Cauchemar Part 5: Wigging Out By koaladeb Disclaimer info in part 1

A/N: TaCe-look! I didn't forget about the title!

By the time Monday drew to a close, Horatio was feeling discouraged. There weren't any problems with the cases he had worked on-as a matter of fact, the low crime rate seemed to be continuing into its second week. It can stay this way as far as I'm concerned he thought to himself. No, the problem was that he still hadn't reconnected completely with everyone. Speed had gone with him to collect evidence from a robbery earlier, and after working side by side for a couple hours, everything was back to normal. Horatio tried to subtly inquire after other members of the team, and was caught up with the latest developments in Eric's love life, but Speed had remarkably little information about the team member he was most concerned about, Calleigh. All Speed had to offer on the subject was that she had looked worn out at the end of the previous week, even with a light load, but that she was in better spirits after the weekend.

After getting back to the lab, Horatio had chatted for a while with Eric, even setting up a 'guys night' with him and Speed to watch pre-season football and relax. Everything with them was back on track. He had also stopped in to see Alexx, hearing details about their family vacation to Orlando and reveling in her rendition of the kids' first glimpse at the Magic Kingdom. He couldn't help but notice that her eyes held a trace of wariness when he first had walked into the autopsy arena, but he passed that off as unwillingness to discuss how far Rick had let things slide in her absence. Alexx had reassured him that a "Come to Jesus" meeting would soon be set up with the new guy to impress on him the importance of keeping plenty of supplies on hand. Horatio made a mental note to talk to Rick at the next opportunity to make sure he understood Alexx loud and clear. It was easy to catch up with Alexx, as she too had been absent the past two weeks, physically instead of emotionally true, but she had not felt the full impact of Horatio's aloof manner. There was less to forgive and with her understanding nature, everything was quickly forgotten.

A low crime rate, low humidity, no backlog of paperwork, things would be perfect if it weren't for the one missing piece of domestic tranquility at CSI. Calleigh. He had gone to her initially to take the call on the robbery, but when he got to the lab, he could see that she was tied up working on a case with the new girl, Valera. He didn't want to interrupt the training and interaction going on, so he had walked past the lab without going in. Horatio still had no explanation for why she had pulled away from him that morning. Even with his best attempts at information gathering from the guys and from Alexx, he had not discovered any information about what was going on with her. There were no rumors of a new boyfriend, no reports of any personal tragedies, there was nothing. He couldn't understand why she had stopped being willing to open up to him. He looked at the clock.6:15. With the lack of new cases, she would be getting ready to leave. Now might be the perfect opportunity to catch up with her, maybe grab something to eat and give their morning conversation a second chance. Maybe she had only been distant because she didn't want to talk about something personal at work. Horatio stood, grabbing his suit coat and was about to walk out the door when the phone rang.

"Horatio," he responded automatically.

"It's 6:20 on a Monday, do you know what that means?" he heard a voice ask. He didn't need the caller to identify himself. Realization of the importance of the day swept down on him, making him set aside thought of a catch-up dinner with Calleigh until tomorrow. Right now, he had a prior engagement.

"Family night," he said to Ray J, reveling in the familiarity and excitement he had heard in his nephew's voice. It felt good to be a part of a family, knowing that there was a place that he belonged outside the world of crime investigation. "I'm just on my way out now. What's for dinner?"

"Pizza," he heard Ray J answer, then picked up a voice in the background before he came back on the line. "Mom says that if you can guarantee that you'll be here before the delivery guy you can help pick the toppings.

Horatio smiled. It was good to feel so welcomed. "You have my word," he spoke into the phone, "and you pick.just no anchovies, ok?"

"Deal," he heard, before Ray J's voice went up a few notches as he called back to his mother, "pepperoni and extra cheese, he's leaving now!" Horatio held the phone away from his head to quiet Ray J's shout, laughing to himself. He heard Ray talk to him again so he put the phone back to his ear. "Hurry-she said if you're late she's going to put mushrooms on it when it gets here."

"I'm on my way," Horatio replied. They said goodbye and he placed the receiver back in the cradle, turning out his desk lamp at the same time. He glanced out the window that overlooked CSI, seeing a flash of blonde hair just as it turned a corner. He sighed, momentarily regretting the need to put off his conversation with Calleigh for yet another day, but he had promised to make every family dinner possible. Besides he thought to himself what difference could one more day make?

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The phone call at 4:15 the next morning was not how Horatio wanted to begin a new day. So much for another slow week he thought to himself. Collecting his thoughts and clearing his throat, he grabbed the phone. "Horatio," he said, alert to the in the other end. He listened to the caller, not interrupting until all the vital information had been conveyed. He asked nothing, knowing that the scene itself would have to answer his questions. He gave only one order before hanging up and beginning to get ready for what looked like a long day: "Call Calleigh, Delko and Alexx and have them meet me there."

By the time everyone had arrived at the scene, sunlight was just beginning to make its presence known. Eric arrived first and was immediately caught up in taking preliminary photographs of the scene. When Calleigh arrived five minutes later, the police had marked off a respectable distance and were chasing away the first of the television crews that had shown up. Calleigh glanced around at the mostly empty parking lot, noticing Alexx examining a drape-covered body in the middle of the police tape. This can't be where the murder took place she thought to herself. It's too public. But what a strange place to dump a body. Calleigh took a brief glance at the stores in the strip mall: a pizza place, a bank office, hair salon, and an ice cream shop were nearby, with a grocery store taking up most of the far end. Cars were drifting into the parking lot as employees and early morning shoppers were beginning to arrive. Taking a last sip of coffee, she pulled on sunglasses and grabbed her kit and, heading over to Eric with only a fleeting glance at Horatio, who was in conversation with a detective and what looked like an employee of one of the nearby stores. They were joined a moment later by Horatio. He looked disturbed and wasted to time getting to the details.

"A grocery store employee called a dead body in just after four this morning," he began, glancing at the man he had just talked to. "He was responsible for unlocking the doors for the other employees, and says that he is typically the first person her in the mornings. The store isn't open 24 hours, just from five am to about midnight, with the last employee leaving around two. That narrows the window to just two hours in which our perp could have dumped the body." They walked over to Alexx, who had finished her initial examination and was speaking quietly to the victim. Calleigh caught a glimpse of blond hair before turning her attention to Alexx. "What have we got?" Horatio asked.

"Young woman, probably between the ages of 28 and 35. No ID. No sign of sexual assault. Cause of death was asphyxiation--she has all the classic signs, but there is a lot that doesn't make sense here." Alexx looked up at the detectives with a look of confusion. "Putting aside for a moment the state of the body when it was found, my initial reaction would normally be that the manner of death was some kind of accident. There are no ligature marks, no sign of strangulation, and there is nothing that would indicate a struggle. The bruises on the chest and torso indicate that death was caused by a tremendous amount of pressure, preventing the ability to breathe. But there are no other obvious signs of injury-no broken bones, cuts, anything that would indicate an accident."

Calleigh looked back at the body. Putting aside the state of the body when it was found. she realized why Alexx had qualified her comment. The body was carefully positioned, laid out so that the victim's hair was spread out behind her, as though the killer had made a great effort to make a display out of the wavy locks. Calleigh couldn't help the thought that crossed her mind. That's the style I was thinking about.it doesn't seem so great right now. The victim was dressed simply, in a pristine white robe that, from where Calleigh was standing, didn't have a speck of dirt on it. Just wait until I get you back to the lab she said silently, There's no such thing as completely clean.

"What's really bothering you?" Horatio asked, knowing that there was something that Alexx had not yet shared.

"You'll have to wait until I get her back to the lab for me to confirm this, but right now I'd say that she's been dead for at least twelve hours. Whoever did this spent some time cleaning her up, removing traces of anything that could tie them to her murder. She's amazingly clean. And then there's the wig."

"Wig? Eric asked, "She's wearing a wig??

"I didn't notice it myself until I took a close look. Someone had been very careful to hide her real hair. It couldn't be the victim, because it would have come off when her killer cleaned the body. As it is, I would say that someone put it on her after she was dead."

All the CSI's stared at the woman's head, with different expressions of confusion and puzzlement. This was something new. They had all but ruled out completely the possibility that the attack was aimed solely at the victim. The care put into disguising the evidence and the scene spoke out against it. So did altering the victim's appearance after killing her. Normally, a killer would select a victim that met their specific profile, if necessary right down to hair and eye color. No one had ever heard of changing a victim's appearance after the fact, at least, not in this way. This was not mutilation nor was it a sign of brutality as much as.no one knew what it was. Horatio left with the detective to speak with the owners of different stores in the hopes that someone had a security camera pointed at the parking lot. Everyone else got to work processing the scene.

They turned their attention to the body first. Alexx pointing out a fine powder that was coating the victim's skin. Calleigh opened up her kit and carefully collected a sample. It was time to begin finding every last trace left behind by the person who had done this. But as they examined the victim, they couldn't find anything else. There were no hairs, no fibers, no stains. Calleigh used a lifter on the robe, hoping that there would be some kind of trace evidence that they would be able to process. After talking with Alexx, they decided that it would be best to leave the wig in place for the time being and remove it back at the lab, where the environment was sterile and there would be less chances of contamination. Within an hour, they had collected every trace they could from the body and Alexx had released it to be taken for an autopsy. She left with the body.

Delko resumed his task of photographing the crime scene. He searched for every last detail. There was a reason that the killer had decided to stage a scene here-whoever had done this probably figured that by creating a separate scene, the quantity of evidence would be reduced and the police's job would be harder. But killers always underestimated how much material they left behind on and around their victims. There was always something that would tie them to their crime. He circled the victim, taking pictures of the body, debris on the asphalt, anything and everything in sight.

Calleigh worked with Delko, marking evidence, putting down and taking up rulers and measuring tools for the pictures, bagging and cataloging evidence. She took samples of oil stains and residue from puddles, on the chance that they could be used to tie a car to the scene. She didn't hold out much hope of their being useful, though. They were all too dried out to have been created at the time that the victim was killed. She stood for a moment, stretching her muscles that had been cramped for too long as she had knelt to collect evidence. Horatio was walking back towards them from the strip mall, coffees in hand and a look of displeasure on his face. Calleigh walked over to him. "What's that look for," she asked, reaching out to take the coffee he offered her.

"Only the grocery store had any king of security camera system, and it doesn't cover this half of the parking lot." He answered, getting Eric's attention and handing him a coffee as well. The three CSI's walked over to Horatio's hummer, leaning against it and sipping coffee for a moment. "What do you have?" he asked, turning his attention back to Calleigh.

Calleigh sighed, knowing that her news would do nothing to improve his mood. "A whole lot of nothing. I've taken samples, but I can tell you that none of the nearby grease stains were made at in our timeframe. Also, it looks like whoever dumped the body took as much care with the scene as they did with the body. I haven't found a trace of anything concrete except the asphalt. Hopefully, we'll be able to find something in trace." She looked over at Horatio. If anything, his frown had deepened.

"Are you almost done?" he asked.

"I was finishing when you walked up." Calleigh replied. "There is nothing more that I can do here." Eric indicated that the same was true for him. There was nothing to be found here.

"Ok," Horatio said. "Pack it up. Page me as soon as you get results back from the lab. I want to know the minute you get anything. I want this guy."

Calleigh nodded and walked over to her case. This was not good. For someone to go to this much effort to take someone else's life and then to put it on display in public.this was just the beginning, Calleigh knew it. There were going to be more victims unless they found something that would identify this guy. As she put her case into her car, she sighed. It was going to be a long day.