Spes non Fracta

(I tried really hard to make this shorter - I did! B. )

Chapter 2

It was lunch by the time Goren and Eames were able to attend the crime scene. The crime meant that the streets of the busiest legal district had been blocked, causing chaos that had rippled outwards. Eames drove competently through the maze without any great concern or delays. Goren admired her skills at the wheel. He trusted them completely, always had. She had not spoken a word.
He stared out the side window, thinking of different days. Days when they had worked a case together and had been comfortable in each others presence. Days when Eames would smile at him. They seemed to be long gone, he didn't want to accept that. Once, he had asked Eames many months ago if she thought they 'would be ok'. She had looked straight at him " I hope so" she had said with a sad smile in her eyes. If he asked that question again, would her answer be the same? He hoped so. He wanted to see her smile again.

The black SUV parked at an angle close to the curb between stationary police cars . Eames emerged from the car, nodded casually to the uniformed officer who had approached and showed her badge . She moved rapidly towards the centre of the small park that existed incongruously between two large office blocks. The sun beamed down through the buildings, creating a juxtaposition of bright light and grey shadows. It was a pretty place. It must have been saved from development by some well meaning philanthropist. Eames orientated herself and located the epicentre of activity. She never even acknowledged Goren 's presence, she had become accustomed to working alone. She was sorry she had snapped at him back at the station. She needed to recognise that some problems were beyond his control. But she still had pain and anger from his treatment of her. He should have contacted her when he was undercover, that hurt had not left.

Behind her Goren had been slower to get out of the vehicle. Now his long legs struggled to keep up with Eames' pace. "How did she move so fast? " He thought, as he tried not make it too obvious that he was trying to stay by her side. He wasn't sure he was fooling anyone. By the time Eames had reached the centre of the park, Goren had nearly caught up.

The body had been found earlier that morning in a secluded ,well planted area off the main path. "mkProbably meant to be a romantic spot" Eames thought. "But it wasn't that secluded or romantic, people should've seen something."There were a number of officers moving in and out of her vision throughout the park. At the centre of their activity was a shrouded figure on the ground. The officers struck various stilted poses as they performed their duties. It was a strange reality, but one she felt comfortable with. In the distance a number of journalists and onlookers were being kept at bay by hastily erected barricades and more uniformed officers.

Eames walked over to the Medical Examiner who stood up slowly from beside the shrouded body when she noticed Eames' approach.
You're late".
Eames smiled tightly but made no comment. They had worked cases together for a long time, no comment was needed. Eames calmly placed latex gloves on her small hands without even glancing down, and waited for the verbal report. She had done this many times before.

The ME knelt back down by the body and pulled back the sheet.
"This is an easy one. Head crushed with a heavy object, would have died immediately. Time of death anywhere between 8pm and midnight."
Involuntarily, Eames flinched as she stared at the bloody mess that had been a young woman's face. The woman was lying on her back, limbs arranged loosely around her small body like a stringless puppet. Her head was slightly misshapen by the blow, with strands of familiar straight blonde hair, sticky with blood, stuck haphazardly to her face. Alex forced herself to focus. "Don't go there Eames" she thought.

The ME had not noticed Eames' hesitation and continued to look at the body as she spoke, "Struck from the front with some force, very likely a large rock, roughly the size of a brick. Right handed attacker."

Alex swallowed, "How can you tell the size of the rock from that mess"

"Easy, it looks just like that rock" the ME pointed to a rough brick shaped rock, apparently tossed carelessly a few feet away from the body. It was covered in blood and blonde hair.
Alex glanced over to the rock and then back to the ME's expressionless face.

"You're good." she said dryly.

"Thanks. I think my job here is done. I'll let you know when I have finished with the autopsy, but, I'm pretty sure of cause of death." The ME stood up stiffly and started to pack up her things. "The rest is up to you."

"Thank you." a deep voice interjected and the ME glanced towards Goren as though surprised he was there.
"Detective." she acknowledged as she moved away.

Eames had bent down and moved the sheet away from the body. "Nice clothes." she thought, not yet willing to share the experience with Goren. It would feel strange to speak her thoughts aloud again. She had done this many times without him by her side, it felt strange that he was not looking at the body instead, or even beside her. They had lost something somewhere.

Goren was fidgeting. He had arrived in time to hear everything the ME had said. Now he was practically dancing in his eagerness to assess the body of the young woman and her injuries for himself. It felt good to be on a case again.
There was not enough room for the two of them. Eames could look first. He had noticed Eames' hesitation when she had first seen the body. Only a tiny movement, but he noticed. He seemed unnaturally observant of everything at the moment.

He glanced down at the body and at Eames, immediately noticing the resemblance in their appearance. The petite frame, their clothes, the soft gentle blonde hair. Goren thought Eames' hair was fascinating, it never stayed still, captivating and teasing him with the slightest puff of air. This woman's hair was damp with blood - lifeless, dead. Maybe once it had fascinated someone, but not anymore. He wondered if the woman had been as feisty as his partner. Probably not, Eames was something else. He guessed that the resemblance had caused Eames to flinch. Over years of attending crime scenes she rarely exhibited emotions like that. He filed the information away for later. Now was not the time to confront Eames over anything. He watched as his partner inspected the dead woman and wondered how long she would be. Finally, Eames sensed his agitation behind her, and in a concession to him moved away from the body without a word. She looked around for the crime scene officers to discuss other evidence that may have been collected.

Goren lowered himself close to the ground with an ease that refuted the size of his frame. He moved the sheet further off the body and his face came very close to the bloody mess that remained. Without any comment, he reached over for the right arm and pulled the hand close to his face. After a few seconds of study, he let the hand fall to the lifeless chest and reached for the other hand. Again, he pulled it close to his face and searched in vain for any traces of the attack.

"Nothing under the fingernails, no signs of any attempt to protect herself."

He pulled away slightly. He ran his hands expertly over the head searching for other injuries, his gloves became smeared with blood. He tilted the head from side to side, noticing the amount of blood on the ground.

"Nothing else. One head wound and that was enough. A … ah…..vicious attack. The body was not moved after it fell. The attack occurred here."

He shifted his legs slightly and positioned his hands over the body for a moment as though trying to memorise the scene. His face retained a thoughtful expression.

He continued speaking, he hoped Eames was still behind him, but didn't check.

"Mark on her neck from a necklace probably pulled off, but diamond earrings are still in place"

Above his head Eames had been studying the contents of an evidence bag that had been given to her. She waited to make sure Goren was not going to say something else and then spoke aloud, although she was not sure if he was too far gone with his study of the body to hear. Once upon a time, she would have been sure.

"Apparently her pockets were empty, but some items were found nearby."

She lifted items out of the evidence bag one by one.

"Lipstick, gum, ID card on a chain plus security key, two pens and a phone".

Eames held on to the phone and pressed some buttons.

"Last phone call to 'Home' at 8:10 last night".

She put the phone back in the evidence bag and handed them all to a waiting technician.

"ID card identified her as Mandy Clarke, the Home phone number confirmed her as the daughter of Judge Ray Clarke. He was contacted immediately and has already been here and identified the body. Nasty experience for him. That's why we're here to investigate."

Goren gave no indication he heard anything, as he started to rummage in the girl's pockets.

Eames looked down at the back of Goren's head. She looked impatiently towards the street as she silently thought, "I missed this? What was I thinking?"

Appraising the buildings around her, she said, "She probably worked in of these buildings. This park is a short cut to the subway. "

Still no movement from her partner who had sat back on his haunches and silently contemplated the body.

Eames gave up and started to move away towards the main path.

"No bag or purse found anywhere?" Goren's question carried over to her in a loud confident voice.

She turned back.

"No. Park's been searched, I have asked that all garbages and dumpsters within two blocks are checked."

"Okay, good"

Eames raised her eyebrows and waited to see if there was anything more. There wasn't, she kept moving. "He had been listening," she thought, she should've known that . He always had. But it had been a while. Did she have to get used to his quirky behaviour all over again? This time however she wasn't as ready to forgive him for his behaviours. Lately those behaviours had only led to trouble. About time Goren realised that he was not alone and his actions affected people who cared for him, especially partners. She sighed, she was glad they were finally partners again. She could work with 'the fruitcake,'(how she hated that term), she could work with anyone. Besides, she had forgotten how pleasant he was to look at.

Goren gently replaced the sheet over the body, blithely unaware of the troubled thoughts running through Eames' head. He stood up and nodded to the waiting technicians to take the body away. He removed his bloody gloves with a frown.
As they moved forward to transport the body to the gurney, he turned away. He gave a cursory glance around the area and then focussed on Eames standing on the main path, writing in that tiny notebook of hers. Eames felt his scrutiny and turned towards him.
Goren stepped purposefully in her direction and unconsciously leaned slightly forward to speak to her.

"This was not a regular mugging. There's something more going on. She had no….." he faltered."Umm..."

Eames interrupted, "No defence wounds, the injury was at the front of the head.and she was attacked in a secluded, lonely area late at night. Therefore, she knew or was not frightened by her attacker, and… a professional mugger would have taken her earrings."

Goren paused slightly and looked at her quizzically for a moment.

Eames raised one hand and eased some wayward strands hair from her face. She frowned "I listen to you. I can put facts together. I was able to do it fine while you were on suspension"
She was slightly annoyed that he hadn't thought she was listening. She always listened.

"Uh, sure . Um, yes that's right."

He kicked himself for thinking that her simmering anger at him might affect her work, Eames was better than that. He would do anything to remain her partner.

"You're right. She was not frightened by her attacker. But the attacker intended to kill her, there is no mistaking the strength of a blow like that."

Eames nodded as she noted the body being wheeled away.

"But it was an impulse, they used a weapon that was found in the area, Grabbed the bag in a hurry and dropped some of the contents " Eames glanced behind Goren as a uniformed officer walked up to them with a large evidence bag, The officer handed it to her.

" Detective. This was found in a dumpster, one block west."

"Thanks"

She opened the evidence bag and pulled out a large leather handbag.

"Very nice, very expensive. This could be hers. But a mugger would have taken this, sold it easily." she reflected aloud and included Goren in her thoughts.

She opened the bag, "Purse, no cash, but cards all here. Look, a student card, she was studying Law. This is her bag."

She looked further inside the bag and with her gloved hands, Eames removed a crumpled sheet of paper.
It was a letter. She flicked her hair aside with a small toss of her head as she glanced up at Goren who had been attentively watching her actions.
Goren twisted his head around to try and read it as Eames straightened the paper out. She read the brief contents aloud as Goren looked over her shoulder, tilting his head from side to side. She paid no heed to his actions.

"B.

This is yours.

I understand your decision and agree that it would never have worked.

I will explain to Miranda when she is older.

D.H"

Prospero, Act IV, Scene 1.

Eames removed an evidence bag from her jacket pocket and placed the letter inside. She gave it to Goren for his inspection. She wondered what he had done with his gloves. "There is an embossed Latin phrase and a handwritten reference on the bottom. Right up your alley" She nearly gave him a small smile, but she didn't. She hadn't felt like smiling lately.

Goren excitedly re-read the letter. "This is not her letter. Where did she get it from?"

He looked sideways at Eames, then back at the letter.

"I think this paper is quite a few years old. The handwriting is certainly old school. This reference is from 'The Tempest,' Shakespeare. The Latin phrase is about…… er… something about hope" . He kept some of his thoughts to himself.

Eames snorted softly (but no smile).

"I knew you wouldn't let me down" She may not have forgiven him, but she still appreciated his genius.
He opened the bag and smelled the document. Eames watched silently. Goren waved his hand over the bag towards his face.

"A musty smell, an old book smell. I know that smell well. This letter is probably a few years old."

This time Goren smiled and he looked down at Eames as he sealed the evidence bag.
Goren was confused. Not by the evidence but by the look on Eames' face.
She had withdrawn from him. She looked at him with empty eyes and then away. She seemed disinterested, clinical. His thoughts became distracted , he faltered. He thought to himself, "What happened?"

Eames was thinking about the reason Goren knew that library smell so well. Of his mother and her death, of his time at Tates, of the slow deterioration in their partnership and his recent treatment of her. His words had sparked memories best forgotten. It still hurt. She didn't want to think these things. She shook her head lightly, hair flying gently and looked back at Goren.
It was time for them to go.

Goren tried to reconnect, he looked at the ambulance pulling away and then up at the surrounding buildings. Tried to bring Eames back to the case.

" This area is surrounded by busy law offices. I would have thought it was reasonably safe."

Alex knew what he was trying to do. He was a good man. She followed his lead.

"You've got to be joking, 'safe' and 'surrounded by lawyers' is not something I would normally say in the one breath."

He twitched his head toward her in acknowledgement of the quip and gave a small smile that she did not see. It wasn't her best, but it would do. He loved it when she joked with him.

Eames felt suddenly tired, she removed her gloves and without a word or backward glance walked away from the crime scene. Goren closed the evidence bag and handed it to a technician for later processing

Eames had left, but he remained standing alone, hands motionless at his side. He glanced around the area, assessing for anything he might have forgotten. Eames was nearly at the car. From a distance he admired her graceful walk. He moved to follow.

They had done all they could here.

TBC.