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Chapter 3

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"Horatio." Eric glanced in the direction of the boy's sneakers.

"Yeah." Horatio nodded, pushing back his suit jacket to rest his hands on his hips and show the teenager his badge. "Danny, I'd like to take a look at your shoes -"

Danny looked at his feet. Putting his hands in his jean pockets he asked, "Why?"

"To rule you out as a suspect." Eric chimed in.

"You were at Luis' corner store earlier today, no?" Detective Salas questioned.

He nodded, nervously wiping his peach fuzzed chin with his shoulder.

"C'mon, man. Let's see you shoes," Eric prodded slapping on a pair of latex gloves.

The young CSI took a sample of what looked like dried blood. "These new?" Eric questioned.

Danny mother, Mrs. Morgan filled them in, "I bought them for him a few days ago."

Horatio tilted his head looking at the label inside the shoe, "Size eight."

The three officers now knew that he was most probably involved with the murder of little Josie. If that was blood on his shoe, he, at the very least, was there. They were definitely capable of getting a DNA sample from this new break.

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"I want everyone in the layout room," Horatio had said poking his head in the DNA lab.

The entire team sat around the table as Horatio asked them to do a recap on the evidence gathered so far.

Speed went first, "Blood from Danny's converse sneakers is a match to the victim's."

"So, we know he was there." Horatio nodded, "Eric."

Eric continued, "Blood found under the knife handle was Josie's. No prints though. It was wiped clean."

"Okay, he still could have ran off scared like he said, arriving after the crime took place and stepping into the pool of blood," Horatio thought aloud.

"Yes, but the killer left a souvenir on her arm," Calleigh showed them the retraceable fingerprint. "Recovered all thanks to Alexx." Calleigh smiled.

"Except we don't have enough to get his prints -" Horatio informed.

"Well, we got his DNA, didn't we?" Eric asked.

"Yes, because it was useful to determine who's blood was at the scene for reconstruction - " Horatio replied calmly.

"We're so close, H," Eric whined.

"We've got to get him to talk," Horatio quipped.

"Hey, speaking of body fluids," Speed told the group, "I swabbed Josie and discovered tears on her cheeks. Hers, as you would expect but something else too - "

"Speed, you gonna keep us hanging or what, man?" Eric enquired.

"It can't be hair or fibers because I was all over Josie and found nothing," Eric added.

"Nope. I'm talking about saliva. Same salinity as tears so it's easy to miss," Speed explained.

"But it had Danny's DNA..." Calleigh guessed.

Horatio stayed silent looking down at the floor.

"We got him." Eric said with intensity.

"Horatio? What are you thinking?" Calleigh glanced at him.

"Here's what I think: I think I was wrong about the type of crime this is. This is an asexual crime."

"What? How so?" Speed asked.

"Notice anything peculiar about the Morgan residence?" He asked Eric.

"Uh. Yeah. Family seemed to be very pious. So? Where are you going with this, H?"

"The young man is immature and probably sexually inhibited, having been raised in a religious, but I think, non abusive background."

"A teenage boy stabbing a prepubescent girl to death isn't out of rage?"

Speed joined in, "H, he had her undress - "

Horatio replayed the scene in his mind...

Danny didn't want to hurt her. He simply undressed her. At this point, he had no desire to touch her and made no attempt to harm her.

"What happens when the victim begins to whimper and cry?" Horatio asked.

"Killer loses his cool -" Eric said.

"I don't think he had planned to kill her. The recovered knife was a weapon of opportunity - "

The frightened child began to whimper and cry. Danny then felt threatened by exposure and urgently told her to be still, which only further frightened her. In an attempt to silence her, in a combination of rage and terror, he picked up the knife that was at hand and stabbed her repeatedly and incessantly to death.

"Okay, but Boss, why are you frying your brain over this," Speed wondered. "We got the guy. We have evidence that proves he did it."

"Yes," Horatio nodded, "but I wanna know why."

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"Danny, how old are you?" Horatio asked sitting in front of Danny in the interrogation suite A.

"I'm fifteen."

"Fifteen. Okay." Horatio was leaning on the table hands clasped, "Wanna tell us what happened today at the store where you work?"

Danny shook his head, "No."

Speed shifted in his seat next to Horatio, "This is your chance to clear this up, pal," he told Danny.

His mother placed a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to say anything."

"Actually, we already know what happened, Mrs. Morgan," Horatio clued-in.

"Then, if you know what happened, why are you asking my son?"

"With the evidence my team has gathered, we know how it happened but I want to know what lead up to that." Horatio tipped his head, "Ma'am, would you mind us talking with your son alone?" The mother didn't believe in lawyers and had refused one.

"I suppose I should cooperate so my son and I can go home tonight." She refused to think her son had done anything wrong.

Danny looked uneasily at his mother sitting next to him.

"Ma'am, either way, your son is going to reform school because we know he killed her," Speed placed the photograph of Josie in front of the suspect.

Danny's eyes filled with tears and he looked away. His mother saw the terrifying expression on his face.

She gasped in disbelief. "Danny, you know this little girl?"

"Ma'am, I'd ask you to please leave the room," Horatio said.

"I want the truth, Danny," she yelled, standing up and pointing a finger at her son. "You've been lying to me! To the police!"

"Ma'am, please," Horatio asked, "Yelina, please escort Mrs. Morgan outside."

Yelina leaded Danny's mother out.

Horatio looked at the dark mirroring glass and motioned for someone with his finger. A woman with shoulder-length curly brown hair entered the interview suite on Horatio's cue.

"Danny, this is Caroline. She's a psychologist and she's going to help you through this." Caroline was a brilliant psychologist that Horatio knew well. She could make anyone trust her and open up.

Horatio and Speed left the room and stood behind the glass. Yelina exited the room with them and crossed her arms over her chest impatiently. Caroline did magic on Danny and excused herself from the room.

At the same time, Horatio and Speed went into the hallway to get her analysis.

Speed went straight to the point, "You got what you needed from the fact that he never had any sexual experiences with girls?"

"Yes, Tim. You see, I've dealt with a case similar to this before."

"You have? So, what do you make of it?" Speed was getting annoyed by all the standing around. They had proof that the teenager had killed the young girl and he wanted him to pay.

"I'd bet on my career that he's never been able to achieve an orgasm through, you know, masturbation."

Speed exhaled, shaking his head.

"Go on, Caroline," Horatio asked gently, not paying attention to Speed.

"Well, I have a feeling that after some time, he became frustrated with his inability to reach the high point."

Horatio continued, "He became anxious and agitated."

"Yes, the added indignity that frenzied him was the humiliation of having exposed his impotence to the child..." Caroline explained.

"Who then, through her cries, threatened to further expose him as a child molester," Horatio concluded.

"Incredible," Speed said.

TBC...