Episode 1 - Rising Sun
1.02 - Chain of Custody
Written by: Naki
After returning to the Crime Lab and seating the witnesses on a cushioned bench near the front desk, Horatio left to find Detective Tripp. He found him at the detective's desk, on the phone. Tripp looked up at him, motioned to him with a hand, and wrapped up the conversation.
"Okay, okay, so you'll be here..." he checked his watch, "in about an hour? Okay. See you then."
"And that would be...?" Horatio asked as Tripp placed the phone receiver on its cradle.
"Our translator. Right next door, too. Broward County Crime Lab. She's not on record as a translator. She's a CSI. Kinda like Delko, only with Japanese."
Horatio nodded. "Did she ask about the case?"
Tripp loked at Horatio like he'd lost his mind. "Yeah. Why not? CSIs' prerogative, right?" His expression became neutral once more. "I told her the basics, or at least what I know right now, including the name of the victim, and she sounded...wounded in a way. Said there was an active case from last month she was working that might be related."
"Related how?" Horatio asked, intrigued.
"She said that our victim, Sakamoto Sachi, was more than likely the sister to her victim, Sakamoto Naoko. Then, she asked about the children." Tripp continued, occasionally glancing at his notes. "I told her they seemed scared, but otherwise unharmed."
"Hmm." Horatio checked his watch, running through what needed to be done. Eric would more than likely be in Trace, processing the clothing of the victim and the toddler, before sending it to DNA. Calleigh...would be, of course, in Ballistics comparing the shell casing against possible matches and later the bullet. Considering they didn't yet have a murder weapon, NIBIN would be the next best choice. "Broward County. Taking into account midmorning traffic, an hour should be more than enough. Regardless, we have an hour to kill."
"Bang, bang," Tripp muttered.
The hour passed by like a breeze, quick and sudden. It was when another half hour slipped past, that Horatio found himself waiting at the front desk, leaning against it with his arms crossed over his chest. He stared at the closed elevator doors; for the past fifteen minutes he hadn't had anything to do. For a CSI, that's either a bad thing or a grace. At the present moment, though, Horatio considered it a standstill. While the evidence was writing a novel, the witness' statements could lead them closer to suspects, and quiet possibly, the killer. This is speaking for experience, of course.
"Lieutenant, do you need anything?"
Horatio looked over his shoulder at the uniformed woman sitting at the front desk. He smiled a bit. "No, thank you. I'm just waiting for someone." He turned back tot he elevator doors. Someone who is half an hour late. He caught himself feeding a tiny sense of impatience nagging at the back of his mind. She'll get here when she gets here.
He jumped a bit as the elevator dinged and its door slid apart; Detective Tripp stepped out. A lab tech stepped out behind him and continued down further into the lab.
"Not here yet?" He asked. Horatio shook his head. Tripp ran his hand over her balding head, smoothing out his hair. "Well, there could have been an accident on the interstate, she got held up by work..."
"She'll get here when she gets here," Horatio said with a smirk.
"Horatio." Calleigh's musical voice called out. He turned his head.
"Yes?"
Calleigh walked up, having just come from the Ballistics Lab. She was smiling. "That shell casing...I got a hit on NIBIN." She looked as excited as she sounded.
"Really." She had his full attention now. This didn't happen everyday.
She handed him a printout. "The shell casing discovered at our crime scene matches the one recovered from a homicide early last month in Fort Lauderdale. The firing pin markings are identical."
"Imagine that." A humored Horatio looked to Tripp, who raised an eyebrow.
"Well," the detective said, "at least we know that she wasn't leading us astray."
Horatio swiveled his head back to Calleigh as she asked, "Who?"
"Our translator hails from Broward County Crime Lab. According to Frank, she was hinting about a possible related case to our homicide. Quite possibly the case that matching shell casing belongs to."
Calleigh's happy look became one of anticiptation. "She brings me a matching bullet and shell casing and I'll be her new best friend."
"Wow." A voice came from nowhere. They had, as it seemed, not heard the elevator ding. "It seems they're already rolling out the welcome mat for you." All eyes turned towards the elevator. Standing across from them was a tall young man with short dark hair dressed in a patrol officer's uniform and carried a standard brown evidence box sealed with red tape by the handles. Next to him stood a young woman of about five feet in height and had long red hair. Her amused expression was turned upwards to her companion.
"Yeah," she agreed," and as payment, all I need is correlating evidence. Nice to know I have all that up front. Hey, she looked to Horatio and smiled a bit. She extended her hand. "Lieutenant Caine."
Horatio shook hands with her and then backed off a step as Tripp stepped forward.
"You must be Anna," he said, shaking hands with her. "Detective Tripp."
"I recognize your voice," the redhead replied. She then looked to Calleigh.
More handshaking. "I'm Calleigh Duquesne. Firearms."
Anna cocked her head to the side slightly. "Duquesne. I've heard the name before. A defense attorney, I believe."
Calleigh smiled. "That would be my dad. He did a few cases up in Broward County a while back. He doesn't practice as much as he used to anymore."
Anna smiled back. "Then we're in the same boat."
Calleigh gave her a quizzical look. "Pardon?"
"Daughters of lawyers." Then, after Calleigh's laugh in response, "My mom's a prosecutor."
Detective Tripp cleared his throat. "Ladies, if you don't mind, we have work to do."
Anna's eyes tightened. "I know." She gave the reception area a quick glance over. "Where are they?"
Horatio turned and motioned with his hand around the front desk. "This way." He led her around the desk to the line of cushioned benches facing the massive wall of frosted windows. From behind him, in clear Japanese, Horatio heard, "Aiko-chan! Kyoko-chan!" This was followed by a longer sentence that he couldn't understand.
Rounding the corner he was met by the excited faces of the girls that soon melted into expressions that seemed to say, "Hey, that didn't sound like you!"
Hideki's quiet tone reprimanded the girls. They turned and went back to him.
Anna came around from behind Horatio with a smile on her face. "Konnichiwa, minna," she said brightly.
Hideki stood. "Anna-san." The girls, squealing with excitement, ran to her. Anna knelt down and scooped the youngest up into her arms and bounced the girl slightly on her hip. The second girl took hold of Anna's left hand and pulled on it. The redhead allowed the girl to lead her to the cushioned bench onto which she sat. Both girls began to talk at once, both in rapid Japanese. To Horatio, it sounded like chattered gibberish, but Anna seemed to be taking it all in, calmly answering each in turn. He watched them intently, hands on hips, a small smile on his face.He must have been in his own world, because he hadn't heard Detective Yelina Salas come up behind him. "Horatio," she called, coming from behind to face him. Anna looked up, having turned her attention from the hyper girls to the new presence.
Horatio started and turned his face to her. "Yes?"
Yelina gave him a knowing smile. She motioned to a young man in a patrol officer's uniform carrying the standard brown evidence box. "This is Paul Hannover from state patrol. He accompanied your translator here from Fort Lauderdale."
Eyeing the shiny red tape marked Evidence Horatio greeted the young man. "Hello."
Officer Hannover gently laid the evidence box on the end of the cushioned bench and extended his right hand, which Horatio took within his own. "Nice to meet you, Lieutenant."
The eldest girl looked from Anna to the brown box and blurted something in an inquisitive tone.
Yelina raised an eyebrow. "What did she say?"
"Uh... 'What's in the box?'" Officer Hannover answered. "I believe so, at least."
"Yeah, you're right," Anna stood and sat the small girl on the bench. "You're learning well, Paul. You took your time, though. I thought a few weeks around me would've been sufficient, but eighteen years?" She shook her head.
"Hey, cut me some slack," he said. "I've been learning through osmosis."
Anna laughed and shook her head; she caught a look Horatio threw her way and answered, "Paul and I have known each other since grade school. First grade, to be exact." She gave Yelina a polite smile.
Officer Hannover walked past Anna, intentionally running into her. She smacked his arm, saying, "Oh, grow up."
Hannover, however, ignored her. Instead he gave his attention to the girls. "Hey, kiddies!"
"We're, uh, ready to start the interview when you are," Horatio said to Anna.
Her expression grew inquisitive. "Part of me is wondering why I was called here. I mean, Hideki speaks very good English..."
"Really?" Horatio asked. And then, it began to dawn on the shorter redhead. Her face contorted in aggravation, and she turned on her heel.
"Sakamoto Hideki!" She snapped. The young man jumped up and seemed to attempt to hide behind Officer Hannover. She reprimanded him harshly, speaking this time in English. "You speak better English than most people your age, and you act like you can't. Why?"
Hideki slowly came from behind Officer Hannover. "I don't trust him..." His English, as good as it sounded, was marred by his accent.
"Don't trust him?" Anna repeated, her tone slightly incredulous. "He's a police lieutenant!"
"I know that!" He countered. "But I also know how your lieutenant is!"
Anna quieted and didn't have an answer to that. Horatio noted this. In a small voice, "You can trust Lieutenant Caine. Answer any questions he has. Hideki-kun, your sister's justice depends on it, okay? I won't be taking part in your interview."
"Why not?"
"Well, for one thing, they don't need a translator. I'd just be an extra body taking up space. But..." she looked to the girls. They were playing tug-of-war with Officer Hannover's handcuffs. "They don't understand what's going on, do they?" Her soft tone was somber.
Hideki shook his head.
"I didn't think so. I'll be with them until the end of your interview. Then I suppose I'll either translate for the girls or be given permission to introduce my evidence to the CSIs here. I have to be present at all times my evidence is being handled by an investigator other than myself because it's my case."
"Sounds so complicated," Hideki commented. "Sounds like you don't trust anyone here, either."
"It's not that," Anna shook her head. "I have faith in other CSIs, especially the ones here. It's what they call the 'Chain of Custody.' Simply put, it is a set of strict protocols that investigators must follow to ensure that evidence does not become contaminated or lost, and ruled inadmissible in court."
Hideki nodded.
"You're just pretending to understand that."
Another nod and a laugh this time.
After about twenty minutes of interviewing the witness, including possible motives and suspects, Hidekis last comment left Horatio thinking.
"Just ask Anna-san. She knows him."
Minutes later Horatio was walking down the hall from his office, where the interview was held. He was deep in thought, thinking about what the witness had said. If he had said, "She knows who he is," it would've implied knowledge of a suspect in her homicide, but he had said, "She knows him," implying that she had a personal familiarity with the suspect. A thought nagged at the back of his mind, a worry that this could possibly be a conflict of interest situation, which could put both cases in jeopardy.