Disclaimers: I own nothing.
The next morning, I arrived at the lab at exactly nine o'clock. After dropping my stuff off in my office, I looked for Stella, but I couldn't find her in the lab or her office. On my way to grab our first vics clothes for fingerprinting, I ran into Mac. "Morning, Mac."
"Good morning, Lindsay," he replied. "Stella's out at another crime scene." I guess I looked slightly confused, so he continued, "Another body, found near a synagogue. I guessed it might be same MO as your other two cases so I sent her."
"Another one?" I exclaimed.
"Oh, and Lindsay. Stella mentioned what happened last night with your emotions, when she told me to take you off call."
I looked down. "Sorry, Mac."
"You know in this field you have to avoid getting to attached." I nodded. "It's hard when you can't solve a case. But you've got to trust the evidence. And use your head, not your heart." He squeezed my shoulder before walking off.
I stood there for a minute, my thoughts swarming. I knew Mac was right, but I didn't want to admit the real reason I was getting so involved.
----
I was printing our first vics clothes when Stella found me in the lab. "Morning, Lindsay. We may have another case. I was just at a crime scene, same MO so far. Sid's doing the autopsy now. He's going to call me when he's done."
"Yeah, Mac mentioned it. Um, Stella," I said, looking down, "I'm sorry about yesterday."
"It's okay, Linds. I just thought you needed to take a break. You can't do your best work when you're so emotional."
"I know. And Mac gave me a lecture this morning, too. I just…" I replied, abruptly stopping.
"I just what?"
"Nothing," I lied. Stella gave me a look like she didn't believe me, but didn't say anything further on the topic. "How's the printing going?"
"Not well, I'm almost done, and I haven't found anything usable yet."
Stella got the bag with the second vics clothing. "Well, I'll start tape lifting these. Oh, and I checked on the DNA from this vic. No matches in any database."
A few minutes later, I had finished with the printing. "Nothing usable here. Want help with the tape lifts?"
Suddenly, Stella's phone rang. "Bonasera… Sure, I'll be there in a minute." Closing her phone, she told me, "That was Hammerback, I need to go to the morgue. Why don't you take the shirt, since I've got the pants?"
"Sure."
---
I was half done with the shirt when Stella got back. "So?"
Stella went back to processing the pants as she said, "Same MO. Four swatiskas this time."
"Damn it. Oh, and tox called about the second while you were gone. Nothing."
"Well, let's hope there's something on the clothes or from the third vic."
----
However, there was nothing. Two weeks later, we were basically in the same situation. We'd had fifteen more vics, usually two or three on the same day. We'd discovered what probably was the first vic in addition, in a garden behind a synagogue close to where I lived. Most of the vics had been identified by the rabbis of the city; however, none were found close to the ones they attended. We'd performed a wound reconstruction, but all it told us was that a kitchen knife had performed the cuts.
We hadn't had any new vics in the past few days. Flack had gotten word out to all of the rabbis in NYC to be alert for possible victims, and all the rabbis had warned their members about it; I knew.
I was getting very frustrated and worried. Stella and Flack were as well, although not nearly as much as me. Almost everyday Stella kept telling me, "Eventually they'll mess up and leave us some evidence." I wasn't really believing it anymore, and was beginning to think that Stella didn't either.
Mac was about to pull the case, seeing as we weren't getting anywhere.
-----
The next day was supposed to be my day off, but I got a call to a crime scene, again at a synagogue, at nine that morning, along with Stella.
This time it was the rabbi who had discovered the body. He acted surprised when I arrived at the crime scene. I tried to keep my face emotionless, although Stella stared at me after that.
Same MO, virtually everything else the same. Stella was looking at the tape lifts while I fingerprinted the clothes.
I had almost given up hope for fingerprints, when I got one of sufficient detail. However, I was sure it was just the vics, but when I compared the partial to the vics ten card, there were no matches. I submitted it to AFIS and waited. In about five minutes the computer beeped and I turned towards the monitor. I about screamed at what it said.
Positive Match.
A/N: Constructive criticism welcome, flames not. Please review.