The sound of his mobile's ringtone woke Danny up. He gently untangled himself from Jacqueline and slide off the bed. He fumbled in the dark for his cellphone. Guided only by the muffled sound, he picked up his pants from where they had landed on the floor and extracted the mobile from the pocket. He looked at the screen. It was Mac. Not wanting to disturb Jacqueline, Danny felt his way to the bedroom door.
"Mac?" Danny answered the call once he was outside the bedroom.
"Danny," came the elder detective's voice, calm and businesslike as always. Danny wondered if his boss ever sleep.
"I'm sorry to disturb your sleep, Danny," Mac continued. "Could you come in early to handle the morning shift?"
"Sure, no prob," Danny replied immediately. His groggy mind seemed to remembered something and he asked, "Isn't Sheldon supposed to take the morning shift?"
"Yes, but he's sick at the moment."
"What?" Danny remembered that Sheldon was out for drinks with the guys the night before. "You don't expect me to believe that he drank so much that he was sick? This is Sheldon Hawkes we're talking about."
"No, Sheldon didn't get sick over beer." There was a faint trace of amusement in Mac's voice. "He had food poisoning. An oyster didn't quite agree with him."
"I see. Alright, I'll be there in the morning," Danny promised.
He checked the time after he hanged up. It was almost four in the morning. He would have to get moving if he wanted to be on time for the six o'clock shift. Danny went back to the bedroom to retrieve his clothes. He stood by the bed and glanced down at the sleeping figure of Jacqueline. Bending down, he stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers.
"Mmmmm... Danny?" Jacqueline whispered sleepily.
"Got to go," Danny whispered, still stroking her cheek. His heart filled with love as he looked down at her face. His fingers brushed away a sweat-drenched strand of hair that stuck to her forehead. "I'm on morning shift. I'll be back after work ends," he promised.
Jacqueline sat up. The movement caused the covers to fall from her naked body, revealing her womanly curves. Once again, Danny felt his desire rising inside him. He sat down on the bed and took her into his arms. Cupping her face in his hands, he kissed her deeply.
An hour later, Danny left Jacqueline's apartment. He stopped by his home first for a shower and a change of clothes. Then he scribbled a note for Lindsay and left it on the kitchen counter. The girls were still fast asleep when he left.
Danny stepped out of the elevator and bumped into Mac in the corridor. "Here," Mac handed Danny his kit box. "There's a homicide in Queens."
Flack was already waiting for them. He called out to the two CSIs when they arrived. "Over here," he indicated his head towards an alley.
Mac and Danny followed behind him. Danny saw a person lying face down in an area surrounded by the yellow and black crime scene tape. There was something vaguely familiar about the victim but no matter how much he tried he couldn't put his finger on it.
Flack was updating them. "Jogger spotted him," Flack said. "As usual, nobody saw or heard anything. I've got the boys combing the block to see if it's our lucky day and the killer decided to discard the murder weapon nearby."
Mac gave a brisk nod. Then he ducked under the crime scene tape to do a preliminary examination of the body. Danny was about to follow his boss when Flack laid a hand on his arm. "Old friend of ours," he said.
"What?" Danny was puzzled.
"Check it out yourself," Flack glanced at the dead man.
Mac was already kneeling by the side of the body. Danny ducked under the crime scene tape and joined him. Mac pointed at the victim's back.
"Stab wounds in the back. He was probably taken by surprise. Cuts on his hands means that he tried to defend himself. He probably crawled here from the street judging by the scruff marks on his shoes." Danny helped him turned the body over and got a shock when he found himself looking down at the gray lifeless face of Johnny Dobrev.
"Someone you know?" Mac raised his eyebrows.
Danny nodded. "Flack and I questioned him about Tim Higgin's murder a few days ago." A thought stuck him. "You think his death is connected to the murder?"
"Might be," Mac mused. "The evidence will tell."
Danny nodded. He expected Mac to say that.
Out of the corner of his eye, Danny noticed a police officer running up to Flack. After Flack spoke the officer, he walked towards the CSIs.
"Mac," he addressed the older man respectfully. "We found the murder weapon dumped a few streets away. Want to take a look?"
"Sure," Mac got up and dusted off his pants. "There's no more we can do here anyway." He signaled to the men waiting by the side to let them know that he had finished his examination of the body. It was now ready to be delivered to the morgue for a detailed autopsy.
Once the body was safely bagged and loaded into the truck, Mac and Danny followed Flack. He led them to another alley a few streets away. Inside the dumpster, the police officers had found a bloody knife. Mac reached in with his gloved hand and carefully took out the knife.
Mac gave it a quick examination. "Looks new. Seems to be the common store bought quality." He then put it into the evidence bag that Danny held open.
"It won't be easy to identify who bought it," Danny sighed.
"Maybe, maybe not. We still have to follow all leads," Mac replied.
He looked thoughtfully at Danny. Being of a somewhat impatient nature, Danny often wanted a quick resolution to the case. Lacking the older man's patience, Danny preferred to rely on his hunches in the beginning of his career at the crime lab. However under the tutorship of Mac, Danny slowly learned to rein in his impatience and focus of the evidence in front of him. Over the years, Mac had seen improvement in that aspect. But at times, Danny still displayed frustration at not being able to get the answers quickly. It would be a long while before patience became a natural part of Danny's character.
Mac hid a smile as he instructed Danny to bring the murder weapon back to the lab for testing. Then he left with Flack to interview Johnny Dobrev's widow.
Danny got back to the lab and handed the knife to Lindsay for analysis. He was relieved that she seemed to be in a better mood. He was not keen for a repeat of yesterday.
"Hey Danny, I'm sorry I snapped at you yesterday," Lindsay said as she touched her husband's arm. "It's just that our marriage matters a lot to me."
Danny knew the right thing to say. "Sure, I understand," he said, smiling with an ease he didn't felt. Truth was, he was preoccupied with something else and the quarrel with Lindsay was the least of his worries right now. Danny looked around for any sight of Flack or Mac. He had not seen them seen he left the crime scene.
"I'm glad you do," Lindsay experienced a sense of satisfaction that Danny finally agreed with her. She did not notice his restless movements as he fidgeted with the equipment in the lab. "You know, I didn't hear you come home yesterday night," Lindsay continued.
"Not surprising. You were fast asleep." Danny quickly replied. He knew very well what he was doing yesterday night. The memory brought a smile to his face.
Thinking that Danny was smiling at her, Lindsay smiled back. "You work too hard. You must remember to make some time for your family."
"Sure," Danny answered absentmindedly. He backed away, "I'll leave the knife with in your capable hands."
Danny went back to his lab to continue work on Tim Higgin's murder case. Every few minutes he would raise his head to peep down the corridor to see if Mac or Flack had returned. His ears were on the alert for the sound of their voices as he shifted through Nick Bloom's belongings. Soon his vigilance paid off and he heard Mac's footsteps against the smooth tiled floor of the crime lab.
Danny left the lab and caught up with Mac. "You went to see Mrs Dobrev?" he asked.
"Yes," Mac nodded. "We informed her of the news of her husband's demise."
"How was it?" Danny tried to ask as casually as he could.
Thinking that Danny was asking about the case, Mac answered, "She wasn't able to offer any information on who might have attacked her husband. It seemed that he often spend days away from home, only dropping in once in a while to collect money. Flack informed me that we might be able to get some clues from his girlfriend."
It wasn't what Danny was interested in knowing. He tried asking again, "How did she react?"
"Mrs Dobrev? Shocked, naturally. It seemed genuine and there was nothing suspicious about her reactions," Mac replied.
Danny nodded silently, trying to keep his expression neutral even though he was deeply worried about how Jacqueline was holding up.
"How about your end? Uncovered any new information?" Mac asked, breaking through Danny's thoughts.
"There's something but I'm not sure how relevant it is," Danny sighed. "I found a receipt while going through Nick Bloom's clothes. It was issued by Starbucks on same day as Tim Higgins' murder."
"Follow up on it. It might lead to something," Mac suggested.
"Okay." Danny started dialing Flack's number.
Danny met Flack at the Starbucks outlet. Flack showed the staff a photo of Nick Bloom and cashier recalled seeing him talking to someone. But it was a busy day and the cashier did not pay them much attention. She was only able to give them a vague description of the guy. Checking the records did not help as Nick's mysterious friend paid in cash. Their only hope was the security cameras in the shop. Hopefully Adam would be able to get a visual of the suspect from the grainy footage.
As they exited Starbucks, Danny looked at his watch and realized that his shift was over. After making one final stop back at the lab to hand the tapes over to Adam, Danny left. He was in such a hurry that he did not even stop to say goodbye to Lindsay.
