Chapter Forty Nine

Starting from here

Let's make a promise

You and me

Let's just be honest.

Tatu – Not Gonna Get Us

The colourful tourist clothes from the vic were heaped in front of me on the table. I'd combed them for clues finding traces of apple and coffee on them, a strange concoction. Out of sheer curiosity I decided to check out the labels. I was surprised to find out all the clothing was from shops exclusive to New York. I checked the I.D again finding a New York address. What the hell was going on here?

The door into the lab opened, letting in a tiny gust of wind, I glanced up from my leaning position on the table surface as Flack swept in with a wide grin. I stared at him perplexed.

"Wanna explain why you look like the cat that's got the cream?" I said, tapping my pen against the table in thought, still studying the clothes in front of me.

"We've got an eye witness who claims that she saw everything that happened to our vic." For a minute I was speechless. Flack gave me that dazzling smile of his. The smile that said he thought he was right.

"You're serious!" I exclaimed. Flack nodded only in response. I let my eyes drift to the clothes in front of me; something was still niggling at me.

"What's up?" Flack asked following my gaze to the clothes.

"Something abut this is weird, all the clothes are from New York shops, this guy was a native." I told him pointing at the clothes. Flack shrugged.

"Some people have bad dress sense." He said simply. I shook my head.

"No I think it goes deeper than that. Everything matched to meet the standards of pure tourist attire; he even has the camera and these." I showed Don the tiny statues of the Empire State Building.

"Who buys tiny Empire State Buildings if they're a native?" Flack shrugged again, not laying my game.

"Weirdos?"

"Can you be serious for a second?" I snapped at him frowning.

"I am being serious, this could be the one case where everything's just plain weird. Come on we deal with strange things all the time. Is it that hard to think maybe we got a sane one? Maybe the guys got nieces or nephews in a different state, he was sending them to." He offered.

"Seven of them?" I pointed out. "Whilst dressed like a tourist?"

"As I said weirdo." He answered. I began to find myself infuriated, not just with him, but the case as well.

"Your really going for this eye witness thing aren't you?" I said crossing my arms over my chest, knowing that was exactly what he was throwing it all on.

"I've got a good feeling about this." He told me openly.

"Uh Huh." I replied, feeling irate. I crouched down, making myself eye level with the tiny Empire State buildings. Flack moved to the door and glanced back over his shoulder, expecting me to follow.

"You coming?" he called. I shook my head in response spotting a tiny dab of residue on the corner of one of the buildings. I swabbed it quickly.

"I'm gonna stick with this. See if I can make sense of the clothes and these things. Take Danny if you can find him." I told him thoughtfully. Don didn't reply, he just closed the door quietly behind him.

-----

After going over the clothes for the nineteenth time and finding nothing more, I moved back onto the tiny Empire State Buildings. Turning up a blank with the residue, I picked one up and moved it closer to my face to examine it more finely. It slipped from my fingers; I fumbled with it for a second, before it slipped entirely, and hit the edge of the table. I froze for a second, imagining the grilling I was going to get off Mac. White powder exploded as the Empire State Building split open on impact. I took a step back coughing, and covering my mouth with my latex covered hand.

Waiting until the white cloud dispersed, I grabbed the pre-made chemical solution and scooped some of the powder, which was now coating the floor, into a little white tray curious. I added the solution, grinning as it turned blue. Now I knew why the Empire State Buildings were so important. They contained heroin.

Walking in the corridor results in hand, feeling mighty proud of myself, I heard my name being called. I turned cheerful to face Flack whose own face was now sombre.

"We have a problem." He told me deadly serious. I felt the happiness drain from me as he said those words.

"With the witness?" I asked my mood changing completely. Don visibly flinched.

"Carmen don't give me that look." He said crossing his arms over his chest defensive.

"What look?" I raised an eyebrow.

"The one that says you're going to break my kneecaps. I'll have you know it's a very unattractive look for a woman." I narrowed my eyes, giving him a full on glare. Flack took a step back.

"Just tell me this problem…" I trailed off for a second looking around us.

"Where's Danny?" I asked, realising I hadn't seen Messer since the crime scene.

"That…is another problem." I felt my stress level raise.

"Explain it to me." I demanded, grinding my teeth.

"Lindsey's logged in the evidence, she's covering for him at the minute, it looks like he's in the wind." Flack told me bleakly. I closed my eyes for a second grounding myself.

"Does Mac know?" I asked focusing on the task at hand.

"I hope not." Was Flack's reply. I cursed.

"What the hell is going on here? Have you tried his cell?"" Flack stared at me patiently.

"Switched off." He told me. I let out a tiny growl, something else occurred to me. I met Flack's gaze.

"You think he's ok?" Flack nodded looking uneasy.

"He's Danny he always lands on his feet." He looked hopeful at least. Unfortunately I wasn't in the mood for hopeful.

"How can you be so sure?" I interrogated.

"If he hasn't turned up by the end of shift, I'll find him" Flack promised me. Taking a deep breath I decided to focus at the task in hand. The case or the two cases now.

"So this problem with the witness?" I began. Flack shook his head stopping me in my tracks.

"Come see for yourself."