Apparently, Doc Reubens was a regular at Lucky's because the waitress seated the group right way and had a cup of coffee in front of the Doc before he even ordered. Food orders were taken and they quickly got down to business.
"Her name is Patricia Tromley, 32. She died of the gunshot to the chest; the shot to the temple was administered after death. She was a dancer." Doc recited as he flipped through his file.
"How do you know she was a dancer, Doc?" Sara inquired, between mouthfuls of breadsticks. The basket that had been set on the table was now almost half empty. Danny gave Sara a raised eyebrow.
"What? I'm hungry and didn't get breakfast." Both Danny and Doc shook their heads and kept their hands away from the breadsticks, fearful that they may have to sacrifice a finger or two.
"The feet. All ballerinas have serious abnormalities to their feet from dancing on point. It's a dead give-away, no pun intended." Danny groaned at the non-joke. "She died a few hours after intercourse, seminal fluid was found. Doesn't appear to be rape, no force injuries. In fact, traces of spermicide were found. Doesn't appear to have been any kind of struggle, no bruising, no rope burns or tape residue."
Doc paused, briefly "She was almost 6 weeks pregnant. I doubt she even knew yet." Danny and Sara shook their heads in unison.
"So, it appears that she may have known her killer, either in the non-biblical or perhaps biblical sense." Danny concluded.
"Give the detective a gold star, Pez. He's on the ball today." Doc chuckled at his own joke.
The orders arrived and everyone dug into the plates of food and continued the analysis.
"Toxicology showed alcohol in her bloodstream and miniscule traces of cocaine. She did not have the characteristics of a habitual user. I would guess she had only tried coke once or twice. No other drugs, prescription or otherwise were detected."
"Danny, what are you eating? That looks positively toxic!" Sara looked at his plate, perplexed.
"Shut up Pez, " he shot back, fork poised at his mouth.
"What about gunpowder residue around the wounds?" Danny asked doing his best to ignore the looks Sara was giving his plate of food.
"I was just getting to that. The residue around the chest wound indicated that the killer was quite close, but not point blank range. The temple wound had less powder, the shooter was standing further away." Doc's fork was dancing in the air as he explained.
"Can you estimate the time of death?" Sara pushed her now empty plate away and leaned forward.
"Ms. Tromley died approximately 10 hours before she was found, putting her time of death between 8 and 10 Thursday morning. Before you ask, I'm still waiting on the results of fiber, hair and skin analysis." Doc sat back in the booth with a self-satisfied smile, inhaling deeply. He was the newest member of the clean plate club. They both turned to Danny as he continued to pick at his food.
"What? Just because you both inhale your food, I can't enjoy my lunch. Are you really that eager to get back to the station?" Sara shrugged and motioned the waitress for another round of drinks.
"So, in summary, the only thing that ties this with our previous case, Mr. Whiteman, is the confetti." Danny surmised.
"Well, that little fact was not in the papers or on the news, so I would say, it does tie the two together. Unfortunately, at this time nothing else does." Sara chimed in.
The waitress came with the check and they threw money in a pile and told her to keep the change. The waitresses at Lucky's loved it when the police came over and talked shop during lunch. They were always better tippers when they were distracted.
As the trio walked out onto the street, Sara turned, "Doc Reubens, could you test the DNA of the fetus and the sperm to see if there is a match? See if the father was the killer? And just indulge me here, but compare Mr. Whiteman's DNA to the fetus too?"
"Looking for a link there detective? Good thinking. I'll give it a try, but there is so little to work with from all three sources, I may only be able to show that the DNA's don't match." Doc nodded his head pensively. Danny just looked at Sara questioningly.
"Just give it a try." She asked again with a shrug of her shoulder.
So this must be one of those hunches that Captain Siri was talking about. We'll see if she's right, Danny thought.
***
Sara was bent over several files when Danny walked up behind her desk, carrying two fresh cups of coffee from the stand down the street. She was so absorbed in her study that the smell of coffee didn't alert he to Danny's presence.
"Hey Pez." Sara jumped several inches out of her seat and whipped around to face Danny.
"Geez, don't sneak up on me like that." Sara yelled. Sloshes of coffee spilled over the tops of the cups as Danny laughed at his startled partner. He handed the cups to Sara so that he wouldn't spill any more of the precious elixir and sat down in the chair next to her desk, still laughing.
Sara grinned and inhaled the scent of the coffee deeply. A look of contentment spread across her face. "What's up partner?" She asked as Danny calmed down.
"Well, I was wondering if I could borrow you on Saturday for a couple hours. Well, I hope its no more than a couple hours. I know it's your day off and you probably have plans, but I really could use your help with this. If you can't go, just say and maybe we'll go another time. I just didn't know who else to ask and I can't ask Leigh…" Sara held her hands up to try and stop Danny's rambling.
"Danny, stop. Take a breath. Geez, you were rambling. Yes, I can help you out. Why do you need me so desperately and why can't Leigh help? And why were you so nervous to ask for my help?"
"I just need someone else's opinion on something. I'll tell you on Saturday, ok? I'll pick you up around 10 o'clock." Danny got up and headed back to his desk to avoid any more questions.
"Sure, sure. As long as I get lunch out of the deal." She waved him off and returned to reviewing the files in front of her and her new cup of coffee. She then noticed that Danny had left his untouched cup of coffee on her desk. She looked back and didn't see him and figured that she just gained another cup of java.
***
The nameplate on the door only said "J. Fleischmann", so Sara was completely stumped at the purpose of the Saturday morning visit. The building itself was a converted warehouse that now housed several non-descript businesses. Danny had been uncharacteristically closed mouthed this morning. Sara figured she'd understand soon enough and didn't really push the issue. Danny buzzed the intercom next to the door.
"Yes?" a woman's voice answered.
"My name is Danny Woo and I have a 10:45 appointment." Sara looked over at Danny, who seemed to be getting paler by the minute. The buzzer on the door sounded and the lock clicked open. Danny held the door for Sara as she walked into the lobby of the establishment.
A youngish man walked over extending his hand. "Mr. Woo, welcome. I'm Joel Fleischmann. Is this your intended?" If Danny could have passed out at that moment he would have.
"Intended, no. I'm his partner. At the police department." Danny still couldn't form words. "Sara Pezzini. Please to meet you."
"Sorry for the mistake Miss Pezzini. Usually, either the gentlemen come by themselves or with their intended. My mistake." Mr. Fleischmann took them into the next room, a tastefully decorated office. "Maggie, darling, could you bring Mr. Woo and Ms. Pezzini something to drink? Water, tea, coffee?"
"I think coffee for both of us." Danny finally spoke to the dark haired woman who came into the office. She left and Mr. Fleischmann continued, "That is my wife Maggie. I'm pleased that you chose us, Mr. Woo. And please call me Joel."
Mr. Fleischmann took two trays, covered with black velvet off the credenza behind him. "I thought we might look at stones first," and uncovered the trays, revealing dozens of diamonds of various sizes and shapes.
"You dog!" Sara finally realized what they were doing and punched Danny lightly on the arm. "We're picking out Leigh's engagement ring, aren't we?" Danny nodded solemnly.
Sara leaned over and kissed him on the check, "I'm definitely sure you'll need a woman's opinion here. Thanks for asking me."
After three hours and with Sara's help and guidance, Danny created the perfect ring within his budget. Danny had one of Leigh's rings in his pocket, which Joel used to check the size.
"The ring will be ready in two weeks. I will contact you at work about setting an appointment to pick it up. Just in case the size isn't correct, bring it back and we'll take care of everything." They proceeded to delve into the financial end of the transaction and Sara got up to go to the restroom and give Danny some privacy.
Maggie showed her to the powder room and then she directed Sara to a few cabinets containing beautiful gemstone jewelry. Sara admired the beautiful pieces and then waited in the lobby until Danny emerged.
"So Danny, you're diving into the deep end. I guess I only have two weeks to win your heart and tear you away from Leigh. That ring would look quite good on my finger."
"Sorry, Sara. Your chance is long past. In fact, it was over before we even met. Leigh's the one for me, I've just been putting off the inevitable."
"Sure partner, as long as I get an invite to the wedding." She looped her arm through his as they left the building.
"Let's gets some food to celebrate. I'm starving. And since you just used up all your savings, it's my treat."
"So McDonald's it is. I know what you make, Pez."
"Funny Woo. Keep it up, I can ruin you're whole big surprise with a quick phone call." Danny groaned, knowing that she was going hold this over his head until he proposed.
"Let's see if there's a good place right around here." And they headed off down the block, arm in arm.