Part 5
They pulled up in front of a small blue house, nondescript. It didn't look like anyone was home. Sara finished off the last of her pickle and took a drink of water. She looked over at Grissom in the driver's seat, and discovered that he was staring at her with an odd look on his face.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer."
"Are you sure you are ready for this? It's been a day and a half since you have slept."
"I'm fine, and the two cop cars that followed us here will make sure we both manage to question the man safely." Sara got out of the truck and started walking up to the front door. Grissom sighed and followed, wondering if she would ever let anyone help her with anything. He got to the front steps just as she rang the bell.
"Thanks for waiting"
"No problem"
The door opened to reveal an overweight middle-aged man in his underwear. Sara suppressed a laugh.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"We're crime scene investigators from the Las Vegas crime lab. Are you Mr. Aaron Barker?" Grissom asked.
"Yes I am; what can I do for you?" He reached down to scratch himself and Sara had to avert her eyes. At least they knew he wasn't packing a weapon.
"We are going to need to ask you a few questions."
"I'm busy."
"Well, if you don't want to talk to us now, I could have this officer escort you to the station and we can talk there." Grissom gestured to the officer standing in the driveway about ten feet away.
"No need, I'll talk." He grunted, obviously annoyed.
"Mr. Barker, would you mind if I took a look around your yard?" Sara asked.
"Whatever floats your boat." He answered, scratching himself again and looking Sara up and down. She left Grissom to handle the questioning; she needed to get away from that guy and all of his scratching. She walked around the side of the house. There really wasn't much in the yard, some gardening tools, and a hose. When she got to the back yard she saw nothing but a very messy tool shed. A noise behind her made her jump and she whipped around, hand on her gun and ready to draw it.
"Whoa, sorry Miss, I didn't mean to startle you." Sara relaxed. Maybe she was a bit jumpy. She had just about drawn her weapon because she heard a man in a wheelchair in the next yard.
"It's fine. My name is Sara Sidle and I'm with the Las Vegas crime lab, mind if I ask you a few questions?"
"Not at all, what can I do to help?"
"Do you know your neighbor here, Aaron Barker?"
"We aren't social. He is a bit uptight for me, always yelling and ranting about something or other."
"Did you know this woman?" Sara handed him a picture of the Vic.
"Yeah, that's his ex-girlfriend, Mara Severs. Nice woman. I was glad she finally tried to leave him a few months ago."
"Tried?"
"Well, she left, but men like Aaron never really give up, he still thought he owned her. She got a restraining order on him, but I still think he was after her."
"What makes you think that?"
"Every time I talked to her she seemed so afraid. We were always friends; I was one of the only people she felt safe talking to about Aaron. I guess men that use wheelchairs aren't much of a threat. I heard on the news what happened to her. That's too bad. But at least she is safe now, he can't hurt her anymore."
"When was the last time you talked to Mara?"
"Four days ago. We have lunch every week. Just to socialize with people face to face. I don't get out much, my brother works a lot and we can't afford a van that would allow me to drive, so I am at home a lot. She told me Aaron had been calling her again. He was sorry and he wanted to get back together, he said that he missed her. She was actually thinking of taking him back. I tried to talk her out of it, but I don't think she was listening. I got an e-mail from her the next day saying she was going to see him, to talk. I told her I didn't think it was a good idea, but she was so lonely. And stubborn, she was one of the most stubborn people I knew."
Sara reached into her pocket and pulled out a business card. "Here is my card; will you call me if you think of anything else?"
"Of course. I had better get back in the house. My brother is getting back from a conference this afternoon and if he sees what a mess I have left all over the house he'll be pretty mad. Good luck with your case, I hope you catch him."