Cherry smiled when she saw Sofia coming into the morgue. "You really waited until after lunch, I'm impressed."
"If I annoy you, you aren't giving me answers. Besides I promised my fiancé to have lunch."
"She's a good influence on you. I saw your son too."
"He brought me a bill."
"Oh, not nice."
"Doctors give you bills otherwise they don't help you, right doctor?"
"I never wrote a bill to one of my patients. Ready to hear about my latest?"
"Yes."
"First of all, did you find out her name?"
"No, her prints aren't in the system and she wasn't reported missing."
"I hate calling them Jane Doe." Cherry sighed. "Takes some of their dignity away. Anyway, my guess is she's between twenty-four and twenty-six, five foot five, one hundred twenty pounds. There is a small tattoo on her pelvis, a dragon. If it's gang related I haven't seen it on any victim before. She took care of herself, I sent her dental records out, maybe we get her name this way because she did have some dental work done.
He cut her throat from behind, the same like with the other two. Or seven, I had the chance to talk to the ME from Boston, a doctor Island, she's good and her documents were more than accurate. Like the others she was raped postmortem, her middle finger was cut off with the same kind of knife. He also used this type of knife in Boston, as he also raped them there postmortem.
Did you talk to the suspect?"
"Yes."
"Did he confess?"
"No, he says he never killed somebody, found the car and busted it. Claimed, he never saw one of the victims, doesn't know them."
"Why can't they just confess to what they did? Or do you think he didn't do it?"
"I don't know, my guts didn't say he's a killer. Same says my son."
"Steve knows him?"
"He saved his life two years ago."
"That doesn't mean he is no killer, Sofia."
"I know. We can prove he was in the car, he was in there after Charlene Flemming, his prints are over hers, but we have nothing else that links him to her or any other victim. We don't have his prints somewhere else, on the steering wheel and the driver's door. Whoever killed these eight women left nothing behind of himself, why would he leave his prints on the car when he left it behind? All he had to do was wipe the areas he touched clean, no big deal. He wasn't in a hurry after he escaped the police."
"It's better to get convicted for busting a car than killing eight women. His defense can be, if he was the killer, he had wiped the prints away."
"I know." And she was sure Mel would use this argument too.
"We let the jury discuss it unless you find evidence to nail him to the women."
"Does that mean you have nothing on the killer?"
"He was careful like the seven times before. What tells me, he can't have any body hair, otherwise I had found it. Clean shaved male over five foot seven. How hairy is our suspect upstairs?"
"Uhm…I didn't check him, you're the doctor!"
"Did you see any body hair?"
"On his arms, yes. Why don't you check him?"
"I let that a male colleague do but I doubt he shaved all his hair except the arms. I assume he doesn't wear a wig?"
"No, his hair looked real."
"So do good wigs, I let it check too. Right now I think our killer is cleaned shaved. Everywhere."
"Okay. I put it on the list. When was her TOD?"
"Between five and seven yesterday afternoon. I did find something in her throat, I haven't seen in the other two." Cherry went to her computer and showed Sofia a photo.
"It's…?"
"An allergic reaction."
"To?"
"Nuts. She must have known about it, it's nothing you can ignore."
"So the killer gave her nuts or something with nuts."
"Yes."
"Did it kill her?"
"No, I couldn't find an injection mark, so he didn't use a cortisone injection. Probably he served her some food with a hint of nuts, enough to show it in her throat, gave her some trouble breathing, but not kill her She didn't suffocate, she died because he slashed her throat. No accident, murder."
"Okay, his lawyer can't use it to his advance. Anything else? Anything you can give me that identifies her killer? Something special about him?"
"No."
"Great, that means I go to Don and this detective from Boston and tell them, we have three dead bodies, one suspect in custody and nothing, that points toward one specific person. It can be almost anybody; still including women?"
"No male DNA, it can still be a woman."
"You know how to make my day more…you make it a challenge."
"Don't you like challenges?"
"I'll marry one…did I say that loud?" Sofia asked half amused, half shocked.
"You did." Cherry chuckled. "I won't tell her, doctor - CSI confidence. Whatever happens in here, whatever is said in here, isn't going out to civilians. You're safe."
"Thanks." Yes, Sara was her challenge, a challenge she mastered. The most beautiful challenge she ever had in her life.
"Detective Ricardo, this is CSI Curtis." Don introduced the dark haired woman to Sofia.
"Pleasure to meet you." The blonde answered.
"Likewise. Detective Flack told me you were a lieutenant before. Why did you change jobs?"
"Yes, before this happened." She pointed to her left leg. "You're not a good cop when you can't chase a suspect."
"Bugger. Did it happen on duty?"
"The Hollywood and Highland explosion."
"I heard about it. I mean, everybody did. Did they tell you to resign?"
"No, they offered me a desk, I prefer to be a CSI and work outside. Better a CSI than a desk cop."
"True. Detective Flack told me the suspect lawyered up. To be honest I'm surprise to find such a young man. We estimated his age higher, late thirties."
"His young age is a surprise, that's right." Sofia agreed with the detective from Boston. "But he's the only one we can connect to one of the victims and so far he didn't give us an alibi."
"There's no record, I sent his photo to my colleagues in Boston, maybe one saw him there in the city. It's a long time ago, I doubt somebody can remember him. The only physical evidence are his prints on the steering wheel and the door?"
"Yes."
A knock on the door let the three turn. Waiting there was Mel, her eyes on Don, ignoring Sofia.
"I want to see my client."
"Who is your client?"
"The young man you accuse of murder. Your Reservoir Killer."
"Reservoir Killer?" Don furrowed his brows.
"It's what the press calls him. Didn't you watch the latest news? He's top story. LAPD caught suspect of the Reservoir killings. I want to see him."
"Why am I not surprised you jumped at the chance to get your face into TV cameras." Detective Ricardo said to Mel.
"Welcome to sunny Los Angeles, detective Ricardo. You being here tells me there's a connection to one of your cases in Boston. Care to share?"
"Nope."
"I'll find out anyway. My client?"
"Down the hall, room seven. Don't stumble over your own ego, counselor."
"Never detective, never. I know how to move smoothly." Mel grinned and left.
Sofia felt guilty for getting her into the car. Was there the hope the lawyer would reject the request of her young helper, Sofia's son, she should have known her son was good in getting what he wanted. Plus the chance of a high media case was always interesting for Mel. Now she was Sofia's opponent; again.
"How do you know Mel Powers?"
"She was the lawyer of a man I arrested for murdering an opponent. She got him free. Bitch. It was clear she'd jump the chance to get her face into cameras again. Reservoir Killer? How did the press find out?"
"Our victim today was found by a hiker. You can asked them not to talk about what they saw, when their victim minutes of fame wave, most of them jump at it." Don sighed, leaving out the part of Steve.
"Great, with her around the case gets more difficult. After the press has a name for our killer, do we have the name of the latest victim?"
"No, her prints are not in the system."
"Cherry, our medical examiner, says she had some dental work done and tries to get the name this way." Sofia informed them.
"What else did she say?"
"Not much new." The blonde summarized her conversation with the medical examiner.
"Basically we have nothing to hold him?" Ricardo asked.
"He's the prime suspect." There was no evidence in the case, that pointed to somebody else than this Felix. Sofia knew they didn't have much, but what they had played into their hands.
"All he needs is the right judge, he has the right lawyer and he's free. Powers knows a lot of judges and I'm sure she knows how to get what she wants. I wonder when we can talk to him again."
"I bet she talks for him, makes him shut up and we get nothing."
"We need his DNA. Did you get a warrant for it?"
"We're working on it."
"Powers will work against it."
"We're better. We have to."
When Sara came home she found Steve in the garden, his Spanish book on his lap, asleep. Satisfied her son started to learn for school again, she went into the kitchen. Her in-laws would be over in a few minutes, with her daughter. Time to start the coffee and get some cookies. It was half past four, she was more than on time as she had left Angeles National Forest at four. No new fires, no body close to her, only happy people. And reporters. They came to Bouquet Reservoir, took photos, tried to get answers from her and her colleagues and went to the crime scenes. On her way home she heard the news about the case, heard about the name, the press gave the suspect in custody. And she knew it was almost impossible for Sofia to come home on time today.
"Sleepy Beauty is awake, your vocabularies must have been very interesting." She teased her son when she came back into the garden with a coffee and a coke for him.
"I knew my mother has a cold drink for me. Thanks."
"You're welcome. How was work?"
"I didn't work…did you not talk to mom?"
"Not since noon. Why? Is she all right?" There was this fear again. The same fear she felt years ago when she learnt about Sofia's accident at the Hollywood and Highland Center, when she got told her lover was in coma and it wasn't sure she'd survive.
"Yes, she did have lunch, I was there."
"What were you doing at the lab?"
"My boss sent me to the dentist after she found out I had toothache."
"I thought you're old enough to do these things yourself."
"Well…there were some many other things to do and I hoped I could handle it in another way, with tips from the internet. Didn't work out, Tanya laughed at me and made the pain disappear. She's the best."
"Did you fall for her again? What about Burrito Girl?"
"No, I don't have a crush on Tanya, I like her, she's sexy and she's my Spanish teacher. Burrito Girl is…out."
"Who is in?"
"There's a cute chick working at the dental surgery. I've to ask Tanya about her."
"A cute chick works there? This chick must be a little bit older than you are?"
"Is that a problem, mom?"
"Not for me." Sara smiled. Her son just told her about a girl he liked. The first time he shared this kind of information before she knew there was somebody special. Another sign of trust and the special bond they had.
"Good. To get back to your question, I had a dentist bill and brought it to mom. They arrested somebody."
"The man, who drove the car of the first victim and fled in it yesterday."
"He's innocent."
"How do you know?"
"Felix saved my life two years ago, he's musician, might steal food and cars for a joyride, but he is no killer."
"Wait a moment, did you tell Sofia?"
"Of course."
"And?" Somehow Sara knew this wasn't just any information for her fiancé.
"She told me if I'm really sure he's innocent I better get him a lawyer. Which I did, Mel works his case, pro bono. It will help Felix to get out of jail and gives me more vacation days than I wanted. As long as Mel works the case I can't work for her. Our deal is, when she catches a case Sofia or Don are involved in, I don't work for her. Ethical reasons."
"She's right…Sofia won't like to have her in the case."
"No, as a CSI she can't think of somebody worse, as my mother she feels obligated to help the man, who saved me."
"What did he do?"
"I ran away - again - and got myself into trouble with some teens from a gang. They wanted my money, my life and whatever else I had, Felix stopped them."
"And you're sure he isn't a killer?"
"Very sure. He's not the Reservoir Killer; which is a pretty stupid name. As far as I know the reservoir is still alive."
"It is. Okay, Mel works a case against Sofia, who had the idea to get her into the case. Complicated. I wonder what they make out of it."
"As long as they don't kill each other."
"If somebody dies it's your boss, your mom has a gun."
"Did you fight with Mel last night?"
"No, actually we managed to have an adult conversation." Sara laughed. "Satisfied?"
"Very. Are Jules and the kids coming over too?"
"No, Jules meets her doctor friends today, your grandparents are here any second." The brunette made a grimace. The smart and perfect doctor friends. Nightmare club, as she called them the last time she had to see them. After all this time she still hated them, still felt like she was punished big time when she had to spend an evening with them.
"Oh, her doctor friends, the ones, you don't like."
"I like them just as much as I like toothache. Your dentist lover also can't stand them." She had been so glad when she found out Jules's cousin - actually both of them - were nicer than the therapist's friends.
"Tanya isn't my dentist lover. She's my tutor. Grow up, mom."
"Sorry son, I forgot the new chick…what's her name and is she an assistant?"
"Her name is Marlene and she works at reception during the holidays."
"I don't think I saw her before."
"Me neither. Oh, I made an appointment for you, Tanya said you forgot it the last time and we decided you have one in October, after Hawaii, the weddings, when there's less work at the forest and you have the time to look after yourself."
"Thanks, I don't know what I would have done without a new dentist appointment."
"Wait for Tanya to tell you to see her. She doesn't forget you."
"I wonder if one of Jules's doctor friends go to Tanya's surgery."
"Hah, if they do she'll enjoy it and let them suffer. But I assume as she doesn't like them, they're not that keen about her. You and Tanya are too cool for these old-fashioned and boring doctors. I wonder what Jules likes about them."
"They're friends since high school, college and university. They must have at least one positive attribute." At least Sara hoped they did. So far she didn't find any, but Jules was a psychologist, she could look into people's head, she had to see more than Sara.