In a World They Forgot

Frozen in the Heathers

Whilst Catherine and Grissom set out with Brass to catch the sick S.O.B whose print had flagged up in the system, me and Greg worked twice as hard in the lab to process every last shred of evidence. We wanted this guy to get convicted as soon as possible; he couldn’t be let back on the streets, potentially ready to kill again. We couldn’t make a formal arrest though until we had a little more to hold him with.

   I was pulling fibres from a piece of torn fabric when, out of the corner of my eye, I caught Greg squinting at the paper in his hands, a confused expression on his face.

   “What’s wrong?” I asked, turning around to face him.

“I’ve got semen.” I blinked for a few seconds, confused by his slow outburst and wondering if it was a strange Greg joke that I had yet to discover.

“What? In the lab?”

“In the blood. The blood of the wife, to be exact.” Greg said, handing the paper over to me when I shook my head in disbelief.

I let my eyes scan the text and sure enough there were traces of semen in with the blood. It knocked me sick as the realisation sank in. I looked back up at Greg, my expression dark and my face considerably paler than normal. “There were no traces of semen anywhere else. None of the victims showed signs of sexual assault…” I hoped he had already come to the same conclusion that I had and his usual playful expression faded, replaced with one of disgust.

“So we’ve got ourselves an erotophonophiliac.” He sat down in his seat before continuing, “usually, I’m a pretty open minded guy and fetishes are something I’m comfortable with, but…not this kind. I can’t find any sense in a person who’s turned on by murder.”

“How do you even know that?” I asked, shaking my head before he could answer. I wasn’t entirely sure that I even wanted to know.

“So, he kills because it gives him a thrill and it seems that he couldn’t resist finishing himself off whilst staring at his ‘work’.” I put the paper on the desk and looked back at the microscope. “I don’t understand some people.”

“Didn’t he realise that we’d catch him?”

“Maybe he didn’t care.” I shrugged and tried to match the torn fabric to the lab samples. “He’s managed to catch the attention of the media and induce fear into every family home across the city. He’ll be remembered, even if he is behind bars.”

“Maybe his DNA will match the suspect and we can all go home.” Greg said, moving back across the lab.

   I sighed. We had been here for what seemed like forever. It was a long night and the closer we got to catching this creep then the more we didn’t want to risk leaving evidence until the next shift. By the time the suspect would be in custody, we’d probably only have half an hour left before the day team came in. We wanted it wrapped up before then.

   The room attached to the interrogation room was a crowded one when word got out that Brass had arrested the guy whose print had been a match to the partial. Catherine had sent DNA swabs down to the technicians with a priority on them whilst the suspect was questioned. James Alahan remained cool, calm and collected as Brass tried to pry information from his about why he was in the house when there was no connection between him and the murdered family. It was with a smirk on his face that he admitted to the crime. The DNA results hadn’t even returned and he just openly confessed to it all, smiling the whole time, feeling no regret or guilt for what he had done.

    “I watched them. The family. I saw him leave for work every morning, kiss his wife on the cheek when she handed him his thermos. I saw her take the children to school and I followed her when she picked them up. He came home just after five every night and they’d sit down for dinner as they all shared stories about their day. They really did have the perfect life. I had to take it from them. Show them that it was all a dream and make them see the nightmare of reality.

   So, I waited until the last light went out in the house and then I threw a rock at a window, waiting for them to come out to inspect what had happened. That was when I snuck in and up the stairs, going into the kid’s bedroom. They tried to squeal but, I cut them quickly before their parents had even returned from the yard. Once I was sure they were asleep again, I moved to their bedroom, slicing him up first, so that she could watch. She didn’t even scream. She just cried, begging me to let her go. I killed her next.” 

“Why gut them?”

 “It was a nice touch.”

   “I can’t listen to this.” I squeezed past Nick and Warrick and left the room, raking my fingers through my hair once I was back in the corridor.

Greg came out and looked me over. “You okay Miki?”

“Yeah, I just can’t listen to that sick bastard talk anymore. I’d end up killing him if I was in there.” I said, pacing back and forth to calm myself down.

“You wouldn’t be the only one, I’m sure.” Greg said, sighing softly as he watched me.

“He didn’t even have a motive! I mean, crimes of passion, revenge, even blind rage…they’re not acceptable but they’re understandable I guess, but this guy, this guy just wanted to get off to it.”

“Some people are sick like that, I guess.”

“How? I mean, what happens to them to make them so twisted?” I shook my head and looked back at the closed door.

“I don’t know, but we’ll catch them. They screw up and we end up finding the evidence that we need to put them behind bars for a long, long, time.” Greg said softly, blocking my path so that I’d stop pacing.

“I know we will. It just gets to me when there’s a case with children involved.”

“It gets to the best of us, believe me.” I was about to argue back that I hadn’t seen any of the other CSI’s sharing my reaction, when the door open and Catherine stepped out of the interrogation room, her eyes falling on the pair of us.

   “Nice job guys. He confessed and we’ve got enough evidence to charge him.” She said a congratulatory smile on her tight lips.

I smiled and Greg playfully patted me on the back. “Come on, let’s grab a coffee before the shift finishes.” He said, walking towards the break room.

   “I’m surprised you’ve not left yet.” Nick said when his eyes fell on me and Greg, sitting on the chairs in the light room, coffee mugs in our hands.

“I think I need some caffeine before I attempt to drive back across the city. I’m exhausted.” I said with a tired smile, sipping the strong hot drink.

“You guys did good. Not bad for a first full night, Miki.” Nick jokingly ruffled my hair as he bent down to the refrigerator to pull out a fresh banana.

“I just hope that I’m not this tired after every full night.” I replied, stifling a yawn.

“Probably not. Besides, you were in early and you didn’t get five minutes to breath in that lab tonight.” Greg pointed out as he downed the rest of his Hawaiian Blue.

“There wasn’t any time to have five minutes to myself. I wanted to get this case solved and closed.” I confessed, resting my head on the soft material behind me.

“And you did just that. Seriously girl, that wasn’t exactly an easy first case, but if you go at the rest like that, then Grissom won’t have any need for the rest of us.” Nick said with a smile as he casually tossed the banana peel into the bin.

“Then I’d work myself to death. And you two have already warned me about that today….yesterday?” Time was starting to mean nothing to me anymore. Working the graveyard shift meant that my head and its opinion of time was completely screwed.

“Go home and get some sleep.” Nick laughed on his way out of the room.

“I could probably sleep for a whole day.” I mumbled, closing my dry eyes.

“Well guess what! You can do just that!” Greg grinned, reminding me of just how out of sync my internal body clock was.