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Chapter Two - After a Storm Comes a Calm

There will be something more pleasant after every painful experience.

A week after Louie Messer's funeral, Danny Messer seemed fine once again. He felt as though a burden had been lifted off his shoulders. At least, Louie was out of pain in a wonderful place. He greeted everyone as hewalked briskly down the corridorin a cheerful demeanor and his spirits were obviously lifted.

"Hey, Danny, wait up!" called a female voice behind him.

He turned around and saw Detective Stella Bonasera, curly hair and all. "Hey, Stella, what's up?"

"Here you go," she said, passing him a cream-coloured envelope.

Danny was puzzled. "What's this for?"

Stella bent closer to him and whispered, "Wedding invitation."

His eyes opened wide. "You and Mac? Married?" he laughed. "Oh, boy! Congrats to both of you!"

"Thanks, Danny."

……………………….

Detective Mac Taylor entered the lab with a young girl about Danny's age with reddish-brown hair and bright blue eyes that could compete with Flack's. "This young lady here is a trainee. She will learn how to work in a real lab with you guys."

"Hi…" they chorused.

Mac left the lab and left the trainee with Stella, Lindsay and Danny. "Hey, I'm Stella Bonasera. You are?"

"Charlotte Taylor," she answered.

"Hmm…Charlotte. Nice name," mused Danny.

"Thanks," she said.

Lindsay stretched out her hand and Matt shook it. "Lindsay Monroe."

Danny looked at her nametag. "Charlotte Mathias Taylor. You a relative of Mac?" He mused again, but this time, it went unheard by Charlotte. He got up from his perch on a chair. "Danny Messer. Welcome to the team."

She smiled brightly. "Thanks."

"Now, Charlotte, you could start by following me to a scene," said Stella, reaching for her kit. "You got yours with you?"

Charlotte lifted up her kit.

"Yeah, great," said Stella. "Let's go."

………………………..

"So, do you like New York?" asked Stella.

"Yeah, it's really nice. It'salways bustling with activity," said Charlotte, looking out of the car window as they sped past the buildings.

"Where are you from?"

"Dakota."

"Ah…the Mount Rushmore State," said Stella.

"No, no. I'm from North Dakota not south," she corrected.

"You're quite far from home, then."

"Yeah, but I don't really miss home. I guess I'm too caught up in the wave of New York City excitement," she said. "I heard that you're getting married to Mac. Congrats."

"Oh, yeah. Thanks," said Stella. "How did you know?"

"Earlier, while you were in the bathroom before leaving, I met up with Danny and we talked," she explained.

"Danny, Danny. Man, he's going to get it." Stella braked the car gently and shut the engine. "Well, here we are."

They got out of the car and headed to an alley which was cordoned by the police. Stella and Charlotte flashed their ID badges to a policeman and stepped under the line. There was a body of a young man lying in blood by an over-turned trash can. Rubbish was everywhere and the stench was unbearable. They made their way through the rubbish and headed to the body. The man was sprawled over the ground with wound in his chest that seemed to be a gunshot entry wound. Stella bent down beside the body and probe around. Matt went around the crime scene.

"There are some strangulation marks on his neck," she said, touching under the man's chin. "Chase Tennant. Charlotte. Charlotte?"

"Uh?" asked Charlotte, distractedly.

"Charlotte, what's the matter?" she asked, concerned.

"Oh, Stella, I was just looking at these blood stains. Looks like this is our secondary crime scene," she concluded.

Stella got up from her crouch by the body and followed Charlotte. They drew their revolvers and followed the blood trail. The trail brought them to a back door of a shop. Stella motioned to Charlotte to open the door. She nodded and pushed the door cautiously. The shop was quite dark, illuminated by only a swinging naked bulb. They shone their torch lights around. The shop lot was cluttered and was obviously out of business. Charlotte turned to her left and let out a soft gasp.

"Charlotte!" exclaimed Stella.

A dead body was hanging upside down from a piece of rope. Its face was exactly eye level. Charlotte stepped back from the body. Stella gasped silently, understanding the young trainee's shock. The body was badly mutilated. They could not define its gender. It looked as though someone played the piñata on the poor victim.

……………………….

"You okay?" asked Stella.

"Yeah, just a little shocked," replied Charlotte, wringing her hands. She looked at her feet, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Hey, there's nothing to be embarrassed. Honestly, I felt quite shocked myself," she admitted.

Charlotte smiled.

"Come on," said Stella. "Let's get back to the lab. We've got a dead buddy waiting for us."

……………………….

Stella saw Charlotte checking out on the unidentified dead body, her latex gloves all bloody. "So, what's our piñata's gender?" she asked.

"Male," answered Charlotte. "Take a look at this. There are some splinters of wood in his skin."

"Wood splinters. Could be from anything wooden," shrugged Stella.

"Baseball bats are made from either maple, hickory, bamboo or ash. But, hickory is rarely used because of its weight. Most wooden bats are made of ash," she said. "The splinters in his wounds were ash."

"We know our murder weapon. Now we have to find it."

Please review. Thanks. ryu