Monday
Maura had expected it to be awkward at work, but Jane swung down to the basement with a coffee and a smile before heading back up to BRIC. Maura felt raw and exposed, as though Jane had taken an apple grater or a chemical peel to her skin, left her vulnerable, a turtle without a shell. For the first time in her life she felt as though someone had seen her, had brushed past all of the walls she put up to deal with people and found her peering out from the fetal position. And even with what she'd seen - a woman with few social skills and a morbid profession - she had somehow liked what she'd seen.
Maura wasn't stupid - she knew what she was worth. She was intelligent with a high-paid career, but she usually felt empty. Her work with BPD was fulfilling, and she was pleased when a case was resolved, but she still felt empty. A lot of people called her, but always because they wanted or needed something from her. Jane probably was a little nicer because she needed Maura for her cases, but she was nice to Susie and Todd, and she'd seen her be nice to other people from which she had nothing to gain. And if she'd been planning on simply using Maura for her profession, she wouldn't have invited Maura into her house, into her bed, even if she had been under the influence of strong medication. At least, she wouldn't have unless she was planning on blackmailing Maura later, and that didn't seem to be the case. Maura rarely spent the night with her sexual partners, preferring to leave once she was done and return to her own home - her mattress was especially suited to her needs. So waking up - twice - in Jane's bed, with Jane had been so unusual. But Jane had been so tragically broken the first time and the second time - so peaceful, so soft. Usually waking up with someone even partially on top of her would have filled her with panic, but between the night before, Jane so fragile and clumsily affectionate, and the smell of lavender that the detective favoured, Maura found herself content to relax under Jane's body. She'd found Jane's heartbeat soothing, comforting. She'd felt comfortable.
Maura didn't have friends. She had acquaintances, colleagues, connections. She didn't have friends, and she had carefully curated her life to make them unnecessary. And despite Maura being unwelcoming, Jane had brought her coffee, going out of her way to get the one she liked again this morning.
For the last three weeks she felt like she'd been in orbit, drawn in by the gravitational pull of Jane. The other detectives stayed out of her way and rarely dared question her. But Jane was always next to her at the crime scene, unobtrusively offering assistance, always down in the lab, complimenting her staff on their finds, fiddling with equipment but mostly listening. Maura typically liked people like Susie, quiet and attentive. People she didn't have to think about after work. But Jane had barely left Maura's mind for three weeks, despite being the most chaotically random person she'd known. She'd never found anyone so confusing, yet her own reaction was also confusing - deliberately coming by Jane's neighbourhood to jog after the first time she ran into her, letting Jane know when she used the gym so they could work out together. Maura never cultivated any form of intentional interactions.
Every time she saw Jane with the other detectives, she was so composed, she was such a part of their world. She fit there with her team - she was strong and invincible. But when she was alone with Maura, the mask slipped a little and she let herself be vulnerable, somehow trusting Maura enough with herself to expose herself like that with her.
Yet Maura was the one who'd been exposed. Jane had seen through her professional façade to her insecure, scared core. People scared Maura, and knowing that Jane could see through her should have had her scared of Jane too, but she found herself trusting Jane.
There was a moment, the night before, where Maura had thought Jane was going to kiss her, and she'd wanted it to happen. She'd never been adverse to the idea of theoretically dating women, but in actuality it was a lot harder to gauge their interest. She'd made multiple blunders and eventually had given up on being able to tell if women were attracted to her. Jane's eyes were so soft when she looked at Maura that she'd wondered for a while what Jane thought when she looked at Maura. Did she truly see Maura, or was she just feeling guilty at hurting her that one time? Did she know how alone Maura felt, how isolated? Did she see how scared Maura was of interpersonal interaction, that Jane scared her? Did she see the way Maura looked at her, like a specimen to study - not just her hands, but her boyish charm, her lanky form, her feminine energy? Did she see the way she lifted Maura's mood with her presence?
There was a knock on the door, and Maura looked up, brow furrowed. It was Susie, with Jane, Jane almost dancing with impatient excitement.
"We have a match," Susie said. "One of the bodies, from the Canadian database. Detective Rizzoli is going to call the Canadian authorities to confirm with them and would like to know if we'd like to sit in on the call."
This was unusual. The detectives almost never bothered to let her know something like this, and never included her with their calls to other agencies.
"They'll have to inform the family," Jane said. "It's out of our jurisdiction. I can read the report and send it through, but you know these bodies better than I do. You don't even have to say anything if you don't want to, but it would help if you'd join us." Maura nodded, taking off her lab coat. "Up in the interview room, we have a stream set up for a few minutes." Jane checked her watch.
"I should get back to..." Susie started, then saw Maura's panicked look in her direction. "Um. I forgot, Alicia said she'd run those prints."
"Yep, that's the Lake kid alright," Lieutenant Grace Keanally said, looking again at the photos Jane had sent through. "Our lab team has confirmed your DNA sample matches the family, and we had an independent forensic graphic artist digitally age the photos we had from when he was taken." She sighed. "Abused?"
"Severely," Maura said. "Interfered with as well." Lieutenant Grace sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, and Maura stepped back behind Jane a little.
"You asked as if you knew what the answer was going to be," Jane said.
"I wish I didn't know what the answer was going to be, but usually they are. Abused, that is."
"You do a lot of missing persons?" Jane asked.
"I did, that year. This was one in a spree. Kids missing from suburban neighbourhoods from Manitoba up to Halifax. Never did find any of them, until now. All in 3 months, 10 kids in total. No idea one of them would turn up in Boston."
"Anything on the second one?" Jane asked, showing Grace a photo of the second, older child. "Not taken at the same time, according to the forensics." Jane looked over at Maura, who nodded. "Were there any other cases a few years later? This one look familiar?"
"That's the one you found Caiden with, eh? Nothing about that face jogs any memories, can you send that photo and the DNA for that child through to me as well? I might be able to dig something up. You've had no luck in the US databases?"
"Not so far. We'd appreciate that, we're running out of databases over here. They were so malnourished that the ages were hard to guess, and we were only able to ascertain the year they were taken last week. We're still running searches but if one's Canadian..."
"They might both be, I see your logic." Grace was silent for a moment as Jane shrugged. "Caiden Lake had just turned 5, if that helps your timelines. Went missing right after his birthday party." Grace sighed again. "The family will probably want his body shipped back."
"We can arrange that," Maura said, then hesitated. "They were found together," she said cautiously.
"I saw the photos, I know what you're suggesting," Grace said. "They may have meant something to each other." Maura nodded, glad she understood. Grace sighed, rubbed her face. "It's going to be hard enough to tell the parents what happened to their child. I can't deprive them of the body."
"We still don't know who killed them. It's a double homicide, linked to multiple kidnappings" Jane said. "Removing one body might prevent us from finding their killer, or any remaining children. Or bodies."
"You've processed everything?" Grace asked. Maura and Susie nodded reluctantly. "I can understand you not wanting to separate them, but their family has to make that call. They might not want to know who killed their child. They might just want them back."
"I know," Jane said lowly. "But they're still out there, and they're down two kids. If they snatched so many back in the day, I have to assume they're going to get..."
"Replacements," Grace agreed. She sighed again. "You're right, and trust me, I want to nail these bastards to the wall too. But of all those families I spoke to those three months, none of them got closure."
"You're telling them yourself?" Jane asked, surprised.
"It was my case," she said sadly. "I did the footwork, I met the families. Even having one body is more than I'd hoped for by now. It's one of those cases..."
"One of those cases you never stop working," Jane finished. "You mind sending us through your case notes on the missing kids?"
"Of course, I'll scan and email in all the reports and witness statements for all three months - we lost ten, but there were a few bungled attempts in there as well that might be connected. Might take a few days, but I'll start with Caiden." Grace said. She set her jaw. "If the parents want that body back, there's not much I can do. But the whole community was shaken, I'm sure I can buy you a week."
"We'll do our best," Jane said, and Grace smiled.
"We've heard about you, even up here. I'm sure you will, Detective Rizzoli." The screen went blank, and Jane rubbed at her hands.
"Will keeping the body help us? We've already processed everything," Susie pointed out. Maura and Jane exchanged a look over Susie's head.
"You weren't there at the grave. Those kids were holding each other as they died. I can't -" Jane's voice cut off, her jaw stiff.
"It feels something like a dying wish," Maura said. "It buys us time to find the other family, to see if we can get them buried together again," Maura felt her jaw set as well, swallowing. Susie looked surprised; she hadn't thought of Doctor Isles as sentimental in any way, but the grave photos had indicated that the children had been fond of each other. She nodded, pretending not to notice the two strongest women she knew almost in tears, feeling a familiar prickling in her eyes as well. She'd seen the bodies, had processed a lot of the data, and she'd had difficulty distancing herself as well. It was harder, with the smaller bodies.
"She's sent through those files," Jane said, looking at her phone, the back of her hand brushing at her nose. "Maybe we'll find something." Maura nodded, stepping away, Susie at her heels. Jane trailed out after them. "I'll go through the witness statements and family depositions, and forward any forensics to your office, ok?" Jane asked, pressing the elevator button five times in a row, her impatience endearing to Maura.
"That doesn't call the elevator faster," Susie pointed out.
"No, but it makes me feel like I'm doing something," Jane shot back with a wry grin. The elevator arrived and Jane held the doors, waiting for the other two the enter before following. "And thanks, huh? For coming with me. Both of you."
"We didn't say much," Susie said, surprised.
"Yeah, but you had my back on what could have been a tricky call. Appreciate it. I was expecting them to want the body prepared as soon as we cut the call, and I knew Doctor Isles wouldn't want the integrity of our remaining body compromised by removing evidence. If they were going to be insistent, I needed forensics to justify keeping the bod - Caiden - a bit longer." The elevator dinged on floor three and Jane shot Maura a grateful smile. "This is me," she said as she stepped out onto her floor.
"I'll meet you down there, Senior Criminalist Chang," Maura said, following Jane to the squad room. "I'd like to see the entirety of the report, witness statements too, if I could," Maura said in explanation when Jane shot a look at her.
"I can't email them to you, I'm afraid," Jane said, pulling up a spare chair next to her desk. "But if you happen to be here while I'm reading them, there's not much I can do about that." She shot Maura a cheeky grin, and Maura took the offered chair, eyes quickly scanning through the documents, looking for anything that could help them find who'd done this to Caiden and his friend.