Maura snapped on her gloves and examined the head wound in a quick once-over. She could feel Jane's breath tickling the back of her neck as the detective leant behind her.
"Crowding my personal space isn't going to make this any quicker, Jane."
"Well, it's not like she wacked herself over the head."
"It seems more likely that she fell onto—" Maura narrowed her eyes. "You're trying to trick me into guessing. I'd rather get her onto my table first."
"She is dead, though," Jane muttered.
"Of course."
Standing up, she almost collided right into Jane who was indeed far too close than was necessary. Jane greeted her with an elaborate eye roll, but Maura simply tilted her head with a smile as if she had no idea what Jane's expression meant. Another eye roll and a sigh ensured.
"Fine. Tell me what you find."
She had long since gotten used to the back and forth that involved sharing a crime scene with Jane. Even if her boundaries as a Medical Examiner weren't always respected, she knew it had nothing to do with her. It was just Jane being Jane, wanting more from a preliminary examination than was honestly possible to declare definitively. And Jane wanted that because she cared, more than most. Even after years working homicides, they were never just bodies to Jane. They were people who needed the rest of their story told. Maura didn't take that responsibility lightly either.
It wasn't common for a Chief Medical Examiner to attend a lot of crime scenes, but Maura made it a habit to be there, at least on the cases that Jane was called in to. It also wasn't common for a single homicide detective to spend so much time down in the morgue. Of course detectives needed to be involved with the procedures involving their victims, to be intimate with the details of their cases. It was good to have a healthy relationship with the M.E's office. Maura knew her relationship with Jane surpassed the expectations between their departments. It surpassed a lot of her own expectations too.
The autopsy was routine enough, but Jane was down there watching her too closely as she finished. She smiled to herself as she presented the cause of death with a quiet nod, along with some of the additional forensics her team had gathered from under the victim's fingernails.
"You get a hit from CODIS?"
"Yes."
"You're amazing," Jane said. "You know that right?"
She shrugged, feeling a little bit thrown by the enthusiasm, even if Jane did have a tendency to get excited about good evidence.
"Yes," she said simply.
Jane laughed, smiling deeply enough to show off her dimples. She ran a hand through her hair and nodded.
"Ok, let's go get this sucker." Jane paused before heading out of the double doors, turning back with a quick smile. "Drinks at the Robber tonight, right?"
"Naturally."