Disclaimer: I don't own Crossing Jordan . . . yada, yada and so forth.

This is my first attempt at a fanfic so criticism, good or bad, is always welcome.

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Nigel sat at his desk finishing the last of an autopsy report. He let out a long sigh as he singed his name to the report and closed the manilla folder. It had been a slow week, and it was only Tuesday. Just a couple of older ladies that died of natural causes, a bloke who had a heart attack on his way to work and a drunk driver that hit a light pole was all he had to occupy him. Granted the last one had been a bit messy, but nothing that could really pique his curiosity. He stretched his lanky frame and wandered toward the door. "I hope something interesting pops up today," he mumbled to himself as he walked into the hall.

"You should be careful of what you wish for Nige" a voice called from behind him. "You might end up with a headache." He turned to see his fellow ME walk up beside him.

"Hello love. You look awful chipper today." Nigel said grinning as he wrapped his arm around Jordan's shoulders as they walked into the break room.

"I don't do chipper, Nige. I just do coffee," she said picking up a mug from the counter top and pouring herself a cup. "Do you think you could run a check on someone for me?"

"Maybe I could. Have you got something interesting for me today?" He grinned excitedly.

"Not likely," she said watching Nigel's face fall dejectedly. "I just want to find some background. Get an idea of what I'm getting into." She was about to take a long hot drink when Lily popped her head around the corner.

"Nigel, Jordan. Garret wants everyone in the conference room for assignments" she said, her red head darting out of sight as quickly as it had come. Jordan looked at her cup then Nigel who just shrugged his shoulders and headed out the door. Jordan stood there a moment taking a long drink of her coffee before following Nigel.

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"How is it that you get all the fun?" Nigel said from behind Jordan who was bent over the body of Paula Andreas. "A mysterious little note to play with. How I envy you, love."

"What's that matter Nigel, you don't find little old grannies fun anymore?" Jordan teased as she stitched the incision closed. "Could you move the light a little further this way for me? Besides I wouldn't call it fun. Not unless you're talking for the murder. She was strangled with a thin rope. Looks like she tried to fight him off but he was probably much bigger than she is."

"I ran a check for you on our little Ms. Andreas here and I ran into a few snags. We may have trouble notifying her next of kin. I couldn't find a local address on her so I started looking at the local universities and colleges. Nothing. " Nigel told her sourly.

"That's because she isn't from Boston." Woody said walking into the room. "Her ID showed her address as Clinton, MA. She checked into the Bay Inn three days ago. Clerk said that she left early this morning around 7am saying that she had a business meeting. We're still trying to reach her family." He looked down at the girl laying in front of him. "I don't suppose you could tell me anything about her?" Jordan nodded.

"She didn't put up much of a struggle. Toxic screen didn't show up anything so we know that she wasn't sedated. I didn't find much her nails except a few fibers from the rope and a few traces of blood. No DNA matches there. And the rope looks to be standard stuff that you would find at a hardware store. Nigel here is still running some tests to see if we can find anything. The killer probably lured her somewhere, and attacked her there. I'd say she didn't even know what was happening." Jordan pushed a stray hair away from her face. "You said she had a meeting? Do you think that had anything to do with it?"

"I don't know, we're hoping that her family will be able to tell us something . . . if we can find them. We are having a bit of trouble there. " Woody looked sideways at Nigel. "I don't suppose you have toys here that could be used to find them?" Nigel just smiled gleefully.

"I may know of a few places to look. Say Woodrow, I don't suppose I could have a little fun and have a go at solving the mystery of that little note?" Woody opened his mouth to answer, but his cell phone interrupted him. He flipped it open and wandered to a corner of the room.

"Guess that means he never really said 'no" Nigel said practically skipping out the door and nearly running into Garret.

"I got a pick up down off of Stuart Street. I need you to get down there." Garret said gruffly. "Dispatch said they requested you. I'll have Sydney finish up f or you here." Jordan nodded.

"We might as well ride down together" Woody said behind her as he closed his phone. "There's another girl, looks like it may be the same guy."

The woman was laid out just as the other victim had been, on her back with her arms folded neatly over her chest. Except that this woman was laid out in her own living room. The room was otherwise picture perfect, unless you counted the lamps on the floor and the papers scattered everywhere. Jordan could see immediately that she had been strangled as well, though she had put up a good fight.

"There are scratches and abrasions on her arms and face. I'd say that she fought for a while before he got a good hold on her and she lost consciousness. I think that there is blood under her nails, which may help. If it is a match to the blood sample we found on Paula Andreas we can link him to our newest victim. Of course if you guys can lift some prints that would be great." She said as she walked with Woody toward the ME van away from the house boarded by a white picket fence that was now covered with police tape. "But she's only been dead for about an hour maybe two. Was there an ID again?"

"Yeah, her name was Lorna O'Neil," Woody read off of his trusty notepad. "We found a note too, just like the last victim. This one said 'She was Alone.' There's something else. This one was called in by an anonymous caller again and he called from inside the home. We're dusting for prints but we haven't found any yet. No sign of forced entry so she must have known who it was."

"Two murders and one killer all in one day" Woody mumbled to himself as the woman was placed into the ME van.

"So this guy knew her. I wonder if this guy was who Paula was meeting. I don't think that he would be leaving these cryptic notes if he didn't know them somehow. They almost sound too personal to be just anyone." Jordan paused a moment thinking about the note. "Did O'Neil live alone?"

"No, her husband was at work. He's on his way to the morgue now. We can talk to him and see if he can help." Woody looked back at the little house, shaking his head. "This guy is playing with us Jordan. Why else would he leave such strange clues if he wasn't toying with us?"

Jordan laid her hand on his shoulder. "We'll figure this out. Mr. O'Neil might be able to tell us something. Look, do your thing here, I'll go do mine. If I find anything I'll give you a call." Woody nodded his head. He knew if there was anything to be found, Jordan could find it.