Chapter 25

Forced Entry

The door to the wear house opened. The place was totally trashed and empty. In the trashed office space was a dead man, he was face down on the floor spread out. Jim, Khandi, and Grissom walked into the center of the office space, "Welcome to the crematorium," Jim commented.

"Wow, look at this place, it's a fucking mess." Khandi commented looking around.

"Watch your step," Jim replied gently grabbing Khandi's arm as she made her way to the body.

Khandi smiled, "Thanks, sugar," she replied.

On their trip over to the body, all three of them noted the broken jars and the ashes on the floor, "One beaten body. To add to the mess, one or more burned bodies in the crematorium chamber." Jim spoke.

"Mm-mm, sounds yummy." Khandi mumbled.

"What in the world went on here?" Jim asked, "Benito Ramon owned the crematorium. A funeral director dropping off one of his customers called it in."

Grissom looked at the body in the middle of the room, "Looks like Benito had a side thing going on with the gold fillings." On the floor near the dead body were more than half-a-dozen gold filled teeth. Grissom knelt down, with a pair of tweezers from his kit.

Khandi on the other hand notices a red, sequenced bag near the crematorium chamber, "Did ya check the purse?" She asked Jim.

"Yeah, I.D. inside," he said pulling out his scribbler, "said, 'Michelle Carter'."

Grissom picked up the bag with a latex glove, "No cash, just some make-up, breath mints," he said going through the bag, "and a dried out rose."

Jim, Khandi and Grissom looked up to see a uniformed officer walk into the office space, "Uh, guys… you might wanna come take a look outside."

Jim, Khandi and Grissom started to make their way outside. When they got out side they couldn't believe their eyes. Jim rose his eyebrows, along with Grissom. Khandi took a break. What they were looking at was, to their astonishment, a pile of dead bodies dumped out side. Jim cleared his throat, "Benito must've been dumping the bodies out here instead of cremating them."

"I thought this was only in horror movies." Khandi commented.

Grissom looked at the bodies then to Jim and Khandi, "It's like Atlanta; there were over three hundred bodies in that one."

Khandi took a step forward, "Ha-ha. We can I.D them with toe tags, or ankle bracelets from the funeral home, since the jackass was too stupid to take them off."

"The Medical Examiner will most likely take the lead." Grissom replied, "So we'll roll out backup."

"Sounds like fun," Khandi smiled.

"We stay on homicide." Jim added.

They turned around and headed back towards the office space, "Sometimes, people are real idiots." Khandi sighed.

"And sometimes, this world would be better with out people." Jim commented. When they walked into the office space, Grissom held the door for Khandi. Jim decided to stay out side and find out how many bodies there were in the pile.

"Thanks." Khandi smiled as she walked in and saw Doc Robbins over the body, "Robbins, we're working you double time today?"

"I can handle it," Robbins answered.

Grissom went over to where the gold-filled teeth were, near his evidence marker #3 he started to pick them up, one by one.

Robbins hard at work spoke up, "Guy had the hell beat out of him. His skull is fractured. Death was likely caused by internal hemorrhaging to the brain."

Khandi who had grabbed a swab from Grissom, swabbed a blood stain on the wall, "Yeah, no shit. It was likely caused when his head smashed into this wall. This'll crush any skull, don't ya think?"

Robbins shrugged, "Payback's a bitch."

Jim walked into the office; Khandi turned to him, "How many babe?"

"Twenty-seven and counting." Jim sighed, "The ones at the bottom are currently being pieced back together. I just got back the check I ran on Michelle Carter."

"And?" Khandi asked.

Jim looked at her, "She was reported missing two weeks ago. Last seen in a red dress, red purse."

"Red purse? You're shitting me," Khandi asked raising her eyebrows; she looked at the red sequenced bag on the floor.

"Any of the bodies out back dressed for a night out?" Grissom asked.

"Nope." Jim stated.

Khandi sighed, "Well, this jerk left a body in the oven." She said looking at the Crematorium chamber, "It looks like it broke down in mid-killing."

Grissom stood up and headed towards the Crematorium chamber, "Maybe it's our Michelle Carter." He said looking into the chamber.

"Can you guys get a positive I.D from bones?" Jim asked.

"Mitochondrial DNA only gives us maternal lineage." Robbins answered. Khandi, Grissom, and Robbins all looked into the crematorium, "There's not enough left for a facial reconstruction but you can run the teeth to check I.D."

"Takes three hours for a body to burn through," Grissom stated, "The fire has to be between 1,600 and 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit to reduce the body to ash…"

"Ouch." Jim and Khandi stated in unison.

"… Usually leaving about four to eight pounds of bone particles and dust."

"I used to think I wanted to be cremated. Now I don't know." Jim commented.

"Looking like the bodies outside are better?" Khandi smiled.

Jim stood up and walked away back to where he was standing before. Grissom followed for his camera and Khandi just cause, "I don't know," Jim replied, "A casket – embalmed – it's not going to look like that."

"Hey, either way ashes to ashes." Robbins stated.

Khandi looked into the chamber and saw something, "How about bloody ashes?" She smiled, "I think I've got some fresh blood here. Wouldn't the blood have evaporated before the bone burnt?"

"But even if those are Michelle's bones, it can't be her blood." Grissom stated.

Khandi stood up and turned around, he looked at the dead body in the center of the room; "I don't know…" she shrugged.

"Benito?" Jim asked.

Grissom looked at the body, "He's got ash all over his face."

"Confirm that." Robbins replied.

"Like you said, payback's a bitch." Khandi added.

/Autopsy/

Doc Robbins put the body up on the viewbox and reported his findings to Khandi and Grissom. "All Benito Ramon," he said pointing. "The partial skull from the crematorium chamber. Palatine sutures have fused endocranially and exocranially. Now, I'm no forensic anthropologist but I can estimate this person was over sixty years old."

"So Michelle is still missing," Khandi said.

"I ran all the blood from inside the chamber. Belonged to Benito." Grissom replied.

"He had a fractured skull, broken jaw, clavicle, three broken ribs and this..." Robbins said.

"What is it?" Khandi asked.

"Don't know. He was holding something," Robbins replied.

On the screen it showed Benito had a clenched fist. "Cadaveric spasm," Grissom said.

Doc Robbins tries to pry Benito's fingers open but he can't do it. "Yeah, the death grip. Happens sometimes at the moment of death. I'm going to need my saw and a microwave."

Doc Robbins leaves and Khandi watches him go. When he returns with his tools, he approaches the body and cuts Benito's hand off. He places the hand in a dish and places it in the microwave. "I had to microwave a hand just last week. Only way we could get the evidence out."

"All right, let her rip," Grissom said.

"Wait," Khandi replied. Robbins and Grissom turned to stare at her. "You guys are acting like this is no big deal. That's someone's hand."

"Khandi, you've picked up body parts before," Doc Robbins said to her.

"Yeah, but I've never microwaved one, and it sort of... freaks me out that you guys have," Khandi replied and noticed that they were staring at her. "All right. All in a day's work."

Robbins turns the microwave on and the hand starts to turn. Suddenly it starts smoking and opens up. There's something in the hand that started to let off sparks. "Whoa. Fireworks," Grissom stated.

"Must be something metal in the hand," Robbins added.

"No shit! What was your first clue? The smoke or the sparks?" Khandi asked sarcastically.

Robbins opened the door on the microwave and pulled the dish out. He placed the dish on the counter and removes a flat metal disk from the hand and holds it up. "What the hell is this?" he asked.

"This is pass to paradise," Grissom answered. "Ever heard of a club on the strip called Canvas?"

"Yeah, I've been there a couple of times," Khandi replied.

"Really? Does Jim know about that?" Grissom asked her.

"How do think I heard about the club in the first place, Gil?"

"You know there's just some things about Jim I'd be better off not knowing," Grissom replied.

"Wise choice, Gil," Khandi remarked.

"Ever had one of these disks?" Grissom asked Khandi.

"If you've got a badge, you don't need one," she replied, smiling at him and left the autopsy room. Grissom just chuckled.

/Club Canvas/

Khandi and Grissom entered the club and Grissom couldn't believe what he was seeing. There was a man and a woman on the stage painting each other. Under the black lights the paint glowed. Grissom just stood there looking around, while Khandi went and talked to the manager.

"He's going to get the owners." Khandi informed Grissom when she returned.

"Did you read the article about this place? Two guys from Puerto Rico -- they're cousins. I guess they had a couple of clubs down there, but the article said they were Vegas versions of knock-around guys." Grissom said.

"Well, you know what they say? If you own the hottest club in the city, you own the city." Khandi replied.

Just then the two owners approached them. "Here come our guys," Khandi said to Grissom.

"Hey guys, Michael Guerro, Jarod Parker. How can we help you?" Geurro asked.

"Seen either of these two people?" Khandi said showing them DMV pictures of the missing people. Jarod Parker takes the pictures and looks at them. "Benito Ramon. Michelle Carter."

"No, sorry," Parker said and handed the pictures back to Khandi. "What's going on?"

"Ramon had this on him," Grissom said showing them a photo of the metal disk.

"That's our VIP palette," Guerro replied.

"He had it on his body. He was murdered. Can we see your VIP list?" Grissom asked.

"Sorry, but membership in our club comes with an expectation of privacy, so, yeah, we mind," Guerro answered.

Just then Grissom's phone rang and he turned away to answer it. "Grissom."

"It's okay. We'll come back with a warrant," Khandi said.

"Whatever you gotta do," Guerro replied.

Grissom hung up his phone and turned back around. "I think we found Michelle," he said to Khandi and then turned to the club owners. "Thank you."

/Crematorium - Night/

Jim showed Khandi and Grissom where the body was found. There were lights set up so they could see and uniformed officers stood around.

"Way to go, Jim. Michelle Carter in a shallow grave," Grissom said.

"Can you believe she was buried under all those bodies?" Jim asked.

"I believe it now," Grissom replied.

Khandi and Grissom walk over to the shallow grave and joined Doc Robbins who was already there looking over the body. "Are those scratches all over her face?" Khandi asked.

"No. Postmortem rodent bites," Grissom answered.

"She might have been beaten. I found something in her hair," Robbins stated.

/Autopsy/

Doc Robbins turned the overhead light off and turned on a hand-held black light. He shined the light over Michelle's hair. Her hair started to glow and the same substance was all over her skin. "Wait a minute," Robbins said.

"What's all over her skin?" Khandi asked.

"Tell you in a second. Looks like paint," Robbins answered.

"It looks like fluorescent paint," Khandi stated.

"Like the kind of paint they were using at Club Canvas. If Michelle worked in the paint, she was a dancer at the club," Grissom said.

"The owners were lying," Khandi replied.

/Club Canvas/

Grissom walked over to one of the walls and scraped a sample of paint off. "Please be careful," Jarod Parker said.

"Would you rather we take the whole thing back to the lab for processing?" Grissom asked.

"That won't be necessary," a voice replied.

Khandi, Grissom and Parker turned around and saw Jim standing there with an older man. "Khandi. Gil. Meet Vincent Graziano, legal counsel for the club." Jim said.

"Take note. We are cooperating with your investigation," Graziano replied.

"It's funny how warrants bring out the best in people," Khandi stated and looked at Jim. He looked back at her and just smiled.

Graziano handed Khandi two pieces of paper. "List of members, list of employees."

"So Benito Ramon was a member, after all," Grissom stated.

"Says here that Michelle Carter's an employee. She worked as a painter?" Khandi asked.

"And if Michelle was an employee. That would make Jarod here a liar. Would you care to revise your bullshit statement?" Jim asked him.

"You've got nothing to hide," Graziano said to Jarod.

"When Michelle was first missing, the cops showed up asking questions. When you showed up, I thought that can't be good," Jarod told them.

"So you decided to make things worse by slowing down our investigation?" Jim asked.

"I admit I lied about Michelle. But I was telling the truth about Benito Ramon. I give my word. I've never seen him before." Jarod answered.

"We know how much that means. We'll be in touch," Khandi said.

/CSI - Workroom/

Khandi was sitting at a table looking at photos of Michelle Carter with Doc Robbins. "Cause of death was strangulation," he told Khandi.

"No surprises here," Grissom said to them as he entered the room. "The paint in Michelle's hair matches the paint we took from Club Canvas. Is that a UV photo?" Grissom asked Robbins.

"No. I took this post-autopsy. To get the UV photo, all I did was add an ultraviolet filter and flood her face with light. UV light penetrates the skin and picks up bruises and marks too deep to be seen under normal light. Any bruising that's already visible won't show up on a UV photo," Robbins stated.

"Like that mark on her cheek? What is that?" Grissom asked. Robbins enhanced the mark on the cheek. "Looks like a horseshoe."

"Or the letter 'C'," Khandi replied.

"As in Club Canvas?" Grissom asked.

"As in the rings Jarod Parker and Michael Guerro both wear," Khandi replied. "I'll bring them in."

/Interrogation Room A/

Jarod Parker and Michael Guerro were sitting at the table with their lawyer Vincent Graziano. Grissom put on his latex gloves. "My clients have a club to run. This bordering on harassment," Graziano said.

"I can assure you it's perfectly legal," Khandi replied.

"Just the same, I advise them not to answer any of your questions."

"That's fine. I can get the answers myself. All I need is for them to hand over their rings to Mr. Grissom here," Khandi replied.

"Why?" Jarod asked.

"You know how much these things cost? This is because of Michelle?" Guerro asked.

"Michael," Graziano snapped.

"What about Michelle?" Grissom asked.

"You opened the door. If you don't close, we will," Khandi stated.

"I discovered Michelle, the deal was she work only for us," Guerro replied.

"But she decided to branch out?" Grissom asked.

"She wanted to be a promoter. You know, she had the looks. Talked the talk, walked the walk. Stepped on a lot of toes in the process."

"She started hosting events at a place called the Thorny Rose," Graziano cut in. "Why don't you talk to them?"

"I will... right after your clients hand over there rings," Khandi replied.

Jarod and Guerro looked at their lawyer. Graziano nodded his head and they removed their rings and handed them over.

/Observation Room/

Khandi stood in the observation room watching Jarod and Guerro. Just then Grissom came in the room and stood next to Khandi. "These rings are clean," he said to her.

"You gotta be shitting me. No blood, no epithelials? Nothing?"

"No cremation ash, no nothing," Grissom replied.

"Maybe they cleaned them. Maybe they used some cleaning fluid-- bleach, maybe. Could prove that they tried to destroy evidence."

"Well, Jarod and Michael are clean."

Khandi turned back to the window and looked at Jarod and Guerro. "I don't fucking think so," Khandi mumbled.

/Hallway/

Khandi and Grissom were walking down the hall. "We're going back to Club Canvas?" Grissom asked.

"Jimmy tracked down the jeweler that made Jarod and Michael's rings." Khandi replied.

"Okay, but I told you they were clean."

"Well, they are, but they weren't the only ones made. There were three rings made for Club Canvas."

"So, there's a silent partner?"

"Not so silent anymore," Khandi stated.

/Club Canvas/

Khandi and Grissom went back to Club Canvas to talk to Vincent Graziano. "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have a Club Canvas 'C' ring."

"Well, that strip of white flesh on your tanned hand proves that, until recently, you were wearing a ring on that finger," Grissom stated.

"I have officers at your house right now looking for your ring," Khandi replied.

"Great. Let me know when they're finished. Until then, I think I'll have a drink," Graziano said.

"I don't think so. You're coming with us," Khandi replied.

Two uniformed officers approached and escorted Graziano out of the club.

/Interrogation Room A/

Grissom placed Graziano's 'C' ring on the table in front of him. He's there to interrogate Graziano along with Jim and Khandi. "Diamonds are a girl's best friend and a suspects worse enemy," Khandi said.

"The setting was the perfect place for Michelle's blood to settle into," Grissom added.

"Try it on," Jim said.

Graziano took the ring and slipped it on his finger. "What do you know? It fits. Quite a coincidence."

"I've got another one for you. It turns out you're not just legal counsel for the club. You're also the majority owner," Khandi said.

"As a matter of fact, Michael and Jarod combined own less than one percent," Jim added.

"I needed someone with personality to attract customers. I wanted my business to be successful."

"Unlike your other two clubs that failed. You remember 'Moist' and 'Belly Button'. You filed for bankruptcy after they were closed," Khandi stated.

"No wonder they failed. Who would want to go to clubs called 'Moist' and 'Belly Button'," Jim added sarcastically.

Graziano glared at Jim and then turned his attention back to Khandi. "Proves I'm a bad businessman, not a murderer."

"It proves you have a vested interest in making club canvas the hottest club on the strip, which you did, by eliminating the competition," Khandi stated.

"Competition like Michelle," Jim added.

"Michelle used club canvas to create a name and she used her name to lure your VIPs to events at other clubs -- her events. Michelle was a threat, so you decided to get rid of her," Khandi said. "And, after you killed her, you knew exactly how to get rid of her body and you gave Benito Ramon a VIP membership in exchange for his services. You thought everything connecting you to her murder had been disposed of until you went back to pay Ramon. But when you got there, you saw a few things you didn't expect. The chamber was broken. Michelle's body hadn't been cremated... so you killed Benito Ramon."

"Because you knew that a buried body still contained DNA, but one cremated to ash doesn't. No DNA ... no proof Michelle's dead," Grissom added.

"That's a good story. I enjoyed that. But you forgot one thing ... I'm a lawyer, a damn good one," Graziano said smiling smugly at them.

"Oh, you know what? You're right. I did forget one thing: Michelle's blood wasn't the only one we found on the ring. Benito Ramon's was there, as well," Khandi replied.

"And cremated ash, and the chances of that happening to anyone but the murderer are about a million to one," Grissom added.

"You may be a lawyer, but I'm a Detective. A damn good one," Khandi said.

Jim stepped forward and handcuffed Graziano. "She something else, isn't she?" Jim said to Graziano and escorted him out of the room.

TBC…