Here is chapter seventeen.

Disclaimer: Yo, dawg this ain't my show!

"Sir," Jim said, his voice level as they sat in the office of Ofterd High School. "You have to calm down. Sit down and we will try to talk this out."

Daniel Sampson grabbed the edge of his desk and forced himself to sit. He seemed completely shaken, but most people would be if they were in his situation. Someone was targeting his school and plotting to kill.

"Why?" he asked, and his voice shook. "Why is this happening? Are you sure that you have the right place? Kids can be cruel sometimes and they make many enemies, but I can think of no one that would go so far as to kill one of them!"

"That is the thing, though," said Nick cautiously. "We are not exactly sure who the killer is targeting. It could be one of the students, or the teachers—it could be more than one person. There are great lengths that people will go to, to kill over simple things. We want you to realize that there are things about people that do not make sense. We do not understand why this person is doing this, but we do know that we need to protect the people of this school."

The principle grasped his hands together until his knuckles turned white. "Then how do you know that it is this school that has been targeted?"

"That is something we have to clarify," Grissom stated before anyone else could answer. "We have information from past killings that led us to here. If I am not mistaken, then your drama department is putting on an adaption of Homer's Iliad that starts next week."

Sampson nodded his head and agreed with the statement.

"The evidence that we have indicated the Iliad," Grissom continued. "We searched for places in the area that are putting on the play. None of the theaters around here are playing the Iliad at all or not until months from now. From the patterns that have arisen, we suspect that the killing will happen in weeks, if not, by now, in a matter of days. That cut out the possibility of it being at a big name theater."

"Which brought you to this school," Sampson mumbled unbelievingly. "But why would the Iliad be the indicator?"

"Greek mythology," Brass said briskly. "He is obsessed with Greek mythology."

Daniel Sampson took this information in quietly. He did not move at all for many minutes. Finally, he took his hands away from his face and rubbed his head. "What can I do? What will the school have to do? What can possibly happen to these people? And how will you protect us if you do not know who the target is?"

Brass said, "Can you give us a list of all the people working in and on the play?"

"Yes, of course."

"And may we meet these people?"

For a moment, a look of a confusion passed Sampson's face, but then it was gone. "Um… okay. They practice after school, which is in about fifteen minutes. You can talk to them if you want to, but, for the sake of the students, could you not tell them that you are with the Crime Lab?"

Brass glanced over at Grissom and Nick. "I think we can manage that."

---

"She is quite good," Grissom whispered to the others.

They were sitting in the back of the auditorium watching the rehearsal of the play. A girl, about sixteen years old, was on center stage, reciting her lines with ease. A man and a woman were at the bottom of the stage, pointing and directing people and props. Suddenly, one of them shouted out and everyone stopped. The man jumped up onto the stage and ran to one of the extras. The woman made her way to the stairs and scurried to the main girl.

"That," Sampson said, pointing to the woman, "is Katarina Baumgartner. She is the drawing teacher here, but she also works on the plays every year. Mrs. Baumgartner is very much into the art part of the productions.

"The man is Hector Ibáñez," continued Sampson. "He has been directing these plays for the past three years, since the school has opened. He's a good man."

The rehearsal had started again. The girl was still the center of attention, but now there was a boy next to her. They were talking deeply and moving about the stage with fluid motions. The woman, Mrs. Baumgartner, was bouncing up and down as they practiced.

Grissom leaned in to hear the principle better. "And what is the name of the children on center stage?"

"That is Natasha Corey—she is playing Helene of Troy. She has been in almost every play since he started high school here." Sampson squinted his eyes to see the stage better. "And the other one is Tyler Larston. He has the part of Paris, if I remember correctly."

They sat there for many more minutes until the crew took a break. At this point the trio, lead by Sampson, walked down the long aisle to the stage where Mrs. Baumgartner and Mr. Ibáñez were conversing quietly. They looked up when Sampson came near.

"Mr. Sampson," Mr. Ibáñez said respectively. "What can we do for you today?" He was a tall, well-built man with short-cropped hair and a deep tan that stayed year round.

"And who are your friends?" Mrs. Baumgartner asked innocently. Her voice held the hint of an accent that matched her bright, frizzy blonde hair. It was unsuccessfully pulled away from her face with a bandanna. The long, draping clothes that she wore were almost as distracting as her hair.

Sampson had to take a deep breath before talking. "This people are here to ask you some questions. Would you mind answering them?"

Mrs. Baumgartner pushed her hair over her shoulder. "Vhy, of course ve vill."

Brass turned his back so that he was blocking the view of the curious students. He pulled out the police badge that he carried with him.

"Hey!" Sampson turned an angry face on him. "You said that you would not tell them that you are with the Crime Lab!"

"I did," Brass replied. "But I never said anything about telling them I am from the Police Department."

Mr. Ibáñez held up his hands. "Whoa, whoa wait? What is this about? The Crime Lab? Police Department?"

Brass stuck the badge back in his pocket. "This nothing against you. We want only want some information that you might be able to provide with us. No one here has done anything wrong; all we want is information about the play that you are putting on."

Mrs. Baumgartner flopped down in one of the theater chairs. "But vhat vould the police vant vith our play? These are good kids; ve are good people. I just do not understand."

"Whose idea was it to have a play based off the Iliad?" Brass asked, ignoring the woman's question. "Was it a group decision?"

Both of the teachers looked at each other, both waiting for the other to answer. "We both decided on it," Mr. Ibáñez said warily. "We thought that if we did it this year then next year we could do a play based off the Odyssey."

"They are classics," said Mrs. Baumgartner as she pumped her fist through the air for emphasis. "There is no arguing vhy ve chose it. Many and most high schools choose it as their play vonce in their history—"

"The lead roles," Grissom interrupted. "Mr. Sampson here pointed out two of them. Would you be so kind as to point out the rest of them?"

Mr. Ibáñez peered over Brass' shoulder. "Kids—take another five minutes, we're still talking here. Okay?" The children went quiet and then, a moment later, started to talk again. "That is Tasha and Tyler," he said quietly to the officials. "They play Helene and Paris." He searched the crowd of people. "The three girls sitting down over there—they play the goddesses. Mira is Hera, Gwen is Athena, and Felicia is Aphrodite. The Judgment of Paris is a huge part in our version."

And in the killer's, thought Grissom.

"Ricky plays Achilles." He pointed to one of the boys. "Devon plays Hector." He pointed again. "Taylor plays Odysseus." Another point.

"May you excuse us for one moment?" Grissom asked. He pulled Brass and Nick to the side of the auditorium.

"What's up?" Nick asked worryingly. "Did you find something out?"

"Yes," Grissom said coolly, "the next target."

To be continued…

The next target? I wonder who that could be…

There was a lot of talking in this chapter, but it had to be done. Sometimes you learn the best things from just listening to other people.

R&R