A/N: I do not own any of these characters...sad face. My first attempt at a CSI:NY so please let me know what you think. I have a second chapter ready but I'll see how you guys like this first...Enjoy! R&R please.
Chapter 1: Apparently An Overdose
"What do you got, Flack?" Stella asked as she and Hawkes enter the crime scene.
"Looks like an overdose," Flack turns his attention from an officer. "Empty syringes all over the bed and the floor and there's a half empty vile on the nightstand."
With that information, Stella took a moment to glance over the scene. The victim was a female lying on her side. She was facing away from the room's entrance, but the victim's face was buried in a pillow on the bed so Stella couldn't get a good look anyway. The bed's comforter was covering most of the victim's body but her hands were laying over the longest of the pillows, arms crossed one over the other. Used syringes were strewn all over the bed and the floor. Stella could see the wrap all druggies used when shooting up was still tied around the vic's right arm. There was no sign of trauma to the victim, no blood spatter anywhere in the apartment. The COD (cause of death) seemed to be exactly what Don had said, an overdose.
"What do you think, Hawkes?" Stella turned around.
Hawkes took a moment to analyze what he was looking at and then answered, "Looks like what Don said it was: an overdose."
Just then, Lindsay had arrived and headed straight for Stella for instructions.
"What do we got?"
"Overdose. Hey, I thought Danny was coming down here?"
"He was, but another call came in so Mac sent me down here."
"So he sent Danny out on the other call?
"Yeah," Lindsay was looking around at the mess in the bedroom.
"Yeah, there is a lot to collect in here; can you manage the rest of the apartment? There shouldn't be much."
"Sure, it's a small place anyway. And like you said, there shouldn't be much if it was just an overdose," Lindsay joked turning from the room to process the rest of the apartment.
"You better go over the rest of the apartment real good," Hawkes interrupted. He had already begun processing the body. When Stella and Lindsay turned around, he was holding up the vic's arm. "You better come have a look, Stella."
"What is it?" Stella wasn't going to like what she heard. Lindsay came up next to Stella to hear what Hawkes had to say. "Is that bruising on the wrist there?" Stella pointed to the "C" shaped bruise pattern on the vic's wrist. She picked up the other hand and found the same shaped bruise.
"Looks like our vic was restrained. If you follow the bruise around the wrist…" Sheldon started.
"It disappears on the back side," Stella finished.
"Guys, I think these are what caused that bruising," Lindsay pointed out the two pairs of handcuffs that were attached to the bedposts above the vic's head.
"Lindsay, you better get to processing the rest of the apartment," Stella couldn't believe how complicated the case had become in a matter of seconds.
"I'm on it," Lindsay left immediately with her equipment case. She started in the kitchen, taking photographs and dusting for prints on the counters, the refrigerator, the cupboards and drawers. She found a wine glass on the kitchen island next to an open bottle of red wine. She dusted both the bottle and glass for prints and swabbed them both for DNA.
In the bedroom, Hawkes and Stella had collected the half empty vile and all the syringes from the bed and the floor. Stella removed the wrap from the vic's arm and got all the trace she could find from the comforter, the pillows and the vic. Hawkes was ready to remove the comforter, which was also being collected as evidence in case anything was missed the first time around.
"Stell, you got everything you need from the comforter, I'm gonna take it off and see what we get underneath."
"Yeah, I'm good. Let me help you there," her and Hawkes started at the top and began to fold the comforter back. They kept folding back until the victim's body was completely uncovered. They got the comforter into an evidence bag, and Stella went to put it with the rest of what they had collected from the room. Hawkes went straight to work processing the body. He started at the feet.
"Stella, come look at this."
"Oh my…what went down in here?" Stella looked at what Hawkes was pointing to. The victims' feet were cuffed together with a similar pair of cuffs they had removed from the head bedposts. A short rope was also tied to the wooden bed frame. The other end was attached to the cuffs. "He had her completely tied down. She had no chance," Stella looked half astounded and half distraught.
"I already found some trace under her fingernails, but let's see what else our vic can tell us?" Hawkes was trying to bring Stella back to Earth.
"Yeah," Stella gave a little shake back to reality. "Do you want to turn her on her back now?"
"Yeah, let's see what we find."
Stella stood across the bed from Hawkes, her hand on the back of the young girl's neck to prevent any further trauma. Hawkes had a hold under the victim's shoulder, pushing her over toward Stella. They got the victim lying on her back, and Hawkes went down to her feet and turned them so she was laying straight. "Stella, look at this."
"A stab wound?" Stella saw a two inch long gash in the victim's left side.
"Looks like it. We didn't see it originally cuz the vic was laying on this side of her body."
"Guys?" Hawkes and Stella both heard a quiver in Lindsay's voice. "I think there may have been a struggle in here, but whoever did this I think went out of his way to stage this like an overdose," she was saying as she came to the door of the bedroom. "What'd you find in here? Are her feet cuffed together?" Lindsay looked in astonishment.
"Yup, and we have a stab wound over here."
"I'll go take another look at the knives in the kitchen, let me just finish up the living room."
"I'll get the kitchen knives, Lindsay, if you're good in here?" Stella turned to Hawkes.
"Yeah, I'm fine in here. As soon as I finish with the body, I'll have it transported to the morgue for Sid to take another look at."
"Have Sid run a rape kit too."
"Will do."
"Lindsay, I've got those kitchen knives."
"I'm gonna start on the desk." Everyone began working in silence for a long time. Just about the time Stella had finished up with the knives the silence was broken.
"Oh my God!" Stella turned from the knife block and saw Lindsay leaning over the desk by the window, her head down and eyes closed. She quickly turned her back to the desk and walked away from it, as Hawkes came out of the bedroom and Flack came in from the hall.
"Linds?"
"What happened, Lindsay? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just caught off guard is all."
"You sure you're okay?"
"Hawkes, I'm fine."
"What caught you off guard, Lindsay? What did you find?"
Lindsay turned and walked back to the desk. She picked up one of the picture frames and turned back around. "This," was all she said, presenting the framed photograph.
Stella took the picture from Lindsay, who wasn't even looking at it.
"That sure looks like our vic. Why did this upset you, Lindsay?" Stella turned the picture back around so Lindsay could see it. It was a photo of their victim at a party.
"Oh, sorry. It wasn't that one," Lindsay took the picture from Stella and turned back around to the table and replaced the picture to its place. "It was this one," she handed a different photo to Stella. "I found it in this broken frame on the floor under the desk."
"Oh my God," Stella looked up at Lindsay in utter shock. "Do you know her, then?"
"I haven't actually met her. I was supposed to come over here this weekend to do just that."
"What are you guys talking about?" Flack was feeling a little left out.
"What is so upsetting about that picture?" Hawkes was feeling the same way Flack was. "Lindsay, can you ID the vic?"
"Take a look for yourself," Stella handed the photo over to Hawkes.
"Where did you say you found this?" Hawkes looked just as shocked as Stella.
"It was in this broken frame, under the desk."
"Flack," Hawkes handed the photo to Don who grabbed a Kleenex from his jacket pocket before taking the photo.
"What kind of sick joke is this?" Don quickly adopted the same look of shock.
"It's no joke, Flack," Lindsay could barely get the words out past her disbelief. "The victim's name is Brooklyn Messer. She's Danny's sister."
At that moment, they heard a strained gasp then faint movements from the other room. Giving each other puzzled looks, they all made their way to the bedroom to find their victim breathing short shallow breaths and writhing in pain. Sheldon went straight to the victim, trying to calm her down and keep the gash in her side from expanding.
"Stella, call the EMT in here…she's going into shock."
"I'm on it," Stella turned heel, dialing her phone.
"What do you need me to do, Hawkes?"
"Linds, if you could come over here, put your hand her. Keep pressure on it. We don't want that wound to get worse," he showed Lindsay where to place her hand then went around to the other side of the bed.
"I'll call Mac, let him know what's going on," Flack was ready to turn and leave.
"Wait, Don can you cut that rope down there at all? We need to get her legs free."
"I don't have a knife or anything to cut that with," frantically searching his pockets.
"There's a knife block in the kitchen," Lindsay nodded her head in that direction, careful not to move her hands.
"What about evidence?"
"Stella would have sent anything she found there to the lab by now, or at least its in a bag. Anything still in the block should be fine."
"Got it," Don quickly made his way to the kitchen, grabbed a random knife out of the block, and returned to the bedroom. He cut right through the rope that was holding the victim's feet to the bed, but couldn't do anything about the cuffs.
"What about the cuffs, Sheldon?"
"Look around for the key. It may still be here. Did you find it while you were processing the living room?"
"No, I didn't find anything that looked like a key out there," Lindsay answered Sheldon's question.
"The EMTs are on their way up here. I called Mac too. He's up to speed. How's she doing?" Stella had returned from making her phone calls.
"The sooner those EMTs get here the better. She should be fine, though."
"What did Mac say? Does he know that she's…"Lindsay's face had worry and concern all over it. Stella knew that it wasn't just for the victim.
"I told him about our victim's relation, yes. He isn't going to tell Danny anything yet, though."
"If you talk to Mac again, could you tell him not to worry about telling Danny anything? I'll tell him."
"Are you sure, Linds?"
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"I can tell Danny what happened her, Lindsay. You don't have to," Don wasn't really looking forward to giving his best friend the worst news of his life, but he would much rather it be him, not Lindsay.
"Thanks, Don, but I can do it."
"Okay," Don knew arguing with her would be pointless.
The EMTs rushed into the room and Sheldon quickly explained to them what was going on. He helped them get the victim on a backboard, onto the stretcher, and down to the ambulance. Don, Stella, and Lindsay followed close behind. Sheldon jumped down out of the ambulance to join the other three and they watched the ambulance pull away.
