Part 8
She pulled up in front of the house and cut the engine. She didn't really know what Benny Holstein could tell her, she just hoped he had something that could help. She hated the idea of that deadbeat being set free because she couldn't explain all of the evidence at the scene. She needed some answers, but she didn't even have the questions yet. She got out of the car and walked up the ramp to the front door, what the heck, she'll improvise. As least it would give her something to do besides dream about her boss. She reached up and rang the doorbell.
"Coming!"
The door opened to reveal Benny, with a black cat sitting on his lap.
"Hi, my name is Sara Sidle, I'm investigating the death of Mara Severs; we met the other day in your backyard."
"Yes, I remember you. What can I do for you?"
"Would you mind if I asked you a few more questions?"
"Of course not, come on in."
Sara stepped into the house. It looked like a fairly standard two story house. Except for what looked like some sort of lift to get to the second floor. Sara imagined that was how Benny got his chair up the stairs. There were almost no decorations; everything was pretty bare; there was not a family picture or anything in site.
"This way, we can go into the living room to talk." Benny rolled into the next room, and Sara followed. "Have a seat. Are you alright? You look rather distressed."
Was her exhaustion that obvious? "You sound like my boss. I'm fine, I'm just a little tired; it comes with the territory working odd shifts." Benny nodded.
"Your boss, the man who was here talking to Aaron Barker the day that we met in the yard?"
"Yes, that was him."
"He is worried about you. I can tell." Sara frowned slightly. She was not used to being the one under scrutiny; she was supposed to be asking the questions. Benny went on, "when we were talking he kept looking around the side of the house to check on you, he was watching you pretty close."
Now she was really getting uncomfortable. "He must have been checking to see if I was done looking around so we could get back to the lab."
"Hmm, I don't know, I am a good judge of character, he was definitely watching you. Am in budding into some office romance? I don't mean to pry."
"No, no office romance," said Sara, shaking her head adamantly. "It's nothing like that." The image of her dream again flashed into her mind, but she pushed it away. She quickly changed the subject. "Can you think of anyone else who might have been with Mara that day? She had a lot of friends on the internet, do you know if she ever met any of them in person?"
Benny looked surprised. "You think it was someone else who hurt her?"
"I don't know. But there is evidence that someone else was in the apartment around the time of the murder, a possible witness."
"I don't know that she ever met any of her internet friends in person, none that I know of anyway. I doubt she would, most of the friends didn't even know who she really was. She used a lot of fake names and personalities when she was on the internet."
Sara's interest was piqued. "Did she tell you that?"
"No, I taught her that. When you spend as much time as me cooped up in this house, you develop quite an imagination, and make up other people to live through. My brother is a bit overprotective and doesn't like it when I leave the house. It was a way we both used to escape what we were living in; she was doing that for over a year before she left Aaron."
"Is your brother around? I would like to talk to him if I could, he may have seen something useful next door."
"He's upstairs in his room, but you don't want to talk to him. He is in a particularly bad mood tonight, and besides, he was away at a conference when Mara was killed." Benny rolled to the door of the room. "Would you like something to drink? I was about to make myself some tea when you rang. Would you like some?"
"Sure, but first I would like to use your bathroom if you don't mind."
Benny frowned slightly. "Upstairs, second door on the right. But please be quiet, Alex doesn't like to be bothered."
"Of course, I'll be quiet as a mouse." Benny smiled and rolled into the kitchen to make the tea. Sara headed upstairs to look for Alex. Maybe he knew something after all.
***Meanwhile, back at the lab…
Grissom was in his office catching up on paperwork. He couldn't seem to concentrate. His thoughts kept wandering to Sara. He was so worried about her. He knew she was a strong woman, and she could certainly take care of herself, but he wanted to help her anyway. He wanted to make life easier for her, to protect her, and keep her safe. Both of them depended on death and destruction for their livelihood, their jobs, but he wanted so much to bring brightness into her world.
"'Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh, be swift to love, make haste to be kind.'" Grissom quoted aloud to himself. Henri-Frédéric Amiel, Swiss philosopher, smart man. Maybe he needed to try a little harder to lighten Sara's world, to make her happy. In truth, he wanted nothing more, he just was so bad at relationships in general that he was afraid to mess it up and end up hurting her. Was she better off without him, or would they be better of together, sheltering each other from the horrors that they saw every day?
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. "Come in."
Nick stuck his head in the door. "Grissom, I might have something for you on your case."
Grissom set aside his paperwork. "Fill me in."
"I've got two things for you. First of all, we got a hit on the other unknown print from the scene, the one with the traces of blood in it. Apparently it was never run before; day shift had to fire someone that wasn't running all the prints."
"I've heard, go on."
"Well, the print belongs to Alexander Holstein. He served time for murdering his little brother when he was 18. His brother Benjamin was in a wheelchair and Alexander thought he was 'saving' him from teasing by killing him. He pleaded insanity and was treated in a hospital in California. Four years ago he was released and hasn't been heard from since."
Grissom could feel the little hairs standing up on the back of his neck. "Holstein. Benny Holstein." Grissom grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair.
"Where are you going? Don't you want to hear about the wheelchair?" Grissom stopped dead in his tracks, half way out the door, and turned around.
"Wheelchair?"
"Sara found smudges of blood at the scene, all the same distance apart. They are in the hall, too, leading towards the elevator. They seem like they would have come from a wheel, since they are all the exact same distance apart, no one walks that precisely. But it would have to be a big wheel to space the smudges that far apart. The only thing I could think of is a wheelchair."
"Call Brass, have him send backup to the home of Benny Holstein, here is the address." Grissom handed Nick a page of the paperwork he had been filling out. "Sara is there, and I think she is in trouble. I'll meet him there."
Nick took off down the hall in one direction, and Grissom went the other way, out to the parking lot. God, he hoped she was ok. He had no idea what he would do if she was hurt, or worse. He couldn't even think about it, he had to save her.