Hunters and Collectors
Disclaimer: CBS owns CSI
A/N We shall learn more in this chapter, about our perps and how poor Sofia is doing.
Chapter 4
Arriving back at the house, Greg and Nick were finishing up and had evidence bags strewn everywhere.
"Ok boys load em up and let's get these back to the lab, then we can go and see how Sara and Sofia are, make sure we get those prints run first."
All the evidence was logged in and sent to DNA, Trace, Ballistics and Prints. Now the waiting game was played. Greg, Nick and Catherine all headed over to the hospital for updates on their two downed colleagues, hoping to hear some good news, although they pretty much knew Sara would fine apart from a headache. Sofia, on the other hand, they didn't know much about her condition and had to wait until a doctor came and informed them all. Captain Curtis, Sofia's mother, was with the others in the waiting room when they arrived, she was putting on a brave face but her eyes gave her away, the grief and fear in them. The doctor then came out for Sofia's family.
"Captain Curtis? If you'll come with me I'd like to discuss your daughter's condition in less public area."
"Is it something secret doctor? If not you can tell us all at the same time, saves me repeating to everyone here."
"Very well then, Sofia's injuries from falling down the stairs were pretty much repairable, mostly a few broken bones, the main problem is the bullet wound. It was a clean wound but due to the fall it travelled and is now lodged near her spine, it isn't affecting her mobility or anything, but if it moves any closer it could do one of two things. Paralyze her or kill her. We need to keep her as immobile as possible now until she is recovered enough to attempt to remove it, that is with your permission."
Captain Curtis didn't know which way to look nor what to say, she didn't have the knowledge or desire to make an uninformed decision.
"Tell me doctor, do you have a specialist to perform this operation, and how soon could it be done?"
" Dr Terrance Bishop is on staff and on standby , a specialist in this field, with Captain Curtis' permission we can do the operation as soon as she is stable enough."
Everyone sat there stunned at the thought of Sofia dying when she was so close to being alright, she simply had to make it but they could only think of wishing her well for now. Their next stop was seeing Sara, who was probably doing her best to make life difficult for all hospital staff.
Grissom was the first to poke his nose around her door to see her sitting up in bed looking cranky, he simply grinned at her.
"I hear someone on my team is malingering and trying to get some sick days off," he teased.
"Grissom, if you don't get me out of here I'll kill someone other than myself, I'm not sick, just a bump on the head."
"That plus a concussion and suffering from an anaesthetic gas that put you out for hours once it took full effect. Nice bandage on your head too by the way, honey you have to stop taking risks like that."
"How the hell was I to know the pump would blow up in my face, or more specifically that stupid box attached to it, anyway it didn't explode really the air pressure blew back into it, tearing it apart, but at least I was right about the method used."
"Well now we have an ID on Sofia's shooter at least, one Nicola Fremont, rather classy woman, freelance collector and auctioneer of antiques, specifically military weapons. She is or was very successful in locating items and auctioning them with her getting a sizable percentage of the sale. I think now we know how she 'finds' her items. I'm working on the theory that she sells them, kills the buyers then resells them. As they are in private collections and not museums, some would not even be listed, ideal candidates for 'repossession'."
"It doesn't all add up though Griss, why drug the household then kill everyone including the kids when you could simply take what you wanted, maybe kill the main collector, but hell, why the kids?"
"We'll ask her when she wakes up, or would you like to interrogate her?"
"Perhaps both of us, I'd probably kill her, however one thing isn't right, how did she rig the air conditioner, and why use three murder weapons. Perhaps she had an accomplice or two."
"If she had an accomplice then this could get dangerous Sara, especially if they've already killed before, they wouldn't hesitate to kill again."
"One nearly killed Sofia, I nearly get my fool head blown off and 5 people are already dead. There is no option, danger or not, than to go after them."
"Fair enough but just remember, we only follow the evidence, we leave the muscle to the cops. No heroics."
Sara got his meaning and was discharged the same day and ready to get back into the swing of things, interrogating Nicola Fremont with Grissom and Brass was her first appointment. Fremont did not look too happy when they entered her hospital room, her left hand handcuffed to the bed and a guard outside her door. Brass started the questioning to see where it would lead.
"Nicola Fremont my name is Brass, these others are CSI Grissom and CSI Sidle, so far we have enough evidence to charge you for 5 counts of murder, 2 counts of attempted murder, and no doubt that will be accompanied by several counts of fraud as well. It will get you the death penalty unless you can tell something different."
"So that cop is still alive is she? She shouldn't have been so nosy, but I see my little trick bagged me a CSI eh? Guess your head hurts a bit honey?" she said with an oily grin, showing no sign of remorse.
Sara couldn't resist the next question.
"I can probably understand the husband and wife, but why kill the children? Why deprive three innocents of a future, of a life?"
"Innocents? Humbug. They weren't innocents, they were going to turn out like their parents, tough as nails, uncaring, living for the almighty dollar and selling out everyone they knew or loved."
"So you admit to killing everyone?"
"No I won't admit to something I didn't do, I honestly didn't kill the kids or the husband, just the wife and before you ask, yes I rigged the airconditioner. Unfortunately it didn't go off like it was supposed to, it was supposed to go off earlier and take the house with it, but I miscalculated the time and small explosive charge, that's why I came back, to fix that small problem."
"So you had an accomplice then? Would you like to give me his or her name?"
Fremont went deathly pale.
"I can't do that, they'd kill me if I did, I was just the facilitator of this, they organized it, planned it, executed it, if I tell you who they are I'm dead."
A/N I'm not sure I believe everything she says, do you? She seemed to being trying to do executing of her own. Stay tuned for more later. Don't worry it's gets a bit creepier and deadlier as the story goes on.
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