So this is what I've been working on now Breathless is on once a week updates.

Firstly I need to thank forgetmenotjimmy who wrote a brilliant Office fic called 'Roy's Decision' which I encourage you to read if you haven't already (rated M so adjust your searches). I'd already had a plan down for a similar concept though it's a very different story and reading Jimmy's contribution inspired me to actually write mine. I hope you like it Jimmy!

It's set just after The Return in season three. It's rated M for language and violence. This is very much an Office fanfic with a CSI twist. I will warn you that if you're not into character death then this might not be the story for you. No one is guaranteed to make it to the end of this story but no one is guaranteed to die either. There wouldn't be a sense of danger and drama if you knew that everyone would be ok at the end of the day. This is the first time I've written something like this and I'd like to do a full blown CSI fic eventually.

That's enough explanation, enjoy!

Prologue: Dumpster Diving

Brass pulled up just outside the crime scene tape that bisected the parking lot of the bar and braced himself for the blast of chilly January air that waited outside of his gloriously warm car. It had been too many years since he'd weathered an east coast winter and he was older now. At least he was working day shift and got to see daylight for a change. That was a huge perk of his move to Pennsylvania.

He mustered up the courage and head out into the cold, not before buttoning up his wool coat as far as it could go. He'd gotten a call half an hour ago about a dead body found round the back of Poor Richards Pub. It was a place he'd frequented a couple of times but he preferred a place called DJs for his post-shift scotch. As he approached on foot he noticed an ambulance on scene.

"Sergeant?" He called to a police officer, flashing his badge. The Sergeant looked barely twenty-five years old though he was likely older. He was blue eyed and bushy tailed at 7am, probably without the aid of caffeine either.

"Sergeant Collins. Captain Brass?" Plumes of steamy breath swirled out of his mouth as he spoke, highlighting the chill in the air. It was one of those dark, grey mornings where it felt like the sun would never completely rise.

"That's me. Are there injuries?" Brass gestured toward the ambulance.

"No sir, just turns out the DB wasn't as dead as people thought. He's a real mess though, I don't blame them for thinking he was dead."

Brass watched as the victim was wheeled by on a gurney draped in a survival blanket. His face was mangled, bruised, grazed and cut with strange circular patterns. His eyes swollen shut and clumps of hair torn out leaving raw patches of scalp and the rest of his hair was matted with blood. Not even his own mother would recognise him like that. At least one of his arms was obviously broken and covered in bruises and the same distinctive welts and crescent shaped cuts that covered his face. It looked like he'd been attacked with a weapon of some sorts, maybe fists and feet too, he'd have to wait for the victim to be processed before he knew for sure. It was the worst beating he'd seen for a while. Brass couldn't tell what race the guy was due to the blood and bruising. All he knew was that the guy was tall.

"Any ID on the vic?"

"No sir, he was naked when they found him, the rest of him looks the same as his face. Some guy really went to town on him."

"Sexual assault?"

"Don't know with all the blood and bruising everywhere. Have to wait on an SAE."

"Witnesses?"

"Afraid not, sir."

Brass was withholding judgement but that extent of the injuries suggested this was personal, maybe to more than one person. Going by basic investigating principles Brass gestured to two men in garbage collection uniforms. First to find the body, first suspects.

"Those the guys who found him?"

"Yes sir, he was in the dumpster."

Brass watched the ambulance doors slam shut. He knew from the look the paramedic gave him that this would likely become a homicide before they even reached the hospital. "Show me where they found him."

Brass was led round to an alley at the back of the pub. Brass noticed the lamp above them was shattered. There was no glass on the ground so it wasn't broken recently.

"Security cameras?"

"No sir, Poor Richards doesn't get that much trouble. Usually a mix of blue and white collar office workers, no one on a real good pay check but nice people none the less." Sergeant Collins was a local, born and bred in Scranton. Brass nodded, with no security footage his job was getting harder by the second.

The sergeant pointed at an empty space by an unemptied dumpster. "This is where the dumpster was."

"So... where's the dumpster now?"

"Over with the garbage truck. The victim, uh, fell out when they emptied it."

"Just when you're thinking you're having a bad day it gets worse."

"Do you think this was just a body dump, there's no blood."

"Didn't you hear the storm last night? If he was beaten in this alley we couldn't tell after rain like that. And if you're going to dump a body, you do it somewhere less public. Hopefully the CSIs can find us something. That beating had to have been messy." Brass scanned the scene. Apart from the dumpster the garbage men hadn't gotten to, some trash and a few empty beer crates, the dirty alley was empty. He turned back to the young Sergeant. "Make sure no one touches the dumpster and this one too, there could be dumped evidence and finger prints. Impound the truck too. We're going to need all the evidence we can get."

"Yes sir." The Sergeant Collins left to guard the dumpster and Brass found his way to the two garbage men. He sized them up; the older of the two was greying, balding and overweight. He was standing with his hands on his hips and looking impatient and not feeling the cold at all. His younger colleague looked skinny and deathly pale, his dark hair scruffily poking out of a woollen hat. He couldn't have been more than nineteen years old.

"You found the victim?"

"Yeah." Gruffed the older man, the younger one nodded. Brass took out his note book and pen.

"Your names, please?"

"Eugene Wallis." Said the elder. "This is Zachary, my son." Brass didn't see the resemblance but that was probably lucky on Zachary's part. Eugene looked like he hadn't seen much time indoors.

"How did you find the victim?"

"I-I-I found him first." Stuttered the son. He was looking paler still.

"Not gonna puke again are you, boy?" His father stood back a step. Brass did the same.

"I'm fine." He swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "Uh, you want to know everything?"

"Yes, detail is important, just don't blow your chunks in my direction if you've gotta."

"Ok, well I pulled out the dumpster and hooked it up. My dad was grabbing the bottles for recycling because we do that too. Anyway, I pressed the button and the dumpster got lifted and tipped and the guy just... fell out. At first I didn't really know what I saw so I looked in and there he was. Face up, not moving, looking all naked and dead. I mean there was loads of blood, the guy looked like..." The boy dashed away and started retching over a drain.

"I think I've got the idea. So who called the police?"

"I did." Said Eugene, exhibiting his authority. "I had a look too, didn't seem the need to check, he looked pretty dead so that's what I told the dispatcher."

Zachary returned having regained his composure, trying to hold himself as upright as he could.

"You seen the guy before?"

"I might have, but who could tell?" Eugene shrugged and lit a cigarette. Brass understood. So far the two men appeared to be innocent bystanders.

"It was fucked up man." Zachary was starting to pace.

"Watch your mouth, boy." Snapped Eugene, grabbing his son by the arm. Zachary muttered an apology and settled down again.

"Do you think he'll be ok? It was freezing last night what with the storm too." Eugene asked.

"The medical staff will do their best."

Brass took their contact information and informed them that their truck was being impounded as evidence. Eugene put up a fight but relented, it was part of a potential homicide now. Brass finished the interview in time for the CSI's to arrive, hopefully they'd find something. An ID would be a good starting point; hopefully this guy's fingerprints would be in the system.