Chapter 14
Though still early evening, Horatio felt exhausted as he usually did after pulling a confession out of a murderer. Getting two from Ms. Beeks and son had him ready for bed. Thinking to call Frank to see what he had come up with, tell him what they had gotten and perhaps help him wrap up the scene early, his phone softly purred in his pocket. It turned out to be Hubbell from the warehouse calling to say another crate addressed to Beeks had been delivered from Asia. After he inquired how late Hubbell could keep the warehouse open he said he could get someone to pick it up within the hour. Closing his phone, he turned to Eric to say, "Take a van from the motor pool and go to the warehouse. There's another crate marked for Beeks that's been delivered. Bring it back here and let's see what the dishes are about."
"Will do H. Anything else?"
Horatio's pocket buzzed again. Before he picked up he answered, "Please call Tripp and see what he's come up then tell him what we got. I doubt there will be anything outside. That storm probably washed away any evidence after Junior killed his father but we can get the bundle of clothing if Frank didn't get it already. He might as well finish the scene for tonight if he thinks he can."
"Sure. I'll be back as soon as I can. If the crate is big enough for a van, I'll drop it down in the garage where we can look at the contents there."
Without reply, Horatio opened his phone. "Calleigh, I'm sorry to take so long. Did you get anything from father and daughter?"
"I think they might be ready to talk. I mentioned the cross and both of them went quiet. Mr. Odobescu looked like he'd seen a ghost. I have a feeling that body is the key to the whole thing."
"Bring them up and place them in separate rooms." His phone beeped indicated a second call coming in. "I seem to be the center of a whirlwind at the moment so I'll get to Mr. Odobescu as soon as I can while you talk with Letitia."
"I thought you'd say that so she's on her way here now."
"Good." Without saying good-bye, Horatio hit the call waiting button. He smiled at Manon's voice, walking to look out a window where his pleasure wouldn't be witnessed. "What can I do for you?"
"I was wondering if Alexx would mind having company while she examines the bodies and the skeletons. I am always curious about how others work."
"Hold on a minute and let me call the morgue; I wouldn't want to speak for her." A moment later when Alexx picked up, he bluntly asked if she would mind Manon's presence.
"Just warn her, I'm up to my ass in bodies here so anyone fool enough to come into this mess will be put to work." Alexx didn't sound overjoyed at her situation but then death never pleased her in spite of her profession.
Switching over he informed the Cajun woman, "If you don't mind donning latex gloves and being shown how to write out reports at the least, she'll be glad to put you to work."
The sound of gay laughter giggled through the phone. "That is more than I could hope for. My team and Dr. Hawks' Claw have everything well in hand here so I will be there soon. How do I get to the morgue?"
"Call me when you park out in front. I'll meet you at the front door and escort you down there." Whatever weariness had plagued Horatio before was now gone, replaced by the pleased expectation of seeing this woman who seemed to become more appealing with each conversation. The pleasure was broken however when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mr. Odobescu being escorted from the elevator to an interview room. The man caught sight of him as he walked and gave him the evil eye.
Waiting for the man to be situated and handcuffed to the table, he went to the one way mirror and began to survey his next interviewee to get an idea of how to approach him. Sometime later, lost in his thoughts, his phone alerted him to a call. He stepped down the hall to answer it and was surprised to hear Manon's voice.
"You sound surprised I am here so fast. I decided to fly."
Her infectious giggle made him smile again as he punched the elevator button for the first floor. "You must know some roads without stoplights that I don't know about. You'll have to tell me about them. I'll be right down." He hung up to stop himself from smiling so the men in the MDPD unit wouldn't stare at the usually sober redhead; at least not until they saw who he would be escorting to the morgue. They did smile but not for long since the elevator down to the morgue from that floor was only a few feet from the double glass entry doors.
Once the elevator doors were closed, Horatio allowed himself to smile again. To regain his composure a little he asked how the dig was going.
The ride was only one level so the doors opened almost as quickly as they had closed.
"It is going well," she answered as they walked down the cool corridor.
As they entered the near freezing morgue, the odor of moldering bones in varying states of decay assaulted their noses.
Alexx looked up with a gaze that said 'don't say I didn't warn you.'
Manon returned her look and said, "Where do I find a lab coat or should I have brought my own?"
Alexx' face relaxed into a broad smile as she said, "Don't think you can get out of helping me that easily." She turned to a drawer and pulled out a paper gown and from another drawer she pulled out a box of gloves. "First we'll do one together and you'll fill out the paperwork as I show you the process. After that you'll be on your own."
Knowing where he was no longer of any use, Horatio quietly left the two women to their strange form of enjoying themselves.
No sooner had he stepped into the lab expecting to spend more time at the one way mirror than Calleigh approached him to say Letitia had arrived and she wanted to know if he had any ideas about any special approach. She was well aware of his special rapport with young people.
"Although her father is a better candidate for the bodies, I think she is strongly associated with them. After all, she did freely confess to killing Deeshawn. We haven't found anyone more likely either so, for the moment, we'll take her word for it. If this is the case, she seems to know how to fire a gun. You might start from there and see where that leads."
As Calleigh was nodding putting a line of questioning together in her head, the elevator door opened to show Maven Lorento in company of a uni who seemed to be trying to convince her to go no further.
'Speak of the devil,' thought Horatio. Nodding to the officer, he greeted Deeshawn's aunt, "Ms. Lorento, what can I do for you?"
"You can save me from whoever is trying to get me!" Suddenly she flung herself onto the Lieutenant in a hug similar to what he had endured in her home before.
He was grateful that both the officer and Calleigh were on hand to release her over-zealously hugging arms. "Excuse me?"
"Whoever shot Deeshawn is after me now, I know it."
"How do you know?"
"I just know. Oh Mr. Lieutenant sir, won't you help me?"
"Actually ma'am, that isn't what I do. I investigate evidence left by criminal activity after it has been committed. I'll tell you what though, if you're worried about your safety, go down stairs with this officer and file a report. I'll see to it that a patrol car regularly goes by your home. If they see anything suspicious, they'll report it to me and I'll take care of it."
"Really? You can't come out and look now?"
Horatio tilted his head nearly to his right shoulder and let a slight twinkle play in his eyes. "I'm afraid I'll get reported for doing other people's work if I do that. You let the police officers do some of the work and if they need me then they will call."
Slowly, gently, the officer and Calleigh coaxed the woman to the elevator. As they waited for the doors to open Ms. Lorento looked longingly over her shoulder. When the two had the aunt safely inside, Calleigh stepped out and blocked the doors until they were fully closed and she could hear the machinery taking the adoring woman down from the third level.
Horatio waved as the doors closed after which he became aware of muted guffaws and laughter throughout the lab and knew he was blushing again.
Calleigh made no effort to show that she had been highly entertained by the scene. "I do believe you have an admirer Horatio. I noticed you didn't give her your card."
"I gave her one last week," he whispered.
"I guess she lost it," Calleigh said as she turned away and walked down the hall, her long blond hair bouncing with each step.
The elevator doors opened again and Horatio took a breath, ready for another plea for help only to see Eric carrying a small wooden box about eighteen inches square."
"What's this, Eric?"
"Believe it or not, it's the dishes. From what Hubbell said this is the same size as always."
On consideration, Horatio nodded. "Considering there isn't all that much space in a small plane, I guess it makes sense. Okay, let's take a look."
Eric toted the box to his lab area and laid it with a loud clunk on the counter. Then he rummaged through some drawers until he came up with a small crowbar and went to work prying the top off. When the last creak of nails sounded he took the wood top and laid it onto another counter and moved the box to one side so he could have room to lay out the contents. Wasting no movements, he lifted out excelsior and then found some bright red plates about eight inches across. The rest of the space around them was taken up with excelsior and newspaper with what looked to be Korean writing in between each plate. He went through the excelsior twice to be sure there was nothing else in the slender wood shavings before tossing it into the wastebasket. Then he examined the paper on the light table for any invisible writing and put it through a couple of chemical tests to see if it contained anything but paper. It did not. Finally, looking at his boss, he picked up a hammer, donned protective goggles and asked, "Shall we?"
Throwing the skirt of his jacket back as he took a step backwards and put on his sun glasses and said, "We shall."
The shattering sound seemed to give Eric a great deal of satisfaction.
At first glance the insides of the shards seemed to be nothing more than pottery.
Removing his glasses, Horatio said, "I have to interview Mr. Odobescu, Eric. I'd like you to do a full run on these plates. Something tells me there is more to them than meets the eye."
"I got it H."
# # #
"Mr. Odobescu, what can you tell me about the body near the back wall?
"What body? I don't know what you mean," the man answered gruffly but without conviction.
"I mean the man who was buried somewhere around twelve years ago. The man you thought well enough of that you placed a cross on the grave. The man who was shot."
"So, I admit to shooting more people. So what? Three or a hundred three, I still get death shot in arm. Yes?"
"No, I don't think you killed all of the people buried. In fact, it's even possible you didn't even shoot this one. Is it possible that this man was visiting? The cross would indicate a close relationship. Maybe Letitia found your collection of guns. Maybe the gun was loaded and the gun went off in her hand, killing the man. It could have been an accident."
The man sat silent sagging slightly in his chair.
"That can have a devastating effect on a child. To live with the grave of the man she shot in the back yard year after year."
"He—he died of a sickness. He was my son who came to visit me from old country. He wanted me to help him to live here. He wasn't used to American foods so he got sick. I wanted him close to me so I put him near wall."
Horatio excused himself, stepped outside and called the morgue. "Alexx, have you had a chance to look at the oldest body yet?"
He heard a rich voiced chuckle and then Alexx talking to what he supposed was Manon. "Did I tell you he had second sight? He's asking about the body we just finished." There was a pause and the sound of words he couldn't quite get. "Yes, now. Anyway, Horatio, yes, we just got through."
"How did he die?"
"Gun shot through the chest. Probably hit the heart straight on."
"Not disease?"
"No way. He was a young man and healthy as a race horse."
"Could you do a DNA against Mr. Odobescu and Letitia?"
"Sure. There's some tissue left on the bones so that won't be a problem. It's possible that there is some relation. Manon found various signs of evidence in the bones and the teeth resembling what she has seen in other bones found in the middle European area."
"So Mr. Odobescu says but he also says the man died of a disease. I want to know how close the relationship was."
"I'll send the tissue up to Maxine and tell her to shoot the results to you as soon as she has it."
"I would appreciate it, thank you. How are you and Manon getting along?"
"I'm teaching her the fun of paperwork and learning a few tricks in osteology I never knew existed." She sounded very pleased.
"Good. I'll try to be down later." Congratulating himself for having resisted asking to talk to Manon, Horatio hung up.
"Mr. Odobescu, if the body is that of your son as you say, he did not die of disease. He was shot through the heart so let's try this again."
The hazel green eyes wandered the walls and floor which was a sure sign that he was searching for another lie.
"If you didn't shoot him, who did? Why didn't you call the police? Why did you bury him? This was the beginning of a series of murders that came later. Why?" Although his voice was calm and quiet, he shot the questions at Letitia's father one after the other.
Still the man sank deeper into himself with each inquiry. Finally he began silently shaking his head.
"I need answers sir. Your silence makes me think you are guilty or protecting someone. Who besides Letitia do you have to protect? She says she shot her schoolmate, Deeshawn so she could win the math competition to get the money. If that is so, then she knows how to handle a gun. She also said she shot the first two men we found. If that is so, and the others were killed by gunshot, then she could be responsible for all of the murders. Are you trying to protect your daughter? I can understand if you are. You would rather go to jail than see her locked up. If she committed the murders, she needs help at this age. She isn't responsible for what she did at this age."
Seeing no response, Horatio rose. "You think about this for a while." He walked into the hall and heaved a light sigh. Maybe the father didn't know for sure. Maybe he preferred to believe the tall tales his daughter spun. Would he believe his child? He knew he would want to but he also knew that children learned to lie almost as soon as they learned to talk. Where did you learn how to distinguish truths from half-truths (Speed declaring he would use the gun cleaning kit) from outright lies? He sure didn't know the answer if there was one.
"Horatio? They just brought Letitia in. Did you learn anything from her father?" Even in high heels, Calleigh had to look up to Horatio.
"Only that the oldest body is supposedly his son. Manon came in to give Alexx a hand and they finished that one first. He was shot through the heart. Alexx is sending some tissue to Maxine for DNA against Mr. Odobescu. Manon does think that the man came from the same area as Mr. Odobescu and Letitia so a relationship is possible."
"Any theories?"
"Only that if Mr. Odobescu did shoot the man, Letitia probably saw it happen. Who knows what that did to her?"
"I'll start by asking her what the cross means. Maybe she'll feel safe to open up on that angle."
"H?" Eric came up.
Calleigh wheeled around throwing a wave over her shoulder.
"Yes, Eric?"
"I ran a test on the shards. It's a mix of cocaine, cornstarch, and baking soda. The red is cornstarch with red food coloring. When that dries it has a shine to it. That washes off easily. Then all they have to do is dissolve the dishes, pour the mix into beakers, put those in a drying oven and the cocaine crawls up the sides in crystal form while the cornstarch and baking soda fall to the bottom in a powder form.
"They scrape off the cocaine, refine it by the same process and then dissolve the powder to get the rest of the cocaine out. It's a simple process if time consuming."
"So he took the dishes to the ships and the crew was sailing in more ways than one."
"I'll bet."
"Why not go down to holding and asks Ms. Beeks again about what she knew of her husband's extracurricular activities? If Junior is a branch from the tree, the Mama might be more than happy to throw her husband under the bus."
Eric leered at the thought. "I'll take a plate down in an evidence bag. That could jog her memory."
"Take Tripp with you. He should be glad to get away from the paperwork from the Beeks' home."
"And not so glad to have more paperwork if she confesses to cocaine use."
"If he complains ask him to see me." Horatio's smile was more of a smirk this time. "I'll be behind the mirror watching Calleigh interview Letitia."
As expected, Letitia was slightly more forthcoming with Calleigh. She didn't slouch or become sullen though her answers were hesitant and considered. She also seemed to believe what Calleigh was saying. For that matter, if he didn't know better, even he would have believed they were sure the girl had shot the buried men.
"You see, we can trace the trajectory of the bullet through the bodies. We could see how it changed as you grew."
True enough if there was any tissue to trace the bullet through. The two most recent victims had soft tissue but did not show any noticeable reflection of Letitia's predicted growth rate.
Letitia's eyes narrowed and darted from side to side as if calculating something and her lips pressed together to keep herself from saying anything.
Horatio's thoughts were so involved in what would happen to the girl if she was proven guilty, the phone purred quietly three times before he noticed.
Alexx' voice was troubled. "Horatio, it seems Manon has another talent. She is something of a reconstruction artist. She did a sketch of the skull from the oldest victim. I think you might want to see it."
"I'll be right down."
A few minutes later he was staring at a rough sketch of a man that looked familiar. "You only saw Mr. Odobescu or Letitia very briefly in his back yard, right?"
"To say the truth, I did not even really notice him, Horatio. I had my mind on the dig at the time."
"Well, DNA will confirm what this seems to indicate. Do you mind if I take this?"
Manon smiled as her eyes twinkled with a bit of wicked light. "To hang in your office, maybe?"
Horatio smiled back but not with as much humor. "Not quite. Thank you for your work."
Alexx stopped him. "There is one other thing you need to know. I'm pretty sure the path of the bullet was from a distance of about six feet from near the ground and then upwards between his mandible and on through to the top of his head."
"Interesting. Thank you Alexx."
He headed back upstairs with the sheet rolled up.
# # #
First checking on the progress of the interview through the glass and finding it seemed to have hit a stalemate, Horatio entered as unobtrusively as possible. He didn't want to alarm Letitia just yet.
Calleigh rose to her feet with obvious relief to get a break. Leaning against the wall, she eyed the roll of paper Horatio was carrying.
Seating himself opposite Letitia, he unrolled the paper and laid it in front of the dark haired girl. "Do you recognize this man?"
The teen's whole demeanor changed as she gazed at the pencil drawing. Her pupils widened, her head drooped to one side and her eyebrows rose up and tried to meet. This only lasted a moment but wasn't missed by the two CSIs. Then she realized what she was doing and her face hardened and she shook her head resolutely and said a firm, "No."
"We're comparing some DNA we were able to salvage from the body under the cross with yours and your father's. We think it's going to match in some way. The person who drew this picture was unaware of any possible connection to you or the body so how do you think the resemblance is so clear?"
Letitia drew her head back saying, "I don't know," in a girlish voice. "Maybe I just look like people."
"We think there might be some family connection."
"Maybe so, I don't know. You keep saying the person was buried a long time ago. Maybe it was before I came to America. I was only three then, you know."
"Do you remember coming to live with your Dad?"
"Yeah. I didn't know him at first but then I did."
"So you remember things as far back as when you were three. That is unusual."
"Not for a genius I.Q. with eidetic memory," she said proudly.
"Excuse me Letitia." His phone had once again notified him of an incoming call. He stepped into the hall to talk to Maxine.
"Horatio, I just got through with the DNA from the victim and your two suspects. The victim is Mr. Odobescu's son and Letitia's brother"
"Thank you Maxine." He closed his phone and stepped back into the room. Sitting down again, he said, "Letitia, who shot your brother?"
Her eyes widened and her pupils dilated. She made a move as if to run. Seeing the path was blocked by Calleigh, she shrank back into her chair, dropped her chin to her chest, shoved her arms into her blouse sleeves and began scuffling her feet nervously.
"I imagine it was scary. Did you see it?"
Slowly she began to rock back and forth. At first, her whispers were unintelligible but after a bit, the words, "I want my Daddy," could be heard over and over.
"Well, maybe we can see about that later. Right now, let's talk about you shooting Deeshawn." He found that changing the subject often brought unexpected information.
Again Letitia's eyes widened as her pupils dilated. "I didn't."
"Did you know we can get prints from almost any surface? The question isn't whether you shot Deeshawn but why?"
Suddenly Letitia jumped to her feet screaming, "I told you before, I did it! I shot that smarty pants! I wanted to win that contest, I wanted to get that money, I wanted to show I was the smart one from my school!"
After enduring the excruciatingly loud rant without change of expression Horatio said quietly, "Sit down, Letitia. Unfortunately wanting to be the best or to get the prize isn't an excuse for killing someone."
She went back to her pose of withdrawal and whispered that she wanted her father.
Horatio looked up at Calleigh and nodded. In response she slipped out the door. A few minutes later, accompanied by a uniformed officer, she brought Mr. Odobescu into the room. As soon as he saw the state his daughter was in, he ran to her and fell to his knees beside her telling her he was there and she was alright.
In as few words as possible, Horatio told the father what they had found out and how Letitia had reacted. "Do you have an explanation for her behavior? She killed young Deeshawn and we are fairly certain one of you killed your son. We would like to know why we should believe it was you who did it."
Mr. Odobescu rose to his feet. "I think now this is all my fault. Letitia, she didn't know what she was doing when she was a tiny girl. Somehow, she got my gun, one I always kept loaded by my bed in case of someone who comes in to rob us. Back then I was always afraid. I don't know why she got gun. All I know is when I come home she was sitting by Iosif who was on the floor dead. He had blood from his head and his neck. She was trying to wake him up and saying she was sorry she had played with the gun. She said she just wanted to show him Papa's gun and she dropped it and then he went to sleep." He looked tearfully at Horatio. "I only wanted to protect my little girl. Iosif was dead and there was nothing I could do for him. So I took him out to the back yard and I buried him with the cross he had brought from the old country as a gift. I made a nice burial, I wrapped him in a good carpet and I prayed to God to take him with kindness. All that time Letitia just watched with her eyes big. Then it happened again only with a strange man I don't know. After a while, I come to know it will happen again and again. She was not the same after that."
"I would think not. What about the other men?"
Mr. Odobescu looked for a chair and sank heavily into one offered by Calleigh. "Each time, I come home from work and find a dead man only out in the yard someplace. I ask why and she say he was a bad man who tried to hurt her. I didn't know what else to do. I wanted to bury them far out in back but the first time I dig deep, I dig up bones! Our home was already a home for dead people! So, I bury these men closer. For some reason, Letitia seemed to like playing in the piles of dirt."
Letitia sat quietly except for shuffling her feet back and forth in an endless, mindless rhythm. Her father moved his chair close to hers and she put an arm through one of his and leaned her head against him. He began to croon a wordless tune which seemed too comfort her. The look on her face was too sad and lost for a child her age.
Calleigh and Horatio stepped outside to look at them through one of the windows.
"Which comes first do you think, the bent towards sociopathic behavior or the incident that turns a person into a sociopath?"
"I think that's still in debate. I have heard arguments on both sides. If Letitia accidentally killed her brother, perhaps by dropping the gun which made it go off, then watching her father put the brother in the ground, that would certainly color her outlook. Since we don't know about the mother or the pregnancy, we may never know."
Manon exited the elevator and walked down the corridor to where the two were standing. "Did the sketch offer any assistance?"
Calleigh smiled brightly as she said, "It did. You are very talented."
"Mais, non, I can only do very basic work. There was some tissue left which gave me clues."
Seeing her boss only had eyes for the anthropologist, Calleigh quietly excused herself. She walked down the hall thinking, 'it's about time he found someone!'
Both watched the blonde CSI until they were sure she was out of earshot.
Manon spoke first, hurriedly as if to keep some momentum leading to the question. "About the dinner date you mentioned today. I didn't give an answer and I apologize. I have some unfinished business at the museum this evening still. How about tomorrow?"
He apologetically admitted he would also be working until late this evening. Then, twisting his head and laying it to one side, he said that the next evening would be fine. The quizzical look on his face would have told anyone who knew him that he was sincerely hoping she was serious.
They set a time and part ways.