Trina's Return

Disclaimer: Do not own Victorious or CSI

A/N:


Chapter 12 (Robert Shapiro: Case Closed)

During the twenty years, Trina found a kindred soul in Sara Sidle, the two were similar in their personalities. Both women were somewhat hardened, protecting their hearts from the world. They only trusted those within their close family, or the CSI team. There was good reason for it too, as Trina had seen many horrors out there in her lifetime.

"It never gets easier, Trina." Sara and Trina were standing outside the observation window, gazing in at Olivia Shapiro. The woman was waiting to be questioned, though she was not charged with an arrest. She was only here for the purpose of being questioned. "This job can throw some pretty weird things out on you. See DB on the news Saturday?"

"Yep." She chucked dryly, remembering her father-in-law's statement about her vying for the head investigator of the unit. She actually would like the job, but she wasn't sure she was the best suited. "I've been working here for twenty years, most of you guys have been here for at least thirty. I hardly think I'm all that qualified."

"I don't know, we've got some fresh investigators on the team, sure…but the ones of us that have been here forever? We're getting old." That was true to an extent. Nick and Sara were born in '71, Greg was born in '75, Morgan in '80, and of course Julian Finlay was the same age as DB, both born in 1964. That meant Sara and Nick were sixty-two, Greg was fifty-eight, and Morgan was fifty-three. "I think everyone here's going to retire eventually. So, the most logical choice that the Undersheriff is considering is promoting you to lead and giving you an entirely new team after DB's finished. I think you've earned your wings over the last twenty years."

"Big shoes to fill…"

Sara laughed and pat Trina on the shoulder, shaking her head, "No you want to know who had 'big' shoes to fill? It was DB. The lead before him didn't even come close to the greatness that was my husband, Gil. DB had to be this team's 'next' Grissom, but he brought his own personality and brought life back to the team."

"Right. I've heard the stories from Nick and Greg a million times. How is Gil these days?" Grissom was Seventy-seven now, and his health wasn't doing the best in recent years. It worried Trina just a little, he was four years older than her father had been, and from time to time she thought of her father and how his health was doing.

Sara's face tightened a moment, then relaxed. "He's getting some strength back."

"Glad to hear that. I wouldn't worry too much, he's always seemed strong." Sara smiled at her. Trina looked through the observation window once more and sighed, as much as she hated to cut conversation short, she needed to get in there to question the mother. "Okay, let's get to work."

The two entered the room and Olivia looked up, eyes full of worry, "What's going to happen?" Olivia asked. Trina gave her a reassuring smile and sat in the chair across from the woman.

"We only want to ask you some questions." Olivia pat her hand over her right on the table, smiling with absent eyes. Trina often started out as 'good cop' unless there were reason to start off as the tough and hardened cop first. She earned the nickname on the team as 'Viper' for the reason that she could transition from 'good cop' to 'bad cop' in an instant, and sometimes remove 'good cop' altogether. Suspects never quite knew what they were getting out of her. It was true what Sara said, she more than well earned her wings. Promotion to lead detective would also mean an increase in pay grade, which would be even greater!

"I'm willing to answer any and all questions you have…"

"Right. So we know you were at the hotel with your sons the morning of your husband's murder. He died within a block of your house, did you see anything or anyone at all?" Olivia denied seeing anyone outside, she still seemed to maintain that Jacques was the man that did it. It was something the woman was adamant about, her gut instinct, but they'd already cleared him as a suspect.

Trina set her folder on the table and opened it up, removing a photo and placing it in front of Olivia. It was a photo of Lucy. Olivia stared at the photo while Trina examined her facial features. Her eyes looked sharp, but confused, and a wrinkle had formed upon her brow. "Who is this?"

"Her name is Lucy Mave. We believe your husband was having an affair with this woman and called it off." Olivia gasped and cupped her hands over her mouth, emitting a weak whimper. "We think she was stalking him. He was on his way to confront her that morning." She spotted a flash of anger and malice in the woman's eyes. Leaning back, she glanced over to Sara, who was studying the woman as well.

"Lucy was in her hotel room at the time of the murder, Mrs. Shapiro," Sara marveled. "Do you recognize her?"

"N-No, not at all." Trina furrowed her brow and Sara let out a quiet sigh.

"In a recorded phone conversation, Robert remarks that he had been in 'hot water' with you before. Can you explain what that means?" Olivia's head flew up and her eyes widened.

"Am I a suspect? You don't think I could possibly hurt my husband!"

"Just answer the question, Mrs. Shapiro."

Olivia nodded and clenched her eyes shut. "He and I had a big argument a year or two ago. I found out he had another child somewhere." Trina's eyebrows lifted in surprise. Her heart sank and irritation swept through her, now Robbie had another kid somewhere? He walked out on a child? "It was almost twenty years ago anyway, he said the woman ran him out because she didn't want him around, but…I guess I got angry because he never told me."

Almost twenty years ago? Trina did the math in her head and grimaced, the only person she could think of was Cat Valentine. Would she have any reason to find or kill Robbie? Lack of child support, maybe? If anything, she would have to send Nick or someone else to investigate her. Sara could see the stress lines forming on Trina's forehead, so she moved on with the questioning.

"Nick and Greg swept through your hotel room, Mrs. Shapiro, and they found some inconsistencies. The receipt for the plane you and your family took only supports you, your husband, and two of your three boys. How did the other get here?"

"My oldest son, Sean, wanted to drive. He arrived a week before us." Trina froze in shock and Sara folded her hands over on the table, closing her eyes and sighing. This was pivotal information they needed! Where was this car, though? "He had an accident though, so it's in the shop right now."

"In the shop? What was this accident?"

"Drove the car into a tree."

The rest of the day was consistent with searching the car at the shop. There was indeed a massive dent in the front of the car, but it was clearly not consistent with a tree. Greg analyzed the paint chipping and found some debris matching to that of Robert's car within the dent.

Next, Nick had found a 9mm handgun wrapped in a wash cloth hidden beneath the passenger seat of the car. The car itself was indeed registered to Sean Shapiro, the eldest son, seventeen years of age. The handgun was registered to Robert Shapiro. The man was shot by his own gun.

Trina and Sara sat before the shaky son in the questioning room, appalled by the thought that the boy would have killed his father. However, it was circumstantial at best. The prints found on the car were currently being analyzed. Currently, it seemed any one of the family might have been involved. Morgan and Nick were analyzing the voice they heard on the video on the hidden camera found in Rex.

Sean was eyeing the gun in front of the detectives, it was inside a plastic bag. Beside the bag was the case file, Trina set her hand on the folder and narrowed her eyes. "Sean, we found your father's gun hidden in the seat under your car, registered to your name. The bullets in this gun match the bullets in your father. Care to explain?"

The boy was sweating, his gaze was shifting back and forth between them and the observation window. They had the mother outside, observing as they interviewed her son. The man watching her was the replacement of Jim Brass, the new captain of the department, Henry Palmer. Nick had been offered the position before, but he turned it down, stating he'd rather work the field where he was. That was okay, as Henry was just as stern and just as swift as Brass had been, but still, he wasn't the same.

"I-I know my father," Sean began, "He was…a liar." Trina slowly breathed in and closed her eyes, awaiting all the things that could possibly be said of the man. All the things she'd probably thought herself in the past. "I know as a teenager, he got mixed with a bad crowd." This was true, she could attest.

"Okay. So he was involved with the wrong people, we're not investigating your father's teenage years, Sean. We want to know why the gun that killed your father is in the car registered to you, which is in the shop for an 'accident' that occurred within the last week."

"I'm getting to that!" Tears welled up in his eyes. Trina tapped her nails impatiently on the desk, narrowing her eyes and waiting with aggravation for him to get on with this. She wanted to be over with Robbie's case. "My dad knocked up some chick in LA, I hated him for keeping that from us. Then I found out a year ago he was having an affair. Then he was still with her! So…yes, I-"

"Wait!" The door flew open and Trina looked over her shoulders to see Olivia bursting in the room full of tears. Sean looked up to his mother, his mouth agape. Olivia fell to her knees, extending her arms and holding her wrists together. "I did it. I killed my husband." Trina and Sara exchanged uncertain glances. Was this the case of a mother taking the fall for a son?

Nick entered the room with a sheet of paper, then handed it to Trina. She looked over the lab report and frowned. The prints on the handle of the car matched Olivia Shapiro. The voice on the video had been enhanced to that of an angry female. She looked up to Sara and Nick, then motioned for the suspects to be switched.

Her intuition was correct, Olivia had been involved somehow. Sean was trying to take the fall for his mother. "I did it, I killed my husband. Sean was with his brothers. Please…"

"Why is he telling us he did it?"

"He doesn't want his mommy to go to prison…" Olivia whimpered as the detectives led her to the chair at the table. Trina faced her with a hardened expression on her face.

"You recognized that woman, didn't you. Miss Mave."

"Yes ma'am. I knew he was trying to see her, I didn't know it was to confront her. I-I thought he was still cheating on me with her. I was already angry about the other lies, such as the other child he never told us about…I took his gun, took the only other car we had, and I followed him. Ran his car off the road…got out…and you know the rest…"

Olivia's tone was much more stern than the last few times she'd spoken to them, it was like a complete transition from a bereaved wife to that of a woman who murdered her husband out of anger and jealous rage.

Robbie may have made plenty of mistakes, Trina knew he did that many times in his life. She knew he was with the bad crowd. Even back then, she thought Cat might have been on something, she knew the rest were a rough bunch. Robbie's mistakes caught up with him first, it seemed.

She closed her eyes as Olivia continued her story, her heart was pounding, but at the same time, swelling with pride. She'd found Robbie's killer, but she hardly felt like celebrating. Somewhere inside of her, she had a feeling this wasn't the worst thing to come.

At least, she didn't have to go rushing off to LA. After Olivia was cuffed and charged, everyone but Sara left the room. Sara pat her back and looked into her eyes. "Hey, you okay Trina?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Sara." A weight lifted from her, she was grateful for it. "I think…that's the last thing to deal with regarding my past?"

"That's why you took the case, to cope and be released from your past?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't feel like enough. Does that make sense?"

"Yes. But come on, let's go. You and I can grab a coffee somewhere."

"All right, but I need to be with my family. My husband and kids." It was a much needed break, the tense emotions she was dealing with, she'd be more than happy to be rid of.


We're getting to the breaking point in which she must go to LA. Now that Robbie's case is done, the serial case can be worked. So what are your thoughts on this chapter?