BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
"Alright. Jeez." I mumbled as I fumbled for my phone on the end table. I found it and answered.
"Matthews." I bit out, rolling out of bed, heading towards the bathroom. I hear a laugh.
"Esh, Lena. Don't shoot the messenger, okay?" Danny said jokingly. I sighed.
"Sorry, Danny. I didn't sleep well. What's up?" I asked, as I looked at my reflection. Good enough.
"Homicide at Central Park. West side of the park. When can you be here." He asked me.
"I'll be there in 20." I told him as I pulled on a grey t-shirt and dark jeans and combat boots.
"See ya then." He said, hanging up. I grabbed my keys and my leather jacket and left my apartment.
I arrived at the crime scene with 10 minutes to spare. A benefit of being called on at 2:30am. I saw Danny taking pictures of the vic. As I walked up, I saw that she was young. Maybe 17.
"Hey! There you are, Elena. Was wondering when you'd show." Aiden calls as she walks over.
"Yeah, yeah. What've we got?" I ask her, looking over the scene. Hawkes was kneeling by the body. A girl was laying on the ground in a field, in a tattered gold dress. She was missing her left shoe, her right was a few feet away. It was gold, and had rhinestones on it. She was covered in blood and dirt. Her hair was blonde, in short curls.
"Amy Grant, age 16. COD likely blunt force trauma." Hawkes said as he stood up from his place by the body.
"Found her parents. She was going to her best friend's sweet sixteen." Flack said as he came up behind them.
"16? Oh, man." Aiden said as she sighed.
"Who's the best friend?" I asked, turning to face Flack. He looked tired, with baggs under his beautiful blue eyes. Beautiful? What the hell? Focus, Elena. He looked at his notepad and back at me.
"Melanie Lowell. She's having her party at the Royalton. Wanna drop by, Elena?" He asked, smiling.
"Why, I'd love to. Never had sweet sixteens in my neighborhood in Chicago." I said, shrugging.
"You'd have to wear a dress for those, right?" Danny asked me. I scowled.
"You know, I've never been thankful for growing up in a one bedroom downtown before." I said, causing Danny to chuckle knowingly. We were similar, which is why we're best friends.
"Let's go find the ball, Cinderella." I told him, which I thought was hilarious but Flack frowned. I laughed and tapped his cheek, heading towards the car.
We found the sweet sixteen fairly quickly after arriving at the Royalton. They had rented out the ballroom, and they were all dressed like they were going to prom. The best friend, Melanie, had this ridiculous pink sparkly nightmare on, and she had her blonde hair pinned up.
"Melanie Lowell?" I asked, as we walked up in front of her, flashing our badges. She nodded.
"I'm sorry to inform you, but Amy Grant was found dead in Central Park an hour ago." Flack said.
"No! Oh my god. Amy's dead? How?" She cried, shaking her head.
"We aren't sure exactly but there's reason to believe she was murdered." She started wailing.
"Do you know anyone who would want to hurt her? Want her dead?" I asked. She shook her head.
"Well, Amy started dating this guy, Callum. His ex hated Amy. Like threatened to push her down the stairs hate. She was on the cheerleading squad with Amy, until she dropped Amy on purpose."
"She dropped her? Over a guy?" I asked, stunned. She nodded.
"I know. Stupid, right? Shelley's crazy though. Shelley Marks. She's a senior." Melanie told us.
"Thanks, Melanie. If you remember something or need anything, here's my card." Flack said, handing her his card. She smiled weakly and ran to her parents. We left the Royalton, heading to the lab.
"Mac?" I asked knocking on his door. He turned and looked up at me. He waved me in.
"I hear you have a suspect?" He asks as he sits in his chair. I nod, handing him the folder.
"Shelley Marks, 18. This chick's marbles. She dropped the vic- Amy- for being voted cheer captain. Amy's best friend Melanie told us that Amy was dating Shelley's ex, Callum." I told him.
After updating Mac, I head to the precinct to interview Shelley Marks. She's sitting in the interview room, wearing a light blue shirt and a white skirt. With her orange hair in a ponytail.
"Shelley? I'm Detective Flack and this is Detective Matthews from the crime lab. We need to ask you a few questions regarding Amy Grant." Flack tells her and she huffs at Amy's name. I sit at the table, Flack leaning against the wall. Halfway into the interview she claims she wasn't there.
"We have your DNA which proves that you were. You killed her. She was dating your ex boyfriend, so you followed her to the park and bashed her head in with your cheerleading trophy." I told her.
"Yes! Okay?! She gets Captain?! A sophomore?! And then she steals my boyfriend? No way."
I look at Flack and then look back at Shelley Marks. I grin, smugly.
"You are under arrest for the murder of Amy Grant. And you're 18, so you'll be charged as an adult."
"Nice work." Flack tells me as we exit the interview room. I smile at him and walk to the exit.
"Lena!" Danny calls out as I enter the lab and he walks up to me.
"Yeah?" I ask making a bee-line for the break room, and more importantly, coffee.
"Caught a case, and Aiden's with Mac. Care to lend a hand?" He asks handing me a cup of coffee.
"God, this is why we're friends. No wonder I put up with you." I tell him, smirking as I take a sip.
"Ha-ha. So? You gonna help me?" He asks, and I nod. He smirks.
"Thanks, I owe you one." As he goes to get his kit. I take a sip of coffee. Black with sugar.
We get to the house and open the door to find a pretty damn near spotless crime scene. All except the body laying beside the desk in the study. Hawkes was leaning over the body examining it when we entered.
"Didn't you just wrap a case an hour ago?" He asks me. I shrug.
"I guess that doesn't matter to killers. Rude, huh? Can't even have a cup of joe without catching a body." I tell him gesturing at the body below. He smirks.
"Well, there's no visible trauma. I'll know more when I open him up." He says standing up.
"Danny, you want the body or the scene?" I ask him, knowing his answer.
"Body. Have fun finding any evidence." He says, grinning. I groan, opening my kit.
I ended up finding a foreign fingerprint on the window pane and a fiber on the broken window. Danny found similar fibers on the victims suit. We traced the fibers to the business partner, Jeff Douglas, but the murder weapon was morphine. His wife, a doctor, had access to the necessary amount.
"We found the morphine in your car, Valerie. You killed your husband by injecting him with enough morphine to down an elephant. Then you called your boyfriend, Jeff, and he broke the window to make it look like a break in. The thing is, he broke it from inside, leaving a fingerprint and some fibers behind." I told her and she started crying. Flack looked at me and I shrugged.
"He was abusing me. I had no choice." She said, and I shook my head.
"You could have left. You killed him instead." I said, and left the room. Flack and I went to get a drink.
"After a day like today, I needed this, Flack." I told him, taking a swig of my beer. He laughed.
"Don't I know it." He agreed, drinking his. We talked and had another beer, waiting for Danny.
"Hey, you guys started without me, again?" Danny asked, from behind us. We turned and laughed.
"Yeah, well. Elena had a slam dunk interview and you were dragging ass at the lab." Flack said and I drank my beer and grinned.