Chapter 38

Serendipity

/Crime Scene/

Jim and Khandi had a lot of fun at the skating rink yesterday, but duty called and here they are at yet another crime scene. They met up with a uniformed officer who led them to where the body was: the body was an infant.

"Newborn. Caucasian female. Five, six pounds tops." the officer reported to them.

"Tossed down the sewer?" Jim asked.

"If the water had been any higher, the little tyke never would've been found."

The body was covered by a small white sheet. Khandi bent down and lifted it up. "I want the fucking monster who did this," Khandi said disgustedly. "Umbilical cord's still attached."

"Tied off with dental floss. We got a home birth?" Jim asked.

"Newborns: ten times more likely to be killed the first day of life than any other time." Khandi said.

"So odds are we're looking at a mom who freaked out?" Jim asked.

"How the hell can you call her a mom, Jimmy?" Khandi asked and looked at the officer. "M.E. here yet?"

"En route. But the guy who found it is a doctor. Knows a thing or two." the officer replied as Grissom approached Jim and Khandi.

"I found a blowfly on the body," Grissom stated.

"Maggot?" Jim asked.

"Freshly laid. Which tells me she hasn't been down there for more than three hours." Grissom stated.

"Well, if it was the woman, she couldn't have traveled far this soon after delivery." Khandi said.

"If she lives nearby, shouldn't be too hard to find a new mom," Jim paused and looked at Khandi, "sorry a woman missing a baby."

/Frith Apartments/

The apartment manager led Jim and Khandi up a flight of stairs. "Yeah, we got a tenant about to pop. Name's Brianna Morris. Moved into 2-H three months ago," the manager told them.

"Who with?" Khandi asked.

"Nobody. So she said. Didn't mention she was pregnant."

"It's a hard thing to hide." Jim stated.

"Well, she wore bulky clothes. When it became obvious, I made a passing inquiry, she denied it."

"How old a girl are we talking?" Khandi asked.

"Uh, early 20's."

"Boyfriends?" Jim asked.

"No. Not that I was introduced to." They stopped at a door and the manager knocked. "Miss Morris? I got a leak in 1-H. Got to check your pipes. You there?" The manager unlocked the door and they all entered. "Miss Morris, I got some people with me."

Jim and Khandi walked around the apartment and Jim disappeared into the bedroom. "Yo," Jim called out. Khandi walked into the bedroom. "I don't think she got rid of the baby."

"I don't think she made it out of the delivery room." Khandi added.

"Yeah, she's dead." Jim stated.

"Then who dumped that baby?" Khandi asked.

Sam was talking to an elderly neighbor who was tending to her many, many pet birds. "I can't imagine who would do something that horrible." she stated.

"Brianna have any family or friends?" Sam asked.

"Not that she ever mentioned."

"You two were friendly?"

"She helped me with my groceries. And she picked up some birdseed once when I ran out." she said and picked up a photo from her mantel to show Sam. "This was at my birthday in August."

Sam looked at the picture. "Hardly the life of the party, huh?"

"She was a sad girl. But my birds just loved her so she must have been a good person."

"Was there a daddy in the picture?"

"No."

"Any prospective step daddies?"

"Not since she moved here. Poor thing. She was always alone."

"We know she had a visitor last night or early morning. Did you see anyone?"

"No."

"Hear anything?"

"I'm sorry," she said pointing to her hearing aid. "I'm stone deaf without this. The little buggers make so much noise in the morning. I just put it in an hour ago."

Cosmo was interviewing another neighbor. "Heard someone knocking over there about 6 AM." the neighbor said.

"Must have been banging pretty loud."

"No, just regular. I work from home. My desk's right by the door."

"What did you hear after that?"

"Not a peep."

"Woman had a freakin' baby across the hall and you don't hear it."

"I don't know. She was a quiet girl."

"No woman's quiet during childbirth."

"Sorry."

The neighbor closed his door and Cosmo walked over to Sam. "Nobody saw or heard anything." Cosmo said.

"Or bothered to get to know her." Sam added.

"Girl that age carrying that kind of baggage had to reach out to somebody."

Cosmo and Sam walked into the victim's apartment and found Khandi and Doc Robbins there. "Somebody had to deliver that baby. Even cleaned up the afterbirth." Robbins stated.

"So how did he kill her?" Khandi asked.

"Can't rule out that anyone did. Like mother, like daughter. I've got no obvious cause of death on either."

"You think they might have died in childbirth?" Khandi asked.

"You rarely see it nowadays. But mom could have had a blood or amniotic fluid clot, even a stroke. I'll let you know after the autopsies." Robbins stated.

Khandi walked over to Sam and Cosmo. "Phone line works. She could've called for help." Sam said.

"Well, killers don't usually encourage that," Cosmo replied. "Killers usually cut the phone lines and don't wait around for labor."

"There's no evidence of foul play yet," Khandi said.

"What about a baby down a sewer?" Cosmo asked.

"Someone who thought they were helping." Khandi replied.

"With friends like that..." Cosmo said, cutting himself off.

"Maybe it was somebody who found her too late. They pick up where she left off, hiding her dirty little secret?" Sam added.

Khandi and Cosmo entered the bedroom. Cosmo pointed to a pool of blood on the mattress. "Who are they trying to kid? It's obvious she gave birth." Cosmo said.

"It tracks with having it at home. Hospitals document newborns. She didn't want anyone to know." Khandi replied.

Jim came out of the bathroom and met up with Khandi and Cosmo. "Someone did," Jim stated pointing to a bottle of pre-natal vitamins. "Pre-natals prescribed by a Dr. Curtis."

/Dr. Curtis' Office/

Jim and Khandi were walking and talking with Dr. Curtis. "Brianna wasn't due for another three weeks."

"When's the last time you saw her?" Khandi asked.

"Last Tuesday. There was no indication she was ready to deliver."

"What about stress? That can cause labor can't it?" Jim asked.

"Extreme trauma, emotional or physical, can cause labor."

"Anybody causing Brianna anxiety? Maybe the baby's father?" Khandi asked.

"She never mentioned one."

"Not once in eight months?" Jim asked.

"Well, I only saw her for the last three. Before that, she went to the free clinic."

"That's a big price jump to this place," Khandi stated.

"Well, you get what you pay for. She took every test available and spared no expense."

"Any problems?" Jim asked.

"Medically, no. But I had my concerns."

"About?" Khandi asked.

"She was very detached from the pregnancy. She didn't want to know the sex, didn't want to see the ultrasound, or even want to hear the heartbeat."

"Unusual for an expectant mother." Jim said.

Dr. Curtis' pager beeped. "Oh, I've got to take this. Excuse me. My secretary can help you with anything that you need."

"Thanks." Khandi said.

Dr. Curtis left and Khandi turned to Jim. "Did not sound like Brianna wanted this baby, Jimmy."

"Then why spend all that money on its care? We've got two kids, honey. We know better than anyone that insurance does not pay for any of those extra tests."

Jim and Khandi went to see Dr. Curtis' secretary. "Excuse me, Brianna Morris' payment history. Could I get a copy of that?" Jim asked.

"It's in my problem file. Last week's payment was declined."

The secretary handed the file to Khandi and she and Jim flipped through it. "The credit card is in the name of Ron Wolcott. Who's that?' Khandi asked.

"I don't know. He's never been in."

/Ron Wolcott's House/

Jim and Khandi approached the front door. "Not a bad place for a guy with credit problems." Jim said.

"Maybe he gave too much to charity, helping out young, unwed mothers." Khandi replied.

Just then Kelly Wolcott, Ron's wife, walked up behind Jim and Khandi. "May I help you?"

"Las Vegas Police. Does Ron Wolcott live here?" Jim asked.

"Yes. That's my husband. What's this about?"

"We think he may be the victim of identity theft. Someone's been using one of his credit cards." Jim said.

"Oh, no. How much have they charged?" Kelly asked.

"$20,000 to a Dr. Curtis." Khandi said.

"That's... that's Brianna's OB/GYN."

"You know Brianna?" Khandi asked.

"Of course. She's carrying our baby."

/Inside the Wolcott House/

Jim and Khandi were inside talking to Ron and Kelly Wolcott. "Why would somebody kill our baby?" Ron asked.

"Brianna was your surrogate?" Jim asked.

"No, the baby was hers. We were adopting it." Ron replied.

"Emily Rose," Kelly added.

"We've had that name picked out for ten years now. That's how long we've been trying." Ron said.

"We just couldn't get pregnant. We tried in vitro three times." Kelly added.

"And then you found Brianna?" Khandi asked.

"She was living in a hellhole. We found her a place in a safer neighborhood." Kelly answered.

"We paid her expenses. She was doing manual labor. It wasn't safe for the baby." Ron said.

"Why'd you cut off the credit card?" Jim asked.

"We didn't." Kelly said.

"One of our cards was maxed out. I took care of it." Ron added.

"Which adoption agency did you go through?" Khandi asked.

"We didn't. It was set through a mutual friend." Kelly replied.

"Who's that?" Khandi asked.

"Marcy Cochran. She's the wife of one of Ron's co-workers in R&D."

"Where?"

"The Flavor Institute in North Vegas," Ron answered.

"And how does Marcy Cochran know Brianna?" Jim asked.

"Marcy does a lot of volunteer work. Brianna called her hotline." Kelly said.

/Help Line Office/

Several Volunteers were answering phones. Jim and Khandi were talking to Marcy Cochran at her desk. "Brianna tried to commit suicide?" Khandi asked.

"No. But she was thinking about it."

"Why?" Jim asked.

"She just found out she was pregnant. She was overwhelmed. She said she couldn't handle her own life, let alone the responsibility of a baby."

"She have any family?" Jim asked.

"Father jumped ship before she was born. Mother was abusive, dumped her in foster care at five. She didn't want the cycle repeating itself."

"She ever mention the baby's father?" Khandi asked.

"Yeah. She met him in the park. He was the man of her dreams until the next morning. He gave her a fake number. She never heard from him again."

"You get this involved with all your calls?" Jim asked.

"We're not supposed to. This girl broke my heart. I gave her my home number. We talked every night."

"Convincing her to give up the baby?" Khandi asked.

"It was a win-win. Ron and Kelly were desperate. And Brianna could not have found better parents."

"When was the last time you talked?" Jim asked.

"Four days ago."

"And what was going on?" Khandi asked.

"Whatever you're thinking, the Wolcotts would never hurt Brianna."

"Why would we think that?" Jim asked.

"This is gonna sound horrible for someone in my position. Brianna and I had a fight."

"About what?" Khandi asked.

"My idiot husband. I told him something in confidence, and he went and told Ron Wolcott."

"What did he tell him?" Jim asked.

"That Brianna was keeping the baby."

TBC...