Author's note: Enjoy!

Chapter 5

The next morning…

Lucas was feeling like they'd missed something that would definitively identify the murderer. There had to be something that would tell them who had done it. Right now, Dustin Jamison was under arrest for the crime, but all evidence against him was circumstantial. Henry usually was the one to find this clue, but he didn't have any additional insights, so Lucas thought he would try his hand at looking at the crime scene one more time. At the very least it couldn't hurt.

The door was being reinstalled when Lucas arrived. "Let's finish tightening these bolts and then we can see why the humidity is so high."

Lucas went up to the installers. "Sorry, hi, Doctor Lucas Wahl with the NYPD's Medical Examiners' Office. Did I hear you say that the humidity is too high? How can you tell?"

"There shouldn't be that many icicles on the roof. If I had to guess, the humidity has been too high for a little over a month."

"How does that kind of thing happen?"

The worker scratched his chin. "The machinery on top might need to be adjusted. Why?"

"I need you to hold off on touching anything until I take a look at it. Sorry. Official police business." Lucas grabbed his camera and climbed to the top of the freezer. "I just need to take a quick look."

Lucas took another look at the machinery. When he'd looked at it before, he'd been looking for tool marks that were recent, not over a month old. He slowly looked over every inch of the piping and mechanisms, trying to think how Henry would think. As he stood up, he looked down and in the middle of a group of pipes, Lucas noticed that there looked to be some fingermarks in the grime. He took a picture and took a closer look.

That definitely looks like finger marks. Lucas pulled out his phone. "Hey, Detective Martinez. It's Lucas. I went back to the crime scene. I think I might have found something near the machinery on the top of the freezer. … Can I get someone to dust for fingerprints? … I know that someone dusted the machinery already. What I found was kinda hidden in a hard-to-reach area. I'll send a picture."

Lucas used his phone to take a picture and sent it to Jo. "Did you get it? Good. Look, the door to the freezer was getting put back on when I got here and the installers were saying the humidity has been too high for a month. I'm wondering if the killer needed the humidity to build up before they could do the dry ice part. These marks could be from then. Okay, I'll wait for them right here."

The installer called up to Lucas as he hung up. "Can we get up there to fix the humidity problems?"

"Not yet. There's a crime scene technician on their way to dust for prints."

Two hours later…

The prints were run and came back to the exemplars provided by Callie Ortega. She also worked in the deli department, but she hadn't been working the day that Doris died. Jo had gone back to the video footage from a month ago and saw Callie climb up to the top of the freezer. Jo couldn't tell what Callie was doing up there, but it looked like she dropped a tool and was reaching to grab it again. Now we know how the fingerprints were left behind.

"Is that who left the prints?" Hanson looked over Jo's shoulder.

"Yep. She did something on top of that freezer. We need to find out what."

"Uniforms bringing her in?"

"Yep." Jo stood up. "Has Henry arrived yet?"

"I don't know. Why?"

"I need to know if the extra humidity would have an effect on the dry ice."

"Like make it more lethal?"

"Maybe." Jo headed for the elevator. "Let me know when she gets here."

"Okay."

Jo went downstairs and found Henry just arriving in his office. "Lucas found something this morning. Up on top of the freezer. Something the crime scene techs missed. Your training is paying off."

"I heard. Some fingerprints left a month ago. Do you think its relevant?"

"I'm not sure. The installers putting the door back on said the humidity was too high. The fingerprints were found near the machinery that regulates that. So, the question is, would the humidity affect the way the dry ice reacted in there?"

"It might, but not the way you're thinking." Henry took off his coat. "The extra humidity might have made the fog from the dry ice not seem unusual, leading Doris to not be suspicious when she opened the door. It also would have made recycling the air more difficult, leading to the carbon dioxide remaining in the air for longer."

"Anything else?"

"It would help to explain how she froze that much so quickly. The humidity can lower the temperature in the freezer slightly, and the dry ice might have lowered it just a tiny bit more." Henry smiled. "I never went to the top of the freezer, so I'm glad Lucas was able to spot it."

Jo's phone chimed. "Hanson says Callie Ortega is here. Want to watch?"

"After you."

"Callie Ortega, your prints were found on top of the freezer near the humidity regulating machinery. Care to explain that?"

"I was up there, but I didn't do anything to it."

Jo turned around the tablet. "I think you might want to revise your statement." She played the footage of Callie playing with the equipment and dropping the tool. "You left your prints when you picked up the tool you dropped. What were you doing up there?"

Callie looked down. "It was harmless. The only thing I did was to raise the humidity in the freezer. It was no big deal."

"No big deal. Really? Because that little 'prank' might help a killer get away with murder."

"What?" Callie's eyes went big. "What do you… how could… I don't understand."

"Because of your tampering, the freezer couldn't get rid of the CO2 buildup in that room. Doris is dead because of that."

Callie started to cry. "I never meant to hurt anyone. I just wanted to get Doris in trouble for the freezer getting a little out of balance."

"Why?"

"She hated me. I don't know why. But she was always mean to me. I just wanted her to get in trouble for something. Especially after she tried to kill me last month."

"How did she try to kill you?"

"I work in the refrigerator, so even when it is hot outside, I dress for 40 degrees. She made me go get carts when it was 88 and 50% humidity. I have asthma and I told her I couldn't get them, not without changing first. She didn't care. I almost couldn't breathe by the time I was done. I could have ended up in the hospital or collapsed outside and died. I told the manager, but he did nothing. So I messed with the freezer. I never wanted anyone to get hurt."

"Sit tight for a minute." Jo left the Interrogation Room and entered the Observation Room. "What do you think about her?"

Henry turned away from Callie. "She's being honest. Unless Dustin was working with her, she was not involved. Without the dry ice being introduced into that room, Callie's actions would never have hurt anyone."

"Well, Dustin lawyered up, so we're having to release him today. And if Callie's not involved, we'll have to release her too."

Henry looked thoughtful. "Perhaps he should see Callie in cuffs as he's released. His reaction could say a lot."

"I'll work it out with Reece."

Dustin was brought up from Holding to an interrogation room to sign his paperwork for his release. Callie was waiting near the elevators in handcuffs with some officers to be brought in. She'd been told that the prime suspect was not saying anything and they needed to see his reaction when he saw her. She'd been confused, but agreed when she was told that she would be released soon after. Jo was waiting for Dustin to exit the Interrogation Room now.

The door to the room opened. "Don't leave town, Dustin."

"Whatever you say, Detective."

Jo signaled to the officers and Callie was led in. Dustin saw Callie and his eyes widened in shock. "Callie?"

Callie had been told not to say anything, but seeing Dustin had been a surprise. "Dustin?"

Jo intercepted Callie. "We'll talk in I2, Ms. Ortega."

Dustin tried to follow Callie, but Hanson stopped him. "Wait, Callie!" He looked at Hanson. "I'll tell you everything. Just let her go. She didn't do anything."

Dustin's lawyer held up a hand. "Mr. Jamison, you need to stop talking."

"You're fired. I did it. I killed Doris."

"Dustin. You said you'd tell us everything. Start talking." Jo took a seat across from him.

"I killed Doris. Callie had nothing to do with it."

"We're going to need some more details than that."

"The store had everything I'd needed. Dry ice, buckets, an enclosed space. I just needed to know Doris's schedule. I needed her to be the closing manager on a day I worked so she wouldn't be discovered too quickly. Once I had that information, I moved the camera, and waited for the right day."

"Why did you kill her?"

Dustin sighed. "She tried to kill Callie. Demanded that she get the carts even though it was hot and humid. Callie explained why she couldn't; told Doris that she had asthma and couldn't go outside without getting out of the extra layers she was wearing first. Doris said, 'Everyone needs to pull their weight here. No exceptions.' I couldn't believe it."

"You heard that firsthand?" Hanson moved from the wall to the table.

"I was standing right there. Told Doris I could go get them. She said, 'I need you in here. Callie can handle this. She's just trying to get out of working.' When Callie came back in, she was bright red and couldn't breathe. She had to sit in the refrigerator for a while to cool down enough to breathe properly again. That's when I decided to kill Doris."

Jo stood. "So, let me get this straight. You killed Doris because she made Callie get carts when it was hot."

"Because she was being unreasonable! Callie told her why that was dangerous, and Doris decided to send her out anyway." Dustin took a deep breath. "I love Callie. Doris tried to kill her. Doris has always been mean to Callie, but that was the last straw."

Reece was listening to Jo's report. "Dustin killed a supervisor for being mean to his girlfriend?"

"That's what he said. Using dry ice was a pretty smart way to do it too. If we didn't have Henry and Lucas, this might have been ruled an accidental death and he would have gotten away with it." Jo set the files on the Lieutenant's desk.

"How are things between you and Henry?"

"What has Mike said?"

"He's worried about you." Reece picked up the files. "I'm assuming something happened."

"We're taking a break. I need to actually deal with Sean's death before I commit to a relationship again."

"But you can still work with Dr. Morgan?"

"Of course." Jo crossed her arms. "Things were a little awkward at first but we're being professional. He's aware of what I'm going through and is giving me the space to work on that. Apparently he lost someone several years ago, so he's very understanding."

"Glad to hear about it." Reece glanced at the files. "I'll get these sent over to the D.A. Good job."

"Thanks, Lou." Jo went out to the bullpen to find Henry standing next to her desk. "Henry."

"Abe is asking you to join us for dinner tonight. I think he might be trying to force us back together, so I can understand if you would rather not."

Jo laughed. "I don't have other plans. I'll be there. There are some things we should talk about as well."

Henry nodded. "I would like that. I'll see you there."

A/N: Stay tuned!