CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Mid-yawn and stomach grumbling, she'd taken barely two steps into Maura's office when her phone had started to ring. Maura's phone following close behind.
"Rizzoli," she'd growled, feeling unfairly victimized. Eternally fated to live out her life dog-tired and, worst of all, unfed.
"This is Dr. Isles," Maura had breezed, throwing a wry smile that said she enjoyed the stark contrast of her chirpy brightness to Jane's dark mood.
Jane had just huffed and rolled her eyes, turned partially away as she listened to the call.
But then the scene location had been relayed and her breath had caught in her throat. She'd turned back to Maura, watched as the doctor's face had lit up like a kid on Christmas Day.
Now, buzzing with energy, Maura practically bounces through their new crime scene. Rosy cheeks aglow with the crispness of cool, fresh air. Eyes sparkling and wide with wonder.
Jane's eyes are wide, too, as dry leaves crunch underfoot. But for a very different reason.
"I love the body farm," Maura declares. "Isn't this amazing?!"
"Yeah," she breathes as she dawdles and gawps at the disturbingly familiar scenery. "In a Walking Dead sort of way."
It's a particularly unpleasant scene. One that raises goosebumps on her skin. One she shouldn't recognize, having never been here before. And one she wishes wasn't exactly as she remembers from the Milson case crime scene photos.
A breeze picks up and she grimaces. Wrinkles her nose at the unmistakable stench of death and swats at a fly as both are blown into her face. "Who thinks of something like this anyway?"
"Well, BCU just wanted a natural setting to study the decomposition of dead bodies," Maura explains. "I just wish it was here when I was in school."
The doctor strides on towards the police tape and uniforms as Jane drops back to observe.
Despite ridiculous yellow wellingtons that shorten a petite frame by three inches, the blonde moves just as gracefully as always. And Maura's childlike reaction is downright adorable.
A pang of sadness hits her as she wonders how their exchange went the first time around. She'll never know, because the first time some other Jane had stood in this same spot with Frost by their side. And it is impossible to fathom how the hell that worked.
She knows she missed a day when she crossed over and spent the night with Maura. Wonders if the Jane from this life found herself catapulted across realities, too, when she used the doorway. Wonders if she's the only person this crazy shit has happened to since those blinding lights showed up.
There are no answers for her close at hand, but there might be for this case if the details stack up as she expects they might.
This isn't a new case to her. There isn't a new perpetrator or a copycat dumping bodies in a location that so far has left a previous case unsolved. It was clear just from the look on Maura's face when she heard the location from dispatch.
That reaction alone blew holes in any theory that this was a separate case. Not that she'd prefer that theory anyway. No one wants multiple maniacs using the same how to get away with murder method.
Running the same case again will be a whole new experience. Perhaps it will afford them some advantages. And yet there have already been numerous differences between this reality and her own, so exactly how much of this case will be the same remains to be seen.
"Why is she so chipper this morning?" Korsak's low voice startles her from behind.
She walks with him as they both head for the tape, throws a hand out in Maura's direction and chuckles. "What - are you kidding? This is like Disneyland for her."
Tipping his head at the uniformed officer in charge, Korsak asks, "What do you got?"
"The cyclone fence around the property is in good shape," he points, marks out the perimeter. "And there's a working padlock on the front gate. It's not Fort Knox, but the place seems secure."
"What about security cameras?" she asks, testing the waters for case details she remembers.
"There are only three cameras, and they're all focused on above ground corpses to capture time-lapse images of decomposition."
"Corpse cam. All right," she mutters, happy that the details match so far. "We need to watch the tape from the cameras, they'll have something useful - might," she corrects quickly with a cough. "Might have something useful."
The officer walks away as they stride over to where Maura crouches next to the victim. A young woman partially exposed beneath a dirty yet distinctive floral housecoat.
"Any idea what killed her?" Korsak asks. Gets a headshake from Maura as Jane chews the inside of her cheek.
"I can't determine a cause of death until I complete a full autopsy," the doctor says, unaware of the images flashing behind Jane's eyes.
Rope fibers. Charlotte Milson's driver's license. Tox results. Details that are still hours away from being discovered.
Skipping ahead just isn't possible, no matter how much she wishes it wasn't the case. Maybe she can just throw in a few choice pointers to speed things along. Judging when and how to do that, so as not to out herself, so to speak, will take some careful consideration.
With her hands planted on cocked hips, she breathes out a deep sigh. Having all this prior knowledge suddenly feels like more of a hindrance than a help. A burden that she must shoulder alone.
With a sigh of his own, like he knows this case is going to be tricky, Korsak peers around the grim location. "Somebody knew this was the perfect place to dump a body," he says, and all Jane can do is nod.
That was her one overriding thought when she came across this very case the first time around.
The uniformed officer returns with a woman in tow. She looks stern, extremely unhappy and – Jane squints – vaguely familiar.
"Detective Korsak, Detective Rizzoli, this is Dr. Carlson. She's the professor in charge of the body farm."
Jane's eyebrows shoot up to her hairline. Now there's a noticeable difference. No wonder the woman's features are familiar. And yet, she realizes quickly, it's a difference that doesn't appear to change much of anything in this reality.
Noticing her surprise, the professor jams clenched fists into the pockets of a pristine white lab coat as dark eyebrows meet in a scowl. "Is there a problem?"
"No, n-no, no problem," she stumbles, hopes no one else noticed her odd look as she schools her face. Finds herself preoccupied with the memory of the doctor's previous incarnation and his obstructive attitude. "We – um -"
"We need to ask you some questions," Korsak cuts in, and she's grateful to have the prickly woman's focus redirected elsewhere.
Impatient, Dr. Carlson huffs and points at the retreating uniform. "I already went over everything with that police officer."
"Well, we'd like to hear it again," Korsak gruffs, widens his stance in a way that says you're not getting rid of us that easily, lady as he takes out his notepad and pen.
"Access here is highly restricted. No one gets in to the body farm."
Jane cocks an eyebrow, knows for a fact they've just been lied to. "No one?"
The professor shifts uneasily. "Well, I mean… We do permit a select group of students and other faculty members. Some groundskeepers and a few delivery people, but that's it."
"And what about at night?" Korsak asks with a head tilt. "Do you have security after hours?"
Dr. Carlson sighs, waves a dismissive hand. "No. The grounds are locked up at 9:00pm by a grad student. But he's very reliable."
"We'll still need his name and a list of all those other people that have access to the property," Korsak informs the professor, gets a smile in return that doesn't quite reach dark eyes.
And when the professor says, "Of course!" Jane doesn't believe her. Remembers Frost had gone through all the camera footage long before that damn list ever came through.
Gesturing for Korsak to follow, she trails behind Dr. Carlson as the woman turns and heads for a small building off to their right.
"So, there's no chance that this is one of your research corpses?" Korsak enquires as they enter the professor's office. And Jane has to stop herself from shaking her head or opening her mouth and spilling details she shouldn't already know.
"No, no, it's definitely not mine," Dr. Carlson insist as she moves to sit down behind a desk.
The detectives each take a seat opposite as Korsak asks, "How can you be so sure?"
The professor all but sneers and Jane has to look away to keep her composure. Korsak's innocent-sounding questions seem to be doing a fine job of annoying the woman and she wonders again if this is how it went the first time. Had it been Korsak again or maybe Frost who had riled Dr. Carlson? It doesn't appear to take much effort, so either seems feasible.
"Because I was brought here to implement systems that ensure this facility runs flawlessly, and that's exactly what I've done! Trust me; I know how many bodies are here and precisely where they're all placed."
Dr. Carlson then directs their attention to a large wallboard covered in diagrams. "When they arrive here, they're washed, fingerprinted, photographed, and tagged, and then each body is placed in or above the ground and then carefully notated on this map."
"And yet, we've found an extra body," Korsak snarks with a raised eyebrow, matching the professor's snippy tone as Jane hides a smile that finally breaks free. "I would suggest you do an inventory to make sure there are no un-notated bodies laying around."
Quick to rise and face clouded with irritation, Dr. Carlson points to the exit. "We will. Now, if there's nothing else, I need to get back to my students. Your presence is interrupting my teaching schedule."
But even as Korsak stands, Jane doesn't move. Just props one booted foot up on her knee and drops clasped hands into her lap. She'll be damned if she does nothing to prevent the professor giving them the run around a second time.
"You have a potential homicide victim on your property, Dr. Carlson. I rather think it's her presence that's the problem." Wagging an index finger between herself and the sergeant, she continues, "And trust me, if anyone knows how much finding a dead body can just ruin your day, it's us. But we're not leaving without that access list. So…"
She tilts her head side-to-side, as if fabricating options instead of just recalling what actually happened. "You can either provide it now, or we can come back tomorrow, take you downtown for an interview, and ruin that day, too."
When she smiles, it is anything but sweet. Probably looks a little smug, but she doesn't care. Because that's exactly how she feels when Dr. Carlson huffs, sits back down, and gets straight to work.
With the case moving right along, she hopes they can keep up this momentum and move it on past the point at which it stalled the last time. And of course, there's a process to follow, a series of steps that they must go through. She can't just leap to the finish line, even if there was one. How would she explain that?
No. Best to let their investigation develop naturally. She'll just give it a little nudge here and there. Because knowing a few things about the case beforehand, she decides, isn't so bad after all.