The apartment of Hannah Maison was identical to Dina Luis. Her trash bin was filled with expensive flowers that had been recently purchased. The apartment was fairly clean, except the bedroom. Flower petals were cast throughout the bedroom, coating the bed, floor, and furniture. Like Dina, Hannah was tied to her bed. Her hands were bound to the posts of her bed in a constrictors knot, identical to Dina. She was dressed in beige nightgown, accented in black lace as the hem of her gown.
Danny held the camera in his hands, photographing the scene. Lindsay stood on the other side of the bed, examining the body.
"COD's identical to Dina Luis, asphyxiation." Mac said. He grabbed Hannah's arm and examined it closer, "Puncture indentation on the under side of her upper left arm."
"Injection?" Lindsay asked.
"Possibly. We won't know until we run a tox screen on her blood." Mac replied.
"So the same guy attacks Dina Luis and then moves to Hanna Maison?" Danny asked.
"Looks that way." Mac answered. He looked across the bed to Lindsay, "Find anything?"
"There's blood under her nails. And I pulled a hair from the ropes." Lindsay answered.
Mac nodded. "Flack's already talking to her family and employers. Let's get the body back to the lab. Process the entire apartment."
Danny nodded. Two lab workers entered the bedroom and began removing Hannah from her bed. They placed her in a black bag and wheeled her out of the room. Mac followed behind them, leaving Danny and Lindsay alone to process the apartment. Lindsay walked to the vanity near the bed. The mirror was decorated in the same flowers. She lifted a petal from the vanity and examined it closer.
"You think we can pull prints off these and match them to Dina Luis' killer?" Lindsay asked.
"Bag 'em and we'll find out." Danny answered. He took another picture before looking up from the camera. "You alright Montana?"
Lindsay nodded, "Yeah…I just…haven't worked these scenes in a while."
"You wanna head back to the lab? I can finish processing here." Danny offered.
"No. I'm fine Danny. I'm going to look through the rest of the apartment, see if I can find anything else." Lindsay said.
"Ok. I'll finish the bedroom." Danny replied.
Lindsay walked out of the bedroom. The apartment was tidy except the bedroom. Flowers were in the trash, but petals coated the bedroom floor. Something wasn't adding up in Lindsay's mind. She walked to the trashcan and pulled out one of the bouquets. Lindsay bagged each bouquet of flowers for testing. After Lindsay had bagged the last bouquet, she caught sight of something else. She picked through the rest of the trash until she reached the bottom and found it.
"Hey Danny, I found something!" Lindsay called.
Danny walked out of the bedroom carrying an evidence bag, "Ditto."
Lindsay looked at his evidence bag. She reached into the trash, pulled out the condom, and placed it its own bag. "I'll compare these two at the lab; maybe one will match the blood."
"What's with the flowers?" Danny asked.
"We might be able to track them back to the seller …"
"And then find out who bought the flowers." Danny finished.
"You got it." Lindsay said.
"Boom. Let's get back to the lab and start the hunt." Danny said.
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Lindsay sat in the lab, waiting for the results on the semen. She stared at the card from the flowers. It was clean on fingerprints and DNA, but there was a sample of writing on it. She stared at the card, as if waiting for it to speak to her.
"Hey Montana, Sid's autopsy report on Hanna Maison." Danny called. He waved a manila folder in the air.
Lindsay turned her attention from the cards and faced Danny. "What's it say?"
"Just what Mac thought, asphyxiation. Cause of Death was strangulation. He got ligature marks on her neck, but no trace. He strangled her with something strange though, it left a petechial hemorrhaging pattern around her neck. Rape kit also came back." Danny explained. He set the folder next to Lindsay.
Lindsay opened the folder and flipped through the papers. "Positive."
"We get the results from the condoms?" Danny asked.
"Not yet, I'm still waiting on them" Lindsay answered. She still sorted through the papers.
Danny watched Lindsay closely. She wasn't reading everything on the papers, just certain contents. Lindsay flipped another paper and scanned for information. "You lookin' for somethin' in particular?"
The computer beeped twice. Lindsay set the papers down and moved to the computer. "I'll let you know when I find it." she brought up the results.
Danny leaned over her shoulder. "Negative. So we're lookin' at two men. One she probably knew, and the other she didn't."
"Not necessarily. The condom I pulled from the kitchen wasn't fresh. It had been in there for at least a week." Lindsay said.
"What kinda woman leaves a condom in her trash for a week?"
"The kind who's been away on business." Lindsay answered. She pulled out Flack's report from Hannah's family and employers. "Hannah's been in Louisiana for the past three weeks. She didn't return to Manhattan until Tuesday."
"That's when Sid estimated TOD." Danny stated. "The guys stalking these women. He knew when Dina would be medicated and when Hannah would return home. Neither one were in a position to really fight back."
The computer beeped again. Lindsay brought up the results. "Hey Danny, check this out."
Danny turned back to the screen. "Results on the kitchen condom, leads back to an inmate serving time."
"Now he's serving right now, but look at the visitation permits." Lindsay said.
"Conjugal visitation right." Danny read. "There's no way this guy could've planted his condom in Hannah's trash."
"Right, but someone else could have."
"Someone working inside the jail, and outside." Danny finished.
Lindsay shook her head in disgust. "We need to get a list of workers there."
"I'll call Flack. Anything with the flowers?"
"They're from the same company. Both cards were written, but no trace. No traceable account either, paid in cash." Lindsay answered.
Danny shook his head. "It was a nice lead. Why don't you go home for the night? We'll pick this up in the morning'."
"I'm alright." Lindsay said.
"You've been up for thirty-two hours, Montana. Go home." Danny said.
Lindsay sighed in defeat. "Alright. But you can't stay any later."
"Deal. I'll just make the call to Flack and we can pick this up when we're more alert." Danny said. He pushed himself from the computer and walked out of the lab.
Lindsay put the evidence away in storage and headed back to her office. Her flowers were still sitting on her desk where she had left them. Lindsay lifted the bouquet carefully. The card dropped from the flowers and drifted back onto her desk. Lindsay turned and walked out of her office. She walked down the hall and entered the elevator.
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Ok, so does everyone see where this is heading? picking up right? c;om, nod with *nodding* right?
sorry, i didn't get a lot of sleep this weekend.
I own nothing