EPILOGUE - A Very Successful Cooperation

October 20, 2005. CSI headquarters. NYC. 07:36 pm.

They were once more assembled in the conference room of the CSI headquarters, and Mac had once more assumed the role of narrator. He had just returned from a meeting with the D.A. and was now debriefing the others.

"Morris Greek confessed everything. The car thefts, the hit-and-run, his disposing of the body, and the kidnapping of Patricia Quinlan. At first he insisted he was the only car thief, but when Martin Fitzgerald told him that Brad Johnson had also admitted to the thefts, he changed his story. Looks like he and Johnson had a sort of competition running in high school - who cracks most cars without getting themselves caught. We think that there was someone else involved, but we'll probably never be able to prove that. Greek and Johnson won't breathe a word.

"It was all pretty much the way we'd imagined. Patricia Quinlan saw him one day as he cracked a Corvette, and they made this arrangement. It was really bad luck for Morris Greek that he had to run over a man on exactly that day and with that car.

"When Patricia heard about the body of Mr. Chase, she put two and two together. But Morris wouldn't go to the police, so she finally said she'd do it. And Morris kidnapped her to prevent her from doing so.

"It was no planned abduction. We doubt that Morris had any clear idea of what to do next. All he knew was that he had to keep her from telling on him.

"Patricia insists he wouldn't have killed her, and I tend to believe her. He isn't cold-blooded enough, he was just desperate. He only thought of himself and of his reputation. Patricia also stated that he didn't mistreat her in any way - apart from cuffing her to the bed, of course, but she seems ready to forgive him for that."

"That doesn't sound as if she's completely over him," Martin remarked.

"Patricia Quinlan's feelings are irrelevant," Mac said. "She's given us all the facts, and I didn't have the impression that she was playing anything down. She seemed very rational to me."

"It might still be possible that she's trying to save him as much trouble as she can," Martin retorted. "When you once loved someone, no matter how long ago, you never really get over them. At some point, it can all stir up again, and you remember how much you ideolized that someone, and you're unable to say anything bad about them."

He did not look at Sam while he said that, but everyone in the room knew exactly what he meant, and for a moment there was awkward silence.

"It's frightening what love can do, especially when it's unrequited," Martin added a moment later, and this time he openly looked at Sam, who went stiff for a moment, remembering that she'd had identical thoughts earlier.

Mac cleared his throat. "Anyhow," he continued, "Morris Greek will be charged with kidnapping, concealment of a crime and obstruction of the police. The D.A. is not quite sure yet what to do about Mr. Chase. Technically, Greek should be indicted with manslaughter, but the situation is tricky, since he was a minor when it happened. Same about the car thefts. We'll see what happens."

"Well," said Danny Taylor after another short break, rising from his chair, "I think that's all. I just want to add that I'm very glad our cooperation turned out to be so successful. So I'd like to extent a big thank you to you guys at the CSI."

Danny Messer rose from his chair, too. "Same to you, FBI," he replied. "And I think I'm speaking for everyone here when I say it would be a good idea to go down to Bonnie's Blues Bar and celebrate this cooperation."

"Good idea, Danny," Danny Taylor said and grinned.

"Thank you, Danny," Danny Messer replied and grinned back.

"Then let's go, shall we?" Aiden chimed in. "Samantha?"

Sam waved. "I'll join you later," she said in a low voice.

When Aiden left the conference room together with Mac and the two Dannys, she saw that Sam held Martin Fitzgerald back by his sleeve.

"Martin, would you care for a drink somewhere else?" she heard her say. "I think we should really talk things over... please."

Aiden smiled to herself. So Sam had really listened to her advice. She quietly closed the door behind her, but before the door fell shut, she could overhear Martin's reply:

"Yes, Sam. I would love to."