Saturday, December 7th

Christmas was getting closer, the city prepared for it, there were Christmas trees all over the streets, in every shopping mall, in front yards. Decorated, not decorated, real or made of plastic. More Christmas decoration on windows, roofs, in gardens and on cars. Not to mention Christmas music coming out of every speaker in the shopping malls, sticking in your ear like a gum under your shoe, so you take it with you everywhere you go. Right in the middle of it was Sofia, the shades on, feeling the sunshine on her black CSI jacket. In front of her was her new crime scene.

"Is that how they came up with the phrase "your life is in the gutter"?" Don stepped next to her and watched the body, that lay in the sewage canal, exactly under a manhole cover.

"I don't know. His life seemed to end in the gutter. Do we have an idea who is he?"

"We didn't touch him, still waiting for the ME."

"Who found him?"

"The woman over there, a tourist. She was reading her map, when she ran into somebody else, dropped it and it fell into the manhole cover. She tried to get it out and saw the body of our victim."

"Not a nice surprise."

"No, not what you want on your vacation trip."

"Or is she one of these tourists, who takes photos of everything, including dead bodies?"

"We secured her camera and cell phone in case she did."

"Good." They looked at the body for another moment. "I start with the manhole cover until Cherry appears. We have to get him out there anyhow." This had to be one of the few manhole covers you could lift up when you were strong enough and look through. Sofia ordered two officers to lift it up and put it on a plastic cover. She had to take it with her to the lab, there could be finger prints or fibers on it. Which meant, she had to inform the city, they had to organize a new cover.

"Sorry I got stuck in traffic." Cherry arrived out of breath. "The closed street makes it difficult to come here, all other streets are packed with traffic too."

"We had no other choice, the crime scene is kind of right on the streets." Sofia stepped aside so Cherry could see the body.

"Okay, this was done by one very strong dude or at least two. And giving the location, it happened at night. You can't lift up a manhole cover here during daytime and nobody sees it."

"Yeah, I think the same."

"Now lets get to the complicated part of the story: getting closer to our victim." She lay down on her belly and crawled forward. "I can't see any wounds, a few scratches on his hand, his arm. They can be postmortem, the hole is narrow, he's a big fellow."

"How do you plan to get him out?"

"We can't cut out the whole hole, even when that would be best for evidence. I think I need two ropes, get them around his armpits and have him lift up this way. Did you take your photos?"

"Yes. I plan to film you lifting this guy up."

"Not me, my men." Cherry waved her colleagues over. "We need to get him out with ropes, get me two, then lift him up and put him on the stretcher."

Sofia backed off a little bit to give Cherry's helper some space. She met up with Don, who watched the whole thing from a few yards away.

"Did you check the surveillance cameras? There is one on the corner over there."

"You get it, it's the only one we have in this area. The next one two blocks away. If the body had been found on Hollywood Boulevard, our chances to have the killer on video were bigger."

"We're two blocks away from Hollywood Boulevard, get the videos of the closest cameras too, please."

"Honey, I know how this works, I'm not a rookie nor did I never work with you before." He smiled.

"Sorry. I guess the lieutenant in me took over. I can't kill it."

"Which is good, I like the lieutenant in you, it's a part of you, never try to get rid of a part of yourself, you worked very hard for."

"Thanks."

"I get you all the evidence we can get our hands on, get you me enough information so I can arrest the killer. Or killers. As a team we are unstoppable."

"We're such a great team because we're friends and damn good at what we do."

Two hours later Sofia was in the morgue, watched Cherry doing the y-incision.

"What did you find out so far?"

"Our John Doe was killed by a single GSW to the chest. There are various bruises on his body, he has defensive wounds on the hands and lower arms, suggesting he fought with his killer. Or killers. There are some very distinctive bruises on his shoulders, looks like he was grabbed there. If we are very lucky, we'll get the size of the hand."

"Any trace?"

"I collected some trace, send it up to Brandon. Mostly it looks like what he picked up in the hole."

"Any idea where he was killed?"

"No, too early to tell you anything else." Cherry got the saw to open the rip cage.

When trace didn't find anything, her best evidence was about to get taken out: the bullet. There was no cartridge around the crime scene, like she didn't find any blood. Their John Doe had been killed somewhere else. But why did you kill a man and bring him to Hollywood, only two blocks away from Hollywood Boulevard? There were too many surveillance cameras around. Their original crime scene had to be somewhere close. Or was he taken to where they found him because of the manhole cover? Sofia couldn't think of any other like this. Easy to access, big enough to dumb a body.

"Looks like the bullet got stuck in his heart."

"Get it out, clean it, present it to me like a gift."

"Sure, any other wishes? Want a piece of chocolate with it?"

"Usually I'd love to have chocolate, but your place is too odd to eat anything. I don't want to know what lies next to your chocolate. Hearts, liver, body fluids."

"It keeps the chocolate fresh. All right, let's hold the heart of this man in my hands." Cherry cut out the heart and placed it on a tray. With long tweezers she pulled out the bullet and lay it next to the heart. "A forty-five."

"Our best evidence so far." Sofia opened the plastic bag for the bullet. "You call me when you find more?"

"As always. Enjoy the bullet and let me know when I cracked the case."

"Is there a battle going on? Again?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Cherry grinned.

"Oh no, you guys bet again. Well, if that makes you all work harder and faster I'm fine with it. How comes I get never invited to this game?"

"You're too good. Plus you work the evidence first, the chances you crack the case are higher, nobody wants to lose. Sorry, but you have to play with Greg or any other CSI."

"I take that as a compliment. You win your game and I get my killer. A fair deal for me."

"A good one for me too. So please come to me with all the new evidence you have."

"Honey, you're the ME, I can't bring you trace evidence."

"You could tell me about it."

"That depends on how fast you get me the results I need. See you later, player." With a smile Sofia left the morgue. Time to get the bullet to ballistics. If the ballistics guys were on in this bet too? That reminded her of the circle bet in Las Vegas. She hadn't been a part of it, it was before she joined the night shift, but when she remembered correctly, there were bets on who would finish the circle first. And it was David, so Cherry had good chances to win. It wasn't always the CSI, who won.

"Hello stranger, I haven't seen you here in a while." Steve greeted Marlene when he walked into the dental surgery.

"I have to go to high school and it's not like I want to spend my Saturday mornings here and work."

"Why are you here then?"

"My dad pays me. What are you doing here? Taking Tanya out for lunch?"

"Yes, she thinks I've to improve my Spanish, a B isn't good enough, so we'll have a Spanish lunch. Whatever makes her happy."

"It's not like it's a punishment for you."

"No, not at all. I like Tanya, I like food and I kind of like Spanish. At least it's useful. Something I can't say about all subjects."

"That's right." Marlene turned to a patient and gave her a new appointment. Time for Steve to think about his next step. Should he just ask her if she wanted to come over for dinner? Or did he have to come up with a reason why he invited her? Like an excuse.

"Lea and I are having a video game battle night, including a lot of chips, coke and a great Italian dinner before. Do you and Zoe want to join us?"

"Does great Italian dinner mean pizza?" Marlene laughed.

"No, it means I'll prepare something good. Self-made and not bought."

"You?"

"Yes, I can cook. Remember? I brought Tanya all the delicious food."

"Right, you're a little chef. Can I call you Ratatouille?"

"No! For that I should make you bring dessert, but I made a wonderful pana cotta already. Okay, if you don't want it, it leaves more for us. Your loss."

"What is her loss?" Tanya asked when she came to reception. "Hola Steve, qué tal?"

"Muy bien, gracias. Marlene es una canalla."

"You're not supposed to use these words, who taught you them anyway?"

"These are important words and I learnt them myself. And she is mean, she wants to call me Ratatouille because I cook."

"Really? It was a cute rat, a really good chef and when she's mean, she doesn't get any of the amazing food you prepare tonight. You miss out something big, Marlene. What plans can be better than having amazing food and good company?"

"I wanted to go to the movies with Zoe."

"Oh come on, movies and fast food? I mean, it has it's charm, but Steve's food and after that a video games battle is much better. Give it a try, you won't regret it. If Don hadn't bought this new camera we'd join you for the battle. Now we'll drive around the scenic lookouts and take photos of the city by night. His parents asked for them. What time does dinner start, Steve?"

"Seven."

"See, take Zoe and come over, I'm sure she likes good food and a video games night too. We have 'Fight or die V' at home."

"That won't be released until next week."

"True, for public. For a friend of Lou Lee it's available earlier."

"Right, you and Lou Lee are buddies."

"Not buddies, he's…he invites me over sometimes. I think he still has a weak spot for my mom."

"Poor man, he doesn't have a chance. There's only one person for Sofia and that's Sara. No movie star can change that. Not even a hot one, who is the godfather of my niece. Makes me related to him somehow."

"No, it doesn't." Steve laughed. "He is your patient."

"Yes, I like it when he is here."

"When is the next time he comes in? I have to make sure I'm here. For him I don't mind working on a Saturday. Or late in the evening." Marlene checked the computer. "I can't find him."

"Because his appointment isn't in there. He gets special appointment, I have written down in my little notebook. The only one who knows when he comes in the next time, is me. And your father, who will never let you know when the appointment is."

"When does he come in?"

"I won't tell you." Tanya checked her watch. "Time to leave, tengo hambre. Vamos mi querido?"

"Sí, vamos. Tengo hambre también. Adios Marlene."

"Your last chance for dinner, Honey, take it or you'll regret it." Tanya smiled. "You never know, Lou Lee might pop in."

"Okay, if Zoe agrees we come over. Seven?"

"Seven it is. See you around." Tanya got her arm around Steve and pulled him out of the surgery. "We got her."

"Why can't women just take an invitation? Why do you have to make a battle out of everything?"

"Because when we see a man fights for us, we know he really wants us."

"I wouldn't ask her to come over if I didn't want her there."

"Your intentions are good, often they're not. So we have to check, don't worry, it will happen a few more times, it has been like this all the years. Men work their asses off to impress us and we may or may not want you around."

"Why can't it be the other way around?"

"Because we're the beautiful and adorable sex. You work for us, that's how it works."

"We make fools out of ourselves."

"You do and we like it." She blinked at him. "You're a cute fool. Not foolish at all."

Steve mumbled something like he didn't want to be a fool and hated ending up like one all the time he was around Marlene. That was embarrissing. What happened to dignity?

"I've got an ID on our victim." Greg came into the lab. "One step closer to solving the case."

"Are you part of the betting competition?"

"Nope, no CSI involved. They're afraid we win."

"Because we're so good."

"Probably. So, our victim's name is Jorje Manzaric. He's from Westwood, has a criminal record, petty theft, speeding tickets, assault. He has a restraining order, is not allowed to get closer to his ex girlfriend than two hundred yards."

"How comes?"

"He slapped her around, she called the police. Some women don't appreciate a man's attention."

"You're lucky that I like you, otherwise you'd get in trouble for such a sentence."

"Sorry. So yes, he was supposed to stay away from her."

"And he didn't?"

"No, or yes. He stayed away far enough, but he followed her, watched her from a distance. Her brother was really annoyed about him. Threatened him."

"Does the brother have a name?"

"He does, he also has an address. I sent Don over to pick him up."

"Oh, maybe you closed the case. What a pity you don't get any money for it."

"The last time I checked I get paid for my work and we haven't got a confession, so the case isn't closed yet."

"The next time we have our own competition. You against me, the better one wins, the loser buys dinner for the winner."

"Okay, sounds like a fair deal."

"I checked the manhole cover for prints, there were none. I did get a toe print."

"A toe print?"

"Yes, people walk around barefoot, I don't think our killer dumped the body barefoot."

"No. So nothing that helps us. I check on the brother, talk to the girlfriend too. She won't be strong enough to lift the manhole cover, but maybe she asked somebody to do it."

"You work with the people, I work the evidence and let you know as soon as I found something."