The Problem With Murder Part Four

The others looked at Mark in disbelief.

"But this can't be true I thought that the police had decided that it was a one off shooting." Jesse said looking at Mark.

"I don't know but we wont find out until you do the autopsy Amanda." Mark replied looking at the others in the room who were all looking at him shocked.

"I'll get right on to it. In the mean time why don't you take Alex home and get him settled in?" Amanda replied getting up from the sofa. "Jesse and I can cover if we need to!"

"Thanks Amanda that would be great! Call me as soon as you know the results" Mark replied picking up some of Alex's bags.

Mark and Alex left the hospital and headed back to the beach. It wasn't long before they were sitting on the deck talking and sipping iced tea. Steve came home and sat with his father and Alex and told them about the latest murder that had taken place.

Suddenly the phone rang and Mark ran off to answer it. He came back looking pale and worried.

"Amanda found another gold bullet in that latest victim" Mark said looking at the other two

"Oh God! I hope that we're not looking for a serial killer!" Steve said getting up. "I'm going to go to the hospital now and go through the autopsy with Amanda!"

"Ok son I'll see you later."

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Steve arrived at the hospital half an hour later and headed straight to the pathology lab. He found Amanda bent over her laptop filling in the latest autopsy report. Steve walked in and Amanda looked up and smiled when she saw who it was.

"Hi Steve!" Amanda said gesturing for him to sit down opposite her. "Just one question though."

"Hi Amanda." He replied flopping down into the chair. "Yes what's that?"

"Do you ever go to work because you always seem to be here? Is it just insurance in case you get hurt?" Amanda said grinning and printing out the report for him.

"Well I suppose that is one reason why I am here but its been so slow in my department at the moment that I haven't got that much to do so I hang around here talking to you guys." Steve replied taking the printed sheets out of the printer and glancing at them. "So exactly the same circumstances huh?"

"Yes it looks like it. She was shot from behind and the bullet was made of gold. This is getting weird Steve we've got to find this guy before he kills anyone else! Do you think it's a serial killer?"

"I was hoping that we weren't, but two murders in similar circumstances in less than three days does point to a serial killer I'm afraid and we've got to figure out the link between them to try and find the next victim before its too late." Steve said looking concerned. "Anyway I'm going to go home now. Do you and Jesse want to come for dinner tonight? I think Dad's making chicken."

"That would be great Steve thanks. My Mum's taken the boys on holiday with her so I was dreading going home to an empty house!" Amanda said "I'll come with you now if you want? I've just got to finish up here."

"OK. I've just got to do something but I'll meet you back here in five minutes." Steve said and then left the lab. He wandered down to the doctor's lounge. He thought that he had possibly left his jacket there three days before. When he entered he noticed that Nikki, the young nurse he had met the day before, was in the room and he greeted her warmly.

"Hello again!" He said as she looked up.

"Oh hi! How are you?" Nikki asked him putting her sandwich on the table next to her.

"I'm fine. Don't let me disturb your lunch though I'm just here to look for my jacket. It's a black leather jacket have you seen it?"

"Umm yes there's one in the sleep room. You could check it out." She replied picking up her sandwich again.

He wandered into the sleep room and found his jacket hanging on the back of the door. When he returned Nikki was looking distainfully at her sandwich.

"Hey what's wrong with you? You look like you've found something disgusting in that sandwich."

He said noticing the look on her face.

"No I'm just bored with sandwiches. I just don't have time to go out for lunch." She replied throwing the sandwich across the room and it landed in the bin.

"What do you normally do for dinner then?" He asked smiling at her.

"I normally just sit at home by myself and eat a microwave meal. Nothing special I usually am so tired that I crash when I get home." She replied reaching into her bag and pulling out a banana and starting to eat it.

"Well how about I take you to a proper dinner tonight then?" He said looking at her keenly. "Do you like BBQ?"

"Yes I do and are you asking me on a date?" Nikki asked suddenly looking shy.

"Yes I guess I am." Steve replied "so tonight then?"

"Ok. I finish at six." Nikki replied looking at him and smiling.

"Ill pick you up at half past then. From here?" Steve asked getting ready to leave.

"Yes that's fine. I'll see you then." She said and then got up. "Anyway I've got to get back to my rounds."

They went their separate ways and Steve left the hospital with a broad grin on his face. It was later that evening when Jesse saw Steve and Nikki at BBQ Bobs.

"Hey Steve what happened to dinner at your Dad's?" Jesse asked Steve as he walked in "Oh yes I should've known" he said suddenly catching sight of Nikki.

"I was going to ask you the same thing. I phoned Dad and told him about the change of plans." Steve replied taking Nikki's coat and pulling out a chair for her.

"I'm just picking up some salad for dinner because Mark forgot to pick it up on his way home." Jesse replied. "What can I get you?" He said pulling out a notebook and pen from his pocket.

The pair quickly ordered and Jesse left for the beach house. It was late when the pair had finished their coffee and Steve offered Nikki a lift home.

"Oh it's ok honestly." She said looking gratefully at him.

"I would like to. It is my professional opinion that you should not walk home alone at night." Steve replied looking down into her blue eyes twinkling up at him.

"Oh ok then." She replied. They talked very little on the way back to her house, as they were both very tired. When he pulled up outside her house he got out and walked her to her door. He looked down at her again and felt a longing to kiss her. He leant down towards her and their lips met. It was like nothing he had felt before and she finally pulled away and said goodnight, leaving her phone number with him.

When Steve got home his friends were still at the house and he was surprised because it was almost one o'clock. "Guys what are you still doing here?" He asked sitting down at the table.

"Well we've all got the day off tomorrow so they're going to stay here and then we're going to help you with your case." Mark replied looking up from Amanda's autopsy report. "How was your date?" He looked slightly mischievous and Steve wondered what his father was up to.

"It was fine thank you." He said cautiously

"Yes it looks like it" Jesse said unable to hide his amusement any longer.

Amanda got up and walked over to Steve and used her napkin to wipe some lipstick off his cheek. Steve flushed a deep pink and rushed off to the bathroom to clean up. The others laughed heartily.

Steve wandered back into the living room and flopped down at the table. "Well now you've all finished laughing at me can you tell me what you've found out?"

"Well we would except we've found nothing!" Amanda replied getting up to get more coffee for the others and herself. She walked into the kitchen and the others carried on talking.

"So nothing at all?" Steve asked frustrated

"No nothing apart from the golden bullets. You'll need to look for someone who would make that kind of ammunition." Mark replied looking up as Amanda walked in with coffees in her hands for them.

"I know I'm gonna look into it!" Steve replied sipping his coffee. "The Captain will want some answers and soon."

"Yeah I guess so. Surely there must be something that we can find from the cases alone." Jesse said rummaging through the mountain of paperwork on the table and looking at Amanda's autopsy carefully.

It was three in the morning when the group finally went to bed. Amanda went to sleep in Steve's room while Steve slept on his couch and Mark and Alex set up a bed for Jesse on the couch. Mark was up early the next morning and made pancakes for the others and squeezed some orange juice for them. It wasn't long until the smell of the pancakes awoke the rest of the house and Jesse appeared bleary eyed from the lounge and Steve and Amanda appeared from downstairs. It wasn't long until Alex emerged from his room and they all sat on the patio and ate their breakfast talking about the case. They group decided that Mark would go to the precinct with Steve to help him with his investigations while the others stayed at the house and went through the bits of information that Steve had managed to get together for them.

It wasn't until five that evening that Mark and Steve returned to the house looking grim.