Temperance pulled on her clear gloves and knelt down, examaning the remains. Harry looked around the alley way, he wrinkled his nose slightly, and looked up towards the tall buildings that circled them. The alley was covered in rubbish, littered with old beers can and used syringes. An odd smell travelled up the agents nose, causing him to cough and feel a sickly feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"How was she found ?" questioned Temperance, looking up towards Harry.
"A hobo kicked the dustbin over, think he was looking for a place to stay. Either way, he found the remains and told someone in the next building who rang us," replied Harry, pinching his nose to block out the smell.
"What ?" asked Temperance, cocking her head to the side.
"The smell," croaked Harry.
Temperance sniffed, she shrugged her shoulders and turned back to her remains. Temperance squinted her eyes, leaning closer to the remains and picked up some extremely tiny bones. She felt a shiver run down her spine; foetus bones. Maybe it was because she was a Mother herself, or maybe it was because the bones were so small, but she a lump rise in her throat. Temperance looked down at the bones, a frowned creased her lips, and closed her eyes.
"What is it ?" questioned Harry, noticing Temperance had stopped working.
"Foetus bones," replied Temperance, her tone was soft.
"Oh. Are you Ok ?" asked Harry, a concerned tone hinted in his voice.
"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be ?" said Temperance, turning back to her normal tone.
Temperanced hated showing signs of weakness. In her view, no one shouldn't be told 'everything will be ok' because it never was. Temperance looked back at the remains, studying them oncemore.
"Female, late teens to early twenties, Caucasian, pregnant, a gun shot wound to the head and stomach," stated Temperance, standing back up.
She stared at the remains. Temperance felt, deep down inside, a twinkle of pity. The victim was rather young, she were expecting a baby, and from the wounds, she must of expirienced an awful death. Temperance took a bag out of her case, she began to bag the remains as Harry watched.
"Poor kid," mumbled Harry, shaking his head.
--
Temperance bent over the remains, examining them closely, and was amazed at how perfect the victims skeleton had been. No broken bones that had healed over, no other damage at all, only the two gun wounds cried out to Temperance. Temperance stepped back, cocking her head to the side; two gun shot wounds, it seemed such a simple death, yet there was a whole story to be uncovered. Like she always said; to solve a murder, you have to strip it to the bone.
Temperance turned on her heel, pulling of her plastic gloves and disposing them in the closet bin. She walked towards Angela's office, checking her watch, and wondered if she had given Angela enough time to complete the sketch. Luckily, Angela had finished her sketch and was running the result through the Missing Person's Database.
"You look beat," said Angela, noticing the bags under her best friends eyes.
"I don't know what that means," replied Temperance, not removing her eyes from the computer screen.
"Late night ?"
"And early morning. Summer is showing all the signs of teething; poor mood, lost of appetite, runny nose," said Temperance, running her fingers through her hair.
Angela nodded. She understood how Temperance felt, she had been through the same set of emotions a few years ago. Angela felt sympathy for her best friend, however she never shared that fact because Temperance would insist her not to worry, but Angela couldn't shake the feeling. Temperance had to take care of her baby by herself, it pained Angela to see the tiredness which consumed her friend.
"We have a match," stated Temperance.
Angela turned her attention back to the computer screen. A young girl, who looked no older than sixteen, stared at them. She had long, curly black hair and deep brown eyes; the regular combination. Temperance noticed the sparkle missing from her eyes, she felt like she could almost relate to that feeling.
"Belinda Coyle, 16 years old, from a small town in Washington," read Angela. "She was a Foster Child, her parents passed away when she were a young girl."
Angela looked up at Temperance. No emotion was present upon Temperance's face, however Angela noted a hint of stubborness. Sometimes it was hard having a best friend who never spoke her feelings, it made Angela feel useless. Angela wished that Temperance would talk to her, like normal best friends would, and confide her in her deepest feelings and secrets. But Temperance wasn't like that.
Temperance noticed Angela's eyes feasting upon her. She made sure that no emotion settled upon her features, she didn't want to cause a fuss. Temperance didn't know how to feel, she now understood why she felt a relation to the girl.
"Sweetie, are you ok ?"
Temperance heard Angela's voice, it sounded so distant, yet still pulled her out of her thoughts.
"Yes, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be ? Listen, Ange, I better go and call Harry, update him on the victim," said Temperance, turning on her heel.
"Bren! You have a meeting with Sweets in about ten minutes, you know he hates it when you don't turn up. Listen, let me be a good bestfriend, I will ring Harry and update him, I will also bring Summer back to yours," smiled Angela, standing to her feet.
"Ange, that's not necessary -"
"Yes, it is. I will also spend the night at yours, with Tempe obviously, and help you out with Summer. Then, maybe, you can get a good few hours sleep," interrupted Angela, giving her 'you-are-not-going-to-win' look.
Temperance noticed the firm look on Angela's face, she realised there was no way out of it. Temperance sighed, she would of fought but she was too tired. She nodded, smiling in thanks, and walked out of her office.