Identity

Lockets and Fingerprints

Rating: PG-13

Not mine ~ they're just messing with my head.  All of them!

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Early the next morning Nigel woke up and immediately sensed that he was alone.

"Jordan?"

No answer.

"Great.  Just great."  He muttered to himself as he got up to take care of that usual early morning business.  He went out and reached for his cell phone.  Maybe by some chance she'd taken it with her.  As he was preparing to dial, his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Nige, I think I've found something."

"What?  Jordan where the hell are you?"

"At the morgue.  I woke up and had an idea."

"An idea or a nightmare?"

"An idea Nige.  I. . .I couldn't sleep after that.  How soon can you get down here?"

"I'll throw my clothes on and be down there as soon as I can get a cab."

"Ok.  Hurry!"

What could she possibly have found?  He didn't think any of his tests would be back yet.  And even if they were, was there anyone to give them to her down there at this hour?  What time was it anyway?  "Three a.m. Jordan?  Good lord don't you ever sleep?"  Nigel muttered to himself as he threw on some clothes.  This was just about too much. . .

Still he promised her he'd be there.  Might as well go down to police plaza and see what she'd found.  Amazingly, there were some cabs sitting out in front of the hotel and in no time he was walking through the doors at the station.  He flashed his ID to the desk clerk and headed up to the morgue.  Jordan met him at the elevators.

"Come on, come on."  She was as bad as a kid on Christmas morning.

"Jordan, don't you ever sleep?"

"Not when a case is on my mind and under my skin like Lauren's is. . .and now this one."

"Alright.  Give me a minute to get changed.  Is there any coffee?"

"I'll go make some.  They've got the same coffee maker we do!"

"Hallelujah."  He changed and entered the autopsy room with a large cup of coffee in his hand.  "Ok, Jordan.  What is so fascinating that you woke me up. . ."

"Um, you answered as soon as the phone rang, so I'm guessing you were already awake."

"Yes, you caught me.  I was getting ready to call your phone and see where you were.  Waking up and not seeing you in the room. . .  Jordan, I was worried about you."

"I can take care of myself.  But thanks for worrying."

"What did you find, Jordan?"

"Oh.  Yeah.  The locket."

"What?"

"The locket Lauren had around her neck.  Her parents didn't know anything about it, but they figured it was a gift.  She was in college and they didn't know all her friends."

"Right.  I remember.  But we didn't think that it had anything to do with the case."

"We didn't open it."

"What?  Jordan, I know it's early, but I'm a little lost here.  What does Lauren's locket have to do with this case?"

"I started going over the similarities, besides the obvious.  College-age girl.  All the physical stuff the creep did to her ~ the rape, the strangulation, the. . ."

"Yeah.  I know all about that.  The DNA match-up between here and Boston should be in when the others come in at a normal office time."

"But Nige, we were only looking at the bodies.  Not what was on them ~ or in them."

"Yes, well, as you've said, we know Lauren had a locket around her neck ~ well, buried into it.  But I fail to see what that has to do with. . ."  He stopped speaking as Jordan raised her hand before his eyes.  It held a locket that appeared identical to the one they'd found on Lauren.  "Sweet Nancy."

Jordan opened up the locket to reveal a picture of Lauren Michaelson.

"And I found it in exactly the same location as the one on Lauren.  I pulled up the picture of that one on your laptop."  Jordan motioned towards the table where Nigel had set up shop the evening before.  He wandered over and looked at it.

"What are the odds of getting the one from Boston, Jordan?"

"Well, I don't think the police released her personal effects yet, given that we've. . .they've never caught anyone.  I'll call Woody in a little while and see if he can get it.  We really don't need it here if he'll open it and. . ."

"And I can try out this new camera phone?"

"But of course."

"Good plan to let Woody sleep."

"Hey, if you want to go back to the hotel. . ."

"No, no.  I'm already up.  I think I'll just wander down the hall and see if anyone on their graveyard shift knows if we could get DNA results yet."

He wandered down the hall and soon returned.

"No one awake?"

"No one who understands how to work the computer stuff.  Honestly, I expected more in New York."

"Aw, come on Nige. Even you're not at the morgue 24-7.  When you're not there, we're. . ."

"I know, I know."

"What time is it anyway?"

"Um, it's about 5 a.m. now.  Why?"

"I'm going to make a phone call."

"Jordan. . ."

"Oh come on.  We can't do anything else until we get the results and/or the locket."

"Ok, but please tell Woodrow this was not my idea."

"Fine."

Jordan opened her cell phone and pushed "2" for a few seconds.

"He's on speed dial?"

"Shut up!"  Jordan waited.  Where the heck was he at this hour of the. . .?

"Hello?"  Woody's muffled, just-woken-up voice greeted her.

"Woody! Hi!"

"Jordan?"  He blinked and reached for the clock, then groaned as he flopped back on his pillows.

"Yeah.  What's up?"

"Jordan, do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Um, yeah.  It's 5 a.m."

"And you're calling me why?"

"I need you to open the locket."

"The what?"

"The locket we found in Lauren's neck.  Do you think you could go to the morgue and get it and like. . .?"

"Now?"

"Well. . ."

"Fine.  You've got a camera phone, right?"

"Yeah.  Well, Nige does."

"Good.  I'll get it and call you back.  Give me an hour or so." 

Jordan clicked her phone shut and looked at Nigel.

"So he's on board?"

"Yeah.  He's going to go down to the station and call and we'll try to get the camera phone thing working.  He'll call back later when he's set up."

"Alright.  Well, there's nothing else we can do until someone else gets here.  Jordan, can we go and get some breakfast or something?"

"Sure.  I saw a Starbucks a couple of blocks over. . ."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"And I'm in the mood for one of their cinnamon chip scones.  Let's go."

They left the building and walked a couple of blocks.  Coffee and scones bought, they settled into a couple of fluffy chairs in a corner.

"You know Jordan, perhaps the DNA will tell us all we need to know."

"Maybe.  We'll see."

"Yeah.  You know, I've been thinking about that Jack guy."

"Yeah?"

"We could always print you."

"What?"

"Do your fingerprints.  And run them against that Claire person's.  I mean, she was a government employee so her prints should be on file.  Maybe he'll believe that."

"I don't know.  From what Lennie and Anita said, the proof's been pretty conclusive that she's dead and he's still convinced that I'm her."

"So what harm will it do to print you? Unless. . ."

"Nige!  I was in Boston when she was here.  I am not her."

"So. . ."

"It just makes me mad that. . .  Never mind.  Let's do it."

"Now?"

"Well, it is almost 7. Maybe someone's getting to the precinct already.  And Woody should be calling soon."

"Fine.  Let's go."  Nigel threw their trash away and held the door open.  Instinctively he stuck close to Jordan, still feeling edgy about the E.A.D.A. who didn't seem to want to believe that Jordan was not his late lover.

They met Lennie entering the building.

"Detective?  Are you always up this early?"

"Most of the time.  I went by the hotel and there was no answer at your room.  I hoped that I'd find you here."

"Yeah.  So, how'd your conversation with the lawyer go last night?"  Nigel had overheard Lennie agreeing to meet Jack later.

"Alright.  I still don't think he's convinced.  I know it sounds crazy, but. . ."

"No, it doesn't sound crazy."  Jordan was looking at the two men in front of her.

"What?"  Lennie and Nigel were incredulous.

"I just mean, I know what it is to want to believe that someone's alive even when you've seen them laying dead in front of you.  That's all."  Jordan turned away and took a deep breath.

"Oh Jordan, of course you do.  I'm sorry."  Nigel moved to put his arms around her.  Lennie looked perplexed.  "Her. . ."

"My mother was killed when I was 10."

"I'm so sorry."  Lennie truly did feel bad for the young woman standing in front of him.  "I did have an idea, though."

"Fingerprints?"  Nigel wanted to do anything to break the tense moment.

"Yeah."

"We'd just thought of that.  Can we do it?"

"Yeah.  Come on."

The trio trooped down the hall.  As they were getting Jordan's prints, she couldn't help but laugh.

"Boy, this seems familiar."

"What?"

"Never mind, Nige.  Never mind.  Long story."

Lennie laughed at the ease these two had with each other. Nothing romantic at all, but they obviously cared a lot about each other.  It took less than a minute for the results to pop up.  "There we go.  Not a match."

"I told you."  Jordan rolled her eyes.

"Good.  Well, I think I see some lights on in the room where I need to be for the DNA test results.  I'll catch up with you later, luv.  Detective."

"Yeah.  I know.  Hopefully Jack will accept these.  So have you come up with anything?"  Lennie was curious to know what these two were finding.

"Actually, I think so.  No one found the locket in her neck."  Jordan was leading the way down the hall to autopsy.

"Locket?  Do you mean around her neck?"

"No, I mean in her neck.  Buried in the tissue around the wound.  Lauren had one too."

"And?"

"And I'm 99% sure that they're the same.  They look it by the picture, but. . ."

"I'm assuming that the other one is in Boston?"

"Yeah, but the investigating detective is going to get it now.  We're going to try to use these new camera phones and see what we can find out."

"Actually, that won't be necessary."  Nigel strolled back into the room.

"What?"

"Well, they will add to the D.A.'s case, but the DNA matched conclusively.  Your suspect killed our girl in Boston."

"Now all we need to do is find out who she is."  Jordan was relieved that Lauren's case was solved, but still.  "No one's reported anyone missing?"

"Not that we've connected Jane Doe to so far.  We got something about two college girls on an internship that haven't checked in for a while.  Probably went on a road trip."

"Some college girls?"  Jordan's mind was reeling with the facts they knew about Lauren Michaelson. Twenty, college student.  In Boston on an internship from. . .  "Mount Holyoke?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Lennie?  Were there any clothes, anything found on her to identify a school, a college she might have been attending?"

"Not that I recall, but. . .  Why?"

"Lauren was on an internship from Mount Holyoke.  Maybe this girl was too.  Do you think that. . .?"

"I'll call their student affairs office and leave a message.  Maybe they can tell us something about her."  This girl really was good.  "Um, your pocket's ringing over there."

"Jeeze, thanks.  Hello?"

"Jordan, I've got it.  What do you need me to. . .?"

"It's ok, Woody.  The DNA matched.  The lockets are just going to be icing on the cake."

"What?"

"They've got the guy here in New York.  We'll meet with the D.A. here later today, but I'm pretty sure he'll be extradited this afternoon, tomorrow morning at the latest.  They're gonna let me check the locket from her out to compare, but we've got him.  Lauren's murder is solved!"

"That's great!"

"Just for curiosity's sake. . .  Woody, can you open the locket?"

"Yeah.  Pretty girl in here.  Want me to email it?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, one second."  Jordan heard her phone beep and looked at the picture.  It was the girl on the table in front of her.

"Thanks Wood.  That's what I thought."

"What?"

"It matches."

"What?"

"Lauren's picture is in this locket and my girl's picture is in Lauren's.  They're definitely connected."

"Oh.  So when are you coming home?"  Was it Jordan, or did Woody sound a little lonely?

"Probably tomorrow or the next day.  So I'll see you then?"

"Yeah.  Sure."

"Bye, Woody."

In the meantime, Lennie went to report their findings to Anita and call student affairs at Mount Holyoke.  He was surprised no one had reported a girl missing. He was even more surprised when someone answered the phone.

"Yes, this is Detective Briscoe from the NYPD.  Um, is there a Dean of Students or someone I can speak with?"

"Certainly, one moment."

He heard shuffling and a rushing to the phone.

"Detective?  How can I help you?"

"I'm working with some medical examiners from Boston.  You know about. . ."

"Lauren?  Oh God, yes. One moment.  Let me put Lauren's mother on the phone."  The voice changed.  "Detective?  Has anyone found Simone?"

"And you are?"

"I'm Lauren's mother.  Simone's aunt.  Have you found her?"

"Simone?"

"Yes.  Simone Michaelson.  She and Lauren were closer than sisters.  They were both doing a law internship in Boston.  Lauren called, scared out of her mind.  The next phone call we had was from the Boston police.  Lauren had been murdered but Simone was nowhere to be found."

"Do Simone's parents know about this?"

"Simone doesn't have parents anymore.  Her parents were killed in a fire when she was seven.  She came to live with us after. . ."

"We have a girl here who we think might be Simone.  We didn't know her name until now."

"Oh my God.  She's not. . ."

"I'm sorry."

"Oh God."

"Ma'am, if we email you a picture, could you make a tentative ID?"

"Yes.  One moment."  The first voice Lennie spoke with gave him the email address and he sent the picture.  In less than a minute, he heard a scream, then Lauren's mother's voice came back on the phone.  "That's her.  That's Simone."

"Thank you.  We will need you to make an ID in person, but. . ."

"Yes, yes of course."

"You should know, we do have someone in custody.  He'll most likely be extradited to Boston today.  The D.A. agreed to give Boston first crack at him."

"Thank you, detective Briscoe."

"I'm so sorry for your loss, ma'am."

Lennie hung up the phone and looked sadly at Anita.  "So we have an ID now?"

"Yes.  And according to Jordan and Nigel, we can conclusively tie the cases to Johnson.  All we have to do is tell the D.A."

"Tell the D.A. what, Detective?"  Jack's voice sounded behind them.

"We've tied the murders together.  I figured you'd do the extradition this afternoon?"

"I'll be on the phone with D.A. Walcott in Boston and work out the details.  Are the two. . ."  He might be starting to have doubts, but Jack wanted to see the girl who looked so much like Claire at least one more time.

"Jack, come over here and look at something."

"What?"

"We ran Jordan's prints this morning.  Look.  They don't match."

"Well, she could have had them surgically altered."  Lennie and Anita were looking at him like he was going crazy.  Maybe he was.  Best to go along with them, at least for now.  "You're right.  She couldn't be.  I just. . ."

"I know, Jack.  It's not been easy for you since. . ."

"I'm going to go make that phone call.  Tell the Boston team that they can get ready to go home and firm up the case there."

He made the phone call to Renee Walcott.  They decided that it would be better to have the presence of the other state, if only in the spectators' area of the courtroom, so Jack agreed to travel to Boston.  At 4:00 p.m., he met Anita, Jordan and Nigel at Penn Station.

"What are you doing here?" Nigel tried unsuccessfully to mask the disdain in his voice.

"Walcott and I decided that my presence would help to solidify the case in Boston just as hers will do the same here."

"Great."  Jordan rolled her eyes and took off towards the platform.  "Lieutenant VanBuren, thank you for all your help."

"It was my pleasure."  Anita reached out and put a hand on Jordan's arm.  "Maybe we can work together again someday."

"Yeah.  Maybe." 

Jordan and Nigel got on the train followed closely by Jack.  "Great," Jordan thought.  "It's gonna be a LONG ride home."

. . .to be continued. . .