Fingerprints, she thought after hanging up with Frost. She knew someone who was a professional at taking fingerprints from dead people. And right now, she was standing in front of her door. But when she heard Maura's muffled voice from inside the room, she hesitated for a second.
Then she knocked with a shrug. Patience had definitely never been one of her virtues. And if Maura wasn't ready, she wouldn't open the door Jane assumed. "Okay, I'll come back to you later." Maura spoke into her phone while opening the door for her. For the split of the second a smile crossed the blondes face which made Janes legs buckle.
"Why don't we take a walk?" Jane asked after clearing her throat and reminding herself not to overthink. Then she glanced around. She noticed how tidy Maura's room was. She thought about her own in which clothes were already scattered all around despite the short time they were here.
"What is it?" Maura asked, following Janes eyes.
"Nothing." Jane shrugged but the blonde looked still puzzled.
"We are very different." Jane finally spoke her thoughts and Maura made an unreadable face.
R&I
Once they were outside on the street, they glanced to their left and then to their right. Maura took the by now well-known travel guide out of her handbag and unfolded the map on the last page. "This is where we are." She said, making Jane scooting closer to have a better look. Their heads almost bumped into each other as they benched over the piece of paper and Jane smelt Maura's perfume and hair products.
She found it incredibly hard to focus on the map in front of her, feeling intoxicated by the closeness to the doc. Clearing her throat and coming to her senses, she pointed to a place which read market. Maura nodded and pushed the guide back into her pocket. "We won't need it because I have a photographic memory." The blonde said with a smile.
R&I
"Don't worry. It happens to everyone and this place is also nice." Jane said while handing Maura a Styrofoam cup with coffee. The blonde was sitting on a bench and glanced up at her.
"Not to me!" Maura exclaimed frustrated. They had ended up at some park in the middle of the city instead of the market as planned and Jane bit back some laughter at the mishap.
While taking a sip she wondered why Maura always seemed to feel the need to be perfect. Must have got something to do with the doc's upbringing she mused as she settled into the spot next to the ME.
Her mind was just working on a strategy how to let Maura know that she was a homicide detective and that she needed her help to break into the morgue to steal the fingerprints when the blonde began to broach the topic by herself: "Something doesn't sit right with the death this morning."
"I'm glad that you mention this. I had the same feeling. This is the reason I wanted to talk to you." Jane said in relief. The blonde gave her a curious glance then she chuckled. "I know that you are a detective with the BPD. I'm sorry, I couldn't resist to ask some colleagues to do a background check on you." An apologetical smile crossed her face briefly. "I assume that u did the same about me?" Another soft chuckle when Jane blushed.
"Right away on the first evening." The brunette admitted and glanced at Maura who stated that she had done it the same day. A long thoughtful silence lingered between them and Jane watched the people in the park while thinking how to continue.
But her mind got distracted by another thought. As long as she could think she had to be a tough one. But there was something in Maura which made her feel things she had never allowed herself to feel and it felt surprisingly okay.
It was confusing to say the least. On one side she felt the need to be the badass person who protects Maura and on the other she allowed the other woman to see her weak side. How could she be strong and weak at the same time? What was it on her new friend that made Jane feel okay to show her emotions so freely?
Maura's soft hand came to rest on hers as if the blonde had read her mind. Then Maura said as if to reassure her somehow: "But that's not why I wanted to befriend you. I uhm just found you intriguing the moment I glanced into your eyes."
Jane hitched a silent breath. "Well, I found you intriguing too." She replied.
"Yes. I did notice. You know, even when reading, I'm aware of my surrounding." Maura laughed and let go of Janes hand.
"Was it bad?" the blonde suddenly asked.
"Bad?" Jane questioned irritated by both: the sudden loss of touch and the question.
"The fight with your husband. I didn't mean to prey, but I couldn't help but notice that you didn't look happy. And your mood had changed after the call."
Jane began nibbling on her lips. Her eyes went down to the gravel on the path as the wheels in her mind began turning. Somehow, she didn't want to discuss her marriage with Maura. Kind hazel eyes were studying her when she lifted her gaze from the ground.
"I don't want to talk about it." She slowly said, feeling dizzy by the sparkling green flecks which were resting on her.
"I understand. Please know that You can always talk to me if you need some solace." Maura said with a gentle smile, before changing the subject back to the reason they were here. "There is something which bothers me. But I am not able to grasp what it is." She said.
"Well, all I can say is, that he was not who he was pretended to be." Jane replied after taking another sip from the coffee feeling that they were back on safer ground.
"What are you really doing here?" Jane spoke up again after she had swallowed the gulp. Maura took a deep breath. "I'm not supposed to tell anyone." She began and paused. Jane leant a bit forward in anticipation. "I shouldn't tell you." Maura insisted which led Jane to crack a joke.
"What is it? Are you working for the CIA?" Jane giggled.
"I Cant lie!" Maura exclaimed and Jane giggled more.
"How do you mean you can't lie?"
"If I lie, I get hives and other very unpleasant symptoms." Maura explained patiently.
Jane realized that it wasn't a joke and glanced at Maura in disbelief.
The blonde finally gave in to her internal fight about whether to tell Jane or not and told the brunette that she had been sent onto this trip by SFPD in order to watch an elder couple which was presumed to have killed another couple in San Francisco.
"Now, isn't this funny?" Jane smirked. "Is it Mr. and Mrs. Jolly you're watching?"
Maura's eyes widened. "How do you know?" she asked before an Oh came out of her mouth. "You are here for the same reason, aren't you? I always wondered, I mean no offense, but you are not the type for this sort of vacation."
"Neither are you, which got me suspicious in the first place." The brunette laughed, shaking her head.
"If you ask me, we are a bad choice for this job. Seeing as we are so much younger than the rest of the group." Maura's voice trailed off and Jane nodded. "Yes. Exactly. But guess they couldn't send some retired people, right?"
The blonde gave her a smile. "Yes, you are probably right. So, what are we going to do now?"
"We'll join forces." The brunette's dimples flashed in excitement.
"Yes…, no…, I mean how so?" Maura seemed to be the one who was confused now.
"We need to get the man's fingerprints." Jane stated wistfully and earned a snort to her surprise.
"Right. And how will you do that? It will take ages for the forces to get a cooperation. All that paperwork…" Maura rolled her eyes.
"The body is in the morgue. They may or may not rule this as a homicide. We need to break in as soon as we can to take his prints. If we know who we are dealing with, we will be one step closer to solving the case."
Now Maura shot her an incredulous look. "Break into the morgue? I mean do you really think this is necessary?" the blonde asked with a frown.
"Yeah. We can hardly walk through the front door and ask to see his body, can we?" Jane replied with a serious face.
"We can try…." The blonde bit her lip and Jane saw some wheels turning in her head.
"Seriously?" she asked with some raised eyebrows.
"Well I'm not going to break into the morgue or any other place for that matter." Maura said stubbornly.
"Look. I get that you feel uncomfortable with it. But like you said, if we take the legal path it will take us ages. Besides, I can hardly break in and carry the body out for you to take the fingerprints." Jane made a gesture which indicated that she was just picturing how she carried a corpse out of the morgue.
"Its easier to break in than to break in and steal a corpse and then break in again to give it back." She made her point. But Maura didn't listen anymore by now because she had realized something else in the meantime.
"Which hospital did they take the body too?" she asked, and Jane frowned. She had been far too busy to get the blonde on board to think of finding out where the body was.
