Have You Ever Danced With the Devil?
The scene had been destroyed, Completely and utterly trashed by an idiot and his bimbo. Those were not kind thoughts, but Catherine was not in a kind mood. Lake Mead was one of her favorite places, but seeing two little girls laying there on it's shore, very dead...well it tugged the tears from her eyes. Everyone was there, from Grissom to Greg, every one of the night shift CSIs was there. Not that it was going to do them any good. The bodies had once again been washed and the scene disturbed.
Then, as if things were not bleak enough, the press was right there, wanting to know what they had. They had nothing and the fucking press knew it and they told all of Vegas so.
Grissom, weary in moonlight, sighed, "Get Dave to pack them up, we can't do anything else here." Catherine grunted her disgust. The Great Gil Grissom was throwing in the towel on a scene. Defeat tasted bitter.
Doctor Robbins sighed as he snapped on his gloves. Two new autopsies, courtesy of the Doll Collector. When his door swung open, he expected to see Sara or perhaps Grissom. He didn't know the woman. He pushed his clear plastic face mask up. "Can I help you?" The woman was dressed in an obviously tailored suit and her short black hair was pulled back. She smiled at him and grabbed her own pair of latex gloves from the box kept by the door, she also grabbed the extra face mask and pulled it over her lovely face. "I'm profiling the case, what can you tell me?"
He hadn't known a Profiler had been called in on the case. He was not surprised, they needed all the help they could get, even the FBI. "He turned on his tape recorder. Doctor Albert Robbins, ME, proceeding with the postmortem examination of Elise Holloway. In attendance is" He looked at the woman and did not miss her flinch. "Dr. Cambridge Parker, PhD." He echoed her name and they went through the autopsy. The woman had her own tape recorder out and their voices echoed off of the autopsy bay walls. She asked him questions and made some insightful observations. "There are no hesitation marks. In the Winters and Thompson cases you noted hesitation, but in the Black case there was none." He nodded, "The Black case has been unique so far. There were signs of abuse right before the TOD." The woman nodded and gingerly picked up the dead girl's hand. "There is bruising around her right wrist, like someone grabbed her. She lay the hand back down and picked up the left hand. "Scrapes on the palms of both hands, like she was maybe trying to flee." They finished with Elise and moved to her sister, Kirstin. Robbins immediately noted the neck wound. "The COD is a single knife wound to the neck, but this is much deeper then the others. While the other wounds just cut the jugular, this time." He sighed, "Victim was partially decapitated." She nodded and muttered into her own tape recorder. "The killer is accelerating. It is possible that Kirstin tried to defend her sister, perhaps she attacked the killer and wanted Elise to run. That earned her a harsher death. There is definitely an explosion of anger. The brutality of the neck wound is clearly showing that the killer lost control." She moved around the head. "There is bruising on the shoulder and arms, defensive wounds. Kirstin put up a fight."
A voice sounded from the doors. "You speak as if you know her." Both Robbins and Parker looked up. Grissom walked in, keeping his ungloved hands behind him. "I don't believe we've met." Cambridge looked over at the ME, and Robbins took off his gloves. "We're done here, anyway." She took off her gloves and shut off her tape recorder. She gave the new face a once-over, "You must be Grissom." She held out a hand, "I'm Doctor Cambridge Parker. I'm compiling a profile on your killer." The etymologist raised an eyebrow. "Dr. Parker of Inside the Criminal Mind and The Abuse Cycle?" She smiled, "I see you've run into my work." They went out the door and Grissom gave her a puzzled look. "Your work is considered a revolution in criminal psychology." She shrugged, "You have to be good at something." They walked down the corridor, "I agree, but I don't recall calling for a Profiler. Especially a Harvard Grad who freely admits that she prefers not to do high profile cases." He motioned her into his office, "So I suppose Sara called in a favor?" The door shut behind them and Cami quickly understood the allure of Gilbert Grissom.
"I am not going on a wild goose-chase with you, Sara. Especially not after the Sheriff himself told you to back off of Madison Daniels." She had expected Catherine to be this way. Sara did not blame her. Catherine had a daughter and a position to maintain. When Greg shrugged his shoulders and left her standing there too, though, that hurt. She could rationalize that he was still in the beginning of his career and was afraid to take risks, but he was supposed to be her friend.
Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she was looking down the wrong way. Maybe she was just, chasing rabbits. It wouldn't be the first time she'd let herself get too caught up in a theory. A ghost of a smile came across her face as she remembered her and Warrick disproving her spontaneous combustion theory. She rubbed at the tension in her temples. This case was getting to her, maybe she needed to take a few steps back and look at everything from a new perspective. She closed her eyes and ran the evidence, what little of it there was, through her head.
In the foyer of Madison Daniel's home...A coat rack with a dark trench coat hung on it.
The picture with the white dress.
When Daniels had opened her drawer to get her day planner, there had been a card, a yellow library card...for the North Vegas branch of the Las Vegas Library
Witness Interviews:
She spoke to Madison Daniels...
We saw her walk off with that Senator lady...
Madison Daniels.
Madison Daniels.
Sara opened her eyes. There was no doubt in her mind. Now she just had to prove it to everyone else.
Eight o'clock in the morning saw Sara and Cami heading to Madison Daniel's campaign headquarters. Cami, who had her 'Dr. Parker' wardrobe on in full force. From the tips of her Jimmy Chu's to the gold rimmed glasses eyeglasses that she wore, she screamed PhD. It was a look that Grissom had never been quite able to pull off. It might have had something to do with the straw hat.
They walked shoulder to shoulder, into the bustling hub of political trickery and looked around. A young, perky brunette at a flimsy table looked up and smiled at them. "How can I help you?" Sara instantly wished that she had clued Sofia in on this little adventure, her gold detective's badge held much more power then her Lab ID. "I'm Sara Sidle and this is Dr. Parker, we're with the LVPD, we're here to speak with Congressmen Daniels."
They were lead back to the women's office by the awestruck intern. The girl's knock was answered by a crisp, "Enter." They stepped into the room, without waiting for the girl to announce their presence. This office was much less intimate then her home office. It was done in a tasteful beige and a toned down red. The walls behind her desk were decorated with diplomas and citations as well as pictures of Daniels with people of importance, including the current Mayor of the city.
She did not show surprise, no she was a cool customer. "Thank you, Emily." She waited for the girl to shut the door, and then she stood. "Well, well, Ms. Sidle, I didn't expect to see you again. Ever." Sara shrugged, "I have a few more questions." The woman didn't flinch. "And I have the Mayor on speed dial." Cami moved to intercept, "I apologies for Sidle's behavior. We've not met. I'm Dr. Cambridge Parker." Ever the politician, she took the offered hand. She tilted her head, "Parker, of the Seattle Parkers?" She nodded, "Yes." Daniels sat in her chair, "Please, take a seat. Now, you said your given name was Cambridge, that would make you Peter and Anita's third child?" Cami nodded, "Yes, London and Sydney, myself and Austin." Daniels smiled, "I know your brother, he's an up and comer in the House." Cami smiled, "That he is. He speaks highly of you, which is why I'd like to take care of this...unpleasantnesses for you." Daniels waved her hand in the air, as if clearing away a puff of smoke. "It's hardly a blip on the radar, really, just an annoyance. Though I admit, it disturbs me that some people would suspect me of hurting such innocent little girls."
Cambridge nodded and recrossed her legs. "Yes, it is a terrible thing to be accused of, a terrible thing to happen at all. Someone is kidnapping these poor girls and butchering them." Madison shook her head. "Yes, those girls, those poor girls. They say that they've been going with the killer voluntarily. If their parents had raised them better they might have had a chance." Cami nodded, "Yes, well, I've looked at a few of the parents. The Black girl's mother was a low-life and the rest..." Madison's blue eyes flickered, "And the rest were no better." She blinked, "Or so I heard." Cambridge nodded, "I heard you actually knew the Holloway twins." Daniels nodded sadly. "I heard they were found just last night."
Sara watched Cambridge work. She was quite the performer, part psychologist, part actress and once again, she was glad the woman was on their side. She wasn't sure exactly where Cami was taking this, but she had no doubt in her friend's skills.
"Their parents must be torn to pieces by all of this." Cami noted that Daniels hands clenched the edge of the desk. "I heard that their so-called parents weren't even in the state when the girls dissapeared." She sighed, "But at least they are in a better place."
Sara sat up straighter in her chair. "That's an odd thing to say, Ms. Daniels." The woman's head whipped around and for a split second, her facade dropped. The Senate-hopeful was replaced by a cold killer. "I didn't ask you." Just as quickly as it had come, it left and Daniels returned to her 'concerned politician' self. "If the LVPD was doing more about it, instead of interrogating innocent public servants, I'm sure they'd have a suspect already."
Cami moved to catch Sara to pull her back down, but Sara was too quick, like a bolt of lightning, she was on her feet, her hands planted on Daniels' desk. "How do you explain being at every girl's school and at that library. Or perhaps you'd like to tell me why we have images of you on CCTV from that library laying down a fucking dead body?" Daniels' reaction was swift and violent. Her fists crashed down on the solid wood of her desk. "YOU WILL WATCH YOUR TONE AND YOUR LANGUAGE, YOUNG LADY!" Cami's eyebrows shot up and she grabbed Sara's arm. "Christ, Sidle, sit down and cool it." She turned an apologetic face to Daniels. "I'm sorry." Back to Sara, Madison scowled, "Some of our parents taught us not to curse." Out of the corner of her eye, Cami saw a cruel smile. "If I had spoken like that when I was young, my mother would have washed my mouth out with soap." Madison sat back down in her chair. "But your mother didn't do that, did she, Sara S. Sidle? She was too busy drinking, smoking pot and stabbing your father to death."
Sara felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. "W-what?" She backed up until her knees hit the chair. Daniels smiled and coldly continued. "Some people don't deserve to have children, Sara. Some children are better off dead than they are in abusive homes, isn't that right?" She pulled a file out of her desk drawer. "Oh yes, you think I would have you in my home and then forget it. I know everything about you, Miss Sidle. Your PEAP Counseling, your suspension, your tragic past. Everything." She pulled out another, slightly thinner file. "And here is Detective Curtis's file. Not as dark as yours, but that near miss in the shooting. Well, she is a bit unstable isn't she?"
Sara sucked in a breathe. "I'm not going to stop. I know you killed those girls. I'll prove it." Daniels laughed, "Just like you proved who killed your colleague's ex husband, Sara?" Sara felt her heart lurch and she groped blindly behind her and sat down. "How do you know all this?" Daniels folded her fingers and rested her chin on them. "Power is a funny thing, Miss Sidle. It can get you information on everybody and everything in a snap." She snapped her manicured fingers to demonstrate her point. "To me, this looks like a last, rather desperate attempt to save your crumbling career. What, fucking your boss didn't help so you target a high profile case?"
Cami stood and Sara stood beside her. Sara, though shaken, stared down Daniels. "You won't get away with this." As they left, their backs almost all the way out the door, both women heard it. A low whisper that was laced with a dark amusement, "I already have."