Chapter 2: Allison
Miami was indeed the city of night clubs, but also of many gangs and therefore crime. But serial killers with their typical serial killer-psyche weren't there a lot; sure, many gang members would kill more than three people in a lifetime which technically would classify them as serial killer, but their psyche was so different of that of the typical serial killer.
The stereotype serial killer killed at least (although most of the times more) people in a short period of time, all with the same motive; which most of the time was lust, sometimes anger and sometimes jealousy. The modus operandi or MO could change if the situation required for it while the signature never changed.
Horatio couldn't official mark the murderer of Georgina and Jennifer as a serial killer, but it sure looked like this killer was not going to stop any time soon, what would make him a serial killer with his next murder.
He didn't have a clue in what the motive could be in this 'one' case, this one case of serial murder, but both victims had been young, hot party girls. The modus operandi in Jennifer's case was somewhat different from Georgina's case, but both had been killed in the same place. Both had been raped and stabbed, but Georgina hadn't died from the stabbings and was beaten to death while Jennifer had died instantly. The killer was definitely perfecting his techniques. The signature seemed to rape these girls at this very place and afterwards kill them by stabbing. Interesting. Serial killers were artists in murder. Show-offs.
Calleigh sat behind the steering wheel of the second Hummer, Ryan was sitting in the passenger seat next to her and Eric was in the back seat. Neither of them exchanged one single word with someone else, afraid for what? Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Murder. It was always wrong, murder, but serial murder was probably even worse. They could deal with any murder (how horrible these could be), mass murders too (also these could be horrifying) but serial killing was of a different category. Serial killers did this for their own pleasure, they were psychopaths.
Ryan slammed the door of the Hummer shut, as did Eric and Calleigh. The three of them walked to the back of the SUV and collected their kits. All of them felt the dense and heavy atmosphere of grief and disappointment. Serial killers weren't good and never could be good, but Calleigh sensed there was something more off.
Horatio walked up to them, deep inside glad they were here. He slipped off his sunglasses to speak to them. They were probably the only people he'd ever take his sunglass off for.
"Calleigh, I want you on the stab wounds"
Calleigh nodded and walked over to Alexx.
"Eric, you search for prints and impressions."
Eric also nodded and looked around.
"Mr. Wolfe, I need you to photograph everything and then find the pattern in both the murder of Georgina and this girl, Jennifer. I want to get this killer -" Horatio slipped his sunglasses back on. "Before he becomes an official serial"
In the mean time, a certain IAB sergeant named Rick Stetler had driven his way back to the lab to be just in time for an appointment he had set up.
By the time he entered his office – excuse me, cubicle – the handsome young brunette was already waiting for him.
"Good morning, Miss Mulder" he said. The brunette nodded.
"Please, call me Allison, sergeant Stetler."
Stetler nodded and sat down. From his desk, he grabbed a small pile of files and gave it to Allison.
"Allison, Miami-Dade PD asks you to analyze the dayshift-team of the Crime Lab. Lieutenant Horatio Caine in particular"
Allison noticed the hint of bitterness in his voice.
"Sergeant Stetler, I am not a psychoanalyst for nothing. I noticed that you may not like this lieutenant Caine."
Stetler looked at Allison. "Allison, that is something not work-related and therefore none of your business. Lieutenant Caine has recently lost a few of his relatives and MDPD wants to know whether he is still fit for the job. The same reason is the reason why I need you to investigate Eric Delko too, for he recently lost his sister, who, coincidentally, was lieutenant Caine's wife. Both of them have a serious amount of influence on the entire team, so I need you to be thorough."
"I see" Allison answered, before standing up. She hadn't liked Stetler from the beginning of this conversation on, and she knew he was lying. This added to her dislike of him. "I thank you, sergeant Stetler, and from now on, I will not speak to you again until my report is completed or until I have a good reason to speak to you."
"Why, Allison?"
Somehow, Allison understood she couldn't be this direct to him to just say 'I don't like you' and so she had to make up a lie. Thank god she was good at lying.
"Because that would interfere with my investigation" she told him, noticing the slightest bit of disappointment in his eyes. "Hasta luego, sergeant Stetler"
Suddenly, Stetler grabbed her arm. It felt like he was almost squishing it. "You don't look Cuban or Latina to me, Miss Mulder"
"That's because I'm neither Cuban nor Latina. My mother is an immigrant from Spain" this couldn't be used against her in any way, which was the only reason she'd tell him. Otherwise she'd never have told him. She released herself from his grip and walked off.
Two paramedics helped Alexx load the victim in the van. Horatio looked away from his three CSIs who were investigating this crime scene.
Now that the body was off to the morgue, Calleigh didn't have anything to do. She noticed how Horatio was staring in the distance, paying no attention whatsoever to the crime scene. Something was off. Slowly she walked up to him.
"Horatio?" she asked him. He looked at her and slipped off his sunglasses.
"Hey"
"What's up? I thought we had put Georgina's murderer behind bars"
"So did I" he said "But they cut him loose for he was an important source, according to IAB"
"According to Stetler" Calleigh understood. Horatio nodded slowly, slipping his sunglasses back on. Calleigh indicated this as this short moment of Horatio-emotions was now over.
Eric walked up to the both of them. "Thread marks. Car."
Calleigh smiled. "Great"
A minute later, Ryan was finished taking photographs.
"Here we go" Horatio said.
Calleigh would attend the autopsy of Jennifer while Ryan and Eric would begin investigating the evidence. Horatio provided Calleigh with comparison photos.
Ryan put all of his crime scene photos against a back-lit whiteboard that was mounted against a wall in the lay-out room. Looking at them, he suddenly noticed a similarity in the photos from Jennifer's and Georgina's crime scenes.
Horatio walked to his office, where he, to his surprise, found a young brunette woman waiting for him.
"Lieutenant Caine?" she asked. Horatio nodded.
"Allison Mulder, please call me Allison. I am a psycho analyst."
Horatio slipped off his sunglasses. "Miss Mulder? I don't remember asking for an analyst."
"Indeed" Allison said. "Internal Affairs sent me"
"Internal Affairs… Rick Stetler"
"Indeed. He asked me to investigate the members of your team"
"I don't see how this is necessary, miss Mulder"
Allison smiled, hoping to break the ice a little. "I know, lieutenant Caine, but I am just hired to do my job."
"I understand, Miss Mulder. But there is absolutely no need for you to investigate my team."
Allison stopped smiling, creating a stricter expression on her face. "Lieutenant Caine, I will have to do what I'm asked to do, and I will try to let it be the least of a nuisance."
She took off, leaving Horatio just standing there. He picked up the phone and dialed a certain number.
Calleigh and Ryan almost simultaneously found the same conclusion on how both murders had something extra added to the signature.
Both victims wore an ankh, the Egyptian symbol of eternal life, on their ankles. And both ankhs weren't a tattoo – both were drawn on the ankles with a Sharpie.
Eric, however, hadn't made any progress on the tire threads. They had to be in the database, but the database was huge.
Allison was taking a walk around the lab, to have a clue about the work atmosphere. This could always prove to be a reason of many, many subconscious disorders that influenced people's behavior. So far, the only atmosphere she had detected was that of comfort but not the laid-back kind, that of friendship but still a professional distance. Allison couldn't think more of it than that it should be this kind of atmosphere everywhere. Sure, her encounter with lieutenant Caine hadn't run smooth, but she could totally understand his hostile attitude toward psycho analysis of his team. After all, it didn't really add to the positive work atmosphere to have your whole team checked out by an outsider. And considering both the bitterness in sergeant Stetler's voice when he spoke about lieutenant Caine and the spark of, yeah, what kind of emotion was it? Dislike, perhaps, in lieutenant Caine's eyes when he had to mention Stetler's name, they, to say the least, disliked each other. That probably also added to the overall hostile approach of lieutenant Caine to have his team checked out by an outsider who was being sent by a person he disliked. This was going to be tough.
A/N: Okay so now I didn't wait for your review but just posted it. But from now on, I really want to know what you all think of it and I'm going to wait until I have five reviews for this chapter.