Part 1
Horatio made his way into the lab and straight into the computer analysis room. He took a seat next to Erik who immediately switched screens in order to show him what he's come up with so far.
"We got an ID on all of the victims, which wasn't very hard considering they all have a record a mile long." Erik pulled up a screen which showed mug shots of all 6 victims. "You were right about the tattoo. All 6 victims are known members of the "Blades" - the tattoo is kind of interesting - the basic symbol seems to be just the blades the drops of blood dripping from them are added later - or actually they're earned."
"Earned?"
"Basically the more people you kill the more blood drops you have or something like that" Erik shook his head "Three of the victims had blood drops in their tattoo, so I'm running a search to get their past convictions and stuff - maybe someone was looking for revenge for someone they killed"
Horatio was just about to answer when Speed walked into the room with a folder in his hand "I've been looking for you H. I ran analysis on the cocaine we got from the warehouse - it's low quality, very low quality, I sent the stuff over to a friend of mine in narcotics to see if he can tell me how long this brand has been on the market and where is it coming from."
"Good" Horatio nodded "I'm gonna have Yellina put out a notice - whoever killed our victims walked away with a lot of cocaine - they might be trying to sell it"
Calleigh walked into the morgue just as Alexx slid a body into the refrigerator and closed the cubical door.
"How are the autopsies going?"
Alexx sighed and pointed at one of the bodies that was still laying on the table, partly covered in a sheet. "This kid was 15 years old and I just pulled 11 bullets out of him"
"eleven? God! Talk about overkill" Calleigh looked down at the young man's body and sighed. She knew that the boy was a gang member, that he was dealing drugs and basically up to no good - but even so, she couldn't help but feel sad for him.
"these kids..." Alexx started but didn't finish as the two women shared a look. A moment later, Alexx pulled the sheet over the young boy's face. "Time of death was around 4:30 am - he should have been in bed sleeping..."
Without another word Alexx handed her a few jars containing the bullets she recovered from the bodies, allowing Calleigh to inspect them closely.
"There seem to be different calibers, just like the casings we found at the warehouse. I have at least five 54 caliber which means an automatic rifle... maybe an Uzi or a Glok..."
"Assault rifles? For a gang war?"
"Yeah, it's strange. Unlike in the movies, most gangs use guns - they're easier to use and a lot less messy. A lot easier to get rid of too. I usually only see automatic rifles in drive by shootings and stuff"
"This wasn't a drive by" Alexx stated the obvious "these kids were standing there like ducks in a barrel"
"Hey Calleigh!" Erik walked into the room, slightly panting "We have a lead on our witness, some doctor just called saying he has a gunshot victim wanting treatment..."
When Calleigh, Erik and Speed pulled up in their hummer they could already see the chaos outside the building. Police cars were flooding the street with blue and red lights, uniformed police officers were coming in and out of the house and neighbors were already assembling behind the yellow police tape.
Speed looked at the crowd and the neighborhood as he stepped out of the car - it wasn't exactly the best part of town, the buildings were rundown and the walls were filled with graffiti. The people seemed suspicious and angry which explained the large numbers of uniformed police officers at the scene.
The building itself was just like the rest of neighborhood, the halls were littered and dusty, some windows were broken and the elevator was out of order. They met Horatio at the hallway outside the apartment and he quickly filled them in on the latest developments.
"The guy here, used to be a doctor, according to his statement a young African American boy with a gunshot wound to the leg came in about an hour ago and demanded that the doctor treat him. He had a knife so the doctor pretended to cooperate, then ran for it and called the cops. By the time the police got here - the kid was gone."
"Do we have any idea where he went from here?" Erik asked the obvious question
"Yellina is questioning the neighbors - meantime, we have a scene to process"
Erik took a swab out of his kit and swiped a sample of the blood they found on the floor of the apartment - there were several drops of blood all around the apartment and an especially large amount in front of the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.
"If this is really our guy - he might have bled at the warehouse too, if the DNA from this sample matches anything from the warehouse we'll be able to tie our guy to both crime scenes" He told Horatio who stood entered to bathroom to check on his progress
At the other end of the apartment Calleigh picked up a knife from the coffee table and reached for her own kit - she took out a bottle of solution and sprayed the handle - almost immediately, it began to glow blue - indicating the presence of blood. She picked it up carefully and placed it in a clear plastic bag, marking it for evidence.
Speed used a brush to dust the room for finger prints - the doorknob, the telephone, the coffee table, the bathtub - everything the witness might have touched. A few of the prints were smudged and not useful - but eventually he got it - one full print that could be lifted and traced.
Just then - his phone rang. He picked up and listened for a few minutes then smiled broadly and hung up "Hey H, I got something. My friend in narcotics just called - the cocaine we got, it's a diluted version of pure Colombian cocaine - according to him - there's only one place to get this brand - and word on the street is - a few weeks ago that place was robbed"
"So the "blades" rob a cocaine lab and steal pure cocaine, and now someone took it back" Horatio realized "Who runs the cocaine lab?"
"Figo Sanchez"
