Horatio looked over at Ryan amicably and nodded. They were in the labs, a welcome respite from the heat and sun of another beautiful but scorching Miami afternoon. Ryan had been going over the evidence of Kara Watkins and presented his suspicions to Horatio. They were in the sounds sector with audio/visual Lab Technician Dan Cooper.

"Play it one more time," Horatio ordered calmly.

Dan stretched forward lazily in his chair to flip a button.

They heard the voice of a 911 operator calling out the standard, "hello 911 services, how may I help you?"

A low click, missable the first few times Ryan had gone through the recording until Dan had tried a variety of options to isolate the sound and add volume to it, followed and then the voice of Kara Watkins rang out through the room.

"Hello," her voice was frightened but there was an odd tone to it, some suggestion of disbelief. Ryan had gotten that checked too with one of the Miami-Dade's psychiatrists to query if anything other than the obvious could be garnered from Kara's voice.

"I...I'm...I need to report a body." There was a hesitation in Kara's voice, an uncertainty that the psychiatrist had suggested was from confusion not shock.

"Where are you?"

"Peacock Park. It's a female in the park," she recited the phrase more quickly as if reciting a script.

"Alright, stay on the line please and we'll get a unit there. What's your name?"

"Kara Watkins."

The line went dead after that.

"Now play it again with the background noise isolated," Horatio instructed.

Dan shifted into action without glancing up to his superior. Sometimes he considered the redhead to be a little too much of the commanding officer and wondered what Horatio would be like if he just loosened up a bit.

Ryan watched the wave of lines on the screen that indicated sound, fascinated by the technology as the call played again and confirmed that he had not misheard or misinterpreted anything. The background noise didn't add up, there were no peacocks, no park ambience and no footsteps to suggest Kara walking towards or from a body. It was Erica Sykes all over again, Ryan's late reporter friend who had been forced to record a phone call before being murdered.

"You're right Mr. Wolfe," Horatio concluded with a sombre nod, "Kara Watkins did not phone 911, her killer did and played a recording of her voice, one she did not make in the park."

Horatio considered the chain of events, Kara Watkins had been gone since that morning after a fallout with her mother the previous night. The bodyguard on duty for the Watkins' household, James Hoyes, had said Kara had indeed left that morning, walking from the house in a foul mood and murmuring about meeting a friend. CCTV footage showed her walking down the sidewalk at the front of the house, heading in the direction of a bus stop.

A friend of Kara's, Lydia Wright, had come forward to say that Kara was meant to meet with her at a cocktail bar in the city that morning but Kara had never showed. That had been around eleven, Lydia had opted for ringing her friend a couple of times and sending her a text before figuring Kara had changed plans. Instead of contacting anyone else, Lydia had gotten drunk with her other companions.

Rick had officers combing through the city around the cocktail bar for CCTV footage to see if Kara had gotten close to her destination but so far nothing had cropped up.

"I think our killer took Kara in the morning," Horatio theorised, "held her somewhere and had her make that recording, which means they had Peacock Park pre-planned."

"Which fell under Officer McCoy's remit that night," Ryan murmured grimly. "Is it possible McCoy was the real target?" he marvelled as he gaped at his boss with worry.

"I'm not sure," Horatio admitted. "Quentin McCoy's connection to Benjamin is his brother Bill but Kara was friends with Benjamin, it's hard to believe that's a coincidence. Someone seems to be very angry about what really happened to Benjamin Bracker and they want our attention on it."

"So what about our John Doe?" Ryan wondered aloud. "The killer left Kara's I.D with her but not this guy's, at least not that we've turned up. I'm going back to search the area again, maybe I'll get lucky and find something dumped beneath a tree or in the sand."

Horatio nodded. "Well, we can't be certain of anything yet but I suspect our John Doe will be connected to the Brackers somehow. Rick has Detective Frost checking through missing persons."

Horatio considered what scant evidence they'd pulled from the three bodies to try and construct a profile of their killer. Whoever it was, they had experience with this. There were a few stray dark traces of cloth on Officer McCoy at the bloody stump of his neck, latex, probably from gloves. Kara had had dark rubber under her two of her fingernails. John Doe had defensive bruising on his knuckles and, most telling of all, a burn on his left palm, probably an attempt to grasp at the coal coming for his eyes. All three had fought like hell for their lives even Kara who had been drugged before being murdered although the M.E Tara Price had suggested the drugs in Kara's system indicated she wouldn't have put up much of a fight.

Horatio frowned. "Thank you Mr. Cooper," he said dismissively. "Mr. Wolfe, let's go see Eric."

Ryan felt an odd flicker of sorrow as Horatio addressed him by his surname but referred to Eric by his forename. It was an odd quirk of his boss' and Ryan suspected it came from a purposeful attempt to keep Ryan at arm's length. He wondered if it was because he had screwed up so many times or if it was because Horatio had lost Speed and wasn't going to risk getting close to his replacement lest the same thing happen. Tim Speedle had died in Horatio's arms after all.

The pair exited from Dan's domain and headed through the labs to the clinically clean and cool room Eric was occupying.

Eric was in his white lab attire running through samples from the John Doe. He glanced up hearing the door open and greeted Horatio and Ryan with a small smile.

"Afternoon Eric," Horatio greeted politely.

"Afternoon," Eric retorted.

"Eric, the John Doe from the beach, any signs of him being drugged?"

Eric nodded. "No, not a thing."

Horatio frowned. "But Kara Watkins was, she ingested hers, correct?"

Eric nodded. "There wasn't much in her stomach contents, some alcohol, fruit juice, sweeteners, everything to make a nice cocktail."

Horatio cocked his head slightly at this and raised his golden-red eyebrows. "A cocktail," he repeated, interrupting Eric.

Eric nodded. "I know, that early in the morning, a bit wild but the M.E says it probably was the morning, if it were the evening before it probably would've shifted further down her system to be expelled plus the drugs seem to have been in the cocktail."

"So Kara Watkins was going to meet her friend Lydia that morning for cocktails but Lydia says she never showed and the bar Lydia gave has no footage of Kara arriving to it. Yet Kara had traces in her system to indicate she did have a cocktail that morning. Now that's not a coincidence I buy," Horatio remarked seriously.

"So Lydia's lying?" Ryan quipped in confusion.

Horatio glanced at Ryan out of the corner of his eye.

"Or not telling the whole truth. We need to question her again. Mr. Wolfe, let's set up another meeting with Lydia Wright."

Ryan nodded agreeably.

Across the city Lieutenant Stetler and Detective Frost sat in an interview room of the Federal Detention Centre, Miami's prison. Neither expected to get much out of today but Rick was determined to try.

Rick stared across the plain table calmly at the prisoner. Having spent many years in a role that involved interrogation, Rick was in his element now. He wondered dryly as he studied the man opposite him if he really was sane as the D.A had proven five years ago.

Henry Bracker was neat on the surface with militant short blonde hair and a clean shaven face but budding bruises and old scars on his exposed flesh told of an unpleasant life in prison as both kin and child killer and his hazel eyes shifted rapidly between vacant and animated as if simultaneously welcoming and rejecting various presences.

Henry's focus darted between Rick and Detective Frost as he cocked his head from one to the other.

Tobias had spent his morning trawling through Miami's extensive lists of missing persons to see if their John Doe popped up. He was saddened but unsurprised by just how long that list was even when narrowed to Caucasian males within the twenty-thirty age bracket with dirty fair hair, eye colour unknown. That latter box had made Tobias grimace as he considered the mutilations the man had endured while still alive, homicides connected to torture weren't as common as people thought and amounted to one of two things- a victim that knew their killer or a psychotic killer who was going to reoffend and keep going until they were caught.

Henry gave Tobias a small smirk. "It's been five years," he murmured, "what did you find?"

Rick wasn't surprised that Henry had guessed why they were here. He had checked the man's records, on the first year of imprisonment there had been a few token visits from his uncle but after that no one had visited. Rick figured going for the honest approach was best since it was public news now about Benjamin Bracker's blood showing up on the senator's daughter.

"Five years ago the bodies of Rose, Viola and Clara Bracker, and the body parts of Hunter and Bruce Bracker were discovered. The remains of Rose, Clara and Hunter were found within the Bracker House whilst Viola's body was found in the garden pond and the body parts of Bruce Bracker were located in a nearby copse," Rick summarised calmly.

Rick kept his cool stare fixed upon Henry as he spoke, watching for any sign of emotion.

Henry's hazel eyes continued to dart about and his fingers rapped off the table lightly but he showed no clear reaction to Rick's words.

"Benjamin Bracker, the third child and youngest son, was not found," Rick stated bluntly. "Despite repeated searches all that turned up were some blood spatters within the house, DNA samples proved they belonged to Benjamin Bracker. However, it was a small quantity of blood, enough to suggest injury but not death and as the bodies were there for a number of days before discovery there was no way to prove a time of origin for the blood spatters of Benjamin Bracker."

Henry glanced sharply to his left and tugged at his cuffed hands impatiently causing the chain they were linked to, to jingle before he resumed tapping on the table.

"Five years on and a young woman called Kara Watkins who was once a friend of Benjamin's has been murdered. Her body was discovered stained in Benjamin Bracker's blood. Again, we have been unable to conclude the age of the blood stains."

"Watkins," Henry murmured distastefully. He grinned suddenly and his eyes rolled from Rick to Tobias and then back to Rick. "Daddy's favourite fuck."

Tobias' gaze widened slightly at this remark. He sat with his arms folded on the table and tried to maintain a blank expression, cautioning himself that Henry was probably just yanking their chain.

"Did you know Kara Watkins and her family?" Rick queried calmly.

"Her and Benny were part of a group," Henry mused, "poor Benny thought she'd pretty eyes for him but she liked men not boys."

"And how do you know that?" Tobias asked with a curious look.

Henry's hazel eyes turned upon Tobias with a fierce stare. "Blondie speaks," he marvelled. "I hate the silence because it's never real, gives the other noises a chance to dominate. Secrets behind closed doors blondie but I lived behind the closed doors so I know." Henry stretched up his hands so he could tap the side of his brow pointedly with one finger.

Rick reached for the knot of his tie before he could help it, he had lived behind closed doors too. He forced himself to lower the hand again and maintained a cool expression as he watched Henry.

Tobias nodded. "How do you know Kara Watkins liked men?"

"A family thing," Henry mused humorously with another smirk, "he had no love for his children, it was all taken by Watkins."

"Who had no love for their children, Henry?" Rick pried.

"Dad," Henry retorted chirpily, "lots of love for Watkins but none for the Brackers."

Rick considered his next question carefully. Like Tobias he was considering that Henry could be spinning them a work of fiction but Rick couldn't ignore the possibility that it might be true.

"Henry, are you trying to tell us that Kara Watkins was in a relationship with your father?"

Henry giggled before nodding. "Yes, yes," he said excitedly.

Rick and Tobias exchanged a glance, neither had been expecting this revelation.

"Alright," Rick said calmly, "and did Benjamin know this?"

"No, he thought the eyes were for him," Henry mused.

"Where was Benjamin the day you family was attacked?" Tobias pried.

It was of course a question Henry had been asked many times and always he had given the same answer of 'I don't know'.

"Somewhere," Henry answered childishly as he scratched at his chin causing the chain to jingle again.

"Where?" Rick pushed for an answer.

Henry turned his head up to the ceiling. "I don't know," he said flatly.

"You said a figure wrapped in darkness was there," Tobias reminded him. "Who was that Henry?"

Henry let out a pained chuckle at this that set Tobias' teeth on edge. "Death," he answered cheerfully to the ceiling.

Lydia Wright was bored as she stared back at Horatio and Ryan, showing her displeasure at having been summoned to the Miami-Dade Headquarters for further questioning. She rolled her blue, heavily made up, eyes down to the tape recorder on the desk and frowned.

Lydia had arrived wearing a short sequinned skirt that was high enough up her behind to show she was either not wearing underwear or was wearing a thong, this was coupled with a slinky, loose vest top that suggested a strapless bra or no bra at all. Lydia apparently wasn't one to leave much to the imagination.

Despite her layer of evening wear make-up she couldn't hide the red veins streaking her eyeballs suggesting fatigue, the glaze that lingered there hinting at the alcohol she had already consumed or the paleness that flared up beneath her bronzer hinting at her unease.

"Why am I here?" she demanded.

"To discuss the morning of Kara Watkins' disappearance," Horatio replied calmly.

Lydia attempted to cross her legs before realising her skirt was too tight to allow for the gesture so she flopped back in the seat and folded her arms instead.

"We already discussed that. In fact," she said as her voice grew an octave, "I volunteered that."

"Good citizen you," Ryan murmured with a small smile. "Look, Miss Wright, we just want to go through it again, make sure nothing's been left out." His smile widened as he gestured his hands on the table outwards to her.

Lydia glanced down to his parted palms with a measure of disgust, uninterested in the open gesture inviting her to confess.

"Nothing was left out. Kara was meant to meet me that morning for drinks but she didn't show."

"Where was she meant to meet you?" Horatio demanded.

"Black Lace and Stilettos," Lydia retorted with a grin for the redhead. She gave him a wink. "It's a favourite of mine."

"Miss Wright, if Kara failed to show then why do we know she had cocktails that morning after all?" Horatio queried carefully.

It had the desired effect. Lydia flustered slightly, squirming in her chair as she frowned before shaking her head. "I don't know what you mean. She wasn't there."

"Yes but was she somewhere else?"

"Well how would I know?" the young woman snapped in irritation. "Look, can I smoke here?"

"No."

Horatio sat back in his chair and gave Lydia an empty, cerulean stare that could convey so much and yet nothing at the same time. "Miss Wright, let's start with what we know." He took care to emphasise the 'we' so Lydia would understand the police knew more than she thought.

"Kara Watkins arranged to meet with you that morning, and left her house of her volition to do so. You and she agreed to have cocktails, although you haven't stated why and I don't believe it's custom to get up in the morning and suddenly decide cocktails are on the menu for breakfast. What we also know is that you say Kara failed to show but she did have those cocktails. It's a huge coincidence you want us to believe that Kara didn't meet you for the planned cocktails without a word but had them with someone else."

Horatio leaned across the table slightly. "Miss Wright," he addressed in a soft but serious calm voice, "withholding evidence in a murder case is a felony and there are serious consequences for it. What aren't you telling us?"

Lydia shrank back, blanching as she did and turning her stare to the wall on her right before she sighed and grasped at her hair with one hand.

"Fuck!" she exclaimed. "Alright. She'd been on at me the night before, she'd had some mad fight with her mom and she rang me, furious and upset but I couldn't make sense of it. She started saying all this shit about Benjamin Bracker, how she felt bad that we never bothered to acknowledge his death, like a memorial or something, how we hadn't been good enough friends to him. I just, I didn't want to know okay?"

Lydia's eyes wavered between annoyance and wide eyed anger as she looked to Horatio before glancing to Ryan, unable to withstand Horatio's stoic stare.

"I said I'd meet her for cocktails in the morning, figured she'd calm down but then she rang me again that morning babbling about stupid Benjamin again so I lied and told her I was at Silver Lemonade when really I was at Black Lace and Stilettos."

"Why didn't you tell us that?" Ryan demanded angrily before he could help it.

Ryan glared across the table at Lydia despising her in that moment for the stereotype she obviously was- a rich girl who didn't care. When she mentioned Benjamin's name her tone her turning haughty as if the poor boy had never mattered and now here she was unapologetic for avoiding helping the police in her own friend's murder case.

"Kara is dead, there could be footage of her killer there!" Ryan snapped.

Lydia shrugged with a sulky look. "I never liked Benjamin, his whole family was trouble and Kara's mom is a senator's wife, I don't want involved with whatever this is."

"Well you are involved," Horatio informed her seriously. "Now, what has Kara's mother got to do with this?"

"I don't know, honestly," Lydia protested. "Just Kara was fighting with her so I assume Benjamin got mentioned by her or something." She shrugged. "Look that whole thing with his family was horrible, I just didn't want to hear about it or him again. I already had a throbbing headache that day, Kara wasn't the only one with mom issues, mine gave me shit all that night so I just didn't have the energy for listening to Kara whine about Benjamin. I'm sorry."

"You're not," Ryan accused, "but if you've cost us evidence to Kara's killer, you will be."

Lydia frowned back at Ryan as she fell silent.

"Miss Watkins, you can go for now but we'll be in touch," Horatio advised her.

Horatio and Ryan rose from the table together. Ryan didn't have to ask where they were heading next, he knew it was going to be The Silver Lemonade.

They exited the Miami-Dade quarters swiftly, leaving an officer to deal with Lydia. Horatio was quick to slip on his dark shades as they headed outside to the golden afternoon. Ryan didn't bother donning sunglasses, recalling that his pair were in the glove compartment of his car. He knew that Horatio would be driving without even asking and walked with the redhead to his car.

Horatio paused momentarily at the car and glanced at his watch. He unlocked the car and simultaneously tugged out his mobile and started dialling on it.

"Sweetheart how are you?" he greeted brightly when it was answered.

Ryan's eyes widened and for a moment he was stunned by the endearing tone his boss had suddenly taken on.

"I'm just ringing to check in. How are you and the kids?"

Ryan reached for the passenger door handle slowly, he felt guilty listening in but he wondered about Cassandra's welfare too. Today was a busy day for her, she had Annabelle, Marissa and Tobias' daughter Alice under her charge.

"That's good. I don't always ring when I'm going to miss dinner. No, well, hmm," Horatio frowned, "alright you have a point. No, that doesn't mean I'm missing dinner." Horatio glanced at his watch again. "Although...Cassie don't laugh." Horatio gave a small smile as he shook his head. "I could bring home something."

Ryan opened the door and reasoned that he was only delaying because until Horatio turned the air con on, the car was a furnace. He felt a twinge of envy hearing Horatio talk about bringing dinner home to his partner. Ryan had girlfriends but there wasn't anyone serious yet and hadn't been for a while. Natalia had come close but after dating both him and Eric she had picked Eric and then they had parted because he obviously had feelings for Calleigh but considering Natalia was now with Rick that had all worked out for the best. Ryan had contemplated dating Cassandra briefly when they had met but Horatio had been quicker and although Ryan was extremely fond of the young woman there were no hard feelings there, he knew she and Horatio were meant to be. It was just it would be nice to have someone.

"It won't be unhealthy. It's not always unhealthy. Alright, fine. Look, how about I ring you in a couple of hours and then we'll discuss dinner? Okay, talk to you later sweetheart."

Horatio ended the call and he and Ryan both got into the car. Horatio turned and gave Ryan a serious stare. "Mr Wolfe, what do you think of lemon yellow and sky blue? Because I'm not sure what I'm meant to think of that and I have to have an answer regarding it later."

Ryan looked back at Horatio and started laughing. "Sky blue suits and lemon yellow ties, maybe but the other way round, maybe not."

"I don't know if it's suits," Horatio admitted.

Ryan continued to snicker. "You should definitely find out because if you don't and it's the latter Rick is going to be mad at you."