(Revised chapter - meant to correct errors and tighten chapter up a bit based of your feedback, thanks)

Chapter 3

Diana Bennett sat cross-legged in the middle of Gabriel's main office as she intently examined the collection of various papers and pictures scattered about while twirling something around in her fingers. In hopes of using her profiling expertise to help unravel the rest of Gabriel's crime network, Joe had made special arrangements with Captain Morrison of the # 210 to retain Diana indefinitely, but Diana wanted to stay on the case for other reasons she kept to herself.

In a pair of faded denim jeans and a loose oversized sweater which hid her slim figure in its bulk, she looked very different from her professionally dressed colleagues milling about as. Her long auburn hair was pulled haphazardly back into a loose ponytail and she wore minimal make-up. Her vibrant green eyes, the product of a proud Irish ancestry, looked over a pair of wire-rimmed sunglasses pulled down to the bridge of her nose as she rearranged a couple of photos, then sat back thinking. And sitting there, she looked more like an innocent teenager perusing a collection of adolescent magazines than a hard core cynical investigator in her late twenties who had profiled more heinous crimes than she cared to count.

Detective Tom Farrell, a veteran detective in his late forties and also part of the Task Force Team, strode across the room. "Hey Bennett! Maxwell wants to see you in his office," he called out.

"Why?" Diana asked, not bothering to look up for something was nagging her.

Now standing next to her, with his hands on his hips and looking over her shoulder at the collection of items on the floor, he replied, "Says he's still waiting on that progress report."

Diana picked up another photo, looked at it, then set it down again, before letting out a short abrupt sigh. "When I have something to tell him, I'll let him know."

Farrell held up his hands in feigned defense and then smirked. "Hey, don't take it out on me. I'm just the paid messenger boy, here."

Diana glanced up at the detective. "Sorry. Thanks, Farrell."

The detective then squatted down to get a closer look at what she was doing. It was then he noticed the object she was twirling about in her hand. "What that?" he asked curiously.

There was a long pause. "A ring."

"I can see that. Where'd you get it?"

"It was found on the floor after the raid," Diana explained.

The detective plucked it out of her hand and looked at it "Funny, I don't remember seeing it catalogued as evidence before."

Diana shrugged.

Farrell took a closer look at. It was a man's ring, made of gold with an inlayed dark jewel in its center. "Looks pretty old and expensive."

"It is," she said, taking the ring back and stuffing it into a pocket. She then picked up several more photos of Gabriel's body taken from the crime scene as if trying to compare them to each other.

"So what's bugging you anyway? You've been staring at that stuff for hours."

Just then something seemed to pop in her head. "I need to go check something out," she said suddenly gathering the papers up and stuffing them haphazardly back into a file.

"You got something?" Farrell asked his interest peaked.

Diana hedged. "I don't know, maybe just hunch, maybe another wild goose chase. I'll let you know when I decide."

Farrell chuckled. "You just do that. And don't forget about Maxwell," he called to her retreating back. "He's under the impression you've been avoiding him."

Diana turned back around, grinning. "If you'd seen the mood of the District Attorney of late, you would be too. See ya later, Farrell."

Forty-five minutes later, Diana was in the evidence locker of the Manhattan Coroner's Office. After showing the proper identification, a box was brought in by an officer who handed her a clipboard to sign then left the room. Diana opened the cardboard container whose contents were packaged in clear plastic bags and labeled with the case number. She looked through the contents then back to the original itemized list, then looked again.

"It's not here," she said to herself.

She then headed over to the main coroner's office and at the receptionist's desk asked to see Dr. Marks, the chief coroner, but was told he was still in the middle of an autopsy down the hall in room five.

Diana had to wait another thirty-five minutes outside the exam suite before Dr. Marks finally came out. She had learned early on in her past associations with the Chief Coroner, that Dr. Marks intensely hated to be interrupted during an autopsy, a fact she had been rather rudely reminded of the day she had attempted to observe the autopsy on Catherine Chandler. Diana had been practically ejected out of the exam room.

A man in his late fifties, Dr. Marks always appeared to be in a nervous rush and today was no exception. When he finally exited the exam suite, he looked less than pleased to see her as he donned his white lab coat and headed briskly down the hall.

"Dr. Marks," she raced after him. "I need to speak with you."

Not slowing his pace, he said over his shoulder. "I'm really quite busy at the moment, Ms. Bennett. We've been swamped here, as well as you can understand with recent events."

"Yes, I know," Diana matched her pace to the older man and using her most authoritative voice said, "But this is important; I need to talk to you about your examination of Gabriel."

Dr. Marks' pace slowed slightly. "Whatever for?" He said rather haughtily. "You have my official report already, which of course is no surprise to you."

"It's not about the death," Diana replied rather edgily. "It's something else regarding my official profile investigation of the man himself."

One of Dr. Marks' assistances came over and interrupted them, handing the coroner a clipboard. "Your next case is ready sir, and Simon also has finished preparing the liver slides you requested."

Dr. Marks nodded, but upon seeing Diana's determined face, he let out a deep nasally sigh then flipped through the papers on the clipboard rather quickly, before scribbling his signature at the bottom and thrusting it back to his assistant. "Very well Greg, have Frank go ahead and start the gross exam and get the second year intern to assist. I'll be there shortly."

After eyeing Diana up and down, the assistant scurried off, and once again Dr. Marks' pace picked up not bothering to see if Diana was even following. After grabbing a cup of coffee from the employee pot and a rather stale looking pastry, he strode purposefully into his cubical office at the end of a long hall and then stood behind his desk, glancing up at the wall clock. "You have exactly five minutes of my time Ms. Bennett, use it wisely."

Diana crossed the short space until she stood directly across from the medical examiner. "Dr. Marks I need know when you did your initial exam on Gabriel did you notice a ring on his hand."

"A ring?" The coroner's bushy brows descended. "You're interrupting my day for this?"

"Please, Dr. Marks," Diana insisted. "This is important." And before he had a chance to protest further she presented him with a picture from the crime scene and pointed to a dark band on Gabriel's hand. "Gabriel was wearing a ring, this ring when he was killed. But I was just at the evidence locker and it wasn't with Gabriel's personal effects nor was it listed on the inventory sheet. Did it remain with the body?"

Dr. Marks shook his head. "No, it wouldn't have," he said sternly. "Any personal effects are always removed before the internal exam, standard procedure."

"But do you remember the ring though?" Again she tapped the picture.

Dr. Marks scrutinized the young woman for several long seconds, before sighing, then reaching into the left pocket of his shirt he withdrew a pair of glasses and adjusted them on his face before studying the photo more carefully. Several more seconds passed. "Perhaps…maybe something vaguely about it."

"Are you sure?" Diana insisted. "This is important."

The coroner rubbed his chin. "Yes. It was an unusual one, antique gold with a dark jewel I think."

"Do you know what happened to it then?" Diana asked.

Dr. Marks shoved the photo back at her, his bushy eyebrows immediately turning into a straight line, and his tone becoming quite brusk. "I have no idea. But, if you are implying any impropriety in my staff, Ms. Bennett, I assure you we go strictly by the book here!"

"I wasn't suggesting any such thing, Dr. Marks, but the fact remains the ring is missing," Diana stated.

The coroner's expression became rigid. "I assure you, I will investigate the matter thoroughly myself, Ms. Bennett!"

Diana nodded. "In the meantime, Dr. Marks, do you have any close-up pictures of the ring?"

"I imagine so, probably from the original gross examination. What's this all about, Ms Bennett?"

"I'm not sure, yet. But I think it's important."

Dr. Marks sighed again then went over to a locked cabinet and after a few seconds of digging around extracted a file several inches thick and plopped it down on his desk. He and Diana then spent the next several minutes flipping through reports and photos.

"Yes, here it is." He finally said and handed the picture to Diana.

It was a decent close-up of the ring. "Is there any way I can get a copy of this?"

"Of course, just see the receptionist out front." Dr. Marks informed her. "Now if this is all, I really do need to get back to my work."

"One more thing, Dr. Marks."

The coroner glanced at his watch, his patience clearly wearing thin.

"Did anyone claim the body?"

Dr. Marks again reluctantly flipped through several papers. "The only information I have was the body was picked up three days ago by a private mortuary, Simon & Sons."

"Thank you," Diana said and left.

Dr. Marks watched her go before abruptly replacing the file back in the metal drawer, a troubled look on his face. As an added precaution, he locked the entire file cabinet before striding out of the room towards his next case in his usual, fast paced determined manner.