Another day, and with it, new developments. Horatio was called out of Calleigh's bed by the incessant ringing of his cellphone. It was Tripp, sounding as sleepy as Horatio felt.
"Martin Gerber just handed himself in at the police department."
Horatio rubbed the sleep from his eyes and glanced down at Calleigh. "Okay. Give me twenty minutes."
He bent down to kiss Calleigh's forehead and smiled when her eyes fluttered open. "Morning, angel."
She yawned. "Hey."
"I've got to go. I'll see you back at CSI later."
"'Kay. I need to go back to the theatre to look for that other shell. Maybe I'll find it now that there aren't dozens of people hanging around."
"Alright." He kissed her again, then headed to the shower.
Calleigh glanced at the alarm clock and smiled. She could sleep a bit longer. She rolled over and closed her eyes.
Thirty minutes later, Horatio arrived at the Miami-Dade police department. He greeted Tripp, then they entered the interrogation room where Martin Gerber waited, slumped over the table. He sat up straight when they walked in.
Horatio silently appraised the young actor; he had the looks a camera would love and startling blue eyes, his dark hair was disheveled and he nervously scratched the skin on the inside of his elbow. His other hand shook, and he tapped his feet on the floor. Horatio narrowed his eyes.
"Can I see your arms, Mr. Gerber?"
He frowned at the unexpected question, but held his arms out. They were unmarked. Horatio took a closer look at Martin's eyes. They were bloodshot, the pupils still dilated.
"Have you slept at all?"
Martin shook his head and sniffed. Horatio's frown deepened.
"What did you take?"
"Uh, I don't know what you mean." His voice shook slightly with the lie.
"Drugs, Mr. Gerber. Now I can get a urine sample and wait, or you can just tell me."
Martin buried his face in his hands. "I didn't mean to do it, you know. I just thought I was doing it, like in a dream, but then I heard on the radio this morning that it really happened and, shit, I'm so sorry."
"What did you take?"
"Uh, just some stuff to make me feel better."
"Right." Horatio looked at the two-way mirror. "I'm going to need a urine sample."
The threat of that indignity had Martin squirming uncomfortably in his seat. "Okay, okay, coke. I had some coke and someone gave me a pill. I don't know what."
Horatio leaned across the table. This kind of idiocy never ceased to surprise him. He thought about his brother, and wondered, not for the first time, how his addiction had begun. He forced himself to focus. "Someone gave you a pill and you took it without asking what it was. When you were already high on cocaine. Not very smart."
"Yeah, well . . ." Martin shrugged. "I was depressed. I graduate this year. There were agents coming to watch and I'd lost my chance to impress them."
"So you killed two people." He fixed Martin with his gaze, his expression cold and disapproving. Calleigh had once told him that he was always harder on criminals in drug-related cases.
"Look, I already said I didn't know it was real."
"And that, my friend, is the problem with drugs. Whose gun was it?"
Martin looked past Horatio. "My dad's."
Horatio nodded. "Okay. How long have you been taking drugs?"
Martin sniffed. "I'm not an addict or anything. Everyone takes something every now and then. It's just lately, it's been like I've needed something extra to get through the day. Stupid fucking Brett Roberts. It's all his fault."
"Because he didn't cast you."
Martin put both his hands on the table and looked at Horatio. "He should have. I was his first choice. And if I'd let him fuck me, he would have. He said so, in as many words. But I'm not into that kind of thing, if you know what I mean. So I told him to forget it. Next thing you know, the cast list goes up and that shit Adrian Stein gets the part. It's not like they hid their relationship after that, but I bet you anything, Adrian would have dumped Brett as soon as the play was over."
"Well, we'll never know now, will we?"
Martin scratched his head. "Can I go now? I need a shower."
"You'll get your shower." Horatio stood and two uniformed officers came into the room. One of them handcuffed Martin, who looked at Horatio in surprise.
"Hey, I thought I could go home."
"Martin, you killed two people. You're not ever going home again." He wondered when exactly Martin would begin to understand just what he had done.
His cellphone vibrated in his pocket. When he saw Calleigh's name on the caller id, he smiled. "Hey, Cal."
"Hey." She sounded tense. "I'm at the theatre with our friend, Mr. Dobbs, and the dean of the university."
"Sounds like fun."
"Oh, I'm having a ball."
"I'll be right there."
* * *
"The university can't afford this kind of scandal," Oscar Miller, the dean, said. He held up a folded newspaper with the headline 'Much Ado About Something' on the front page.
Calleigh took a deep breath. "What exactly would you like me to do about that? Like it or not, this is the kind of news that sells papers. There were over a dozen witnesses; it was going to leak somehow."
"It's bad press for the university."
"It's not up to us to tell the press what they can write about, Mr. Miller." Calleigh wished Horatio would hurry up and arrive.
"I've had calls all morning about whether the show is going to continue," Conrad Dobbs said. He came closer to Calleigh, hoping to intimidate her with his height. She looked up, unperturbed, and smiled.
"I don't suppose Benedick had two understudies?"
"Miss Duquesne, you don't seem to understand—"
"Actually, it's Detective Duquesne, and you don't seem to understand. I have a job to do, gentlemen, so if you'll excuse me . . ." She picked up her field kit and started down the stairs.
"What am I supposed to do?" Dobbs asked. "I run this theatre like a business. How am I supposed to continue this show without the lead?"
Calleigh whirled around to face him. "You are unbelievable. Two people died here last night and all you can think about is how much money you're going to lose. What you should do, Mr. Dobbs, is pick up a phone and call the families of the victims and offer your condolences."
She saw Horatio at the top of the stairs and allowed herself to relax a little. "Martin Gerber handed himself in. He's been charged with murder," he said, surprising Dobbs and Miller.
"Detective—" Dobbs began.
"Lieutenant," Horatio corrected.
Calleigh left Horatio to deal with the men and set her kit down on the stage. She pulled on a pair of gloves, took out her flashlight and headed into the wings to search for the missing bullet. She was prying it out of a wall when she felt Horatio behind her.
"So he confessed?" she asked.
"In a manner of speaking. He was so high he claims he didn't know it was real."
She bagged the bullet and turned to face him. "So the case is over, I guess."
"Yes. Thank goodness. I'm not sure I have any patience left to deal with Mr. Dobbs. Though I think I finally convinced him that Martin Gerber cannot possibly finish up the run of the show."
"What are they going to do?"
Horatio shrugged. "I don't know. Let's get out of here."
They walked out onto the stage to see a janitor mopping up the bloodstains. A crewmember walked on carrying a tin of paint and a roller. When the janitor moved away, the crewmember started painting over the stain.
"It's a whole other world."
"The show must go on," Horatio said, and shook his head. Ever the gentleman, he carried the field kit for Calleigh, his hand resting possessively at the small of the back as they walked up the stairs and out into the real world.