Jane walked out to the reception area and called "Nathaniel Svensson". An attractive woman with long dark blonde hair, pulled back in a pony tail stood up. Jane glanced from top to toe; she was beaiutifully attired, with a shaped grey blazer, a well fitted teal silk blouse, black pencil skirt, and gorgeous calves above a pair of killer heels. Jane gave a small wry smile as the woman approached her, her mind musing on how anyone could not totter when wearing heels that high.
She raised a dark eyebrow "Just you today?" as the woman nodded and then began to open her mouth to reply, Jane quickly intercepted with "my office is this way".
They reached the office, just two doors down from reception, and Jane turned to offer her a hand to shake as they entered the room.
"Dr Jane Rizzoli, are you Mrs Svensson?"
The blonde woman looked a little awkward but as she offered her hand said "no, Maura Isles actually"
Jane looked back "Mother, stepmother…?."
"None of the above actually" Maura replied, still looking a little uncomfortable. "I'm a lawyer"
Jane's eyes flashed with annoyance. "A lawyer! So you are here under some false pretence to do what exactly?"
Maura tipped her head to the side and smiled sweetly at the now clearly irritable doctor "may I sit and explain a little"
Jane ignored the request and stood over her "and who are you acting for exactly?"
Maura remained standing calmly "Nathaniel Svensson"
"I've never even heard of Nathaniel Svensson; are you sure he is a patient of mine?"
"Not yet, Dr Rizzoli, that's what I wanted to discuss"
"So are you, or are you not a malpractice lawyer?" Jane tersely responded
"No, no, not malpractice at all Dr Rizzoli, your reputation is excellent"
Jane softened a little "you know it doesn't matter how good you might be, families are unhappy if they don't like what you have to say. Malpractice lawyers are an issue for anyone in practice. And try and sneak in by all sorts of means. But if you're not a malpractice lawyer I still don't understand why you are here. Are you having trouble with your son you wish to discuss"
Maura looked towards the chairs in the office again. Jane nodded towards one and Maura sat, keeping an upright pose, primly crossing one gorgeous leg over the other. Jane dropped herself in to a chair nearer the desk.
"So?" Jane offered in an enquiring tone
"Dr Rizzoli, Nathaniel is a 16 year old client of mine, currently facing charges of murder"
Jane irritably cut her off "I don't do expert witness work"
Maura remained calm and continued in a measured tone "I know that Dr Rizzoli. You are a clinician through and through"
"A clinician who likes to see patients. Not have lawyers misrepresent themselves to interrupt my afternoon". Jane fidgeted with her pen, continuing to look frustrated
"Dr Rizzoli, I am not convinced I have misrepresented myself. I am a lawyer. I represent a troubled young man. I am asked to act as his advocate. I believe he needs help, and you come extremely highly recommended".
"So you want me to treat him? What for?"
"I don't know that doctor, I am not qualified to perform a psychiatric assessment"
Jane's irritability seemed to be slowly replaced with a sense of confusion
"So you want me to treat a young man with some unclear problem, why exactly?"
"Because I think he needs someone to help him, and the usual routes haven't worked"
"But you are his lawyer. You are meant to defend his charges, not turn in to some kind of overdressed social worker, Ms Isles"
"Dr Rizzoli, I must be honest with you, that part of my motivation in approaching you is that there is something about this case that seems wrong, something that I think Nathaniel himself knows, but neither myself, nor the two prior psychiatrists I engaged for an expert opinion have been able to establish as he is so withdrawn. I am hopeful he may divulge something to you that is meaningful for his defense. But", she continued quickly as she could see the doctor beginning to rise again "mainly I want to ensure if he does need any psychiatric support he gets it"
"so Ms Isles, you are a public defense attorney?"
"yes"
"I can't imagine your office is willing to cover my care, and I can't imagine an insurer would either"
"No doctor, but your bills will all be paid, I have made arrangements with a charitable foundation to cover any costs"
Jane sat back in her chair and quietly looked again at the woman. Maura Isles. Jane had little experience of lawyers. From her understanding from her discussions with her brother, public defender s were usually either highly ambitious, and aiming to get good results to either establish themselves in lucrative private defense, where they looked for loopholes to get dodgy criminals off, or to move up the ranks towards being a DA. Or there were a few career public defenders, who weren't particularly good at their job, and took the salary as more secure than finding work elsewhere. This woman didn't seem to fit any of these boxes. Obviously being exceptionally well presented didn't preclude working for the public defense service. Although Jane did wonder, as whilst she paid little attention to attire herself, beyond the minimum she thought necessary to appear professional, this woman pretty clearly didn't shop at the chain stores she did. She had presumed public defenders were not well paid. She seemed extremely intelligent. But she couldn't see how ambition in any direction fitted with finding charitable funding to have a young client see an adolescent psychiatrist for reasons outside of an expert opinion to the court. And goodness. being beautiful didn't stop anyone being able to do their job, but Jane snuck another glance from the woman's shoes, slipping quickly up her body confirming her impression that this woman looked like she might spend her days on a fashion runway rather than mixing with criminals. Jane shook her head gently as she tried to regain focus on the matter at hand, realising her thoughts had now strayed to whether Maura Isles would be tall enough to work as a fashion model, having heard height, more like hers, was a prerequisite for some reason. She looked toward hazel eyes, which seemed to show a hint of amusement, or maybe hopefulness, or was it just earnestness?
"so why are you doing this for him?"
Maura appeared matter of fact "I see myself as an advocate Dr Rizzoli. As you likely know, most young offenders come from difficult backgrounds, neglect, violence, head injury. I know it suits police and prosecutors to see them as bad, and I don't wish to excuse sometimes terrible behaviour, but oftentimes, these young people are victims themselves, and need representation to the best of my ability. I try to speak for them. Sometimes looking for mitigating factors. Sometimes because everyone presumes they must be bad because of their background, and presumptions can be wrong. That's my general response. For Nathaniel specifically, I worry about why he is unnaturally withdrawn, and if it is guilt, whether it is so large that he needs some kind of treatment, but if it isn't guilt, I want to be sure justice is done. For him, for the victims. Whatever has happened".
Jane stretched back in her chair, and rolled her her head from side to side. "so you want me to chat to him, see if I can get him to talk when no one else has, take it from there?"
Maura smiled encouragingly at her.
"This is very unusual Ms Isles, I need to have a think".
"Please do" came the quick response, "look I should leave you to your day, but here is my card, please be in contact if you are willing to meet him". Maura stood and reached to shake hands with Jane again. "It has been a pleasure to meet you Dr Rizzoli. Whatever you decide". She smiled, turned and walked out. Jane stood, mouth slightly open as she watched the woman walk from her office, gorgeous legs highlighted by the heels. She heard the quiet clicks of her heels heading down the corridor and away from the office and sat back in her chair and looked at the card. Shaking her head as if it might help clear it, she mumbled to herself "c'mon Rizzoli, it is beyond unprofessional to take on an assessment of a young person you would normally refuse, just because their lawyer is hot"