Here is chapter twelve.
Disclaimer:
"NCIS? Never heard of it. Is it like CSI?"
"Only if you're dyslectic."
-from NCIS
"Hey Warrick!"
The man turned around in the lab to see Nick rushing toward him, a single piece of newspaper in his hand.
"What's up?" Warrick asked, curious of what was so important.
"I have been searching all over for you," said Nick. "Look what I found out from the newspaper! It was even on the front page. I can't believe it."
Warrick read the heading on the side of the paper: Chapman Goes Bankrupt. The article told of how the Chapman industry filed for bankruptcy on Friday due to the poor economy. All of the workers' pay was being cut by forty percent, but it was doubted that it would be enough to save the company. If profits did not come back up by the middle of next month, then the industry would have to close down for good.
"So when Regina told Lo that she could not afford to up her pay," Nick said, "she really did mean it. She must have known that her father's industry was not doing well, and that it would be in her best interest if she saved her money."
Warrick shook his head at the thought. "Yet, she still paid."
***
The Judgment of Paris, Las Vegas
Grissom typed into the search engine. Four hundred sixty-six thousand items came up. None of the ones on the first page was what he wanted. Grissom skimmed through the other five pages before going back to the search bar. This time he tried another search.
The Iliad, Las Vegas
Twenty-seven thousand six hundred items came up. Most of them were tickets to a Las Vegas showing of the epic. Grissom clasped his hands together. This was going to be long work. Fortunately, most of the ticket sales were from the same site, or were selling tickets for shows that had already been shown. Sadly, the play of the famous epic was not very popular with the crowd.
People do not appreciate the classics anymore, thought Grissom.
The clues that the Chimera Killer left at Echo, the center for hearing, seeing, and speaking impaired, had led Grissom to do this search. It had been found out that all of the clues—a golden apple, a DVD, a photograph of a dove, and an owl keychain—were connected. They described the judgment of Paris, the incident that later caused the Trojan War. The War was documented in the epic, the Iliad, though most of it is believed to be mythology. The follow up to the Iliad, the Odyssey, told the story of Odysseus, a fighter in the Trojan War, and his long journey home. However, none of the clues had been directly connected to the Odyssey. Grissom was not truly sure if the Chimera Killer was hinting at the Iliad, but he was going on a hunch. The judgment of Paris was related to the epic and the clues had told them about the event.
Grissom kept at the search. The play was already selling tickets in multiply theaters in the Las Vegas area. None of these places, however, were showing the play until late next month. The serial killer that they were searching for had killed in a short period of time. The killings of Roxanne Theseus, and Dorothea and Elliot Friar had happen happened with only weeks in between them. If the murderer was keeping his MO the same, then he would kill much sooner than that. Therefore, either things were changing, or Grissom was looking for the wrong thing.
What could I possibly have missed?, he thought. I have not overlooked something; I checked out anything that the clues could possibly have meant. What, then, is the Chimera Killer trying to tell us?
Grissom picked up the pictures of the newest clues and studied the objects carefully. There was nothing that stuck out about them, nothing that seemed strange. What could he be missing then?
"Hey."
He swiveled around in his chair to see Nick standing in the doorway.
"Yes?"Grissom asked, peering over the top of his glasses.
Nick threw a stack of paper on the desktop. "Here's today's newspaper," he said. "It has worked out pretty well for Warrick and me so far. Maybe you will find something interesting in it." He smiled teasingly. "Or you can just do the daily Sudoku if you want."
The elder man almost smiled. "Thank you, Nick," Grissom said. His voice implying that it was time to leave.
"Oh, and one more thing," Nick replied as he reach the door. "The Doc wants to see you down in Autopsy. He's done with the Friars."
The newspaper was warm from being in Nick's hands. Grissom read the front page and then went on looking through the A-section. The B-section of the paper did not have anything that interested Grissom. In the C-section, he stopped to read the short article of the killing at Yale. Finally, something caught his eye in the last part of the paper—the D-section. A heading on the side column was promoting local news. Halfway down the page a subheading read: School to put on Play. There was only one sentence under the heading: Ofterd High school is putting on a play based on the famous epic the Iliad by Homer starting next week at the school.
"Well then," Grissom said to himself. "We just found ourselves a winner."
***
"Here it is." The woman—Ms. Wilson—opened the office door. "Take your time."
"Thank you." Sara and Catherine found themselves in the small, clean office of Roxanne Theseus. A desk, barely the size of an end table, was placed in the corner at an angle so that Roxanne could easily move to the other side. An outdated computer sat on the desk, producing a low hum. Piles of paper were on the floor, left there for someone who would never return. And, opposite of the computer, were half a dozen picture frames.
"Look at this," Catherine said as she snapped a photograph of the desk. "All of these photos are of Roxanne and Zoë." Sara and she gazed over the frames. There were pictures of the mother and daughter laughing and acting silly; others had the pair at social or school events. They appeared to be any other normal family.
"And to think that Lindsey won't even let me take a picture with her anymore," Catherine scoffed. "I'll have to use this against her when I get home."
Sara smiled at the thought. "See did not have very much room."
"Huh?"
"Roxanne," Sara clarified. "She did not have a lot of space here. The room is extremely small, the desk barely holds all of the work that is done, and the computer is outdated—not a place that I would like to work at.
Catherine slipped on the rubber gloves that they wore so faithfully. "What are you getting at?"
"Maybe," said Sara, following the other woman's lead, "she told her boss, Geoffrey Carrey, that she wanted a better office. From the looks of it, she does a fair amount of work…. When she told Carrey this, he flipped out. He went to her home and killed her."
Catherine sat down in Roxanne's chair and grabbed the computer mouse. "That could be, but we need more than that…."
Sara snapped a picture of the entire layout of the room and started to take down dimensions in her sketchbook. "What about Olivia Wilson? She was promoted to the front desk, which she said was 'a better job' than her last one. That is a reason to kill Roxanne."
"Don't forget," said Catherine, "the killer was a man, according to Zoë. Ms. Wilson would have needed a partner….
Sara shrugged—it had happened before. "That woman named Julia must not be very happy to get this office."
The other woman turned the computer monitor so that Sara and she could see well. "Now, let's see what we can find on the computer. I'll check email first." Sara peered over her shoulder at the monitor. The email screen, bright blue and, fortunately, completely full, was pulled up. Many of the virtual letters were from other associates regarding work that had to be done or other work related things. None of the sent or received messages held anything promising. Next, they went to the recently deleted trash bin. Only one email was in it.
From: Sent to:
Subject: you know
Mr. Carrey,
I know what you are trying to do. I also know that it would put my job at risk. I need this job, Carrey, okay? However, what I also know is that it is against the rules our company carries. No, it is not the fact that you want someone else in my position, but whom it is that you want in my position. That could get you fired, and I know that you do not want that.
Just think about this. You know exactly what I am talking about.
R.
To be continued…
Now, that is an email. Something is suspicious about it, too…
I do know that you all are reading, so why don't you leave me a little review telling me how you like it.
R&R