Chapter 66

They met at the CSU shop the next morning. The tech there had finally uncovered the secret to Stone's casket. She showed them how a tiny strip of a battery held the magnetic strips tight, keeping the side together. Then, with the punch of a button on a remote, the top end of the casket fell apart. Eames gently reminded Goren that Stone was still buried underground.

They headed back to the gravesite.

Bobby used a poker to dig into the dirt on the end where the trap door was from the casket. The little clods flew and bounced off the ridges on his corduroy jacket. Finally, he broke through, almost falling as the poker opened a hole in the dirt. He dug into it with his hands, and it was big enough for a man Stone's size to crawl through. The CSU teams took over, and Goren and Eames watched on a closed circuit monitor as they snaked a camera through the tunnel to find the other end.

It led to a basement hall that provided access to the pipes and conduit in a building nearby. They followed a trail of dirt through the hall until they found a knotted rope hanging from a hole in the ceiling. The team got them into a building at ground level that was boarded up and condemned.

Inside, they found a casket that matched the one Stone had been buried in, complete with a webcam attached. There was medical equipment in the room, as well, the kind of things to use with IV therapy.

"Miles Stone didn't spend 31 days in that cemetery," Eames said. "He spent it in here."

They brought Jacob to the scene and questioned him. He admitted he built the safe room and said he was the only one with a key. He nervously said he didn't know who Miranda was.

"You're arresting me?"

"Yeah, that's what happens when you lie to the police," Alex called after him as the unis took him out. Bobby told Alex he didn't think Jacob did it all. Someone had inserted a central line for the IV. And there were purple latex gloves at the crime scene that were too small for a man to wear.

Alex theorized that it was Miranda. They found serial numbers they could use to trace the IV supplies to their source.

Later, Rodgers called them back to the morgue. She told them she'd made a mistake, and that she found potassium chloride, which triggers a heart attack, on the insertion point of the central line and in the IV bags. She told them it is impossible to detect once inside the body.

Their next stop was a local hospital. The supplies had come from there. Bobby looked through the ID badge records of the female Doctors who worked there.

The Human Resources Director did not seem surprised that the supplies came from her hospital. "Things disappear," she said.

Alex asked about the nurses, and the woman said only a doctor would be able to insert a central line.

"What a nurse is authorized to do and what a nurse is capable of are two different things," Alex said.

"We have over 800 nurses on staff here. Do you want photos of each one?" she asked, thinking there was no way they would ask that.

Bobby nodded. "Start with teams that specialize in long-term IV care."

They found her in the burn unit. When she finished with her patient, they brought her in.

It turned out she was engaged to Jacob, and he had no idea she was working for Carmine. She said she found the job on Craigslist, and that she ran from Carmine's show because she panicked. She said she'd only been in the safe room once, the day she inserted the central line into Stone. Goren told her about the potassium chloride, and she decided to get a lawyer.

Bobby was nervous about it, but he checked that everything was in place and then knocked on her door.

Alex opened the door, only to see a flower magically appear in his right hand. With another flourish of his hands, a small box of chocolates appeared in his left. He held them out, offering them to her.

Alex smiled. "I suppose I'm supposed to invite you in after all that?"

Goren grinned, too. "I was hoping," he said.

She looked down and read the label on the chocolates. "Hmmm…. Well… maybe just this once." She stepped back, and the door opened wide enough to admit him. Alex took the gifts from his hands and took them to the kitchen while Bobby closed the door.

"You want a coffee or something?"

"Sure," he smiled. He followed her into the kitchen and watched her put the flower in a vase before pouring him a cup of coffee. "How was, uhm, d-dinner with your family?"

She cocked her head. "Oh, you know, fine. Nate was happy to see me."

Bobby saw something in the way she moved. He listened as she talked about the funny things her nephew did. Bobby smiled politely. "Something's… not right? Between you and your sister?"

Her eyes snapped to his, and he saw a little fire there. She didn't like it when he read her like that. "No, things are okay."

Bobby knew he should drop it, but it bothered the hell out of him that she wouldn't be honest. He waggled his head back and forth and stared at the floor. "No, there's something wrong, and… you don't wanna tell me. Why?"

Alex folded her arms and stared at him. "Well, Bobby, maybe I don't have to tell you everything that goes on in my life."

He sighed and closed his eyes. "You don't trust me. Even still."

She kept her arms folded and did not speak.

"Yeah. Okay." Bobby got to his feet, sipped the coffee, and put it back down. "Thanks for the, uh, you know." He turned and headed for the door. Before he left, he turned back once more. "I guess I must be… rushing things. I mean I thought we—" He looked down at his shoes and rubbed the back of his neck. "I thought we were getting somewhere." He looked up hopefully, but she was looking down, and so he simply walked out the door.

It closed with a click, and Alex raised her eyes, and tears filled her eyes. It wasn't fair that he could make her feel so guilty, and for what? Just for protecting herself from getting hurt again?

She dropped her hands to her side and turned around, thinking about the conversation she'd had with her sister. Liz knew nothing of police life. No, that wasn't true. They'd all been raised by a father who was a cop. She knew something about it. But still, Liz had never been inside, and she didn't know how close partners got. She didn't know how they backed each other up, not really.

She'd sided with Bobby. She'd told Alex to lighten up, that if that was the only way for him to get his badge back, she should be glad for it. And then, Liz had looked right at her and said the one thing that had hurt her more than anything. "You know he was the only one who could help you after your abduction. You wouldn't let anyone else get close enough to. And you know what, Alex? He did help you. I can't believe you would just close him out like this."

Alex had muttered something about how they were still working together and it wasn't really Liz's business anyway, but the damage was done.

And even if Liz was right, that didn't make it any easier to trust him after feeling so betrayed.

Alex turned back, stared at the flower and the little box of candies. With one swipe, she snatched the chocolate box into her hand and carried it back to her bedroom.

An hour later she called him.

"Eames?" he answered.

"Hi Bobby," she said sadly. "I, uh… I couldn't just let you go like that," she told him. "I don't think you're rushing things. I just, I don't, I don't know how to…"

"It's okay, Alex." His voice was quiet and soothing.

"No, it's not okay. You're important to me, and I—" she sucked in a breath, then decided to let the words fall as they wanted to. "I love you, Bobby, and we are getting somewhere, but I don't know how to make this go any faster."

"I-I love you, too. And you know what?" he said suddenly, "It doesn't have to go any faster. It is what it is, right? And I have to learn to just be okay with that, in the moment, right?"

She breathed a little sigh of relief. "Thanks for the gifts, Bobby. And for the magic." She chattered then, about how she'd already eaten the chocolates and which ones were her favorite. Finally, they seemed comfortable with each other again.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Eames," Bobby said, and she could hear the smile in his voice.

They went back out to see Holiday, and caught the end of his act. He appeared to know things about a woman's life that he couldn't know.

The stage manager let them wait in his dressing room, and Bobby entertained Alex with card tricks until Holiday walked in. He had the woman from the act with him. He'd invited her backstage after the show.

As Holiday got rid of her, Bobby sat down in the man's chair and scrutinized the pictures hanging on the mirror. Eames made small talk with Holiday, and then Bobby said, "Eames, look. It's our friend Adele with the Great Carmine and her sister Mercedes."

"I only met her the one time," Holiday said, a look of aggravation on his face. "Don't remember the name."

They explained how she apparently won an around-the-world cruise, only it hadn't been a contest, it had just been someone's generosity.

Bobby implied that Holiday had read her mind to know her dream was to take that cruise. "You know, much like you just did onstage with that girl."

"Oh, you think that's what I was doing tonight?"

"And what would you call it?" Alex asked.

"Hold on," Holiday said. "I… I think I'm getting something here…" he held up one hand in Alex's direction, the same way he'd just performed onstage. "I think there are some unresolved issues with a man in your life. Some trust issues." Alex was trying to keep her poker face on, but she smirked a little, and the magician picked up on it.

He continued, "He's betrayed you, hasn't he?" If the man had looked at Goren, he would have known he was on target. Bobby's wounds were still fresh, and he frowned, staring at the floor. Even as Goren battled with his own emotions, he wondered if Alex was okay with hers. He glanced her way a couple of times, hoping she wouldn't give anything away, hoping she wouldn't invite him into their private lives.

Holiday kept on talking. "Kept a secret from you. Not for the first time. Poor thing." Holiday smiled at her. "Pretty close?" he asked.

Bobby saw how stiffly she held her body, and he came to her rescue. He checked her eyes as she turned around, then glanced over at the magician. "Well, good chance guesses, they usually are. That's the trick," Bobby said, as he watched Holiday grin at his accomplishment. Goren looked at Alex once more, hoping to see that she was okay. "Cold read psychics, charlatans use it all the time, you know," he glanced back at Alex again. She'd turned back to face Holiday, but she held her body rigid, her hands clasped in front of her as if she was physically holding onto her secret. Bobby continued, "… to con their clients."

"Or an audience," Alex agreed. No matter what, she was allied with Bobby. They would get through this.

"Well, so do criminal profilers," Holiday said, revealing that he'd done a little investigating of his own. He gave Goren a knowing look. "Because fraud's a ball." The man flopped into a chair, exuding confidence. "What's the name of that shrink helped catch the mad bomber back in the 50's?"

"James Brussels," Bobby said without hesitation. Alex folded her arms and pursed her lips. She was sizing Dean Holiday up.

"Right. Now, he said that the bomber would be German, a loner, with a facial scar."

"Yeah, meticulously dressed in a double-breasted suit, right?" Bobby continued the story. He cocked his head at Holiday, then turned to Eames quickly. "And when he was arrested, he was wearing just that."

"But he wasn't German," Holiday said.

"Right, and he had no scar. But… Brussels didn't get it all right, but he did get enough right to stop a madman." Goren looked directly at Holiday.

"Oh, come on… Brussels was way off his read. He was just another carney tent hustler who got over." Goren looked down a moment. "Oh, I'm sorry, you consider him to be the father of criminal profiling, don't you?"

Bobby glanced over at Eames, "This guy!" He breathed. He got to his feet. "Yeah, and you, you leave your… eyes open when you… do a read. I mean, that's your tell. There's two kinds of psychics. The kind that shut their eyes, who truly believe that they have a gift, and then the ones that leave their eyes open, like you… who know that they're a con."

"Well, I told you, there's always a trick. I admit I'm a fraud." He chuckled. "How about you?"

Bobby only stared at him, his face hiding a bitter anger.

Alex came to his rescue. "Actually, we were wondering if you were a murderer."

"Now, there you go," said the magician. "That is a good chance guess." He smiled at her. "But you missed. Want to try another?"

The detectives gave each other a glance, and Bobby flicked the deck of cards in a mess on the dressing table. They walked out together and didn't speak until they were closed up in the SUV.

"He's the one," Alex said, and Bobby nodded. "How do we prove it?"

Bobby shrugged. "There's the money trail, the cruise…"

She nodded. That was where she wanted to start, too. "And his motive?"

"Stone was a fast riser. Young, didn't even finish high school, not playing by the rules. Holiday has worked hard to get as far as he has, it wouldn't be a stretch to think he was jealous."

"I wonder where the money plays into that?" Alex asked. "We find enough, we can give the DA some strong evidence."

"We can get him to confess," Goren said. "If we play our cards right."

"Seeing into the future, now?" she teased.

He smiled at her, and just nodded.

Alex's hand covered his a moment. "Bobby, he got to you in there."

The big man nodded. "And you, too."

"Well, you gotta admit, he pretty much had me pegged."

Bobby lifted one shoulder. "He's good."

"He left out the last part, though."

Bobby glanced over at her. "He did?"

"Yeah, the part where they put all that behind them."

Goren broke into a smile. "Yeah. Yeah, he did leave that out, didn't he?"