Erik opened an evidence bag and used a pair of tweezers to take out the hair Speed found at the kidnapper's nest. He cut a small piece of it and placed it in a small tube, he then dowsed it with solution. He took the small tube and placed it in the analyzer.
A few second later the results came back and he grabbed the page out of the machine and he walked over to the computer and fed the results into the database. He waited for a few moments as various mug shots and names ran across the screen - finally stopping on a mug shot and a name. He quickly grabbed the printout and headed out of the lab and into one of the other rooms where Horatio, Speed and Bailey Evens were assembled.
"Hey guys I think I have something" He announced as he got in "Well the DNA from under the victim's fingernails wasn't enough to run a search through the database but I got a DNA sample from the hair and it ran it through the sex offenders database - I have a match here, someone named Leroy Hitchcomb - he has a prior for a sexual offense for shooting kiddie porn and the 2 DNA samples have 7 points of overlap"
He passed the printout over to Horatio so he could have a look, Bailey peered over Horatio's shoulder and took a look himself.
"There's no known address, no place of employment..." Bailey said in disappointment
"Wait a second..." Speed suddenly shot up "Did you say Hitchcomb?..."
He cleared a path to the computer and pulled up the map he was working on earlier, quickly hitting some keys and pulling out some information, finally finding what he was looking for "I knew it sounded familiar - there's an old slaughter house on the old industrial district "Hitchcomb Meats" it's been closed down for over 20 years now but the warehouse is still there..."
"Who owns the building?" Horatio keened in closer, looking over Speed's shoulder
"Let me check..." speed pressed a few more keys and pulled up the county real-estate ownership records. "The ownership is under the name of Barry Hitchcomb...let me put pull up the record on this guy..." He pressed a few more keys as everyone held their breath "Here we go... Barry Hichcomb, deceased February 2000, next of kin - son Leroy Hitchcomb!!!"
"We've got him!"
*
Jamie and Speed were sitting quietly on the hood of the hummer, beside them Erik and Calleigh were sitting on a bench, talking among them selves. It was getting late and the skies were starting to get dark, a cold breeze was finally braking the heat of the day and cooling the temperatures. A few blocks up the street a swarm of police cars were parked around a large building and people were running around like bees in a frenzy.
"It looks like the SWAT team are just about ready to storm the building..." Speed lamented to no one in particular
The other didn't answer - there was nothing to say. This wasn't their part. Right now all they could do is just sit down and wait for the police to clear the building. What ever they would find inside the place, whether it be the missing kids, or something else - it would be their job to then figure it out.
Horatio stood outside the police car along with agent Evans and some other FBI agents. He watched as the SWAT team took their positions around their building - 15 men unit on the ground, 10 on the front, 5 from the back, 2 snipers were already positioned on the roof.
They have been monitoring the activity inside the building for the past 15 minutes - but there was nothing. Finally they decided to storm inside...
*
15 MINUTES LATER
"All clear!" The team leader announced as he came out of the building "We have a dead body inside!"
"Someone put up a fight?" Bailey questioned
"No, he was dead when we got here" The team leader answered "no sign of the kids either"
"Captain, I want your men out of there ASAP" Horatio joined the conversation "Tell them not to touch anything, not the dead body, nothing. It's time for my people to start going over the scene"
"I want my people to take a look first" Bailey tried to interject
"My team is already here, they're ready and waiting" Horatio said sternly, lifting his cell phone and pressing a button on his speed dial "You want your people? Sure! They can join us when they get here..."
He turned away from Agent Evans as the phone was picked up on the other end "The coast is clear, let's go"
A few blocks away Speed closed his cell and the four teammates got into their hummers and drove to the scene.
*
Speed entered the building carefully, looking at his surroundings. The lower floor was pretty much one large room, he could still see where the hooks were once attached to the ceiling and where the machines were once bolted to the cement floors. The room had a slop to it - the floor seemed to be leaning to the right.
"It's for the blood - so it would drain through the drain holes over there" Calleigh volunteered as she came up behind them.
The place was mostly empty - a large mattress, a table and a few chairs were scattered around the place, some of them turned over.
Over to the right he could see a flight of stairs that led to the upper level where Speed could make out an office of some sorts. Over to the left was a another flight of stairs that led to the seller -where the refrigerator rooms were. He walked down the 3 steps that led to the main hall of the building where he saw Alexx already crouching next to the body.
"What do we have here Alexx?" Speed asked as he crouched next to her as she examined the victim who was lying face down on the floor of what was once a slaughterhouse
"I don't know yet. Give me a hand here"
Together the carefully turned the body over on it's back "He looks familiar" Speed sighed as he looked at the man's face - recognizing Leroy Hitchcomb "There goes our only lead"
"He has some scratches here on his neck" Alexx started surveying the body "Probably from Jasmine Blake"
"Do we have a cause of death yet Alexx?" Horatio came over from behind them
"It looks like a couple of gun shots to the chest. One is still inside, one looks like a through and through"
"Looks like a medium calibar" Calleigh joined in, peering at the wound "Maybe a 32 or a 45. I should probably look for the through and through in one of these walls"
"I have a computer here!" Speed called out from the other
"What's that smell?" Horatio suddenly asked and everybody lifted their heads and started sniffing the air
"Smells like fire" Erik frowned
Horatio pulled on a pair of latex gloves and started walking through the building, looking for the source of the smell. He realized after a few seconds that the smell was coming from the upper floor so he slowly made his way upstairs. He came into what used to be the managers office but saw nothing so he kept on going to the other door which led to what used to be common room - attached to a small kitchen.
He took a look and saw a small trail of coming out of a trashcan that stood in the sink. He quickly tried to put down what was left of the flames and took out the remains of scorched paper that were in the can.
"What have you got there H?" Erik asked as he appeared behind him
"Some paper that someone went to a lot of trouble to make sure we wouldn't see" Horatio reached out and Erik handed him a plastic evidence bag where he carefully placed the fragile remains of the paper. "Get that to the lab would you?"
Erik nodded and started going over the room as Horatio made his way downstairs and out of the building, wanting to have a word with the SWAT team members who were the first ones to enter the building.
*
"Hey Speed. I've got something here" Alexx called out to him as she reached down under the body. She found a set of keys and showed it to Speed who came closer, taking them from her hand.
"It seems broken" he said, looking closer at the car alarm remote that seemed to be slightly broken, as if someone stepped on it. Jamie came over and took a look over his shoulder as he turned it in his hand "that's weird... there's a car alarm but there aren't any car keys"
"Because that isn't a car alarm" Jamie said gravely, her voice suddenly sounding ice cold "That's an FBI panic button! SONOFABITCH!"
??
(footnote continued)
A few second later the results came back and he grabbed the page out of the machine and he walked over to the computer and fed the results into the database. He waited for a few moments as various mug shots and names ran across the screen - finally stopping on a mug shot and a name. He quickly grabbed the printout and headed out of the lab and into one of the other rooms where Horatio, Speed and Bailey Evens were assembled.
"Hey guys I think I have something" He announced as he got in "Well the DNA from under the victim's fingernails wasn't enough to run a search through the database but I got a DNA sample from the hair and it ran it through the sex offenders database - I have a match here, someone named Leroy Hitchcomb - he has a prior for a sexual offense for shooting kiddie porn and the 2 DNA samples have 7 points of overlap"
He passed the printout over to Horatio so he could have a look, Bailey peered over Horatio's shoulder and took a look himself.
"There's no known address, no place of employment..." Bailey said in disappointment
"Wait a second..." Speed suddenly shot up "Did you say Hitchcomb?..."
He cleared a path to the computer and pulled up the map he was working on earlier, quickly hitting some keys and pulling out some information, finally finding what he was looking for "I knew it sounded familiar - there's an old slaughter house on the old industrial district "Hitchcomb Meats" it's been closed down for over 20 years now but the warehouse is still there..."
"Who owns the building?" Horatio keened in closer, looking over Speed's shoulder
"Let me check..." speed pressed a few more keys and pulled up the county real-estate ownership records. "The ownership is under the name of Barry Hitchcomb...let me put pull up the record on this guy..." He pressed a few more keys as everyone held their breath "Here we go... Barry Hichcomb, deceased February 2000, next of kin - son Leroy Hitchcomb!!!"
"We've got him!"
*
Jamie and Speed were sitting quietly on the hood of the hummer, beside them Erik and Calleigh were sitting on a bench, talking among them selves. It was getting late and the skies were starting to get dark, a cold breeze was finally braking the heat of the day and cooling the temperatures. A few blocks up the street a swarm of police cars were parked around a large building and people were running around like bees in a frenzy.
"It looks like the SWAT team are just about ready to storm the building..." Speed lamented to no one in particular
The other didn't answer - there was nothing to say. This wasn't their part. Right now all they could do is just sit down and wait for the police to clear the building. What ever they would find inside the place, whether it be the missing kids, or something else - it would be their job to then figure it out.
Horatio stood outside the police car along with agent Evans and some other FBI agents. He watched as the SWAT team took their positions around their building - 15 men unit on the ground, 10 on the front, 5 from the back, 2 snipers were already positioned on the roof.
They have been monitoring the activity inside the building for the past 15 minutes - but there was nothing. Finally they decided to storm inside...
*
15 MINUTES LATER
"All clear!" The team leader announced as he came out of the building "We have a dead body inside!"
"Someone put up a fight?" Bailey questioned
"No, he was dead when we got here" The team leader answered "no sign of the kids either"
"Captain, I want your men out of there ASAP" Horatio joined the conversation "Tell them not to touch anything, not the dead body, nothing. It's time for my people to start going over the scene"
"I want my people to take a look first" Bailey tried to interject
"My team is already here, they're ready and waiting" Horatio said sternly, lifting his cell phone and pressing a button on his speed dial "You want your people? Sure! They can join us when they get here..."
He turned away from Agent Evans as the phone was picked up on the other end "The coast is clear, let's go"
A few blocks away Speed closed his cell and the four teammates got into their hummers and drove to the scene.
*
Speed entered the building carefully, looking at his surroundings. The lower floor was pretty much one large room, he could still see where the hooks were once attached to the ceiling and where the machines were once bolted to the cement floors. The room had a slop to it - the floor seemed to be leaning to the right.
"It's for the blood - so it would drain through the drain holes over there" Calleigh volunteered as she came up behind them.
The place was mostly empty - a large mattress, a table and a few chairs were scattered around the place, some of them turned over.
Over to the right he could see a flight of stairs that led to the upper level where Speed could make out an office of some sorts. Over to the left was a another flight of stairs that led to the seller -where the refrigerator rooms were. He walked down the 3 steps that led to the main hall of the building where he saw Alexx already crouching next to the body.
"What do we have here Alexx?" Speed asked as he crouched next to her as she examined the victim who was lying face down on the floor of what was once a slaughterhouse
"I don't know yet. Give me a hand here"
Together the carefully turned the body over on it's back "He looks familiar" Speed sighed as he looked at the man's face - recognizing Leroy Hitchcomb "There goes our only lead"
"He has some scratches here on his neck" Alexx started surveying the body "Probably from Jasmine Blake"
"Do we have a cause of death yet Alexx?" Horatio came over from behind them
"It looks like a couple of gun shots to the chest. One is still inside, one looks like a through and through"
"Looks like a medium calibar" Calleigh joined in, peering at the wound "Maybe a 32 or a 45. I should probably look for the through and through in one of these walls"
"I have a computer here!" Speed called out from the other
"What's that smell?" Horatio suddenly asked and everybody lifted their heads and started sniffing the air
"Smells like fire" Erik frowned
Horatio pulled on a pair of latex gloves and started walking through the building, looking for the source of the smell. He realized after a few seconds that the smell was coming from the upper floor so he slowly made his way upstairs. He came into what used to be the managers office but saw nothing so he kept on going to the other door which led to what used to be common room - attached to a small kitchen.
He took a look and saw a small trail of coming out of a trashcan that stood in the sink. He quickly tried to put down what was left of the flames and took out the remains of scorched paper that were in the can.
"What have you got there H?" Erik asked as he appeared behind him
"Some paper that someone went to a lot of trouble to make sure we wouldn't see" Horatio reached out and Erik handed him a plastic evidence bag where he carefully placed the fragile remains of the paper. "Get that to the lab would you?"
Erik nodded and started going over the room as Horatio made his way downstairs and out of the building, wanting to have a word with the SWAT team members who were the first ones to enter the building.
*
"Hey Speed. I've got something here" Alexx called out to him as she reached down under the body. She found a set of keys and showed it to Speed who came closer, taking them from her hand.
"It seems broken" he said, looking closer at the car alarm remote that seemed to be slightly broken, as if someone stepped on it. Jamie came over and took a look over his shoulder as he turned it in his hand "that's weird... there's a car alarm but there aren't any car keys"
"Because that isn't a car alarm" Jamie said gravely, her voice suddenly sounding ice cold "That's an FBI panic button! SONOFABITCH!"
??
(footnote continued)