doubts as to the authenticity of their documents. Anyway, the drug K-9 went bananas upon coming to the door that led to the basement. We came down and found this little den of iniquity." Brass pointed toward the beds and the table with probable drugs as well as to the large storage room containing the weaponry.
"Jim also saw blonde hairs on one of those beds," Sofia mentioned to Sara.
Sara went over to the bed to photograph the blondish hairs before sealing them in a clear plastic evidence bag. She swept the bed with her UV light and grimaced at the number of whitish splotches and stains randomly occurring all over the bed. The same held true for the linens on the other bed.
"This is some party room. They've been busy boys from the look of these beds. What a place to show a girl a good time!" Sara exclaimed sarcastically.
"It's going to be my pleasure to take those clowns in for questioning, so the place is all yours for now," Brass said before he headed upstairs as Sofia followed him.
Grissom opened his kit by the table to begin collecting and cataloguing the narcotics, while Sara centered her attention on the beds. The DVD video camera would also be taken back to the A/V part of the lab for Archie to analyze after it was dusted for prints. Sara turned the camera on and her face reflected her distaste for what she saw….a young Hispanic woman being forced to perform a sexual act against her will for Armando Suarez.
"Sara?" Grissom asked, noting her angry expression. She pointed at the camera and he stepped over to the watch the scene in play.
"Griss, let me have five minutes alone with that creep up there and the pair of bolt cutters that's all I ask! I'll personally see to it he can't hurt another woman!" Better yet, let Brass have a crack at him!" Sara demanded abrasively.
"This Armando is definitely bad news, Sara, but they're in custody and with the charges that'll be forthcoming I've no doubt they'll be in prison for a long time." Grissom assured her as he took a quick moment to hug her, well aware of her passion for cases where women or children were abused or neglected.
"I really hope so, Griss, because if he's hurt her he's hurt others, maybe even Taryn McGregor," Sara whispered against his chest.
"I know, honey, I know," Grissom said in a tight voice.
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Brass and Sofia came back outside to where the Suarez brothers were standing with two LVPD officers. Just then, Iris pulled up in her Jeep with her dogs in the back. Brass saw her and headed over to greet her.
"Hey, babe, what brings you here?"
"Well, I wanted to stop and invite Grissom and Sara to your house for dinner tonight if we had time."
"The way things are going right now that may not happen, hon."
"What's the story here?"
Brass went on to quickly bring Iris up to speed with what was happening inside.
"Wow, I guess we'll have to do it some other time then. Would you two hush up!" Iris turned and rebuked her dogs as they whined loudly in the Jeep, making her think they wanted attention from Brass.
Angry barking was heard from the backyard in response to the bloodhounds.
"Sounds like a PO'd dog in the backyard," Iris remarked.
"Yeah, a pit bull and a mean one at that but he's chained to a post in the backyard. There's also a doghouse with a chain link fence around it," Brass recalled from his quick look in the backyard when he'd been in the kitchen of the house.
The bloodhounds' insistent whining now gave way to full-throated baying as if the dogs were trailing a hot scent. The pit bull responded with deep growls easily heard from the backyard. Iris gave her dogs a curious look. What did they smell that would cause them to behave so?
"Jim, something's got the dogs all fired up! They get this way when they've scented something! Can I take them through the house since you've already executed a warrant? " Iris asked urgently.
"Sure, just make sure they don't muck up anything Gil and Sara need to check over because a drug K-9 was in there a little while ago."
"Thank you, Captain Brass," Iris grinned demurely at him as he gave her a mock grimace.
Brass went back to where the Suarez brothers stood with Sofia. Armando observed Iris heading toward the house with the bloodhounds, another angry look on his face.
"Why is that woman going into our house with two more dogs? You have already been in there once with a dog! We have rights!" Armando insisted agitatedly.
Brass had had enough. "All you need to know is this: Armando and Guillermo Suarez, you are being placed under arrest for the possession of narcotics with intent to sell an illegal substance and possession of unlicensed firearms and suspicion of kidnapping in the disappearance of Taryn McGregor and Jeremy Towers. Further charges will be pending as necessary. Your rights will be read to you in English and Spanish by these officers."
"We were…" Guillermo started to reply when silenced by a savage glance from Armando who remained stoically silent. Brass observed the nonverbal exchange between the brothers with interest and made a mental note of it.
Iris approached the house with Cyrano and Durante, keeping them under control in spite of their excited snuffling at the ground as they approached the house. Brass followed behind her with mounting curiosity.
The dogs went through the living room and the hallway bathroom, the bathtub being of particular interest to them. Brass made notes as he stayed with Iris as the dogs continued their trail. They now went downstairs to the basement where Grissom and Sara continued to gather evidence. Grissom shot Iris a surprised look for her being there with the dogs.
"I stopped by to invite you to dinner at Jim's tonight but when I did the dogs started going crazy like they scented something familiar. He okayed me bringing them through," Iris explained.
"Just keep them on a tight leash, Iris!" Grissom instructed.
"Do you think they might smell Jeremy?" Sara asked Iris.
"It's possible but now it seems like they want to go back upstairs," Iris admitted as the dogs definitely gave signs of heading toward the stairway, emphasizing this with loud high-pitched whines.
"Something's got them going!" Brass agreed.
"Go," Iris said following it with a low-pitched whistle command.
The dogs rapidly climbed the stairs as Brass and Iris stayed right with them.
"Now they've got me curious," Grissom told Sara as he closed his kit and motioned for her to go with him.
In the kitchen, the dogs began to bay in earnest as they now headed for the backyard. Brass quickly opened the door for Iris to go on through with the dogs as they entered the backyard. The pit bull sighted the bloodhounds and gave a howling challenge. Cyrano and Durante were fixated on the scent and paid the other dog no attention. The pit bull pulled on its chain as it furiously pawed at the ground as it strained to reach the other dogs, little clods of dried earth flying up as its claws left deep grooves in the soil. The heavy chain was padlocked around its neck and the post it was chained to would not give in spite of the strain produced by the powerful dog.
The dogs led Iris to the doghouse that sat on a cement base and was surrounded by a recently placed chain link fence with freshly dug metal posts. Iris opened the enclosure and went in with the dogs. Each one sniffed urgently at the cement base before sitting down as their signal to Iris that here was what they were seeking.
Iris gazed at the site with a puzzled expression as Brass approached along with Grissom and Sara.
"What could interest them in a doghouse? The other dog's a male so a female in season isn't it!" Grissom wondered.
"Sorry guys, no hot date tonight!" Brass joked at the bloodhounds.
"Wait a tick…" Iris' chin went sideways twice as she gave a scrutinizing stare at the doghouse as she knelt by the slab of concrete.
"Iris, your chin deal…" Sara ribbed her, but Iris' gaze was so focused on the cement slab that she didn't pick up on her friend's humorous comment.
"This cement base looks to have been poured very recently and this chain link fence is new too. The size of the enclosure is too small for a pit bull to have ample room. The fence is too low as that dog could hurdle it without a problem. Plus it's chained to a post at the other end of the yard where it's apparent that's where it eats and sleeps. Note the worn patterns in the grass and bare tracking areas. This doesn't add up!" Iris speculated as Grissom knelt by the base and began to dig at the corner.
"This base goes down more than a few inches where a standard base would be sufficient for. We're going to need a jackhammer!" Grissom stood as Brass got on his 2-way radio. Grissom gave Iris a quick approving nod.
"This is Brass. We need some special equipment for this crime scene…!"
Within thirty minutes, the doghouse had been removed and a jackhammer was being employed to dissect the concrete slab delicately. Wearing headphones to protect their hearing, Grissom stood nearby with Sara and Brass. Iris had left to take home the dogs but was returning immediately thereafter. Brass had the Suarez brothers brought into the backyard to watch the opening of the cement slab as well as to observe their reactions. Armando continued his silence with a cold hard-eyed stare straight ahead, while Guillermo suddenly went pale upon looking at the concrete slab. He averted his eyes and held his hands over his ears as the jackhammer proceeded.
Iris had now returned with kit in hand and had gone to stand by Brass, his hand going to rest on her shoulder briefly. The officer using the jackhammer suddenly turned it off and excitedly waved at Grissom to come over. He quickly strode over with Brass and Sara right beside him. Sara's camera clicked rapidly as she took more pictures of the broken up concrete slab. Grissom knelt by the large hole created by the jackhammer, using a large paintbrush to delicately sweep aside the irregular pieces of cement. A white plastic bag was revealed that was tightly wrapped about a rounded object. As Grissom continued to gingerly sweep aside more dust and fragments of concrete, he let out a slow exhale as an entombed body was revealed in a fetal position lying on its side. The smell of putrefaction was now pungent as the body was exposed to the air. Iris also had a brush and worked in tandem now with Grissom, he noted the fact the smell of decay never caused Iris any trouble. She'd stolidly taken on the worst cases where the smells caused his other CSI's to retreat without batting an eye.
After several minutes of careful cleaning, the body was now clearly visible as Grissom wearily stood up. The young woman's curly long blond hair waved gently in the afternoon breeze as the plastic bag was slowly cut away by Iris to include as evidence. There were pronounced ligature marks on the wrists. Her pink satiny mid-riff blouse reflected a torn-away sleeve on the right side. Her jeans were dirty and stained with a white splotchy residue around the crotch area and zipper. Taryn McGregor had never stood a chance with her captors.
Armando Suarez maintained his expression of disdain, but Guillermo glanced down at the body and started to visibly shake. He began to speak in Spanish in an obvious appeal to his brother, who clouted him angrily with his fist. The two officers flanking them separated the brothers. As the men were led away, Armando's glare focused on Iris as he let go a torrent of angry words in Spanish.
Having lived several years in Dallas, Iris knew enough Spanish to carry on a decent conversation. Her face reddened slightly at the vituperative epithets Armando shouted at her now. She stood her ground and kept direct eye contact with him as his fury mounted with each step. Guillermo behaved the exact opposite and his head was bowed as he meekly accompanied the other officer to an awaiting squad car. The brothers would be transported separately back to the LVPD, booked and held for questioning.
Brass rubbed at the back of his neck as Grissom placed a call to the coroner's office for David to come release the body for return to the lab and another autopsy for "Doc" Al Robbins to undertake. Brass took out his own phone to relay the findings to Sheriff Atwater. Grissom would also do the same for Ecklie's benefit.
"Sheriff Atwater? It's Brass. Through an unexpected chain of events, we've found Taryn McGregor . No, the news isn't what we'd hoped. Yes, we're waiting on the coroner. Do you want me to notify D.A. McGregor and Mr. Towers? I understand. We do have two suspects in custody and they're being taken in for booking and questioning as we speak. The CSI's are already here and beginning their investigation…Gil Grissom and part of his team. You'll have a full report on your desk by tomorrow morning, yes." Brass' conversation with Sheriff Atwater was terse.
Grissom's call to Ecklie had gone much the same way. "Ecklie said that he and Sheriff Atwater will be here as soon as possible. Must be to make sure we're doing our job or political pressure or most likely a bit of both."
"Tell me my nose hasn't changed color," Brass grumbled as Grissom gave him an amused glance.
"Not now or ever," Iris assured him, squeezing his hand affectionately.
"Your nose looks the same, too," Sara noted with wink at Grissom who rolled his eyes.
"Sara, can you finish the basement with Iris while I take this area?" Grissom asked as Ecklie had personally requested this.
"Sure, Griss," Sara replied as Iris joined her to go back inside the house.
"If Iris hadn't dropped by with her dogs…." Brass considered as he left the rest unsaid.
"Taryn's fate would never have been known unless one of the brothers confessed, probably Guillermo, who acts like he has a semblance of conscience, and makes me wonder if that's who confessed to Father Powell," Grissom agreed.
"I'm concentrating on Armando when I get back, and Sofia will deal with Guillermo," Brass said as he planned the next phase of the LVPD's investigation.
"That's a good idea, Jim. Sara found something on that DVD recording camera in the basement," Grissom added as he went on to describe what he and Sara had seen as well as Sara's comment about the use of bolt cutters.
Brass' jaw jutted out as he agreed with Sara's thinking. "She would've read my mind then."
"Well, Jim, a DNA match has been made of a saliva sample from the envelope containing the map Father Powell brought and the fingernail remnant retrieved by Warrick and Catherine from the Mercedes Benz. Matching prints were found on the car and pay phone and this all supports a third suspect who's a Hispanic female," Grissom surmised.
Nick suddenly strode into the backyard as Sara had called him to come help Grissom so she and Iris could dedicate more time to the basement.
"Hey, boss, bad news again, huh?" Nick asked sadly.
"Nick, who called you in?" Grissom asked with a puzzled look.
"Sara did. She figured you could do with extra hands and I had nothing going when she called," Nick explained.
"Thanks for coming on short notice, Nick," Grissom said appreciatively.
Brass then noted the arrival of not only Sheriff Atwater and Ecklie but D.A. McGregor with Anthony Towers. Everybody into the pool, Brass thought to himself.
"Mr. Towers, Mr. McGregor, this is Gil Grissom and Nick Stokes. Gil is our graveyard CSI supervisor and Nick is on his team," Ecklie said to introduce his personnel quickly ahead of Sheriff Atwater who kept a neutral expression.
"Please accept our sympathies on your losses," Grissom said to both men.
"Gil is it?" D.A. McGregor said gruffly as Grissom nodded.
"Where…where's my Taryn?" D.A. McGregor now asked in a ragged voice.
"This way, sir, but I have to insist as painful as this is that you do not touch anything. We're still awaiting the arrival of the coroner to release the body."
Grissom instructed gently.
"Just take me to her, please," implored the district attorney in a voice thick with emotion.
Anthony Towers followed right behind Ian, who had been there with him when he had identified the first body found as that of Jeremy, his only son. The two men maintained a unified front of support of one another and their families in this double tragedy.
Ian McGregor stood over the site that had served as the resting place for his only child. He quivered slightly at the emotions churning inside him, memories of Taryn as a little girl morphing into the beautiful young woman he had cherished who now lay discarded in a cement tomb. His eyes were moist as he wiped at them bitterly.
"It's her. Those bastards will pay, I promise you!" Ian declared to Anthony Towers who stood sadly by him. Two fathers robbed of what was most precious to them.
"I can't tell her mother yet that an autopsy has to be performed…she's at home under sedation. This news on the heels of what happened to Jeremy has nearly caused her to have a mental breakdown," Ian McGregor told Brass and Grissom, his face reflecting the struggle to contain his emotions.
"Is there anything we can do for you gentlemen?" Sheriff Atwater asked.
"Question the vermin. We want to know exactly how this happened and why!" Anthony Towers said in a commanding fashion.
"Our investigation is ongoing between the LVPD and the CSI unit," Ecklie assured the fathers.
"Just how did you come to find Taryn? I understand you had a map and the use of dogs to find Jeremy." D.A. McGregor suddenly turned to ask Grissom.
"One of our CSI's keeps a pair of retired bloodhounds that are trained to do scent work for the Sheriff's Mounted Posse team for search and rescue. She had come by here on her own time to check in with me but had her dogs with her. We believe that the dogs scented both Jeremy and Taryn by their clothing as skin cells from each of them would be present on the clothing from mutual contact. The dogs scent trail by this method. The dogs verified by their trailing of Taryn being taken into the house and basement and finally into the backyard. The killer or killers got careless and probably had her body on the ground before placing it into the cement," Grissom summarized.
"Good work, Gil, keep your people on this! Detective Brass, thank you from one father to another," D.A. McGregor acknowledged as he and Anthony Towers left the scene.
Sara and Iris had observed the fathers of the victims coming to the scene and the sad confirmation by Ian McGregor upon identifying the body in the cement slab as his daughter. Nick and Grissom now moved to continue the process of getting the body ready to be extricated when David arrived for its release for transport back to the morgue.
Night was falling now and further investigation of the house and backyard would be continued in the morning. Grissom knew his team was tired and as soon as David arrived and the body released, they would be able to leave to get some sleep before the ongoing investigation resumed the next day. He knew swing shift had to do double duty literally for the graveyard CSI team's being focused on this case.
David came to the scene within ten minutes. Grissom and Nick were now dusted with concrete residue as they'd continued to delicately work Taryn's body free from its cement coffin.
"I hear we're two for two now," David commented sadly to Grissom and Brass.
"Yeah, but we got the scumbags responsible!" Brass said confidently, wanting to go immediately on to the LPVD to begin questioning. He knew though that a better chance of getting a confession, musing at the difference between Father Powell and himself right then, would be the next morning after the suspects had a chance to stew in holding.
"Okay, folks, let's call it a night!" Grissom said as he and Sara headed for his Denali.
"Night, all. See you in the morning bright-eyed and bushy-tailed," Nick waved as he went on to his Tahoe.
"What're your plans, milady?" Brass asked Iris as they shared a quick embrace.
"Breakfast with you somewhere," Iris replied softly.
"I'm getting a visual of you with maple syrup," Jim said suggestively with a raised brow. He needed some levity right then, submerging his feelings as a father and detective.
"You never give up, do you?" Iris mused as her fingers twined with Brass'.
"Nope, because one day it'll happen, so let's go for breakfast at IHOP. Hey, you guys want to come with?" Brass called out to Grissom and Sara.
"Sure, lead on!" Grissom hollered back.
