CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Ben and Jerry's
Chapter4-
Warrick met up with Nick in the locker room after shift. He was tired from recording all the money in the register, which had been covered in a nice, thick layer of dust. He was sincerely glad he wasn't asthmatic.
Nick looked considerably worse compared to him not to mention the smell.
"Did you have fun?" he asked teasing.
"Ha ha. I'll have you know that is the most disgusting thing I've ever had to do." Nick said annoyed.
"You can thank Sara for that."
"Don't think I won't!"
"Well, I hope you take a shower. You stink." Warrick said.
Nick sniffed his shirt and groaned, "I just did!"
"So, I take it you're on the case?" Warrick asked.
"I think so. Grissom gave my case to Cath." He said, "Oh, and I called Teri Miller." He added.
"Who?" Warrick asked.
"The face expert." Nick clarified.
"Ahh, that Teri Miller."
"Yes, she'll be here in two days." Nick said grabbing his backpack and heading out.
"See ya, man." He called over his shoulder as he left. But before Nick could even reach the front doors, Sara came round and caught his sleeve.
"There you are. What did you find?" She asked giving him a neutral glare.
"You owe me, Sidle." He said.
"Was it really that bad?" She asked wrinkling her nose at his smell. This didn't go unnoticed.
"You tell me."
She smiled, "Fine, I'm sorry. So what did you find?" she asked again.
"Fat, formaldehyde and seeds and wood chips." He said.
"Seeds and woodchips?" she repeated, "Killed near the lake or some forested area."
"Maybe. I'm going home now, okay?" he said.
"Fine." She said, "Wait! Did you bag it and take it to evidence."
"Yes, Goodnight." He said impatiently.
*=*=*=*=*=*=*
The next afternoon, Brass had called Alexandria Matthews in for questioning. She was indeed an older version of the girl in the picture except for her expression. She seemed quiet and afraid. Sara scowled observing her in the viewing area. Whatever this act was, it wasn't fooling her.
Her hair was still brown and a few stray strands fell in her face. Her hands lay clenched calmly in her lap. She wore a shirt with a logo Sara didn't recognize on it, jeans and a pair of pumps, which she kept clicking together obnoxiously. But the moment Brass entered the room, she stopped and glared at him.
"Oh, it's you." She said unwelcoming. Familiarity with Brass. That meant this girl was a known felon.
"What's the matter? You don't sound happy to see me." Sarcasm dripping from his words.
She snorted, "If this is about scalping again, you can't prove anything." She snapped.
"That's right, because you deal in cash, no paper trail." He said remembering, "But see, the problem with that, is you deal with innocent people. Innocent people who don't have to keep their mouths shut because they have nothing to hide. Believe me, if I wanted to land you for that, I would have already." He said in a low, warning tone, which she didn't fail to notice.
She scowled at him, "What am I looking at? Theft? Burglary?"
"Try homicide."
Her face froze for an instant her brown eyes wide and her mouth slightly open. She shook her head and regained composure.
"Your real name is Alexandria Matthews?" he asked.
"No, it's Miranda Jacobs." She corrected confidently.
"Your birth name, please?" he said impatiently.
She sighed, "Carrie Jameson"
"Thank you, Miss. Jameson." Brass said, "Do you recognize her?" he asked pushing Lindsay's picture in from of her. She hardly glanced at it.
"She looks like the girl on the McCain Smileys commercial." She replied snickering.
"Funny." Brass grunted, "Answer the question."
She chuckled for a moment, "No. I've never seen the brat." She replied hiding a grin.
Brass scowled at her but continued, "Do you own the ice cream shop on Tennant?"
She laughed out loud at that, "What kind of a question is that?"
"Answer it!" he demanded.
"I'm struggling to pay rent on my one bedroom apartment, what makes you think I would have time to go out and buy and ice cream store of all things?" she said still laughing.
"The deed is in your name; Alexandria Matthews. I assume that is one of your many names?" Brass said.
Something flashed in her eyes but her cool expression quickly replaced it. She smirked, "Look, I don't gave a rat's ass what your piece of paper says. I don't own property in Las Vegas."
"Then I suppose you're also going to deny breaking out of Sommer's Children's Home 22 years ago?" Brass said.
Again, she laughed, "Well of course I'm going to deny what never happened."
Beside her, Sara felt Warrick walk in.
"How's she doing?"
"Load of bullshit. She isn't giving anything." Sara said frustrated, "We need a polygraph test."
In a few hours they had the warrant and Carrie Jameson hooked up to a lie detector. She seemed a whole lot angrier now and kept shooting angry glares at Brass. Sara watched her interestedly as the operator explained to her how it worked.
"Give yes or no answers only." He instructed.
"No smart-ass comments." Brass added.
"I'll try to control myself." She snapped at him as the questioning began.
"Is your birth name Carrie Jameson?"
"Yes."
"Have you ever used the name Alexandria Matthews as your own?"
She bit her lip, "Yes."
"Have you ever used the name Paris Montana as your own?"
She snorted and covered a fit of giggles. Once she had composed herself, "No."
"Have you ever attended The Sommer's Children's Home in Las Vegas, Nevada?"
"No."
"Do you know Lindsay Wilcox?"
"No."
"Do you own the ice cream shop on 4156 Tennant Avenue?"
"No."
"Were you born in Las Vegas?"
"No."
There were a few more questions but Sara had stopped listening at that point. She was staring at the results. Everything Carrie had said was true. She hadn't lied once. There was a rise in the lines when she giggled, but other than that, her heart rate, respiratory, everything had stayed the same.
"How is that possible?" Sara asked shocked.
"The sheet says she was born in Las Vegas. Did she change the records?" Warrick asked puzzled. He and Sara walked back to the break room talking about suggestions. They walked in and found Nick waiting there.
"Where were you? I've been looking all over." Nick asked.
"Polygraph test with Carrie Jameson." Warrick explained sounding puzzled.
"Who?"
"Our suspect." Sara said. "Carrie was telling the truth. She must've found a way to trick the polygraph test. There's no way she could've been telling the truth."
"Can I see the results?" Nick asked.
She tossed them to him and watched as he went over them. To her surprise, he smiled and gave a small chuckle.
"What?"
"Nothing, it's just, wow!" he laughed, "These questions must've sounded ridiculous to her."
"Yeah, she found them about as funny as you did. What is it?" Warrick asked.
"Well, I think I can tell you why the polygraph test was useless and why questioning this witness would be equally pointless." He said.
"And why's that?" Sara asked.
"She thinks she's telling the truth, that's why."
"What?" Warrick asked.
"She has retrogade amnesia; the inability to remember events that occurred before an incidence of trauma or the onset of a disease. Diagnosed when she was 20. Also, post-traumatic stress syndrome. I checked out her medical records." Nick said tossing his own printout to Warrick.
"I'm sorry for not watching soaps. How do you know all this?" Sara asked.
"I dug a little deeper into her medical records in Las Vegas. She did live here. She was found fighting with a sales clerk in a department store and was going to stand trial when she was diagnosed, but her aunt and uncle were contacted and she went with them back to New York." Nick said.
"Trauma. That might've been when her friend was killed." Warrick said, "Watching someone die might trigger that, so she blotted it out of her memory."
"Why does she deny living in Las Vegas?" Sara asked.
"I don't know. It might've been the story her aunt and uncle fed her." Nick suggested.
"Hang on. You said she had post-traumatic stress syndrome? How can she have that when she can't remember anything about the incident that caused it?" Sara said.
Nick checked over his printout, "I don't know, maybe it's a mistake."
At that moment, Warrick's pager went off. He checked it before pulling out his cell.
"Brass." He explained dialing his number.
"Warrick? You need to get down to your crime scene before it gets destroyed. The demolition company is getting impatient."
"Alright. Hey, have you cleared Jameson?" Warrick asked.
"Yes, she's waiting for a cab." Came Brass's reply, "Why? What did you want her for?"
Warrick explained Nick's findings to Brass and ended the call. "We don't have a lot of time left with our crime scene and our only witness has been set free. We need someone to talk to her and encourage her to call us in case she remembers anything."
Nick looked doubtful, "Well, if we're going to split up, I'll go to the crime scene. I haven't been there yet."
"I'll go with you, Sara you might want to convince Carrie to give us something." Warrick said. Sara didn't argue. She walked off in search of Brass leaving Nick and Warrick to head off to the crime scene again.