Chapter 10

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"Whoever did this is good." Mac the tech commented as he worked through the email. "It was sent on a time release through Martin's computer."

Viv sighed. She had hoped that they would have been able to pull something useful off of Victor's email but so far no luck. It appeared that the photos used were taken from Martin's album because it had been wiped clean – the only prints found on it were Sam's. "What about the attachment? Can you find anything useful on how it was created?"

"No, it was made on a Windows Movie Maker and downloaded directly on Martin's hard drive. There was nothing special to indicate who might have made it. It is so incredibly common that it's almost impossible to track it down."

"Thanks anyway." Viv replied as she pat Mac on the back before walking out of the tech room.

She headed back towards the bullpen when she spotted Samantha exiting the elevator. She could not imagine how hard this was for Sam.

"Hey, did you find anything?" Sam asked as she walked towards Viv. She looked stressed and tired.

"No. You?"

"Yeah, whoever did this planned it out well in advance. The prescription pills were phony, the doctor didn't prescribe them. They were ruffies in disguise."

"If they drugged him in advance, presumably without his knowledge, what happened in that kitchen?"

"I don't know." Sam croaked out before taking a deep breath and changing the subject. "Anything on the photo albums?"

"No, I was going to wait to talk to the Fitzgeralds to see if any of the photos had any personal reference."

Sam raised her eyebrows and asked, "Are they here?"

"Yeah, they are in Jack's office." Viv replied and nodded towards the room where Victor Fitzgerald sat next to a composed blonde woman. "Let's go see if Danny has found out anything."

Sam and Viv walked to the bullpen and found Danny sitting at the conference table with a stack of files. He looked up and said, "Please tell me one of you found out something that can help narrow down the search."

Both the women shook their heads and Danny growled. "Victor has worked for the bureau for over thirty five years. It's like looking for a needle in haystack. We need him to tell us if any cases stand out."

Viv looked back over to see Jack talking to Victor. "Well, hopefully Jack will find out something."

Sam sat down next to Danny and looked directly at Viv. "Have the results come in on the blood from the apartment?"

Viv lowered her eyes and replied, "Yeah, there were two types found at the scene. One of them is Martin's."

"So Martin fought back. Good." Danny commented positively but Viv noticed the fear behind his eyes.

"Did the doormen have anything else to offer?" Viv asked Sam.

"Um, I talked to Henry – he works the mornings and he said he hadn't seen Martin in a few days. I tried contacting Joseph who works the graveyard but I got his machine. I left a message for him to call me. I talked to Charlie who said that Joseph often goes out to dinner before his shift so I asked him to have Joseph call me if he goes straight to work." Sam's response was laced with frustration. "Do you know if Jack got anything off of the videos?"

Viv sighed heavily. She really did not want to give Sam more bad news. "Yeah, there was nothing on them. No sign of anyone entering or leaving."

Sam lowered her head and angrily said, "Damn it!" She kept her gaze on the floor but by the hitch of her shoulders Viv knew that Sam was on the verge of completely breaking down.

Danny and Viv exchanged worried looks. Viv walked over to where Sam sat and rubbed her shoulder. "We're going to find him Sam."

Sam wiped her face before looking up and said, "I don't want to just find him, Viv. He has to be okay when we do and we both know the longer he's missing the worse the odds are."

Viv wished she could tell Sam something comforting but she was right. They needed to catch a break and they needed it soon.