Harry Ioki sat quietly at his desk going through a huge pile of reports, making the most of the rare silence. The only other person in the room was his partner Judy Hoffs, who was taking advantage of the peaceful atmosphere to rest her aching head for a few moments. Their quiet time was interrupted suddenly as Hanson and Penhall bounded into the room accompanied by their usual bickering and griping.
"Look I didn't tell her anything ok. You were the one dumb enough to sit right in front of the door where everyone could see you."
"How could she possibly have known it was me just from looking at my back?"
"I don't know." Doug said turning to face his friend with a smile. "Maybe it was the stick up your ass that gave you away." He said barely able to keep from hysterics. After two years, Hanson's indignant act was still always fun to watch.
"I'm so glad I have a friend like you" Hanson replied sarcastically. Doug simply smiled and bent down to plant a kiss on Tom's forehead. Rolling his eyes and giving a long suffering sigh Tom turned his attention to Harry and Judy.
"Where's Fuller?" he asked
"He's been in with Morgan for quite a while now. Judy replied her eyes still tightly shut as she tried to fend off her growing headache.
"Yeah. He dropped off the forensics and toxicology reports. Must be some pretty heavy stuff." Harry added.
Tom let out a heavy sigh and collapsed at his desk beside Judy's, Doug perched on the corner on Tom's other side looking as weary as the rest of them. Had high school really been that much work when they were kids?
As the two men situated themselves beside her Judy opened her eyes slightly catching a glimpse of the vision before her. What she saw made her eyes shoot wide open.
"Hanson! What have you been doing?" she demanded looking rather harassed.
"We followed Kelly and Sam. Turned out they were going to the cops."
"That doesn't explain…." She began before noticing Doug with a wry smile on his face signalling frantically for her to cease that particular line of questioning.
"Oh. This?" Tom said holding out his hand and displaying two badly chipped nails.
"Er, yeah." Judy said slowly. "You know I only have so many of those." She said regaining her composure.
"Thank god" Tom said under his breath.
Just then the door to Fuller's office opened and he and Morgan stepped out and headed towards the small group. Fuller favoured Hanson with a strange look before signalling for them all to join him round the large table in the centre of the room.
"Everyone this is Captain Morgan from major crimes. He's helping out with the Stokely case." They nodded at the older grey haired man who Hanson recognised as being the suit from downtown who had almost sent him clattering down the chapel stairs a few days ago.
"This is Officer Hoffs, Ioki, Penhall…." Fuller began introducing each of his team in turn.
"And you must be Officer Hanson." Morgan said.
"I was, now I'm not sure anymore Sir." Tom replied with a crooked smile.
"Well you're a braver man than me son!" he said before getting down to business." We've got the completed forensic and toxicology reports back on Nikki."
"Anything interesting?" Tom asked
"Five partially dissolved rocks were found in her stomach when they opened her up" Fuller said grimly.
"So it was an overdose." Tom said flatly. "Unless there's a way to force feed someone that amount of crack."
"Look's that way." Fuller replied.
"It doesn't fit." Penhall spoke up.
"He's got a point, captain" Hanson said backing his partner's suspicion. "She wasn't a regular user. She was kinda the star of the school swimming team. It would have shown up on the drug tests."
"You have a point."
"But " Tom said thoughtfully "she quit about three months ago."
"That makes sense" Morgan said from his position behind Fuller. The four young officers turned questioning eyes on their captain.
"Nikki Stokely was three months pregnant" Fuller said dully.
"That would be why she quit" Judy suggested.
"Yeah. I pulled her and Kelly Morris' files. She was sitting out gym and missing a lot of school. Funny thing is Kelly's file shows her being absent whenever Nikki was, but there's no mention of either of them being punished" Hanson said softly. "Why would she quit swimming because of the baby and then swallow a ton of drugs?"
"Maybe she got scared" Ioki offered.
"Maybe." Fuller said. "Young girl pregnant and alone, parents too wrapped up in themselves to notice."
"It would have shown on any random drug test that she was pregnant." Judy said. "She might have quit so no one would find out."
"Fair point"
"Where would she find the money for that much? These aren't poor kids, coach. They live in nice houses and have nice things sure. But they're not rich by any means. Snobs maybe but not rich. Certainly not to the point where an 18 year old can get her hands on thousands of dollars to buy drugs." Hanson said. "And from what people say about her, I don't think she seems the type that would even know how to go about finding them either."
"Maybe someone gave them to her." Harry said.
"Could be." Fuller replied. "Doug, what have you got from the boyfriend?"
"Nothing except that he seemed to really care about her, and it's pretty obvious he misses her. He seems like a good guy actually."
"Well, I guess he didn't tell you that he's been busted three times for possession of class A narcotics." Fuller said handing Doug the printout he held in his hand.
"I don't believe it!" Doug said as his eyes skimmed the paper.
"Believe it." Fuller replied.
"He gave Nikki the drugs?" Harry asked.
"I really don't think he'd do that" Doug said.
"Err, Coach" Hanson interrupted. "Doug and I followed Sam and Kelly to the station in Hastings. We think Sam went in and gave a statement."
"What did it say?"
"We're waiting for it to be filed so we can get hold of a copy."
"Officer Dorian said she'd get one over to us as soon as she can" Doug explained.
"Ok. Anything else?" Fuller asked
"Er…..yeah." Tom said uncomfortably. "This morning I followed Kelly to the principles office. He was telling her to stop drawing attention to herself and that if she said anything no one would take her word over his. She was pretty upset and it sounded like he was threatening her."
"The priest?" Fuller asked his eyebrows raised.
"Yeah. He runs these bible meetings I told you about. Meetings that both Kelly and Nikki stopped going to."
"I'm listening."
"Helen Cresswell says that Nikki spent quite a bit of time talking to Father Mackenzie in private. Apparently he was listening to her problems."
"So you think he knows something?" Captain Morgan asked.
"Yeah I do. Aside from that argument in his office, this guy is definitely not right."
"What do you mean?" Fuller asked.
"He err….." Hanson began, his eyes focused firmly on his feet and deliberately avoiding the eyes of the others around him. "We were outside his office and um…"
"He groped Hanson" Doug blurted out getting impatient.
"Thank you Doug. That could have been really embarrassing" Tom said smiling sarcastically at his partner.
"HE WHAT?" Hoffs, Ioki and Fuller all burst out, Judy and Harry's eyes swimming with suppressed laughter. Chewing on a chipped nail, Tom nodded his head. Still avoiding eye contact.
"Maybe we should have sent Doug in with in you as a chaperone" Fuller said with a slight smile.
"Hey, The McQuaid Sisters." Doug said enthusiastically, grinning as he gave Tom an exuberant high five. "This could have potential" Tom smiled despite himself and chuckled as he pictured The McQuaid Sisters making a grand entrance into the hallways of St Mary's. Seeing the impatience of both Captains Fuller and Morgan he once again grew serious.
"He said I reminded him of someone."
"Who?" Morgan asked.
"I think he meant Nikki." Tom answered. "I seem to remind a lot of people of her." Fuller reached down for the file he had tossed on the table and opened it, pulling out a photograph and handing it to Tom.
"See for yourself" he said as Hanson reached out and took the picture from him. Fuller watched with interest as the shock registered on the young officer's face. As he studied the picture Tom saw a girl looking back at him with eyes just like the ones that looked out of the mirror every morning. The smile was the exact mirror of his own, all apart from one crooked tooth at the front. He registered slight annoyance as he noticed that Helen had been right when she said she thought Nikki had been slightly taller. Numerous conflicting thoughts raced through his mind. Maybe it was coincidence that this girl happened to look so much like him. The longer he looked however, the more he realised this girl resembled photo's he had seen of his mother at that age more closely than him.
"Whoa" Ioki said as he looked over Tom's shoulder at the photograph. "She looks like she could be your sister"
"Well, she's not!" Tom said a little too defensively. "Anyway" he said his voice returning to its usual soft calm tone. "She doesn't look that much like me."
"What?" Ioki said. "Are we looking at the same picture?"
"Well, they're not identical" Doug offered. "See her nose is more pointed, and her eyes aren't as big. Oh and her face is a slightly different shape." He stopped suddenly and looked round at the disturbed looks his companions were sending his way.
"We need to spend more time apart" Tom said looking warily at his partner.
"Oh come on. I spend all day every day with him." Doug said defensively. Then turning to Judy, "Like you don't know every line on Ioki's face." Judy just shrugged and went back to looking at the photograph Tom still held in his hand.
"It really is uncanny" she said.
"I'm still prettier" Tom said with a smile, trying to change the mood and maybe change the subject. The truth was he was starting to think they may have a point and he couldn't silence the voice in the back of his head telling him that maybe they might be right.
"So who's the Father, and where did she get hold of that amount of drugs?" Doug asked.
"I don't know" Fuller replied. "Could Sam be the father Doug?"
"He'd be the obvious choice. Maybe he didn't want to be saddled with a kid and gave her the drugs to try and get rid of it."
"Which would make him responsible for her death." Ioki said
"It could've been Mackenzie" Tom said softly. "They obviously had some kind of relationship. The transcript I pulled said she was only 18 last month" Tom said meaningfully. "Whoever the father of her baby was could be looking at being charged with statutory rape."
"Well we can't do anything without proof" Fuller put in. "Harry, I want you to find out anything you can about Mackenzie. Even if he had nothing to do with Nikki's death, his behaviour in that school is cause for concern. Hanson, Penhall, stick with Sam and Kelly. I don't want them to be able to move without us knowing. One of them might know how and where she got the drugs"
"Okey dokey Coach" Hanson said as he discreetly pocketed the photograph while reaching into Judy's purse and locating a nail file and going to work on the damaged false nails.
"Can't we run tests to find out who the father is?" Judy asked.
"We're working on it" Morgan answered her.
"Maybe she told Kelly."
"Good point Jude. What do you think Tom?"
"I think she knew about the baby. If she knows about the father I'll get it out of her if I can. But I think she's on to me Captain, and if she isn't I freak her out so much she won't talk to me."
"Keep on it. Doug, call Dorian and get a rush on that statement"
"I'm on it." Doug said getting up and heading for his desk.
"Tom, get yourself invited along to Mackenzie's group."
"No problem, Coach."
"And Hanson?" Fuller said looking at the young officer with distaste. "If I were you, I'd forget about the nails and worry about the rest of my appearance."
"What?" Tom asked impatiently.
"Here honey." Hoffs said taking a small mirror out of her purse and handing it to Tom.
The sight that met him was one he was sure would haunt his dreams for the rest of his life. The wig was askew, the curls sticking out everywhere, complimented by the remaining debris from the bushes in which they had hidden, and the long bangs of his own hair that had slipped free of the wig and were now plastered to his forehead. The makeup that Judy had spent so long applying that morning was smeared all over his face and the mascara circled his eyes like a bruise. His eyes widened and his friends could see his face turning red under the layers of paint.
"DOUG!" he yelled springing to his feet. "YOU WERE GONNA HAVE ME TALK TO DORIAN LOOKING LIKE THIS?!"
"Oops" Doug said as he hung up the phone and jumped to his feet putting his desk between him and his disgruntled partner.
"Come on Tommy. Where's your sense of humour?"
"I'm gonna kill you." Tom spat, his dark eyes glaring at his friend.
"You all heard that!" Doug said turning to face his co-workers still seated at the large conference table. "Open threats to murder a police officer." Penhall's eyes widened in shock and he darted for the stairs as Hanson vaulted over the desk, how he managed in that skirt being a mystery, and headed after him.
Sat at the table Harry looked over at Judy, a grin plastered on his face.
"They're such a cute couple, don't you think?" he said chuckling.
"I always thought so" Judy replied laughter dancing in her dark eyes as she watched the two young men darting headlong down the stairs.