Oh my gosh you guys are all so awesome! You're making this sequel more successful than I had hoped :-) Thank you for all your wonderful reviews, I really do appreciate them. So a lot of love for Eric Calleigh, I know I'm being mean but they seemed to be so on/off on the show and hey if it's difficult then it means a good pay off ;-) Not sure about H and Yelina, I always wanted them together on the show but I also wanted H and Catherine Willows together on the show, they were so awesome together in Cross Juridictions, incidentally one of my favourite episodes of both shows, gosh Tim what happened between then and Golden Parachute?
"Were you doing homework?" Calleigh Duquense's beautiful Southern voice rang out through Ridley's living room accusingly as she frowned down at a collection of photographs and clippings featuring Estella van le Rael, amongst them were also texts and illustrations from Alice in Wonderland and newspaper and magazine texts about Estella's mother as well as numerous notes including a page detailing what was known about the last twenty-four hours of Estella's life.
Ridley turned from her old granite imitation top with two coffee cups in hand and headed through the open gap that linked the kitchen and living room. She paused with a vaguely embarrassed look in answer to Calleigh's accusing glower. The house was a tip; she hadn't been expecting the blonde so soon, in fact a 'I'm ten minutes away' courtesy text was all Ridley had gotten as warning to her friend's early arrival as she decided to call on Ridley in between shifts.
"Research," Ridley answered calmly, "it's hard to tell what's true and what's tabloid gossip about Monique van le Rael, it's certainly interesting though."
Calleigh gave her a look of mock disapproval as she accepted her coffee with a gracious smile. "Why Detective Moon I didn't take you for a gossip!"
Ridley smiled back before flopping down onto the soft, lumpy, battered blue-grey sofa.
Calleigh glanced about the living room briefly, taking a quick note of the brown bottle of tablets and the silver foil package of more medication, two popped. She read their names swiftly and knew they were to treat depression and anxiety amongst other things and guessed they were what the psychiatrist had prescribed. Only Horatio was privy to what went on in those sessions and even then it was only what Ridley permitted him to be privy to, and that information was released grudgingly if only to help persuade him that she was fit to work.
The blonde's clear blue eyes then roved over to the oak coffee table where an odd assortment of headless horsemen sat- ornaments, plushies and teddies, it was one of the weirder collections that Calleigh had seen. Just above the undead horsemen was a wooden photo frame divided up into six panes with the word 'FRIENDS' along the middle horizontally, it was Calleigh's house warming present complete with a photograph of herself, Eric and Tim at the beach, Tim looking as moody and uncomfortable as ever whilst Eric and Calleigh smiled widely at Ridley's lens. Calleigh noted there was another photo in there too, one of Tim on a dark carousel horse looking both annoyed and amused as he glowered at the photographer, again Ridley. 'Friends,' the blonde thought with a slight frown, 'is Speedle just a friend to her now?' She noticed that there were no other photos, it was evidently still too painful to have memories of Ruby and Justin and there was no suggestion of family.
The blonde turned back to Ridley with a grin before sitting down beside her and setting her cup down on the glass topped table before them were the messy evidence and case notes sat. "Did you learn anything helpful?" Calleigh asked curiously.
Ridley shook her head. "Just what we already know, the victim is meant to mimic Alice in Wonderland, just like the one in the house, and it's obvious 'Imperfect Alice' was the first victim but how could our killer have known we found that body? I mean Horatio and I interviewed the house's owner and we've looked into past owners but no suspects. Alexx says the first victim was between sixteen and twenty-five, just like Miss van le Rael, and her blonde her was bleached, she also thinks she's been dead for around twenty years and of course you can guess how many missing young blonde women cases there were around then. You guys met Mrs van le Rael yesterday didn't you, any leads there?"
Calleigh shook her head. "I thought it would be like meeting royalty," she confessed almost guiltily, "a big Las Vegas celebrity, but all she wanted to do was play the blame game, which I understand but caring more about the bad press than what actually happened to her daughter, yeah I don't get that so much."
"Well we're bound to turn up something, I mean her friends definitely aren't telling the truth about that evening and the strangers she went off that we have identified are even shadier, Horatio's already got one busted for possession of LSD."
"Which the poor girl was riddled with," Calleigh retorted with a shake of her head. Her eyes filled with a surprised guilt as she saw how Ridley paled slightly. "Sorry," she said hastily, "I didn't..."
"It's okay," Ridley retorted gently with a light shrug, "it is a word." Her phone started ringing just as Calleigh's beeped with a text message and she tugged it out and flipped it open. "Detective Moon here."
"Ridley I have a Sweet Sixteen birthday that hasn't gone all that sweetly," Horatio greeted in his usual dry manner, "and Yelina tells me when it comes to homicide you're the one to have on the job. It's at 17 East Sunny Copper Road."
"Okay," Ridley retorted calmly, "I'll see you soon." She hung up the phone and looked at Calleigh expectantly.
"Let me guess," the blonde mused with a smile, "he made one of his bad puns about a birthday?"
Ridley nodded with a slight smile. "How did you know?" she queried wryly.
Calleigh showed off the text message she had received, 'Potential murder at a birthday party, 17 East Sunny Copper Road, someone decided to take partying until they drop literally.'
Ridley rolled her eyes at the pun and was slightly disgusted at herself for actually being amused by it. She took another deep sip of her coffee before looking at Calleigh and quipping, "would you like me to drive?"
"Sure."
Serena Rivers glanced over at Tim curiously with her pale blue eyes. The pair were sitting outside a cafe after Serena had insisted on a light dinner. The young blonde had wanted noodles but Tim had turned down the idea quickly, grumbling about not liking them though Serena didn't believe that. She wasn't sure why, it wasn't like she knew him that well but there was something in his manner that suggested he was lying.
It was early evening and their eighth, or was it ninth date, she couldn't quite be sure. At first she had been quite happy at being able to charm the CSI into exchanging numbers but now she was getting the impression that his enthusiasm for their relationship was beginning to wane.
His dull brown gaze fell on the blonde and feeling her questioning stare he felt compelled to ask, "is there something wrong?" He knew it was a dumb question; it was a leading question that would result in answers he had no interest in.
Serena held his gaze calmly, undeterred by his uninterested tone. "We've never been to your house, that's all," she retorted serenely, like it was no big deal. She flicked back some of her long curls and leaned back slightly, giving him a good look at her tight, low cut, lacy, red vest top and the alluring, tanned bust it hinted at.
"And?" Tim quipped like it was an odd question.
"Well we've been to mine Speed," she reminded him with a suggestive smile as she twirled a lock of golden blonde hair about one finger. "I bet we could come up with some new tricks in your bed," she added as her smile widened and her bare left foot slipped out of her shoe to rub against his right leg.
Tim pulled his leg back instinctively and rubbed his hand through his dark hair awkwardly. "A bed's a bed," he muttered. He was annoyed at himself for refusing to get noodles with Serena and was annoyed to be annoyed about the whole business, noodles were just noodles after all, they didn't have to mean anything except cheap, easy food.
Serena filled with exasperation though she kept it from her pretty face, she knew it wasn't the way to win with Speed, if she acted irritated he would just back off. "A new scene makes it a little more exciting." She leaned across the table slightly and murmured in a low voice, "and your house is closer to town." She lifted up the wafer cylinder from her cup and gave it a slow, teasing suck before lowering it back into the cup. "If you show me your house I might let you have a glimpse of my new underwear, fair trade right?" She leaned back again with a low, musical giggle. "I know you like red wolfie."
Tim swallowed hard, damnit she was so confident when she spoke and the way she moved, toying with her hair, playing with her food, every movement just seemed...well it seemed sexy and he hated himself for thinking that but it did. Serena was beautiful, charming and smart and she knew it and she knew how to use all those talents to the best of her abilities. He sighed and tugged out his wallet. "Alright," he murmured, "but it's not that impressive a house, seems like a fair trade."
Serena giggled again. "Well you can find another way to impress me I'm sure," she answered with a seductive smile.
They stood up once Tim threw a few notes down on the table and headed back to the car park where his car sat. Once in his car Serena was quick to make jokes about his taste in his music before he was finally prompted to turn it off and flick on the radio. She thought she was being witty about it but all Tim could think was how Ridley called his music 'retro' and 'nostalgic' and even tried to sing along, albeit badly and mockingly because she preferred pop music but at least she tried.
Once they reached Tim's house he filled with discomfort as he headed up to the door and unlocked it. Truthfully he didn't want Serena here but he knew she was right to ask, they had been to her apartment three times now, it was only fair that she got to see his house. He led the way in wordlessly, pausing awkwardly in the hall as he wondered where to take her. 'You're being an idiot Tim,' he scorned himself, 'Serena is hot, smart and...well she's not funny, not really and she's not that interesting but it's hard to be interesting compared to a woman from Sleepy Hollow whose birthday is Halloween. Shit Tim stop it, Serena is sociable and into you, two things Ridley isn't right now.'
Serena wanted to spy but she knew that would be a little too obvious so instead, once she shut the door behind her, she immediately pulled him into a deep kiss, weaving both her hands through his dark hair as she did. "Let's trade," she offered with a smirk as she pulled back slightly.
Fifteen minutes later Tim headed to the bathroom to urinate. It had been good and yet he just felt miserable about it, just like he did every time he and Serena had sex. It certainly wasn't her, Serena had some good moves but there just was something off about it all, though if the blonde noticed she never said. Satisfied, at least in the bladder department, he walked back to his spare bedroom slowly, wondering if Serena had worked out it wasn't his main bedroom or even cared. Ridley had never made it to the main bedroom either but, Tim thought with a frown, it wasn't like he hadn't tried to get her there it had just never worked out that way.
"Take that off," Tim blurted it out before he could help it. He had re-entered the room to find Serena sitting on the edge of the bed wearing nothing except his black shirt.
"Why?" she purred as she grinned up at him. "It's cosy and it smells good."
"It's mine," he answered sullenly, "and I don't want you wearing it."
"Why not?" She rolled across the bed, allowing the shirt to spill open and reveal her attractive assets. "I think it suits me."
"It doesn't," he said flatly as he stepped up to the bed and held out a hand for it. "Come on, it's mine."
Serena sat up with a slight frown and pushed back some of her golden curls. "Well if you want me to strip again," she said teasingly as she slipped it off slowly with both hands. When he just continued to stand there with one hand out she threw it at him impatiently. "Alright, maybe black's not my colour," she remarked churlishly.
Tim was quick to tug the shirt back on, cursing to himself as he realised the vanilla scent that had clung to it had now been replaced with the cheap scent of Serena's violet perfume. He was about to snap something at the woman when his phone started ringing. It took a few seconds and six rings before he finally tugged it out from his jeans on the floor and opened it. "Yes?" he grumbled down it moodily.
"Speed we've got a case, 17 East Sunny Copper Road," Horatio ordered.
"Okay, I'll be right there," Tim answered bluntly before snapping the phone closed. "I've got to go work," he informed Serena coolly.
17 East Sunny Copper Road turned out to be an estate on the spoiled rich side of Miami, long, green lawns with several sprinklers, an endless yellow pebbled drive with three gleaming cars out on display, each of them worth more than Ridley's yearly paycheque, and the expected stone steps leading up to a grand porch with two towering, wooden doors with glass arches above them. There were also two squad cars, Horatio's car, and Eric's outside and at the front doors a weary uniform stood with a pouting male servant and a maid who was rolling her eyes and smoking lazily.
Calleigh and Ridley stepped up to the open door, flashing their badges at the uniform with a nod before they entered the large hall. It was decorated with numerous silver and gold balloons, and a large silver and gold glittering banner that read 'Sweet Sixteen'. There was a long table to the left with champagne glasses, though several bottles assured it was non-alcoholic and silver trays of nibbles.
"When did sixteen become a thing?" Ridley queried dully.
"When you're rich every birthday matters," Calleigh retorted as she sidestepped a hissing, puffy white cat.
"Cat people," Rildley grumbled with a frown as a tabby snarled at her before running up the wooden staircase, its claws clattering noisily as it did, "I don't trust cat people."
"That's a bit unfair," Calleigh chided as they continued on their way, following the sound of grumblings, sobbing, chattering, yelling and even laughter. "I like cats you know."
"You ever heard of dog burglars?" Ridley queried wryly.
They headed into a large room crowded with teenagers and weary looking cops trying to control them. They were all dressed rather fancily for a teenager's birthday party, the males in suits and the women in expensive dresses of satin, silk, sequins and ribbons, more than a few of them were barely there and more than a little inappropriate for their age. The room smelt sickly sweet, an intoxicating mix of aftershave, perfume, cake, buns, sparkling drinks and sweat. There were several chairs and tables, the tables with dove white sheets covering them and the chairs with silver and gold bows at their backs. On the tables were tall glasses of ice-cream sundaes, now melting and turning the glasses sticky and staining the tablecloths, silver dishes of strawberries, champagne glasses, gold and silver trays of buns and cake slices, and hundreds of tiny glittering 16s. There was glitter and streams of silver and gold paper all over the wooden floor, balloons floating all around the ceiling and a photo booth in one corner with a deep bucket of novelty items beside it.
"Where's the body?" Calleigh queried a frowning male cop bluntly.
"Left," he retorted as he pointed towards a set of open double doors, guarded by two cops.
Calleigh and Ridley tried to manoeuvre their way through the crowd tactfully, flashing their badges and snapping orders at people to move several times. They got more than a few frowns, scowls and curses in response but eventually they made their way through.
The next room was a huge ballroom Ridley didn't think actually existed in modern houses, who needed a ballroom after all? There were a few more tables and chairs to the left, again with the white sheets and silver and gold bows, and a large, polished, grey marble floor. There was a dark wooden staircase to the right leading up to a balcony that was almost in the centre of the room with a view out the ceiling to floor windows at the back of the room. From the ceiling large ribbons of silver and gold were hanging in loops, more balloons and odd, creepy jester masks of porcelain with silver or gold spray adding some colour to them. In the midst of all this was the victim, a girl in a dress of ivory, lace at the top and a gossamer skirt that stopped at her knees, her legs and feet were bare, her hair hung in golden chestnut tresses and on her head was a crown of leaves and pink flowers. She was tangled in the silver and gold ribbons, which were wrapped about all her limbs and tightly snared about her neck. Her face had a blue tinge to it and Ridley speculated that she had asphyxiated or been choked.
"Welcome to the party," Horatio greeted candidly as he stepped up to the pair of detectives.
"Who's the victim?" Calleigh queried curiously.
"Rose Forrest, older sister of the party girl Lily, she was meant to be playing guardian as well, Mr and Mrs Forrest are out of town you see, Mr Forrest's business beckoned urgently."
"Money buying love?" Ridley ventured sardonically as she gestured out to the extravagant looking party. Her eyes lingered on the image of an ice sculpted swan sitting just outside the patio doors that were set in the ceiling to floor windows. The swan was sitting in the centre of a table surrounded by glasses, bottles and punch bowls.
"So what happened?" Calleigh asked as she glanced towards the stairs.
Eric, who had spotted them, finally hastened away from the angry girl yelling at him and hurried over to Horatio and the others.
"Apparently Lily had her first dance planned for seven o'clock," Horatio explained, "she led the way in here to find her sister exactly as you see her."
"Not exactly a pretty sight," Eric murmured.
"First dance?" Ridley echoed as Tim finally elbowed his way into the room, camera about his neck and a case of equipment in hand. He looked a little breathless as he reached them, his hair was messy, his shirt collar was up and the top two buttons undone and his jeans were in need of a belt. "It sounds like a prom," Ridley finished condescendingly as she gave Tim a brief, polite look of greeting.
"It sounds nice," Calliegh murmured with a longing look in her eyes.
"Didn't you girls have a sweet sixteen?" Tim queried tauntingly as he looked about the room with a measure of disgust before he lifted his camera and got a quick shot of the victim.
"Well I did, I was a Southern belle after all," Calleigh retorted with a mischievous smile, "tea and cupcakes on the porch and all that with a mum who had to be a friend instead of mum. What about you Ridley?"
Ridley shrugged. "I think I watched a horror movie or something," she murmured.
"Your parents didn't do anything nice for your sixteenth?" Eric queried with a look of mock surprise.
"It was just another birthday like any other," Ridley retorted calmly, "looking for ghosts, scaring the neighbours by smearing ourselves in fake blood and pretending to be dead." She shrugged. "The usual." She then glanced at Tim again, ignoring Eric's look of stunned disbelief, she could smell violets radiating off him and recalled Serena smelling of violets when she had greeted them in the Chimera House.
"Right team, Eric, Ridley, I want you start documenting where all our guests were throughout the evening and what Rose's last known activities were. Calleigh, Tim, start gathering up the evidence of our crime scene before Alexx gets here to take the body," Horatio ordered.
The group nodded and separated to begin their lengthy tasks.
It was close to midnight when the CSIs reunited to share their findings. The party goers had largely been removed from the house, several dodgy suspects taken in for questioning along with some of the house's servants, and the body was on the way to the morgue. The Forrests had been informed of the terrible crime and were allegedly on their way back and expected to arrive in the early hours of the morning. In the meantime, their remaining daughter Lily was in custody as much for her safety as to keep her out of the way.
"Right, what do we know?" Horatio queried wearily as he looked at the numbered yellow markers Tim and Calleigh had set up around the ballroom.
"More than half these guests were and still are under the influence of drugs and alcohol," Eric retorted calmly, "but that's no surprise, teenagers, money and few adults, it's not a good mix."
"Lily had several friends round," Ridley continued, "apparently she and five of them were in here at around five getting drunk and dancing. A few of the guests say they witnessed Rose coming in here and having a fight with Lily ruining the party by messing up the dance floor and dancing before Rose. Rose wanted to have the first dance of the evening in here. Lily argued that it was only her and her friends in here, and that none of Rose's friends had seen them dancing or would care."
"Fighting over a first dance," Eric grumbled with a roll of his eyes, "it reminds me of high school, all the stress and squabbling over who to take to prom, what to wear, what song you would dance to first. All the girls were afraid of getting upstaged by their friends." He shot Calleigh and Ridley a teasing smile at that. "I bet you were one of them Calleigh," he teased.
"I was not," Calleigh retorted with a feigned look of surprise before she grinned. "I'll have you know Eric Delko I won second prize for best dressed."
"So you were upstaged," Eric mocked. He then continued, "I took Mona Cavez to my prom; she wore this hideous pink dress that was puffy and covered in frills and did nothing but complain all night." He looked to Ridley, Tim and Horatio with a smile. "What about you guys?"
Tim shrugged. "I spent most of mine smoking," he confessed dryly with a sideways glance at Horatio.
"Something recreational under the table?" Eric guessed humorously with a mischievous stare. "What about you H?"
"It was a long time ago," Horatio answered calmly, "but I was the prom king."
"You were not!" Calleigh scoffed with wide eyed surprise.
Horatio gave her a small flicker of a smile before he nodded discreetly. "Confidence Calleigh and dating the prom queen, it all helped."
"What about you Ridley?" Eric queried as he turned to face the young woman curiously. "A prom in the hollow, what was that like?"
"I don't know I didn't go," she admitted quietly.
"Why not?" Calleigh queried sadly. She thought of the woman's messed up youth and realised they might be touching a nerve, kidnapped, held captive, raped and tortured for days at the age of fourteen, Calleigh could only imagine how difficult growing up must have been after that and with no help from anyone.
Ridley shrugged as she tried not to look uncomfortable at the topic. "I was a little aloof at school and I did have my birthday on Halloween, I wasn't exactly popular. In short no one asked me, I spent the night taking whiskey shots with a couple of friends, we all pretended we didn't want to go anyway but...I don't know, I think I would've liked it."
"Nah," Eric was swift to answer with a wave of his hand as he attempted to downplay the issue, "come on you just heard us, I went with a complainer who ruined the whole night and Speed was so bored he got stoned at his."
"I did not say that," Tim was quick to protest as he glanced at Horatio nervously.
"Teenagers in a room of people, most of them they hardly know and don't like, all trying to control their raging hormones and compete over dresses and suits for the sake of one night they will barely remember, it's really not all it's cracked up to be," Eric assured Ridley.
Ridley gave him a grateful smile. "Maybe not," she agreed, "but still, the movies do make it seem romantic, getting dressed up and having that one special dance with a cute guy in a suit in a room with lights and ribbons that looks magical." She glanced about the room again and frowned. "I think I get the sweet sixteen thing now," she said, "how awful for Rose to lose the magic in such a horrible way. That's it, isn't it? The sweet sixteen and the prom, saying goodbye to your innocence and all the freedom and magic of childhood. Well," she added darkly, "I suppose I did that earlier than planned anyway."
Ridley pushed back a strand of dark hair over her right ear and said quickly, "I've identified Lily's friends, a Rick Burns, Jeff Steele, Amanda Cortez, Rochelle Aberdale and Graham Black, they all testify to being here around five sharing drinks and dancing and they all support the story of Rose storming in and starting a fight with her sister. They say Rose stormed off and Lily ran after her and that was the last they saw of her. They felt bad and took their drinks out of the party, heading to the living room. They all claim they stayed there until they heard the commotion."
Calleigh tried hard to hold back the sorrow she felt from her face. All she could feel was sympathy and guilt for her friend but she could see that Ridley was trying to be professional even if she was coming across as dark and she knew if she got emotional it might only hinder Ridley. So the blonde nodded and murmured, "our best evidence are the prints on the balcony, there were some fingerprints on the railings. Given Lily's position she could have jumped, been pushed or even fallen and got tangled in the ribbons, and given the noise it is plausible no one heard her struggling."
"We'll know more when Alexx confirms the cause and time of death," Horatio retorted confidently.
Ridley looked at the windows suspiciously; the swan was still there, or half there given most of it had melted. "Someone had to have been out there," she said. "I mean look at the display, it was a warm day, how long was that sculpture expected to last? It was out for use and the amount of servants in this place, someone was tending it."
"Meaning?" Eric quipped. He felt bad for talking about the prom, Ridley's cool reaction made him feel guilty as he thought about what Calleigh had and realised he should have considered the obvious, that Ridley probably hadn't had a good time growing up after Hawkes' vicious attack.
Ridley gave him a reassuring look, hoping to put him at ease and let him know that she hadn't been offended.
"Meaning there were witnesses," Horatio answered coolly as he followed Ridley's stare outside. "Calleigh, Eric, go upstairs to the balcony for a moment. Eric, you saw the prints up there, enough of a gap between them for a person to be there, potentially trapped. Just for a moment act like you were holding Calleigh there."
Eric dipped his head to hide his sudden blush. "Okay," he murmured, blushing harder when he glimpsed the sweet smile Calleigh flashed at him.
"Speed, Ridley, go outside and let me know what you can see, I know it's a lot darker than when our murder occurred but let's try. I'm going to go stand by the double doors and close them, Calleigh, after a few minutes give us your best scream and let's see what we can hear. I want to know if it was possible someone not only saw our murder but heard it."
"Alright," Ridley retorted as she headed towards the patio doors swiftly.
Tim wanted to ask Ridley if she was okay, assure her that she hadn't missed much at the prom and ask her why a dumb dance with a guy she probably would have never kept contact with mattered so much but words failed him. Instead he moved silently, studying his camera in an obvious manner as he breathed in her vanilla perfume and wondered why it managed to both please and annoy him at the same time.
They waited and watched Eric and Calleigh in an awkward patience and winced slightly at Calleigh's very convincing bloodcurdling scream. The problem was when Eric was standing in front of Calleigh with Calleigh against the balcony she was almost completely obscured and Rose was petite if she had been in that position with someone taller than her the people outside might have been completely oblivious and if her body was pushed the balcony would have blocked the view of that too. Neither Tim nor Ridley could spot the position where Rose's body had been.
After that Horatio called it a night, concluding that they would know more when Alexx came back with the cause of death.
Ridley glanced at her cracked watch face and read that it was a quarter to nine in the morning. She stifled a yawn and glanced at the photos of the ballroom wearily. In the cold light of day with the presence of crime scene tape and the absence of teenagers it all suddenly seemed less magical and innocent. Alexx had concluded that Rose had indeed been strangled to death but not by the ribbons, in fact Alexx said the unnatural way her body had been caught in the ribbons and the lack of ligature marks suggested she had ended up there after death. It meant it was definitely murder, even if her death had not been planned someone had most definitely moved the body.
Eric had the exciting job of observing Frank and Yelina interviewing the many, many suspects, trying to work out who was outside around the time of Rose's death. There was over an hour uncounted for, Rose had left her friends just after five and no one else seemed to have seen her since then and the discovery of her body at seven. Alexx said there were no prints or indentations around her neck suggesting strangulation by an object rather than hands.
Ridley moved on to the photos Tim had gathered from phones and cameras and was now trying to piece together to form a chronological account of the party. "Some interesting dress choices," he murmured sardonically as he glanced up at Ridley before he continued to click through the photos on his computer screen.
Ridley nodded and retorted, "well every girl wants to be a princess, some of them just want to be slutty princesses is all." She gave a small smile when Tim looked up at her again.
He continued clicking on through the photos when Ridley suddenly grabbed his shoulder and said, "stop." They both flinched at the gesture and she immediately pulled back and stood upright. "Sorry," she said hastily.
Tim frowned up at her, so now she didn't want to touch him at all? "What is it?" he grumbled.
Ridley pointed at the image of Rose grinning at the camera as she stood between two other girls. "There."
"What the dumb flower crown?" he demanded moodily.
"No, the scarf," Ridley answered softly. There was a silk, pink scarf knotted loosely about Rose's neck.
"What about it?" Tim queried.
"She wasn't wearing it when we found her," Ridley answered as her right hand went up to brush against her own scarf.
Tim's eyes widened a fraction as he hit print. "I guess we know what the murder weapon could be then," he murmured. "You can tell H."
Ridley nodded.
Tim accompanied her up to Horatio's office where she explained her findings and her theory. Horatio gave her a nod of approval before promptly ordering Eric and Tim back to the scene to hunt for the scarf, although they appreciated it that it could be long gone. Ridley had the privilege of re-interviewing the suspects along with Yelina.
Two more hours trickled by, during them the scarf didn't turn up but two girls finally confessed to being outside after a forgotten pair of shoes and abandoned shawl placed them both there. They admitted they had held back their presence there due to them being fifteen and sixteen respectively and the fact that the drinks outside had all been proven to be alcoholic. They admitted to seeing an older male they didn't know on the balcony, swarthy skinned with light brown hair, he was eventually identified as Thomas Baker, a guy Lily described eloquently as Rose's 'sex buddy'. Thomas admitted to being on the balcony with a leisurely shrug, stating he had gone up for a view but he denied being with anyone.
The case wore on and the evidence faded with it. Frustrated, Ridley spent over another hour with the photographs and then the breakthrough came, a photograph of three young girls with Thomas in the background and hanging just out of his jeans' pocket, the telltale end of a pink silk scarf. Everything seemed to go smoothly after that, the photo was enough to get a warrant to search his property. The scarf turned up in his car, of course it wasn't enough to convict him but he didn't know that. After Ridley pressing him about lying about the scarf and being alone with Rose who according to photographic evidence had been wearing her scarf until she was last seen by anyone, meaning he had to have taken it when alone with her, she finally pushed him into a confession.
It was an act of passion and circumstance, Thomas had been up on the balcony with the Rose, she had thought for a make-out session but he had learned she had not one but two other lovers. In a fit of rage, while kissing her, he had strangled the life out of her with her scarf. He had admitted tearfully that he had just wanted her to hurt but it had been so easy and with nowhere to hide the body he had tossed it over the balcony, hoping that without her scarf and the fact that she had been drinking people might believe she had simply fallen over the edge.
Satisfied, Horatio had closed the case and made sure Ridley got a large chunk of the credit when the Forrests and the press came hunting for answers. The CSIs all considered it a positive victory but it wasn't quite enough to take away from the bitter fact that the still had the odd case of Estella van le Rael and an unknown woman dead for twenty years open. It was something the press were much sniffing around and Horatio knew they couldn't keep the fact that Estella's death seemed to be a copycat killing quiet forever.