Jane stomped up the stairs in her boots. The thought that Maura would encourage her to think "calm thoughts" when en route to the lieutenant's office, so she might think carefully before speaking, passed through her mind, but dammit, she was angry, so she might as well be angry. What you see is what you get. Because it was bad enough she was so behind on paperwork that she had to have a day at her desk doing it. And bad enough Cavanaugh had hauled her in to his office to grumble about it last week. Sure, he had tried to sweeten her up, telling her how much he valued her, how much he wanted her back in the field, yadda yadda. But to have him summons her today when she was actually doing the damn paperwork, thus interrupting the damn paperwork, thus slowing her down, thus making the damn paperwork last longer, dammit she really didn't need him riding her when she was actually on task.

Seeing his door closed, she knocked loudly, and entered when she heard him shout "Rizzoli? Come on in".

She stomped rather pointedly in to his office, then to her surprise saw Agent Gabriel Dean. "What is he doing here?" she grumbled in surprise. Presumably a fed wasn't involved in her paperwork backlog.

Dean stood up and held out a hand "Nice to see you again Rizzoli"

"humpf" Jane muttered, whilst disinterestedly shaking his hand.

"Rizzoli, sit down and at least pretend to have some manners. You are going to want to hear what Dean has to say in this setting, before we inform anyone else"

Jane sat, and was aware of feeling more and more tense. Much as she wanted to be rescued from paperwork, this clearly wasn't about paperwork, but if it brought Dean to Cavanaugh's office, and Cavanaugh was so terse, it wasn't good news.

Dean cleared his throat and began

"Look. I know you like it straight to the point Rizzoli, so here goes. The FBI has reason to believe there is a serial killer targeting medical examiners. Last week there was a third murder of a medical examiner in the last two years. All different states. All unsolved. The first two cases were worked up extensively by the police within each state, presuming that the murder likely related to a case the ME had worked. No leads came up. Mob involvement was also considered, but no clear links found. With the third case notified to us last week, we are increasingly convinced the cases look like someone is specifically targeting MEs. Someone highly professional and organised. The three victims share some similarities. All female, well regarded, experienced, medical examiners. We can't find any links between the three beyond this – no cases in common, no cases suspected to involve the same organised crime groups. We have tried to trace any link between the three victims, but can't find any professional links, any shared sub-specialties. Two did attend the same conference for medical examiners in 2012 and 2013, but since there were 2000+ international delegates at that conference, it is almost surprising it is the only time they may have crossed paths. And we think overall it is unlikely they even spoke. What we know of the MO is very similar.

Case 1. Esme Grocott. 52. Divorced. Two children of college age, both living away from home. Has been a Medical Examiner in Fort Worth, Dallas since 1998. Found strangled, 18 Dec 2013, in a park near her house. She was in running gear and was known to frequently run before work. One simple ligature left. No trace evidence at all. No motive found in her life outside of work. She was in fact seen as scrupulous, and devoted to her work. Her ex-husband reported her to be a workaholic but otherwise remained very positive in his regard of her, and both children reported no significant animosity between their divorced parents.

Case 2. Mary Sanson. 46. Murdered 8 October 2014. At that time had recently separated from her partner of 6 years. No children. Medical Examiner in Madison, Wisconsin for the last 2 years. Prior to that she had worked in Cincinnati and Juneau. Again, well liked, well regarded. On a promotion path and expected to eventually become the chief medical examiner of the state of Wisconsin when the current incumbent retires. Ex-Partner has a solid alibi in New York for the night of the murder. Found strangled with a simple ligature, no useful trace evidence in her home. Found when staff went round to her house when she did not turn up to work.

Case 3. Elizabeth Hivers. 31. Murdered 12 December 2015. Newly appointed medical examiner in Little Rock, Arkansas. Had been in the job four months, having completed her residency in the same centre. Has a boyfriend of four years, who is a medic in the army who was stationed in Afghanistan at the time of her murder. His most recent deployment began three months before her murder. Again, found at home, strangled in her apartment. Simple ligature. A few fibres, but so far no useful leads. Seen to be an outstanding young medical examiner, excellent references, got offered several jobs on completing her residency. Family report she is clean living, they like her boyfriend – their only comments were they were disappointed they had not gotten engaged."

"Mmhmm" Jane nodded. "And this involves BPD how?"

Dean replied "obviously we are very concerned we may have someone targeting medical examiners. We have looked back for any other national cases regarding murders of MEs, and looked for any murders of criminologists, lab staff or the likes. But these three stand out together. So we are approaching any jurisdiction which we believe has a high risk target. We have identified four other locales who also have a highly accomplished, female, medical examiner in the 30-60 age range, who lives alone. Dr Maura Isles obviously fits this profile. So generally we are approaching each centre to approach the ME with us and talk about how we will manage risk. We are trying to keep this situation out of the media. At the current time we have no real breaks, and no leads. But we are hoping that at the least, presuming there is one perp, he doesn't know that we think there may be links. We are obviously assembling a team to work on this case at a federal level. I had approached Cavanaugh here to ask if you might consider being seconded to that. We have worked together before, you have good instincts, and you know a lot more about the habits of medical examiners than most detectives."

Cavaunagh interrupted at this point "your choice Rizzoli. As there hasn't been a crime within BPD, we won't be investigating anything. I will be assembling a small team to discuss security with Dr Isles, but that will be the limit of our active involvement. If you stay here, you can oversee Dr Isles security plan. If you go with the feds on secondment, you work the case. I am happy to release you to the secondment, but always very happy to have you on the streets here"

Jane looked from Cavanaugh to Dean and back "so can I think about it for an hour?"

Dean "In fact you have four hours. We need to brief Dr Isles and the small team Cavanaugh is choosing to be in the know for this situation. Then I will be flying out to the next jurisdiction we think has an at-risk target to brief them. You choose then whether you stay here or whether you join me"

…..

Jane waited outside the small meeting room with Korsak, Frost, Frankie, Anderson and Somersby who the lieutenant had chosen to be involved in the team planning Maura's security. She knew that Maura was inside with Dean and Cavanaugh being briefed at the moment.

The door opened and Cavanaugh invited them in, and briefly summarised matters for the BPD staff chosen "Hi team. This is an operation to be kept quiet please. You have all been selected based on your skills and your discretion. The FBI has reason to believe that Dr Isle's life may be at risk. Unfortunately the timeframe is unclear, and possibly long. Three female MEs have been murdered using a similar MO in the last two years. There is not a sign the pattern is accelerating. However we need to think about how to take precautions. Agent Dean from the FBI is our liaison point with the federal investigation – which aims to find this perp, who may be anywhere in the country if the hypothesis is correct".

Korsak coughed "gee Doc, I'm sorry to hear that. It must be unsettling. I'm happy to do anything needed"

The others chorused their agreement.

Somersby, a veteran detective who'd been in the force 25 years, asked "so what do you want us to do? 24 hour cover isn't going to be viable if the time frame is months?"

Cavanaugh "indeed. That is what I would like you 5 or 6 to discuss with Dr Isles. "

Frost "5 or 6?"

Cavanaugh "the FBI have asked if detective Rizzoli would take a secondment to work the hunt for the perp with them. She is currently thinking about it"

Maura looked up "what do you think you will do Jane?"

Jane mumbled "haven't given it much thought yet" which was far from the truth. Since finding out she had been torn between her desire to run and tell Maura she was at risk and handcuff her to herself if necessary to keep her in sight and safe, and thinking rationally that this could run on for months, and all they could really do was sit and wait if she stayed with the BPD. Wheras if she went to FBI headquarters, at least it felt like she was taking the offensive against the perp. But that meant leaving Maura.

Korsak "well, I am happy to do whatever is needed. On or off the clock. Happy to stay some nights at Dr Isles, or have her at my place."

Frankie "yeah, me too, obviously"

Maura spoke up "I've been wondering whether I can reduce my risk profile some other way. Like make myself fit the profile less well?"

Everyone looked up

"you were saying Agent Dean the profile is female, average aged MEs who live for long periods on their own. So what if"

Jane snorted an interruption "what if you stopped being an ME? C'mon Maura, we all know that is a part of you?"

"No Jane, I was thinking more about finding someone to live with me, be in a relationship"

"So you're gonna put that on Tinder "Looking for a man to make me less appealing to a serial killer" I'm sure you'll get some quality responses to that"

Maura looked a little deflated and awkward and Jane felt ashamed "look sorry Maura, just a bit tense wondering how we can protect you when we don't know who from and for how long. I didn't mean to diss your idea"

Maura began again "I wasn't thinking finding someone de novo Jane. I was thinking of pretending to be in a relationship with someone I already know. It would look smoother than a random. And might be more comfortable if someone was willing"

Agent Dean "I'm not sure I follow Maura – you're suggesting you pretend to be in a relationship to put the killer off? Who were you thinking you would do this with? Someone we know?"

Maura looked up "Jane would be the obvious choice"

"Obvious?" Jane spluttered. "what the fuck, I mean opps, sorry boss, but what on earth do you mean obvious Maura?"

"Well Jane we spend a lot of time together, half the precinct believes we are together but closeted"

Jane looked livid "What mangy little twerps are spreading that rumour? Really? When I get my hands on…."

Frankie "look Jane, just calm a bit and think about it. It makes some sense"

Jane "sense? What about the bit where we suddenly pretend Maura is a lesbian? How are we going to sell that?"

Maura "I'm not sure the problem Jane, I think I am open-minded. It doesn't bother me what people think. I'd be proud to have such an accomplished woman as you as my girlfriend"