Disclaimer: CSI:NY is created and owned by Bruckheimer, CBS and the lot. No profit will be made from this.

Warning: Story contains reference to child rape and murder. Rated T.

Acknowledgements:

Wikipedia – Still the fastest source of information for amateur writers like myself.
CSI: NY Official Site – The CSI handbook at CBS.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

He made his way over to where Flack stood, just by the yellow tape, hands on hips and mouth set in a hard line.

"Body?"

Flack grimaced. "By the rock. Lady there found her this morning when she got a flat - was waiting for the mechanic when she had to, uh, relieve herself."

Mac shot him a dubious look. The younger man shrugged.

"She was about to, behind the rock. But then she saw the body. Promptly freaked out and called us."

"Okay. What do we have on our vic?"

"Girl. Eight, maybe nine years old." His eyes shifted downwards again. "Beaten, most probably raped. Looks like a dump job, but with the rain last night, it'll be hard to tell anything."

Mac and Danny made their way through the overgrown grass. Upon reaching the rock, Mac set up his case on a low shelf while Danny prepped his camera. Holding it up, the younger detective snapped off several location shots, then went around to the back face of the boulder to join Mac.

And on seeing the body, turned quite green.

"You okay with this, Danny?"

"I'm alright," he breathed deep, "I'm alright. Just gimme a minute."

The frown drew deep worry lines across Mac's forehead. He knew a bad case when he saw one. Adjusting the fit of his gloves, he reached for the camera, which Danny handed to him to take over.

"When you're ready."

- - - - - - - - - -

"Got the statement from the lady."

Lindsay's shadow caught his attention when it blocked his line of sight. He looked up at her with a questioning squint.

"You find anything?"

Danny puffed a breath as he sat back on his haunches. "Partial footprints – 10 different types, looks like. Other than that, not so much as a damn hair."

She hunkered down next to him and they both watched as the wrapped body was carried into the ambulance.

"We'll probably know more once Hammerback gets to examine her." He shook his head ruefully. "You ever see this kind of thing back home, Montana? Blood and bruises all over some little dead girl? You had it good back there."

The condescension stung. Her voice was clipped as she got up and looked down at him.

"A lot more goes on in Hick Country than you know, Messer."

She walked off, Danny's gaze following.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Sid unclipped his glasses as he turned to face the approaching detective.

"Twelve hours, I'm estimating. Rigor mortis has set in, and we're seeing almost maximum lividity of the skin around the abdominal area."

"Just last night?"

"Seems to be so. Varied colouring of bruises indicates she's been manhandled more than once over a number of days. An adult, judging by the finger marks. Male most probably, by the force some of these wounds indicate. Superficial lacerations on her face, forearms and knees. Other than that…" his shoulders lifted to imitate a shrug.

"Cause of death?"

He coughed a little. "No signs of strangulation, no visible wounds that could have caused exsanguination. Tox report's yet to come back. But I did find a coating of dust in the inside of her nose and mouth. So I'm going with suffocation."

"You'll know more once you start the internal examination?"

"I'll let you know when I'm done" Sid leaned back, arms folded. The usual spark of curiosity was absent from his face as he stared at the bloodied face sleeping quietly on his autopsy table.

Mac watched stoicism play across his features, noting that it touched everywhere but his eyes, and wisely refrained from commenting when examining hands trembled as they reached for the Stryker saw.

- - - - - - - - - -

They passed each other in the corridor.

"Hey," Stella smiled, and he made an effort to return his.

"Hey. You still working that bridge jumper case?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, Hawkes and I've got it covered."

"Alright. Keep me posted. I'll see you around." Mac attempted to move off, but she caught his arm in a light grip.

"It's two weeks into November. Try and sleep sometime this month? That's not too hard a request, is it?"

Their smirks mirrored each other's as they broke contact and left in opposite directions.

- - - - - - - - - - -

"What do we have, Danny?" The wind whipped around his coat collar and the sky was threatening to rain again.

"Nothing. Nada. Can you believe the luck this bastard has?"

They stood up stiffly. Back at the crime scene again, scouring over the area and checking the surrounding radius for any evidence that the rain might not have washed away, they still found nothing. Nothing of worth at least, it seemed.

Mac shook his head and stared at the darkening clouds.

"We bag everything we find."

Danny's eyes landed on an empty bag of Cheetos. "Everything?"

"Everything."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"Got an ID on our vic. Katherine Leigh Clarke. Parents filed a missing persons on her just two weeks ago."

Lindsay glanced at the two men in front of her, and quickly looked back at the page when she caught Danny's eye.

"Do the parents know yet?"

She took a deep breath. "I, uh, wanted to clear that with you first, Mac. You'd probably be the best person to- to handle this."

The answering frown didn't tell her much. He just mutely took the file from her and uttered a short "thanks" before he and Danny moved off. Their backs turned to her, she could still faintly make out Mac's voice over the noise of the hallway.

"She'd have turned eight this time next month."

TBC

A/N:

Had no idea, when I wrote the epilogue to 'Dry Bones', that I would expand upon the serial killer case mentioned in there. But here it is, anyhow. Can't remember what I watched/read that inspired this, so if something rings a bell as the story progresses, do let me know so I can give due acknowledgement.

Credits to the writers of every CSI episode, because now I know how insane it is, trying to incorporate a discipline like forensics into a dramatic storyline. So, my apologies if this work falls below standards and loopholes pop up. And per usual: reviews and constructive criticism are much appreciated.