AN: I don't own any of the CSI:NY Characters or any of the show's storylines that I may refer to from time to time, but the rest of the plot is mine.
AN2: Set right after the previous chapter.
9. Sid & Adam
"So tell me what's going on ... I haven't seen you for 2 days and you blew off dinner ... tell me you are going to stick around now." Asked Alex.
"Wish I could, I need to get back, I just stopped by to tell you to meet me tonight at Sullivan's ... 8.30 and dress up, I'm gonna make it up to you babe." Ben answered grinning at her.
"Are we celebrating something?"
"I hope so."
Ben gave her a quick kiss and left before she could quiz him further. She stood watching him as he entered the elevator then sighed.
"Things not going according to plan?" Asked a voice behind her.
"Not exactly ... Alex Marsh." She answered holding out her hand.
"Sid Hammerback, Medical Examiner." He answered shaking her hand.
"Do you have a few minutes? I'd like to ask you a few questions."
"Sure, what do you want to know?"
Alex lead him into the vacant office. "You must interact a lot with the teams, what can you tell me about them?"
"I don't see much of the homicide squad, they don't come downstairs much, especially Detective Flack he can be a bit squeamish ... The lab techs don't either."
"So what about the CSI's?"
"I see them all the time ... following up autopsy reports on their victims. Sometimes, like now I get out to bring them information."
"How long have you been an ME?"
"Almost 25 years."
"What made you take such a job?"
"I like mystery as much as the next man. Helping to solve it is the challenge."
"What would you say is your most challenging case?"
"Oh I don't know, there have been a lot."
"There must have been one or two in 25 years that stand out."
"Well there was one, it wasn't exactly my case. Dr Driscoll handled it ... a mummified corpse came from a building site being demolished."
"Councilman Rayburn's wife. It was all over the news last year, he killed her and his prized Claddagh wedding ring gave him away, as I recall."
"Right." said Sid enthusiastically.
"So why are mummified remains of such interest?"
"Because you don't get them very often, especially in the sort of condition Mrs Rayburn was in. Trying to find the cause of death is more difficult. In this case the body suffered various extremes of temperature and showed us more evidence after a few days."
"What cases do you find difficult?"
"... Children ... If they come to us ninety nine percent of time a crime is involved." Alex shivered. Sid's voice and the subject matter was getting to her.
"How would you describe the team?"
"... Of all the teams I work with they're close, ... they all look out for each other. ... It's a tough world out there, you need somebody to watch your back."
"Have you seen any relationships develop within the team?"
"Sure Lindsay- Detective Monroe and Danny Messer ... they make a cute couple ... she never realised he had a crush on her until I told her ... they had a rough year last year with her having to give evidence and all, but now, they're pretty together ... not sure everyone knows though, I'd say they've been keeping things pretty quiet." He grinned.
"Thanks Doc, it looks like I need to talk to Detective Messer again."
Alex left the room in search of Danny, pleased to be away from the creepy ME. She breezed into the break room and almost ran into Adam.
"Hey, Ms Marsh .. um ... is everything OK?"
".. Hi ... yeah, sorry ... my mind's running about a hundred steps ahead of the rest of me."
"I know the feeling. Can I - uh .. get you a cup of coffee or something?"
".. Thanks, that would be nice, white, two sugars?"
Adam poured some coffee and sat down at the table where Alex had sat and put the mug down in front of her then. "Make the most of it Detective Flack made it earlier, it's pretty good."
"Is it normal for the homicide guys to make your coffee?" Asked Alex.
"If they stop by for case updates and the pot's empty ... rules are if you want it you fill it." Alex sipped her coffee and smiled.
"Perfect, not too strong."
"I guess that's why it doesn't last long. Most of the time it's strong enough to stand a spoon in .. especially if they're working double shifts."
"So Mr Ross what can you tell me about the lab?"
"Well, uh .. it's got some of the best equipment in the country we're second only to Chicago."
"That must take quite a big budget to maintain. Where does the money come from?"
"You'll need to ask Mac Taylor, he has to ... uh manage that."
"As one of the lab technicians do you ever go out in the field?"
"Some times if they are short staffed or if there's a particular piece of equipment required, like last year I went with Mac to a building site to computer process the crime scene so that we could recreate it back in the lab. So we could figure out what happened to the councilman's wife."
"Are you talking about Pauline Rayburn?
"Yeah, I'm glad I didn't have to see her, the thought of mummified bodies gives me the creeps ... to be honest uh ... all dead bodies give me the creeps."
"Me too, I don't know how these guys can do it. ... What other field trips have you done?"
"Danny .. Messer had me handle this case with him in the snow, man that was cold, I hate New York winters."
"Why live here then?"
"I uh, wanted to work for the best and Chicago's colder. The labs in Arizona, where I'm from don't get the sort of funding the big cities get."
"So the case in the snow, what did you have to do?"
"Crime scene was in a fairly large area of Central Park, Danny and Angell were interviewing the witnesses, I got to help collect the evidence."
"I heard you were also sent to process the warehouse where the Irish drug bust went down last month and you and Detective Messer ended up being held hostage. Has that affected how you feel about the job?"
"That was .. uh that was awful, it was a scary situation, but Danny saved us. He put himself on the line so I could get some solution from my kit to use later."
"I hear you also saved two cops who had been disguised as the drug dealers. Tell me about that"
"That was nothing, I heard Flack shouting and I knew the dealers had disguised themselves as the cops, so I went out there and kinda uh got in the mix. ... you know told him who they really were."
"How do you feel about going into the field now?"
"It's the job, but Mac's been really good and has been sending the others out instead of me."
"As lab technicians do you have specific responsibilities?"
"Well, uh sort of I mainly work in trace, but can do AV if required. I also tend to get some of the more computer related queries, you know like analysing drives and tracking stuff on the internet or police systems. ... Is there anything else cos I kinda need to get back to work."
"Just one question is this you?" asked Alex sliding a photo across the table, he turned bright red when he saw the photo.
"Uh oh, where did you find that?"
"So what was it like to date a suicide girl?"
"Interesting, ... but uh not my scene. ... I've got to get back to the lab excuse me."
Adam hurried out of the room and Alex collected the photo and slipped it back into her folder, smiling to herself.
Hope you like how this is going -please review... Do you have a burning question to ask one of the characters? Now is your chance...Next - a little more on Ben/Alex
For those who want a reminder these episodes fuel the discussions with Sid & Adam.
2.22 - Stealing Home
3.02 - Not What it Looks Like
3.05 - Oedipus Hex
3.13 - Obsession
3.24 - Snow Day
