Horatio stood in the glass observatory overlooking the autopsy room as Alexx dissected the latest victim.

"No sign of trauma, all organs are intact, I have a slight discoloration on the lips, the skin has a yellow tone to it."

"Arsenic" Horatio concluded

"Looks like it" Alexx nodded "I didn't find any needle marks, so he must have taken it either orally or nasally"

she leaned over the victim again "Let's see here sweety, how did the bad guy do this to you?" above her Horatio smiled faintly, Alexx was known for the weird way she treated her corpses. He never heard of another coroner who was in the habit of talking to his dead, he remembered how it freaked him out the first time the two of the worked together. Now, it was one of the things he liked best about her, the intimacy, the weird bond that she created with her cadavers reminded them all that these were once people, that this wasn't just about the evidence and the technicality of it all - it was a constant reminder of the human element in their work.

Alexx took a small flashlight and directed it up into the victim's nose "He took it through the nose H" she declared "there's still some residue powder in the nasal cavity"

"I'll need a sample of that" He said before leaving the observatory and heading to the lab

* "so victim number one was stabbed, victim number two was strangled and now we think victim number three was poisoned!?" Speed repeated in disbelief "aren't serial killers supposed to stick to a method?"

"not necessarily" Jamie replied as she got up from her place leaning against the desk and walked over to the illuminated board that was covered with various pictures of the three crime scenes "This guy is just starting, he's testing the water, trying to figure out which method he like best"

"So what? The next murder will be by shooting?' Speed asked

"I doubt it, our guy here is a neat freak! Shooting is too messy. That's why he didn't like the stabbing. Besides most serial killers don't use guns, the killing is what gets them off, excites them - they prefer it to be more hand on if you know what I mean"

"so shooting is too impersonal, I get it" Calleigh remarked with a shrug causing Jamie to smile slightly

"Yeah you could say that"

"Ok" Horatio got up from his seat "Speed I want you to analyze the murder weapons - the arsenic, the rope and the knife wounds. Calleigh and Jamie the two of you go over the three crime scenes again, there's got to be something we missed. Erik, you and I are on victomology - we need to find out what our three victims have in common."

They all nodded and picked up their stuff heading in different way, Jamie lingered for a second behind. When everyone else left the room she turned back to Horatio "H, when was the last time you slept?"

"Don't start with that Jamie, I'm fine" He smiled

"Then give them some room, they're a good team, let them do what they're trained to do" She said gently

"I know they're a good team James" He smiled at her and she smiled back at the old nickname "I trained them" with that he turned and left the room. Jamie looked after him as he walked down the hall and sighed then walked out and joined Calleigh who was waiting for her out in the other hall.

*

"So victim one was 10 days ago." Erik started, pulling up a picture of the first victim on the large screen "Her name was Miranda Delgado, she was a cashier at the local supermarket. Neighbors said she rarely got out except for work. She was stabbed twice, found by a co-worker who came to check up on her when she didn't show up for work the next day"

"Go on" Horatio indicated and leaned back in his chair

"Victim number two was Sean Blake, divorced, one kid, ex-wife has custody" He pulled another picture on the screen "he was killed 3 days after the first victim, strangled to death. Unemployed, the apartment manager found him two days later, came to complain about the bad smell."

"Any connection between the two?"

"Nothing obvious. Blake was an engineer before he got laid off, they lived on the opposite sides of town. No indication that they ever knew each other"

"but our killer knew them both" Horatio said thoughtfully "there was no sign of forced entry at either one of the crime scenes"

"Meaning the victims let him in" Erik finished his trail of thoughts "so we're talking family, friends someone they knew"

"What about our third victim?" Horatio asked

"Victor Sanchez, worked at a gas station, no family. Neighbors said he didn't get out much either, they said they complained to him several times about the volume of his TV" He leaned back and both man sat silently for a second, the wheels on their heads turning.

"Well, they were all loaners, kept to themselves, stayed in the house." Erik started, he suddenly sat up as if something clicked in his mind "Utility companies, you let technicians into the house all the time"

Horatio nodded "and what do people who stay home a lot usually spend a lot of time doing?"

"Watch TV!" Erik exclaimed "I'll check cable companies, Internet servers track down technicians"

*

"So you're the serial killer expert?" Calleigh asked from across the lab table as she and Jamie settled in the lab

"There's no such thing as a serial killer expert" Jamie answered "Each serial killer is totally different. I'm good at figuring out patterns, finding similarities between cases that don't seem similar"

"And similarities are everything, right?" Calleigh asked

'Actually, no! They're important for figuring out you have a serial killer on your hands. You see the similarities are the ritual, the things the killer does every time he kills, the thing he excels at. So if the similarities are the patterns - the dissimilarities."

"Are his mistakes" Calleigh finished the sentence.

"Ok, let's get started" Jamie declared and the two of them turned their concentration into their work.