13. NOT ENOUGH.

"All right," Frank Tripp started later that afternoon. "Let's see what we've got."

They were all gathered in the lab. Eric, Speed, Calleigh, Alexx and Frank himself. "Speed?" Tripp gave the younger man the first turn.

"Okay... I've wrapped up that other case and archived the files... I've been working on the Hummer. Nothing unusual, neither on the inside, nor on the outside. I'm pretty sure they haven't touched it." Speed shrugged, hating he didn't have more. "That took all of my time."

"Calleigh?"

"I have analyzed that piece of material we got from the hospital. It is a little piece of dark red leather, and, interestingly enough, it's kangaroo hide."

"Kangaroo hide?" Eric frowned.

"Yes. I did some checking, and guess what?" Calleigh's eyes lit up, like they always did when she discovered something. "Some bull whips are made of kangaroo leather. There are a few places in the States where you can get them, but mostly they are imported from Australia. I also found traces of petroleum lubricant and beeswax on the evidence, which..."

"... Is leather dressing, to maintain the moisture level," Eric filled in.

"Exactly." Calleigh nodded and grabbed some pictures from the desk and laid them out for everybody to see. "A bull whip consists of four parts. First, the butt. About eight inches long, more or less one diameter thick, depending on the user's grip. Then we have the tail itself," she pointed at the matching picture. "This is made of twelve or even sixteen plait overlay leather. At the end, we have a fall and a so-called cracker. Those are to take the force of the blow, to prevent the tail from damaging."

"And?" Alexx wondered, as she stared at the items Calleigh was pointing out.

"The cracker, at the end, is made of nylon. The fall, however, is made of kangaroo strands, and after multiple usages, it will break at the ends. At some points, the fall will have to be replaced by a new one. There are two types of falls, white and dark red ones. The dark red falls have a tendency to wear down faster that the white ones."

"So this piece of evidence is from a fall from a bull whip?" Speed asked.

"Well, based on the status of Horatio's back... I think so, yes. The person who did this..." she shivered involuntarily, "must have hit Horatio with the fall at least once. Alexx?"

"It makes sense," agreed the ME. "I only got a glimpse at Horatio's back but I'm pretty sure those welts are caused by some kind of whip."

"Okay," concluded Tripp. "We have an idea on a weapon that's been used. So now we have to find it."

"Or, since Calleigh said those things are mostly imported from Australia," Eric suggested, "we can dig into the students' financial situation and see if any of them has bought something from there."

"We should also check their computers. Including the ones they could have used at the University," Speed added. "Maybe we can trace the order. Many imports nowadays are simply ordered thru the internet."

"All right," Tripp nodded in agreement. "I'll call in some favors to get access to those computers. You guys get to the banking information first thing in the morning. Check those stores in the US as well. And was there a whip amongst the Professor's toys? How about that leather dressing?"

"We'll check that out as well and bring it in if we find it. What about the interrogations?" Speed asked curiously.

Tripp threw him a grim look. "We've talked to four students now. They all gave the same story. They were camping at the Larry and Penny Thompson Campground. And haven't left the area. So if they are backing each other up..."

"Do we have evidence that puts them at Chekika?" Speed asked.

"I still need to match their prints and DNA to the evidence we got from the cabin," Eric explained. "But they also told us they have been camping there a few weeks ago. This gives them a perfect excuse to have left prints behind."

"So that will not be good enough, people. By the looks of it, it's eleven statements against one. We need more." Tripp didn't like it one bit.

"Horatio says criminals all make mistakes somewhere. They will, and we will find it," Calleigh stated confidently.

Hesitant, Tripp nodded. "Let's hope so. Eric and Speed, I want you to go to this campground and check out their story. If there's a hole in it, I want to know about it. We'll continue interrogating the others in the morning. Ladies... let's go and see how H is doing."

XXX-XXX-XXX

Eric and Speed arrived at the Larry and Penny Thompson Park shortly before the evening fell. "We better hurry," Eric said while parking the Hummer.

"We can always come back tomorrow morning," Speed reasoned. "Let's see what we can find out. There's a visitor's center. We'll start there."

The two men walked over to the small building at the entrance of the campsite. Eric pushed the door open and they stepped inside. A man in his late fifties or early sixties looked up from the counter. "Good evening. What can I do for you?"

"Hi, there. We're from the MD crime lab," Eric started and showed the man his ID. "We want to ask you a few questions, if that's okay."

Surprised, the man looked at Eric's badge. "Sure."

"On Tuesday afternoon, a group of students came to this campsite and spent two nights here. They were with twelve people. Do you know which group I'm referring to?"

The man nodded. "Yes. They've set up camp at the far east of the campsite. Really nice kids. They played volleyball and joined the barbeque party last night..."

"Do you remember what time they arrived on Tuesday?" Speed asked.

The man looked inside his logbook. "Hmm. Here it says that they came in around five in the afternoon. They checked out early this morning."

"Did they stay here at the campsite all the time?" Eric wanted to know.

The man shrugged. "Now that's something that I don't know. I can't possibly keep an eye on everybody the whole time, can I? They came, and paid when they left. No trouble, nothing."

"Is there security during the nights?" Speed asked, throwing a quick glance at his colleague.

"Actually, yes. I have three security guards, who work in shifts. Two of them march through the campsite each night."

"Can we talk to them?" Speed asked.

"I guess so. They'll come in," the man threw a glance at his watch, "in another hour or two."

"Okay. Did you rent the spot where the students have stayed to anybody else today?" Eric questioned. At the man's shaking of the head, he continued. "We're going to take a look around there, then. We'll be back here in two hours to talk to the guards. How do we reach this particular spot?"

The man took a map of the campsite out of a drawer and drew the directions on there with his pencil. "There you go. I'll be right here if you have any more questions."

"Thank you, sir," Speed smiled. With that, the two crime lab detectives left the center and went in search of the students' spot.

XXX-XXX-XXX

Back at the hospital, Alexx Woods went to talk to the doctor to get an update on Horatio's condition.

Calleigh and Frank Tripp went ahead and stepped inside Horatio's room, only to find him sleeping, positioned slightly on his right side. They silently took a chair and sat down, waiting.

Shortly after, Alexx came in. Whispering, she gave them an update. "The doctor said Horatio's breathing and circulation have sufficiently recovered. The fluid in his lungs has cleared up and there are no signs of new fluid building up. They'll move him from the ICU tomorrow morning. The abrasions and welts on his chest and back, along with the shoulder injury and the fractured shin are making lying pretty uncomfortable, however, so they are keeping him slightly sedated. That's why he sleeps so much."

"He's aware of our presence, though," Calleigh said, pointing to the bed.

Horatio had apparently registered people talking as he shifted slightly. Alexx moved closer until she was within eyesight and took Horatio's hand in hers. "Hey, sugar. Can you open those eyes for us?" She watched the fluttering eyelids, then smiled as they opened and blue, dazed eyes met her gaze. "That's it, honey. How are you doing?"

Giving her a weak smile, Horatio considered the question for a second. "Tired," he croaked.

"That's okay. Sleeping is the best you can do right now," Alexx reassured him gently. "Frank is here, though. He wants to ask you a few questions. You think you can try and answer them?"

He gave a faint nod.

Alexx turned to Tripp. "A few minutes, Frank." She stepped aside, allowing Tripp to move closer and she sat down at the foot end, ready to interrupt the conversation when she'd think it was necessary.

"Hi, H," Frank greeted his friend. "I know you're not feeling at your best right now, so I'll keep this brief, okay?" Their eyes caught each other and Frank continued. "Calleigh told me you didn't actually see who attacked you. What were they wearing?"

"Black robes. Head to toe. Like the Klan, but then in black."

"Can you tell me with how many they were?"

"I saw nine of them... they were watching," Horatio drew in a shuddering breath. "Then two or three beside or behind me. I'm not sure."

"Okay. That's okay," Tripp quickly responded, not wanting to upset the Lieutenant. "What about voices, did they say anything?"

"Yes. Two males. Weird stuff. References to the bible. Quoting Metzger." Horatio's eyes closed again, making the others wondering whether he'd fallen asleep on them. After a while, he opened them, however. "I couldn't make them understand. They were still being controlled. I couldn't make them see that..." Regret was evident in Horatio's voice.

Frank exchanged looks with Calleigh and Alexx. Alexx looked worried, ready to break off the conversation. Tripp momentarily held up his hand, stopping her. "None of this is your fault, H. Anything else we need to know?"

"Candles. They carried lamp holders." Horatio's voice was even softer than it was before as it obviously cost him a lot of strength to keep on talking. "Nothing. Wrong. I had to convince them. It didn't work."

This time, Alexx got up and stopped Frank with one glare. "Don't worry about that now, Horatio. I want you to rest some more, okay? Speed and Eric are coming to see you later on tonight..." she watched how his eyes slid close. "Right now, you need some sleep. That's it."

When she was sure Horatio was asleep again, Alexx ushered Calleigh and Frank out of the room.

XXX-XXX-XXX

Speed and Eric had thoroughly searched the students' campsite. "Well," Speed muttered angrily. "There's enough evidence that they've been here, all right."

"Calm down," Eric reasoned. "We knew before hand they had been here. What we're looking for is foot prints that match the ones we found at Chekika, and for a possibility for them to have left at night without being spotted."

"I know, I know," Speed responded quickly. "I'm just getting impatient. What I really want is to lock them up and throw away the key."

Eric looked at his friend, a weary smile forming on his lips. "I'm nearly done with the foot prints here. Let's go and talk to those guards."

"You know, they could easily sneak out that way," Speed pointed in the right direction. "The question is if the guards would have noticed."

"That's what we're about to find out," Eric tried to keep his patience, as he could fully understand Speed's frustration. "Done. Let's wrap up and go."

They gathered their stuff, closed their field kits and headed back to the visitor's center. Speed opened the door and stepped in first, Eric following close-by.

"Gentlemen," the man from behind the counter greeted them. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes, thank you," Eric responded. "Have those guards arrived yet?"

"Follow me." The man opened the door to the back of the office. He showed the two detectives into a small room where three security guards were waiting. "I'll bring you some coffee." With that, the camp site owner left, only to return shortly after with the promised coffee.

"Thank you for being here to answer some questions," Eric took lead. "I'm detective Delko, and this is my partner, detective Speedle. We're from the MD crime lab and we really want to know who was on duty last Tuesday night."

"Hi. I'm Martin Green. This is Paul Dunwood and that's Lee Peacock. As for your question... we all were," the first guard started.

"We all sleep for four hours a night. One of us sleeps from seven until eleven, the next from eleven until three and the last one from three until seven. This way, there's always two of us walking rounds over the campsite," the man introduced as Paul Dunwood filled in.

Speed made some notes, while Eric continued. "About those rounds. What's the frequency, and how long does one round take?"

"We start here, at the visitor's center. One goes east, one west and we meet somewhere in the middle, then head back here together. We do that twice an hour," Green explained. "In between the rounds, we have just enough time to drink another cup of coffee."

"Did you notice anything out of the ordinary last Tuesday night?" Speed asked, looking up from his notes.

The guards looked at each other. Raising his shoulders, Peacock spoke up. "No. Nothing unusual. We have a logbook, and we would have written it down, if something had happened."

"Sometimes, people walk over the campsites at night, right?" Eric asked.

"Well, yeah. There's always somebody who has to take a leak," grinned Dunwood.

"Right. What if you see somebody walking over the camp site who is not heading in the direction of the lavatories?"

"Then that person is most likely on his or her way back to the tent. Usually we do keep an eye on everybody wandering around."

"Would you notice some tents are empty, while there should be people inside?" Speed wanted to know.

Green shook his head. "Now, that would be impossible. It would also be a violation of privacy if we'd go and check the tents, wouldn't it?"

Dunwood and Peacock were nodding in agreement.

"I guess so, too," nodded Eric. "Okay. Thank you for your time. We appreciate your help." He sipped the last of his coffee, waited for Speed to do the same and then they both left, heading for the Hummer.

"So between the rounds, the students had about twenty minutes to leave their tents and get out. That's possible, right?" Eric looked at Speed.

Speed agreed. "Yes, that wouldn't have been too hard. They could have sneaked back in early in the morning. We have the possibility, now we need the proof."

"We'll get to that tomorrow," Eric decided. "Let's go and see H."

XXX-XXX-XXX