A/N: An amazing chapter, written entirely by co-author JellybeanChiChi! This story really wouldn't be what it is without her help and support. Thanks for all your reviews, comments and PM's.
CHAPTER 35
Despite the week long deadline clock set by Ladd Sayers hinging on finding Grissom as guilty of a jailbreak and subsequent disappearances and deaths of those involved, Karson Hess was moving farther and farther away from that conclusion.
He knew the assistant district attorney would cry foul and possibly rein hell on the day shift supervisor for categorizing Grissom as a victim and not a perpetrator, there was no denying the lack of evidence supporting Sayers' claim. And Hess wasn't the only person in law enforcement who believed that. After detectives Bowden and Foster finished an interview with Grissom, they shared their impressions with Hess. Foster was still on the fence about Grissom's innocence in the breakout.
But Bowden called his own partner out. "You're being stubborn about this Matty and not looking at this objectively," he said as he sat in Hess's office a couple of hours after the interview.
"You're the one not being objective. Just because the guy looked like shit doesn't mean our sympathies should say he's innocent," Foster countered.
"It has nothing to do with sympathy," Bowden said. "We went to his prison. The only possible connection he had to Dunbar while in prison was the guy who beat the shit out of him twice. We talked to the warden. We talked to some guards on his block. All of them said the same thing, he kept to himself with little to no interaction with others, save three fights — one that put him in the hole and two that landed him into the infirmary, where medics said he had zero interaction with inmates. So when the hell and how the hell was he supposed to plan a breakout?"
"There's still the lawyer," Foster said.
"And all logic is pointing toward him working against Grissom and for Dunbar, who probably masterminded the breakout with the assistant warden at his own prison," Bowden said. "Come on, Matty. If we want to know what truly happened to that bus and those missing prisoners and guards, then we have got to move in a different direction."
Hess totally agreed with the assessment. And while he was getting pressure from Sayers to implicate Grissom, the visit to the prison reminded the detectives there are families and coworkers who desperately wanted information on the five missing guards and prisoners. It was paramount to uncover the truth than carry out what seemed to be a politically fueled vendetta by an attorney.
Although still more than willing to play devil's advocate, Foster had to admit it was a stretch to think Grissom parlayed such a complicated plan by himself from his prison cell. Grissom's interview didn't answer many questions, but it mapped out other avenues for investigation.
Those beatings Grissom received in prison served as a catalyst for him being put on that bus with Dunbar in the first place so the detectives wanted to return to the prison and talk to Tait Darrow.
They wanted to question Ellis Crossan, the prison guard found with Rory's dead body, to see if he would talk and question him on a hunch Bowden had: whether he was the voice of the sniper Grissom heard on the other end of the walkie talkie. They also wanted to know information about who took the bus on a flat bed, and along with asking Crossan about that, Foster wanted to put feelers out to fellow officers from nearby locations who might work cases involving chop shops. A chop shop that takes in a prison bus might be rare enough to have a red flag.
While their searches thus far for Hobson Nash had been fruitless, they didn't want to give up finding him. He seemed to be a big key in the investigation.
But there was another key to the investigation that Hess wanted to research further — David Fromansky. Hess felt like he and Nick were close to finding a breakthrough piece of evidence involving Fromansky.
Or maybe it was just Hess' personal desire to find that nugget of evidence in a case that had too many loose ends.
Both he and Nick thought they were close to a breakthrough in both their cases with the analysis of one piece of evidence — Grissom's boots that were used to crush Jake's neck. Fromansky's foot was bigger than Grissom's, which meant he might have not worn socks which might have meant skin cells were left inside the boot.
Nick had opened the boots to swab for DNA on the inside of the boot. He became elated when he noticed a small blood droplet on the inside toe, possibly from someone breaking a toenail or busting a blister. It would have been easier to leave that blood drop without a sock then with a sock.
That was a positive sign. That made Nick jog to the DNA lab.
But the DNA didn't test positive for Fromansky. Nor did it match any DNA in CODIS, the Combined DNA Index System.
It was a letdown, especially for the Texan. But Karson found the findings significant because there shouldn't be any alternative DNA in the boot at all. Any swab of the inside of the boot should have pointed to Grissom.
And that's what led Karson Hess back to David Fromansky's condo. Karson was convinced that Fromansky was connected not just to the breakout but to Jake Sullivan's death as well. The breakout couldn't happen unless Grissom was in prison. And that couldn't occur unless Grissom was charged with a crime.
Karson never lost sight of the fact that it was still possible that Grissom killed Jake. Thinking Rory Dunbar masterminded a murder to frame someone else and then break both that person and himself out of prison was something out of a crime show novel.
But Dunbar had masterminded Sara's kidnapping, and old habits of revenge die hard.
Looking around Fromansky's place, Karson hoped to find some connections to characters Fromansky made reference to in a journal Karson found under a floorboard. There were references to someone he called "The Lion," another as "Wache" and two others listed each as "HD" and "The Cleaner." Karson had no idea if these were the same person or four different people, but Fromansky notated conversations with "The Lion" and meetings with "The Cleaner," "Wache" and "HD." He even notated a location he met "HD," which Karson discovered was a park in Silverado Ranch, an up-and-coming condo community that catered to upwardly mobile young professionals.
The CSI hoped Fromansky's impressive collection of framed photos might yield familiar faces that would pinpoint who were The Lion, Wache and HD. While Fromansky was always the central focus of the photos, maybe someone in the background would be a clue. He had already done a preliminary check of people under the name "Wache" who might have a connection to Fromansky, the name made Karson recall his German lessons as a lad: die Wache was the German word for "sentry" or "guard."
Could Ellis Crossan be in the background of some of the photos?
Karson took his time examining the photos, tagging some of them for evidence to take a closer look in the lab. After two hours of scanning, he could feel his eyes begin to dry, but out of the corner of his eye he saw a 5x7 photo frame partially hidden between two others on an end table. Fromansky surrounded by several other motorcycle enthusiasts. There had to be at least two-dozen men and women in the shot.
But Karson's eye went directly the top right of the photo. With a sigh, he carefully took out the photo from the frame and looked on the back. It was dated from two years prior. Bike fest in Daytona Beach, Florida. He put both the photo and frame in an evidence bag to examine closer in the lab.
Checking his watch, Karson gathered his findings and went to his SUV. Nick asked him to accompany him to a hotel restaurant off the strip where he discovered Jake had spent a lot of money a couple of different nights before his death.
Although there were no red flags on Jake's personal credit cards or bank accounts that showed excessive spending while he was in Vegas, Nick discovered Jake had the use of a company credit card from the Seattle lab. A statement from the lab showed Jake had frequented the restaurant several times during his week long stint in Vegas. But while many of the charges were moderate, two nights showed bills close to $300 each, which might have meant excessive drinking and eating by more than one person.
Nick wondered if maybe Fromansky had met up with Jake. They couldn't find a direct connection with the two, so it was a long shot. Yet, Nick thought it might be worth going to the restaurant during a lull of the day and showing photos of Jake and Fromansky to jog staffers' memories.
Karson didn't mind meeting Nick there at all. But since he had a little spare time, he phoned Nick from the car with another suggestion. "Hey, it's Karson. You want to meet at the lab and drive in together?"
"I thought you wanted to drive straight them from Fromansky's?" Nick's voice filled the car thanks to the blue tooth. "That would mean you're going south to go north."
"Yeah, but I have some stuff to drop at the lab."
"Anything interesting?" Nick asked.
"It might," Karson said. "I'll show you at the lab."
"OK. Whatever works, boss," Nick said. "I got Fromansky's and Jake's photos and file with me."
"Good," Karson said. "There are a few other photos and files I want to take with us."
Although its name was ubiquitous; The Steak House had its own personality. Not too dark, but not lit up like a hospital room. The smells of a good meal floated inside the restaurant but was not overbearing. Seating arrangements ranged to accommodate large parties or cozy dining for a couple, trio or quartet.
Just as Nick predicted, there was a lull in the number of patrons in the restaurant and at the bar. After introducing themselves to the server, who got her manager, Nick and Karson made their way to the bar to speak with a bartender who usually worked the night shift on the weekdays in question.
"Flora Cortez?" Nick asked of the woman behind the bar. "You mind if we ask you a few questions?"
The woman in her mid-thirties had a pleasant look on her face. She looked neither nervous or put out from a couple of law enforcement people taking some time out of her day. The thinnish brunette with a modicum of curves reminded Nick of a younger version of a friend.
"Yeah, you got a few minutes to spare?" Nick asked.
"It's slow. You picked the right time, I'm sure on purpose," Flora said with a knowing chuckle. "You guys want something to drink?"
"We're good, thanks."
"Let me get a soda for myself and we'll sit over there to talk." Flora pointed to a table away from both patrons and staffers. She came over and sat down across from the two men. "So, who are we gonna talk about?"
"A few people. But specifically of someone we knew patronized here back at the end of April," Nick started.
Flora laughed. "Well, I hope this person was memorable because that's asking a lot to remember someone from two months ago."
"We're hoping he did," Nick said, pulling out a photo of Jake. "He was here six times in seven days by himself, although we think with others at least two of those days."
The bartender looked at the photo and shook her head, a look that made Nick purse his lips in frustration. But then, his expression changed as she spoke.
"You're in luck. He made an impression," Flora said.
"A good one?" Nick asked.
"Does my face and tone make it seem like it was a good one?" Flora asked sarcastically.
"No," Nick said. "So tell us about it."
"He liked brunettes and flirted … a lot," Flora said. "I cannot tell you how many times he tried to impress me by saying he was working a big, important case. Kept saying he was law enforcement. Was that bullshit?"
"No he was law enforcement."
"Was?" Flora said taking a sip of her soda. "Interesting. He looked like the kind of guy who would find trouble."
"Was he aggressive towards anyone?" Karson asked.
"No. If he was he would have been outta here. Fortunately, managers don't have patience for that kind of stuff."
"Then why'd you make the comment?"
Flora took another sip from the straw. "You know how you can pick up on that 'just under the surface' anger vibe. And like I said he flirted a lot and was kind of … aggressive about it."
"But he wasn't specifically aggressive towards you?" Karson asked.
"Nothing I couldn't handle in here, but annoying and too much and let's just say I asked some guys from the back to walk me to my car after shift," she said. "He just gave off this vibe. Desperate. Maybe could be violent. In a place like this, and just being in Vegas in general, puts you on guard, you know?"
"Yeah, we can understand that. It's smart," Nick said.
"Besides, even though he was hitting on me, he was trying to get with someone he was working with."
"Who was that?"
Flora shrugged. "I never heard a name but his cop friend was pushing him to pursue her. The more they drank, the more they talked. And they drank a lot."
"So whenever he came here he was with someone?"
Flora thought for a moment. "No. Usually he was by himself. But there were a couple of nights where that guy was with him. And then another night he and some woman."
"So the other guy was law enforcement?"
"That's what he said," Flora said. "When it was the two of them they kept saying, 'Hey baby. You never have to worry about anything when we're around. We're like superheroes."
Nick pulled out photos of Fromansky and, just to eliminate him as a suspect, Grissom as well. "Was the other guy either of these guys?"
"Neither," Flora answered quickly. "Those guys don't look familiar. The guy with him was definitely younger. And trimmer."
Nick nodded and pulled out the guard's photo — Ellis Crossan. "This guy?"
Flora took a critical look, but shook her head. "No. Sorry. Don't recognize him."
Nick gave a look towards Karson, who opened up a file of his own. But before he could offer a photo to Flora, she pointed to two of them. "This one was his drinking buddy, and as far as aggressive flirting went, she gave your guy a run for his money."