DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of these lovely characters and if I did things would be going differently in the show...:P
RATING: K+ for reference to violence (in this chapter at least)
It was a chilly October morning as Eve walked in bearing 5 cups of steaming coffee from the cafe across the road. Boyd grabbed a cardboard container full of scalding hot energy as he swept past Eve on his way to the board.
"Right" he said calling the team to attention, "New case...well, cold case, a woman was found floating in a lake in 1998, which would be what? Ten years ago. Recently this man," Boyd slapped a photo on to the board, "was arrested for murdering a shop keeper, the gun he used..." it was at this point when Spencer jumped in,
"Was the same gun that was used to shoot the woman?"
"Uh huh but James Child has admitted killing the shop keeper but not the woman, therefore..."
"It's our job to investigate and find out who killed her," this time it was Stella who interrupted Boyd. Sensing Boyd's growing displeasure, Grace intervened changing the subject slightly,
"So what do we know about the woman?" Boyd looked down at the file and pulled out another picture. Placing this one a little more carefully on the board Boyd looked at the picture, the woman was laughing, she didn't know she was going to be found two weeks later face down in a pond.
"Jessica Marie Lucas, 23, lived alone, teacher, was found by an early morning jogger in 'Kenwood Bathing Pond', she lived in the Highgate area and taught at Highgate School. PM says that she died between 12 and 3 on Thursday the 20th of August"
"Why was she on Hampstead Heath at midnight?" Spencer was confused; the heath was not the place a young woman would want to be at midnight all alone, unless she wasn't alone.
"Maybe she was killed somewhere else and dumped in the pond..." Grace mused,
"I'll get on to the school and try and find any teachers that knew her" Stella offered
"And I'll get the reports copied and distributed,"
"I'll get my hands on the pathologist's reports,"
"I'll start trying to get a profile on her" the team dispersed, each with their own little task and soon there was only Boyd left standing by himself at the board,
"I'll stand here and watch the rest of you work"
It was approaching lunch time when Boyd found himself gravitating towards Grace's door with unread files in his hands. He had been spending a lot of time in her company and every time it got to saying goodbye he was finding it harder and harder. Looking through the window he saw her quietly working, too busy to be disturbed. Shutting the door to his office Boyd crossed the room and sat down on his chair. He made two false starts on reading the files he had brought but couldn't stop thinking about Grace, grabbing the phone he dialled her number.
Grace was currently flicking through various files, absentmindedly pretending to be reading, while her mind was preoccupied with other matters. Reaching out for her phone Grace's hand just brushed the plastic as it started to ring, without looking at the caller id Grace answered,
"Hello Dr. Grace Foley" the voice that replied was familiar and totally welcome,
"Surely you should be doing some work..."
"Says he who phones me up from across the hall for no reason..." Grace was smiling broadly as she pretended to be offended,
"I do have a reason for phoning you, I was wondering if you wanted to get some lunch,"
"So you actually function normally during a case then? You don't just get grumpy and storm around?" Grace knew she was pushing her luck, but that made it fun,
"Hey if you don't want to go to lunch you just have to say...don't have to be mean..."
"Well... I am kinda hungry and I suppose eating with you is just as good as eating on my own..." this pushed it a little too far, even taking into consideration Peter's extra tolerance towards Grace.
"Fine then! Eat on your own!" With that he hung up leaving Grace sitting in her adjacent office her ear pressed to a dead line."