Grandmas & Crime Labs
Part Four
Delko and Tripp had just finished examining the victim's home, and were now on their way to the grandson's house around the corner.
"You know Eric," Tripp said as they walked, "a part of me was astounded by the amount of medication in that woman's home. Her medicine cabinet ran the whole gamut of medications from Prozac to Ambien, and she had so much in there that I think she could have run every Walgreens and CVS in Dade County out of business, if given the chance. How are we supposed to figure out what she might have been going to retrieve?"
"I don't know Frank," Delko replied. "For all I know, she might have been going to bring every last one back to the Grandson's home because she couldn't remember what she had taken last. Relax though Frank. I did catalogue a list of all the medications I found. If I need to, I can obtain her medical records and compare those to the meds to see what she might have been on."
Tripp was about to respond, but then they found themselves outside the door of the Grandson's home. When they knocked, they were admitted by a tall woman with long, dark hair, piercing blue eyes and sharp sculpted features who introduced herself as Isabel Sanchez, who was one of Esther & Nicolas's daughters. She led them into a large family room where various other relatives were gathered. Delko noticed some small children nearby watching tv; at a table near the entrance to the kitchen, he saw the vic's husband playing some kind of card game with some woman. Isabel offered them both some hot cocoa, but they both declined.
"Thank you for taking the time to talk to us Ms. Sanchez. We are deeply sorry for your loss, especially at this time of the year. We understand your family is in mourning, so we will try to be brief," Delko said softly.
Isabel nodded, "Thank you officer Delko. Now, how can I help you officers?"
"Was there anyone that you know of who would want to hurt your mother Ms. Sanchez?" Tripp asked.
Ms. Sanchez shook her head fiercely. "No Detective. She was one of the sweetest people I knew. She would always go out of her way to help anyone. She loved her life, and adored her family, and she especially doted on her grandchildren. She wouldn't hurt a fly. This is just so shocking to all of us that she is gone."
"How's Nicolas holding up so far?" asked Delko.
Isabel gave a small snort and actually smiled in bemusement at Delko and Tripp. They shared a brief look, raised their eyebrows, and shrugged.
"Now we're all so proud of Grandpa. He's been taking this so well; sitting in there watching football, drinking beer and playing cards with Cousin Nell." She replied. She shook her head then and signed before continuing, "It's just not Christmas without Grandma, and as you can see all the family's dressed in black; and out of all the possible questions we could be asking ourselves, we just can't help but wonder, should we open up her gifts or send them back?" At that, the rest of the family began shouting "SEND THEM BACK", and it quickly descended into heated debate, but they soon decided in the end to just send them back anyway.
Just then, a voice called out from the kitchen, "Isabel, the food is ready!"
Ms. Sanchez turned back to Delko & Tripp and to her credit gave a sheepish smile, "Sorry, we were about to sit down to have a Christmas Dinner. I know you can't stay, but I would like you to come see what we have."
With nothing much better to do, Delko and Frank followed Isabel into the kitchen, where on the table sat a large, cooked goose, all done up and ready to eat. They also noticed several dishes of a pudding that Isabel explained were made of fig, and several weird-looking candles. Isabel noticed their glances. "Oh, those are blue and silver candles that we have tried several times to match the color to the hair in Grandma's wig." At that, Frank and Eric shared another look. They both realized that that meant she might have been taking medication for some kind of cancer treatment, which might shed some light on what meds she might have been trying to get, but they also realized that now was not the right time to ask about that. Besides, he could probably find what he needed to know by reviewing her medical records, Eric thought.
"Now before you go I do need to mention one other thing. Nicolas told me what my son Ricardo told your Lieutenant Caine about who he thought killed my mother. I know this sounds crazy, but I believe him! My son has never lied to me before, and I don't see why he would start now. So I've warned all my friends and neighbors that they better watch out for themselves. They should never give a license to a man who drives a sleigh and plays with elves."
Frank and Eric looked at each other and agreed it was time to get out of there, that perhaps Ms. Sanchez was drinking a little too much eggnog. "Well, thank you for your time Ms. Sanchez. We'll be by if we have any more questions." Frank said, and they both quickly left.
Meanwhile, Calleigh and Horatio were still trying to take in what Ryan said about what he thought had attacked their vic.
Calleigh was still somewhat skeptical. "Ryan, are you sure? How can it be reindeer? For one thing, reindeer don't exist, especially this far south. The only deer species I know of are the little Key deer that populate parts of the Florida Keys. Also, considering the angle at which our victim was struck, say if it was a reindeer, it would have had to been flying, and those kind of reindeer supposedly only live at the North Pole, in the imaginations of children…."
Just then her eyes went wide, and her face took on an expression that said 'You can't be serious, right?' Before Ryan or Calleigh could respond and say anything more, there was a knock on the door and Valera & Natalia came in. "Horatio, we just finished analyzing the piece of metal and the trace Ryan brought us from the victim's forehead and fingernails." Valera said.
Calleigh interrupted right then, "Let me guess, the piece of metal somehow broke off of a horseshoe, and the fur and skin came from a reindeer, right?" she asked with a bit of sarcasm in her voice.
Natalia looked at her curiously, "Err, yeah, actually. How did you know?"
Calleigh rolled her eyes. "Well, Ryan here was about to tell us that our victim was run over by flying reindeer who share names like Rudolph, Donner, Dasher, Prancer and Blitzen and who were driving a big magical sleigh." Basically, our killer is Santa Claus."
As she was speaking, she didn't notice Delko and Tripp enter Horatio's office and thus they caught most of what she said.
Frank gave a snort, "So basically what you're saying is, you expect me to believe that our killer is none other than Jolly Ole' Saint Nick himself Santa Claus? Come on Calleigh, you can't be serious! Besides, what would we charge him with? Vehicular homicide by sleigh? Yeah, I could see that going over real well in court, charging Santa Claus with murder. We would become a laughingstock all over Florida!"
"Actually, you wouldn't be too far off the mark," a new voice replied. Everyone's head swiveled to the doorway to see a tall man with short, dark hair & a woman with short reddish hair. Both were wearing clothing that screamed Feds. They walked a little further into the room. "Your front desk told us to come back here. We're looking for a Lieutenant Horatio Caine."
Horatio stood up from behind his desk and walked around. "I am Lt. Caine, can I help you?"
Their suspicion that they were Feds was confirmed when they each pulled out ID. The man spoke up first. "My name is Special Agent Fox Mulder. This is my partner, Special Agent Dr. Dana Scully," indicating the woman next to him, "we're with the FBI out of Washington, DC." Horatio inspected their ID and when he nodded his satisfaction, they put them away.
"DC huh?" Horatio asked carefully, "May I ask what brings you all the way down here? Frankly, I am a little surprised that you made it in at all, considering the weather outside."
Mulder and Scully shared a look that seemed to say 'Here goes nothing', a look that did not go unnoticed by Horatio. "Well, first of all we are not your typical FBI agents. We investigate highly unusual events that otherwise might seem difficult to explain. We call them 'X-Files'. Your little fingerprint search set off some red flags up in DC, and we were sent down to confirm if your case matches up with others that we are investigating."
Tripp raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Are you saying there are more of these cases out there?"
Mulder turned to face the Detective. "That's right, Officer..." Horatio interrupted, "Sorry Agent Mulder, I'll quickly introduce you to my team." Indicating Frank, he said, "This is Detective Frank Tripp. He is the Lead Homicide investigator on this case. Then there are my CSIs who helped collect and process the evidence, Eric Delko, Ryan Wolfe, and Calleigh Duquesne. Over by the doorway is Maxine Valera and Natalia Boa Vista, our DNA analysts who helped analyze trace we found at the scene."
Mulder nodded his thanks, and turned back to Tripp. "To answer your question, there have been incidents like this all over the country for decades. Albany, New York 1987, Bangor, Maine 1953, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1925. On each of those dates, in each of those cities, if you were to research these incidents, you would find they all shared certain characteristics: that the victims were all elderly grandmothers, that they were found on Christmas morning lying in the snow, after they had been reported missing by their families after they had all gone home to get medication and never returned." Holding up some files, Mulder added, "I figured you might want some cases to review. I know that you do not really believe what we are telling you, but if you read this, it's true."
Scully spoke up for the first time. "Lieutenant Caine, in addition to being an FBI Agent, I am also a licensed medical doctor of Forensic Pathology. If you haven't released the body to the family, I would like to take a look and examine the body for clues to see if it matches our other victims, if I may?"
Horatio thought for a moment. "I don't see why not." He turned to Ryan. "Mr. Wolfe, was Alexx finished with the body when you left?"
"I'm pretty sure she was, and I'm pretty sure we haven't released the body back to the family yet either. I can take Agent Scully down if you would like." Ryan replied.
Horatio glanced at Agent Scully and raised an eyebrow. Scully nodded in return. That would be fine with her. "Alright Mr. Wolfe, please escort Agent Scully to the autopsy lab and tell Alexx to assist Agent Scully in whatever way possible.
"Thank you Lieutenant." Scully replied, and she followed Ryan out of the office.
In the autopsy lab, Alexx had finished cleaning up the rest of the lab and was about to slide the body of Esther Sanchez into one of the storage cabinets when the door opened.
"Alexx?" Ryan called out.
"Back here Ryan," she said as she walked to the main room. "I was just about to…" she stopped when she saw that Ryan wasn't alone. She glanced from the unfamiliar woman to Ryan. "Alexx, this is Special Agent Dana Scully, FBI. She is also a medical doctor in Forensic Pathology. She is here to examine Ms. Sanchez. Agent Scully, this is Dr. Alexx Woods, our medical examiner, who performed the autopsy. Alexx, Horatio said for you to assist Agent Scully fully and completely.
"Of course. I have the body right over here Agent Scully. May I ask why the FBI is getting involved in a local homicide?" Alexx asked?
Ryan was the one who replied however, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you Alexx."
That made her pause. She looked hard at him, arms folded in front of her, "Try me."
When Ryan finished filling her in, it was only the determined expression on Agent Scully's face and Scully showing Alexx some of the other files for her to be convinced. Scully examined the body and it didn't take her long to find the proof she was looking for.
"The M.O. is the same, and this victim fits the profile. I have seen enough. Thank you for your help Dr. Woods. Mr. Wolfe, you can bring me back to your boss's office." Agent Scully replied.
When they got back to Horatio's office, a nod from Scully told Mulder what he already suspected. "Ms. Sanchez is just like the other victims Horatio," Ryan added.
Lieutenant Caine nodded. "Thank you Ryan." He turned to the two agents. "Now…how do you suggest we go from here? I'm sure you can imagine all the inherent problems we would face in not just trying to apprehend Santa Claus, but also the media circus that would accompany any trial. As Detective Tripp mentioned earlier, if word got out that our number one suspect is none other than Santa Claus and if we were to try and bring murder charges against him, our reputation and the integrity of this lab would take a severe hit."
Mulder thought a moment. "Unfortunately, in this once case, you may have to file this one as unsolved Lieutenant; for the specific reasons you claim. Of course, the decision is ultimately up to you, and the local District Attorney."
Horatio frowned in deep thought, and looked up, not at Agent Mulder, but at the various members of his team. "I hate to not have a case go unsolved and bring a killer to justice, but in this instance I'm afraid I will have to defer to Agents Mulder & Scully on this one." He watched as everyone sighed in frustration, but ultimately nodded with great reluctance. "Besides," Horatio couldn't help but give a wry look of bemusement, "imagine how it would traumatize children all over the world for life if they saw Santa Claus going to jail for murder?"