With Jane and Maura's relationship now public they are feeling the backlash from Jane's superior and her colleagues.
Crime Scene Confrontation
The early morning sun was struggling to make much impression through the high cloud as Maura Isles; Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts looked up from this morning's victim, a woman's life tragically cut short in an attack that, to her eyes, bore the hallmarks of a premeditated and practiced attack by a serial killer.
The victim was a late-middle-aged woman, lying dead from a throat wound in a small copse of tall bushes in a park adjacent to a walkway popular with commuters making their way from the closest Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus stop through to the residential area beyond.
As Maura looked up she caught sight of one of the other issues she had this morning, one Detective Darren Crowe. The man and his partner had been assigned the case, something that had become more prevalent in recent months as Lieutenant Cavanagh, the head of Boston's Division One Homicide, took out his as yet inexplicable ire on Detective Rizzoli, Maura's girlfriend and Homicide's most capable detective.
Lieutenant Cavanagh's attitude change had occurred following the public acknowledgement that the tall, striking detective and the Medical Examiner were involved, though neither understood the reason for his animus, though they continued to try and ascertain why Jane was, in her words, at the top of 'Cavanagh's shit list'. While not appreciating the language, Maura could completely understand and agree with the sentiment, as her lover was shunted to the least productive and most menial cases.
Now though that meant she had to deal with the odious Detective Crowe, honestly the man was a loathsome human being, his comments were borderline unprofessional, just barely staying on the right side of a formal complaint, though Maura found herself more and more looking for an excuse to have him brought up before HR on a disciplinary charge, though under Cavanagh's current protection the detectives under his command had been getting away with far more against Jane.
Jane had refused to file a complaint, her boss having already made it clear that if she was to do so then she would find herself out of Homicide and 'loaned' back to Vice indefinitely, something she had worked very hard to get out of in the first place. It meant that both Jane and Maura had refrained from pushing back too hard yet, but Maura could see the time approaching where the situation would become intolerable and something would need to be done. That was in the future though and she now had to deal with Crowe, who was lurking nearby as she worked.
Maura was not oblivious to his odious presence, no matter how much she tried to push the shaven-headed detective out of her mind to concentrate on the victim. Several aspects of the victim's circumstances were unfortunately all-too familiar, something she had to, reluctantly, point out to the oblivious detective.
"It would be helpful if you could at least try to demonstrate some professionalism Detective Crowe" Maura didn't even try to hide her exasperation with the detestable little man who looked up into her eyes as he spoke.
"What do you mean by that?" Maura was beyond the necessity for politeness, honestly she just wanted to deal with the victim and leave.
"If you had allocated as much time to the crime scene and this unfortunate victim as you have attempting to look down my blouse since I arrived here, you might have noticed several major items that apparently seem to have been overlooked" Crowe was immediately on the defensive.
"Like what?"
"The victim has had her wedding ring removed violently, so much so that the skin has been torn over the knuckle" Maura gently lifted the victim's left hand and indicated the stripped finger. Crowe however was unimpressed, as his next statement proved.
"So, she was robbed and the mugger took her ring, what's to see?" Maura sighed and thanked the god Jane believed in that she had conveyed her concerns to headquarters while Detective Crowe had been distracted buying a coffee and donut, truly he was a clod. Maura looked up at him, for a moment resisting the urge to pull her blouse closed at the neck to cover her décolletage from Crowe's all-too-obviously wandering eyes.
"If you had applied yourself as diligently to case files as you do to that coffee and pastry, you might recall that this is the third such-married woman who has been killed in recent weeks, all exhibiting the same signs" Crowe's brow furrowed.
"She was mugged and killed, what's so special?" Maura shook her head then pointed to the victim's neck and it's all too obvious wound.
"The deceased was killed by a slash across the throat by a very sharp, very straight edged weapon, quite possibly a so-called 'cut throat' razer, which is the same sort of wound the previous two victims exhibited" Crowe, possibly chagrined at being shown up, shrugged and played it off.
"So, she was mugged and her throat cut, doesn't have to be the same person" Maura repressed the urge to roll her eyes and instead continued educating the witless detective, all the while regretting that Jane wasn't here, she would have made the connections immediately.
"Perhaps I would grant you that, however that would not explain why the victim is missing her shoes" Crowe immediately glanced down to see the victim's uncovered feet, then rather comically looked around.
"Maybe she lost them running from her attacker?" His eyes slid down over Maura's legs to the Manolo Blahnik heels she was wearing. "I mean running in heels ain't fast, maybe they fell off or she kicked them off to run faster?" Maura shook her head again.
"Look around you detective, the victim appeared to have been ambushed by her attacker, striking from these bushes, it would appear she was unaware of the peril until he appeared and dragged her into this area to kill her" Crowe crossed his arms and glanced over at his partner Tomkins, who at least had the wit to keep his mouth shut, then spoke, scepticism in his voice.
"I thought you didn't guess, so how do you know that?" Maura looked at him and explained what should have been patently obvious.
"If the victim was running away, would they not have dropped their groceries first, before kicking off their shoes?" Maura waved to where a brown paper bag of vegetables, bread and spices sat off to one side, the contents partly spilling out under a bush.
"Got all the answers don't you?" Maura shook her head, hardly bothering to be all that polite.
"No detective, just the ones you should have already gathered" Crowe was about to say something when Tompkins spoke.
"Hey Darren, heads up" Crowe's head turned at his partner's call then followed where Tompkins was looking.
"Oh Christ, what the fuck is she doing here?" Intrigued, Maura glanced around to the direction they were looking to see Jane and her partner Detective Frost ducking under the crime scene tape and coming this way. Crowe moved out of the bushes followed by his partner as he moved to intercept the newcomers. Smiling in relief Maura stood and carefully followed them out, close enough to hear the confrontation, for that was surely what Detective Crowe was looking for. "What you think you're doing here Rizzoli?" Jane was nonchalant.
"Pack up Crowe, you can go"
"What the fuck Rizzoli, this is my case" At Crowe's outburst Jane glanced towards the three news crews filming them from two dozen feet away then looked back and replied.
"Not anymore it's not, it's now my case so you're relieved" Maura noticed Barrold Frost wasn't as impassive as he was trying for, she could see the slight lift at the corners of his mouth as he tried to avoid smiling at Crowe's reaction, almost as if he had expected it. Crowe however was oblivious; he planted his hands on his hips and leaned forward pugnaciously as he spoke.
"No fucking way can you waltz in here and prance around like you're queen shit" His sneer deepened. "This is my case, Cavanagh assigned it to me so fuck off" Jane was unimpressed, shrugging as she spoke.
"Last time I looked a Captain outranked a Lieutenant so Marquette's orders stand, it's my case now" Crowe and Tompkins exchanged a 'what the hell' look before the shaven-headed detective looked back at Jane and spoke.
"This is bullshit Rizzoli" Jane smiled at Crowe though Maura could see the complete lack of integrity in it as she replied.
"Nope, it's orders now beat it" Crowe was obviously perplexed, as both his words and tone conveyed.
"What's his interest in a mugging?" Jane shrugged.
"Given it's the third attack with the same M.O., the captain's concerned we have a serial killer so he gave it to me"
"How the hell did he learn…" Crowe suddenly turned and fixed Maura with a filthy glare; Maura simply tipped her head and smiled happily, glad to see him replaced and completely unfazed by his displeasure. "Oh, so your girlfriend here goes behind my back now, that's just fucking great" Jane's false-friendliness was gone instantly, her voice cold.
"Hey Crowe, you got a problem, take it up with me, or better yet, Marquette, I'm sure he'd be happy to listen to your whining" She grinned easily, goading Crowe. "Or maybe not, either way, take your nasty little ass out of here"
"When Cavanagh finds about this he ain't gonna be happy" Crowe brayed out a laugh "You're already on his shit-list Rizzoli, this is just gonna dig you even deeper in the shit" Jane made a gesture like she was waving away his comment as she replied.
"I don't know what the hell the stick up Cavanagh's ass is an to be honest right now I don't care, all I know is that this is my case and you're standing in my way" Tompkins suddenly broke the silence.
"Why the fuck would the Captain assign this case to a dyke like you?" Jane and Frost both spared him a glance however neither had the chance to reply; instead Maura inserted herself into the conversation.
"Perhaps Detective Tompkins, Captain Marquette wishes to see the case solved and as Detective's Rizzoli and Frost have a significantly higher closure rate than you and Detective Crowe, they are the most logical choice" At their angry stare Maura just smiled sweetly, then continued. "Detective Rizzoli in particular has had experience with numerous serial killers and personally closed several such cases, while I believe Detective Crowe and yourself have in fact had no experience dealing with this type of crime, or am I incorrect?" The scowl both men turned towards her gave Maura a small inner sense of satisfaction even as Jane took up the thread, addressing Crowe.
"So, Doctor Isles having established our credentials to handle this case, maybe you and your mini-me can get out of here and stop contaminating our crime scene, go find a donut shop somewhere that needs your attention and let us get on with this case" It was obvious to Maura that Crowe was working himself up to an angry outburst.
You can fuck off Rizzoli, you and your tame lapdog here…" Frost took an angry step forward.
"Why you…"Jane stopped Frost with a glance, then turned back to hear Crowe finishing his speech.
"I don't give a fuck what you and your lezzie girlfriend do, you're gonna get yours, sooner than you think" Jane waited a few seconds then raised an eyebrow as she spoke.
"You finished?" At Crowe's silence she glanced at Tompkins then back to Crowe. "I'll tell you this once so listen up" She took a quick step forward right into Crowe's personal space as her voice dropped to a dangerous calm.
"Crowe, unless you want the whole world see you being a complete ass and then me handing that self-same ass to you live on national television, you should shut your mouth and leave, right now" Crowe had obviously taken leave of his senses, his jaw jutted out pugnaciously.
"Or what?" Jane was unimpressed.
"Or I have the uniforms over there escort you off the crime scene and charge you with obstruction of justice, it's your call." She smiled coldly. "Now if you will excuse me, I have a crime scene to examine and a case to solve" Realising that as Jane was now the detective in charge of the case she in fact could do exactly what she had threatened to do Crowe fell back on bluster.
"This ain't over Rizzoli" Jane shrugged, monumentally unimpressed.
"Yeah it is, now get lost"
With that she brushed past him, her shoulder colliding with Crowe's as she did, while Frost followed in her wake. Jane looked into Maura's eyes and the blonde saw the merriment dancing in her lover's eyes as she spoke.
"What we got Maura? Maura shook her head fondly.
"Jane, the correct grammar is what do we have" Jane shrugged though Maura could see the smile break out on Jane's face.
"Yeah, whatever, tell me about the victim" Maura shared a smile with Jane and Barrold even as she saw both Tompkins and Crowe fuming behind them. Maura turned and led 'her' detectives through to the victim even as both men turned and walked away.
They had a case to crack.