Episode 1 - Rising Sun
1.01 - Code 31
Written by: Naki
Miami. A city of eternal summer. The sun beat down on pedestrians as they traversed the city; they hurried along the timed crosswalks, swerved around other pedestrians, and avoided couriers on bicycles.
It was then a young woman of Asian descent approached an intersection, leading a young man and two children, also of the same influence, to the crosswalk. She wore a loose fitting red blouse and black slacks; the young man dressed in a white T-Shirt with the Nike Swoosh emblazoned upon it and a pair of faded blue jeans. The two girls, their ages separated by a few years, wore similar pink outfits. The young woman spoke rapidly to her charges in a foreign tongue that earned her looks in passing.
As the crosswalk light turned green she took hold of the youngest girl's hand and hurried across, while the young man followed at a distance, held back by the crowd. He kept bobbing his head from side to side, frantically trying to keep an eye on the woman as she walked faster.
He lost sigh tof her when an older Caucasian man, wearing a dark polo shirt, sunglasses, and having a slightly balding head of dark hair, stepped in front of him and bullied his way forward. The young man caught sight of the man's hands. He wore black leather gloves. Gloves? In Miami? Or Florida at all for that matter? A dark feeling grew in his stomach as he gripped the other little girl's hand tighter and pushed through the crowd.
"Sa...Sachi!" He yelled. The man with the gloves raised his righ thand and in it was clasped a pistol. "Sachi!"
The shattering sound of a gunshot reverberated about the intersection, causing everyone to drop or scatter. The man dropped his arm, turned enough to look sideways at the young man. His unforgiving shaded eyes spoke volumes and he wordlessly walked to a small red hatchback that sat running down the street.
In shock, the young man turned. The young woman was lying in a pool of blood that was spreading by the second. The little girl who had been holding the woman's hand sat in the blood, crying.
"Sachi!" His voice seemed to echo...
Sirens blazed as fierce as the sun on the intersection in downtown Miami. The wind buffeted the yellow crime scene tape that surrounded the crime scene. The victim lay sprawled on her stomach, her sightless eyes staring hauntingly into eternity. A single shell casing lay near her, gleaming in the stark sunlight.
Lieutenant Horatio Caine stood just inside the tape, sunglasses on, hands on hips; his posture was that of a man on a mission. And his mission was to catch whoever committed the crime that lay before him. He heard sharp footsteps on pavement and the familiar sound of plastic being pulled taut, indicating Detective Frank Tripp had just entered the crime scene. He stepped even with Horatio.
"And in broad daylight," Horatio commented, unprompted by the detective.
"Young woman like this murdered in a crowd of people," Detective Tripp started.
"And nobody saw a thing," Horatio finished.
"Well, not everybody," Tripp motioned to his right. Horatio turned his head and followed the direction of Tripp's arm with his eyes. An ambulance sat just outside the perimeter, lights flashing but no siren. Two paramedics were checking over a little girl, possibly three years of age, and had just removed her bloody clothing. They wrapped her in a pale blue blanket.
CSI Eric Delko collected the clothing from the paramedics and placed the clothes in a large, brown paper evidence bag.
Sitting on the back of the ambulance was a young man who, resembling the deceased, was obviously a teenager. He held the hand of another little girl who was either six or seven years old.
"They were the only three found at the scene when patrol arrive," Tripp continued. "If they speak any English, shock must've made them forget."
"It's hard to tell from this distance, but what language?" Horatio asked.
"Uh, personally, I'm not sure," Tripp answered. "The boy seems to understand us, but the little ones don't."
"That's because they're scared," Horatio said matter-of-factly. "Excuse me," he left Tripp standing inside the tape and walked over to the ambulance. Horatio hated it when children were involved. It happened, yes, it happened all the time, but what frustrated him most was that he couldn't stop it. So he was hell-bent on taking away what frightened them and make them feel safe. Only this time there was a language barrier between them.
"Hi," Horatio said in a soft voice. He took off his sunglasses and smiled at the youngest girl.
She looked up at him, distrusting the tall stranger that loomed over her. She snuggled closer to the young man who held her on his lap. Horatio, a man with the patience of Job, switched tactics. He looked to the young man.
"My name is Horatio Caine," he pointed to his chest.
The young man looked a bit alarmed and something of recognition registered in his eyes. He seemed ready to speak, but thought better of it. Something about Horatio rang a bell with him.
Horatio backed off a step and put his hands on his hips. Well, it was a start.
The other girl, sitting next to the boy, leaned over to him and spoke rapidly in a lilting, musical tongue.
The young man looked from the girl to Horatio and spoke in a low tone. "Sakamoto Hideki."
Horatio smiled a bit. "It's nice to meet you, Sakamoto-san." He couldn't speak their language, but he did know a little about their customs.
Hideki spoke again in the low tone. "Hajime mashita, Caine-san."
Detective Tripp came up behind Horatio. "So...what's the diagnosis?"
Horatio turned. "They speak Japanese."
"Can you?" Came Tripp's doubtful inquiry.
"Not hardly," Horatio replied. "But, I do know someone who can." Frankly, I'd be surprised if she's have anything to do with me. He dismissed the thought. "Do we have a translator with the department?"
Tripp gave it some thought. "Not that I know of. I can drop a line to neighboring precincts."
"Good. Do that."
Just minutes later, Medical Examiner Alexx Woods arrived on the scene. Horatio held the tape up so she could duck effortlessly under it. She stood over the body, assessed it, then crouched down and slipped on gloves. She looked up at Horatio, who now stood next to her, "In broad daylight, Horatio?"
He allowed himself a small smile; the type he reserved for those closest to him. He crouched down as well, opposite Alexx. "That's what I said." He looked down at the body.
Alexx peered at the victim as well. "Beautiful lady," she cooed to her, "did you feel safe in a crowd of strangers?"
"Ask her," Horatio said, "if she knows who killed her."
Alexx smiled at him. She knew full well that it would take more than that to determine the suspect. He was teasing her in his own subtle way. Her hand drifted to the victim's long black hair. "Not all of us have eyes on the backs of our heads, Horatio." She parted the hair with her fingers, revealing a gunshot entrance wound in the back of the skull. "It would've taken an act of God for her to have survived this. But, I'll know more after the post."
"As usual," Horatio commented. They exchanged smiles again.
As the body was removed from the crime scene, and loaded into an awaiting ambulance, Eric approached Horatio.
"Hey, H, just wondering...what about them?" He motioned over his shoulder to the three witnesses who, now that the ambulance had departed, were standing next to a patrol car. Hideki, the young man, carried the toddler with one arm, and held onto the hand of the older little girl.
"I'll take them back to the lab with me. You just keep up with evidence collection. Calleigh should be here any minute to help."
"Right-o, H."
CSI Calleigh Duquesne walked towards the crime scene, her kit in hand, eyeing the yellow tape with a certain curiosity that came with every crime scene. She approached the CSI Hummer just as Horatio opened the driver's side door to get in. He turned at her soft "hello."
"Good morning," Horatio responded. Calleigh smiled at him.
"May I ask?" She looked to the three timid beings in the backseat of the Hummer.
"Witness to the homicide," he answered. "They don't seem to speak any English, so Tripp is looking for a translator."
"Just curious," she responded to the unasked question in his eyes. She watched the ambulance pull away with the victim. "So...gunshot victim?"
Horatio nodded.
"I just figured, victim killed while crossing the street either involved a vehicle or a bullet," Calleigh said, turning her head back to Horatio. "Heard it from dispatch. So...where are my shell casings?"
On the ball, as always. "There's only one. Eric has it. Alexx will have your bullet as soon as she can get it."
"As usual. See you later." She turned away from him and headed towards Eric, who stood on the far side of the taped off crime scene. She waved casually at him.
Horatio climbed into the Hummer and started it up. He glanced in the rear view mirror at his passengers. For some reason, he had an uneasy feeling about this case. As he reached over his shoulder, took hold of his seat belt and slid it across his torso to click into the buckle, he fought a rising sensation of anxiety in his stomach.