Chapter Twelve: Step by Step

Robin, her choppy hair flipping against her wind-blushed face, was looking out of the side window of the Hummer as Horatio focused intently on the road ahead of him--watching as the yellow lines drew closer and closer, slipping off to the side just before another appeared. They had managed to lift several variations of prints--from women's high-heels to men's clunky work-shoes, and in all sorts of sizes as well.

She leaned back inside, raising the window about halfway to reduce the noise, "Can't believe we were in there for over two hours! It felt like ten minutes! I guess time really does fly when you're having fun."

"Believe me--the fun is just starting."

Horatio pulled up in front of the Miami-Dade crime lab; it was about four in the afternoon. Robin slipped out of the vehicle, looking back at the dark gray asphalt--there was a layer of warped air suspended between it and the sky, looking like the coarse ripples of a wind-strewn ocean.

She scurried beside Horatio, brushing the perspiration from her forehead before stepping into the much cooler structure. To Robin it always seemed like one extreme from the other--outside, everything was always bright and the colors, along with the temperature, were warm; but once inside, the oranges and yellows of the ever-familiar city now instantly transformed into the silvers and grays of the reserved building.

"Horatio! Turns out there were no useable prints from the doorknob, but…," Calleigh caught them before they were able to enter the lab. She stopped to scope out Robin, this being her first look.

"Robin Elde?"

"Yeah," Robin nodded, "…you must be Calleigh Duquesne. Horatio mentioned you to me a few times."

Calleigh flashed a smile, "I'm so excited to finally meet you!"

Horatio gave her a suspicious look, but Calleigh simply reflected her smile towards him. Robin chuckled, "It's nice to meet you too, Calleigh! But…what were you starting to say a few seconds ago?"

"Oh! Right! I wanted to say that even though the prints from the apartment were pretty much useless--only matching Jason and the victim's--Erik was able to pull some pretty good ones from the victim's body."

"You run 'em through AFIS yet?" Horatio asked.

She shook her head, "Waiting for you! Thought you'd wanna be there to see if we've got our guy."

"More than anything else," he said, smirking.

* * * * *

Nearly everyone was gathered around Erik, anticipating the results. Tracings of the prints had already been scanned into the system, the only step remaining was a simple click of the mouse.

…And that is exactly what Erik did. Once he clicked the "search" button, there would be nearly a hundred prints blinking on and off the screen every second; as each passed, the chances of finding the target grew better and better.

Finally, the screen paused--revealing the words "15 Possible Matches." To narrow it down even further, Erik outlined some of the more unique traits of the prints such as loops and whorls. Sure enough, when clicking "search" again, the words "Match Found" popped up.

"Alright…let's take a look," Horatio said.

A mug-shot of a tan, dark-haired man appeared in the upper right corner of the rap sheet. His eyes were light blue, the corners of his mouth peaking into a calm smile. Erik's eyes scoured the page before he read the name, "Steven Peters--was charged with assault and battering."

Speed chuckled, "Guy doesn't look like the usual criminal, does he?"

"Looks like he was more prepared for a portrait than anything else," Calleigh said, noticing the man's well-groomed appearance.

"But as we all know, looks can be deceiving," Horatio advised.

"Right," Robin started, "Going back to the first victim that was found--the little girl. If a guy like this approached her, talked kindly to her, chances are that he could gain her trust in no time at all."

Erik shook his head, "Sick…"

Horatio's face was serious, "Kill 'em with kindness…"

"What about his shoe size?" Robin asked.

"Um…size 11. Why, you've got prints?" Erik questioned.

"Yeah, that should save us some time. Good job, guys," Horatio remarked. "Speed, Calleigh, think you'd be able to go over the footprints from the apartment? I want to hone in on Peters--it's time we gave this guy a friendly little visit."

"Sure," the two commented simultaneously.

"Great. Give me a call the minute that you think you've found the right one. I want to see if there's any other information on this guy."

* * * * *

Once they got settled into the lab for what seemed like the thousandth time that week, Calleigh and Speed split the prints and got to work. At first it was easy--they shifted through the groups of Mylar sheets, finding prints that were either too big or too small. Calleigh smiled when she found a set of prints left behind by a pair of her favorite stilettos, soon setting it off to the side and continuing with the others.

After about forty-five minutes of searching and separating, there were nearly thirty full sets of prints that were size 11. In matching them up, there were five different styles of shoeprints. It took a while, but once Speed had called the officers who were at the crime scene, he was able to eliminate their prints--leaving him and Calleigh with the one thing they were looking for.

Speed held one up for her to see, "Here it is! Time to give Horatio the heads-up."

He whipped out the cell phone, searching for "Caine" on the phone's screen, when it appeared he clicked the center button. First ring…second ring… and then after hearing the familiar voice, Speed gave him the news:

"Horatio, guess what I've got!"

"Good, now, I want you to check them out for any traces of soil or sand. Compare whatever you find to the samples of dirt from the park, and sand from the beach, just in case we've got any last doubts," Horatio instructed abruptly.

"You got it, boss," Speed said lightheartedly, pressing the 'END' button. He turned to Calleigh, "Orders from headquarters--we've gotta run a few tests."

She looked at the rows of sheets, "So…you want the left or right?"

**Hey guys! Hope my story is still catching people's interest! I don't want it to seem like I'm trying to ramble on. Anyways, did anyone see the CSI: Miami season finale? It was so exciting! I especially found it awesome that one of the characters at the end was named "Robyn" and was nicknamed "Robbie". That totally made my day! Okay, okay, I know it's dorky that I get excited about something so stupid…but that's just how I am! : ) Well, thanks for the continuous reviews! Don't forget the bonus CSI: Miami this Friday!**