by Cree Storm
Donny shrugged. "When my "spidey" senses say there is a problem, I need to know where to look. I take my happy moments whenever I can." Donny wiggled his brows and when he noticed no one smiling back at him, he continued, "I first took a ride with Doris. That's how I know where she would go. The next time I went with them and got out with the doc. When I heard them talking, I decided to go there each week for a month to make sure I knew who was all involved that I could. Barry almost caught me once in his dark room." Shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "Who the hell uses dark rooms anymore, has the man not learned the world has gone digital? Besides, he really sucks as a photographer. Did you see those pictures he left? Things are either out of focus, too dark, or at odd ass angles."
Wade looked at Vik. "We need to check those out."
Walking to the desk, Vik gasped, "Son of a bitch, there has to be hundreds of pictures."
"I told you the guy takes shit tons at a murder site," Baldwin muttered, picking one up and then another.
Wade was looking at a picture, saying, "Something was bugging me when I left the Mayor’s office."
"A lot was bugging me when I left that place," Vik muttered.
Shaking his head, Wade said, "No, it was something Justice said. When he mentioned the video cameras and shit, he also talked about key pads he had installed in all the city buildings. I got with my brother, Rory, and had him look into the system of the coroner's office and see if he could find out who used their key cards around the time of Gary's murder. He's also going over all the footage from every camera angle he could find."
"You had your brother hack into the city’s systems?" Vik asked in shock.
"I did not hack into Crystal's system. I got permission from Justice. Just because I can, doesn't mean I should," Rory said walking into the lab.
"Well, well, hello there, sexy man. What do the men in Crystal drink? So many tall, come fuck me please, men in one town. Damn, I chose well." Donny practically purred, slowly moving forward as if stalking his prey.
"Back off, Donny or I'll kick your ass," Wade ground out.
Rory blinked a few times then turned back to Vik with a clear as shit blush to his cheeks. "Um, I found something I thought you guys should see. Where can I set up?"
Vik pointed to the desk they were at. "Anywhere." Turning to Sylux, he said, "Have you heard anything from Finn and Marco?"
"Nothing yet," Sylux stated.
"Damn it, they should have been back with those reports by now. Denver isn't that far away," Vik muttered.
Rory started tapping away, quietly saying, "Unless they got caught up in that massive twelve car pileup. They may not get here for days. Twenty-five is completely shut down."
"Great," Vik murmured.
Rory finished tapping then sat back. "I went through all the video around Crystal at the approximated times of each murder. Doc was seriously off on his times of death."
"Yeah, he said he couldn't actually pinpoint them because of temperature and blood loss," Vik replied.
Donny came to the desk. "Although it's true that body temperature may be out in determining the time of death, you can't exclude rigor mortis, and insects are a fantastic way to determine time of death. Depending on the insects found, you can give a seriously close time scale by the stage the insect is in, in its life cycle."
"All of that would have gone to Denver," Vik said with a sigh.
"What about their personal belongings? Where are they?" Donny asked.
"They should be in the evidence room. Why?" Vik asked.
Shrugging, Donny said, "Some of them might have watches and if they're broke, that could give you a possible time of death."
"Doc Clayton would have found that himself," Wade stated without looking from the screen.
Donny let out an audible sigh. "Look, I understand that humans like to stick together and all, but Doc Clayton was a lazy, no good bastard. He didn't do any more than he had to and always pushed jobs off on the rest of his staff."
Rory quickly said, "The thing is, I found something interesting. I went to each murder site and followed the day and into the night. Nobody would be there, the camera would go out and then when it came back up, there the body was. I looked everywhere, there were no cars, nothing."
"How long were the cameras out?" Wade asked.
"At least an hour," Rory replied.
Vik looked at Baldwin. "That means whoever is doing this knew about the cameras. How the hell can that be when we had no fucking clue?"
"I don't know," Baldwin replied.
"Well, there is someone you can ask," Rory said tapping to another screen.
Vik looked back at the screen. "Who?"
"I did that badge sweep report that Wade told me about. I'm running background checks on everyone with access in and out of all city buildings. It takes time, but I've made progress. Anyway, as for the coroner's office, the only people in the building at the time were the five-person cleaning crew, and Tony Lathers."
CHAPTER 15
“How long are you just going to let him stew there?” Justice asked.
Vik stood with his arms crossed over his chest, shoulder leaning on the window frame as he stared into the interrogation room. “A few more minutes,” Vik replied.
“It’s been close to four hours,” Justice sighed.
“It’s a little game of cat and mouse,” Wade said. “You let the perp, or informant, sit, alone, and let his mind fill in all the blanks. I bet that brain has gone through hundreds of questions and possible reasons for him being here. By the time Vik, Baldwin, and Orion go in to talk to him, Tony will most likely admit to killing Jimmy Hoffa himself.”
Justice looked at Wade and raised a brow. “And you know this how?”
Wade met his gaze and gave Justice a smirk. “In my line of work, do you really have to ask?”
“Guess not,” Justice mumbled and turned back to look through the window.
“I think it’s time we have a little chat. You have those pictures and reports ready?” Vik asked of no one in particular.
“Got the photos right here,” Baldwin answered.
“I have the info Rory gave us. When do you want me to interrupt?” Orion asked.
“Give us five minutes then come in,” Vik replied and pushed away from the wall.
He and Baldwin walked to the door leading into the interrogation room. Vik gave Baldwin a look, then the two stiffened their spines, squared their shoulders, and put masks of indifference on their faces. Vik opened the door and they stepped in.
Tony immediately sat up in his seat and placed his hands on the table in front of him. “Why the hell have I been sitting here for so long? What’s going on, Vik?”
Vik pulled out the chair opposite of Tony and sat down as Baldwin moved to the left of the table and leaned back against the wall, his face stone cold as he remained silent. Tony flicked his gaze to Baldwin nervously, then back to Vik.
“A few things have been brought to our attention during this investigation and we were wondering if you could clear some things up for us.”
“Sure, I’ll help with whatever you want, Vik. I am part of the forensics team so if you have any questions as to the evidence I gathered, then shoot.”
"What kind of files did Doc Clayton keep in his office?" Vik asked.
Shrugging, Tony replied, "The typical stuff. You know, pending cases, employee files, unsolved cases, that sort of thing."
"Who had access to them?" Vik asked.
Shaking his head, Tony replied, "No one but the doc, as far as I know."
“I know we’re not a big city here and only have you and Barry on our CSI team. Well, technically, Doc Clayton was part of it, but now that he’s gone we can’t ask him, now can we?” Vik said calmly.
Tony fidgeted in his seat. “I guess not. But if your questions have anything to do with the stuff Doc was working on, then I really can’t help you. As you know, all I do is collect the samples, package them up for the cage, or send them to Denv
er.”
Vik raised a brow. “You send the samples to Denver? I thought Doc did that.”
“Oh…well…I…um. Doc sends whatever he needs to from what he collects from the bodies and stuff, but all the stuff I collect at the scene, I bring back to the precinct and log in.”
“Yes, but I didn’t know you handled getting them off to Denver,” Vik replied.
Tony’s eyes widened slightly, before he caught himself. “I don’t,” he said hurriedly. “I just get everything separated. Whatever needs to go into the evidence room and what needs to go out. Those that need to go into evidence I log in and the other stuff I pack up for the guy from Denver who comes to collect it.”
“And how often does he come to collect?” Vik asked.
Tony’s brows dipped low as he looked at Vik in confusion. “You’ve worked here a hell of a lot longer than I have, Vik, surely you know the answer to that.”
“What does that have to do with my question? Doesn’t matter if I know that already, I still want you to tell me.”
Tony sighed heavily and sat back in his chair. “Fine. He comes once a week, unless, like this case, there is more going on. Then he’ll come two, maybe three times.”
“And you give him the package you got ready for him?” Vik asked.
“No. Once I’m done with it, I give it to the chief and he locks it up in the cage. When the guy comes, chief gives it to him. You know you and Nash are the only ones with keys to the cage and the evidence room.”
“So then why did you say send them over to Denver?” Vik asked, never taking his gaze off Tony.
Tony quickly straightened as he protested, “No, that’s not what I meant. I just meant I get them ready to go off to Denver.”
“But you specifically said or you send them off, which to me is a big difference from getting them ready for Denver.”
“Well, that’s what I meant, you’re just twisting my words.”
“How did I twist your words? You said it, I’m just trying to understand it. So, are there times you bring samples to Doc?”
“No. Well, yes, but only when he is doing his own investigation and he needs to look at some of the evidence to correspond with something. Then he talks to Nash and the chief okay’s it and has me bring it over.”
“That’s why your badge works in the security lock, I guess,” Vik said, then finally looked down at the folder he had brought in.
“Of course. There are those times, and sometimes Doc asked me to come get his samples to get ready for Denver as well, and after I do I give them to Nash, too.”
“So, was there a time during this investigation that you brought evidence to Doc, or that he had you collect his samples for pick up?”
“Yeah. After each murder Doc called and had me come get something to be ready for the Denver lab.”
“Then it’s safe for me to say that there were times when highly sensitive material pertaining to this case were in the hands of a CSI when it shouldn’t have been? And that said CSI could have done anything with them?”
“Hey! I resent the insinuation, Vik. I would never tamper with evidence. Yes, to your question, but no, I didn’t do anything with the samples Doc gave me, except get them ready like any other sample for the lab, then hand them off to the chief.”
“Were there other times you used your badge to enter the Doc’s exam room other than when he called you there?”
Tony fidgeted and Vik could see a slight sweat break out across his brow. “No. And most of the time not even then. Doc usually had everything ready, and when I went in, he came out with it.”
“Then tell me something, Tony. Why was your I.D. card scanned going into Doc’s exam room at ten o’clock the night he was murdered?”
Tony looked at him in confusion for a moment, then shook his head as he replied, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I didn’t go to Doc’s that night.”
Just then, Orion stepped in carrying another file and walked to Vik. He leaned down and placed the file in front of Vik, then leaned in and whispered in Vik’s ear. “So, was the sex finally hot as hell and all you had hoped for?”
Vik had to control himself from either laughing or turning a deep red. He knew Tony couldn’t hear what Orion said and it was part of the show for Tony, so Vik needed to keep his face neutral.
Orion straightened, then instead of leaving he took a few steps from Vik, then sat on the edge of the table, his gaze fixed on Tony as Vik opened the folder Orion had just dropped in front of him and pretended to scan through it.
He took his time reading through the material before him. He already knew every word written in this report, but Tony didn’t know that and he wanted to make him sweat a little longer. Vik smiled to himself when he saw Tony from the tops of his eyes shifting around in his seat uncomfortably, and if his sense of smell was still as good as it had always been, Tony was sweating even more than before.
“So, you never messed with any of the samples Doc entrusted you with?” Vik asked still looking down.
“No,” Tony answered.
“Were you and the Doc having an affair?”
Tony jumped in his seat as he gasped. “What? No! Jeez, man, he was old. I’m not that desperate.”
“Then why is there a report here from the lab that your semen was found in Doc’s office?” Vik still refused to look up.
“What? No, that’s not…I never had any relationship with him.”
“I didn’t say the sample came from inside Doc. I said it came from inside Doc’s office. Shit, his office, his waiting room, oh, and looky here, even his exam room,” Vik said and finally looked up and met Tony’s gaze.
Tony was speechless and now sweating profusely, and Vik could see the wheels turning in his head trying to come up with some plausible story. From the corner of his eye Vik saw Baldwin push off the wall and walk toward them, stopping at the table. He uncrossed his arms from over his chest and held a piece of paper in his hand. Baldwin lowered it to the table face up, then slid it closer to Tony.
Tony dropped his gaze and looked at the photo and his eyes closed as he cursed under his breath and his shoulders slumped. “It’s not what you think,” he whispered.
“Looks like it’s exactly what I think. The time and date stamp on that photo clearly says you were just outside Doc’s office minutes before the time of death. And to my surprise, who is that standing next to you looking all nervous?”
“Looks like Jim Farmer, the mechanic guy to me. And they both look guilty as hell,” Baldwin added.
“No, we didn’t do anything to Doc.”
“Maybe he’s telling the truth, guys. Maybe…it was just one of their many…poker games. You know the ones I’m talking about? Those fake poker games that were really meetings to discuss their hatred for our kind. The ones that Doc had balls enough to take free rides from Doris, a phoenix shifter, to, then go in there and slam her kind behind her back,” Orion threw out.
Tony’s eyes went wide as his gaze quickly flicked to each of them and sweat poured down his face.
“I doubt it was one of their “rid Crystal of paranormal meetings.” If it were, then there would have been more of them there and these two idiots would have probably been smart enough to figure out they didn’t have the enough time to kill the Doc and get out without the others discovering them. Which leads me to wonder why they wanted Doc dead? If he was a part of their hate group, then why would they want to kill him?” Baldwin said.
“Like the others maybe? Kill the humans to make it look like it was a vampire to incite panic among the humans and make them try to force us out,” Vik replied.
“Maybe the Doc found out it was Tony and Jim and he called them there to warn them we were getting closer, or that he had found evidence pointing to them, so they could get out of town before we got to them?” Orion spoke up.
“But then why would they kill him if he were helping them?” Vik asked as he stared Tony down.
“Makes no difference. With this evid
ence, we have a strong case to put him and Farmer away for a long time for all these murders. And from the clock on the wall, it appears Ryder should be here soon to look over the evidence,” Baldwin said.
“The DA is coming?” Tony asked nervously.
“Yup, and he’s fresh from his vacation, ready to start his attack on the guilty party, or parties here. I think we’re done here, guys,” Vik said and stood up as he pulled his handcuffs from his back pocket.
Tony watched his move, and jumped to his feet when he saw the cuffs. “Wait! Just wait! I didn’t kill the Doc! I didn’t kill anyone! Yes, okay, I was stupid enough to go to a few of those damn meetings, but that was for Jim. We started seeing each other a few months before the murders started and I went for him. And the…sample you found of me around the Doc’s offices was because…Jim and I…we…snuck in there sometimes to meet. He didn’t want anyone to know he was seeing a guy and it was close to Wade’s shop, so we could meet there privately sometimes. When Doc found out about it he insisted we stop, but also that I become a member of his group, not just sit in on a meeting occasionally for Jim, or he would go to Nash and the Mayor and tell them what we were doing.” Tony dropped back into his seat in defeat.
“So, Doc found out about your little trysts and blackmailed you into joining his hate group? And you went along with it?” Vik asked through clenched teeth.
Tony’s fear filled gaze met his. “Do you know what Nash and the Mayor would have done to me had they found out I was jeopardizing every investigation in Crystal by bringing Jim in there? Or by me being in there when I wasn’t authorized? I would have lost my job, maybe even been charged and sent to jail for a little while. And Jim would have been outed.”
“So, that’s all this picture was? Just the two of you sneaking in to get your rocks off?” Vik asked. Tony nodded and looked down.
“Bullshit!” Vik hissed and Tony’s head snapped up, their gazes meeting again.
“Ten minutes after this picture was taken, your keycard was swiped for entry into the building, then into the exam room. As per the evidence for time of death, Doc was dead fifteen minutes later. Which means you and Jim were the only ones in there at the time of Doc’s death.”