A/n: Chapter 2 up!
Sorry if something makes sense, been taking a lot of tests and brain not completely there.
Enough ramble, enjoy!
Horatio and his CSI team (c) CBS Daikonran and Secondet (c) my sister
2.
The John Doe arrived in the same way as all the other corpses that headed to Alexx's post. There was no difference between the dead socialite and the drunkard just besides it. Secondet Lainheart, her assistant for the last five months, had gotten the radio and prepped the table.
"We've got a young male, appears to be twenty years old. Has black hair, fairly tanned skin, almost perfect jaw-to-eye ratio. No recognizable tattoos though." The senior medical examiner stated while the boy angel wrote down furiously. Dr. Woods then handed the scalpel and grinned.
"Mind starting it up for me?"
With a shy nod, Sexie took the instrument and estimated where the ribcage would be located. He slapped the blade onto the skin and proceeded to make the Y-incision.
It took a minute and the entire abdomen was exposed to the coroners. The body was catalogued; the young man had consumed a considerable amount of gin, Noilly Prat vermouth, Curacao and strangely orange juice, no solid foods.
"John Doe was fully blasted before death." Secondet commented, arousing a grin from Alexx.
"Most probably. Liver was about to give in and cause an early hangover. See how swollen and saturated it is?"
The woman then skimmed the clothes and found no trace of vomit or phlegm, classic symptoms of a drink binge gone wrong. She had no such luck and started to put the clothes into a case box when she noticed something. Alexx gestured Sexie to move the light to the rim of the John Doe's jaw line. She was a bit surprised but knew what was staring back to her.
It was a small old scar, oddly symmetrical and in a very tricky place.
Horatio's going to love this…Eric grinned once he saw Ryan type his eyes out. The younger man's obsessive-compulsive disorder made him prone to overworking, making for a very cranky CSI when deprived of sleep. But lately, he had been taking it to a new level.
"Hey, take a break man. You've been encrypting data for two days in a row."
Wolfe brushed the comment off and kept on his work. He knew Delko wouldn't understand…
"I'll be at the break room by lunch."
Meanwhile, Speedle arrived at Trace where a smiling Calleigh welcomed him. "Damn, I wish I had you to greet me every time I was sent to 'storage'."
"And I'm hoping that's a compliment." Duquesne replied. "So what did you get at the scene?"
"Not really much; a couple of cigarette butts, a wallet with a driver's license to one Jake Lai, and a party flier to Porta del Sol." Tim explained, rather disappointed. First case back and all I get is trash. "Plus, H found a CD demo just 3 yards from the scene."
That peaked the ballistics expert's attention. "Well, since you're fresh out of training, let me handle the cigarette butts while you track down who Jake Lai is and where Porta del Sol stands in the market." Calleigh said as she took the evidence and headed in a northern direction.
It took some digging and research but Speedle was able to find information about the crime scene's rival business. Porta Del Sol was a newer club that was half Nouveau's age. A Puerto Rican businesswoman named Gabriela Rumán, a native to Mayaguez, hence the name, owned it since 2002. It had caught on by centralizing itself in the Latin population and by word of mouth, contrary to the others who relied heavily on celebrity endorsements.
Horatio swung himself and a chair and watched as Tim crunched the data into something he could bring to the table. "Why is there another club's name in the vicinity of Club Nouveau?"
Startled, the CSI jumped on the spot but instantly recognized the voice. "Um, Porta Del Sol's throwing a summer's end bash two weeks from now. Fliers are scattered everywhere."
"No connection to the victim?" Caine asked, perplexed.
"Other than he could've held it in his hand, not really." A printout was spat from the printer. "But I might have the vic's identity." The CSI handed the sheet to his boss. "Driver's license found a few feet away, belongs to a guy named Jake Lai. I'm running the registration number through the city data base in case he's got priors."
The timing couldn't be better as Horatio's phone rang. A quick look and the lieutenant stood up. "Just got a call from Alexx; she's doing the autopsy and found some interesting scars in John Doe's face." He then took the license. "Keep it up, Speed."
From the observation chamber just above the morgue, the lieutenant compared the image on the card to the body below. There were some similarities but not enough to assure that the body was Jake Lai. Horatio was visibly disappointed but at least that was a lead followed through.
"Cause of death?"
Alexx looked up and responded, "Exsanguinations due to one puncture wound to the stomach. Acid leaked everywhere, probably due to staggering, damaging dilated blood vessels to the point that blood pressure alone made them burst. After that, it was a matter of time until the brain stopped receiving oxygen and finally gave out."
"How do you mean 'dilated' blood vessels?" Horatio inquired, rather confused. "You mean the victim was drunk?"
"Very; Noilly Prat, Curacao, and gin were in his stomach. The only passably healthy thing in his stomach was some orange juice." The M.E. replied. It only took a second for Caine to see what the drinks had in common.
"Alexx, those are the ingredients for a Blue Star, a cocktail made popular in one club and I'll give you a wild guess where."
"Nouveau, right?" Horatio heard Alexx smirk. "No wonder baby boy changed faces; only the rich and beautiful are allowed in."
The lieutenant did a double take. "He changed faces? You mean plastic surgery?"
Alexx grinned with satisfaction. "Sexie and I think it's best if we get another doctor's opinion before we do anything."
Horatio's face lit up. "I know just the man for the job."
A/N: So how was it? Reviews are welcome