Jane sat at the wooden table in the conference room and licked her lips. She folded her hands in each other and exhaled loudly. She looked at the red-haired woman in front of her. "Are you aware of why you're here?"

Melinda Preston looked at her and swallowed hard. "Because you have more questions about my fiancée?"

Jane looked long at her and raised her eyebrows. "We were at the Underbar and talked to the bouncer Mike Wilson. He mentioned that it was extraordinary that John showed up alone the day he disappeared."

Melinda pressed her lips together and took a deep breath.

Frankie frowned deeply. "What happened, Melinda?"

Melinda closed briefly her eyes and shook her head. "John and I ... We had a stupid fight. It got intense and John needed fresh air."

Jane furrowed her eyebrows. "What were you arguing about?"

Melinda huffed and looked at the Italian. "It was always about the same thing. The damn wedding and the guest list. John had this one childhood friend with whom I had my problems. John wanted to invite him but I was against it."

"What's this friend's name?"

"Randy Buckley.", Melinda answered without hesitation.

Jane looked long at the woman. "Why didn't you like him?"

Melinda snorted and wiped away an angry tear. "Randy is the personified trouble. No matter where he shows up, there is trouble. He doesn't care about anything as long as he has his fun. Once he thought that it would be hilarious to break into a gas station and to make a havoc of it. And who was one of the party? Of course the idiot called my fiancée John. The two were blasted when they were arrested. Randy had just laughed like a maniac. As if it was just a mere trifle."

Jane frowned deeply. "We couldn't find a record entry for burglary and vandalism in John's file."

Melinda sighed heavily. "The reason is because John had a deal with the DA's office."

Jahne raised her eyebrows and looked at her brother.

Frankie looked up from his notepad. "Why should the DA's office be interested in a small fish like Randy?"

Melinda laughed bitterly and wiped away her tears. "What I've just told you, about the gas station, there John and Randy were only sixteen. Randy Buckley isn't just an opportunity criminal anymore. Fortunately, John has managed the break in time."

Jane drew her eyebrows in confusion together. "Does that mean that John was an informer of the DA's office?"

Melinda took a deep breath and nodded slowly. "Yes. That's why we haven't been able to get married yet."

Jane stared at the red-haired woman.

That let the whole case stand a different kind of way.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jane entered with Frankie the B.R.I.C and sighed heavily. "What do you got for me, Frost?"

Frost looked over his shoulder and drew his eyebrows together. "With whom shall I start?"

"The lightweight.", Jane replied and crossed her arms over her chest.

Frost nodded and clicked a few times on his mouse. "I have checked the taxi driver Tim Banks' background. Apart from a few speeding tickets he bas a clean slate. I've already called him to order him in for questioning. Tim comes here tomorrow morning."

Jane nodded and took a deep breath. "Then let's come to the heavyweight."

Frost raised his eyebrows and clicked again a few times on his mouse.

Frankie's eyebrows shot up high. "Holy cow, there is really everything that your heart desires."

Jane drew her eyebrows together as she looked long at the big monitor on the wall. "The guy is anything but a blank sheet of paper."

Frankie looked long at Jane. "If John had spied on Randy Buckley then he would have a reason to see John dead."

Jane nodded agreeing. "Mhm."

Frost looked confused at the two Rizzolis. "Would someone please put me in the picture?"

Jane looked at him and nodded at the wall where the face of the bold Randy Buckley. "John Neill was an informant of the DA's office. They want to bring Buckley finally down."

Frost looked at the big monitor and frowned. "That's an odd coincidence that John Neill was murdered."

Jane nodded slowly. She believed in many things just not in coincidences.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Italian opened exhausted the door of the house and locked it immediately after she had entered the building.

Maura stood at the kitchen island and prepared dinner when she looked up. "Hi."

"Hey.", Jane sighed and dropped her keys on the small table behind the couch. "What do we have for dinner?"

Maura continued her task. "Glass noodle salad with strips of chicken."

Jane walked to the island, looked in the bowl and wrinkled her nose. "That looks like snot."

Maura looked up indignantly. "That was very nice. Thank you very much."

Jane made a face and walked to her wife. "Sorry.", she mumbled and kissed Maura's cheek. Then she walked to the fridge and took a beer out of it. "Does that make full? I'm starving."

"Haven't you eaten today?", Maura wanted to know and looked with a frown at her wife.

Jane sipped her beer and placed it on the counter. "I had breakfast."

Maura drew her eyebrows together. "No lunch?"

The brunette sat down on a high chair and sighed in relief. "It must have slipped my mind."

Maura put the knife, which she had cut the spring onions, down on the working surface and sighed too. "Jane, it is necessary that you eat regularly. You are already too thin."

Jane rubbed her hands with both hands and groaned. "Yes, Mom. I promise faithfully that I will be more careful in the future."

"I wish I could believe that.", Maura mumbled.

Jane dropped her hands again and drew her eyebrows together. "What was that?"

Maura took the knife back in her hand and shook her head. "Oh, nothing. Why don't you go upstairs, take a shower and get dressed in something more comfortable? The dressing hase to infuse a bit more anyway."

Jane stood up slowly and walked around the kitchen island. She leaned into her wife and frowned when Maura turned her head slightly away and Jane's lips landed once again on Maura's cheek. "Are you mad at me?"

Maura looked confused at her. "Why should I be mad at you, Jane?"

Jane shrugged with high eyebrows. "I don't know. Because I said that the salad look like snot?"

Maura rolled her eyes but smiled. "Of course not. Don't be ridiculous, Jane. Actually these noodles do look a little bit like nasal mucus."

Jane raised her eyebrows. "Then why you turned your head away when I want to kiss you?", she wanted to know.

Maura shrugged innocently. "I haven't done that on purpose."

Jane put her hands on Maura's hips and pulled the shorter woman closer to her. She kissed her wife gently on the lips. "Hi.", she whispered with a broad smile.

Maura smiled back and sighed. "Hi.", she replied.

Jane kissed the blonde once more and hummed. "God, I've missed that."

Maura smiled and melted into the Italian. "Me too."

Jane tightened the embrace and inhaled Maura's scent deeply. "I should go upstairs and take a shower."

Maura nodded agreeing.

Jane cleared her throat. "Um ... Maura, therefore you should let me go."

Maura whimpered in protest and pulled away from her wife, pouting.

Jane chuckled and kissed her once again. "I'll be right back."

Maura sighed and nodded.

Jane smiled and walked to the stairs.

A short time later, Jane came freshly showered and dressed in sweats and a worn BPD shirt back in the kitchen. She sat back at the kitchen island and smiled when Maura handed her a bowl. She took the first bite of the new variation of salad and drew her eyebrows surprised together. "This is really good. What's in there?"

Maura sat down next to Jane with her own bowl. "Uh ... obviously glass noodles, spring onions, ginger, lemon, yoghurt, chili, salt, pepper and chicken."

Jane shoved another fork of food in her mouth. "Extraordinary but yummy."

Maura rolled her eyes but smiled. "It's not rocket science."

Jane choked on her food and chuckled. She sighed and sipped her beer.

"Have you made progress with the ongoing case?", Maura wanted to know and sipped her white wine.

Jane frowned while she chewed and nodded. "Yes, we have found out that John Neill was an informant of the DA's office. He should pump his childhood friend for informations."

"Is this said friend such a thug?", Maura asked.

Jane furrowed her eyebrows. "Hell, yeah. There isn't really anything Randy Buckley hasn't done. He fits perfectly into the perps picture. And Randy also had reasons to kill John."

Maura sipped her wine and licked her lips. "But don't you think that Randy is stake out when the DA's office is interested in him?"

Jane sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Therefore we ask the DA's office tomorrow. When he was staked out all the time he isn't our man.", she sighed again and looked long at her wife. "During the autopsy you did have an idea. Will you tell me what it was now?"

Maura thought for a moment and shook her head. "It was just a mental leap."

Jane furrowed her eyebrows. "No, uh-huh. I don't buy that. Your face said something else and your head almost exploded because of all the woozy mental leaps in that big brain of yours."

Maura sighed and rolled her eyes. "I can't substantiate the presumption."

"I won't tell anyone.", Jane whispered with raised eyebrows.

"But you will build up the case on it.", Maura said and looked long at her wife.

Jane took a deep breath and sipped her beer. "You're right, that I would do."

Maura raised her eyebrows and smiled broadly.

Jane stared at her and poked with her right index finger in the visible dimple on Maura's left cheek. "Beep.", she suddenly said with an high-pitched voice.

Maura frowned deeply and looked confused at the brunette. "What was that?"

Jane pursed with raised eyebrows her lips. "That was my pointer on your cheek."

Maura rolled her eyes again. "I know what it was. But why did you do that, Jane?"

Jane shrugged and sipped her beer. "You don't want to talk about presumptions and I am bored."

"And that's why you poke me in the cheek?", Maura asked skeptically.

Jane smiled mischievously. "I could poke you on quite different parts of your body."

Maura swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "No."

Jane looked in surprise at her. "No?"

Maura looked at her firmly. "No, you can not. Not tonight."

Jane lowered her chin. "Dr. Isles, your authoritarian demeanor turns me on even more."

Maura cleared her throat and licked her lips. "There are physical aspects which must be heed by every sexually active couple. No matter the sex of the partners.", she raised her eyebrows. "It's. The cycle of natural changes that occurs in the uterus and ovary as an essential part of making sexual reproduction possible. Its timing is governed by endogenous biological cycles. That means ..."

"Okay,", Jane cut her wife off and made an disgusted face. "I got it. Message received. You're the next few days indispensable. Thanks for the very vivid imagination."

"For me it is not different as it is for you, Jane.", Maura chuckled amused.

Jane sipped her beer and wrinkled her nose. "Yes, it is. Before, I only had to deal with my own handicap. Now I have to deal with yours too."

Maura took a deep breath and shook her head with a amused smile.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next morning, Jane stood with crossed arms over her chest at her desk and stared at a well-dressed man in his early fifties. "With all due respect, are you kidding me, Mr. Montgomery?"

The District Attorney Andrew Montgomery held her piercing gaze. "Detective Rizzoli, I like to help in any other cases as much as I can but a talk with Randy Buckley I can't allow."

"Why not?", Korsak wanted yo know and leaned back in his chair.

Montgomery sighed and shoved his hands in the pockets of his suit pants. "The investigation against Randy Buckley is very delicate. If we can nail down Randy then we can make a damageable strike against the organized crime."

Jane snorted, walked to the coffee maker and poured herself a cup of coffee.

Montgomery looked long at her and sighed again. "Listen, I cam understand your mistrust quite well. I've heard about the Mably case and the cover-up."

"Then you also can understand that we're not in the best mood when someone put a spoke in our wheels again.", Korsak replied honestly.

Montgomery nodded and ran a hand over his beard. "I can understand that as well, Sergeant Korsak. I'll meet you in the middle. Bring me the evidances that Buckley is reasonable for John Neill's death and I will add that to the charge list. Does that sound good for you?"

Jane sighed heavily and sipped her coffee. "I think we can live with that."

Korsak nodded and looked at Montgomery. "Me too."

Montgomery nodded as well and took a deep breath. "Great. Let me know when you have anything new.", he said and started walking.

Jane looked after the lawyer and when he was out of sight she looked at her former partner. "What do you think of Montgomery? Is he trustworthy?"

Korsak looked long at her. He also was strongly influenced by the Mably case and he no longer trusted each allegedly helping hand. He shrugged and stood up from his chair. "I've only heard good things about Montgomery. He is very dedicated. Has worked from the lower working class his way up all by himself."

"Is he bribeable?", Jane wanted to know with a deep frown.

Korsak walked to the coffee maker and frowned. "As I said already, Montgomery has worked up all by himself. He also had lost a few trails but he is not that grimly that he do everything so he's undefeated. Montgomery rather sit down, gathers new evidences and appeals against a judgement. He works hard on the legal way."

Jane nodded slowly. The corruption she had to deal with already, had left deep scars and sowed distrust. She didn't needed a tricky case again which was the source of an political scandal.

The Mably case had cost enough energy and nerves.

She wanted an easy ending of this case.

But what does easy meant in the life of a Jane Rizzoli?

She sighed and sipped her coffee. "Where do we start?"

Korsak poured himself a cup of the brown liquid. "We should check when Buckley and Neill had the last time contact."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jane entered her wife's office and stopped immediately when she saw the stack of files on Maura's desk. "That' I call an organized chaos."

Maura looked up from a file and frowned. "What brings you down here?"

Jane lifted up a plastic bag with take out boxes. "Lunch?"

Maura's frown deepened and she looked at her watch. "Oh shoot, I completely lost track of time."

"Really?", Jane said and sat down on the couch. "What are you working at?"

Maura closed the file she was reading in and stood up from her chair. "I just looked through a few old autopsy records."

Jane put the boxes out of the bag and looked questioningly at the blonde. "Are these cases related to John Neill's death?"

Maura sat down on the armchair next to the couch. "I don't want to speak out on that."

Jane drew her eyebrows together. "It is related to our current case."

Maura sighed and stood up again. She walked back to her desk and took a single file from it. She went back to her chair and handed her wife the said file before she sat down again. " A few months ago I had a similar murder victim on the table.", she said and Jane opened the file. "The case has gone down because of the sensation of the Rose Mably case. I only had a vague memory on that."

Jane looked long at Maura. Gone was the hope for a simple case. "Are the cases related?"

Maura inspected the Chinese food in the boxes. "That's hard to tell. The burn pattern are very similar."

Jane looked through the autopsy report and frowned. "The burn pattern do look very alike."

Maura decided for the fried noodles and shrugged. "The similarity does exist."

"What?", Jane replied and looked with huge eyes at the blonde. "Neither the one nor the other victim would have strapped conductive metal to their chests and played the hot wire in life-size."

Maura rolled her eyes but didn't responded to that.

Jane sipped her coffee and frowned. "Do you think that victim number one was a kind of test run?"

Maura took a bite of her chosen food and nodded slowly. "Possible.", she said after she had swallowed.

Jane groaned already annoyed and leaned back in her seat. She wasn't even one week back in the BPD and had enough already.

Maura looked at her wife and smiled sympathetically. She could almost hear how Jane grumbled inwardly.