Maura's hand was resting on the edge of the desk. Jane took it, meaning to be reassuring, and when Maura didn't pull away, she began stroking gentle circles on Maura's palm with her thumb. Maura hummed with pleasure, relaxing in spite of herself. She had been planning to suggest that they talk, set boundaries, agree sensible ways of working together. But Jane was okay, and she was okay, and all she could think about right now was Jane's hand-
"It's all the same blood!"
Maura jumped to her feet, startled. Jane was looking at her computer screen, reading an email.
"They tested the blood on the painting. It matches the blood in the alley. It's all from the same victim."
"So he was stabbed in the gallery," Maura said, her eyes widening at this revelation.
"But you said that wasn't possible," Jane protested.
"I said there was too much blood to allow for your theory that he was stabbed in the gallery, but bled out in the alley."
"Right. You said he must have been dead already, and he wouldn't have bled that much."
"Exactly."
"But if he wouldn't have bled that much, how did his blood get all over the place?"
"That is an excellent question," said Maura.
Jane looked at the crime scene pictures, read the revised autopsy report which Pike had just sent through, and listened to Maura's explanation of the stab wounds again.
"Maura, don't take this the wrong way, but are you sure he couldn't have got to the alley somehow, then lost the blood from his injuries? I mean, he was stabbed three times."
Maura looked at the pictures again, shaking her head. "It's not possible. This wound," she pointed to the mark on the victim's chest, "was fatal. He would have drowned in less than five minutes. The other wounds were superficial, shallow. He would have bled a little, but nothing like that much, especially after his heart stopped beating."
"Okay, that all sounds very logical and scientific. But it doesn't explain how his blood got all over the alley."
Maura looked at the crime scene photos again, silent for several minutes. Then she looked up and grinned at Jane.
"I know what happened."
"Okay, so..?"
"You have all the information I have. You could figure it out yourself," Maura said. "After all, you're the detective."
"Come on, it's probably some weird medical thing I don't know about, like he had extra-runny blood or something."
"If you're referring to haemophilia, it's not that the blood is 'extra-runny', as you put it, but that the blood lacks the protein which causes it to clot."
Jane groaned theatrically. "Okay, so, did our victim have this haemophilia thing?"
Maura shook her head. "No. And the answer is definitely something you know about."
Jane looked her right in the eye, lowering her voice. There was no one else in the homicide office, but there were other detectives working nearby. "Don't make me force it out of you," she said. "Nothing is sacred in interrogations, and I know how to make you squirm."
If Maura was honest with herself, this was exactly the reaction she had been hoping for.
"It's your job, not mine," she said, perching back on the edge of the desk, smirking. "I think you should work it out for yourself."
BREAK
Quietly, Jane turned the key, unlocked the door, and let herself into Maura's apartment. By Maura's standards, it was chaotic. Medical journals, surgical case studies and coffee cups littered the table, and there were three pairs of shoes on the floor rather than arranged neatly on the rack. In the two years Maura had lived there, Jane had never seen it in such a state of disarray.
Jane picked up the shoes, but she didn't touch the books. She collected the cups, hooking one over each finger, and dumped them in the sink with a clatter.
Maura jerked upright, appearing from underneath a pile of papers on the couch.
"Complications from an appendectomy," she called, to no one in particular.
"Go on then, what are they?" Jane asked, sitting on the back of the couch and reaching out to brush Maura's hair out of her face.
"Peritonitis, bleeding, infection, bowel obstruction," Maura listed.
"Sounds good to me. Maura, you need to relax."
"I will relax after the exam."
"The exam isn't for another two days. You're ready, Maura. You know everything. The best way to prepare would be to reduce some of this stress."
Maura got up from the couch and shuffled through her notes. "I'm not stressed, I'm focused," she said.
Jane rolled onto the main part of the couch and unbuttoned the jacket of her police uniform. "Wanna focus on something else?"
Maura looked over at Jane with a sigh. "I can't. I know I've been a terrible girlfriend for the last two weeks but the outcome of these exams could determine my entire career."
"Hey, you haven't been a terrible girlfriend. You've been a smart, dedicated, driven girlfriend."
"You're too kind to me," she said, putting the papers down and flopping next to Jane. "And I know you're right, really. But I can't think about anything else."
"Want me to help you?" Jane offered, her eyes twinkling.
"Jane, we tried yesterday, you know I won't be able to relax. I'm sorry."
Jane ran her hand along Maura's thigh. "I have a different idea."
Maura raised a questioning eyebrow.
"What if you let me make you relax?"
Maura felt her heart accelerate. She glanced down at the handcuffs on Jane's belt, then back up at the mischievous smirk on Jane's face.
"Okay," she heard herself saying.
"Just tell me if you want me to stop," Jane told her, pushing the rest of the notes to the floor.
BREAK
Jane considered her options. She felt Maura's eyes scanning her, and brushed aside her jacket to reveal the handcuffs on her belt. From the look on Maura's face, she hadn't needed the reminder, and in Jane's opinion, she was playing a very dangerous game.
Maybe they both were. And while Jane would have loved to continue, another look at the crime scene photos reminded her that she had a job to do, and that her physical rights to Maura Isles had ended a long time ago.
Messing with her head might still be on the table, though. Jane leaned back and formed her best pained expression.
"I thought better of you, Maura," she said, her tone deadly serious. "A man is dead. We're trying to catch the killer, get him some justice, and you seem more interested in teasing me than solving a murder."
It worked like a charm. Maura's expression changed instantly. She looked horrified with herself.
"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking - CPR, Jane. It was CPR."
Jane grinned. "God, you're such an easy mark," she said.
Maura gasped. "You didn't mean… Jane, that was cruel! I thought you were really upset with me."
Jane laughed. "Your face was a picture, Maura."
Maura swatted her with one of the photos, which Jane grabbed and looked at again.
"CPR?" she asked.
Maura nodded. "I was thinking about blood. Trauma patients often come in with lacerations, and this can present a problem if they require cardiopulmonary resuscitation, because chest compressions cause heavy bleeding, especially with injuries to the torso."
"Right, because you're pushing the blood out!" Jane exclaimed.
"Essentially, yes."
"So you think someone gave our victim CPR?"
Maura nodded. "It would have been ineffective. I believe they did so in the alley, when he was already dead. But it would account for the high volume of blood, and the spray around the alley - depending on the force of compressions, there may have been significant blood spatter."
"Who do you reckon did it? Did our killer have a change of heart, or was it a good samaritan?"
"There is no way for me to know that. But the victim did not get to the alley on his own, and whoever performed CPR would have been covered in blood."
Jane nodded, then moved to the board, writing on the timeline.
"So. Our victim is in the gallery, potentially to steal something. He gets to Red Sky and someone stabs him, getting blood all over the painting and the wall."
"He would have collapsed," Maura cut in.
"Right, he collapses. The killer… Sets of the alarm? Carries him out in a bag? And somehow does this without triggering the motion sensitive cameras. The killer gets him to the alley and dumps him out of the bag, then either does CPR, or someone else turns up and does CPR, gets blood all over the place, realises he's dead, and runs off. Oh, and, someone goes back to the gallery to clean up the blood."
"It sounds rather far-fetched," Maura said. "But CPR is the only explanation for the blood in both the gallery and the alley."
"When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth," Jane quoted.
"I fear there may be several impossibilities we have not yet eliminated," Maura replied.
Jane checked the time. It was after 5PM. Apart from the blood confirmation, there was no news from forensics regarding Smith's fingerprints or DNA matching anything at either crime scene, and the officers reviewing footage from the gallery had come up empty so far.
"I need to go back to the gallery tomorrow, figure out what happened," she decided. "You should go home, it's after working hours."
Maura nodded. It was Wednesday, when she usually went for a swim, then she needed to buy groceries, cook dinner, and get a good night's sleep. The last two days had interrupted her routine, which was not necessarily a bad thing, but Maura knew she needed to return to her usual habits.
"What about you?" she asked, when Jane did not get up to leave with her.
"Oh, I'll stay a few more hours. My roommate's a pain in the ass, it's not worth getting home before I need to sleep."
"What will you do for dinner?"
"I think I've got a Pot Noodle in here somewhere," Jane said, digging through her desk drawer. "Aha!"
Maura checked the packet and shook her head. "This is full of sodium," she tutted. "And it lacks all other basic nutritional value."
"Tastes good, though," Jane defended.
Maura sighed. She knew it was a bad idea, but whatever residual feelings she had for Jane refused to allow malnourishment.
"Come to my house for dinner. It will be ready at 8, I'll text you the address."
If she was totally honest, Jane had seen this coming. Maura had always been determined to feed her properly. And Jane hadn't been forced to mention the Pot Noodle…
BREAK
Jane approached the dorm, books in one hand, grocery bag full of snacks in the other. She didn't know about Maura, but she always needed food when she studied.
She pressed the buzzer and Maura appeared, wearing fluffy grey slippers, black leggings, and a neat red sweater. Her hair was down, freshly washed, and she smiled nervously when she saw Jane.
It was the first time Maura had seen Jane out of uniform. She wore Chuck Taylors, old jeans, and a blue plaid shirt, and her wild mane of dark curls was loose around her shoulders.
"Your hair is incredible," Maura said.
"My Ma says it's impossible," Jane replied with a self-deprecating smile.
Maura led the way to her common room. "I share it, but everybody else is out."
Jane took in the books, which were laid out on the table. Maura had also put out bowls of snacks - blueberries, strawberries, what looked like rice crackers, and something green and seedy.
"I like to eat while I study," Maura said, a little awkwardly.
Jane opened her grocery bag. "Me too," she said cheerfully, taking out chips, soda, and M&Ms.
Maura eyed them dubiously. "Did you check the sugar content?"
Jane sat down, opened her book (An Introduction to Psychological Profiling for Law Enforcement Professionals) and opened the M&Ms. She threw one into the air and caught it in her mouth.
"Sugar's kind of the point. Keeps me going in the boring bits."
Maura sat down beside her and had a blueberry, then offered the bowl to Jane. "Blueberries contain healthy, natural sugars, as well as antioxidants and several important vitamins."
Jane took one. "I'll eat it if you have an M&M."
Maura hesitated, then reached into the bag Jane passed her. "I'm doing this for you," she said, popping the M&M into her mouth. She had to admit, it was delicious.
They settled into their reading, occasionally speaking, but staying mostly in companionable silence. After around half an hour, Jane opened the chips, kicked off her shoes, and rested her feet on the corner of the table.
"Try one of these," Maura said, holding out the green things.
"What are they?" Jane asked, eyeing them suspiciously.
"Seed clusters. High in protein and fibre."
Jane held out the bag of chips. "You have these before?"
Maura shook her head.
"What, not ever?" Jane asked. Lays Sour Cream and Onion were an almost daily feature of her diet. "Don't tell me that was your first M&M as well!"
"It was. I've eaten chocolate before, of course. But artificial colours and flavours were never permitted."
"Permitted by who? You're 21, you've been at college for more than three years."
"I had no interest in trying them until now."
Jane checked the bag. "But you've clearly realised what you were missing, you've eaten almost half the pack already."
Maura blushed a little. "You've been eating them too. And I can tell you like the blueberries."
"Yeah, yeah, they're actually pretty nice, and I'm sure my body will appreciate the anti-whatevers."
"Antioxidants. They protect your body from free radicals, which cause cell anomalies."
"Okay, well… have a chip. They protect your body from nothing, but they're salty and crunchy and they taste awesome."
Maura took a chip from the bag and took a small bite of it, which backfired as it crumbled over her hand. Jane laughed.
"Here, genius, you eat them like this," she said, taking her own chip and putting it all the way in her mouth, biting down with a satisfying crunch.
Maura cleaned up the crumbs and tried again, with much more success.
"Now you have to have a seed cluster," she told Jane.
"I never agreed to that."
Maura gave her a stern look, and Jane took one. It wasn't as bad as she'd expected, but it tasted way too healthy to be considered a fulfilling snack.
BREAK
Jane hurried into the grocery store closest to South Kensington station. She knew what she wanted, but she'd left Scotland Yard later than she meant, and she didn't want to be late. She found the candy aisle and grabbed a pack of M&Ms, then located the wine and tried to speed read all the labels.
"Hey, you know which of these is the nicest?" she asked a passing attendant. He looked about 16, and responded only with a shrug.
Jane pulled out her phone and was about to google the difference between Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon when she caught sight of the time. 7.53PM.
"Shit," she muttered. She went with her instincts (and within her price range) and picked up a £9 bottle described as 'full bodied and chocolatey'. "At least it'll go with the M&Ms," she said to herself. She was about to pay when she had an idea, and circled back to the fruit and veg.