Part Two - Two days later

Uniforms swarmed the small house by the time Detectives Eames and Goren had arrived.

"Detectives. Over here. Female, 30 - 35, names Katie Philips" calls an unidentified officer.

Before they reached the victim, the aroma of a decaying body quickly overcame their senses. Eames coveres her mouth and nose with her jacket sleeve. The ME had just finished up, noticing the two detectives, he dryly says, "If you're interested the cause of the death - broken neck, probably fell down the stairs."

Goren had already positioned himself over the body, turning the victim's head side to side. "I, I don't think she fell down the stairs."

"Don't tell me you need to be 5 inches from her face to tell me that she's dead." Eames blurts.

Goren ignored his partners sarcasm and continued examining her face, neck and arms.

"Eames, do notice anything wrong with the vic?"

"Other than the fact she's dead.no. why?"

"It's just that.well her neck is broken, but when you take a tumble down a flight a stairs you'd find abrasions on the body, where trauma occurred. And there's no abrasions anywhere on the body. Her robe is tide, and both slippers on her feet. Officer?"

A lanky, balding man, walks over. "Officer Harris." he extends his right hand, to the detective. Goren, not fond of formalities just nods in acknowledgement at the officer.

"Um, was there any visible signs of a break-in? Or a robbery?"

"ohhh jesus." stopping in mid sentence, to glance over at Eames. "Does he always get THAT close to the vics?"

"Yep. Would you rather be the one doing the honors?" Retorts Eames, seemingly unfazed by her partners antics.

Goren oblivious to officer Harris' obvious disgust, tries again. "Officer?"

The half nauseous officer, shakes his head 'no' before turning the opposite direction to get some air.

They both turn to go upstairs. As they walked down the hallway they passed numerous pieces of artwork on the wall.

"She had good taste" comments Eames.

Goren takes a right into the first bedroom and flips the light switch on. A queen sized bed, night stand, with a lamp and telephone, and a small closet off to the left. The bed showed signs of being previously slept in. He walks over to the window and pulls the shades up, to check to see if it's locked.

"It's locked."

"I would hope so..." Laments Eames.

"Eames, it doesn't make sense."

"She fell, broke her neck, and now she's dead. Sounds pretty simple to me."

"You still think she fell."

"You don't? The possibility is there. She could have heard something, the wind, maybe she took a wrong turn when she got up, tripped even."

"How? The hallway is narrow and carpeted, no pets, or foreign objects were obstructing her path to the bathroom. She could have put her arms up and felt her whole way there, slipping on carpet." He stops realizing Eames had probably gone back downstairs to scope the rest of the perimeter.

Back downstairs, Goren weaves his way through the officers, towards the kitchen. A coffee pot quietly gurgles in the compact kitchen. Goren heads towards the sink, where a half empty coffee cups sits. Cold. Sniffs it and puts it down. He notices the coffee maker still on. And turns it off. The fridge light is also on, he pauses, shuts it. Then opens the fridge door. Eames walks in and watches her partner go through the contents of the refrigerator haphazardly.

She looks down and whispers, "Hungry?"

Goren quizzically looks at his partner and responds with the slightest smile; "Nope, I had my snickers before coming in."

Before she had the chance to rebut, he had cleared everything out of the fridge and had moved on to the freezer. He swiftly spread all the contents; an assortment of molding fruits, vegetables, bread, sandwich meat, ketchup, beer, soda, frozen meat, and fat-free Popsicles

on the small table.

Eames, wishing she had taken the time to consume something more than coffee this morning, waits for her partner to explain why they're staring at food.

"Okay, what am I missing here?"

" I don't know yet."