And here's Chapter Number 4... Sorry it took me so long to update, but university and work really kept me busy.... Anyways. There you go. CRD, see? :D Have fun, and please read and review :D

Disclaimer: Own nothing but Nicole and Boris. Chapter Title is from the Pussycat Dolls' song "Magic"

Chapter 4: Pick a card, any card

How Nicole had managed to be at his flat only 10 minutes after she had hung up on him (or, as he guessed, dropped the phone at his last comment) Ryan would never know. He only knew that suddenly the doorbell went ballistic. He opened the door and had to grin. Nicole was standing there, wearing a trench coat over her pink night gown that clashed with the red hair, glasses instead of her contacts, no handbag (so no wallet and no driver's license) and looked at him like she was Norman Bates and he the camera in the final scene of Psycho. Still he couldn't stop grinning, "A sight for sore eyes. Pink is really your colour."

"Shut up. Do you think it was fun to get here, in the middle of the night, dressed only in this? Now tell me, where is she and what the hell happened here?"

Ryan waved her to sit down and told her the whole story. Nicole listened carefully, she didn't interrupt him once. At the end, Ryan said, "I know you prolly think I am an idiot, and I may be one. But I believe her. And after all, she's a witness as reliable or unreliable as any other. I mean… It sounds convincing enough, doesn't it?"

"Not for me. But you're a guy. You think with a different part of your body than me."

"Alright, but I'm not Delko, I can think with both ends of my body…"

Now Nicole laughed, "Yeah okay, you made a point there. Okay, so, what are we gonna do?"

Ryan looked at her, "We? How, we? I thought you gonna bit my head off!"

"And I will if you're wrong. But you know I didn't trust the hubby. And I don't think she'd come here to tell you all this if she were the murderer. Unless…. Unless it's to set you a trap."

"You think?" Ryan had never thought about that possibility. "But I didn't feel like I was in danger or something. I don't think it's a trap. Why would it?"

"The guy's Russian. Boris. His wife was too. And I don't trust the Russians anymore. He could be on this. And your little friend there, Lee, too."

Ryan sighed, "I don't know why it is always me that gets into this. Not a month ago I had to trust a complete stranger because my uncle's life was on the line. And now? I have to trust a complete stranger who saw me naked."

Now Nicole grinned wildly, "She saw you naked? Well, I would invent any story for that picture. I'm sure she was impressed."

Ryan wanted to answer something, but then stopped. The moment he had heard Lee's voice, he had completely forgotten about how his back looked. It was dark enough in the room, so that he could guess that she hadn't noticed. But suddenly he was thinking of what she had said, or thought, if she had seen it.

Nicole noticed the sudden change in him and did what she always did; she subtly changed the subject, "So, what's the plan?"

Ryan frowned, "Well, we gotta wait what Tara gets off the autopsy. And then I think we should get a warrant to search the property of the Petrovskys and see if we find that ring…"

"Yeah, but, we'll only get a warrant if Tara finds something that points to the husband. What do you want to tell a judge? That a thief is your only eye witness? Won't work. Not even if I sleep with the judge."

"Then let's hope she finds something. Or else… the only possibility is that you catch her. If she then tells you about this, we can get that warrant."

"And how am I supposed to get her? I mean, I know I can, we all can, yes we can, but I didn't manage to get her so far, so what tells you I will tomorrow?"

Ryan grinned, "I have no idea. I guess we're all gonna wait for the cool car chase you two are gonna have."

"You're an idiot. No seriously, I think we have to focus on what we can find in the husband's house. Maybe we don't need a warrant. I mean, it's a crime scene."

"Yeah, but we cannot open every drawer in this whole damn house…"

Nicole sighed and got up, "I'm gonna need to sleep about this one."

"You're not seriously gonna drive home now?"

"Yes, why not?"

"You don't have your driver's license with you, you don't have your badge with you. And while I guess the whole city knows you, I'd still feel more comfortable if I give you a ride home."

"You're gonna go all patrol on me? Like you did with Derek Powell's client? What was it, something like 'You're driving 36 in a 35 zone'? That must have been one cool stunt you pulled there."

Ryan sighed, "You really have your ears and eyes everywhere, don't you? It was to teach Powell a lesson."

"He must have been scared to death. But back to business. I'm gonna drive myself. You need to sleep, because you look damn tired. And though you act all tough guy on me, you don't have a thief in your flat everyday, so… I'll be alright."

"You're sure?"

She smiled, "Of course. Go to bed, Ryan. And if anything happens, don't hesitate to call me. I'll even let the phone on."

"Aren't you just sweet?"

----

Ryan went to see Tara first thing the next morning. She had just finished the autopsy on Petrovsky's wife. "Morning Ryan. You're here for the results, I suppose."

"Bingo. You got anything?"

"Not much, I'm afraid. COD is strangulation. She had no chance."

"Do you have an idea what was used?"

"Nothing big. I'd say… a cord, a shoelace. And it was a slow death. Your murderer really needed four goes. I found something under her fingernails and sent it to Valera already. What I found more was that she had a broken rib. Post mortem."

Ryan nodded; that was most likely from the CPR. "Anything else. Maybe saliva on her lips?" Tara gave him an odd look. "No sorry. Forget that one. I'm tired."

"You sure look like it. More sleep, less clubbing." Tara smiled.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's right. Okay, I go and see Valera. Thanks, Tara."

"Anytime."

Valera had a result already. "Skin under her fingernails? From the husband."

Ryan frowned, "Really? He had no scratches as far as I could see."

"Well, I can only tell you what DNA is telling me. And it screams: HUSBAND. Loud and clearly… Oh, there's Nicole."

Ryan turned around. Yeah, there she was. And she looked way better now. "Good morning everyone."

Valera grinned, "HUSBAND!!! Before you even ask."

Nicole smiled, "I knew it. Skin under her nails? Now, that was an easy one."

Ryan shook his head, "I'm so sorry to disappoint you, but I don't think it is. He had no scratches on his face or neck."

"So what?"

"So, if she had scratched him while he strangled her, he would have scratches on either his face and neck, or his hands, or arms. And face, neck and hands were clean."

Nicole wiggled her nose, "I don't get it."

Ryan sighed, "It's an easy one. Watch." He walked up behind her. "If I strangled you like this…." He pretended to do, "and you try to fight me, the only body parts of me you can reach is either my hands, to get them off of you, or my face, to hurt me, or my neck, for whatever reason. If I wear short sleeves, you can even scratch my arms. But nothing more. See what I mean?"

Nicole just grinned at Valera, saying, "No, not really… Can you show me again? More detailed… and longer? And maybe closer?"

Ryan shoved her gently away, "And you say men only think with one part of our body…" But he smiled. "Maybe Travers can show you…"

"Maybe I ask him to… But anyways, I've been busy too. I have checked Petr… Perto… Rasputin, and I came up with a prior. Aggravated assault. Never punished."

"Has he some connection to our Russian mob?"

"Nope. And this is what I found frustrating. It would have been so much cooler if he had."

"Not really though…"

"Yeah, that's what you say. You don't know how it feels when every cop you know is trying to keep the city safe from a Russian mob and all you do is chase after a thief. I want some action again."

Ryan leaned against the door post, "Well, let me just remind you that you were called to a bank robbery yesterday, where you would have had plenty of action. It was you who decided to come and join us…"

"Oh shut up. Come on. I'm gonna call a judge for a warrant to search Rasputin's house, property, garden, trees, cars, pets and himself. Maybe we know in like… half an hour…that he killed her, and I can go back and follow The Spider. Just like in the good old days…."

---

Twenty minutes later, Ryan, Nicole and some patrols knock on Petrovsky's door. He opened, "Officers… Have you found him? The Spider?"

Ryan waited a few seconds, but when Nicole didn't say anything, he showed Petrovsky the warrant, "No, not yet. But we have a warrant to search you and you property. Would you let us in, please? One of our officers will bring you to the lab while we search your house."

Petrovsky looked at him, his eyes showing that he didn't understand, "I'm sorry but… why?"

Nicole smiled, "Well, for once because we found your skin under your wife's fingernails. You might understand that this looks very odd to us, so we wanna take a closer look at you."

"I still don't understand, but if you want to, I cannot stop you. But why search my property?"

Ryan had thought about that, "Well, since it is possible you might have killed your wife, and since we didn't find any signs that The Spider was here, we might as well conclude that this is only about killing your wife and put the blame on somebody else, so it is possible that, since no thief was ever here, that we might also find the missing ring. And now, will you please accompany our officer to the car. We see you at the lab later on."

Petrovsky looked at him, but he didn't say a thing.

---

Ryan took his time with the house. His first stop was the guest bedroom. He could see the drawers that Lee had been searching through. They were messy. He took several swaps, hoping he might find some sort of DNA Lee had left behind, but his hopes were small. But he didn't find the ring. His next stop was the bedroom. The side of the bed were the wife had been lying was still looking like she'd left the bed only a couple of seconds ago. Ryan looked at it, a sad feeling coming over him.

Nicole, who was standing in the door post with the hands in her pockets, noticed it, "You're thinking about your mother, right?"

Ryan nodded, "Yeah, I was just wondering… If my mother had died, would my father have left her bed untouched too? I mean… is that how Petrovsky feels? About loosing his wife?"

Nicole sighed, "I don't know. Looking at this, I'd really say that he misses her. But you know…" She shrugged, "We meet those people everyday. They just act…"

"Yeah, I know…" He opened his kit and took his glasses and the UV light out. "Can you close the shutters and turn the lights off, please?"

"Mhm, that sounds promising…" Nicole grinned and did what she was told. When the room was dark, Ryan turned the UV lamp on. The sheet started lighting instantly. "Wow… that's what I call a healthy sex life…"

Ryan chuckled, "Indeed… I wish I knew when they last changed the sheets…."

"Don't even think about that. If they changed the sheets like to days ago and still made such a mess, you'll only feel bad that your sheets don't look like that."

"Who says they don't?"

"Ryan. You and I…."

Ryan put the light down, "Yes?"

"We're both cops. We have no time for nasty things." She grinned, "I wish I knew what you expected now…"

He smiled back, "Exactly that… But since we're at it… I have to ask you a question… And I… I hope this isn't too private… but I think it's necessary…"

Nicole frowned, "Ask…."

"I… em… I just wonder…. If you're about to have sex, do you take your rings and stuff off, and if yes, where do you put them?" He blinked at her. "That face now was priceless."

Nicole laughed, "I guess that serves me right…" Then she thought about it, "Well, you know my chunky jewellery. So I do take them of, and put them on the bedside table… or maybe in the drawer…"

Ryan nodded and opened the drawer. "Nothing… That would have been too easy anyways."

"Maybe he keeps it in his own drawer." Nicole walked over to the bedside table on the husband's side and opened it. "Whoa…"

"What?"

"Gun." Ryan handed her some gloves. She took the gun out. "Nice one… Smith and Wesson. Calleigh can tell you more about that…" She checked the gun cylinder. "Aha… That's interesting."

"What?" She showed the gun barrel to Ryan. "That's interesting indeed." There was only one round in the cylinder. "You think the guy is playing Russian roulette?"

"Why would he?"

"Why would anybody?"

"You got a point there… But we gotta ask him about that one." Nicole bagged the gun. "Maybe he also just fired five shots and forgot to reload it. Yes, I know that sounds stupid, don't give me that look."

"He might have been threatened…"

"What?"

"Well, I've read that sometimes, Russian Roulette is used as a threat, or a torture method. You know, it's possible to manipulate the whole game. So they play with you, they pretend that you have this 1:6 chance that you're gonna die, they fire, but they know exactly that you're not gonna die cause they manipulated the gun. Houdini did that, apparently. Or they insert a blank. You know, there's so many different methods…"

"You've been reading a lot lately." Nicole grinned.

"I read a lot all the time. I'm a scientist. Don't tell me you never read gun magazines or…. typical cop stuff."

"Well, if you consider cleaning tips and Cosmopolitan cop stuff, yeah, I do read a lot too. So, you think somebody has threatened him? Alright. Then tell me, why did he keep the gun?"

"Well… remember Jack Sparrow?"

"What?"

"Jack Sparrow kept his last bullet for Captain Barbosa…"

Nicole looked at him for a second- and then started laughing. "Oh damn it. This is way too funny! You're all out of ideas, aren't you?"

Ryan grinned too, "Yeah okay, this wasn't very scientific. How about you and I just head back to the lab and see what he's telling us…."

"I can't wait to hear that excuse…"

Me neither. :D I hope you liked this. CRD asked me about Russian Roulette, so I thought I bring it in... Speaking of you... how about A Cold November in Miami update? :D :D :D