A sigh is just a sigh - Chapter 01
BEACON HILL
The front door swung open and Jane stormed in. Maura barely managed not to spill her tea on the iPad.
Jane yanked open the fridge's door and stuck her face close to the racks, fishing for anything edible. "New condo's great but geez you should've seen the traffic to get here, absolutely insane."
Maura, now fully recovered from the fright, shook her head. "Had you stayed here, you wouldn't have the need to face peak hour traffic."
"I rather be stuck in traffic than face Ma every morning and why don't you ever have something… yummy in there?" Jane shut the fridge door and headed for the cupboards.
"Angela does not come in every morning." Maura closed the iPad and followed Jane with her eyes as she drank her tea.
"Since when? Oh goodie, cookies! Nice." Jane found a cookie packed in one of the cupboards, took a couple and headed for the coffee machine. She put one in her mouth and held it with her teeth as she prepared the coffee.
"Please don't fill my kitchen with crumbles?"
"I mon't, mon't morrm." Jane turned to Maura and wiggled her eyebrows, her eyes sparkling.
Maura shook her head, a grin masked by a mock disgust face.
Jane took her mug filled with coffee to the kitchen island. A shower of crumbs fell on the immaculate counter top as she bit the cookie. "Oops!". Two deep dimples appear on her cheeks.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I miss you." said Maura, shrugging before taking another sip of her coffee.
"What do you mean you miss me? You see me at work every day."
"Yes, I do. But I miss…" Maura's hand swept the air between them. "Your morning visits. Since you have the new condo, you don't come around anymore in the mornings and it's just not the same starting the day without you here." Maura's eyes lingered on Jane's, her face lit by a sincere, heartfelt smile.
The silence stretched laden with Maura's unfiltered and surprising comment, until Jane broke the contact and took a bite of the cookie. "Hm, this is so good…"
"Your mother made them yesterday."
"Shh, don't summon the devil". Jane's dimples reappeared, and Maura smiled again.
"What's gotten into you?"
Maura tilted her head, her eyes wide.
"That…" Jane pointed at Maura's face.
"Whatever do you mean?"
"I dunno. You are looking at me… funny."
"What do you mean by 'funny'?"
"You know, like… I don't know! Do I have crumbs on my face?" Jane wiped her lips and chin.
Maura shook her head, still smiling. "You are so adorable."
Jane's hand holding the coffee stopped mid air. "OK, What's gotten into you this morning? What is in that mug?"
"It's organic white tea, loaded with antioxidants. Very good for the cardiovasc—"
"I am not adorable." Jane's frown looked more like a sulk, and Maura sighed, her head tilted slightly, her lips stretched wide.
Jane left the mug on the counter. "Whoa! What was that?"
"That what?"
"That big sigh?"
Maura frowned and looked down for a beat, and then at Jane again. She smiling riding a short shrug. "It is strange. One sighs to relief frustration or correct the pace of breathing, but I'm not frustrated. On the contrary…"
"Well, you sounded like Pepé le Pew."
"Pepé le who?"
Jane shook her head. "Oh come on, don't tell me you don't know Pepé le Pew, the french skunk that… oh never mind. What's gotten into you?"
"How does the song go? Oh, yes!" Maura started singing. "You must remember this. A kiss is still a kiss. A sigh is just a sigh…"
"What are you now? Ingrid Bergman?"
"You mean Dooley Wilson? He sang the song, not—"
"Yeah, whatever. You are freaking me out, Maura."
"Why? Is it so rare to see me happy?"
"Happy to see me?"
And at that precise moment, their phones rang -almost in unison.
Jane got her phone from her belt, her eyes wide open under her frown, not taking her eyes from an amused Maura.
"Rizzoli."
"Isles."
Jane covered the phone's microphone. "This conversation is not over."
Maura took her coat and hooked her bag in the crook of her elbow, smiled at Jane and headed out. Jane followed, her eyes suspicious and trained on Maura airy steps.
.
CRIME SCENE - BOSTON
As they left the parked car and were approaching the crime scene, Maura hummed the song from Casablanca.
Jane looked around and scooted closer to Maura. "I mean it, seriously. What's up with you?"
Maura stopped, turned her head and looked square into Jane's eyes. "I already told you. I was really happy to have you home for breakfast. It's been 18 days since your last morning visit".
Jane stood agape as Maura shook her head, oblivious, and walked off towards the scene. In a few strides she caught up with her but before she could say anything, Korsak came to meet them.
"Morning, Maura. You look nice this morning."
Maura beamed. "Why, thank you, Vince. It is such a lovely morning, isn't it? What do we have?"
Korsak raised his eyebrows and glanced at Jane questioningly . She shrug in the most studied nonchalant way, but dropped her eyes and bit her lips.
"Gunshot victim inside, male, no signs of forced entry. Nobody saw anything. The usual in this neighbourhood"
"So who called it in?" asked Jane.
He pointed at a woman sitting on the ground with her head between her hands. He then started walking towards the house.
"Cristina Gómez, his girlfriend. She says she found him like this when she came home after her night shift."
Maura slipped her gloves on and knelt next to the victim.
"Uh. Loads of brownish stains…" Jane winked at Korsak, but Maura was not paying attention as she checked the body and surrounding area.
"I see a gun shot wound to the chest."
"Is that the cause of death?"
"I need to run more tests but it is quite likely, given the size and position of the entry point." She inspected the back of the deceased. "There is no exit wound."
"What was the time of death, Maura?" asked Korsak.
"7:18"
Jane looked at him, then at Maura, with her mouth open.
"7:18? Not 7:15, or 7:19"
Maura lifted the victim's left arm. The glass on his watch was broken and the hands had stopped at 7:18.
"When he was shot, he fell backwards and hit his wrist on the shelves there. I can see the glass from here. In any case, his body temperature is only 93 degrees, which means he may have died between 2 and 3 hours ago. It's 9:35 now, so it matches."
Korsak and Jane nodded in appreciation.
"So, guy gets shot at 7 am and there are no witnesses and nobody saw anything. In 2015, when everyone owns a phone with a camera in it?" Jane sighed.
"Now that is a sigh of frustration." said Maura, without looking up.
Korsak frowned and looked at Jane.
"Don't ask." she mouthed.
BPD - Medical Examiner Office
The morgue was quiet for a weekday morning. Maura was taking notes next to the examination table when Jane walked in.
"You wanted to see me?" said Jane.
Maura beamed at Jane. "Hello Jane. I thought you would be out all day?"
"Just came back. I'm waiting for the girlfriend. What do we have?"
"Rather interesting tattoos and then, the most curious thing."
"Another Pepé le Pew sighing attack?"
Maura tilted her head and shook it, but smiled anyway.
"No, Jane. Here, look." She touched Jane's arm, not quite guiding her, and let go almost immediately when Jane tensed up. She pursed her lips briefly and turned to the victim. She gently removed the sheet covering the body. His entire torso was covered with tattoos, so intricate that it was hard to take it all in in one go.
"We have taken pictures and have started comparing them to the ones in our database."
"Gang affiliation? Nah. Don't answer. I'll wait… Very. Patiently." Jane grinned widely but Maura ignored her, as she pointed at a spot just below the clavicle.
"This is the most curious thing." A small puncture wound emerged between the ink patterns.
"That's too small for a bullet." said Jane.
"It is indeed. It's not deep, either, but it seems to have been made roughly at the same time as the gunshot wound."
"So what do we need to look for? A sharp pointy thing?"
Maura was about to say 'yes' but stopped. "Oh, I see. Funny, but actually, yes. And I'll even help you: it is not a pen, too small for that. Didn't hit any vital organs, or do any real damage."
"And how is this wound relevant?"
"That, Detective, is for you to find out. Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"
"Are you asking me on a date, Dr. Isles?" Jane cocky smile faded almost instantly when she saw Maura's reaction. She was batting her eyelids as if that would clarify Jane's question.
When Jane realised Maura was not going to answer, she spoke again. "Joke? le Sigh? Pepé le Pew?"
Maura did not seem any closer to understand Jane's question. The eyelid batting had stopped, and she was now frowning slightly, her eyes clouded by an evident confusion.
"Oh, forget it. I don't know why I even said that." She cleared her throat and rearranged her belt. "Dinner. Yeah, well, I was going to go to the Dirty Robber but… um.. yeah, yes, of course. But only if you don't force me watch afterwards some mushy chick flick."
"I'll do my best, I promise."
"No waxing or nail polishing either."
"Why would anyone want to wax after dinner?"
"Well, you never know. Is Ma going to be there?"
"Your mother is going out with Ron and when she does, she never comes home afterwards."
Jane winced. "Way too much information."
Maura laughed. "See you at 7?"
Jane nodded and left the morgue, only to stop right outside the door. She looked inside, and saw Maura mouthing something and bobbing her head. She got back, closer to the door, and heard Maura softly singing the familiar Casablanca tune again.
"A kiss is still a kiss… A sigh is just a sigh.."
Jane narrowed her eyes. A frown started to form but then dissolved as she continued to watch Maura being so happy and carefree over a dead body. Her phone beeped, startling her. Instinctively tried to duck out of Maura's line of sight, but it was too late. Their eyes met through the glass pane, and Maura smiled one of those smiles again. Jane raised an open palm as she answered the message. She hurried away, with Maura's eyes and smile still trained on her.
.
BOSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT
The young but weathered woman cowered in her chair opposite Jane and Korsak. Her eyes were dry, but her hands kept ringing a small fluffy baby's toy.
"We are sorry for your loss, Ms. Gómez", said Jane. "We need to ask you a few questions, and I know it's not easy. Did you boyfriend have any enemies?"
A silent snort preceded a small nod. "Many. He was a… tough man."
"What did he do for a living?"
"This and that. He never said."
"He supported you?"
The shrug was almost imperceptible. "He brought money in, sometimes. Sometimes he brought food. He sometimes gave me presents, like this." The woman took her hand to her neck and retrieved a think golden chain with a large cross hanging from it. "I did what I could with whatever he gave me. Abuela takes care of the feeding of the baby and the napkins, but she doesn't have much money, she makes do with a small pension. My late grandfather was in the Army until he retired, and died shortly after that."
"Who do you think would have wanted your boyfriend dead, Miss Hernandez?"
"He knew lots of people. People feared him. I didn't like his friends and I didn't want them in my house. I was afraid for my baby."
"You have a son?"
"A small baby, he'll be 8 months tomorrow."
Korsak raised his eyebrows and shook his head at Jane.
"You didn't have a baby with you the day your boyfriend…"
"No. He was with Abuela Maria. She's my grannie. She stays with him sometimes. My baby doesn't sleep well, cries a lot and makes… made Julio very nervous."
"So where were you the morning of the shooting, between 6 and 8?
"I was at a friend, looking after her kids. He called me at 5:30. Waited until I got somebody to cover for me, then I went to the house. Left at 7:20, got there just before 8."
Korsak jotted down on his pad. "So you are not working right now?"
"I lost my job when I got pregnant ."
"We need all the names and addresses of people that knew Julio and you think could have a reason to see him hurt." said Jane. "Can you do that?" Jane gave her a legal pad and pen.
After ten minutes, she gave them a long list which kept them occupied for the rest of the morning.
.
Somewhere else in Boston
Jane and Korsak walked into the car repair shop and flashed their badges. They found they guy everyone called Samurai standing beside a battered wooden desk. He was a huge black man, much taller than Jane; his muscular shoulders were as broad as his immense belly. His hair was tied up in a bun on the upper part of his head. On the table Jane saw a few unopened trays of Japanese food. A shiny pair of engraved metal chopsticks rested next to the tray with nigiri.
"So you are the famous Samurai. You are the talk of the hood, you know." said Jane. "And nice chopsticks you have there. Go well with the name."
"I'm a popular guy, what can I do. And you came down here to comment on my chopsticks? I'm busy. What do you want?"
"You know Julio Rivera?"
"What if do?"
"He is dead, and people say you two did not have a romance going."
"El Pendejo is dead?" Samurai seemed surprised, but it also seemed he didn't care. "So what. One less bastard walking the earth. Why are you telling me?"
"Where were you Monday morning between 5 and 7:30?
"At home."
"Anybody with you?"
"My companion for the night was gone when I woke up, the bitch. She took my money and mother's necklace with her. Let me find her and…"
"So you were alone." Jane took out a pair of latex gloves out of her pocket. "Do you mind if we take a look at your chopsticks?"
"Get outta here. I ain't giving you my prized chopsticks. Nobody touches them but me."
Samurai and his chopsticks ended up in BPD; Samurai with Korsak in the interrogation room, and the chopsticks inside an evidence bag in Jane's hand, down at the morgue.
Maura was busy typing on her laptop, which closed as Jane walked in her office.
"Look what I found." Jane waved the evidence plastic bag. "Are they the right size?"
Maura examined the bag and shrugged as she got up. "We'll have to measure them and compared them against the wound. And even if it is a match, we must still check for traces of blood, and…"
"Yawn, Maura. You can be such a killjoy sometimes, I had to lots of fun busting this guys' chops…ticks."
The joke went lost on Maura.
"I'm hungry. What are you making for dinner?"
"Oh, it's a surprise."
"Fine. Be like that. I'm going up to have more fun with background checks. See you at two sighs to seven." said Jane as she turned around and left.
She didn't see the soft, lingering smile in Maura's face, or glow and affection in her eyes as they followed her until she disappeared behind the wall.