[Sunday, February 21, 09:00]
Danny expertly navigated his way past thousands of dollars of scientific equipment, dodging the occasional white-clad lab tech. "Hey, Stella," he called, sauntering towards her.
The detective looked up from the horrific photos she was sorting. It was all hands on deck to solve a grizzly quadruple murder that involved clowns, an axe, and a college student very high on LSD. "Good news?" she guessed, based on his joyous demeanour.
"Yup. But not this case. You remember John Miller?"
"John Miller..." she said slowly, trying to associate the name with a case.
"Yeah. Plain lookin' guy, thumbprint in the 'filthy immigrant' graffiti?" he prompted. That would jog her memory for sure.
"Yes, yes. I remember." Stella shook herself, annoyed. As much as she wanted to keep tabs on Juliana's case, the lab's focus had shifted to the clown case when they had no statement and no suspect. "What about John Miller?"
"When we brought him down for questioning, somethin' about him didn't sit right with me. So I went by his work and get this-" he held up a finger on each hand, "-his supervisor says John Miller is where applications go to die."
"What does that mean?"
"It means, John Miller will reject visa applications over the tiniest thing. All the stuff he told us about loving hardworking immigrants? Lying through his teeth." Danny made a gesture. It wasn't rude, per se, but Stella had long ago learned to interpret his gesticulations. "I meant to tell you earlier, but then we got the call for this." He spread his hands to indicate the tables crammed with evidence boxes and glass walls plastered with crime scene photos.
"Do you think we should bring him in? He has no alibi and we thought no motive. But that's changed now."
"New lead?" Flack asked, striding into the room, holding one of the ridiculous clown masks the victim's buddies had worn.
"Not for this case." Stella let Danny bring Flack up to speed while she took the clown mask. She had been dealing with the evidence all morning, no doubt she would find the right box faster than he could. She returned to the conversation to see Danny give his opinion of John Miller once again.
"This guy have an accent?" Flack asked, out of the blue.
"Maybe a bit of Jersey if I had to pick," he frowned. Danny crossed his arms. "Why?"
"Does he smoke?" Flack pressed.
"Yeah. He had a pack of cigs with him when he was down here." Danny spread his hands in the 'what gives?' manner. "You got a description you wanna share? Because the report said 'uncooperative victim/witness'."
Stella turned her attention to Flack too. "You said she refused to give a statement."
Danny looked between the two of them, wondering why it sounded like Flack had been alone with the victim. He had been too impatient to wait for Aiden once when he first joined the crime lab. Then, Mac had made it very clear that pair protocol was not a suggestion. And nor was any other protocol.
"It's just a feeling," Flack mumbled, shrugging, trying to calculate his escape.
"Real specific feeling you got there," Danny commented.
Sheldon saved Flack from having to reply, poking his head into the room. "Clothes are ready in reconstruction," he said to Danny and Stella.
Thank you, Doc. "And that's where I'm out," Flack waved, backing out of the room. As soon as he was out of earshot, he dialled the hospital.
"Met Juliana, hallo?"
Very Dutch. Very cute. "Hey, it's Don."
"Don or Flack?"
"Don." In that moment, if you asked him whether you could hear a smile, he would have said yes. It was the sound on the line. "Listen, I might have found a likely guy. But if you don't want to do this the official way, we're gonna need a plan."