Horatio was waiting impatiently at the front desk when the elevator dinged open. Tripp and another detective emerged, carrying two large boxes sealed with evidence tape. The detective with Tripp looked around in apparent admiration of the crime lab, but Horatio heard him snort under his breath and murmur something that sounded like 'show-offs'.
"Thank you for coming down to us, Detective Fraser," he greeted him. Fraser eyed him coldly and rolled his eyes, and Horatio gritted his teeth. As though he hadn't had a long enough week – he did not need an out-of-town detective making life tough.
"I don't know what the hell you think you'll find." Fraser was looking increasingly annoyed. "My crime lab did look at this stuff. We couldn't find anything that would tell us who the other two robbers were."
"I know, but we have some of the latest video enhancement software in the country, which simply wasn't available six years ago. We may be able to find something new." Horatio kept his tone conciliatory, although it took some effort. He'd read the court reports on the one robber who did make it to trial, and the Raleigh lab had not come across as particularly thorough. There were one or two points that Horatio had spotted on a quick read of the trial that needed further investigation, so the odds were that there was lots more that could be done. There was little point in mentioning that, however, Fraser was touchy enough as it was.
The CCTV footage from the bank was given to Dan, while Horatio and Ryan looked through the rest of the evidence. Determined not to leave any stone unturned, Alexx was asked to look at the autopsy report of the one robber, Jason Friedland, who didn't make it out alive. Fraser hovered uncomfortably, peering over Ryan's shoulder until Horatio's patience ran out and he persuaded Tripp to take the detective out for coffee.
"You owe me for this one H," the big Texan mock-grumbled.
"You'll think of something," Horatio rejoined, a wry smile on his face.
Dan Cooper was still poring over the CCTV videos from six years ago when Horatio stopped to check on progress. He leapt about a foot in the air when Horatio coughed slightly to catch his attention. "Jesus H! Don't do that!"
"What do we have?" Quietly amused, as always, at the way none of the CSIs he employed ever seemed to notice his approach, Horatio focused on the screen.
"OK, so, firstly, the quality is really poor, but I've cleaned it up and it's a bit clearer now. Here we have the bank before the robbers enter. Normal Saturday morning, with a bit of a queue, just beginning to get busy. Then, at 09:45, three of the robbers come in. One of them has an automatic weapon, and he starts firing up into the air. The other two get everyone to lie down, while a fourth appears from the back, holding the manager and a gun. From the police reports, this was the standard method they used in the three previous robberies. This is the moment when it all starts going wrong."
Horatio watched as a blurry figure in the uniform of a security guard began inching along the floor, towards the far wall. The security guard managed to get over to the wall, where he pressed a button. "What's he doing?"
"That's one of the emergency buttons in the bank – linked to the police station. They responded in five minutes, but it was all over by then anyway. Watch." One of the robbers noticed the guard and started gesticulating wildly at his accomplices. The manager, obviously realising that the robbers' minds were not focused on the job, elbowed the robber holding him, before wrestling with the gun. When this started, the security guard tackled another of the robbers, knocking the gun from his hand. The two robbers without guns, and who were being largely ignored now, took the opportunity to run back out of the bank.
The bank manager was winning the fight, but the gun looked as though it discharged unexpectedly. "That's the bullet that killed Jessie Delaney. You can see it ricochet off the glass partition and hit her leg."
Horatio nodded. "Her autopsy report said it struck the femoral artery. She bled out in minutes. The paramedics pronounced at the scene."
"After she's shot, the manager is still fighting for the gun, and it goes off again, but this time it hits the robber. He drops down dead, and then the police arrive. The security guard kept control of his robber, and he got arrested."
"So that's Marty Periman and Jason Friedland. Can you go in tighter on the other two robbers? We need to see them close up."
"No problem," Dan said, already typing commands into the computer. "The robbers are wearing balaclavas, but I think we should still be able to….there – you see it? A birth mark on this one's neck. I'll do a print out."
"What about the other one?"
"Nothing yet." Dan sighed. "I've been over this several times now, and I can't see any way of IDing them."
"Run the footage again." Horatio watched intently, hoping against hope that there was a way of making the identification. He watched to the end, when the police arrived and frowned. "Play that again." There it was again. Just as the robbers left the bank in a hurry, both pulled off their balaclavas, obviously anxious to blend in with the crowds. "Can you get a reflection off the bank's doors? We might be able to get an ID off that."
Dan shook his head in amazement. "I've seen this tape more times than I can count, and I never spotted that. I'll get right on it."
"Fresh eyes always help," Horatio offered, as he took the print out of the birth mark and went in search of the others.
Frankie was hovering in the break room, waiting for Alexx to finish reading the autopsy on Jason Friedland when Horatio found them. Both women turned to smile at him, although Alexx wondered if he even noticed she was in the room. Really, she thought fondly, those two were good together. Horatio sat down next to Frankie – again, Alexx thought, something he just never did before he met her – and put his arm around her.
"How are you? Not too tired?" he asked, a worried frown creasing his forehead.
"I'm fine. Kathryn Warner's real name is actually Kathryn Ellison, or at least that's what she's claiming now. That woman missed her calling in life. She'd have made a killing in Hollywood." Frankie's voice left no doubt as to her opinion of Kathryn Ellison.
"How about you Alexx? Was it a productive afternoon?"
"Not really sugar. Jason Friedland's autopsy report was very thorough and very straightforward. Shot in the chest, died of exsanguination. Nothing unusual at all."
Horatio nodded slowly. "It was always going to be a long shot. What about this? Do you recognise it?" He handed the ME the blown up image of the birth mark Dan had pulled off the CCTV. Alexx stared hard, but shook her head. Frankie, on the other hand, raised her eyebrows.
"I've seen that today. Kathryn Warner-whatever-the-hell-her-name-is has a birth mark just like it. On her neck. Where is this from?"
"CCTV footage taken during the bank robbery in Raleigh." Horatio spoke quietly, his tone almost the same as normal, but there was an undercurrent of excitement there that Frankie knew meant the case was really starting to come together. "So we can place Kathryn at the robbery. Now we just need to link David Barker to it."
"And find the bomber," Alexx reminded him.
"And find the bomber," Horatio repeated firmly.