4. WHERE IS HORATIO?

Eric Delko and Tim Speedle were already in the break room when Calleigh arrived at head quarters that morning.

"Good morning," she announced her arrival cheerfully. "You've left some coffee for me to start the day, haven't you?"

Eric grinned. "What, did you really think we want to live through the day with a caffeine-deprived monster messing around in the lab?"

"Imagine what would happen if said monster grabbed for a shotgun," Speed teasingly added.

Calleigh rolled her eyes. "Very funny, guys." Taking a mug she held it under the machine and pressed the right bottom. "So what's you're working on?"

Speed shrugged. "Basic crime scene. A house, a dead body, a crying widow, a messed up bedroom, a broken window..."

"Same old, same old," Eric completed. "I think this one shouldn't take too long."

"What," Calleigh asked, taking her mug and sipping some coffee. "You think it's the widow?"

Eric nodded.

"Or her lover," added Speed.

"Ouch," Calleigh commented. Suddenly realizing something was amiss, she looked up. "Where's Horatio?"

"Don't know," Eric said. "He's not in yet."

"It's a quarter to eight. He'll be here in a minute," Speed reasoned after a quick glance at his watch.

Calleigh frowned. Of course Speed was right. It had been a long day yesterday, and she really had thought her boss looked tired the day before, but still she had an uneasy feeling.

Trying to shake it off, she finished her coffee. "Well, I'll be in the lab," she said.

A while later, she found herself entering the autopsy lab. Alexx Woods was there, walking around the bare body of a man lying spread out on the table.

"Poor man," Alexx said, tenderly letting her fingers run through the ruffled grey hair. "What did they do to you, huh?"

"Hi, Alexx," Calleigh greeted her colleague.

"Morning, sweetie," Alexx responded without looking away from her work.

"What have you got?" Calleigh stepped closer to get a better look.

"White male, in his late fifties, -I bet you wanted to add a few years to that, didn't you, honey-," Alexx resumed. "Time of death between three thirty and four yesterday afternoon. Bullet wound to the chest, close to the heart, possibly the cause of death..."

"Didn't Speed and Eric find a gun at the crime scene?" Calleigh interrupted.

Alexx nodded. "In a minute I'll have the bullet for you. Now what I'm wondering here is..." she seemed to be talking to herself as she was bent over the body, gently pressing the belly area with her gloved hands.

Calleigh waited patiently.

Alexx remained silent, while she investigated further. A frown appeared on her face.

"What?" Calleigh asked curiously.

"Honey, can you get Horatio down here?" Alexx asked without looking up.

"Sure," Calleigh said, and turned around to go and get her boss. "He'll be here by now," she muttered under her breath.

Walking through the hallway, she soon found the Lieutenant's office empty. She then went to find the guys in the fingerprint lab. "Horatio still not here?" she asked, startling both men.

Speed looked up, surprise evident on his face.

Eric glanced at the clock. "It's almost eight thirty," he muttered. He grabbed the phone and dialed their boss' cell phone number. Half a minute later he broke off the connection and frowned. "No answer..."

"Okay. Now I am officially worried," Calleigh stated.