Disclaimer/Author's Note – See Chapter One.

Chapter Seven – Payback

Julie Davis was a shy, unobtrusive woman, who sat across from Brass and Catherine in her modest living room, looking completely bewildered. Catherine had a hard time believing that she could be the cold-blooded killer type. But at the same time nothing surprised her anymore. After all, she'd seen a little old lady murdered by a pen-wielding child and a dead man in a raccoon-suit, so there wasn't much that she hadn't seen…

'When was the last time you saw Vincent McMann?' Brass asked.

'About a week ago,' Mrs. Davis replied nervously. 'He came by for the money I owed him. And to tell me that the interest was going up again.'

'How many times had he raised the interest on your loan, Mrs. Davis?' Catherine asked her.

The other woman sighed. 'I've lost count. Five or six times in the last year… He'd tell me I wasn't paying him back fast enough and, next thing I know, he's putting the rate up again.'

'As I understand it, it was your husband's loan,' Brass said.

The woman nodded. 'Jimmy's business got into trouble about two years ago. He tried to turn it around but…' She shook her head sadly. 'He went to Mr. McMann for a short term loan. The bank had turned him down. But Mr. McMann's charges were really high. It became hard for Jimmy to pay him back and…' her voiced cracked and she couldn't continue. Tears glistened in her eyes.

'He could cope, so he took his own life,' Catherine interjected. 'Is that what happened?'

Unable to speak, Julie Davis nodded.

Catherine gave the woman to collect herself before continuing. 'Mrs. Davis, do you take Valium?'

Julie looked surprised. 'Why, yes. I do. How did you know that?'

Before Catherine could answer, a new voice interrupted her. 'What's going on, Mom?'

A young man of around 19 stood in the doorway looking suspiciously from his mother to the two strangers in his home.

'Kevin, the police are here to ask about Vincent McMann. He was found dead yesterday.'

'No great loss,' Kevin replied. 'Why are you questioning my mother?' he demanded of Brass and Catherine.

'We're talking to anyone who might have had dealings with Mr. McMann,' Brass answered diplomatically. 'We won't take up much more of her time, if you just want to give us a few minutes.'

Instead of leaving the room, Kevin sat down beside his mother. 'I'm not leaving,' he replied stubbornly.

'As long as your Mom doesn't mind,' Brass replied.

'No, that's fine,' Julie replied.

'Mrs. Davis,' Catherine continued. 'We were wondering if you would volunteer to give a DNA sample. Just to rule you out as a possible suspect.'

'You think my Mom killed McMann?' Kevin cut in angrily. 'How dare you come into our home and start accusing…'

'We're not accusing anyone of anything, Kevin,' Brass replied. 'We need to check out everyone on the victim's clients list as a possible suspect. We're just asking your mom here to help us out. Eliminate her self so we can shorten our list.'

Kevin still looked angry and mistrusting, but his mother shrugged. 'I have nothing to hide. What do you need?'

Catherine reached into her kit and removed a swab. 'I just need a saliva sample. It'll just take a minute and then we'll be out of your hair.'

---

Sara strode into the layout room on a mission. She knew Greg had been working on the evidence without her, and while she secretly admired his dedication, she was royally pissed at being left out of the loop. She was usually the one who spent too much time working on a case. Now it looked like Greg was vying for her crown as the lab workaholic.

'Let me get this straight,' Sara said, trying to keep a lid on her annoyance. 'You stayed here all day, after making me go home, working on the lists we were supposed to be working on together?'

Greg swallowed nervously as he looked up at her. 'I didn't work on them all day…'

'And what happened to calling me when you came up with something?'

'I was going to…' Greg trailed off under her glare. 'Sorry Sara.'

'Well, fill me in now. What have we got?' Sara asked, taking a seat beside him.

'Well, I narrowed down our list of suspects to 9, based on the interest rates and loan amounts. Like you suggested,' he was careful to add. 'The rest on the list either didn't owe enough or hadn't been on McMann's books long enough to make it likely they killed him. Of the 9, Brass found out that one client had committed suicide, and his widow is still being hit up for repayments. Brass and Catherine are checking it out.'

'What about the other 8?'

'No criminal records. No wants, no warrants. No red flags at all.'

'So the nearest we've got to a suspect is a woman who's husband killed himself, possibly as a result of the money he owed the victim. That'd be great if it wasn't for one thing.'

'What?'

'The DNA I collected from the scene was XY.'

'So our suspect is male,' Greg replied. 'Damn it.'

Just then, Grissom entered the room. 'What's wrong Greg? Finally, the evidence is going our way.'

Greg looked puzzled. 'Gris, our only viable subject is a woman, which isn't supported by the evidence. How is it going our way?'

'Because her son works in a juice-bar around the corner from McMann's house.'

---

Mia had processed the sample for DNA in record time, and handed over her findings to Grissom and Catherine when they entered the lab a few minutes later.

'Julie Davis's DNA doesn't match the reference sample,' Mia told them. 'But I'm guessing you already knew that, since the sample was XY.'

'But I'm guessing that the profile still makes interesting reading,' Grissom replied.

'Yes. Her DNA profile and the reference sample share alleles. The donor of our mystery sample is a close male relative - either a father or a son.'

'Well, we didn't have probably cause to get Kevin Davis's DNA before,' Catherine smiled.

'But we do now,' Grissom added.

---

Kevin Davis sat in the interview room, fidgeted with a can of 7up. He reminded Grissom of a cornered animal, frightened and ready to bolt. Only he and Brass had gone into conduct the interview, while Catherine and Sara watched from the viewing room.

'Have you ever been in Vincent McMann's house, Kevin?' Grissom asked him in his mild voice.

'No. Why would I want to go there?'

'I don't know? Maybe to help pay your Mom's debt?' When Kevin didn't reply, Grissom continued. 'Your Mom says you work part-time, everyday before college. Is that to help her out with the bills?'

Kevin nodded. 'It's all been too much for her since… since Dad died. She tried to tell me that we're okay, not to worry, but… I've heard her cry at night.'

'Did you blame Vinny McMann for that?' Brass wanted to know.

'He was always on my Dad's back, you know? Constantly calling the house. Demanding money. My Dad tried his best but…'

'So what happened, Kevin? You're Dad's gone, your Mom can't cope with the debts he left behind, and so you decided what? Take matters into your own hands? Get rid of the problem once and for all?' Brass quizzed him.

'No! I didn't go near him.'

'The evidence is telling us a different story, Kevin,' Grissom told him. 'We found your DNA in McMann's house. And your fingerprints on the murder weapon.'

Kevin just hung his head in reply.

'I think you tried to get McMann to ease up on the interest he was charging your mom. He had just put it up again last week, right? Maybe you talked to him when he came into the juice bar you work in. But he wouldn't budge.'

Kevin's head had snapped up at the mention of his place of work. He was looking rattled. Grissom knew he was on to something, so he continued.

'So then you took your Mom's Valium, maybe crushed it up into his juice. From what your manager tells me, McMann was a regular, came in the same time every morning. So you fix him his juice and when you get off work you go to his house, where you know he'll be out cold. You went inside, tied him up and killed him. But it didn't go to plan. You killed him too quickly. And then afterwards you freaked out; threw up in the bathroom, didn't get rid of the evidence. You didn't think that part through, did you?'

Kevin still said nothing. Grissom knew they had enough evidence against him. They didn't need a confession. But for once, Grissom wanted to know why. Why was this young man driven to kill in the way he had.

'The only thing I can't figure out is why you decided to kill him like that. Young kid like you, no history of violence. Why not just give him a fatal overdose? Why attempt to make him slowly bleed to death?'

'McMann was bleeding my family dry,' Kevin replied, anger and fear both shimmering in his eyes. 'It was poetic justice.'

TBC.