CSI Miami Fan Fiction "Raymond's Christmas Carol" (Fanfic format)

Chapter 2—"Annoyance Value"

The team's discussion was interrupted at that point. A minivan rolled up near where Calleigh and Ryan had been working. This particular minivan—the first to show up at the scene-did not belong to either of the two stations who worked with Bonzo's. This one belonged to a rival talkradio station, WTLK-AM. Unlike WBLB, whose on-air staff presented all points of view, the rival WTLK staff—and this reporter, particularly-seemed interested in a "protest-authority" view. "And this station just had to send its most intrusive reporter," Eric groaned, as the reporter exited the vehicle. The reporter, Albert Engleberg, quickly slipped under the crime-scene tape and immediately walked towards Calleigh, trying to get her attention.

A patrol officer was running up behind Engleberg, ordering him to step back behind the tape. Engleberg, to Ryan's disbelief and Eric's consternation, simply ignored the officer. Every member of the Miami media knew that they were to stay behind the yellow crime-scene tape, unless they were specifically permitted entry and properly escorted. Engelberg kept going, trying to talk to Calleigh—who simply ignored him. Eric and Ryan quickly stepped between Calleigh and Engleberg. "Sir, you're intruding on a crime scene—go back behind the tape with the officer now," Eric ordered.

The thin, sandy-haired Engleberg scowled at Eric. "Hey, haven't you heard of the First Amendment? I'm covering an actual news story here! You can't arrest me for that!"
"No, but it doesn't give you permission to interfere in a police investigation, either," Eric sternly told Engleberg.

"I would suggest that you do as Mr. Delko requested," a calm, but commanding voice spoke from behind the re-porter. "Move back behind the tape, Mr. Engleberg." Engleberg turned slowly and faced the speaker, whose eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses.

"Lt. Caine!" Engleberg loudly protested. "Your officers are preventing me from covering a legitimate news story! The last time I looked, the First Amendment hadn't been repealed!"

"My officers are not keeping you from doing your job. YOU, however, are keeping my officers from doing theirs." Horatio stated as he removed his sunglasses and directed his icy gaze at Engleberg. "I'm giving you two choices, Mr. Engleberg: step back behind the tape now or be arrested." Two patrol officers, one with handcuffs in hand, waited just behind Horatio. Horatio and Engleberg looked steadily at each other, Horatio's ice-blue eyes meeting Engleberg's steel-gray eyes. Ryan and Eric watched, wondering who would blink first. An exasperated Engleberg finally turned towards the tape, scowled at Eric and Ryan, and went back towards his van. Ryan breathed a sigh of relief, closed his eyes, and leaned against the Hummer.

Calleigh and Natalia had been watching the exchange from Calleigh's Hummer. "This guy just doesn't seem to take 'No' for an answer," Natalia said angrily. "He's shown up before the other media at the other two crime scenes, and he's made it to this one."

"That's how he makes his living," Calleigh noted, "making people angry. His station's known for that. Wonder if he'll file a report about how the police wouldn't comment again?"

A team meeting was held that afternoon, after they finished processing the Bonzo's store. The group was going to test Ryan's theory on the new large-screen computer map. Each location had been pointed out and labeled with a lightpen; then listed according to the compass points.

What Calleigh entered (in blue light):

Store Direction Burglary date Reopen Date

Bonzo's #1 North 12 November 14 November

Graham's Goodies #1 East 19 November 21 November

Bonzo's #2 West 03 December (proj.) 05 December

Graham's Goodies #2? South (proj.) 10 December (proj.) 12 December

"Well," Frank said, "looks like we have another pattern: check out the dates."
"Each store was hit on Wednesday and re-opened on Friday," Eric noted. "just in time for the weekend. That means that Bonzo's #2 should reopen on December 5th. Strange that he didn't hit the day after Thanksgiving"

"The day after Thanksgiving is one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Real thoughtful of the guy," Natalia observed. "He didn't want the stores to miss their weekend money. Doesn't Graham's Goodies have another store somewhere?"

"Next to The Waffle House at South Beach Plaza," a smiling Calleigh said. "Ian and Rose run that store; David and Katie still run the main one."
"Maybe, since he's already hit both Bonzo's stores," Horatio reasoned, "this person might decide to hit the South Beach Graham's Goodies on the tenth, IF he stays with the pattern."

Frank agreed. "Maybe some extra patrols around there might be useful." He went to arrange for the extra patrols. Horatio and Natalia went to visit Ian and Rose Graham to let them know about the potential problem. They also wanted to see how Ian's nephew, Duncan, was doing. Duncan had been doing well since his mother's murder, but there was one unsolved problem. Duncan had witnessed what happened between his parents—including his mother's murder. The young man had been so frightened at the time that he had been unable to tell the officers—or anyone else-what had happened two years ago. That puzzled even Horatio, who was usually able to help the younger witnesses talk about what happened.

Ryan had been studying the screen quietly. Something about the directions looked out-of-kilter to him, so he brought the compass up on the map screen. He looked at Calleigh's list again, and soon found the quirk—the suspect wasn't exactly following the compass. "Check this out," he told Calleigh and Eric, showing them what he had noticed. Ryan first circled the map compass (in green light) with the lightpen, then underlined the first letter of each direction on Calleigh's list. The result: instead of "N-E-S-W", the letters read "N-E-W-S". All three were absolutely baffled by what that had meant; even Horatio was puzzled when he was told of this oddity.

"Considering he's managed to be at all three crime scenes within minutes of our arrival," Horatio said, "maybe we should pay a visit to Albert Engleberg. He's scooping all of the Miami media on this, maybe he knows something."