A/N: Another awesome chapter written solely by co-writer, JellybeanChiChi.

CHAPTER 40

Karson Hess didn't look up from the papers he was reading when he heard a knock at the door. "Come in."

Karen O'Shea seemed befuddled at the request to see her supervisor. She spent most of her morning bored and waiting for lab results, and she was annoyed she had to take time out from her lunch hour for a wild hair up Karson's butt.

Yet, she wasn't stupid enough to put those feelings on display. She did not want to be a level 2 CSI forever. "Am I interrupting?"

"Close the door and take a seat, Karen."

Doing as she was told, Karen sported a pleasant smile. But after a minute in silence waiting for Karson to finish whatever the hell he was working on, Karen got annoyed. "Karson, I'm actually on my lunch break so maybe I'll come back when you're ready to talk. No sense wasting time…"

Not acknowledging a word she said, Karson stood up and walked to the front of his desk. He leaned against it and held a stern face. "It's time we talked about the mishandling of information at the beginning of the prison break investigation."

Karen blanched slightly, "We already talked about it. It was a simple oversight as a result of being overworked."

"Karen," Karson started, his voice holding a modicum of patience that could evaporate at any time, "I am offering an opportunity to tell the truth about what happened."

"Excuse me?" There was no mistaking the air of insult in her tone."Are you accusing me of lying?"

"What was your relationship with Jake Sullivan?"

"What?... I…" Completely blindsided and flustered, Karen tried to formulate a response without giving an answer. "What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"It's a simple question and I would like an answer."

"I don't have to answer that."

"Were you friends? Did you know each other prior to his arrival? Did you go out together?"

Karen stood up. "You have no right to ask me any of those questions! I have every right to go right now to HR…"

"Sit down Karen."

"No!"

Karson pushed away from his desk and stood straight in front of Karen. "Further investigation into this case has led me to believe that someone in the lab participated in Jake Sullivan's death, which is now connected to the prison break. Having Rory Dunbar's name missing from the manifest along with the absence of David Fromansky's name is a very heavy coincidence, and it is your name on the report that neglected that information, Karen. Your name and only your name. I am offering you this singular opportunity to answer my questions truthfully. Now, do you still want to play a game or do you want to sit down, answer questions and try to save your career?"

Without an ounce of mirth or false bravado, Karen sat back down. In response, Karson resumed to lean against his desk. "Jake Sullivan?"

"No I didn't know him. I met him for drinks one time."

"Alone?"

"Well, no. It was me and another friend," Karen said, her eyes shifting from left to right.

She was clearly uncomfortable about something, and Karson needed to know exactly what. "I'm going to need to talk to that friend… Do I know the friend?" Karen squirmed but didn't answer but Karson wouldn't relent. "OK, Karen, maybe the two of us shouldn't be having this conversation. You might want to think about representation in terms of questioning of your involvement of these crimes…"

"Hold on!" Karen said anxiously. "I didn't… I know my name is on the report you're talking about but… I wasn't the one…" She paused and nervously bit the inside of her lip. "Karson, I'm not involved in anything criminal!"

"Then what are you involved in? You weren't the one who what?"

She sighed and put her hand through her hair. Her voice was soft and contrite. "I… I never called the prisons, Karson."

"So how do you account for the information in the report?"

"You should have made me lead on the case," she said like a petulant child. "I deserved it, but instead you had me do menial tasks like getting prisoner manifests. I was pissy and someone offered to do the work. I figured it wouldn't be a big deal."

The fire in Karson's eyes spoke volumes about how her lack of work ethic was a huge deal as it created horrific circumstances. "Who wrote down the information, Karen?"

Again, Karen gnawed on her inside lip and cheek before answering. "It was Patrick. Patrick Davies."

Karson closed his eyes. The revelation of Patrick's involvement was no surprise but still stung. It was his subordinate — Patrick — who he recognized from the photo in David Fromansky's house. Checking vacation records, Patrick had indeed taken time off two years ago at the time of Bike Week in Florida. And Patrick owed a motorcycle, in fact he just purchased a high-end Harley Davidson just a few weeks ago.

He was a Harley Davidson enthusiast, and Karson always suspected if Fromansky's code name of "HD" stood for the motorcycle brand and therefore was the moniker of a Harley lover.

Someone like Patrick Davies.

He opened his eyes and stared Karen down. "Tell me exactly what Patrick did?"

"He told me not to worry about calling the prisons, he would do in and then type it into the report," Karen said. "I didn't even look at it, I mean, come on Karson, Patrick is one of us… he's my closest friend here."

"Who was the friend who had drinks with you and Jake?"

"That was Patrick, too," Karen said.

The bartender at The Steak House had recognized both Karen and Patrick when Karson spoke to them, so again the information was no surprise, but Karen continued.

"Patrick said Jake had an open account and asked for me to come because…"

"Karen the more you cooperate now, the better it is for you," Karson urged.

"He wanted me to… kind of … talk about Sara. Trash talk. About her and the husband. That was pretty easy. And…" Karen sighed, "Jake started getting more determined about Sara. Patrick laughed it off and egged him on. And, well, I flirted with Jake, to try and get him to focus on someone other than Sara. But the more I trash talked the more, the more I flirted, the more Jake was determined. Kept saying he was definitely going to teach Sara what a man is really about. Patrick got in on it too, how Jake should give it to Sara good, and it was … kind of gross, so I left."

"And you didn't think about saying anything to anyone?" Karson said. "Not even Sara?"

Karen shrugged. "It was drunk guy talk. I mean… I didn't think anything would happen."

When Ladd Sayers got the call that police had the suspect of Jake Sullivan's murder for an interrogation downtown, he quickly rescheduled a personal appointment to make sure all ducks were in a row at One Police Plaza.

Striding into Interrogation Room B with purpose, he greeted Detective Matty Foster and Sheriff Conrad Ecklie as they stood outside the room. "Gentlemen, I am hoping this interrogation will seal the deal against…" Just then Sayers glanced inside the room. What he saw, or more critically what he didn't see made him angry. "Where the hell is Grissom?"

"He's not being questioned," Foster said. "New suspect in the case."

Karson Hess and Detective Tristan Bowden sat in the room opposite of CSI Patrick Davies and his lawyer.

"So you think the guy worked with Grissom?" Sayers asked.

"No. We think he helped frame Grissom and was the one who killed Jake," Foster said.

Sayers face turned red. "What the hell are you talking about? I have a case file and hours of work logged on putting Grissom behind bars and now you're throwing a wrench in the machine? Why? To secure a precious former lab worker's legacy?"

Foster didn't appreciate the tone by the DA. "I don't know if you haven't noticed, counselor, but I don't give a flying fuck about some science geek's legacy. If there was any thought that the guy in there was working with Grissom and connected to Grissom in any way, I would be the first to tell you."

"None of us are giving Grissom a free ride here," Ecklie added.

"Then why isn't he behind the glass?"

"Because we found no connections between Grissom and Davies, but plenty between Davies and David Fromansky." Ecklie said. "We realize you have your heart set on prosecuting Gil Grissom, but he's not the murderer."

"It's gonna take a helluva a lot more than your words to convince me of that, Sheriff," Sayers said.

Inside the interrogation room, Patrick Davies sat stone faced. He was more than willing to listen to Hess and Bowden and let his lawyer do all the talking.

Bowden recognized that dynamic right away. "Patrick, we want to give you the opportunity to explain your role in Jake Sullivan's murder."

"There is no role to explain," Patrick's lawyer said.

"Patrick, in the last month, you've made several large purchases," Bowden said. "A new Harley Davidson bike. And a condo in Silverado."

"Making purchases are not a crime, detective," the lawyer said.

"Depends where he got the money," Hess said. "I know your salary, Patrick. Where did the money come from?"

"Savings," the lawyer said.

"That's quite a lot of savings," Hess said. "As a matter of fact, it is about $270,000 worth of service. Cash savings."

"He's a frugal, single man."

"We spoke with the salesperson at the Harley store. Cash up front for an impressive Hog — CVO Street Glide — 31 grand, cash," Bowden said. "We also spoke to the realtor who sold you the condo. Paid in cash to the tune of $239,000. That's quite a tune, Patrick."

"As I said before, Mr. Davies is a frugal man who had recently been willed a large sum of money," the lawyer said smoothly. "Certainly you gentlemen understand the financial savvy of purchasing property as an investment."

Neither law enforcement member seemed at all phased by any of the lawyer's comments, practically ignoring anything the lawyer said and directing every question at Patrick.

Perhaps that is why Hess' tone became a mixture of knowing and disappointment. "I'm guessing you had been laying in wait for a while, Patrick, but when it all happened, it all happened very fast, didn't it?"

Patrick and his supervisor leveled one another stern gazes, but Patrick didn't speak at all. So Hess continued. "David Fromansky was someone you knew. Both of you were motorcycle enthusiasts and in the past couple of years you and he had become buddies, according to the staff of the Harley shop. You went to Daytona Beach together for Bike Week. From what I understand Fromansky was courting you for a job in the prisons."

"Mr. Davies was upset at finding the death of his friend," the lawyer said.

"I'm sure he did because he wasn't just a friend, he was a partner in a lucrative crime, wasn't he Patrick?" Hess said. "Did you know that Fromansky kept detailed logs of activities between you and he?"

Patrick's gaze hitched, just a touch. But enough to know Hess hit a nerve. So, again, Hess continued. "Every meeting you had marked by the notation 'HD' for his friend so into Harley Davidsons."

"There is no way to corroborate that, Mr. Hess," the lawyer said.

"One of those meetings were at a park in Silverado," Hess said. "That was a fascinating log in Fromansky's diary. You see, he got there early for a 2 p.m. meeting with you, and watched you for a half hour while he waited. Wanted to see what you were up to. You walked up and down, including in front of a for sale sign in front of a condo. You made a phone call, which made Fromansky a little nervous. Did he ask you who you had called?" Hess watched another notch of bravado melt from Patrick's face. "No answer? Well, I checked with the realtor, and she said that at 2:25 on that date you first contacted her about that condo. Wanted to know prices and set up a walk through for that same day. You really liked the area, huh Patrick?"

Patrick still said nothing, but his eyes moved around the room a bit. Bowden took the opportunity to speak. "Outside right now is the D.A. and the sheriff and they will work on a warrant for your financial records to see about even more concrete connections to Fromansky's financial records," Bowden said.

"OK, gentlemen, all these theories are absolutely unsubstantiated, and I don't think my client needs to hear anymore."

"We have your DNA, Patrick."

Hess' statement stopped the attorney cold but only for a moment. "What DNA? Did you illegally secure DNA from my client?"

"Grissom's shoes were too small for you, weren't they Patrick? But you had to use them. It was all part of the plan to frame Grissom. You stole the shoes, you needed to use the shoes, no matter how tight they were," Hess said. "They must have been so tight you couldn't even wear socks with them. We extracted DNA from deep within the shoe. DNA that matched you. Along with a tiny spot on the inside toe. You must have got a blister that busted. Left your trace DNA there, too."

"My client never submitted his DNA to you."

"We got it off a toothbrush from Karen's house. It seems you spent a couple of nights there and Karen saved a toothbrush for you," Hess said. "And before your lawyer asks, we do have your prints on file and, yes, it was your fingerprints on the toothbrush we used to extract the DNA."

"This woman? You pressured her to give up the toothbrush?" the lawyer asked.

"No. She volunteered it."

"Karen never would have done that," Patrick finally uttered.

"She did, Patrick."

For the first time, Patrick's facade truly broke. But not of fear. Not of anxiety. And certainly not of remorse. He was angry. "It doesn't matter. My prints might be on the toothbrush but you can't prove it is my DNA without taking a personal sample. And I'm not giving you one."

"We'll see about that," Karson said.

"There is one more thing you should know, Patrick," Bowden added. "Like I said before, the DA and Sheriff have witnessed this whole conversation. And down in interrogation room A is prison guard Ellis Crossan. Now he hasn't said much, but, speaking from experience, he might have a lot to say when we tell him we have you in custody. Honor among thieves is a myth, Patrick." Bowden stood, and gestured for Karson to do the same. "We'll leave you two to talk. I'm going to check on Ellis."

Hess and Bowden left the room and joined the trio who witnessed the interrogation. "I don't think this conversation is over," Bowden said.

"That was a good job in there," Ecklie said to the detectives and the CSI. "The web that was spun to frame Grissom was tough."

"I heard nothing that lets Grissom off the hook, Conrad."

"Ladd, you can't be serious," Ecklie said.

"I'm dead serious, Sheriff," Sayers said. "He's right about the DNA, and even if it is his DNA in those shoes, they are still Grissom's shoes. He could have gave the shoes to Davies after paying him in cash to kill Sullivan."

"You think Grissom paid Davies to kill Sullivan and then got himself put in jail? Without implicating Patrick Davies at all?" Ecklie said incredulously. "What about what the lawyer, Hobson Nash, said?"

"Nothing short of a confession is going to convince me," Sayers said. "This should have been a phone call, Sheriff. Next time, don't waste my time with shit like this."

Sayers left leaving the law enforcement personnel with a sense of frustration, some more than others. "Conrad, we can't let him go," Hess said. "He's a flight risk."

Conrad looked at the detectives. "Thoughts?"

"I think this is our guy," Bowden said.

"Foster?"

"Hess has a point," Foster said after a long pause. "He's gonna run."

"Go in and arrest him in connection of the murder of Jake Sullivan," Ecklie said. "And if you can get a confession… unless you think it's a waste of time?"

Foster let out a snort. "Waste of time? Hell no. I love a challenge."

As Bowden and Foster went inside the interrogation room, Hess spoke to Ecklie. "We need a warrant for the DNA. Sayers didn't seem like he would help with that."

"I'll work on getting the warrant," Ecklie said.

"Did Grissom ever piss off Sayers?"

"If Grissom ever pissed anyone off, it was me," Ecklie said with a chuckle. "I have no idea what Sayers is thinking."

"I don't either, which is why getting that warrant right away is imperative."

"I agree," Ecklie said. "You think we should work on anything else immediately?"

"Well, I am down another CSI," Hess said. "Unless I can get one off of suspension."

"Sidle," Ecklie confirmed. "She'll want to know why she's off of suspension."

"Knowing her, yes. But if Sayers knows we told her…"

"Tell her what?" Ecklie said cryptically.

Hess smiled before he turned to leave.

A/N: Just a reminder that Patrick Davies was first introduced in chapters 6 & 7. He didn't appear in the show at all, and is my own creation/character