Chapter One:
Jane had only just stepped out of the shower when she heard her cell ringing from her living room. She had put her dark hair up into a towel and she had on her underwear. Did she rush to answer the phone or finish dressing? She paused a moment, threw on her black pants and ran out into the lounge hoping she had remembered to leave her curtains closed because she didn't think anyone on the street wanted to see her running around in just a bra and pants, or worse still maybe there was someone out there who would get off on it. She snatched up the cell sliding her thumb down her new smart phone and answered the call.
'Detective Rizzoli,'
'Got another one Jane,' she sighed heavily and fell back on the couch. Another one… She knew what Frost meant. For the past few months they had been working on the murder of two young women who they believe were murdered by the same person. Same manner of death, and freakishly enough they had both been branded on their forehead with an upside down cross. They weren't sure whether it was related to some creepy religious rite, or whether it was just a random sign chosen by a random psychopath out there. Both women had been raped, and tortured it seemed, broken ribs suggested that he may have beaten them with more than just his hands. The same ligature marks on the wrists meant they were probably tied up as well. God only knows how long he had them as they had been missing over a week before either of the bodies had been discovered.
She leaned forward and jotted down the address on the notepad she always kept on her coffee table. She hung up the phone and rubbed her tired eyes. They had to find this bastard, they had to put a stop to this sick, sick man who was wandering the streets.
..
'We haven't got an ID yet,' Frost told her, she followed him threw the bystanders. People were talking into cell phones, talking to each other, and a fair few people were hugging each other. She felt their pain, but also wished they would just leave. This poor victim didn't need strangers hovering around waiting for a glimpse of her body. She ducked under the police tape that had been set up and her eyes roved over the other police officers until they found Maura, she always stood out at a crime scene – dressed as though she was about to walk down the runway. Sometimes she envied Maura her beauty, and the ability to look so beautiful while being a medical examiner. It was always thought of as a horrible, disturbing job… But Maura made the job seem less dark, less disturbing, which is what people needed to get through each case. She felt lucky to work alongside a woman as talented and intelligent as Doctor Isles. She felt privileged to have her as a friend too; she couldn't really imagine life without her now. Maura must have felt eyes on her, as her crouched form twisted and her eyes found Jane's. She raised her eyebrows, and Jane came to stand beside her.
No one had to say a word; it was definitely the same person who killed Angie Wright and Marie Townsend. The horrible upside down cross branded on her forehead, burnt so deep that even if she had survived she would never have been rid of the scars. But there was no doubt in her mind that this lady was dead. Her face ashen, her eyes open but unseeing, her mouth hanging uselessly open. Maura touched a gloved hand to the woman's cheek, and she had to look away over the body and into the alley beyond. Somehow Maura's gentle touch had set something off inside her, a pain so intense it made her feel as though someone had stabbed her in the heart. There was a family out there, friends, maybe a boyfriend, maybe even children missing this woman. The death was senseless and brutal and if it made her feel sick to her stomach, she could only imagine how the victim's family would take the news. She looked once more down at the woman, she had long brown hair probably once luxurious locks would have hung down past her shoulders, and her hazel eyes would have been bright and aware. She tried to imagine how the victim would have been before the creep had gotten hold of her, but this made her feel more sad so she tuned into what those around her were saying and tried to quiet her brain.
'She looks as though she has the same injuries as the other victim's but-'Jane rolled her eyes and stopped listening. But I will have to further examine her to give you any kind of firm answers. Sometimes Maura drove her insane, she knew that it was just her, just part of her job as a medical examiner… But sometimes she just felt like jumping down her throat and saying: 'just be like everyone else for once, we all know it was him – just say it.' She swore under her breath and walked carefully around the crime scene. It was almost identical to the crime scene in which she had visited only a month earlier where Marie had been left. This woman was lying with her arms stretched above her head, and her legs splayed apart. She was wearing nothing but her underwear and Jane wished she could cover her up. The clothes the woman would have been wearing when kidnapped lay washed, ironed and neatly followed beside her head. Blood was matted into the dark hair, and she could see bruises beginning to appear on her wrists, upper arms, ribs, thighs, and even a large one on her shin. She needed another coffee, and all of a sudden she wished she smoked. She saw a couple of officers standing far away from the crime scene but still inside the police tape having a cigarette. They puffed away, getting their release from the tension that filled the air, and struck the hearts of all those around her.
TBC.
