Breaking Barriers Chapter 2
Kate
Leaning forward to peer into the small indent in the wall of the bridge supports, Detective Kate Beckett gave a small sad sigh, 'so young'.
For a moment she wasn't a Homicide detective, just a woman, someone who wanted kids of her own one day, to see a child like this, a life wasted… She sighed again before the woman retreated and the hard detective armour reappeared to wrap around her heart. She took a moment to look around, taking in the scene illuminated by the light of her torch; no sun penetrated this deep under the bridge. She noted the young boy's position, he was slumped against the wall, no signs of violence, but he had vomited heavily, the ground was covered in it, as was his clothes.
Brown hair, slightly Slavic or Eastern European features, slim but not skinny, no signs of violence or of whatever had killed him. 'Who are you'?' Moving back into the open, she stood up and turned to face her friend.
"What do we know Lanie?" The 12th Precinct's Medical Examiner nodded to her assistant's to retrieve the body before stepping back and looking over at her friend, her voice resigned.
"No signs of recent violence, no signs of drug use, at least without a full examination, looks like he's maybe 13 or 14, 15 tops. At this point I don't have a proper cause of death, it could be exposure but he doesn't look thin enough to be a true street kid and he's dressed reasonably warmly. I'll know more once I get him back for examination"
Lanie shrugged, Lanie Parish was their ME; her job was to get the dead to tell their tales, dealing with the living was Beckett's job. They watched as Lanie's assistants lifted the boy out carefully, Beckett noting the brand-name sneakers and jeans and the fleecy top over a collared shirt. She wasn't the only one, the ME raised an eyebrow.
"Not exactly street kid's wear is it?" Beckett shook her head; the clothes were too clean and looked kinda new. Taking in Kate's silence Lanie looked up at her friend, her voice quiet. "I'll see what I can find"
Kate nodded and pushed out a smile with her thanks; sure she'd get a call when Lanie knew something. She looked around in time to see her detectives, Ryan and Esposito, finishing up with the uniformed cops, they looked up and waited as she walked towards them and asked the question that kicked each new case off.
"What's the story?" Kevin Ryan looked down at his notebook and started reading his notes out loud.
"Called in by an anonymous tip from a pre-paid cell, despatch said the caller sounded young, probably not much older than our vic" Javier Esposito nodded and chimed in.
"Looking at the area, this looks a lot like the sort of place street kids hang around, probably one of them made the call" Beckett frowned as she looked round, Espo was probably right, looking back at her team as she replied.
"Lanie thinks that the vic doesn't look like your typical street kid, not burnt out enough, clothes are too good and new as well" All three turned to watch as the vic was zipped up in a body bag before Beckett turned back to her colleagues.
"I'll start with missing person records, Javie, check with Juvenile, maybe they have some ideas who normally hangs around here, see if they can scare up some names" Esposito nodded as she turned to Ryan. "Kevin, Find out where the cell was bought from, maybe we can get some video of whoever bought it" She shrugged. "It's a long shot I know but we seem to be dealing with kids and kids make mistakes"
They both nodded at her before they turned to see the body loaded into the back of the coroner's van. Finally Esposito spoke, his voice quiet.
"That they do"