Important! Bad News! See note below.

Ch. 10

Various Pains

It was funny, almost laughable, how three minute, near invisible hairline cracks could cause so much pain. Even the doctor had sounded apathetic about them as he explained the situation and even showed the location of the fractures on the X-ray. All three cracks were located at where the ribs of the chest joined with the breastbone. They were like a thin, fine pencil line on the ghostly image of Danny's bones, and his immediate impression of them was 'why the hell does it hurt so much?' There was no need for any kind of bandaging.

His wrist had been fractured but not enough for a cast, just a plastic splint that allowed him mobility of his fingers. Danny maintained an attitude of indifference toward it all, but inside he felt a sense of relief that he could not express in words. His biggest worry in coming to the doctor was having things turn out worse than they were, and him being pulled off the case because of it. But he was fairly certain that he wouldn't be taken off for a few minor cracks.

Aiden begged to differ.

" You just wait. Come in tomorrow and Mac'll escort your butt back out the door," she said on their way back to the lab. Danny refused to let Aiden drop him off at home just to pick him up again tomorrow. He still had one good hand to drive with.

Danny shook his head. " No, no way. Not in the middle of all this. It would cause delays dragging someone else in and bringing them up to speed."

" Danny, the whole department's on this. I don't think it's going to upset the whole balance of nature just because one CSI was taken off."

Danny's overwhelming relief began to deflate, but he kept shaking his head. Mac wouldn't do that. He'd seen Mac work cases with injuries, though they mainly consisted of a broken finger and a cut arm. Still, if Danny was capable of being useful then why shouldn't he be allowed to remain?

Though Danny felt his reasoning sound, he still felt nervous about confronting Mac. He was not going to be happy about what happened. He would have words with Mavin, no doubt. But Danny was certain he would have a few words with him as well.

CSINY

Danny strode stiffly into the crime lab feeling less than rested from having gone to bed at one in the morning. He was good at maintaining outward appearances of calm, but internally his heart felt as though it were tripping over itself. He kept the sleeve of his jacket pulled down almost to his fingertips, eschewing his jacket in a way that gave him a disheveled appearance.

He made his way to the lab where he could see Stella working at one of the many sterile-white tables. She had bottles of chemicals and a tray of tubes in front of her, each tube with a colored liquid at the base. Danny came up to the window and tapped it. Stella's head shot up to smile at him. She set down one of the chemical bottles, picked up a clipboard, then hurried out.

Danny was about to speak the moment she came out but she beat him to it.

" It's a fake."

Danny started with a slight twitch of his head in surprise. " The hand?"

Stella handed him the clipboard. " Yep. Dr. Hawkes made that nice little discovery the moment he looked at it. It's a novelty item like what you get at a costume shop. I've been running some chemical analysis to determine what it's made of and backtrack it to the manufacturer, which will hopefully lead us to the store where it was purchased. Long shot, I know, but it never hurts to try. That's not all though. Flip to the next page."

Danny turned the first page over the clip and studied the second page. He quirked an eyebrow in surprise.

" The hand's a fake but the blood's real?"

" It came from the body of the first vic. Or, to put it more accurately, the second vic. The one not found on the road of decay."

" What about the substance I found on the scaffold?"

Stella flipped over to the third page. " Vaseline."

Danny snorted out a laugh. " Thought as much."

He flipped the pages back over and handed the clipboard to Stella. " So, final conclusion, it was a freakin' trap?"

Stella grimaced. " Pretty much. The guy's like a demented twelve-year-old. Speaking of traps, how're you doing?"

Danny lifted his arm, regarded it for a moment, then pulled his sleeve down momentarily to show Stella the splint.

" Doesn't look too bad," She said.

Danny lowered his arm and pulled the sleeve back down. " Feels pretty bad to me. Where's Mac?"

" He's in the morgue with a friend of one of our vics."

" So we finally got Ids?"

Stella nodded. " On both. The first vic found was named Alicia Ansek, and the second found Rachel Harrison. It was an easy find since both were reported missing. Alicia's friend was the last to see her before she vanished. Rachel, on the other hand, we're still looking. Her family identified her, but so far there doesn't seem to be any friends that she might have gone out with the night she died. So, you want to help me in the wonderfully tedious business of analyzing a rubber hand?"

Danny smirked. " Sounds like you're doing fine on your own. Besides," he lifted his splinted hand as he began walking away. " I might be a little useless in that department."

Stella shook her head. " Yeah, right, whatever Messer."

Danny began making his way toward the morgue, but barely took five steps when he spotted Mac emerge from the constant flow of people, heading toward him. Danny stopped and waited for him while ignoring the urge to shove both his hands into his pockets as he normally did.

" Mac…" Danny began when Mac was near enough to hear, but Mac cut him off.

" Danny, I need you to head down to this address." He handed Danny a sheet of paper containing not only an address by a summary account as well.

" New vic?" Danny said in alarm. " Isn't it a little early? I thought the Hangman always waited a week."

" I just got the call a few minutes ago, but I've got something else I need to deal with."

" The vic's friend?"

Mac creased his brow. " Actually the vic's apartment. But how'd you know?"

" Stella told me. Yeah, I can take this. Sure it's a Hangman and not some new deal?"

" From what the officer told me, it sounds like it. I want you to take Dr. Farrone along for the ride. She can tell you for certain."

Danny folded up the paper and stuck it in the pocket of his jacket. " I'm surprised Mavin hasn't called me yet." Relieved would have been the better word, but it would have only caused Mac to suggest a partner change.

" Give it a moment. You're cell will be ringing soon enough. I'll send Farrone your way. So how's your arm?"

Danny looked down at his feet to hide his abashed grin. He had learned, long ago, never to be surprised by what Mac did know, only when there was something he didn't know.

" Who told?" he asked all the same out of simple curiosity.

" Stella when I found her processing evidence from the place you and Mavin supposedly went."

Danny rubbed the back of his neck in trepidation. " Yeah, sorry about that Mac. I know it was mine to deal with…"

Mac held up one hand to stop Danny. " It's all right, you had a reason. Besides, the whole department is on this case so it's never one-man's evidence. I was the one called on to this new scene but I'm sending you. Chances are there's going to be a lot of that. You can fill me in on the details of what happened later."

Danny let out a breath and nodded. " Cool. I'll talk to you when I get back then."

They parted, and Danny went to go wait by the doors for Anita. As he waited, staring out the doors to the sunlit streets, watching people strolling by wearing light jackets or short sleeves, his cell phone went off. Danny cringed, though he could not help the bitter smile, and answered.

CSINY

The scene was located across town, far from the previous two scenes, at a Victorian style home that was going through a massive makeover. As Danny pulled up to the curb in front of the house his mind flashed back to every horror flick he had ever seen involving some massive house both old, decrepit, yet classic. It was a huge place, three stories, with a covered front porch. The entire place was one dark shade of brown, with dirty windows and a yard choked with weeds. A touch of paint and some lawn care would eventually kill the creepy vibe, but right now Danny wanted to laugh at the absurd cliché they had just come upon.

Anita shared his sentiments, speaking them as she stepped out of the car. " I believe we may have found the twin sister to the Amityville Horror joint."

Danny chuckled as he grabbed his kit and camera and made his way around the car. Anita walked along side him up the cracked walk, her black heels clicking. She was in pants today rather than a skirt, and the heels of her shoes were shorter and wider. The woman knew how to dress for the right occasion, which was a sure sign that she definitely knew what she was doing.

A uniformed cop of middle years greeted them at the door, lifting the police tape to let them in.

" One of the renovators working the place found it this morning. We could barely get the address the way he was rambling. The guy was seriously spooked, and I don't blame him."

" Has detective Mavin arrived?" Danny asked.

" Yeah, a couple of minutes ago. Oh, and I need to warn you. The lights won't work since the electricity's being worked on."

The cop took them up the stairs. The dirt caking the windows made the place dark and muggy, bringing to Danny's mind image from the movie Psycho. They turned left at the top of the stairs and entered large room that could have been used as a study or sitting room for old ladies who practiced tea-time and luncheons. It was dark with most of the windows being boarded up say for two. The light spilling into the room was poor with a misty quality created by disturbed dust.

Two figures stood before a long dining room table, passing their flashlights over something lying on top. Neither figure spoke, just observed.

" Hey Mavin," Danny announced, setting down his kit and placing the camera around his neck. Mavin whirled around, shining his light in Danny's face. The beam cut through his eyes to stab the back of his brain, forcing him to snap his head away.

" What've you got?" Danny asked petulantly, fishing his own light from his kit and clicking it on.

" Dinner time, that's what," Mavin replied just as petulantly. He then lightly whacked the other figure on the shoulder. The figure turned, revealing a Hispanic woman with shoulder-length black hair and a thin, oval face.

" Danny Messer, this is Detective Diega, my partner."

Diega nodded a greeting. Danny nodded back, then looked at Anita.

" This is Dr. Farrone. She's the profiler working the case."

Mavin snorted. " 'Bout time one of you guys showed up. Hope you're ready for this, Farrone."

Diega rolled her eyes. Farrone gave Mavin a flat stare.

" I helped work the last case, detective Mavin, if you don't recall. I was ready before I got here."

Danny smirked. He liked this profiler.

" So, what do we have today?" She asked, moving toward the table. Mavin stepped aside to let her see. She pulled a small light from the pocket of her dress-coat and sent the beam passing over the body of a man splayed out on the polished surface of the table. Danny joined her, adding his own light to the mix.

The man looked to be around his thirties with dark brown hair that was beginning to recede back from the forehead. He was lean and fit, wearing sweats and a white T-shirt soaked through and through with blood. His throat had been cut and there was a rope around his neck with the end coiled beside him like a sleeping snake.

Both Danny and Anita widened their eyes.

" This is new," Anita remarked. This gave Danny a swiftly sinking feeling.

" This may seem redundant, but that doesn't sound good."

Anita shrugged, then began moving around the table while keeping her light on the body. " Actually, just this configuration is, but deviating from the usual path of hanging isn't. There was one guy we found who had been slit, hung, then cut down to be placed in his bathtub. It's always unusual with the male victims. A little extra something I guess you can say." She moved her light in closer to the chest, revealing a slit in the clothing.

" See this?" She said, pointing to the chest without touching. " The shirt's been open. How much you wanna bet the chest was sliced and the heart removed."

Danny looked up at Anita in horror. " Not to eat, I hope." He then lifted his camera and began taking pictures.

" Well, they haven't really crossed over into that area yet. Chances are you'll find the heart else where. Where's the snake?"

Over here," Diega said, leading them over to the wall across from the head of the vic. Both women shone their flashlight on the image. Danny moved over to it and took a picture.

" So what's the deal here, doc?" Danny asked, taking one more picture. Anita moved back to the body.

" Well, there could be some deep-seated meaning behind the vic being on the table, like unhappy memories centered around family dinners. Or the killer just needed the table to cut out the heart. Like I said, it's always one step more with the men. I chalk it up to some form of jealousy. Perhaps, though this is just a theory, the reason the Hangman goes after men at all is because they mess things up. For example, the killer chooses his victim, tries to meet her at a club, but another man gets to her first. He either chases her off or takes her out. Either way the Hangman looses a victim, so compensates by killing the man that caused him to lose her. What matters is getting the victim and sticking to the schedule. But the alteration makes the killer angry, so he takes it a step farther to vent that anger."

Danny took more pictures of the body, then the splatters of blood on the floor. He then lowered the camera, snapped on some gloves, and carefully pulled back the slit in the shirt. Sure enough there was a deep, bloody gash starting from the collarbones and extending to the mid-section. Danny would leave the discovery of a missing organ to Dr. Hawkes.

" Pretty clean if he had a heart removed," he said. He had expected something more akin to the chest being split open.

" Our killer likes to keep things neat and tidy," Anita replied. " Besides, it's not open heart surgery. All he would need to do was slip in one hand to hold, and another with a scalpel to cut. He's neat, but not always precise."

" Whatever gets the job done," Mavin commented. " The guy's on a schedule. He can't afford the time to make it all pretty."

Danny crouched to look at the man's fingernails in search of blood and skin that might have been snagged while the vic fought back, but they were clean. Perhaps the killer had cleaned them, or perhaps the victim had never been given the chance to fight back.

Poor guy, Danny thought. Danny had long ago steeled himself to the sight of a bloody, mangled body , but he had managed to retain a sense of sympathy for the person who had occupied that body. It was not emotional involvement, just respect, as well as a reminder that one still did have a heart. It was one thing to be numbed to blood and guts, but another (even dangerous) matter to be numb in the soul.

Then Danny had a thought. " Hey doc, you know how you were talking about repercussions if the killer's routine is altered in a way he doesn't want?"

Farrone nodded. " Yeah?"

" Do you think it would involve something like this?"

" Depends."

" On what?"

" On whether you're a man or a woman."

CSINY

Earlier

The aftermath of viewing the body was a delicate matter that needed to be handled with care. No matter how strong someone tried to remain on the outside, inside all emotions were teetering on the edge.

Alicia's friend, Samantha Malone, seemed to become void of all emotions on seeing her best friend's pale body and sightless eyes. She confirmed the corpse as being Alicia, then turned away to walk from the morgue in a kind of trance. Mac led to her to row of seats just outside. She sat down mechanically, leaning back stiffly with her hands folded limply on her knees. Her eyes shimmered with water and were already turning red.

Mac stood on her right side, keeping silent to give her a moment to process. Flack came out to join them but stayed a few feet back to give the young woman some space.

Samantha was around the vic's age and of medium height with straight brown hair and dark brown eyes. She had arrived straight from work, and was still wearing her Matre'd uniform consisting of a clean-white shirt, black trousers, and a red vest.

After about three minutes, Mac sat down beside her, choosing his wording for his questions carefully. Pushing too hard at this time might cause her to bolt, or shut herself off.

" You and Alicia were good friends?" he asked, starting simple. Samantha swallowed as tears dripped from her eyes onto her trousers.

" Since Elementary School," she replied in a voice that was almost a whisper.

" What was she like?"

Alicia's lips twitched as though wanting to smile but unable to, while her eyes became unfocused and distant. " Shy. Quiet. But easy to talk to. She was always a good listener. She was really into music. She liked to sing."

" Did she want to be a musician?"

" She was studying to be a music teacher. She was working at the restaurant to pay for school. Two mores years, that's all she needed was two more years."

Mac glanced over at Flack who had moved in closer and was taking notes. " What grade was she going to teach?" Flack asked to incorporate himself into the conversation.

Alicia quickly wiped her eyes. " Elementary, first through fifth. She liked kids."

Mac took a deep breath in ready for his plunge into the harder questions.

" Samantha, I know this is hard for you, but right now we really need your help, so we may be asking you questions that you might find difficult. If you do, just say the word and we'll stop."

Samantha did not reply, just nod.

" Around the time Alicia disappeared, you went to a club, right?"

Samantha nodded again and wiped her eyes. " She was feeling a little down because her boyfriend dumped her for this… skank. So some friends and I decided she needed a couple of nights out to get drunk and forget. We've been club hopping the entire week. The last I saw her, we were at our fifth club. A lot of us got pretty wasted."

Easy prey, Mac thought dourly. " Did Alicia talk to any men that night?"

Samantha raised her eyebrows. " She talked to a lot of guys. Like I said, we were pretty wasted. Alicia even more than the rest of us. I started getting worried so I called a cab and saw her home. That was the last time…"

She trailed off, swallowing, and wiped her eyes more forcefully.

" Any guys in particular that seemed especially interested in Alicia?" Flack asked.

Samantha's brow creased in thought. " I don't… really recall. We all had someone we were talking to, and we never stuck with them long. We got separated for a time too."

" When you saw Alicia home," Mac asked next. " Was she dropped off or seen to her place. I'm assuming she lived in an apartment."

Samantha nodded, this time wiping her eyes with her sleeve. Flack pulled out a tissue and handed it to her.

" Thanks," she said, and wiped the moisture from her cheeks. " Yeah, she lived in an apartment. I saw her up. She could hardly walk. I left her on her bed to sleep it off, then left. I even locked the door. I remember that, because I still have her key. I was going to give it back to her."

" But she didn't show for work," Mac finished for her.

Samantha chuckled softly. " I don't know, I didn't go in either. I called in sick, just because I was tired. I can handle alcohol. I don't get a lot of hangovers. But I was certain Alicia would call in sick. She always got loopy just drinking wine. It was the day after when she didn't show. I wasn't worried until the third day. She hardly misses work. I went to her school and asked around. She had missed her classes too, she never misses those. That's when I called to report her missing."

Samantha fell silent for a long time, and Mac and Flack let her. They had what they needed question-wise.

" Thank you for your time, Miss Malone," Mac said after a moment. " You've been very helpful."

Mac was about to rise when Samantha's head shot around. She stared at him directly in the eyes, speaking without words the honesty she needed from him at that moment.

" He killed her, didn't he," she stated. Mac was taken back.

" Who?"

" That man, that Hangman guy. That's all you hear about on the news. But they didn't say who the victims were. They said the police wouldn't give out that information yet. But Alicia was one of them, wasn't she."

Mac hesitated for a moment, but decided it better to tell Samantha now before the news did. " Yes. We didn't want that information out until family and friends were contacted first."

Samantha let out a deep, shuddering breath as her tears fell more freely. " I know. I just… I knew, but I needed to be sure. I had this feeling, this really bad feeling, after I dropped her off. But I… I never…"

She convulsed with sobs, and leaned forward to hide her face as she wept.

" It's not your fault," Mac said, not in an act of comfort, but out of understanding of the guilt grief tended to bring about. " You did what you could, and you did everything right. You left her in safety. From the way it sounds, her killer came to her and she let him in, probably thinking him harmless, probably knowing him from the club. There was nothing you could have done except for what you already did. So you have no reason to feel guilty."

Samantha lifted her head, pressing the tissue against her eyes though it was soaked through.

" Would you like someone to drive you home?" Flack asked. " We were told you came by cab."

Samantha breathed deeply. " Yes," she choked out. " Thank you."

Both she and Mac stood, and the three left the morgue with Flack calling a uniform in to take Samantha home. They waited outside until a policewoman pulled up, and watched as Samantha got in and left.

" Game plan?" Flack asked.

" The vic's place," Mac replied.

" Think we'll find anything?"

" Nope."

NOTE

Bad news readers. I'm afraid updates will be a long-time coming. I won't be able to use my computer for a while since it's in need of some repairs. Hopefully it won't take long, but I'm not sure how long it will be before I get it back. Fear not! I'm going to continue the story by hand. So, once my computer is back up and running, all I need do is type up what I have written. It's never a good idea to stop writing in the middle of the story, but boy is my hand going to hurt. So, I apologize for the inconvenience, and leave you with this chapter that is not a dire cliffhanger.

Also, I apologize for any parts where I get Samantha's name mixed up with Alicia's. I tried fixing it but I'm not sure if I got it all.