Again, no spoilers for CSI: NY, but vague spoilers for 'Wicked'. I don't own CSI: NY or its characters, nor do I own Wicked or its characters - more's the pity, really. I do, however, own Lissa, Kerry, Andy and the rest of the Wicked cast - they're all mine; any resemblence to real people is entirely coincidental. I do not own the summary line for this fanfic, either; I believe I accidentally omitted that bit in the previous chapter. It's not mine, it belongs to whichever genius composer wrote the song (Lullaby of Broadway). To the best of my knowledge, the technical info about Wicked is correct (the harness used for the bubble, swings, standbys etc.) For beta reading, support and laughter, I thank delgaserasca and Iona.

LULLABY OF BROADWAY
(sleep tight, let's call it a day; listen to the lullaby of old Broadway)
(xx 2 xx)
---

Holly fell limp in the bubble. Kerry collapsed weakly against Andy, warm blood hitting her face. After a split second of total silence broken by the heavy book hitting the stage with an echoing thud, a cacophony of sounds rang out from all directions. The curtain was dropped and an announcement was made instructing everybody to stay in their seats and not to move.

On stage, the cast sank to the ground in place, holding to each other for comfort. In the wings, Bradley and Jason held Lissa as she cried. Somewhere behind them, footsteps echoed through the cavernous backstage area and Mia Wrangler flew into the wings, throwing herself at Lissa.

"What happened?" she gasped. Her sobs subsided and she sniffled miserably, avoiding looking out at the stage.

"She was singing and then… I don't know what happened!" Lissa clung to the Elphaba standby, still shaking. Bradley patted Mia's shoulder comfortingly. He was a gentle man, forty-something with a kind face and a kinder heart – he was the cast's confidante, though no one could ever take him seriously when he wore his Doctor Dillamond costume. He shuffled towards Jason, who was still staring blankly at Holly. She was still strapped into the bubble hovering fifteen feet above the stage. From his angle, he couldn't see, but Bradley knew Holly was gazing through the curtain at the audience. She hadn't seen it coming. He touched Jason on the shoulder lightly, but the younger man didn't flinch. He left his hand there, a silent gesture of comfort; somewhere in the back of Jason's mind, he recognised this and relaxed slightly.

A door burst open, and then another. New people were introduced into the chaos backstage, loud voices directing people to be calm and still and not to touch anything. Lissa felt a pair of arms wrap around her and she turned in their embrace. She came face to face with her boyfriend's chest and buried her face in his NYPD jacket, tears stinging her eyes as her sobbing resumed.

"I don't know what happened, Don!" she wailed between sobs. "I just… she… I don't know what happened!"

"Liss – Lissie, listen to me. Mac and Stella are the best CSIs this city has. They'll figure it all out, okay?" He dropped his chin to the top of Lissa's head and closed his eyes for a long moment. Eventually, he opened them and pulled away. "Let's get you guys out of here – the stage is a crime scene. I need you to go to a dressing room or something – somewhere inside the building. A uniformed officer will stay with you."

A young uniformed officer who introduced herself as Rachael led them away from the chaos and Don stepped out onto the stage.

"You okay, Flack?" Mac photographed Holly – still in the bubble – and motioned for it to be lowered. Don nodded. Sheldon stepped over and made a quick evaluation, before looking for a harness.

"Mac, I can't get her out."

Rosalind Webber spoke up. "She's hooked in at the back," she called. "It's my job to make sure she's in there safely.

"Can you unhook her now?" Mac asked, extending a hand to the pale woman in the middle of a tight cluster of her co-stars. Rosalind stood and stepped over her friends. She picked her way over to the bubble, which was now resting on the stage. She scrunched her eyes closed to avoid looking at her friend. Once she was behind the bubble, she opened her eyes and unfastened the restraints. Sheldon watched, fascinated.

"The hook is under the petals on her dress," Rosalind explained quietly, pushing the fabric aside. "It's attached to the hook on the bubble. Once it's done, I step right back and that's how they know she's in safely so they can move it." Rosalind unhooked Holly from the bubble quickly and she fell forward into the waiting arms of Mac and the assistant coroner. They placed her onto a trolley and zipped the body bag over her face.

"What happens now?" Rosalind asked. Her voice shook as she spoke and she swallowed hard.

"We find her killer," Mac answered simply. "I need this curtain lifted," he called to one of the stagehands still in the wings. The curtain began to rise, breaking the barrier between the stage and the now-empty auditorium.

Stella began to usher the cast members off the stage. Rosalind followed behind, looking over her shoulder at the empty bubble as she left the stage.

(xxx)

"I was watching Kerry. She and Andy were doing their 'we can never come back' spiel. I saw a flash, like a camera, but there was a noise. It kinda… I guess it took a moment to register, because by the time I looked, people were screaming and Kerry was covered in blood. I thought it was her…" Barrett Johnson trailed off. He looked around the room. It was Juliana Hayes' dressing room; pink, with photographs littering the walls and surfaces. He'd only been in there once before, to say a quick 'hello' before his first –and so far, only- show in the role of Fiyero.

Across the room, Stella Bonasera scribbled something in her notebook.

"Did you know Miss Cassidy well?"

"We did a few understudy rehearsals together, but not many. She never really joined in with us, y'know? A bit of a loner, really. Played guitar real nice, though."

(xxx)

"It was this blinding flash. I thought it was a camera. I couldn't see anything after that, just spots. But the noise… it made my ears ring. When my vision cleared and I looked up, she was still staring out over the audience, but her dress was soaked in blood and the book was on the floor. That's when I figured it wasn't a photograph," Katherine Tyler explained.

"Tell me more about Miss Cassidy," Stella prompted. Katherine played with the curls of her wig.

"She was quiet. She liked to read and play guitar rather than sitting and fooling around with everybody. I heard she broke up with her boyfriend recently, but I don't know if there's any truth in that – I just heard bits and pieces of conversations. It's hard not to overhear stuff in a place like this."

Stella nodded.

(xxx)

"It was right at the end of the show, damn it," Kerry cursed. "We were singing, I saw a flash, heard a noise; I don't remember much after that. Andy said I swooned and fell at his feet. Bastard."

"Tell me about Miss Cassidy," Stella instructed gently, trying to calm the feisty actress.

"Holly was a quiet one, 'til you broke her down. But she never had any enemies. No one could even say no to her. She alwaysmanaged to con people out of their last cookie or whatever."

"You knew her pretty well?"

"I guess you could say that. We performed together quite a few times. It's important for us to have that friendship bond." Kerry looked down at her hands. They were still green. Her face and dress were splattered with blood. The room suddenly felt small and cramped.

"You said she had no enemies?"

"God, no. Holly was like… she was everybody's friend, even if she preferred to play her guitar instead of fooling around and making an ass outta herself."

"Did she have a boyfriend?"

"She broke up with this guy, Ray, like three months ago. They'd only been dating for maybe six weeks. It wasn't that serious and she said it was the happy kind of break-up."

(xxx)

"I had my back to the audience. There was a flash reflecting off the back wall of the set and I saw Kate – Katherine Tyler, stood in front of me, facing me – flinch. My ears were ringing, I'm not quite used to the full orchestra; I'm not on stage every night." Tessa Janson recounted the event.

"Why's that?"

"I'm a swing, so I only get to go on if a member of the ensemble is out," Tessa explained. "Casey Harrison – she usually plays the witch's mother – is in the Maldives on her honeymoon, so I'm on in her track for the next week and a half. It's a tough gig, I have to know where each member of the ensemble should be at all times, because I could be called out to perform as any of the girls on any given night…" Tessa trailed off as she spotted a photograph on the vanity table. It was Holly and Jools in matching Glinda costumes, grinning widely at the camera. She remembered taking the photograph herself.

"Did you know Miss Cassidy well?"

"Pretty well, I guess; neither of us had to be on stage every night so we hung out in either her dressing room or mine most of the time. She played guitar real well, she was teaching Mia and I how to play. It passed the time."

"You spent a lot of time with her then," Stella stated. Tessa nodded. "So you might know what was going on in her personal life?"

"Not really," Tessa answered slowly. "She was pretty private. Didn't talk much about herself. I know her parents live in New Hampshire, she went to college in Cincinnati and she has a brother called Phil. Oh, she dated this guy, Ray, for a few weeks, but they broke up months ago."

(xxx)

"I hate this stupid dress!" Lissa paced around the room, tugging at the skirt of her black dress. Kerry followed her with her eyes.

"Please stop pacing?" she asked. Her eyes shone with tears. She rubbed at her green face with a flannel.

"I don't wanna stop pacing!" Lissa argued, her voice increasing in pitch and volume. She was perilously close to hysteria when Stella called her name from the doorway. Lissa pouted and growled uncharacteristically, but she followed Stella to her colleague's dressing room and prepared herself for the inevitable interrogation. To her surprise, it was much more informal than she expected.

"You knew Holly well, then?"

"Well, kind of. I mean, we didn't really rehearse together or anything because I only ever have one short scene with her character – rehearsals are what tend to build the strongest bonds. But Jools went on vacay a few weeks ago, so Holly did most of the shows. And the three of us witches tend to hang out a lot, so we got pretty close." Lissa forced a smile.

"Did you see what happened?"

"I was in the wings, stage right – her side of the stage. Me, Jase and Bradley were watching the finale – we're not in that scene." Lissa paused. She took a deep breath and pulled out everything she'd been taught at school on how to be calm throughout. "She just… I don't even know what happened. One minute, she was singing; the next, she… wasn't." She sighed and pulled at a loose thread on the cuff of her sleeve. "I don't really recall much of what happened between her singing and her not singing," she sighed sadly.

"That's not uncommon," Stella told her. Her voice was warm and comforting and her eyes softened. Lissa looked up and found herself enchanted by the detective's sparkling green eyes. It was only when Stella spoke again that she was pulled from her reverie. "The brain tends to block out traumatic events."

Lissa could only nod in response.

(xxx)

Don poked his head around the door to find Stella using the room as a makeshift interview room. She had just called Rosalind in. Don sat beside Stella and listened.

"Miss Webber—" Stella began.

"Roz. Can I take this wig off?" Rosalind interrupted. She nodded her head from shoulder to shoulder. Her wig was heavy and outrageously styled and the wig cap was beginning to irritate her head. Stella nodded.

"Did you see what happened?" Stella prompted. Roz lifted the wig from her head and placed it carefully on the floor beside her seat. She peeled off the wig cap and began pulling pins from her hair, carefully piling them on the vanity table beside her.

"It was the finale. Holly was singing, and we were just standing there, waiting for our cue. Then there's this light, like someone took a photograph – obviously they're not supposed to, but you'd be surprised how many people record the show or photograph it – anyway," Roz paused and swallowed hard, trying to ignore the tears stinging her eyes. "I ignored it at first, because we're not supposed to break or anything even if we see it – but then I realised the noise wasn't a camera. It's like it happened in slow motion. I looked up at Holly; she was just staring out over the audience, still singing, 'til it hit her, like… like she didn't even see it. Then she went all floppy and dropped the book. Kerry passed out, I think; I saw her fall against Andy... I never looked out at the audience 'til it was too late. When I did, people were screaming and trying to get up and run out or whatever." Tears rolled down Roz's face, smudging her careful makeup. She made no attempt to wipe them away. She continued to remove the hair pins methodically, running her fingers through the auburn curls as she unpinned them.

"How well did you know Miss Cassidy?" Don asked. Roz winced at the use of the word 'did'.

"Pretty well… we kind of had an understudy bond, even though she's a standby – it's still kind of like an understudy. Even though we joined the company at the same time, she sort of took me under her wing; especially as we both found our feet. We did some rehearsals together. She was always pretty quiet."

"How so?" Stella asked. She'd been making notes in a small notebook, and as she turned to a clean page, the sound of rustling sent shivers down Roz's spine.

"She never came out with us after shows. She usually stayed in her and Mia's dressing room with a book or her guitar."

"Do you know of anyone who has a grudge against her?" Don took over questioning as Stella scribbled as fast as she could.

"Not a serious grudge."

"What do you mean by 'not a serious grudge'?" Don pressed. His mind was racing.

"We – the understudies – have a friendly competition going. A lot of us – for main roles – started at the same time and we decided that the first one of us to do fifty shows would have drinks bought by everyone else. Holly was leading by two shows."

"Who's second?" Stella asked. She didn't look up from her notebook.

"I am. Well, I was – I guess I'm first now. I'm still pretty far off fifty though."

"What role do you understudy?" Don wanted to know. Roz seemed confused to the question's relevance, but she answered anyway.

"Nessarose – the crippled sister." Realisation washed over Don's face – the girl in front of him, barely twenty, he guessed, was Lissa's 'Baby Nessa'. It was not missed by Roz, and she in turn realised that the blue-eyed detective in front of her was Lissa's blue-eyed detective.

"We're going to need to see her dressing room. Where is it?" Stella asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Roz tried to make the journey in her head.

"It's… this theatre is like a maze. It's right over on the other side of the building but you have to go down to get up there. I could show you?" She offered. Stella looked at Don and nodded, before standing up. Roz dumped the hair pins in a plastic tub in front of the mirror and picked up her wig.

"I'm going to need to speak to whoever plays the character on a regular basis," she told Roz as they left.

"Jools is in Olympia – she left this afternoon; her father's sick. That's why Holly was on tonight." Roz's voice shook at the mention of her friend.

"When will she be back?"

"I don't know. I think Kerry or Lissa have her parents' number though."

"I'll be speaking to them, too." They reached the door of Holly and Mia's dressing room and Roz fingered the paper sign with Holly's name on it. Stella dismissed Roz and she ran back down the corridor, slowing when she reached Kerry's dressing room. She heard the murmur of voices and tapped on the door lightly. Jamie Campbell tapped back, before pulling the door open. Roz fell into his waiting arms and he held her tight.