CSI Miami: Targeted
Part Seven
Horatio watched Alana through the glass. His CSI sat at the table with one hand rubbing her forehead like she had a headache; she probably did the way that Rick had been going at her.
He turned as Stetler came up beside him. "I've already cautioned her." He said to Horatio turning away from the window.
"She didn't have anything to do with this, Rick." Horatio replied.
"I'm going to need something more then your blind faith in your team to make me drop this case." Stetler answered. "We have video, ballistics,and she's hiding something."
"Give me a day." Horatio said. He stopped Stetler's next words with a look. "One day, Rick, and I'll get you the proof you need to drop this case."
"Fine." Stetler replied after a moment. "You have twelve hours."
Horatio nodded and then turned back to the window, signalling that the conversation was over. He heard Stetler walk away, then he pulled open the door and stepped into the conference room.
Alana looked up and then stood once she realized who it was. "Horatio..."
"How are you holding up?" Horatio asked coming around to her side of the table.
Alana laughed quietly. "Fine. Except for the fact that I've been accused of three murders and tampering with evidence. Otherwise I'm just fine."
"He makes a good case, Alana." Horatio replied. "I can't help you if you don't tell me the truth. I need you to be honest with me. What exactly happened?"
"When?" Alana asked crossing her arms. "In the A/V Lab, or the night my partner was murdered? You know that answer the last one."
"Tell it to me again." Horatio replied.
Alana glanced away for a moment, composing herself and then looked back at Horatio. "Steven and I were working a drug case and our informant mentioned something about certain cops being involved. We decided to check it out and quietly made some inquires. Obviously, we asked in the wrong places because some guys in ski masks paid a visit to my apartment."
Alana's voice was distant as she recalled the events of that night. "One of them pulled a gun on me. I fought with him. The gun went off. Steven... Steven got hit and the guys took off." Alana took a deep breath as she remembered what had happened next, but she didn't share it with Horatio.
"This is it, isn't it?" She asked.
Horatio didn't reply.
"Isn't it?" Alana persisted.
"It... it doesn't look good." Horatio admitted. "But, I don't want you to dwell on that right now. Right now, I need you to tell me anything you remembered about that night. What happened in the A/V lab? Did you see anything unusual?"
Alana shook her head. "Nothing. Everything was normal."
Something in her tone didn't sound right. Horatio looked intently at his officer. "Is there anything I should know about?" He asked. "Your eye?"
Alana touched the fading bruise around her eye. "I told you. I fell." She replied dropping her hand.
"You're lying to me, Alana." Horatio told her. "What's really going on?"
Alana hesitated and looked like she was about to say something, but was interrupted by Stetler coming back into the room.
He motioned. "We're going to keep you here for twelve hours. Then we'll move you down to booking."
Eric had set himself up in the layout lab to start going back through the Jennings and James cases. He had just finished laying out all the crime scene photos when Calleigh walked in.
"Are these the crime scene photos?" She asked gently touching the edge of the one.
"Yeah." Eric replied. "H wants me to go back through them and find anything we missed. And try to clear Alana." He added.
Calleigh picked up the photo showing Erika's body. "I can't believe that she could do something like this; whatever the evidence says."
"But if the evidence doesn't lie...then where are we?" Eric asked.
"A frame job?" Calleigh suggested replacing the photo with the rest.
Eric nodded. "That's my theory." He picked up one of the photos and eyed it. "Now I just have to prove it."
"We." Calleigh corrected, coming around to stand beside Eric. She looked at him. "I've been kicked out the gun lab for the time being so consider me free."
Eric smiled and moved over to give his colleague more room. "Let's get to work."
Speed ignored the pile of clothing he had to re-go through and instead made his way down to holding. Something wasn't adding up. Alana wasn't the kind of person to commit any crime, let alone three murders even if the evidence was stacking up against her.
Someone was trying to hurt her and a frame job seemed more then probable at this point. He couldn't get her face out of his mind; the image was stuck in the moment where she had been fully prepared to shoot him. Someone was making her afraid and he needed to know who that was.
The officer of duty let him in without hassle and closed the door behind him. Alana looked up at him, but didn't get up. She looked tired and part of him knew that he hadn't helped with that.
"How you doing?" He asked dragging the chair over to her side of the table.
"Still waiting for you to get me out of here." Alana replied. Her small smile told him that she knew it wouldn't be happening for a while.
"We're working on it." He replied.
If anyone had looked in on them, they would have been able to pick up on what their body language was saying rather quickly. Alana was sitting almost sideways in her seat, facing Speed. Both of them were comfortable with each other; something that spoke of more then just a work relationship.
"You shouldn't be here." Alana told Speed after a small pause.
"I know." Speed replied. He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. He touched his elbow to hers.
Alana smiled. "What do you know?" She asked quietly.
"Nothing good." Speed told her. "Everything that Stetler is basing his case on is watertight, Alana. It looks like you did it."
"But I didn't." Alana hissed angrily. "You should know better then anyone that I wouldn't murder innocent people; ever."
"Knowing it and proving it are two different things." Speed replied.
"I know." Alana glanced up the officer walked past the window so he could see their faces. "I just... you need to get me out of here."
"We're working on it." Speed assured her. "Horatio's got us going back through the original cases; trying to find something that might explain why your case seems to connected. We'll get you out of here. Can I get you anything?"
Alana leaned forward. "I need you to get the gun out of evidence." She said quietly. "You have to check it out; it's not my gun."
"There's no way to prove..." Speed replied.
"There's no other way Stetler could've gotten a positive match." Alana interrupted. "Unless someone switched out my gun with the one that was used in... all three murders. Speed, someone's trying to frame me."
Eric sighed as he replaced the photo had had been studying back on to the table. "Nothing." He said disgustedly. "And that was the last one too."
Calleigh didn't say anything as Eric started to gather up the photos to replace in the file. "Wait!" She said suddenly, grabbing his hand as he started to slide the photos in to the envelope. Calleigh grabbed the topmost photo and shoved it under the light.
It was the photo taken outside the bathroom where Erika James had died. There was blood spatter all over the door frame and Eric could see that there was a void within the spatter; a void that he had missed.
Calleigh pointed to the void in the splatter. "How tall do you think that door is?" She asked Eric, who was now by her side.
"Seven feet at the most." Eric replied, frowning at the photo.
"Look at where the void stops." Calleigh said pointing to the top of the door frame. "The person had to be over six feet to create that tall of a void. And Alana..."
"And Alana isn't even six feet." Eric finished for her. He grinned. "Nice catch, Calleigh." He grabbed the photo and headed towards the door. "I'm going to go tell Horatio. Alana's off the hook for one of the murders."
Horatio had taken his own advice and was in his office, the original case files spread out on his desk. Greg Jennings, Erika James, and Steven Gallagher. For some reason, Officer Gallagher's case seemed to be connected to the other investigations and Horatio intended to find out why.
Alana had a connection to all three cases; she had worked two, and had been a part of one. Horatio picked up the file that held the details of the investigation that Alana and her partner had been conducting. They had been investigating a claim made by an informant about cops engaging in criminal activity to further their salaries.
Their investigation had mostly taken place on the street as they had been wary to involve IAB; Horatio didn't blame them. They had been able to find out a great deal from the folks on the street and then Alana had been attacked. The report was detailed and written in Alana's neat script. It followed the same basic outline of event that she had given him.
But something didn't add up. Horatio flipped to the last page and found what he was looking for. The last page of the file contained a DA's warrant, telling exactly what they were investigating and planned to prosecute. Greg Jennings had been the primary signer.
Horatio dropped the file back onto his desk. Things were beginning to fall into place; they now had a motive. He looked up as Eric stepped into the officer, knocking quickly on the door frame before admitting himself. Calleigh came in close on his heels and Horatio knew that they had found something.
Eric dropped the photo onto Horatio's desk. "Quick question." He asked as Horatio picked up the picture. "How tall is Alana?"
"Five-six." Horatio replied promptly, glancing over the photo. He looked up. "Why?"
Calleigh and Eric quickly explained what they had found to Horatio.
"Do it by the book." Horatio told them. "Go to the house and measure the frame. Make it airtight."
"You got it." Eric replied.
"And good work." Horatio told them before they could leave. "You just proved that Alana didn't shot Erika James."
"Thanks, H." Eric replied with a grin. He turned to leave the office and almost crashed into Speed who had been lurking outside the open office door. "Speed." Eric greeted his colleague. "We found proof that Alana didn't kill Erika James; blood splatter." He said showing the picture to Speed.
"That's great." Speed replied returning the photo. He turned to Horatio. "Can we talk?" He asked.
"Sure." Horatio nodded.
"We'll see you later." Calleigh said as she and Eric took off down the hallway to go and check out the James house.
"What's on your mind?" Horatio asked, motioning Speed towards one of the chairs in his office. Speed didn't sit, preferring to stand instead.
"Alana says she was framed." Speed said. "She says that someone switched out her gun. I believe her."
"So do I." Horatio replied. He showed Speed the ADA's memo he had found which gave Alana and he partner permission to conduct an investigation into corrupt cops. "Why would Alana and Steven start an investigation into corrupt cops when they were ones themselves?"
Speed took the paper. "This could just be used against her." He said, looking up from the document. "As proof that she had motive to kill Jennings because he knew too much."
"Or it could be used to clear her." Horatio replied. "Alana's report shows that there's more to this corrupt cops situation then just men trying to make a few extra dollars on the side. Apparently there is an entire network of law enforcement officials taking bribes and using informant's information to grab the proceeds for themselves instead of turning them over to the correct officials."
Horatio picked up a case file from his desk. "I also have the report that Jennings had written and given to the DA for safekeeping. Jennings's indicated that he thought that the FBI might even be involved."
"Wonderful." Speed muttered. "So this is a federal case now."
"Would have been if Jennings hadn't been killed." Horatio replied. "The disk that was stolen would've given us everything; names, dates, places. Someone went to a lot of trouble to make sure that we didn't see what was on that disk."
"That's just great." Speed commented, replacing the paper on Horatio's desk. "So the one thing that can clear Alana's name is missing. I'm going to see if I can get ahold of her gun. Maybe there'll be something there that can help us prove that it isn't hers."
"Good idea." Horatio encouraged. "I'm going to go through Jennings's personal effects."
Eric and Calleigh walked up the steps to the James's front yard, kits in hand. A man was tearing down the crime scene tape that was stretched across the porch; a jumpsuit was pulled down to his waist.
"Excuse me!" Eric called, getting the man's attention. He turned around as they approached him and Calleigh could clearly see the logo of the private firm that the city contracted for crime scene clean-up.
"Did you already clean up the scene?" Eric asked, holding out his badge for the man to look it.
"Yeah." The man replied, gathering the tape into a ball in his hands. "My boss told me to come down and clean it up. Why?" He asked seeing their faces as the two CSI's glanced at each other. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No." Eric replied with a sigh as he slipped his badge back onto his belt. "You did exactly what you were supposed too."
The man shrugged as he reached back for his gear that he had left on the steps of the porch and then walked past them towards his dark red truck.
"Great." Eric said with a disbelieving look. "The only piece of evidence; gone."
"The photo should be enough for Stetler to back down." Calleigh told Eric.
"Hopefully." Eric muttered. He turned around as a car drove into the driveway. "Who's this?" He asked glancing over the car.
"The husband." Calleigh replied quietly as a tall, dark-haired man got out of the driver's seat. He spotted them immediately and started towards them. Behind him, Calleigh could see a young boy's face peering out of the car window.
"Hey!" Mark James yelled. "Who are you?"
"Crime Lab, sir." Eric replied, once again pulling out his badge and showing it to the man.
"I want you off my property right now." James ordered. "You people have done nothing but harass me when you should be out there looking for my wife's killer."
"That's what we're trying to do, sir." Calleigh replied.
Eric butted in before James could reply. "We'll leave. Sorry to disturb you. Calleigh."
Both of them turned around and walked down the walk and onto the street where the Hummer was parked across the street.
"What does he think we're trying to do?" Calleigh seethed. "If he used to be a cop you think he'd know how we follow the evidence."
"I don't think he cares about the evidence, Cal." Eric replied. "I wouldn't if my wife had just been murdered and the cops were looking at me for it when I didn't do it. And he didn't." He reminded Calleigh as he opened the driver's door to the Hummer.
"I know." Calleigh replied. She walked around the front bumper and opened the passenger, climbing inside the vehicle. "I just wish the evidence could point us towards someone who wasn't one of our own."
Back at the Crime Lab, both Horatio and Speed had retreated into their separate labs; both with tasks to accomplish. Speed had managed to get a hold of Alana's gun that was being held in evidence and was now testing it again to see if it was the same gun used in both of the murders.
While IBIS was searching for bullet matches, Speed was swabbing the gun in every surface imaginable to see if he could get a fingerprint or some DNA to prove that it wasn't Alana's gun. He placed the gun under the microscope and was studying the trigger guard when a thought stuck him as he came across the serial number.
He grabbed a pen and paper and wrote down the serial number of the gun before sliding his chair over to the computer and pulling up Alana's police file; all officer's profile's recorded the serial numbers of their duty weapons. He scrolled down and found the correct box. He grabbed the notepad on which he had written the serial of the first gun and compared the two numbers.
At first glance they seemed to match, but Speed took a closer look and then a slow smile spread over his face. He tapped on the keyboard again and entered in the serial number he had taken from the gun used in the murders. His eyes widened as he scanned the page that the search engine gave him.
Quickly, he printed out the results and went in search of Horatio.
Horatio had gone into the evidence lockup and had signed out all of Jennings's personal effects that had been brought over from his office and home. Ignoring the large pile of case files that had been taken from Jennings's home office, he instead searched through the boxes for a date book or journal; something to give him insight into the investigation.
He found a date-book and an address book. The address book held nothing of interest, but the datebook was full of names, places, meetings. Horatio flipped through the pages until he came to this week. Jennings's had a full calender this week as he was bringing two cases the trial, but a meeting on the morning when his body had been discovered caught Horatio's eye.
The meeting was set for ten-thirty with an A.H. Horatio grabbed the address book and flipped through it until he came to the H's; there was no A.H listed. Horatio put the address book down and picked up the date-book again. He flipped through the pages and then checked the pockets located on the beginning and end of the book. There were quiet a few cards tucked into both sides of the book and Horatio pulled all of them out.
Many of the cards were from police detectives, pertaining to past cases and such. One or two were for other lawyers and couple were from businessmen. But there were three that caught Horatio's eye; all three were for FBI agents. Horatio picked up the card for an Agent Andrew Henderson; A.H?
It could just be a coincidence, but Horatio didn't believe in coincidences. He might just have to call this Agent Henderson and ask exactly what he and Jennings were supposed to be meeting about.
Horatio looked up as Speed walked into the lock-up. He pointed to the date-book. "Take a look at this." He said.
Speed came over and bent over the table. "A.H." He said. Horatio placed the card down on the table. "Huh." Speed commented. "It looks like the FBI is all over this."
"What did you find?" Horatio asked.
"Way more then I expected too." Speed replied. "I looked over the gun and it was clean- except for Alana's prints- then I ran the serial number. Check this out."
He placed Alana's police profile on the table. "Here's Alana's serial number and here's the serial number of the gun that was used to murder Greg Jennings and Erika James." Speed placed the other paper on the table. "Take a look at the last digit."
Horatio carefully looked over both papers and saw what Speed was so excited about. "Alana's serial number ends with an eight. The gun that was used in both murders ends with a nine."
"Exactly." Speed replied. "I almost didn't see it myself. This proves that this isn't Alana's gun, but there's more. Look at this." He handed Horatio another piece of paper. "The gun belongs to an FBI agent who reported it missing almost a year ago."
Horatio glanced down at the paper in his hand. "I think I need to have a chat with the FBI. And Alana." He added. They both looked up as Eric and Calleigh entered the lock-up.
"Hey." Eric greeted them with a nod.
"How'd it go at the house?" Horatio asked, stacking up the evidence they had discovered while he looked at his team.
"Not good." Eric replied. "The cleaning team had already been there by the time we got to the house. The evidence is gone, H."
"Luckily, we were able to find some more evidence." Speed replied.
"What kind of evidence?" Calleigh asked with a questioning glance towards Horatio. Horatio quickly filled in the other two members of his team to what he and Speed had discovered and in the end both of them agreed that it was high time that someone talked to Alana.
