Chapter 6 Denial (Part 2) Sofia
Sofia smirked with pleasure as the lab confirmed her theory, she savored being right. Greg located Gary Shuman's car that was parked discretely around the corner from the Raines' house. Through a search of his credit card records, they'd found several hotel reservations in the past month. At least one of the desk clerks was able to positively identify Shannon Raines as his companion. But most damning of all, Gary Shuman's sperm had been found in Shannon's vagina. An internal exam revealed no signs of force; it was consensual sex. Tests on sperm viability estimated that intercourse had taken place that evening.
The women had been able to partially reconstruct a viable scenario for the confrontation between the two men and Shannon, based on the evidence. They believed that Trevor had arrived home, unexpectedly early from his business trip, surprising his wife and her lover in the bedroom. A nasty fight ensued, resulting in their deaths. Blood and hair evidence on their makeshift weapons and the walls revealed that Trevor had picked up the bat while Gary was left to improvise with his fists, lamps and other small items of furniture.
However, they still weren't able to explain to their satisfaction why the wife had sustained fatal injuries, especially since the fight was presumably between the two men. Shards of glass had been found in embedded in Shannon's temple, yet no glass from the champagne bottle was found on either man. Only Gary's fingerprints remained on the neck of the shattered bottle, possibly since they shared a drink earlier in the evening.
While they were making some progress with the adults, the women were still stymied by the children's deaths. All of the team members were working well into a double shift, yet they felt the answer must be close at hand. They wanted to finish the case while the evidence was fresh.
The women re-examined the children's rooms.
Sofia paused to think. "We didn't find any of Gary's prints in these rooms. But why would he want to kill her kids anyway?"
"Good point. As far as we know, he's got no motive. Nothing unusual with the pillows." Sara recited as she mentally reviewed the facts. "What are we missing here?"
"Why did you ask about abuse earlier?" Sofia wondered.
The brunette shrugged, "I don't know. Just a feeling. Have you noticed there aren't any pictures of the kids around the house? Lots of families have photos of their children by the mantle or in the hallway or on top of their dressers."
Sofia snapped back a little too sharply, "True, but that doesn't mean they didn't care about their kids. Some people are really into decorating and feel that family photos and kid drawings don't qualify as art." Her parents had certainly felt that way.
"These kids aren't that old. Where are their toys? Their games, their movies?"
"Certainly not in the living room." Of course, the corpse lying in the middle of the grand room had spoiled its eloquent ambiance. Sofia turned to the closet to peek inside. "Maybe they're just neat freaks or they have a perfectionist maid. And just because we're not seeing a lot of toys or games, it doesn't necessarily reflect how much the parents cared about their children."
Who was getting defensive now?
But she knew all too well that kids could be showered with material goods and not truly be loved. She certainly had never been number one in her parent's lives. Their high-powered careers had stranded her with babysitter after babysitter. When she got her period, her best friend's mom was there to talk her through things, for her mother was perpetually away on business.
As she grew older, she became aware of her parents' games. How they cheated on one another and pretended not to notice each other's glaring indiscretions. Rather than trying to hide it from her when she finally became of an age to notice, they expected her to play along with their little games, to ignore anything that was too ugly, hoping it would go away. She'd seen all the little lies leading to bigger lies.
Sure honey, I'll make it to your game. This time.
Of course I won't miss your graduation. I know what an important day this is for you.
As always, they'd sent money, which was appreciated. But it wasn't the same. If that's what marriage and family meant, she vowed that she wanted no part of it. She was honest in her intentions as she looked after her own interests and ambitions. Certainly no one else ever had. Besides, she was her parent's daughter; she loved her career. She didn't want to unjustly penalize a loved one or have to make any sacrifices that might be required for a husband or child. Overall she was pleased with her choices.
"What did you say?" Sara was getting excited.
"Maybe they're neat freaks?" Sofia's brow became creased, as she wondered if Sara needed to take a break.
"No, not that. The last part."
"Um…it doesn't necessarily reflect how much the parents cared about their children?" She didn't see the connection here but Sara flipped her phone open.
"Grissom, what are the children's last names?"
She listened intently, "Can you determine who their biological parents are?"
"What?"
With some excitement she said, "We're on it."
Then the tone of her voice subtly changed. "When we finish up here, that'd be nice."
Oh no, not this again.
Sara closed her phone.
"So…" Sofia prompted, feeling out of the loop.
"The parents are Shannon and Trent Raines. The kids are Claudia and Timothy Bennett."
Her face lit up with understanding. "And we know what a bargaining chip the kids are in any divorce settlement. Grissom and Greg are checking up on it?"
"As we speak."
Light was bouncing off those obnoxious earrings, right in her eyes. For a brief instant, she felt as if those foolish inanimate objects were mocking her, taunting her.
Snap out of it, Sofia.
Why in the hell was she still wearing those foolish things? They couldn't possibly be comfortable. She was even wearing those ridiculous high heel sandals, covered by cloth booties. Perhaps she'd just forgotten, as she became engaged in her work. Sofia could relate to that.
Or maybe she's clinging to the last reminders of her date with Grissom.
EnoughSara was giving her an odd look as she revealed. "Tox results indicate the kids were poisoned by a common active ingredient in sleeping pills."
Now this she could sink her teeth into. "You take the hallway bathroom, I'll check out the Master bath"
As Sofia searched the medicine cabinet, she began to review her memory. Maybe things had been changing between she and Grissom. He didn't seem as eager to chat as he once did. They hadn't worked together as often. He didn't linger when they spoke. In fact, the last time she popped by to visit his office, he seemed almost annoyed and practically asked her to leave. At the time, she'd assumed he was tired. But maybe there was more to it.
Could it be?
No, it's not possible.
I'm just tired.
Besides, if Grissom were truly interested in Sara, why would he stick her at this bloody crime scene only minutes after cutting their date short? Wouldn't it have been more convenient for the two of them to work in the lab together as she and Greg slogged through the mountains of evidence?
She started to feel vindicated then the truth hit her. She remembered Grissom's expression as he saw the other men's reaction to Sara's outfit. He was not pleased.
Thankfully, she didn't have time to process that observation any further. She'd just found the mother's prescription for Ativan. But who had used it to murder the children? And why?
XXXXX
There were only five hours before the next night shift started, yet Sofia took her time as she prepared to go home, for it was her night off. They'd solved the challenging case in record time, less than twenty-four hours. The sheriff and Ecklie were both raving about their team's work. Finally they'd put together all of the missing pieces.
Sara was perched on the bench in the locker room, still clad in her coveralls, and wearing those ridiculous earrings. She was massaging her feet, which must have had some nice blisters by now. Her shoulders were hunched, and traces of shadows rimmed her eyes, she looked exhausted. She glanced towards the door as Sofia entered.
Feeling charitable, Sofia tried to chat with her. "Can you believe that?"
Sara just shook her head wearily as she continued to rub her feet. "I thought I'd seen everything. What kind of mother kills her children?"
"Guess she thought Gary was her dream guy, the one who would finally sweep her off her feet and take her away from all her troubles. Funny, her life didn't look all that bad to me."
Shannon's suitcase had been packed, stuffed with designer clothing, wads of cash and all of her expensive jewelry for she planned to leave town with Gary that night, and never to return. She'd made several large cash withdrawals from her joint savings account within the last week. Apparently Gary felt differently, since more in-depth analysis of the orientation of the fingerprints on the stem of the champagne bottle indicated that he was the one who delivered the fatal blow to her temple. Perhaps she'd told him what she had done for him?
Sara continued, "I don't get it. If she wanted to skip town, why didn't she just leave them? Wouldn't Trevor have taken care of them?" Her gaze fixed towards the door again.
"That wasn't part of their agreement. He tolerated the children but they were hers from a previous marriage. Their biological father is in jail and unable to take care of them. Maybe she was afraid that Trevor would've used his extensive resources to track her down and pester her to take them back and that would mess up her new life with Gary, who didn't like kids."
"Looks like Gary got in over his head." Sara pointed out.
Gary's reputation as a ladies' man was well known. He wasn't even fully devoted to Shannon, the hotel clerks Greg and Detective Larson had interviewed described other women who had recently accompanied him to his hotel room. With his success in business and his athletic build, it was only natural that women found him attractive. But he wasn't in it for the long haul, he just wanted to have fun.
Sara suggested, "Maybe her plan was only to get the kids to sleep so they wouldn't interrupt her time with Gary or discover her plan until they'd gone? An accidental overdose?"
"Who knows." Sofia noticed Sara furtively glancing at her watch then at the door again. "You better get some rest, your shift is coming up soon."
Sara sadly looked towards the doorway of the locker room one last time, then decisively put on her shoes. She sighed, "Yeah." Then she left.
So much for that rendezvous.
Sofia was secretly glad that the other woman seemed down. She sat down on the bench to gather her things. A minute or two later, Grissom rushed in, still clad in his formal wear. Breathing slightly heavy he asked, "Have you seen Sara?"
"She left at least ten, fifteen minutes ago." She opened the door to her locker, which blocked her view of him, and she gathered her things as she continued to speak.
This is a golden opportunity.
"Tough case, huh? We did a good job putting all the pieces together. It's sad what people do, what people think they need to be happy." He always enjoyed that type of philosophical talk.
Although she wasn't one to ask a man out, she sensed her advantage might be fleeting. "You want to go get a cup of coffee or something?"
When she closed her locker door, she discovered that the room was empty.
TBC