CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Back at the LVPD, Brass sat next to Iris and Sara as the questioning began of Nathan Randall. They began to construct their case against him.
In an adjoining room, Grissom and Conrad Ecklie were observing Iris in her interrogation technique of the suspect as part of her evaluation for possible promotion in CSI levels.
"Okay, Mr. Randall, save us all a lot of time and just confess to what you know you did, huh, pal?" Brass began the conversation.
"I categorically deny any involvement with or knowledge of the death of Heidi Watson. She was one of my favorite students. I have no motive to harm a child. Yes, she's been to my home with her mother a couple of times. She always liked my birds. There's no harm in that." Nathan replied smoothly.
"So you'll have no objection to submitting to a DNA sample?" Sara queried as she presented an oral swab stick.
"I refuse." Randall said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Better open up and say aaaahh, buster, 'cause we have a warrant for that too," Sara said, "or Captain Brass here might not be as gentle as I would be."
"Sure. Whatever." Randall grimaced, as Sara quickly swabbed the inside of his mouth. She handed the swab off to another lab worker to rush for processing.
"You had your chance to come clean, Randall," Brass said angrily. "Let's play hardball then, pal!"
Iris gave a careful look sideways at Jim that said "down boy" as she opened up her case file to address Randall.
"Mr. Randall, from what the evidence tells us in addition to what you've just kindly shared, I believe we can come up with an accurate account of what happened up to the time Heidi died while in your home." Iris said as she continued. "Heidi had played your Happy Game while at school but you needed more. You were aware I was running late to pick her up and you saw an opportunity you'd not had before. How easy it must have been to tell Heidi she could come to your house and you would call Miss Iris to pick her up there. She trusted you and would go eagerly to your home. You make sure to leave the backpack obviously by the door. Knowing the school has no security cameras, you can simply walk out to your car with her even though you live just a few blocks away. Once at your home, you want to play the Happy Game again but Heidi may not have wanted to. So, you give her drugged Kool-Aid to drink but that's were you messed up. Even though you could have your perverted fun a little longer, she begins to get sleepy to the point you can't rouse her. You've had her holding the bluebird feathers and notice she's gotten a rash from the lice/mite bites, the same that you have now, and you use aloe vera salve on her hands and your own. Please note the photographs taken of Heidi's hands and your own. The rash pattern is identical."
Nathan gave the photos a dispassionate look and shrugged his shoulders.
Iris paused a moment before continuing, wanting what she had said to make an impression on Randall.
"Something goes terribly wrong though. At some point you find Heidi's not breathing and has vomited. We can only surmise you made no attempt at CPR because no physical evidence supported that. You discover Heidi's dead so now what do you do? You clean her up, paying special attention to remove any fiber or hairs, as well as using a bleach cleanser on the semen stains from your Happy Game. For reasons you have to explain further, you put her in a crystal clear box cocooned in a blue gauze material and again holding the bluebird feathers. You take her to a heavily wooded area to set up an exhibit of your crime, hanging Chinese lanterns to illuminate Heidi in her crystal coffin. Other sections of the same acrylic material were found in your garage where you could easily assemble a box for Heidi. You are careful to wipe the box clean of any fingerprints and want to hide any other evidence as well. Here's where we have you in the crosshairs, Mr. Randall."
Iris took a moment to take a drink of water and let Mr. Randall squirm internally.
"Male DNA along with Heidi's DNA was recovered from the mites and lice from the bluebird feathers you gave her. By the way, those are breast feathers from the Mountain Bluebird which has an all-blue breast and not the Western Bluebird which has a reddish-brown breast. Nice try. In addition, epithelial cells not belonging to Heidi were obtained from the aloe vera salve and those are also from a male. I have every reason to believe that your DNA is going to be correlated with the samples we have. Hairs consistent with Heidi's were found in the waste can and bathtub of your home. I believe you also bathed Heidi after her death in order to further reduce the chance of any incriminating evidence being found. Your DNA is going to match what we have already, placing you at the murder scene – your home, and so you will stand trial for the sexual abuse and death of Heidi Watson be it accidental or premeditated with your overdosing her." Iris finally finished with an unwavering gaze at Nathan Randall.
To her surprise, he simply applauded her with a sardonic smile on his lips.
"Bravo, quite a tale, Mrs. Brass or CSI King. I believe at this point I would like to contact my lawyer." Nathan said simply.
Brass just nodded his head which was a little tilted as he cocked an eyebrow and gave a half-smirk of a sarcastic smile. "You heard the man, the accused is entitled."
Sara looked at Iris whose eyes had turned black in anger. To her credit, though, Iris simply sat back to lock eyes with Randall who eventually looked away from the intensity of her gaze.
Grissom glanced at Ecklie who had an approving look on his face. Iris had been unwavering in her presentation of the evidence to the suspect in spite of the fact he had just requested legal counsel.
Brass went out with Iris into the hallway as Nathan was lead away to call his lawyer. She was literally shaking with anger now. He put a hand on her shoulder as she looked up at him, making every effort to dispel the emotions churning inside.
"Jim, I'm all knotted up inside! Before we go home, can we stop at the fencing center? I really need to work this off!" Iris asked entreatingly.
"Sure, hun." Jim replied simply.
An hour later, Brass watched as Iris had a quick lesson with her fencing instructor, Renee. The women were going through a routine at a lightning pace, Iris pressing her instructor hard as she parried with her epee. At the end of the lesson, each woman removed their protective masks to regard each other.
"Iris, I've never seen you pursue a lesson so! You're fencing has never been better and your technique never sharper. You actually were more aggressive as well. Keep up the good work!" Renee said in approval as she turned to leave.
Jim came over to put a towel on Iris's shoulders that she gratefully accepted to wipe at her damp hair and then her face. While she was spent physically from the rigorous workout during the fencing lesson, she still could not find that place emotionally that would give her release to even shed one tear. Brass held her close as she sighed wearily.
"Let's get on home, sweetie." Jim said quietly, knowing Iris was fatigued and needed to rest.