They were clearly talking about her, even though Jane still couldn't figure out what they were saying exactly. Without a sound, she leaned against the wall and pretended to look at something on her phone, trying to look as casual and non-eavesdropping as possible. For a second, she felt a sting of disappointment that Judith would basically walk straight to Maura after the refreshing conversation they had had over dinner. Then, she actually managed to get the gist of what was being said.
"Again, I really appreciate you coming down here for the results of the autopsy, detective Lewis. I wasn't sure I could have managed Jane showing up today", Maura said and sounded rather sad, "our situation must seem really weird to you, huh?" Jane was dying to peek into the office to see Maura's face but didn't dare to even make the tiniest movement.
"No problem, Dr. Isles. And no, it's not weird at all. Jane told me what happened on that bridge and, even though I only know her side of the story, I think I understand where you're coming from. So don't worry", Judith replied and Jane wasn't sure whether she was trying to help her case or Maura's.
"Please, call me Maura! And thank you, it's really good to hear that at least someone understands why I had to do what I did. Jane's mother tries to convince me of talking to her daughter at least once a day and most of your new colleagues either avoid me or look at me like I have some sort of mental condition, which I can assure you I do not. It's quite frustrating to work these days and I do not enjoy being here. You must know that the love for my profession usually motivates me more than anything else but I am unable to feel this at the moment. Anyways, you came down here for work and I bother you with my personal issues. Please forgive me." Jane almost teared up listening to Maura's words. Suddenly, she felt guilty for the first time. For the past month, her focus had been on her own suffering because Maura had cut her out of her life without any reason; now she realized that Maura had been suffering, too, and that she indeed had her own reasons, albeit unkown ones. Being a medical examiner was the most important thing in her life and Jane had somehow managed to take that away from her.
"It's okay, Maura. I'm definitely here for you, even though we don't know each other very well yet. I can tell you that I have been in your situation. Somebody I loved chose to do a dangerous job, and this person actually died doing said job; so, yes I can relate to the way you feel about Jane at the moment. Your best friend jumped off a bridge and left you behind, willing to die on duty. Nobody should judge you for the way you feel", Judith explained, "and by the way, I'm Judith."
"You're right, Judith. I really do love Jane, probably more than my own family. What am I even saying, she and her family were more like family to me than my own ever has been. I honestly didn't know how much I loved her until the bridge incident and that is exactly why I can't be her friend anymore. I will have to figure out a way to work with her, I know that. I'm thankful you can mediate between us until then", Maura said and caused a confusion within Jane unlike any she had ever known. What she said didn't even make sense!
Before Judith could (hopefully) unscramble Maura's mind-boggling statements by asking why exactly a higher amount of love did not equal a closer degree of friendship but instead its sudden end, Senior Criminalist Susie Chang once again proved her perfect timing: "Hallo, Detective Rizzoli. Can I help you with anything? Dr. Isles is actually in her office if you wish to speak with her. I think your nice, new partner is in there with her."
As Jane was still grimacing because Susie had spoken loudly enough to wake the dead in the autopsy room, the office door was opened and Jane stared right into Maura's hazel eyes.
"Uh hi. Uh, hallo. I just finished my interrogation and was, uh, looking for Judith. There you are, Judith. Hi Judith! Hallo." Jane seemed to speak faster than words could physically come out of her mouth, all the while shooting Susie serious death glares. The conversation might have gotten interesting and now Susie had pretty much outed her as a nosy eavesdropper.
"Ah, Jane. Yes. Did Nina send you after me? I have the autopsy results right here; let's go. I'm dying to hear about the interview", Judith quickly replied and covered for Jane. Of course Nina had not sent anyone after anyone else and Judith had actually watched the interview (or at least most of it), but Jane could not be more thankful.
With a short but visibly awkward nod towards Maura, avoiding eye contact at all cost, and something that sounded a lot like a snarl towards Susie, Jane turned on her heels and hit the elevator button about 10 times before its door finally opened.
"Thanks, Judith. I had just come down to get the autopsy results but then I got cold feet and didn't dare to actually talk to Maura. And then Susie showed up and… I realize that it must have looked like I was listening to you guys. I di—", Jane started explaining.
"Don't worry. And even if you were: that's human. I probably would have done the same. Let's speak hypothetically: if you heard what Maura and I were talking about then I would really hope you didn't feel like I was betraying your trust. I, both hypothetically and actually, went down to her office to get some new input on the case when you were still wrapping up your interview. I simply thought you might prefer not having to do that and that both of you might need some more time before the much-discussed professionalism can kick in. Hypothetically, Maura talked about you because I was witness to last night's events and she felt the need to explain herself. Hypothetically, I did not take sides and expressed my understanding of both parties, just like I did with you last night. So, hypothetically, I'd hope you have no problem with that", Judith half smiled, half winked at Jane and nodded encouragingly.
"Of course I have no problem with that", Jane blurted out, "I mean, hypothetically. I'd be glad to know that Maura has someone to talk to about everything. Someone who is, you know, not my mother – who by the way is living in Maura's guest house – or other people who are way too close to both of us. I only have one strictly hypothetical question though: why can one not be friends with someone one loves?"
Judith laughed as she lead the way to the squad room: "That's a brainteaser, huh? As you may or may not have heard, I didn't get the chance to ask her about it any further. But from the top of my head? Two things should, hypothetically, be paid attention to here. Number one: she used present tense; number two: there are different kinds of love, Jane."
And with that mysterious comment, Judith pinned the latest autopsy photos to the whiteboard. Frankie and Korsak turned away from their computer screens and respective work and waited for whatever brilliant new detail Maura had discovered during her autopsy. Jane sighed and slowly sat in her chair. What the hell was Judith even talking about? Different kinds of love? Well, of course. There was the love she felt for Ma and her brothers; there was the love she had once felt for Casey (or at least she had thought so at the time); and then there was her love for Maura. The love you could only feel for your best friend. Your soulmate. The one person who truly knew you and around whom you could be 100 % the person you were – for better and for worse. So how could Maura's love for her best friend have changed and yet still be there? Suddenly, Jane felt like nothing made sense anymore and all she wanted to do was curl up on her couch with Jo Friday and watch trash TV for the next 48 hours. There was a victim though; a victim that deserved justice. So Jane turned around in her chair and nodded towards Judith.
Judith was visibly excited to take the lead for the first time and cleared her throat: "Maura gave me her preliminary results and we might be searching for a mistress: She found trace amounts of semen on the victim's underwear. Fresh semen, that is. She estimated that he must have been engaged in some sort of sexual activity within the hour of his death and didn't clean up all too well after himself. Now, he might have done that by himself but Maura suggested that she would probably have found more than just traces of semen on his briefs. Neither alone-time nor any kind of sexual intercourse explains why he was at his office, of course. But it's a start."
"Maura guessed something?" Yes, that was the first thought that occurred to Jane, never mind all that professionalism.
To her surprise, Judith laughed knowingly and shook her head: "Maura told me she never guesses; instead she provided me with some insight into the male psyche by explaining that it's statistically highly unlikely that Mr. Johnson – or any man for that matter – would cleanly remove his pants and underwear just to quickly pleasure himself. Then she gave me some slightly disturbing numbers about the amount of semen that is produced on average per ejaculation and concluded that there would most likely have been more of the stuff in, on and around his underpants. All DNA results won't be in until maybe tonight or definitely tomorrow morning but for now we should operate under the assumption, that it's Johnson's semen. So the question is: With his wife away in Washington D.C., who was he sleeping with?"
Jane sighed audibly, then couldn't help but grin and gave her new colleague a thumbs-up. Her second day and she had managed an entire monologue about male masturbation in front of Frankie and Korsak, whose favorite punchline often seemed to be 'don't sue me for sexual harassment!' The mistress angle was very interesting and they would start tracking her down right away. She was relatively sure that this mystery woman, however, would be less of an enigma than what Maura had said during the conversation in her office. There were brainteasers and then there was Dr. Maura Isles.