Author's Note: I'm a huge dork. I was actually tempted to delete 71 words from the last chapter so that I'd have a word count of 22,222. Yes, I'm aware that I probably need professional help. Also, this marks my first attempt at a real crime situation (instead of the gag ones I had in earlier chapters). My apologies if it sucks sweaty donkey balls. (You're welcome for that lovely mental image. All part of the service. :D)

Chapter Twenty-Six: Trunks and Dumpsters

Lindsay watched Flack walk the corridors like a hunted man. The apprehension on his face every time he rounded a corner was glorious. Sometimes, the easiest way to prank someone was not to prank them.

She walked over to Danny. "You told him?"

"Yup. He just about pissed his pants when he realized how mad you must be."

Lindsay slapped a five dollar bill into Danny's outstretched palm and they shared a grin.

"Sometimes, it's just too easy, y'know?"

"I gotta hand it to ya, Montana. You're one of the most evil women I've ever met. And I mean that in the nicest way possible."

"And don't you forget it!"

No need to worry about that happening. He craned his neck to look after her as she walked down the hall to Mac's office to get her next case.

………

Mac looked up as she entered his office. "Do I want to know why Don is walking around the building like he's anticipating an ambush?"

"He's just worried because I got mad at him the other day." Slight understatement, perhaps.

"Do I need to remind you about keeping the pranks out of the lab? I thought I'd made myself clear the last time we had a problem like this."

"Nope, I'm keeping my nose clean, Mac. I swear, I'm not going to do a thing to him." Unless you count the mental torture I'm currently inflicting by hanging my wrath over his head and waiting for him to crack.

Mac sized her up for a moment. "The old no-prank-prank trick?" The corner of his mouth twitched for a moment, but he maintained his serious demeanor.

"Yeah… how'd you…?" she realized who she was speaking to. "Nevermind."

"We've got a DB in the trunk of a car on the Lower East Side. The vic's been missing for a couple of days. When her brother saw her car in the 7-11 parking lot, he smashed the window and popped the trunk latch. I just sent Flack down to start collecting statements. Stella's already at the scene. I told her you'd meet her there."

Lindsay nodded and went to collect her kit. Thank god it's a trunk and not another dumpster.

………

Danny walked around the corpse, taking in his $500 haircut and the suit that would cost a good chunk of a CSI's annual salary. He was sitting upright in an armchair in the middle of his Park Avenue penthouse with a bullet hole in his forehead.

Hawkes looked around the room, taking in the pictures of gorgeous young woman in various states of undress. "Michael Brody. The man was a living legend."

"Yeah, and now he's a dead one." Danny moved further into the apartment, looking for signs of a struggle and finding none.

"I've got a suitcase," Sheldon called from the bedroom. "Looks like he was either about to head out on a trip somewhere, or he'd just gotten home."

Danny took out his camera and started to document the scene. "Only trip he's making now is the one to the morgue."

………

Stella looked up from her contemplation of the body as Lindsay approached.

"Hey, Mac fill you in?"

"Yeah. Is that the brother?" Lindsay gestured to the heavyset man in his 40's talking to Flack.

"Yeah. He said she's been missing three days and when he saw her car, he thought the worst had happened. He popped the trunk and found her like this, then he called 911."

"Weird."

"What?"

"Well, I just don't see breaking into a car and popping the trunk to look for a dead body as my first move as a concerned relative is all. Just seems odd."

Stella nodded, "Seems a bit off to me, too."

"So, who is she?"

"Marianne Evans, 47, housewife. She's been missing since Sunday. Husband filed a report."

"Looks like someone beat her up pretty badly before they stuffed her in there."

Stella leaned over and moved the woman's jacket aside. "Apparently, the beating wasn't fast enough," she indicated the bullet wound.

………

"Cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the head, close range," Sid indicated the hole in the man's forehead.

"Thanks, doc, could ya tell me somethin' I didn't know?" Danny asked.

Sid opened his glasses and then closed them again over the bridge of his nose. "There was something strange inside the wound. I've already sent a sample over to Trace, but I think I can guess what it is." He reached into the bloody cavity with a pair of tweezers and plucked out something small and fluffy.

"A feather?" Hawkes squinted.

"Down, I'd say."

"The killer probably used a pillow to muffle the sound of the shot."

Sid took his glasses off again. "Did you notice any pillows with holes in them at the scene?"

"Nope," Danny sighed. Turning to Hawkes he said, "This time, we're using my coin."

Catching sight of Sid's confused expression, the men said in unison, "Garbage detail."