Six weeks had passed.
For six weeks Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles were married to each other.
For six weeks neither of the two women had entered the precinct.
To blame was that they had gone for six weeks to their honeymoon.
Four of the six weeks Maura and Jane had spent in Belize and two hidden in Boston.
But all good things had come to an end.
Jane stood in front of the building, watching the coming and going at the precinct.
She took a deep breath and sipped her coffee.
It would be the first time she would officially enter the building with a wedding band on her finger.
A strange feeling.
She looked at the ring as if it would have been burned into her skin.
Someone put an hand on her shoulder and she winced. Jane looked down at the blonde, smaller woman and smiled softly.
Maura smiled back but frowned slightly. "Are you ready?"
Jane shook her head with a smile on her lips. "No. Are you?"
"No.", Maura replied and took a deep breath. "Let's go in anyway."
Jane nodded slowly and walked with her wife to the entrance.
As the two women entered the building they were welcomed by a happy Rizzoli patriarch.
Angela wrapped both of her arms in the same time around Maura's and Jane's necks and almost strangled them with her embrace. "There are my girls. God, I've missed the two of you. Six weeks were just too long."
Jane gasped and was able to free herself from her mother. "Gee, woman. You're in the middle of an police station but try to strangle us. Bad idea."
Angela rolled her eyes and shoved the women into the Café. "I barely struggled you. Tell me, how was your honeymoon? Are you pregnant, Maura?"
Maura looked confused at her mother-in-law and sat down at a table. "To get pregnant I would have to sleep with a man. I would never cheat on Jane."
Jane rolled her eyes but smiled as she sat down too.
Angela shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, when he was with Jane's father on the honeymoon we hardly could keep our hands ..."
"Stop right there.", Jane cut her mother off as she raised an hand. "We don't want to hear any details."
Now Angela rolled her eyes. "Anyway. How was your honeymoon?"
Maura smiled broadly. "Very relaxing."
Jane looked at the blonde and smiled too. "I hate to admit it, but I have to agree. It was very relaxing."
Angela sat down too and looked and looked at both women. "Have you even done something or did you just spent four weeks in the hotel?"
Maura still smiled and looked at her wife. "We have alternated. One week we were in the hotel and another week we have made trips. It was very balanced."
Jane grinned broadly. "And relaxing."
Angela opened her mouth to ask her next series of questions but got interrupted by two buzzing phones and she rolled her eyes one more time.
Jane took her phone from its holder and smiled apology. But inward she thanked the Lord when she saw that the call came from the control center. She still grinned at her mother and pushed the green button. "Rizzoli."
Angela groaned and stood up again to walk back behind the counter.
Maura smiled at the brunette and accepted her own call. "Dr. Isles."
Yes, both women had decided to keep their old surnames even after they got married.
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Jane entered with her wife the crime scene and furrowed her eyebrows.
Even though she had enjoyed the six weeks of vacation, she had missed her job. Just like Maura.
Maura had to force herself not to call Susie to inquire whether her representatives had her sacred realm turned into ashes.
Jane felt the need to inquire whether to inform herself if her city still was safe.
However, both women had resisted the temptation to call until today.
Korsak looked up from his notepad and frowned as he saw the well-rested women. "Well who do have we here?", he asked joyfully.
Jane grinned and rubbed her gloved hands impatiently. "Hey, old man."
Korsak smiled broadly. "Frost!", he yelled and Jane winced. He looked at the two women. "It's good to see the two of you again. Especially you, Doc."
Jane rolled her eyes and her shoulders slumped. "Great, thank you."
Frost came to Korsak and beamed when she saw Jane and Maura. "Hey, look at you. You look great, Doc."
Jane rolled her eyes again and huffed.
Maura chuckled and put an hand on her wife's shoulder before she walked to a car.
Jane took a deep breath and looked at both men. "What do we have?"
Korsak looked back on his notepad and drew his eyebrows together. "The victim is John Neill, twenty-six. He was found by his friend Carl Ashen as he wanted to visit Melinda Preston. The fiancée of John. They live on the third floor of the house."
Jane looked up at the older brick house and frowned. "Has someone questioned her already?"
Korsak nodded agreeing. "Frankie is on it."
Jane took a deep breath and looked long at the old black Ford Fiesta. "Is this the car of the victim?"
Frost looked at her and nodded. "Yeah."
"Did you found something useful in it?", Jane wanted to know.
"We couldn't search through it yet.", Korsak answered.
Jane drew her eyebrows together. "Why not?"
Korsak shrugged and closed his notepad. "The body is still in the car."
Jane exhaled loudly. "Great.", she muttered under her breath and walked to the car. She opened the passenger door and leaned into the driver's cab. "How long has he been dead?"
Maura didn't looked at the Italian as she examined the dead man. "Rigor mortis hasn't set in fully yet. Between four and eight hours. The body seems to be in tact after the first examination."
"No strangulation marks, stab- or gunshot wounds?", Jane wanted to know.
Maura looked up and at her wife, warningly.
Jane furrowed her eyebrows and smiled. "I guess that means no."
Maura rolled her eyes and continued her task.
Jane opened the glove compartment and looked through it. "Make a detailed tox screening. He must have died of something."
Maura looked again at her but didn't said anything.
Jane took a deep breath and closed the glove compartment again. "What the hell happened to this man?"
"Jane.", Frost said.
The Italian looked over her shoulder and frowned. "Yeah?"
"Frankie has just writing to me in a message that the victim was in the Underbar when he disappeared."
Jane straightened up again and drew her eyebrows together. "When was that?"
Frost looked back at his phone. "Uh ... four days ago."
"What does someone do in a nightclub during the week?", Jane wanted to know and Frost shrugged.
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Jane entered the morgue and paused when she saw the body bag. "Did the body just arrived?"
Maura opened the zipper and nodded. "The van got into traffic jam. I just wanted to start the autopsy."
Jane walked to the autopsy table. "Wait, I'll help you."
Maura smiled and continued with the procedure. "Thank you."
Jane drew her eyebrows together when she lifted up the torso. "No wonder you don't need strength training. The guy weights a ton."
"Highly unlikely, Jane. ", Maura replied with a smile. "The fact that muscles and tendons are slackened makes the impression that John is that heavy."
Jane frowned and rubbed her hands. "God I'm glad you don't take everything so literally."
Maura rolled her eyes and cut the shirt of the victim with a scissor. Suddenly she stopped abruptly.
Jane looked questioningly at the blonde. "Maura, what is it?"
Maura didn't looked at her but inspected the chest of the man detailed. "I'm not sure.", she mumbled.
Jane looked at the bare chest too and frowned. "Are these burns?", she hesitated because the strange fire pattern across the chest. "What can cause such a pattern?"
Maura looked puzzled up. "I have no idea."
Jane scrutinized her long. "You do have an idea, don't you?"
Maura furrowed her eyebrows. "I have an vague presumption."
"Care to share?", Jane wanted to know.
Maura sighed heavily. "To confirm this presumption, I have to perform the autopsy first."
Jane stared at her wife and blinked a few times. "It's called presumption because you have a funny gut feeling. And because I know you hate it I even won't call it guessing.", she saw the blonde's facial expression and her shoulders slumped. "Fine, do your autopsy and confirm your presumption slash guessing."
Maura looked warningly at her and Jane grinned.
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Korsak stood at the glass board when Jane walked into the bullpen. "What did the Doc found out?", he wanted to know.
Jane sat down at her desk. "Apparently John Neill was tortured before he died. Maura found burns on his chest."
"What was the cause of death?", he asked as he looked at her.
"Heart failure.", Jane answered and sighed. "Maura said that John had a strong heart and it's a very unusual cause of death for a man of his age and with his health."
Korsak drew his eyebrows together. "You think that he was tortured with electrocutions to death?"
Jane nodded slowly. "That's what the signs say."
"Did Maura confirmed that?"
"Uh ..."
Korsak looked skeptically at her. "Jane?"
"Maura threw me out before she had finished the autopsy.", Jane confessed.
Korsak rolled his eyes and sighed deeply. "Can you girls never make peace when you're at work? That's worse than in a kindergarten."
"Admit it.", Jane replied with a smile. "You've missed it."
"As long as it doesn't become a cat fight.", the older Detective replied.
Jane stared at him until her eyes started to burn. "Really?", she took a deep breath when Korsak just shrugged. "Alright. What do we know about our victim John Neill?"
Korsak smiled and took a deep breath. "He was an decent young man. He worked for Burger King and went regularly to his shifts. Frost is currently checking his finances. It seems as if John Neill is just an ordinary guy."
Jane scratched her chin slowly and thoughtfully. "Even the most ordinary guys have secrets. We need an approach. We should ask around a little bit in the Underbar."
Korsak nodded and took his jacket from the back of his chair.
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Jane stood patiently in the lobby of the Underbar and sighed. She threw at her former partner a sideways glance and growled low.
A well-dressed man about her age came up to them and smiled friendly. "What can I do for you?"
Jane pushed her jacket aside to show her badge. "Boston Police. I'm Detective Rizzoli and this is Sergeant Korsak."
The smile on the man's lips disappeared immediately. "Police?"
"Homicide, to be exact.", Korsak added.
The man almost staggered a step backwards. "Jesus."
Jane cleared her throat and took an photo out of an file. "Have you seen this man before?"
The man looked long at John's picture and frowned. "Uh ... no. But that's not surprising. I'm the club manager.", he looked to a tall man and waved. "You will have more luck with Mike. He's one of the bouncers who work here every day."
Mike came to them and frowned. "What's the matter, boss?"
"These are Detectives of the Boston Homicide. They have a few questions for you."
Mike took a deep breath and crossed his arms over his chest.
Jane cleared her throat again and held up the photo. "Have you seen him here?"
Mike looked at the item and drew his eyebrows together. "Yeah, he and his girlfriend are regular visitors."
"When did you see him the last time?", Korsak wanted to know.
Mike exhaled loudly. "Three or four days ago."
Jane frowned deeply. "Did he behaved strangely?"
Mike pulled the corners of his mouth downward. "Not at all. He was un a really good mood. Maybe he had a drink or two too much so I called a taxi for him."
Korsak wrote down his notes. "Which taxi company did you called?"
Mike shrugged. "Boston Cab Association. We never had problems with them."
Jane looked long at the tall blonde man. "Did you know the driver?"
Mike nodded agreeing. "Tim Banks. He's an good friend of mine.", he paused and frowned. "Why are you asking?"
Jane put the picture back into the folder and licked her lips. "Your regular guest John Neill was murdered. And the last time he was seen was in this nightclub."
"That's terrible.", Mike said shocked.
Korsak took a deep breath. "Have you noticed anything odd?"
Mike slowly shook his head. "No. As I already said, he had a few drinks and drove off with the taxi. What perhaps was unusual, was that he wasn't here with his girlfriend."
Jane drew her eyebrows together. "Was that extraordinary?"
Mike nodded and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "Very. They were almost inseparable. I asked him where his girl was but he just waved it off."
Jane looked at Korsak and then back at Mike. She handed him her business card. "Thank you for your help. If you can of something else then call us."
Mike took the card and nodded. "Sure."
Korsak started to walk with Jane. "What do you think?"
Jane took her phone from its holder. "I think ..."
"Detective Rizzoli?", Mike suddenly called.
Jane swirled around and looked with a frown at him. "Yes?"
Mike smirked a little. "Can I also call you if I want to invite you for a drink or two?"
Korsak stifled an amused laugh.
Jane laughed briefly and held her left hand with her wedding band up. "Sorry, buddy, but I am married."
Mike made a face. "That's a real shame."
Jane turned around again and rolled her eyes. "Well, I think that we need to talk with Melinda Preston thoroughly."
Korsak nodded with a smile and opened the driver's door of his unmarked car.
Jane blinked against the sun as she put the phone to her ear. "Hey, Frost. Check for me a taxi driver named Tim Banks of Boston Cab Association."
