Chapter 6

Monday, September 4th, 2006
11:52 AM

They were meeting by the front entrance in only a few minutes, but Nick wanted to make a quick search of the Dental Society Database before leaving. He opened the page on his computer and did a speedy check. No responses were yet posted. He sighed and headed to the entrance where Catherine and Vega were both waiting.

Crafta was a large craft supply store, based out of California, but with a remote location in Vegas. It reminded Nick of some of the stores his sisters would drag him to growing up. From floral supplies to ribbons and bows to woven baskets to dolls to paper to candles, the store had it all. It also had a large variety of ropes and cords, including jute rope. Unfortunately, it didn't have a large customer database.

When they arrived, Vega immediately asked the store manager to search through his inventory and check on any purchases of jute rope over the few months. The manager, a lady in her mid fifties, willingly obliged, finding only a few sales over the period in question. The manager handed over a printout of the activity to him.

"Do you have names to go with the purchases?"

The lady shook her head. "No, unfortunately we don't ask our customers to put their names into our database unless they are ordering any items we don't have in stock." After a few clicks on the keyboard of her computer, the store manager looked back up to Nick. "We haven't had to make any orders on jute rope either. I'm terribly sorry."

"That's alright, m'am, thanks for your help. If you have any more purchases, let us know."

"I will be sure to do that."

Once the trio exited the store, Catherine turned and stopped in front of them. "Well, that was a bust."

"Yeah. Vega, can you drop us at the lab, and then check with all the local boating supply stores in the area. I'll do an online search and see if I can come up with anything. I sure would like to come up with a few suspects, or at least something to go on."

"No problem."

4:17 PM

His eyes were starting to blur after spending three hours focusing on the computer screen without a break. So far, his search was proving impossible. Anyone could have ordered the rope from a number of companies. Realizing he was beating a dead horse, he sighed and closed off the screen. One last check of the Dental Society Database, and he'd close off his computer.

He'd checked the database before starting the search, and once more about an hour after that. He hadn't been given a response either of those times. He opened the database, nearly convinced that he would again be disappointed, when he was pleasantly surprised. Both sets of teeth were identified…by the same dentist. He checked the dentist's notes against his own and sighed with relief when they matched to a tee. He had ids. Doris and Lester Fletcher. He did a quick DMV search of their names and was surprised to find something else pop up. He quickly hit the print button, retrieved the paper, and practically sprinted to the garage.

4:26 PM

She looked between the pictures and the structure she'd finally finished, relieved to see that she'd been able to replicate it to what she'd found at the crime scene as closely as possible. Catherine turned to Grissom, who was also studying the photos. He nodded.

"The bodies were found in the center. Both were on their backs, the male beneath the female."

Grissom nodded, studying the structure. "So, your killer built a funeral pyre."

"What?"

"This looks like a simple form of a funeral pyre. They're designed to reduce a corpse to ashes."

"The bodies were burnt but still in fairly decent shape when they were found. They certainly weren't ashes." Catherine paused and studied the wood structure. She fingered a piece of burnt wood, sliding her index finger along the surface. She lifted her finger and studied the sand and soot on it. "A couple of hikers found the fire. They threw sand on it to put it out. It's probably what saved the bodies."

"Likely."

Just then, Nick came bounding in, breathless. They both turned to him. Catherine watched as Nick bent forward, regaining his breath. "Our John and Jane Doe are John and Jane Doe no longer. They are now Lester and Doris Fletcher. Someone responded to the post on the Dental Society Database."

"Lester and Doris Fletcher? Related, how?"

"Married."

Catherine watched as Grissom raised his eyebrows and studied the funeral pyre. She turned back to Nick when he spoke again. "That's not all. I did a DMV search and guess what I found."

"What?"

"Lester Fletcher is dead."

"We know that, Nick."

"Yeah, but I can tell you how long he's been dead. Six days, died of a heart attack at 64. It's all listed in his death certificate."

"Wait, he has a death certificate?"

"Yes he does."

"So someone decided to steal a corpse, kidnap the widow and light her up on top of it?"

"You're female victim was burnt alive?"

Catherine nodded.

"Sati." Catherine and Nick both turned to Grissom, eyebrows raised to their hairlines. Grissom continued. "Sati. It was practiced in India for centuries. Part of historic Indian culture, was the belief that a wife was an extension of the husband. When a man died, it was thought that the wife died with him. After all, she was a part of him. So, when they cremated the corpse, they cremated the widow with her husband. More often than not, it was not voluntary. The widow would be tied down and burnt alive over her husband's corpse. That," Grissom pointed at the burnt structure Catherine had put together, "would be your victims' funeral pyre."

"That's sick."

Catherine nodded her head in agreement. The thought of woman being physically restrained and burnt alive because she lost her husband was so barbaric. She shook her head, noticing Nick doing the same. Grissom gave them both a soft smile. "I'll leave you to it. If you need me, I'll be around. Finish up what you can tonight, and then go home. I'll place you on call and call only if I really need you."

"Yeah. Thanks Grissom." Grissom nodded. She watched him leave. Once he was out of sight, she turned to Nick. "Well, I guess we can clean this up, get more samples off to trace and then go check out our victims' home."

7:44 PM

It was a typical cozy two bedroom house. There were rows of flowers along the front, wilting in the sunlight from not being watered over the past day, though a watering can sat, turned on its side, just in front of the bed. It didn't take long for plants to die in this heat, Nick mused. There was a stone walkway leading up to the front entrance, though it was more likely the victims' used the side entrance, accessed by the driveway. Nodding at Catherine and Vega, Nick walked up the driveway and stopped before the door, searching for signs of forced entry. When none were apparent, he slowly opened the door, surprised to find it wasn't locked.

Stepping aside to let Catherine pass in front of him, he followed her into the house. They came to the kitchen first, spotlessly clean. A stack of dry dishes on a towel next to the sink was the only sign that the kitchen was lived in. Nick's eyes wandered about, taking in the framed photographs of children and grandchildren resting on the china cabinet and he wondered how Doris Fletcher hadn't been reported missing yet. He turned in his spot, watching as Catherine opened the fridge. It was stocked full of deli plates and fruit plates, cut vegetables, buns, cheese and other ready-to-eat foods, typical of a house in mourning.

From the kitchen, he and Catherine moved to the dining room. It was definitely lived in. Papers were strewn about, funeral notices for Lester Fletcher, funeral programs, old, worn photographs of a young man and woman, a young family, an old wedding photograph of a soldier and his bride. Nick fingered each item as Catherine stood beside him snapping photographs. Nick picked up the funeral notice. "The funeral home they were using was Blackley's Mortuary. That must be where the body was taken from."

"It won't be open tonight. We'll have to wait for the morning to get answers from them."

Nick nodded, leaving Catherine to taking pictures. As he wandered into the living room, he heard Vega enter the kitchen, speaking softly with Catherine. Nick stopped in the archway leading to the living room. Again the room was spotlessly clean. He lifted his camera, taking more pictures as his eyes wandered about the room. It was a cozy room, one sofa, an Afghan quilt folded and resting along the two, two chairs, both with ottomans, two little side tables, each resting between a chair and the sofa, a small piano in the corner, a TV with a VCR, but no DVD player, a bookshelf full of Mark Twain and Jack London and other classic adventure authors, and on top of the bookshelf, more photographs, of brothers and sisters, children and grandchildren, family gatherings and of the couple throughout various stages of their life together. They looked like such a happy family, causing Nick to again wonder where that family was during all of this.

His question was answered moments later when he heard the door open and a soft voice calling, "Mom?" He went on alert, hearing Vega's heavy steps shuffle toward the door. The voice continued, "Mom, where are you? I know you wanted to be left alone, but the funeral is tomorrow and we're worried about you." The words were followed by a slight shriek and Nick new that Vega had made it to the door, Catherine probably right behind him. Not wanting to miss out on the action, and feeling the need to offer as much reassurance to the young lady as was possible, he strode to the side door and helped Vega escort the woman to the living room. The young woman, feminine and beautiful, who's age Nick deemed to be twenty-five at the most, was pale. Her eyes were blank and full of disbelief. Nick helped her to the sofa, sitting down on an Ottoman so that he could face her. "Miss Fletcher?"

The woman shook her head, tears beginning to collect in her eyes. Her voice was catching as she stumbled with her words. "No, Mrs. Donaldson, Ashley Donaldson, I just got married last year."

"Okay, Mrs. Donaldson, when was the last time you saw your mother?"

"Saturday."

"You're father just passed and you haven't seen your mother since Saturday?" He tried not to sound disbelieving as he struggled to make sense of the daughter's actions. The daughter merely shook her head softly.

"She was tired of all the attention and wanted to be left alone until the funeral. We tried to talk her out of it, but…" The young lady choked on her words again, and Nick watched her hands as they rested on her stomach. The movement drew his attention to her stomach and he noticed she was sporting a very small bump.

"Your mother must have loved your father very much."

"She did." There were more sniffles, then a shine in the young lady's eyes. "God they were great together."

"Where is the rest of your family?" Catherine's voice cut in, her tone soft and sympathetic.

The response was quick, as though Ashley Donaldson spit them out in an effort to audible her response without choking up. "At their own homes or with us. Kevin and I have a few relatives staying with us. Jay, that's my oldest brother, he and his family have a few more. Darcy and his family have some cousins and their children staying with them. Sean and Taylor have an aunt and uncle with them and I think the rest of the extended family is either at their own homes, friends and family, or staying in a hotel."

"Okay, and you say that you saw her last on Saturday? Anyone else see her since then?"

"No. She didn't want anyone around. We've been gathering at Jay's place. We called her Sunday morning to see if she was alright. She hung up on us, wanting to be left alone. We called again this morning, and when nobody answered, we figured she just wasn't taking any calls. We decided to leave her alone, but when we called again around dinner, hoping to coerce her in either us going there to eat or she going to Jay's, she didn't answer and we discussed it, deciding she needed to get out. The boys asked me to get her, thinking she'd listen to me since…since…well since, I'm her baby…"

The woman broke out sobbing, clutching the bump on her stomach. Nick leaned forward, offering the woman a tissue. News of her other parent's death was heartbreaking enough and he knew it would only be worse once this woman found out the details. He nodded to Catherine, indicating that she should be the one to go over the details. Catherine nodded in return.

Nick stood up and moved to Vega. Whispering in Vega's ear, he let Vega know that he was going to check the phone for messages. Vega nodded and Nick left him and Catherine with the weeping woman.

8:51 PM

Catherine escorted the sobbing lady to her car before getting into Vega's car with him. She and Vega had decided to follow Ashley Donaldson to her brother's place, leaving Nick to finish processing the Fletcher house. Once they arrived at the house, they were faced with telling a large family, mourning the loss of a father, that they'd lost their mother as well.

Looks of horror and anguish met with Catherine as she broke the news. The men sat with near stoic faces, with their eyes occasionally betraying their shock, and giving Catherine slight glimpses at their anger. The wives faces were impassive for mere seconds before the shock of the news wore off and they were hit with the reality of the situation, sobbing uncontrollably as that reality hit. Small children, toddlers, infants, looked up at their parents in wonder, tugging at pant legs as they tried to comprehend what was going on. Eventually the silence of their fathers and the weeping of their mothers became to overwhelming and the children joined in the crying, frightened and not understanding the goings-on around them. It was a devastating scene.

Each face told a different story. Each pained expression displayed the horror each family member felt. Catherine watched helplessly as each family member tried to come to grips with the news. Their mother had burned to death, a top their father's burning corpse. She'd died a painful, horrendous, ghastly death. Her skin had been seared off her body while she choked on soot, carbon monoxide, and the stench of her husband's and her own burning flesh. Some of the faces before Catherine looked nauseated, some in utter disbelief. All of the faces bore the signs of consuming sorrow.

Ever so delicately, Catherine began to question the female family members, one by one, while Vega, not far from her, worked on questioning the males. None of the family members could give her anything. They'd decided as a group, to give their mother the space she needed, and had also decided as a group to try to get her out of the house that evening. They'd all seen her last in the very house Catherine was standing in, fighting to keep herself together, before rushing off to home to be alone in her grief.

After gathering as much information as they could and confirming each story, as well as other pieces of information important to the case, Catherine and Vega offered their condolences and exited the house. The sounds of a grieving family echoed behind them.