IF I had the opportunity to pen the episode of Rizzoli and Isles that marked their coming out as a couple to family, friends and most of all, fandom I would want it to be something like this. I would want a socially relevant message in the context of Maura and Jane finally putting voice to the subtext. There might be a lot to squeeze into a 43 minute script, but it is doable and with a proper mix of procedure and personal.
I welcome feedback, and just in case you're wondering (You know who you are), I have about fifty pages of script ready.
"Do we need to talk about it?" asked Jane.
"Maybe we need to talk about where we go from here." replied Maura almost as a question. But neither would press the subject just now.
The women had known each other for more than five years. They became almost instant best friends when Maura mistook Jane for a down on her luck hooker in the Division One Cafeteria. Almost from the beginning, there was an air of something more than friendship, lurking just below the surface. A subtext, of sorts, in the screenplay that was their shared lives. They spent more time together than simple friends did. They often shared a bed though never in a sexual nature.
But last night, things might have gotten more complicated. Jane held back some pretty strong feelings for her best friend. Maura was the only woman she had ever been attracted to in the least. She knew that Maura had been with a few women in the past, but that there was never anyone serious.
Maura hid her feelings for Jane as well. She knew perfectly well what they were and what they meant, but she had relegated her desires to simply that, unrequited desire. She hid her feelings because she knew that acknowledging them could screw up the best friendship she ever had. In the mean time she simply waited, for when Jane built up enough courage to make the first move.
Last night, that complication was Jane making the first move, sort of. She did make the first move, sort of, well, maybe made the first move.
It was a sleepover Saturday night. The pair sat on the sofa drinking wine and watching the Red Sox. Maura massaged Jane's feet then Jane returned the favor. It wasn't that much different from any other evening they spent together in the past.
As Maura sat, watching Jane watch the game, she smiled. She had convinced herself that she was happy simply being near Jane, obviously Jane was content as well, or so she thought.
Noticing Maura's stare, Jane turned toward her and said, "If I weren't your friend, and didn't stay here so much, would your television ever be tuned to a baseball game?"
With a chuckle, Maura said, "No, probably not."
"Yet you put up with watching something you care nothing about," continued Jane, "does that make me the worst possible friend ever?"
"No, Jane, not at all." began Maura, "After all, you have been to museum openings with me, and we went on a micro winery tasting tour last year. We do things I like to do."
"Yeah, but I bitch and moan about it the entire time." admitted Jane.
"Well, you do complain sometimes." agreed Maura.
As the game droned on, Jane's mind wandered, less intent on the game and more so on her feelings for Maura Isles. An hour later the two women laid side by side on Maura's king sized bed, staring up into the dark. A full moon created a faint glow that allowed for some limited vision in the darkened room.
Jane's mind still raced and she knew that her friend was not yet asleep. She rolled onto her right side, facing Maura, and simply stared at her profile in the moonlight realizing that she was not only in awe of the woman's beauty, but that her beauty was arousing for her as well. As she processed what she was feeling, she realized that she felt a deeper, more abiding love for Maura than she had for any of the men she had been with before.
Sensing Jane's stare, Maura turned on her left side to face her friend, their faces merely inches apart. She felt Jane's breath on her cheek and enjoyed its minty scent. She inhaled deeper taking in the aroma of Jane's perfume.
Minutes passed, with no words being said, simply looking at each other in the dim moonlight. Jane put out her left hand resting it on Maura's right arm for a moment then began to lightly stroke from her shoulder down to her elbow. As Maura shivered at Jane's touch, a barely audible "Mmmmmm." escaped her lips and her eyes closed.
Jane pulled her hand back from Maura's arm but reached up to lightly touch her in the center of her forehead, sliding her fingertips under some loose strands of hair to brush them from Maura's face. As she did, Maura opened her eyes and locked on Jane's gaze.
Her hand slipped behind Maura's neck and she leaned forward, still looking into her eyes. She paused, their lips only an inch apart, both women looking into the eyes of the other. Several seconds passed and Maura licked her lips and closed her eyes. When her eyes closed, Jane kissed her gently on the lips.
Maura relaxed her lips invitingly and Jane responded by parting hers and probing Maura's mouth with her tongue. Realizing that Jane was passionately kissing a woman for the first time, Maura let her control the situation, not wanting it to become more than Jane desired. She simply put her right hand on Jane's waist and let her control everything.
The two or three minutes that it lasted seemed to be much longer, and when Jane finally broke off the kiss, she was concerned about what she had done. She was relieved when she saw Maura smiling at her and even more relieved when Maura said, "That was really nice and I really enjoyed it."
"But?" asked Jane, "Is there a but in there somewhere."
"No Jane, no but, I simply enjoyed it and wouldn't mind more, whenever you care to."
"Can I think about this, and maybe we can talk about it, I mean after I have a chance to think about it." said Jane nervously.
"Sure, we can talk about anything you want anytime you want," began Maura, "just as long as you remember that I liked it, and the next time, if you decide there will be a next time, I'll like it then to."
The next morning, in the kitchen, Maura was busily brewing an herbal tea. Jane, on the other hand, was cuddling her usual morning cup of steaming coffee purposely avoiding the subject of the prior evening's kiss. Maura fought back the urge to wrap Jane in her arms and tell her just how badly she wanted to go back to bed and pick back up where Jane stopped the night before.
"You know, Jane," began Maura "The caffeine in coffee increases catecholamines, which are stress hormones. In turn, the stress response elicits cortisol and increases insulin which increases systemic inflammation and makes you feel lousy."
"But it's so good. Mmmmm." replied Jane'
"Well, the acidity of coffee is associated with digestive discomfort, indigestion, heart burn, GERD and imbalances in your gut flora." continued Maura.
"My gut flora?" said Jane, "No, I'm not even going to ask what that is because I don't want to know."
When Maura's cell phone vibrates, she looks at the screen then answers, "Dr Isles."
Jane, with a confused look pulled her smart phone from her pant pocket. As she looked at Maura she held up the phone and mouthed the word, "Message." indicating that she had obviously missed a call.
"We'll be right in." said Maura to the person on the phone.
"Can't murderers take a weekend off sometime." said Jane as she turned toward the door, her Sunday with Maura now ruined by work.
About eighteen hours earlier, a group of 10 to 15 people surrounded a minister preforming an outdoor wedding ceremony at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. Two young women both in white wedding gowns were exchanging vows before family and friends.
"Martina, as you place this ring on Nicole's finger," began the Minister, "I ask that you repeat these words. This ring is my sacred gift to you, a symbol of my love, a sign that from this day forward and always, my love will surround you, with this ring I thee wed."
With a smile Martina repeated, "This ring is my sacred gift to you, a symbol of my love, a sign that from this day forward and always, my love will surround you, with this ring I thee wed."
Turning to Nicole the Minister continued, "Nicole, as you place this ring on Martina's finger. I ask that you repeat these words. This ring is my sacred gift to you, a symbol of my love, a sign that from this day forward and always, my love will surround you, with this ring I thee wed."
"This ring is my sacred gift to you, a symbol of my love, a sign that from this day forward and always, my love will surround you, with this ring I thee wed." said the woman.
"For in as much as Martina and Nicole have consented together in holy matrimony and have witnessed the same before God and those present, and have pledged their faithfulness each to the other and have declared their love by giving and receiving rings and by joining hands, I now by the authority committed unto me as a minister that Martina and Nicole are joined in matrimony according to the ordinance of God, in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit, Those Whom God has joined together let no one put asunder. You may seal your vows with a kiss." continued the Minister.
As the two women embraced, their friends broke into uproarious applause.
At the crime scene, Maura Isles lifts the left hand of one of the victims. "She is still wearing her wedding ring, so robbery is probably not a motive."
"I hate double murders," said Jane as she opened the closet door.
"Jane, based on both corpses liver temp, they both died less than three hours ago." said Maura.
"The parents got her about two hours ago but couldn't get anyone to answer the door. The killer might have been inside when they were knocking on the door." said Jane.
"Let's not tell them that part." said Maura.
"No, they certainly don't need to know that if they had been a few minutes earlier they might have interrupted the killer." replied Jane.
Jane and Maura have different and distinctive roles in any murder investigation. They were each in their own world for the remainder of Sunday. Jane interviewed family members, hotel workers and wedding guests well into the evening.
When she finally decided to stop for the evening and go home she, called Maura who was already home. "I'm getting a really bad feeling about this case." she said.
"So am I," said Maura, "there are different causes of death. The blonde was in the front room and she was strangled. The girl in the bathroom was stabbed."
"The blonde was a cop Maura." explained Jane. "Her name is Martina Carson, she was an investigator in the Sheriff department in Nashville."
"Nashville, as in Tennessee?" asked Maura.
"They lived together in Tennessee, but came here for their wedding. The other victim, Nicole Graves, was from here but went to medical school in Nashville."
"Vanderbilt is a leading medical school," remarked Maura, "So Nicole was an MD?"
"She was." answered Jane after a pause.
"Oh my God, Jane, this case is getting personal." said Maura.
"I'm going home tonight, but I can come over first thing." said Jane.
"Please do, I'll have coffee ready when you get here." answered Maura.
Twenty-four hours since she and Maura were called to the scene of the brutal double murder Jane arrived at her friend's Beacon Hill home.
"One of the officers told me they were married on Saturday, is that correct?" asked Maura.
"It is." sighed Jane, "Nicole's parents and family live here, Martina's parents traveled from Nashville for the wedding."
"Please tell me the motive was robbery or at least something other than them being killed because they were in love and got married!" pleaded Maura.
"It wasn't robbery, they both had their wedding rings on and between the two of them there was over fifteen hundred in cash and half a dozen credit cards in their bags." said Jane.
"I'm going to go back over all my work, there must be something on or about the bodies that will give you a lead. We have to find who did this, Jane!" exclaimed Maura.
"Martina Carson..." began Jane, staring down at the floor "Martina was like me only with courage. She loved her best friend, just like I do." she continued, as she raised her head to look at Maura.
Silently, Maura moved toward her friend and with a knowing smile, stood in front of her and took both Jane's hands in her own.
Several seconds passed before Jane continued. "She had the courage to admit to Nicole and their families and friends how she felt. Hell, from what I have heard about her she was proud of relationship and never even tried to hide it. I on the other hand am a coward, keeping my feelings to myself, pushing them down for all this time, wasting all this time." she said beginning to cry.
They stood silently with arms wrapped around each other, until Maura spoke.
"If you were a coward, then so was I," she began, "because I could have said something just as easily as you could have. I've known for years that you were the love of my life. I was so afraid of losing your friendship that I was willing to settle for what I had rather than honestly pursue what I really wanted."
"All I know," replied Jane, "is that I am finished being afraid of telling everyone who matters that I love you."
"I love you too,Jane" replied Maura, as the women held each other.
Jane and Maura continued the investigation with a renewed vigor. While Maura re-examined the bodies, searching for some microscopic indicator of who had taken the lives of the happily married couple, Jane re-questioned family members searching for a motive.
"Mr. and Mrs. Carson, in putting together a time line I see that you and didn't come to Boston when Martina and Nicole did." said Jane.
"No, they came to town a week earlier to take care of the details of the wedding." replied Mrs. Carson.
"Nicole had appointments with real estate agents too." added Mr. Carson.
"Real estate agents?" questioned Jane.
"Nicole's inherited her grandmother house and was putting it on the market." explained Mrs. Carson.
"When did her grandmother die?" continued Jane.
"It was during her senior year of high school." answered Mr. Carson, "she decided to go into medicine because of her Granny's illness."
"Nicole lived with her the last two or three of her life," added Mrs. Carson, "She couldn't live alone, so Nicole moved in so her grandmother wouldn't need to be put into a nursing home."
"So her grandmother left her the house." said Jane. "So she kept the property for what about ten years."
"More like fourteen years I think." Said Mr. Carson.
Half an hour later, Jane sat with Nicole's parents. "I understand, from Martina's parents that Nicole and Martina came to Boston last week."
"That's right," replied Mrs. Graves.
"Was Nicole planning to sell the house she inherited from her grandmother?" asked Jane.
"Yes, she was." answered Mr Graves, "She and Martina were going to buy a place near Nashville."
"Nicole has been in Nashville for quite a while, was that house vacant all that time?" asked Jane.
"She moved there fourteen years ago, after graduation. Her brother Adam has been living there since she moved out." replied Nicole's mother.
Suddenly, Jane realized that she found a motive. She realized that finding proof, however, might not come as easily.
Maura was just as motivated as Jane to get to the bottom of the murders of Martina and Nicole. So motivated that she again did a microscopic examination of the bodies. She collected any loose hair she could find. She noticed a small indentation on the back of Martina's ring finger. Examining it more closely she was able to determine that it was caused by her wedding ring. She also determined that the ring caused the crease when it was forced upward toward her knuckle.
The discovery caused Maura to re-examine Martina's wedding ring microscopically. It was this examination that revealed a tiny piece of skin, caught on the edge of the ring. It was barely visible to the naked eye, but it was just big enough to allow DNA testing.
Later, Maura paced impatiently as she waited for results from the many DNA samples she had being processed. The original samples were ready and she had a few exclusionary samples provided by people at the crime scene. She was particularly interested in profiles from stray hairs found at the scene and the tiny epithelial sample from Martina's ring.
As she compared the finished reports she continued to hold out hope for a breakthrough. The first hair proved to belong to Nicole. Another hair was that of one of the female crime scene techs, obviously having fallen out at the scene. Other samples were linked to either one of the victims or to someone expected to be there.
Finally she came to the profile for the tiny piece of skin lodged in a grove on Martina's ring. She looked at it realizing that it was almost a perfect match with Nicole's DNA. The operative word was 'almost'. The sample didn't match Nicole's but it was closer than she would have expected. The skin under Martina's ring came from someone in Nicole's family. To be precise, one of her siblings!
"Please tell me you found something." said Jane as she entered the lab.
Having just discovered the DNA link, Maura stood in utter disbelief. "I'm afraid I found something that just makes me ill."
"Nicole's brother?" questioned Jane.
"Yes, a male sibling's DNA was on Martina's ring. She has two brothers, an older and a younger." said Maura sadly.
"The older brother has been living in her house rent free for more than ten years." said Jane.
"But how could anyone kill a sister over free rent?!" exclaimed Maura.
"He didn't attend the wedding, wasn't happy with Nicole's lifestyle at all. The sale of the house was just a catalyst that pushed him over the edge." explained Jane.
"Is he in custody?" asked Maura.
"He will be, this DNA report will be enough for a warrant." replied Jane.
"He won't be as easy to pick up as we hoped." said Korsak, entering the lab in time to catch the end of the conversation.
"Don't tell me." said Jane.
"I sent a patrol unit to his house, just to sit on him til be got the warrant, but when they got there fire units were there and the house was in flames." said Vince.
"Please tell me his body was inside." said Maura, shocking both Jane and Vince.
Both Jane and Korsak looked at Maura in stunned silence for several seconds.
"What?" said Maura, "don't even try to tell me you weren't thinking it Jane!"
"No, its just, you are always better than that, better than we are about wishing worthless criminals a painful death." said Vince.
"Well, not this time." said Maura.
Three days later there was a double funeral in Nashville Tennessee. Martina and Nicole would be together forever even though there were small minded people, like Nicole's brother, who wished ill of them simply because they loved each other. There was a handful of protesters who had nothing better to do on a sunny Friday afternoon than carry placards with ignorant messages outside the grounds of the cemetery. Luckily, Martina and Nicole had many friends in law enforcement who kept the picketers away from view of the family. Meanwhile Brian Graves was the subject of a nationwide manhunt. He was wanted not only for murder in the death of his sister and Martina but for arson as well.
Jane and Maura stood arm in arm as prayers were said and the service concluded. They were both clear about their feelings for each other and their future together. They had that talk, that was postponed for a time while they solved a double murder. They were both taking a few days off now. They came to Nashville to pay their respect to a couple they never knew in life, but that they came to admire in death. They would be here for a few days and would simply be together with no outside interference. But on Monday morning they would be back in Boston, back at work with a plan to share their news with all their family and friends. News that in the fall there would be another wedding in Boston and that the couple would be a cop and a doc.