A/N – set six months after the events of "All In", but assuming Alexx didn't leave. I can't write a story without her :)

Calleigh Duquesne was in a bad mood. It had been raining all day. She had wanted to go for a run this morning, but she was a Louisiana girl, through and through. She didn't do rain. Now, she wished she had braved it. She felt pent up and agitated, and it wasn't even 10am. As Calleigh walked past the trace lab, she saw Natalia and Ryan bent over the desk, scrutinising a piece of paper. Probably evidence from one of the many open cases they had at the moment. They'd had a run of unsuccessful investigations lately. That, coupled with the rain, frustrated Calleigh.

Laughter from the trace lab made Calleigh stop in her tracks. What could Ryan and Natalia possibly find so funny about evidence? She turned and walked back to the door, plastering a trademark sunny smile on her face.

"Hey guys, what's so funny?"
Ryan stood bolt up-right, whilst Natalia slid the paper behind her back.
"Nothing." Ryan lied. "We were just… um… going over some evidence."
"Evidence? So what's the joke?"
"We were just laughing at…" Natalia searched for an explanation that would fool Calleigh.
"His name!" Ryan burst out. "We were laughing at his name!".
"Really? What is it?" Calleigh asked, suspiciously.
"What is it?" Ryan stalled.
"Yeah, his name. What's so funny about it?"
"His name… is… Elephant! Mr Elephant!"
"Ryan, that's the lamest thing you've said. Ever." Natalia criticised.
"Well, you weren't exactly helping, were you!"
"Don't you put this on me, Wolfe, you came to me, remember!"
"Guys, guys. Enough. Now one of you…" She was interrupted by the ring of her cell. Pulling out of the pocket, she glanced at the name. Horatio Caine.
"Look, I have to take this. Don't think you've gotten off the hook that easy though."
Ryan and Natalia looked at each other nervously as Calleigh answered the phone.

"Duquesne". She turned away from them, frowning as her boss filled her in on the details of their next case. "I'm on my way." She wrapped up the call and turned back to where Ryan and Natalia had been standing. They had somehow managed to sneak out of the trace lab without her noticing.
"Dammit." She muttered, before heading off to find Eric.

Ryan and Natalia stifled childish giggles, until they heard Calleigh's footsteps fade. Pulling themselves out from under the desk, they stood up straight, laughing so hard they could barely breathe.
"I swear to God, Ryan, if she comes back I'm turning you in." Natalia threatened.
"Relax, will you? She'll be gone for hours. Now let's get this finished while the coast is clear."
Natalia nodded, before once again bursting into uncontrollable giggles.

It took Calleigh a good fifteen minutes to find Eric. He had been looking for her, and the two had been missing each other all over the building. Finally, she caught up with him in Ballistics.

"Hey Eric, Horatio called. We've got another body to add to the list."
"Yeah, he called me too. You ready to go?"
"Sure."

Calleigh let Eric drive through the busy Miami streets. She was feeling irritated as it was, and she didn't want to make things worse by battling through the traffic. Besides, it always took her ages to adjust the seat so she could reach the pedals. Not that she'd ever admit that to anyone.

It took them nearly forty minutes to wind their way out of town to the crime scene. They chatted easily the whole way there, discussing the details of some of the cases they'd been unable to solve over the last few weeks. As they pulled up at the heavily wooded area Horatio had directed them to, Calleigh started to take in the scene.

Patrol cars littered the road. A haphazard crime scene perimeter had been set up, weaving the distinctive black and yellow tape around trees and shrubs. Calleigh grabbed her camera and jumped down from the Hummer.

"Nice spot for a murder" Eric commented, glancing around at scenery. "The rain's gonna cause us some problems."
"Yeah, who knows what evidence will get washed away?"

They ducked under the tape and walked towards a small white tent, set up to protect the body from the elements. Alexx knelt by the body of a large man, trying to get a thermometer into the victim's liver. Calleigh couldn't help but notice the obvious.

"He has a hole in him!"
"Yep, right the way through. And you wanna know what's weird?" Alexx asked.
"The hole isn't weird?"
"Well, yes, but something else. The wound is cauterized. There's barely any blood outside of the body.
"Cauterized? Like with something hot?" Eric squatted down to get a closer look.
"Bingo." Alexx confirmed.
"So what are we looking at here? A blow torch maybe?"
"No, the wound is too neat for that, and we'd see more extensive burning. I'd say we're looking at a super-heated pole of some sort."
"Where would you get one of those all the way out here?" Calleigh wondered, starting to snap pictures
"You don't. I've got double levidity here. The body's been moved."
"So we're looking for a primary crime scene." Eric ducked outside of the tent, leaving Calleigh to carry on photographing.

Horatio was about 20 feet away, crouched down, staring at the earth.

"H. What have you got?"
"Tire treads"
"In this rain?"
"I think the trees have kept most of the rain off, but let's work quickly on this. This rain's getting heavier.
"You got it, H." Eric got to work casting the tire treads. It wasn't difficult to find the shoe prints in the dirt, they led directly from the car to the body. He took casts of those, too.

Eventually, Calleigh emerged from the tent.
"Hey, Cal, can you get some shots of these?" Eric called.
"Sure." She pointed her camera and started shooting.
"Hey Eric, I have a question." She stopped, looking up at him. "If you're going to dump a body, why stop the car twenty feet from where you're actually going to dump it? It's hard work carrying a dead weight. Wouldn't it be easier to just open the door and push him out?"

Eric looked around.

"There's a lake a little further on. Maybe whoever dumped the body was trying to carry him there. Our vic's a big guy. Maybe the perp ran out of energy."
Calleigh turned, walking slowly back towards the tent. Eric followed her inside.

She was looking at the floor.

"It's hard to see, with all the foot traffic in here, but d'you think these marks could be made by someone falling to their knees?

Eric looked closer. The round impressions could easily be imprints of somebody's knees. A little further back, he could see deeper impressions.

"Look at this, Cal. I'd lay money on this being were his toes dug in as he went down."
"OK, so the he drives out here, gets as close to the lake as he can before the ground gets too soft, and starts trying to carry our vic. He makes it twenty feet before his legs give way and he falls, dropping the vic. Hey, Eric, kneel down for me would you."
"You want me to kneel at your feet?"
"If you'd be so kind." She teased.
"OK, if you insist." Eric placed his kit on the ground before dropping to his knees.
"Like this?"
"Yeah. Now, get up."
Obediently, Eric pushed himself up, using his right hand to steady himself.
"There. You pushed yourself up."
Eric looked down. He could see his handprint in the wet mud.
"What's the betting our perp did the same thing?"

They both looked down, searching for a handprint.
"Here." Eric said. Calleigh looked where he was pointing. Clear as day, they saw the hand print of a killer.