Jane came out of interrogation and immediately called Maura.
"I'm heading back to the scene. Do you feel like going for a drive again? Frost will be busy prepping Holter for the visit from the DA and Korsak is getting me cleared from brutality charges against him."
"Yes, motorhead, I would rather drive you than take the risk of you driving yourself. I worry about your health. I need you safe and sound next to me."
"I'm working on it. I'm coming down in a minute. You heard what he had to say about something called 'Jay's place' at the end? There are a bunch of club kids hanging out there who had a beef with Floyd, I'm thinking maybe one of them wanted to score a hit without paying and it went wrong. Holter said he saw an old red car in the lot when the shooting went down, maybe someone knows the car. Can't hurt to ask."
- R&I -
They arrived at Jay's place and went down a long staircase to the basement bar. It was darkish, it was gloomy despite being mid-afternoon and it held about twenty 'club kids'. The kids were goths, roughly 2/3 were girls or androgynous to the point where Jane couldn't tell the difference. She sighed, this was one insular community that wanted no contact with outsiders. Her experience with Boston goths were that they were charming and fun when alone but tended to stick together like velcro given half a chance, and if they got a moment to bond nothing could separate them or convince them to share information with 'regular people'. This lot came pre-bonded. Their best lead was turning sour.
White, silent faces watched Jane lead the way down the stairs, with bright and cheerful Maura in tow. Jane blended in fairly well with the monochrome group except for her natural tan, but Maura's buttercup blouse was like a beacon in the semi-darkness. This was going to clash in all kinds of ways. Maura headed over to the bar and looked at the bottles lined up against the big mirror, searching for favorites.
A short girl in corpse paint looked Jane over and said "Nice clothes, lady, but isn't Motorhead a bit old-school? Why not Type O?"
"Not my choice." Jane flicked the name tag with a finger for what felt like the fiftieth time this day. "Owner dressed me today." It got easier to say every time.
"And who's this owner guy?"
"I am." Maura spoke with her back to the room, still looking at bottles. "Type O lack energy. Motorhead have it, in spades."
"You own her?"
"Body and soul." The goth crowd turned toward her in unison. Jane had no idea what just happened, but something in the air changed. It was like they all heard a dog whistle.
"Who are you, then?"
"Maura Isles, pleased to meet you." Maura smiled at the girl in the mirror.
"No WAY, you're Maura Isles? Queen of the Dead?" The awe in her voice was obvious.
"Who?" a number of the other kids reacted to her tone.
"Chief ME of the commonwealth. She knows everything!"
"You're a medical examiner?"
"Yes." Maura turned to face them.
"Why?"
"Someone has to speak for the dead. That's what I do." Somehow Maura had said the exact right thing and most of the crowd flocked around her like she had become a magnet for death groupies. She was a glowing yellow spot surrounded by blackness. They were all asking questions about her work and herself, very politely, and she was answering them with patient and serious replies. Jane just stared. This was the first time she had seen anyone crack this particular crowd. It probably counted as a miracle.
"This lady is your SO?"
"What's an SO?"
"Significant Other. You're a pair?"
"Yes." Jane cut in and answered. "We are a pair."
"So who are you?"
"Jane Rizzoli, homicide detective."
"And you wear her collar. That's so romantic!"
"You're the first to pick up on the romance in it. Most people think it's an S&M thing."
"Puh-leeze. That's not a slave collar, that's a collar for something dangerous. A slave collar is smooth for posture or has rings for control, that collar is spiked to prevent control. That's a collar for something fierce that the owner trusts with her life."
"You are the first to really get it right. I may have to buy you a drink for that." Maura looked at the girl who had spoken.
"I'm underage, but I'll have a coke."
"I'm sorry, I couldn't tell."
"I didn't think Boston PD had a forward-thinking LGBT policy." A guy with Crow makeup and a painted-on sardonic smile in black lipstick looked at Jane.
"I'm pretty sure it doesn't." Jane shrugged as she spoke.
"I guess you two are going to change that."
"I don't know that we plan to-"
"I plan to." Maura interrupted Jane, speaking with absolute conviction.
"Then it's a done deal. Nobody disobeys the Queen." Jane smiled. Most of the goths smiled back. It was a surreal sight. More weirdness, but somehow Jane was in as well. Nothing made sense today.
The crowd kept asking Maura questions and Jane tried to figure out a way of talking to people about the case without alienating them and making them shut her out again. A black-and-white shape appeared next to her: a girl with day-of-the-dead makeup and a black shirt and long victorian-style skirt. She had a beautifully painted black and white skull face, but it was impossible to guess what she really looked like or even her skin color. She had a red rose painted on her throat, coming up out of her collar. It was her single splash of color, drawing the eye in.
"Can I ask you a question, detective?"
"Sure, dead girl. Ask away."
"Do you know any narcs? Can I give you an anonymous tip?"
"No problem. I'll pass it on without telling them who spoke to me. I don't know who you are, anyway."
"There's a guy named Floyd who's dealing in a parking lot about two blocks from here. Real bad guy, keeps baiting us."
"Baiting?"
"A lot of us have had drug problems in the past. Having scum like that around makes everything harder for all of us. He targets them, tries to get them to start using again."
"You'd like the drug unit to get rid of him for you."
"Yes please. I don't mind dealers, really, but this guy is a predator going after people who have already gone through hell to get clean."
"Do you guys talk about him a lot?"
"Not a lot, but it happens. Every time he manages to rope someone back in, people talk about it."
"Anyone here hate him enough to kill him?"
"I don't think so. What he does is a tragedy and it's unnecessary and unfair, but not something you'd kill for. Is he dead? Is that why you're here?"
"Yeah. You must understand, what you see today is not who I usually am. I normally dress in a suit. I am a cop."
"I don't believe that. There is a lot of you in those clothes. Of course you are a detective, but you're also who you look like today. And you really love her, otherwise you wouldn't wear her collar."
"I only got the collar yesterday, and I'm only wearing it for today. Tonight it comes off and goes back into a drawer. We're a pair, but we're not lovers."
"But if she asked you to, you'd wear it every day. Am I right?"
"Yes, you're right. I would. It's caused all kinds of trouble for me today, but if she wanted it I would."
"So trade it for a ring and just do it. Be lovers. Why hesitate?"
"I'm scared. I don't know why I'm even talking to you about this. If I take that step it all becomes serious and what if she gets tired of me? I can't lose her. I'd never survive that."
"You can't keep her by backing away either. Staying in a holding pattern to avoid the journey makes no sense."
At the bar, Maura was chatting with her new fans. She was explaining her thoughts about death, about respect for life, about the fleeting nature and brevity of living. You are alive for a blink in time but you are dead for so long afterward. You owe it to yourself to take it seriously, to give it your all. Every now and then she glanced over at Jane.
Jane listened, and fretted. She really should dive in, but she was so afraid to make the leap.
"Can you tell me something about how Floyd died?" Dead girl was looking at Jane.
"Someone beat him and then shot him. We're thinking possible self-defense for the shooting but the beating was premeditated. His pockets were empty, but that could have been one of his runners. It doesn't mean robbery."
"Witnesses?"
"Someone saw an old red car parked at the scene as the shooting happened, and it left directly after the kill. Could be the killer, could be another witness. We're here looking for people who can give us something more to go on."
"Robert drives an old red mustang. Piece of crap, but he likes it."
"Who's Robert?"
"The owner of this bar. I don't know his last name but it must be on record somewhere. He's heard us talk about Floyd. He was pissed that the guy was messing with his customers."
"That's a good lead. That's solid. Thank you for telling me."
"I don't talk to cops. I talked to the hot lady in the Motorhead T-shirt and the collar. I think I like her. I know I like her owner."
"If we pick up Robert for this, the bar might close you know. Would you still like me then?"
"It won't. No bar ever stays closed for more than a few days. If it's changed when it re-opens, we'll just find a new one. We're like bees, we swarm and move together."
"I think I'd like to know if you do that. Could you keep my card and tell me?" Jane handed her a business card.
"Yeah, I can do that. What happens now?"
"We'll look for Robert. If we can tie him to the killing, he'll have a trial and might go to jail."
"And you two?"
"We'll finish up work for today and we'll go to Maura's house and I'll wear the collar until we go to bed tonight. Then it comes off and this is over."
"You sleep in the same bed but you're not lovers?"
"Yeah."
"You two are truly sick people. I mean, look at you two. What a waste." She smiled. Jane realized that a girl made up to look like a skeleton had just told her that something was wrong with them. That was hard to ignore.
"Maybe we should do something about that."
"I think you should. If you feel you need someone to coach you along, call me. I'd get in the sack with you two in a heartbeat and show you how to do it. I can put IKEA furniture together like a god, I'm sure I can figure out how to put A into slot B in your case." Jane laughed.
"You're gay and you're hitting on me right now, with my girlfriend five steps away?" I actually called her girlfriend out loud now, didn't I? And nobody died.
"No I'm not, but I'd try it for you two. And I don't think anything in the world can come between you and her, having seen the way she looks at you. No fear, detective."
"You know what, send me a text to the number on my card and write your name and 'dead rose girl' so I'll know who you are. I'll save your number. If we need to spice things up, you're in."
"Second best news I've heard all day, after Floyd getting shoved off the block. I'm not happy he's dead, but I'm glad he's no longer picking on us. See you down the line, detective."
Jane stalked over to the bar. "Maura, we need to go back to the station." A chorus of protests voiced disagreement. "Relax, people. We'll be back. I need to go stop crimes, and she needs to protect me from roving girls who want to take me to bed."
