Eames parked her car outside the school after they had taken Marcy to the shelter she chose in Queens. Goren let her use his phone to call her sister. She thanked them profusely once she felt safe within the walls of the shelter itself. They left her in the hands of the director and proceeded to the school to conduct their locker searches.
They began their search with Roger's locker. Item by item, Goren removed its contents. Books, letterman jacket, binders, notebooks...
He began to pull things off the shelf. A paper bag containing two boxes of condoms. A bottle of ibuprofen, which Goren opened. He studied the pills, then dropped them back into the bottle and handed it to Eames, who bagged it. He looked back into the locker and shook his head. "That's it."
He put everything back in the locker except one notebook. Flipping through it, he removed a page of handwritten notes and handed it to Eames for bagging. "We need handwriting samples to compare with the writing on the note we found in Scott's locker."
Eames nodded, disappointed that they found nothing else in Roger's locker.
Silently, they walked down the hall toward Kelly and Bethany's lockers. They searched Bethany's locker, at first finding nothing more than schoolbooks, a blue sweater and a ski jacket. Shoved in between her science book and her history book, though, Goren found a magazine. His eyebrows arched when he pulled it out, and he turned the cover toward Eames. "Hunks and Hotties," he said, amused.
"I wonder who that belongs to," she mused, stepping to his side as he flipped through it.
A Kodak picture envelope and a DVD were shoved in with the centerfold. He handed the magazine to Eames and pulled the pictures from the envelope. "Uh, apparently...Bethany likes to do more than watch."
He handed them over to Eames, and she looked through them. The explicit pictures showed both girls with different boys, including Roger, performing various 'favors' for them. The last few pictures showed the two girls together, doing the same for each other. In the background of one picture, Roger watched eagerly. She tapped the picture. "I wonder who the photographer was."
"Bethany's brother? Or maybe one of Roger's buddies?"
She looked through the pictures again, shaking her head. "Compared to this, I was tame."
A small, amused smile touched his lips. "What?" she said.
"I would never classify you as tame, Eames."
She shoved the pictures against his chest. "Like you would know," she teased back.
He took the pictures and held up the DVD. "It's labeled 'Halloween'."
"I can't wait to see what's on it."
He slid the pictures back into their envelope and handed them to Eames, along with the DVD. He fished out a handwriting sample, replaced everything in the locker and moved on to Kelly's, which was three lockers away from Bethany's.
Upon opening Kelly's locker, they were assaulted by a thick cloud of perfume that wafted from the inside of the locker. Goren began to empty it. Text books, notebooks, a black suede jacket and a pink sweater. He removed a small cardboard box from the top shelf and opened it. "Uh, Eames..."
She looked into the box, which contained about two dozen condoms, birth control pills, and a generous assortment of sex toys. "Her school locker...interesting hiding place."
He handed her the box and looked back into the locker. After removing two bottles of expensive perfume, he pulled out a plain brown paper bag. He removed a small container from the bag. Slowly, he unscrewed the lid. "It's a...a pill crusher. I, uh, I had to use one like it...when I was a teenager." He looked toward Eames, but did not meet her eyes. "To, uhm, to crush my mother's medicine, when she was non-compliant." His face took on a guilty look at the memory. "I hid the powdered pills in her food, in something like pudding or ice cream, mashed potatoes. She never knew."
Eames was very careful to keep her face from showing anything more than interest and concern. If he saw any trace of pity, she knew from experience, he would get angry and shut down. Although she could not relate to his childhood experiences, she felt compassion for him and his brother, and anger toward the parents who had abused them. She never felt pity for him, but that wouldn't prevent him from misinterpreting a stray look. Wisely, she hid her strongest feelings and made no comment.
He looked into the body of the pill crusher, tapping it against the heel of his hand. "There's a white powder in here."
He replaced the cap and handed it to her, then looked back into the locker. "There's nothing else in here."
Eames nodded. "This is enough. Let's get it back to the lab. If this white powder is penicillin, we'll have Carver issue an arrest warrant for Kelly."
As they walked back to the car, he pondered over what they'd found. Eames tried to read his silence, but she realized she had no idea what was going through his head. So she put forth what was going through her own mind. "Do you think Roger has anything to do with that pill crusher?"
He looked at her, his mind tumbling through a dozen thoughts. "I do," he finally replied. "I just...I don't see that Kelly has a motive. But Roger..."
When he didn't elaborate, she asked, "So how did Kelly end up with it? And why use a pill crusher? Two spoons and a razor blade would do the job just as well and one pass under a running tap eliminates the evidence."
"He wasn't trying to dispose of the evidence," he said. "He..." He trailed off for a moment, lost in thought. "Finding the pill crusher in Kelly's locker implicates her...and casts reasonable doubt on Roger's guilt."
She nodded. "He's smart."
"He's a lawyer's son. He understands the importance of reasonable doubt." He paused. "If it is penicillin, we need to see if it came from the same lot as Roger's medicine."
"Are you hoping to get Kelly off?"
He shook his head slowly. "I want to find whoever is guilty, Eames. If it's Kelly, so be it. If Roger is involved, I want him, too. I...I want to find Matt's killer, for his parents and his little sister. And I...need to find Scott's killer...so I can sleep at night again."
She looked at him. "He got to you."
"He, uh, he was a nice kid. He didn't deserve what happened to him. He does deserve justice. It's all I can do for him now."
"And that's important to you."
He stopped at the car and leaned back against the hood, folding his arms over his chest. "Yes."
She considered his loyalty for a moment. He felt deeply for a gentle, quiet gay kid...but that wasn't what he identified with. Scott didn't fit in with any specific crowd, so he lingered on the periphery, not sure just where he belonged. That was what Goren identified with. The outsider, rejected by his father, largely cast adrift by an ineffectual mother, overlooked by his peers. Slowly, she nodded. "We'll get this killer," she promised him.
She walked past him to get into the car, and he did the same when she started the engine. He slid into the passenger seat. "You mean that."
"Of course I do. Those boys should not be dead and I want to find who killed them as much as you do." She looked at him and added, "Almost."
A small smile started to cross his features, but it faded as quickly as it appeared. She put the car into gear and pulled out of the parking spot.
Goren spent the afternoon alone in an interview room, studying the evidence from the case. He was restless and agitated as they waited for Rodgers to complete testing on the medicine and the powder from the pill crusher they found in Kelly's locker.
Eames came and went as the afternoon wore on, trying to settle him without success. When he refused to take time for lunch, she became frustrated, swearing to leave him alone for the rest of the afternoon. Her resolve faded, however, and she brought him two slices of pizza and a can of coke along with a report from the lab.
He finally smiled when she set the food on the table. "I'm sorry, Eames. I'm just...I want to know. I'm not always good at waiting."
She grinned. "That's okay. I'm never good at waiting." She held up the report. "They got one good print and two partials from the pill crusher."
She understood that his mind had to always be engaged. She sat down as he grabbed a piece of pizza and turned back to the pictures he'd stuck up on the wall. He pointed to pictures of the shoeprints. "The shoe prints...the ones on the pitcher's mound match the ones at the far end of the field. They are comparing them to the shoes they bagged from Roger's closet."
"You probably should know...Roger's dad is raising a real stink about this. He's claiming harassment and kidnapping."
"Kidnapping? You mean his wife? He has no grounds."
"I know, but he can't say we stole his property, which is all he sees her as. He's a blowhard. Carver said he's filing charges that we forcibly removed his wife from their home. I guess he can't fathom the possibility that she would ever leave on her own. This could get ugly."
Goren seemed to dismiss the threat. "I didn't expect him to take it lying down."
"Do you think she would testify, if it comes to that?"
He rubbed his hand over his face, then rested his arms on the table. He stared at his hands. "I don't know, Eames. He intimidates her. I don't know if she'd be willing to face him again."
She sat beside him. "Maybe you can talk to her."
He turned his head to look at her. "What good would that do?"
She reached out and rested her hand on his arm. "Don't underestimate yourself, Bobby," she said.
His brow furrowed, but the door opened and one of their squadmates handed a report to her. She studied the page before handing it to Goren. "Penicillin," he murmured. "From the same lot that was given to Roger..." He looked at Eames. "How do you want to handle this?"
She drew circles on the table in front of her as she thought about it. "If we arrest Kelly, maybe Roger will think he's off the hook and do something stupid."
"I doubt if Roger has ever done anything spontaneously. He was taught to think before acting."
She rested her hands flat on the table. "Everyone screws up, Bobby. Let's arrest Kelly and see what comes of it."
He paused before he nodded, and even then he seemed reluctant to Eames. She touched his arm as he stood. "What are you thinking?"
His eyes cruised over her face, but he did not answer her. Silently, he left the room. With a sigh, she rose and followed him.
Although classes were done for the day, they made an educated guess that Kelly would still be at school, watching the football team practice. They were right.
Kelly was sitting in the bleachers with Bethany, watching the boys on the practice field. She leaned over to whisper to Bethany, pointing out onto the field. Bethany giggled and whispered back, then both girls laughed.
Bethany saw them first, and she nudged Kelly, whose face lit up when she saw Goren. She ignored Eames. When Goren motioned to her, she leapt from her seat with a delighted giggle and hurried to him. "You want to see me?" she asked coyly.
He didn't have to look at Eames to know she was rolling her eyes again. They were going to roll right out of her head before this case was over. He slipped his handcuffs from his belt and spoke quietly to Kelly. "Kelly, we're placing you under arrest for the murder of Matthew Barrister. Come along with us."
She was stunned as Eames turned her around and Goren pulled her hands behind her, placing the cuffs on her wrists. "What?" she screeched as he turned her around and each detective grabbed an arm, leading her off the field. "Are you out of your minds? He was my boyfriend!"
"Weirder things have happened," Eames commented.
"Shut up, bitch!" Kelly screamed at her.
Goren's hand tightened on her arm. "That's enough," he growled, injecting enough menace into his tone to surprise Kelly into momentary silence.
Eames handed him the keys after they put Kelly in the back seat, and she slid in beside her. That angered Kelly even more; she'd expected Goren to want to sit with her. She kicked the back of the seat. "I don't want to sit with her," she insisted.
Goren adjusted the seat before looking in the rearview mirror. "Don't you think you're in enough trouble? Just sit there and be quiet. You'll have a chance to say your piece after we get you back to the squad room."
He shifted his gaze to Eames as he started the car. He wasn't surprised when Kelly complained the entire way back to 1 PP.
Kelly was further annoyed when Eames was the only one who came into interrogation to talk with her. Goren and Deakins watched from behind the glass. "Why do you think we brought you in, Kelly?" Eames began.
"I don't know. Jealousy?"
"Jealousy?"
"Of course. You're jealous because he wants me instead of you."
Eames stared at her for a moment. "Kelly, we don't arrest people for that."
Kelly's eyes narrowed. "He wants me," she insisted, unable to comprehend that a man would not desire her.
"No, he doesn't. Detective Goren has done nothing but try to convince you he's not interested in you."
She waved her hand in the air. "It's all an act. He didn't fight too much when I kissed him."
"And when was that?"
"Outside the church, the day of Matt's funeral." Kelly's eyes narrowed. "You weren't there," she taunted. "I was, and I could tell right then that he wanted me."
Kelly clearly saw Eames as competition, and that annoyed the detective. Slowly losing patience with Kelly's adolescent game, she warned, "Kelly, this is real. It's not a game. You are suspected of murder, and Detective Goren cannot help you. You need to help yourself."
In the observation room, Deakins looked at Goren. "Do I want to know?"
Goren shrugged. "There's nothing to know. I went to Matt's funeral and she met me on the steps outside the church."
"She kissed you?"
He nodded. "She surprised me."
"Was that the only time?"
"No, sir. She did it again at the game we went to. Eames saw that one. I...I have done nothing to encourage her, captain."
"I believe you. Now it's time to discourage her. Are you ready to play bad cop?"
He nodded, still not convinced of Kelly's guilt, though he couldn't explain why. Kelly was sexually promiscuous and convinced no male could resist her. Matt would represent another potential conquest--and another potential partner. Kelly would turn away neither.
Grabbing an evidence bag and his binder, he left observation and entered interrogation. He sat beside Eames. Setting the evidence bag containing the pill crusher on the table, he said, "Tell us what this is."
She stared at him, surprised by his cold, stern manner. She jumped when he slammed his hand on the table. "What is this, Kelly?"
Finally, she looked at the thing in the bag. "Where did you get that?" she wondered. "I put that in my locker after Roger gave it to me. He told me to get rid of it."
Goren arched a brow. "So you hid it in your locker?"
"It was safe there. Where did you get it?"
"From your locker," Eames answered.
She looked from Goren to Eames and then back. "Why were you in my locker? Who said you could go into my locker?"
Eames replied, "Our search warrant did."
"Search warrant? For my locker? Why? What did you think..." She paused, recalling Goren's words: under arrest for the murder of Matthew Barrister. She looked directly at Goren. "How can you think I had anything to do with Matt's death?"
He lifted the evidence bag and dropped it back on the table. "This tells us you're involved."
Her eyes lit with fury and she swiped the bag off the table. "That tells you nothing! What does that have to do with any of this?"
"That," Eames said. "That is the murder weapon."
"That? That killed Matt? No, you see, I told you, Roger gave it to me and I put it in my locker!"
"You led us to believe you had nothing to do with Roger."
She shrugged. "I don't have anything to do with him!"
Goren pulled the pictures from his binder, spreading them out on the table in front of her. "These pictures tell us differently."
Kelly looked at the pictures, unable to hide her interest. She looked carefully at each one, a small smile on her face. "So?" she said finally, not embarrassed by the photos. "I have sex with him. So what? It means nothing. It's just sex. That doesn't mean I'm ever involved with anything else he does! Whatever that thing is, it's Roger's, not mine!"
A tapping on the glass behind them stopped the interrogation. Kelly watched Goren gather the pictures. "Do you like what you see?" she asked, leaning over the table to make sure he had a good view down her open shirt. He glanced at her face, his own unreadable, then rose and left the room.
Eames motioned at Kelly. "Sit tight. I'll be back."
"What about him?"
Eames shook her head but didn't answer as she stepped out of the room. She joined her partner and Deakins in the observation room. "Persistent, isn't she?" the captain said, half-amused.
Goren leaned against the wall beside the observation window. "Kelly is very shallow and self-centered. If something doesn't benefit her directly, I don't see her being involved. She had absolutely nothing to gain by Matt's death."
"What about Scott?" Eames asked.
He shook his head. "She doesn't have the physical strength to have killed him. Besides, Scott was convinced she had no idea about him and Matt."
Deakins nodded toward the window. "Find out if she knew, Alex."
Eames returned to the interrogation room. She sat across from Kelly and asked, "When you were dating Matt, you were sleeping with other boys, right?"
"Of course. Matt wasn't sleeping with me yet and I have my needs."
Eames struggled not to roll her eyes. "Did Matt know?"
She shrugged. "I have no idea. I never hid it. If he knew, he never said anything. Besides, Matt wasn't the jealous type."
"Suppose Matt was seeing someone else while he was dating you?"
Kelly laughed. "You're kidding, right? Why would he want to be with someone else?"
"You don't think that's fair? You were sleeping around."
"But Matt was with me. I could give him everything he needed. All he had to do was ask."
"No, Kelly, you couldn't. You see, Matt was with someone else during the time he was seeing you. He was with someone he truly loved, and it wasn't you."
"What are you talking about? That's nonsense!"
"Matt was with Scott Lindstrom. You were just his cover, so he could continue being a jock."
Kelly stared at her in disbelief before she began to laugh. "You can't be serious. You think he preferred another boy over me! That's a good one, detective."
"I know he preferred Scott over you, because that's exactly what Scott told my partner."
"He's lying!"
"Why would he do that, Kelly? What did he get by lying about it, when the only one he told was Detective Goren?"
"No!" Kelly screamed at her. "No! Lies! Those are lies!"
She banged her fists on the table and began crying. Eames couldn't decide if it was a histrionic show or if Kelly was being genuine. She rose and returned to observation. "I cast my vote for 'no'. I don't think she knew."
Goren nodded in agreement. "So where's her motive? She had a handsome piece of eye candy she could call her boyfriend and plenty of lovers to satisfy her since he wouldn't, including Bethany. Matt let her do whatever she wanted. She had no reason to kill him."
Eames sighed. "Along the same lines, what's Roger's motive? If he wanted Kelly, he could have her any time, and according to Bethany, he did. So he had all the bennies and none of the hassles associated with a high maintenance girl like her. And he got to watch her and Bethany get it on, which some guys really get off on."
"Maybe Kelly wasn't a factor. It's common knowledge that Roger hated Matt. He was competition on the field as well as off. Matt was popular with other students and with the faculty. He was a good solid player. He didn't have to cheat to win. Roger had a lot of pressure from his father to be a winner. Matt made him look bad. Men have killed for less."
Deakins considered the debate. "Let's hang on to her. I'll have her returned to holding. You two bring Roger in." He looked at the time. "Take a marked car with you and be careful. You'll have to pick him up from home."
Goren didn't move. "Lassiter won't let us touch his son without an arrest warrant."
Deakins nodded. "I'll call Carver. I think we have enough for an arrest. Swing by Hogan Place on your way to the Lassiter residence."