Eye of the Tiger EN

Chapter 6

Rating: T

A/N: I'm really sorry there wasn't a new chapter last week - I was hit by writer's block, and when I was finally done writing this chapter, I had no Internet access for a few days and couldn't publish it :(

Several hours later, a very annoyed Jane Rizzoli trudged into the autopsy. "Maura, please tell me you've found somethin'. I'm really not in the mood for any more bad news right now."

"The white substance I found near two of the stab wounds came back from the lab. It's whipped cream."

"So... he was killed with a cake knife?"

"The stab wounds to his stomach were most likely painful, but not fatal, since they didn't hurt any vital organs or major blood vessels. See that haematoma here?"

"If you're referring to that fist-size bruise, yeah."

"It's the result of a blunt trauma that broke his left clavicle and thus lead to his death."

"You sure? 'Cause I once broke my collarbone when I was a kid, and yet I'm still alive, as you can see..."

"Left or right?"

"Huh?"

"Did you break your left or right clavicle back then?"

"The right one. I only remember 'cause I was given detention three days later and had to write down some dumb sentence a hundred times."

"And since you're left handed, you couldn't have written anything with a broken left collarbone," Maura agreed. "Do you happen to remember that 'dumb sentence'?"

Incomprehensible muttering.

"Pardon?"

"I must not break windows with my foot."

"Why would do that?"

"Uhm, I tried to kill a fly that was buzzin' round my head, broke a cafeteria window, and right then Sister Winnifred walked in and put me in detention. What's that got to do with our guy here?"

"He bled to death after the broken end of his left clavicle punctured his aorta."

Jane made a face. "Ouch. D'you have a time of death?"

"Twelve to 18 hours before your witness found him - I'm afraid I can't narrow it down any more, since I don't know how long the body was actually lying outside on the sidewalk."

"He was killed somewhere else and deposited outside when he was dead?"

"The corpse was definitely moved, and I found some fibres in the hair on the back of his head that are often used in carpets. That means he was probably killed in a room with a carpet floor and dragged outside post mortem. Unfortunately I don't know if he was left in a warm environment for some time or if the killer exposed him to the cold night air right after his death-"

"... meaning you can only give an approximate time of death."

"Exactly."

"Well, that's more than Korsak and I've got so far." Jane gave a brief summary of Elisa Schulze's file from Florida. "... so we drove to Jessica Baxter's adress, but she wasn't there - hasn't been home for at least three weeks, judging from her crammed mailbox. Neigbors didn't know anything either, of course. Really, I hate cases like this - no fingerprints or DNA traces, no suspects, and our only witness is busy flirtin' with Frankie and sticking her nose where it doesn't belong."

"For example?"

"Earlier today in the conference room, right after you'd left, she wanted to know if we're 'just friends' or something more. I know, I know, it's not the first time someone mistook us for a couple, but that chick had only met me like two hours before! Okay, she's a cop, so curiousity's part of her job description, but..."

"She's a police officer, too?"

"Uh-hu, in a village with less than 2k inhabitants and three cops, including her. Why d'you ask?"

"If I remember correctly, Frankie's last girlfriend turned out to be a serial killer's apprentice, so I'm glad his new love interest is a fellow cop."

"You're right," Jane had to admit. "She might be battin' for the other team, though."

"Why would you think that?"

"Her hairstyle."

"There are plenty of heterosexual short-haired woman," Maura disagreed, to which Jane rolled her eyes: "Kidding. But you know what they say about sporty females in 'typical male' professions, right?"

"When did you start believing in prejudices?"

Jane was saved from having to answer by Korsak entering the morgue. "Hey Doc, did ya find anythin' on the body?"

"He died from internal exsanguination after the broken end of his left clavicle punctured his aorta. Time of death is twelve to 18 hours before the body was found, and I found some whipped cream near two of the stab wounds," Maura rattled off. "I'm afraid that's all I've got right now."

"Okay, then I'm gonna leave now; Starsky's got a vet's appointment."

"Didn't you take him to the vet's just last week?"

"Nope, that was Hutch."

"Oh, right, how could I forget that?"

Korsak ignored his coworker's sarcasm - he was used to it. "I told Cavanaugh you'd probably go home soon, too. We can't do much investigatin' right now - Frankie's new girlfriend told us everything she knows, Jessica Baxter's probably lying' on a beach somewhere and drinkin' rum, and we don't have any fingerprints or DNA from the killer so far."

"Would you please stop referrin' to our witness as Frankie's girlfriend? She's almost ten years younger than him!"

"So what?... Anyway, Bärbel suggested to Frankie that we should maybe call her colleagues in Germnay, see if they know anything 'bout our vic or his mother. We'll have to do that tomorrow, though, 'cause it's the middle of the night in Central Europe right now."

"A few minutes after 1 a.m., to be exact," Maura agreed after checking her watch. "There's a six hour time difference between Boston and Germany."

"Thanks Google."

"My pleasure." Maura covered Christian Schulze's body with a white sheet and locked it away for the night. "Jane, could you help me change out of my scrubs?"

"Wha... why... uhm... Can't you do that alone?" Stop stutterin' already! How old are you, twelve?

"I can change out of my scrubs on my own, but I may need help zipping up my dress..."

"And that's the point where I say, 'Good night and see ya tomorrow, ladies'." A rather red-faced Korsak made a hasty retreat from the room, leaving a grinning Medical Examiner and a confused Detective behind. "What the... Korsak, for the last time: Maura and I aren't-" Jane realized that her coworker couldn't hear her anymore. "Uh, never mind. Maur?"

Dr Isles emerged from her office, having changed from her scrubs back into yet another fancy designer dress (apparently she'd been able to zip the dress by herself). "I'm ready, let's go."

Beacon Hill, a few hours later

"Jane?"

"Huh?"

"Are you asleep?"

"Yep."

Maura frowned. "You wouldn't be able to answer this question if you actually were asleep."

"I know."

Sigh. "I don't understand your humor. Especially not after 10 p.m."

"Look on the bright side, you understand pretty much everythin' else."

"Oh, there are quite a few things I don't understand. One of them being your relationship with Chris."

It was Jane's turn to sigh. "You won't let that one go, will ya?" She placed her empty beer bottle on the coffee table. "Okay. Fine. Chris - Christina - and I went to police academy together."

"You said that already."

"D'you wanna hear the story or keep interrupting me?"

"Sorry. Please go on."

"Right. So, Chris had a boyfriend - I don't remember his name anymore, but I know he had this fantasy of watchin' two girls, y'know, getting it on with each other. I guess that's a pretty common fantasy among guys." Jane held up a hand to stop the lecture on male sex fantasies that was bound to follow her last statement. "Anyway, it was the boyfriend's birthday, and he asked me if I'd sleep with Chris while he watched. I said yes."

"You did?" Maura couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice. Jane Rizzoli, who blushes if you even say the word 'sex' around her, agreed to have intercourse with another female in front of said female's boyfriend?

"I was drunk."

"Oh."

"And we didn't do it anyway."

"Why's that?"

"Chris broke up with her boyfriend the next day after she walked in on him makin' out with his roommate, a wannabe bodybuilder whose brain was about the size of a peanut. End of story." Jane got up from the couch, intent on relocating to the bedroom, but didn't get very far before her phone started ringing. Damnit. "Rizzoli."

As if on cue, Maura's phone joined in to the ringing. "Dr Isles? Okay, we'll be there in a bit."

A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger. My Internet access is working again, so you shouldn't have to wait too long for the next chapter :)