Just a short chapter for today's instalment.
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"Horatio? I've just contacted the onstar control room and they've activated the tracking system on the stolen SUV. We're tracing it now. I'll let you know what we find."
"Thanks Calleigh. Be safe."
"I always am."
Calleigh smiled as she snapped her phone shut. She pressed her foot down harder on the accelerator, and Miami started to fly by even faster. Ryan sat next to her in the passenger seat, he was holding a handheld tracker which indicated the current position of the SUV.
"It's still moving North. Take a right here Cal."
Calleigh followed his instructions, barely slowing down as she pulled the Hummer into a tight right-hand turn.
"Wait a second, the signal's stationary. They've stopped. Take the next left."
It took them about four minutes to find the location of the SUV. Before they reached their destination Calleigh had radioed in the position to the control room, and by the time they pulled the Hummer to a stop a few metres away from the stolen vehicle they were being followed by around six patrol cars. Calleigh and Ryan slid down from the Hummer's high seats and drew their weapons, initially using the open doors of the vehicle as a shield in case their exit from the vehicle was greeted by gunfire from the stolen car's occupants. Seconds passed and there was no response. Slowly they spread out, Calleigh circling towards the driver's side and Ryan flanking the passenger side.
Calleigh could see a figure slumped in the drivers seat.
"MDPD, raise your hands." She instructed.
There was no response, and as she drew closer she could see the gunshot wound in the middle of his forehead.
"Ryan, d.b. in the driver's seat. Front's clear."
Ryan nodded, and stepped up to the back of the SUV, aiming his gun towards the back seat.
"Back's clear too."
Calleigh holstered her weapon, and gave the uniformed cops that surrounded him a thumbs-up, and saw them follow her lead, each man also slipping his gun into a hip-holster.
"Ok then, lets get to work." Calleigh said as she snapped on a pair of latex gloves.
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"Alexx, what have you got for me?"
"Horatio, nice timing. I just finished the post on the dead guy Ryan and Calleigh found in the SUV. Eric tells me that his prints identify him as José Maceo, a small time criminal. He's got a record for B and E and a couple of assaults."
"Looks like José was moving up in the crime world. He just graduated to accomplice in an attempted murder."
"Yeah, well payback's a bitch. So anyway, our guy was in pretty good shape. Apart from a bit of a cocaine habit and the two bullets I pulled out of him. One bullet hit his scapula, that one's a .9mm." Alexx held up the .9mm bullet as she spoke.
"I guess I caused the guy some pain. That's police issue ammo, I fired at the SUV after the drive-by. When we run it I'd bet that bullet's going to come back as a match to my weapon." Horatio explained.
"Well this one definitely wasn't yours. This was the hardware that killed him, had to dig this out of his skull." She held up the other bullet she had extracted at the autopsy. "Smaller calibre, I'll have to get it up to Calleigh to find out exactly what calibre it is."
Horatio took the bullet from her and studied it for a moment.
"Looks like a .22, just like the bullet that killed Jack Heith. Thanks Alexx, I'll get these up to Calleigh."
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"Calleigh, I've got a present for you from Alexx."
"Ooh goody, gimme."
Horatio laughed at the eagerness of the young, blonde CSI at the prospect of processing ballistics evidence.
"Actually, I've got something for you too." She handed over a folder. Opening the cover Horatio found himself looking at a fingerprint match printed from the AFIS system. "The fingerprints that Ryan lifted from the dashboard of the SUV were a match to Silvio Costa. I think that's enough for a search warrant don't you?"
"I'll get a judge to sign off on a warrant no problem with this evidence. Nice work Calleigh, let me know what you find?"
"Sure thing H."
As he pushed open the door to the lab on his way out he flipped open his phone.
"Judge Williamson? Horatio Caine… Have you got five minutes to sign off on a search warrant?…Of course I've got the evidence to back it up, would I be calling if I didn't?" A quick chuckle, "Thank-you Judge, I'll be there in a few minutes."
