CSI Miami Fan Fiction "Raymond's Christmas Carol" (Fanfic format)
Chapter 8—"Roses, Information, and Waiting"
The vase's glass surface was smooth enough for Eric to find several prints. However, the prints belonged to a variety of people: the florist, the delivery person, the lab receptionist, and Calleigh. But there were a few prints with no name; it was those prints that Eric was waiting for the computer to identify. After several minutes and several thousand print comparisons, the computer returned a match: Robert Albert Engelberg. Eric remembered the name from the list of those arrested for purchasing alcohol for minors. The picture was the same as that of the reporter who had been at Bobbo's. Deciding to pay the florist a, Eric printed the information and hoped that the picture would help the florist's memory.
While Eric was waiting to finish with the prints, Ryan had found more information about Albert Engleberg's scanner, including the source: a mail-order company in Orlando. Unfortunately, Engleberg's receipt showed that he had ordered the scanner just before the ban went into effect. Ryan was worried-would they would be able to use the pictures as evidence? He hoped that there was plenty of other evidence, just in case they couldn't.
Eric and Ryan headed to the florist. Ryan noticed the layout of the area from a different angle than from his previous visit: the address on the card showed that the florist was in the same plaza as Graham's Goodies and the sandwich shop. "This is where I saw Engleberg the other day. Frank and I saw Engleberg pull in there," pointing towards the parking area.
Ryan and Eric entered the flower shop; the shop's quiet and the fragrance of various flowers a welcome change from the noise outside. The manager, seeing the two detectives, asked if they were looking for anything special. Eric identified himself and Ryan as police and asked to see the florist who took the order for Engleberg's roses. The manager looked in the back of the shop, and the young man soon appeared.
Eric showed the florist his pictures of the vase and Engleberg, asking if he had seen the man. The young florist studied the picture of Engelberg, thought for a moment, and nodded. "That's him. Asked for a dozen red roses and chose the vase himself. An all-cash transaction," the florist replied. "And he was very particular about the card, too. He wanted everything just right. Maybe he wanted to surprise his wife?" the florist asked.
The two detectives thanked the florist and were about to leave. Then suddenly, Eric turned. Calleigh was going to have roses—but Eric didn't like knowing that his apparent competition was their most-likely burglary suspect. Ryan looked puzzled as Eric made his purchase of two dozen red roses, some just starting to open. When Eric saw Ryan's confused look, he laughed. "What? I need a reason to give Calleigh some flowers?"
Horatio was in the Questioned Documents lab with Natalia. The case file they had was that for Irene Graham Engleberg. Horatio and Natalia compared the notes from Albert Engleberg from that file to the handwriting on the florist's card. They looked at several samples of Engleberg's handwriting from the original file before Natalia spotted most of the phrase from the florist's card on a letter to Irene: "….and don't think I've forgotten you!"
"A match—Engleberg's handwriting on the card," Horatio said. "Robert is Engleberg's first name—he's been using his middle name-'Albert'—as a professional name and alias.
"Looks like that and a two-year absence allowed him to avoid suspicion. So why would he send flowers to Calleigh?" Natalia asked. Then she remembered and partially answered her own question: "Bonzo's West—Engleberg tried to talk to Calleigh then, and she ignored him."
Eric and Ryan soon returned from the florist's shop. Each told Horatio what they had found, Ryan expressing his doubts about the scanner pictures. "Well, if we can't use the scanner pictures, we just found out who sent Calleigh the roses," Horatio replied. He showed Eric and Ryan the handwriting samples he and Natalia had been comparing.
Eric's phone rang. "Delko," he answered. "Oh, great, we'll be right there. Thanks!" and hung up. "Good news—Bob Gormanson wants to talk. Let's hope he has something useful to say."
Ten minutes later, Eric and Ryan were sitting at a table with Bob Gormanson, his father, and their lawyer. "Bob, are you sure you want to do this?" his father asked him.
"You've asked me that already, Dad-I'm sure. I have to do this—the guy is bonkers!" Bob Gormanson was quite serious. He also looked to Eric and Ryan as if he hadn't slept very well.
The two CSIs looked at each other, then Ryan asked, "'This guy'—would that be Albert Engleberg?"
Bob replied, "Yes—he did the planning; I did the work. He gave me the diagrams of the buildings, I did the jobs. He got on my case big-time for leaving the tools behind; he called it a beginner's mistake."
"We've noticed that you didn't exactly follow the points on a compass. Did Engleberg mention anything to you about a burglary in the south?" Eric asked.
"He has one planned—but he's never mentioned where or when," Bob said. "I never found out where I was going until I got the diagrams. But he did talk occasionally—when he thought I didn't hear him—about some people. 'Irene' and 'Duncan'—and an 'Ian.' I don't know who any of them are," Bob said, shaking his head. He rubbed his eyes, then reached for a cup of water. "He did say that there was one job he wanted to do himself. This might be the one,…."
Both Ryan and Eric could see, from looking at Bob's eyes, that the young man hadn't slept well while in lockup—if he had slept at all. Bob was indeed cooperating; Eric noted that for the State's Attorney's office. Bob Gormanson was released to his parents' custody.
Horatio and Natalia listened to this conversation from the other side of the window. From what they were hearing, they were getting an idea of where the next target would be—but they didn't know the all-important when. The other piece of the puzzle was how Calleigh fit into it all—she wasn't related to the Grahams at all.
Natalia looked in the file again, finding a copy of the family portrait. She did a computer comparison of an age-enhanced picture of Irene to a current one of Calleigh—and found that Calleigh bore quite a resemblance to Irene Engleberg.
Horatio, seeing this, ordered extra patrols around the Grahams' houses, both Graham's stores, and Calleigh's house. Then he asked Frank to get search warrants for Engleberg's office and home. Natalia took her printouts and explained her findings to the rest of the team.
Remembering the pattern, Horatio decided to see if Engleberg would show up at the South Beach Graham's on December 17th. The store would be open till 8 pm, closing early to get ready for the Bonzo's broadcast two days later. The east store was staying on holiday hours.
It was now late afternoon on December 15th—just over a day of waiting. All the team could do was wait, plan, and review. But Horatio would not be caught out—or have his any of his team caught unprepared for a possibly-unpredictable suspect. His plan called for Calleigh to be at the South Beach store near closing on the 17th. The Grahams were warned of the possible danger. From what Bob Gormanson was telling them, Engleberg thought that Calleigh was a still-living Irene—and was willing to confront his brother-in-law to get Duncan back.