Chapter Four
It didn't take long for the station to realize the talent of their new medical examiner. Sure she was a little different but anyone who watched her work or received information from her couldn't deny the distinct difference between what she offered and what they had been used to. The difference between Dr. Isles and Dr. Pike was just a given but she was remarkably better than ME she replaced.
No longer did they worry about an ME destroying evidence in a feeble attempt to retrieve it. No longer did they worry about an ME overlooking key pieces of evidence. No longer did they worry about the District Attorney turning down a case or trying to plea to lesser charges because of the questionable work by the ME's office. Maura's work was impeccable. Nothing was overlooked. Nothing was missed.
She ran tests others deemed unnecessary simply because she refused to dismiss any possibility without checking on it. And she never, ever guessed. Or assumed. It took a couple of weeks for the homicide teams to realize she wasn't going to ever call what they were sure was a bloodstain anything more than reddish-brown spots until a test was completed. But once they all got used to that they quickly figured out their cases were the better for it.
Maura had made an immediate impact for the department. It had started with Dr. Pike. A complete review of the case files from the previous two months had been enough to convince Maura that Pike was not a competent ME. She attempted to address his deficiencies and lay out a plan of action but he took such offense to having his shortcomings pointed out to him that he announced he would quit. Maura didn't flinch. In fact she accepted the notice and made it effective immediately. That interaction alone had already become station rumor and lore.
The other lore that was developing around the ME was linked to her beauty. It was undeniable and it seemed that the entire station was taken with the doctor. The men and the women. Maura didn't do much to diffuse the lingering looks and stolen stares when it came to her wardrobe choices. The doctor dressed to the nines. It didn't seem to matter if she was at the station or responding to a crime scene. The woman dressed impeccably and in the latest fashions.
Equally perplexing to everyone at the station was the fact that the doctor seemed oblivious to the stares and lingering looks. At first most of the guys, and a lot of the women, were convinced that she dressed the way she dressed to gain attention. That she wanted to be seen as 'hot commodity'. Almost every male detective, as well as several female officers, had attempted to ask the doctor out for a drink or dinner. Some even just arrogantly propositioned sex.
But all were turned down. Maura seemed both genuinely flattered and surprised by the offers, including the offers for sex, but she declined them all. After her first month at the station most people stopped assuming her dress and wardrobe was an open invitation and finally figured out that the woman just happened to love fashion. Maura's clothing eventually just became an extension of her character and personality.
Maura's acceptance by the station happened more quickly than Maura thought it would. The transition seemed to go easier than it had at previous locations. It hadn't, however, gone with some incidents. Not every detective was happy to have their dinner invitations turned down. Not every female in the building found Maura's demeanor and manner of dress harmless. There were some, mainly those who did not come in contact with Maura on a regular basis, that did not take to her awkwardness. In some circles, she was acquiring a reputation for being cold, aloof and an attention seeker.
Thankfully the size of that segment of the station was fairly small and seemed to be getting smaller as time went by. The shrinking size of that segment was also aided by the ferocity by which Jane would stand up for or defend Maura to anyone who dared utter a negative word against her. A fact demonstrated sufficiently about three weeks after Maura had started at the station.
Korsak and Jane had just arrived at a crime scene and were making their way towards the roped off area. Maura had arrived first and Jane had just located her when she heard two officers snickering and chatting. She stopped to listen and when she heard one make a comment to the other about the tight skirt Maura was wearing she was pissed. When she heard the other officer's comment about how some were calling Maura 'Queen of the Dead' she had heard enough.
Before either officer knew what was happening Jane had pulled them both aside and proceeded to rip into each of them. It was an impressive five minute berating of the two centering on professionalism and respect at the end of which both officers retreated with their tails tucked between their legs but not before they each offered up an apology to Maura who hadn't seen what occurred, hadn't heard anything the officers had said and couldn't quite understand what each was apologizing for.
But there were people at that crime scene that knew exactly what happened. It didn't take long before the incident got around the entire station. It was quickly understood that whatever a person's opinion about the new ME was it would be a big mistake to share it with Jane if it wasn't a positive one. From that encounter on, the entire station was put on notice. To mess with Maura was to mess with Jane. And there wasn't a single person at the station that wanted to willingly take on Jane.
No one could quite figure out when or how it had become Jane and Maura. But it had become Jane and Maura. The only person Maura would agree to do anything with outside of the lab or a crime scene was Jane. Theirs seemed to be an immediate and natural friendship. From their first encounter in which Jane had allowed Maura to look at her injuries to Jane bringing Maura a sandwich and coffee, things between the two women just seemed to evolve quickly and effortlessly.
After that first day Maura repaid the sandwich with coffee. First just a cup she brought for Jane. Then it was a coffee break together. And then another. Then they met for lunch. And another. And somehow lunch just became an assumed outing together if they were both at the station and available.
Several lunches into their time together Maura got the first invite to the Dirty Robber for a drink after work. That turned into several more invites which just turned into an understanding that if Jane was stopping for a drink the doctor would most likely be joining her. They even had dinner a few times.
Neither seemed to understand exactly why or how they had started to become involved in each other's life. But they had. And even more surprising to both of them was the comfort level they felt with each other. That had been unexpected for them both. The station was witness to the growth of a genuine, if not unique, friendship forming between the two.
Neither Jane nor Maura tried to define what was happening between them. Neither was looking for a label or really felt one was required. There was definitely a strong friendship developing. But for both women it was more than that. There was definitely a mutual attraction although neither really had a hand on how deep it ran, what it meant or if the other felt the same. But it was even more than that too. Neither tried to call the lunches, coffees, drinks or dinners 'dates' but neither dismissed that notion out of hand either. For them, their time together just was.
They had hit it off immediately. They enjoyed each other's company. They liked spending time together. They thought about the other when they weren't together. What exactly 'it' was between them had yet to take a definitive form but to everyone who stood as a witness to their interactions there was no denying that there was an 'it' and 'it' was extremely special.
R&I
Maura had made significant progress with the case against the Surgeon. Thanks to her diligence she was able to find multiple examples of forensic evidence that Pike had missed during the initial examinations of the three victims she could examine herself. She had been able to find several fibers and hair follicles that could be linked to Charles Hoyt as well as his DNA on the female victims.
Based on her findings from the three bodies she could examine the DA convinced the family of the first victims to allow for their bodies to be exhumed and for Maura to re-exam them as well. That reexamination lead to more forensic evidence that could be linked to Hoyt. By the time Maura was able to redo and analyze all of the autopsies for the five victims she had turned a circumstantial at best case against Charles Hoyt into a near certain conviction for murder, rape, kidnapping and assault. The DA was ecstatic and it looked like Hoyt would be sent away for life.
The preliminary hearing against him was scheduled to occur in a week and DA was not only certain he would secure the case being remanded over for trial but now felt like any defense attorney to take Hoyt's case would have motivation to attempt to work out a plea agreement rather than face trial by jury.
Maura had just finished her last testimony prep session with the DA when her phone beeped an incoming text.
When you are done convincing the DA that you are in fact a genius- drinks? J
Maura couldn't help but smile as she typed her reply.
I'm exhausted. I'm not against the idea of a drink but I don't really want to go out. My place maybe? M
As much as she wanted to see Jane she didn't really feel like going to the Robber. She didn't even realize she was holding her breath until her phone beeped again with Jane's response and she exhaled.
Sure. 7? I'll bring dinner. J
The smile on her face got bigger.
See you soon. M
That would give her plenty of time to get home, get a shower and relax a bit before Jane came over. Just the idea that she was going to get to see Jane made Maura believe it was the perfect ending for her day.
At the stroke of 7 there was a knock on Maura's day. Jane was nothing if not punctual. The very sound of the knock put a smile on Maura's face. She answered the door and grinned seeing the tall detective balancing a few bags on top of a pizza box. She immediately stepped aside and Jane entered heading straight to the kitchen.
"Before you even ask I only had them put pepperoni on my half of the pizza," Jane called as Maura trailed behind Jane. "And, I even caved and got stuff for salad." She couldn't help but smile at that part. Maura was becoming a bad influence on her. The thought of a salad had never even occurred to Jane prior to her new friendship with the ME.
Maura was also smiling. "Salad is good for you. Especially if you insist on chasing it with pizza."
"I'll have you know I spent ten minutes trying to convince the manager that I wasn't of ill health," Jane replied. Seeing Maura look a bit confused she explained. "I don't order salad. Ever. He thought I must be sick or something."
Both women shared a laugh. Jane rummaged around for plates and utensils and Maura went to work on drinks. Beer for Jane. Wine for herself. She pulled out a beer from the refrigerator as a frosted mug from the freezer. If either had stopped to really take in the scene they both would have been slightly surprised.
The comfort level and ease each felt was amazing. Jane had made herself at home in the ME's kitchen. She knew where the plates and silverware were just as if she were in her own kitchen. She knew how Maura liked her pizza and that she liked to grind pepper over her salad. Maura had beer in her refrigerator. Beer just for Jane. And she had noticed Jane enjoy beer from a frosted mug once and now always managed to have several mugs in her freezer ready.
It really was as if they had known each other for much longer than the two months it had been. They had fallen into a rhythm with each other that didn't even seem to register with either of them. Events as routine as dinner preparation quickly appeared choreographed as if they had dined together every night for years.
Within a few minutes they were both sitting at Maura's dining room table enjoying both the dinner and the conversation. As adjusted as they were to each other's habits Jane had not yet won Maura over on the concept of eating and watching TV. Maura was still holding her ground on the whole food is meant to be eaten at the table belief.
"So how was the trial prep with the DA?" Jane asked.
"It was fine," Maura answered. "No one expects any surprises. From what Hagan says everyone seems to be in agreement that there is more than enough evidence to remand the case over for trial. He seems only mildly concerned about any challenges to the forensic evidence that was only found when I did the second autopsies."
Jane thought for a minute, "Does he think the defense will claim it was all planted after we identified Hoyt as the suspect?"
"That's one concern but he thinks they might still try to hit on credibility. The prosecution survived the pre-trial motions to suppress but Hagan thinks the defense attorney will hit the ME office's credibility. And unfortunately Pike didn't do the DA any favors with the initial autopsies. In some ways it doesn't look good that everything he has wasn't discovered until after you had arrested Hoyt." Maura shook her head. She had been shocked at how much Pike had missed with his original autopsies. "But he seems convinced that I can handle the cross examination when it comes time."
Jane had become very aware of Maura's skillset. "No defense attorney stands a chance against you," she said with a smile.
"We'll see about that," Maura answered.
They finished dinner and the clean up was relatively simple. "Do you want to stay and watch a movie?" Maura asked.
"My idea of a movie or yours?" Jane asked not hiding the sarcasm in her tone. Maura's idea of a movie, Jane had discovered, was either something in a foreign language or a documentary.
Maura sighed. "Mine," she answered sheepishly. "Sorry, I was running late and didn't really have time to stop and get anything." She had quickly figured out that Jane did not enjoy reading subtitles during movies. Jane also didn't categorize a documentary as a movie.
"As tempting as reading my next movie is, I really should get going. But thanks for dinner," she replied.
"I should be thanking you. You brought the food," Maura answered with a smile.
"Speaking of food, I did want to ask you something before I go," Jane said as they were making their way to Maura's front door.
"Ask away," Maura replied.
"Are you on call this weekend?" Jane asked.
"No. It's not my weekend on," she answered.
"Do you have plans on Sunday?" Jane asked hoping the answer would be no.
"None to speak of," Maura replied.
"Well then, I'd like to invite you to my family's Sunday dinner," Jane asked looking at Maura as she asked.
"Sunday dinner?" Maura asked.
"Hey. After my brothers and I all moved out the house my mother started insisting that we all still try to eat at least one meal together as a family each week. So Sunday sort of became Rizzoli Family dinner night. It'll be my folks and I think both of my younger brothers. Frankie for sure but I believe Tommy will be coming too. Would you like to join me?"
Maura was beyond touched by even the invitation. "I don't want to intrude on a family activity," she protested.
"First of all, you would not be intruding as you are invited. Not only by me but by my mother as well," Jane said with sincerity. "And second, while it is the Rizzoli clan and we can be a lot to take in, it's never been an exclusive thing. Friends join all the time. I'd really like you to join us Sunday. Please?"
The idea intrigued Maura. Jane had spoken about her family and shared some stories with Maura. She was fascinated by everything she had heard. From Jane's description of her family life Maura knew it was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. Maura's parents were marginally involved in her life at best. From everything Jane had described to date, the Rizzoli household was anything but marginally involved in each other's lives.
She couldn't pass up the chance to witness this version of family up close. "In that case, I would love to," she answered with a smile.
