Chapter 15

Friday, September 8th, 2006
1:22 AM

Vartann was waiting just outside the emergency room doors when Nick arrived. Nick strolled towards the detective and walked along side him as they made their way into the building, past the throng of reporters trying to get word from Aaron McDonald. Vartann led Nick to where Aaron was being looked at. A doctor was taking off the bandages the EMTs had put on while a woman was sitting on a chair next to the bed. Nick guessed that the woman was probably Andy Sagan's mom. Nick stepped into the room. "Aaron McDonald?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm Nick Stokes. I'm with the Las Vegas Crime lab. This is Detective Vartann. We'd like to ask you some questions."

"Alright."

"Wait," the woman spoke up, standing. "Do you have to do this right now? From what I understand, he's been through enough."

"No m'am, but the sooner we're able to piece together what happened, the better."

"Mrs. Sagan," Aaron interrupted. "It's okay. I'd like to get this over with."

"Actually, Mrs. Sagan, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions as well. We can start with you if you'd like."

"That's fine."

"You are Andy Sagan's mother, correct."

"Yes."

"And you and your husband let the boys hold their rookie initiation at your cabin every year?"

"The past couple of years. Mr. Stokes, I know what you're thinking, rugby culture and all that, but the boys are good. Whatever happened, I know that they aren't responsible for it. I know they may do some stupid things with regards to initiation, but Andrew has always been honest with me and he's promised that they would never do anything to hurt any of his teammates, physically or emotionally. They're smart boys. Aaron is an honors student…"

"M'am," Vartann cut in. "Nick isn't implying anything. We're just collaborating the boys' stories, that's all."

"Alright, yes we let them use the cabin. Anything else?"

Nick smiled. "Just a couple more questions. How long have you owned the property?"

"Going on about ten years now."

"The beach just north of your property, who owns that?"

"It's government land."

"But it's not a public beach"

"No. Some of the locals use it, but it's not a public beach. It's too small and too treed in."

"Is there ever much activity there?"

"Not really. People mostly go to the public beaches. Every once in a while we'll see a party there or a couple of people camping, but it's normally a very quiet spot."

"Thank you." Nick turned to Aaron and looked over the doctor's shoulder as the doctor finished removing the bandages. "That looks painful."

Aaron shrugged. Nick took a bag and held it open for the doctor. The doctor automatically put the bandages into the bag. Nick sealed the bag and handed it to Vartann.

"So Aaron, I heard you got everyone going, trying to put out the fire."

"I guess."

"Word is you jumped in immediately."

Aaron turned his palms up and Nick glanced at them, wincing. Aaron stared down at his hands. "Not soon enough. It didn't help any. That person still died."

"Oh Aaron," came the mournful voice of Andy Sagan's mother. Nick moved his sympathetic glance from Aaron to her. It was clear she hadn't heard the entire story yet, but just enough to keep her protective.

He turned back to Aaron. "But man, you were quick to action."

"Well, when we heard that sound, those hollow screams, I knew the person was still alive. I just tried to put out the fire."

"Aaron, my god," Mrs. Sagan cut in again. She moved from her chair to the bed, placing her hand on Aaron's leg and trying to stay out of the doctor's way.

Nick glanced back down at the boy's hands. "That how you got those?"

Aaron turned his hands over, staring at them. "Yeah, well, sort of. I kept trying to get at the person. Once the fire was out, I tried to take down the body but it was too hot. All I managed to do was burn myself."

Nick looked at the young man, shaking his head in amazement and admiration. The young man showed a lot of courage and composure for his age. He smiled. "What year are you in, Aaron?"

"Fourth."

"Graduating after this year. What are you taking?"

"Batchelor of Science. Why?"

"I was just thinking about your quick thinking."

"Yeah, well, I was to become a doctor. I took my MCATs about a month ago."

"Yeah? How'd you do?"

Aaron shrugged. "Good I guess. Low forties."

"Good score."

The doctor looked up. "It's a very good score."

"Good for you. Listen, I just need a couple more things. I'm going to need DNA and shoe impressions."

Mrs. Sagan turned to him. "Why?"

"We only want to rule out any of the evidence the boys left behind so that we can isolate anything that didn't come from the boys."

"Why DNA?"

"Did you throw up, Aaron?"

"No."

"Alright, but we'd like a sample anyways."

"You have his burnt skin and the bandages his hands were first wrapped in."

"Yes m'am, but we can't get DNA off of dead skin."

"It's okay, Mrs. Sagan. They can take my DNA."

Nick glanced again at Aaron's hands. "I'd also like to take your prints, but your hands are too injured at the moment. I might be able to get enough of a print off your dead skin here, but if I can't, would you be up to having me come back and take them in a few days?"

"Yeah, sure."

Mrs. Sagan spun of him. "Wait a second, Mr. Stokes, why do you need his finger prints?"

"M'am, Aaron touched that pole trying to get at the victim. His skin could have burned off and his print could have seared into the pole. It's the same as the other samples he's giving. We just want to eliminate them so that we can isolate and focus on the evidence that doesn't come from the boys." He turned back to Aaron, glancing briefly back at Mrs. Sagan. "Aaron, are you the only one who touched the victim?"

"Yes."

"Alright," Nick glanced back quickly at Mrs. Sagan again before turning back to Aaron. "I'm also going to need your cloths. Doctor, can you give him something to borrow and change into?"

The doctor nodded. Mrs. Sagan turned to Aaron. "Andy wanted to come here once David and your coach got to the lake. I'll call him and ask him to bring you some of his cloths to change into."

"Thanks."

"Will you be okay while I step out?"

"Yeah. I need to change into the hospital gown anyways."

The woman nodded and Nick smiled. He and Vartann walked out of the room with her. "M'am I know you're being protective, but we're just trying to find out who did this. It's terrible what Aaron and your son and the rest of the boys went through and we just want to make sure we catch the person responsible so that no one else has to go through it."

"Alright."

Nick smiled softly. "M'am, if you want to make that phone call, I'd ask someone if there is a side door you can step out of. There are a lot of reporters out front."

Mrs. Sagan smiled for the first time. "Thank you."

Nick nodded and watched her walk towards a nurse. He and Vartann waited until Aaron had changed, then moved back into the room. Nick picked up Aaron's cloths, placing each item into a separate bag. Aaron's shirt was damp and Nick furrowed his brow. If the shirt got wet hauling water to put the fire out, he assumed the heat from the fire would have dried it when Aaron tried to get at the body. "Aaron, why is your shirt wet?"

"I had my hands and my arms in the lake until the paramedics arrived."

His face relaxed and he let out a soft laugh. "Good thinking." He sealed the bags of evidence. "Thank you, Aaron. I'll be in touch about your prints. Hopefully we can get enough off of your skin, but if not, I'll see you in a few days. Take care of those hands. If you need anything, anything at all, you can reach me at the Crime Lab."

"Thanks."

He smiled again, nodding. He left the doctor to re-bandage Aaron's hands and carried out the evidence with Vartann.

10:19 AM

There was a slight tingling sensation that surged through her body in his presence. When he walked into a room, she'd always felt him before even seeing him. It had been like that from the beginning and hadn't changed in the seven years she'd known him, so when she felt his essence in the conference room, Sara immediately lifted her head from the files in front of her and turned to the door, a small smile gracing her features. "Hey."

Grissom stood in the doorway, a small smile of his own, lighting his face. "Hey."

"How did the timeline go?"

"Good. I'm finished."

"Already?"

Grissom nodded. "Yeah. The bugs were still in the early stages of development. The pupae were only beginning to form, so it didn't take long." He crossed the room, pulling up a chair next to her and shifting it so that the two chairs were nearly touching and their thighs grazed. Sara felt the warmth of his fingers on her spine as he leaned right into her. "Are you still looking through this?"

"Yeah."

"Have you found anything new?" She shook her head. "Maybe you should take a break. You've been at this all night."

"We don't have time for breaks." Sara winced at her own words and at her tone. She expected him to shift away and maybe scold her but he stayed close, his voice soft. "I know we're working against the clock, Sara, but we've been working against it and going full out for days. You've been looking at the same information over and over. I've looked at it over and over. If we've missed anything, we aren't going to find it with over-tired eyes. Catherine and Warrick will be here soon with evidence to process. Get the rest while you can, Sara."

His palm slid up and down her back in a soothing manner. She leaned into it and sighed, knowing he was right. "I'll catch a nap in the break room."

"You won't get much of a rest there."

"The locker room?"

"No, Sara."

"Your office? I can close the door and the blinds…"

"No, you need some real rest. You don't know how long we'll be going once the evidence begins to pile in."

She sighed again. "You want me to go home."

"Actually, I was hoping you'd follow me to my place."

Her face shot to his, catching his tender expression. She raised an eyebrow and he shrugged. "I sleep better when you're there."

It was one of those moments where he caught her completely off guard and she struggled to breathe let alone respond. Her eyes widened and she searched his face. It had been almost a week since she'd slept with him, between the conference she had attended and the recent string of murders consuming her time. He did look tired. Her own expression became gentle when she found his eyes locked on hers and his expression solemn and sincere. "Okay," she spoke softly and she watched his mouth turn up into a smile. "Help me put all of this away?"

"Yeah."

Their eyes stayed locked for moments before Grissom dropped his hand from her back and shifted his chair away from her. "We better get this cleaned up."

"Yeah." She picked up a pile of notes and held them. "Griss?"

He turned his face to hers and cocked his head.

"I sleep better when I'm there too."

Grissom smiled again and handed her another pile of notes. His fingers lingered on hers and she smiled down at the table. When his fingers left, she began sifting through all of the notes, handing off certain ones belonging to the files Grissom had on his side, to him. Beside her, Grissom did the same, exchanging notes and photos, quietly. They were nearly finished and she was more than ready to go back to his place with him. The sound of footsteps caused her to look up just as she was finishing putting the files together. "Too late," she mumbled under her breath as Catherine and Warrick entered the room. Catherine's eyes flitted between her and Grissom. Catherine raised her eyebrows and Sara glanced quickly towards Grissom. He was still sitting close, but not as close as minutes previous and certainly not close enough to give anything away. She looked back at Catherine, setting the files down on the table. Catherine frowned. "Still looking at that stuff?"

"Just finished. I've gone through those files a million times and I can't find anything new."

"Well, I've got something new." Catherine took a photo from Warrick and slid it onto the table in front of Grissom and her. "Do either of you know what this is?"

Sara glanced at Grissom, meeting his eyes. His face held a slight smirk. Sara bit back her smile as she watched as Grissom turned back towards Catherine and Warrick. "Greg could tell you what this is."

"Greg?" Catherine asked, disbelief evident in her voice. "Why on earth would you think that Greg could tell us?"

"Because it's Norse."

"It's the Nordic symbol meaning 'against witchcraft', Sara cut in, letting her own mouth turn up into a smirk.

"You guys both know what this is then?"

"Yeah," Grissom stated as though it was obvious. Sara frowned, thinking about the symbol. Grissom turned towards her, the same thoughtful frown on his face.

"Well, it gets weirder, Griss," Warrick cut it. "The victim wasn't burned to a stake."

"The victim was burned to a ladder."

Catherine rolled her eyes. "Gil, I hate it when you do that. How did you know?"

"In Scandinavia, the common practice for burning people convicted of witchcraft, was to tie a body to a ladder and swing the ladder onto a burning bonfire."

"The ladder was free standing. The bonfire was built around it. It wasn't swinging over the fire."

Sara scrunched up her face. "Maybe the ladder was only symbolic. To have the ladder swinging over a fire, he'd need something to tie it to. The Nordic and German people often made frame, but that would be a lot of work and require a lot of strength, perhaps too much for one person and swinging the ladder down over the fire certainly would require even more. A tree would risk catching fire and perhaps attracting unwanted attention. If the tree stood alone, it was possible, but then it would really narrow down places where the burning could be staged. I think, combined with the symbol you guys found, the killer thought the use of the ladder would be enough symbolism. Griss?"

"I agree. Do you have an id yet?"

"No."

"Check missing persons against anyone from the Wicca community and possibly of Scandinavian descent. I'd also do a facial reconstruction to verify."

"We'll get on that."

"Sara," Catherine turned to her. "That professor you spoke with?"

"Dr. Mian. Yeah, I'd ask him about this one. He might be able to help you with some of it. Here," she pulled out a card with Anton Mian's information on it, ignoring Grissom's look as she handed it to Catherine. "It has all his numbers on it. I wrote his office hours on the back. I think he has some today, so you should be able to speak with him."

"Thanks." She dropped the file and the rest of the photos on the table. "You guys okay to look at this now? Maybe compare it to all of that." Catherine circled her arm over all of the files on the table. "Nick is comparing shoe treads and we've dropped off all of the other evidence with the labs. We're going to head down to the morgue and see what Doc Robbins has to say."

"Yeah," Sara spoke, picking up the file, mentally preparing herself to go another round.

"Great, thanks."

Catherine and Warrick left the room. Sara turned towards Grissom. "Another rain check?"

Grissom sighed beside her. "Yeah. Promise me you'll get some rest once we look through this though."

"You promise you'll do the same?"

Grissom nodded, taking the file from her and spreading the contents out onto the table. They leaned over the table and began sifting through grotesque photo after grotesque photo.