"I hate fibers," Charlie said out loud. She was alone, balanced on a stool and hunched over a microscope. Charlie's neck hurt from peering into the lens for so long, but she still only knew two things about the limpid grey material she'd been studying for the past hour. First: the fiber was different from the other one she and Mac had pulled off the witness's clothing. Second: the first thing was important. She'd already sampled each fiber, and was waiting for the computer to finish searching the database for the composition of each type.

"Two different materials," Charlie said. "One explanation." As if on cue, the computer dinged. Charlie leaned over to view the results, a semi-triumphant smile spreading across her face. She printed them, stuffed the pages into a manila folder and went in search of Mac.

"Polymer," Mac said from behind his desk. He was leaning back in his chair, eyeing the results Charlie had brought him with a thoughtful expression. "A mixture of polyester and nylon. Commonly used in upholstery." He flipped to the next page. "And polyurethane. Possibly some sort of foam or cushion."

Charlie had been taking in the office while Mac talked, eyeing the trophies and framed photos that adorned the desk and shelves. It was inevitable that Mac had checked into Charlie's background before hiring her. What Mac probably didn't realize was that Charlie had been equally as curious about her employer. She'd done her own sort of background check, and had drudged up a decent amount of information about Detective Mac Taylor. Of course, there was nothing she'd found online that was as revealing as the arrangement of Mac's office. The desk was tidy, with every paper in a file and every file in a pile. The photos on the walls and shelves were of men in uniforms, of men rappelling from helicopters into the desert, of men against backdrops of the American flag. He loves this country, Charlie thought, then amended herself. It's more than that. He believes in this country.

"Charlie?"

"Sorry," she said. "What was it you were saying?"

"Our witness had contact with some sort of furniture, possibly something inside the warehouse that we may have missed," Mac said.

"I'll go over the crime scene photos again," Charlie offered. "Look for something that they could have come off of."

Mac stood and grabbed his coat. "We'll go down to autopsy first. I think it's time you met Sid."

Sid Hammerback was, physically, an unremarkable man. He was bent over the body of their vic, tediously examining the man's fingertips. He barely glanced up from his work as Mac and Charlie approached.

"Morning, Sid."

"Good morning, Mac. I was just wrapping up the autopsy on your vic and I found—" Sid looked up, his glasses balanced precariously on the end of his nose. "Oh, hi there," he said to Charlie. "You must be a new detective. I was wondering when I'd finally get to meet one of you."

Mac gave the medical examiner a good natured smile before introducing Charlie to him. Sid stuck out a hand for Charlie to shake, then retracted the gloved limb with an apologetic smile.

"Raincheck," Charlie said, and Sid nodded his assent.

"It's good to meet you, all the same," Sid said. "You're from Florida is it? And there's also another rumor going around that you are your sister are—"

"Sid," Mac said.

"Right, right, the victim," Sid said. The sudden change in topic didn't seem to faze the medical examiner in the least. "Still a John Doe at the moment, but I've got his prints running. Hopefully we'll be able to turn up something in the criminal database, as the victim does in fact appear to have been a user."

"Been?" Mac raised his eyebrows at Sid.

"Well yes," Sid said. He pulled the sheet up a couple of inches, exposing the victim's knees. "There are no track marks on his arms or around his elbows, but I did find these." Sid indicated a number of small, circular shaped marks on the victim's skin that looked like old bruises.

"Indicative of a user," Mac said. "He likely wanted to keep his drug abuse from being known to the people around him. Choosing the back of the knees as the injection point makes it harder to spot the track marks."

Sid nodded a couple more times. "Precisely. The track marks are old. If I had to guess, I'd say our victim last shot up several months ago. However, his tox screen did reveal traces of MDMA in his system."

"Ecstasy," Charlie said. "So he gets off cocaine and onto ecstasy?"

"Apparently so," Sid said. Charlie filed the fact away for further consideration. It didn't make sense that a drug user would take a step back, abandoning a hard core drug for a lesser one. Typically the progression was reversed, and users graduated from substances like ecstasy to more addicting ones, like cocaine and heroin.

"Anything else for us, Sid?" Mac asked.

Sid sighed, "The rest is rather clean cut. The gunshot wound severed the aorta, resulting in the victim's death." Sid passed Mac a sealed container that held a deformed bullet. "Appears to be a 9mm, but I was hesitant to confirm the caliber without ballistics." Mac studied the lump of metal as Sid continued. "My final remarks have to do with the subdermal bruising of his upper body. It likely occurred within a day or two of the victim's death."

"Evidence of defensive wounds?" Mac asked.

Sid nodded, "Though they aren't what you would typically expect from a fist fight. The marks are around the upper arms and shoulder area. It's as though the victim was being held or restrained by two or more individuals while a third awarded our vic with the aforementioned bruises. It's also worth noting that although the victim was beat, no bones were broken, and no damage was done to his face or other extremities."

Charlie made mental notes of everything Sid said and struggled to refrain from making any conclusions about the case just yet. Still, she couldn't help but recall the way that Fletcher had hid his hands behind his back when they'd talked to him that morning. Perhaps he hadn't wanted the detectives to see the incriminating bruises on his hands that would be there if he'd beaten the vic. Charlie hazarded a glance at Mac and wondered if he was thinking the same thing.

"The final thing is the victim's hands," Sid said. "They appear fairly calloused. I'd say he was involved in some sort of work that likely required extensive use of his hands. He may have been a contractor, construction worker, or—"

A computer at a desk behind Sid dinged once, and Sid pulled off his gloves and resettled his glasses before he checked the machine. "Ah, and here he is. Aaron Batey. Previously arrested and convicted of possession of cocaine. His parole officer has him listed as being employed under the Worthen Moving Company." Sid's eyes lit up, "Moving company, of course. I wasn't far off—"

"Thank you for this, Sid," Mac said, cutting the medical examiner off again. "Let us know if you find anything else."

"Of course," Sid said. Mac turned and began to head for the elevator. Charlie paused a moment to offer Sid her hand now that he'd removed his gloves.

"Nice meeting you, Dr. Hammerback," Charlie said.

"Please, call me Sid," the man said, "and it's no problem at all. If you have any questions, you know where to find me."

Charlie thanked him again before heading off after Mac. She had to walk briskly through the morgue to catch up to him. He was waiting by the elevator, phone pressed to one ear. Charlie hung back a step or two, not wanting to intrude on his conversation. She tucked her hands down into the pockets of her coat and thought once more about the case and all the information they had. Her mind immediately circulated back to Fletcher.

"That was Flack," Mac said when he hung up the phone. They stepped into the elevator together. "Russell Fletcher is employed by—"

"The Worthen Moving Company," Charlie finished.

"Fletcher lied about having never met our vic before," Mac said. "Flack's on the way to pick him up." Mac hit the button for the crime lab's floor.

"I change my mind," Charlie said as the doors shut. "Forget the witness, my money's on Fletch."

Alrighty, so there we are, Chapter 6! Please let me know if you're still reading and how you're liking it so far. Any questions, comments, or true stories of adventure are welcome. :)