Typically, Alex Eames would arrive at a crime scene after her partner had already been there long enough to poke at evidence and create a feel for the environment all on his own. Lately, however, when he or she would call the other to discuss or inform on a new callout, he had been taking her up on the offer he normally refused.
"Do you want me to pick you up?" she asked.
"Yeah, I do," he would respond.
She never questioned the change. Today was no exception, other than she was picking him up from 1PP instead of his home. At just past 8 am, he had been at work nearly an hour. She was running late, as usual, and he called her after Ross passed on the few details they knew. Their new routine resumed from there.
He met her on the curb, his wool overcoat fully buttoned, clenching his portfolio to his chest. She hoped he had not been waiting long. The last thing she needed for him was to be sick and gone again.
"Morning," she greeted him.
He nodded, saying nothing, while he situated himself in his seat and buckled his seatbelt.
"Coffee?" she asked, indicating two steaming cups in the cup holders, contributors to her morning tardiness.
"Thanks," he nodded again, picking up a cup to drink.
Eames deftly navigated the morning rush. Surprisingly, the only traffic jam they encountered did not occur until they approached Hudson University's Student Union Building. Marked patrol cars lined the streets, while civilians slowed their commutes to rubberneck the area. Young people lined the sidewalks, held back by yellow police tape surrounding what appeared to be the entire block. To compound matters, the news vans squeezed their way into what little street parking remained and reporters and cameramen elbowed their way through the crowd.
"What a circus!" Eames guffawed in frustration.
Goren continued to peer out the window, still silent.
Eames spotted a uniformed officer directing the crawling stream of traffic forward and past the scene. She slowed as she approached him, and rolled down her window.
"Major Case," she said to him as she held up her badge.
The officer nodded and pointed, "Go to the right, show the next guy your shield, he'll show you in around the corner."
Eames forced a smile and nodded, rolling her window back up. She followed his instructions, and the motioned directions of the next officer, which indicated she should proceed into a less crowded on street parking area. She pulled in behind a CSU van and shifted into park. She retrieved her as-yet untouched cup of coffee and exited the SUV.
Goren stuffed his gloves into his pocket and adjusted his portfolio under his arm. He nodded at a uniformed officer standing outside the building. "Who's in charge?"
"Battistuz, in the back alley with a vic." The officer pointed around the corner of the building.
Goren glanced at Eames and headed around the building. It seemed the alley was bustling even more than the sidewalk had been. Battistuz spotted them first.
"You from Major Case?" he asked.
He nodded, "Robert Goren," and gestured to his left, "Alex Eames."
"Sal Battistuz." He shook Goren's hand. "We got one girl over there, on the other side of the dumpster. Purse found with her IDs her as Emily Choi, 23, looks like she was strangled, either dumped or left, not sure yet. Money, jewelry, still with her, not a robbery."
Goren proceeded forward as he listened to the description. He stopped and peered down at the petite Asian woman. He crouched for a better look, mentally cataloging every millimeter of what he saw. She lay on her side, blouse crumpled, skirt raised, neck bruised.
"Was she raped?" he asked.
"Looks that way," came the reply from the nearby CSU technician.
Goren stood again and turned back to Battistuz. "Why not call Special Victims?"
Battistuz motioned to the door, "The second vic. Kid's dad is some kind of big shot, don't know the details. Brass said to pass it off to you, so," he shrugged, "not like I don't got enough to do."
Goren carefully maneuvered closer to the door. Glass sparkled on the ground closest to it, and blood had begun to pool through the crack beneath. He used his height to his advantage, looking through the broken opening without having to step on anything.
"Second vic also still has his wallet; ID says he's Campbell Brown, turned 25 last weekend. Stabbed multiple times."
Goren's brow crinkled. "He's leaning against the door, like he was trying to get out."
Eames moved closer. "If it was the same perp, probably couldn't have gone through here."
"Where's the next closest entry to the building?" Goren asked.
"Down there. Opens into the maintenance hallway," Battistuz answered.
"Any idea what they were doing here?" Eames asked.
Battistuz nodded. "Professor heading home saw lights on, stopped in to check on things. Found a party upstairs in the student lounge, broke it up around midnight."
"Upstairs?" Goren asked.
"Yeah, arboretum there is just outside the lounge." Battistuzpointed upwards to a balcony.
A uniformed officer approached the trio and spoke to Battistuz. "Some of the vic's friends around out on the lawn, they're pretty upset. One says he's a roommate of the guy."
Battistuz looked to Goren, who looked to Eames. Battistuz nodded and motioned for the uniformed officer to come with him and the female detective.
"Meet me upstairs?"
Eames nodded and headed off after Battistuz. Goren asked another unformed officer to lead him inside, to the adjacent crime scene.
It was a short walk, he noted, from the maintenance alley door, down the corridor, and into a main hallway, which then connected to the hallway where Campbell Brown lay.
He cautiously approached the scene, restraining himself not to interfere with the CSU technicians and their work. He again used his height to take in the scene from a comfortable distance, but curiosity got the better of him and he finally moved in closer, to a crouch.
"Glass from the door?" he asked the technician next to him.
"Probably. It's mixed though, some is light, clear like you would expect in a door like this, but some is darker, and of a different depth."
"Bottle maybe?" Goren asked.
The technician shrugged. "That'd be my guess, glass chromatography would tell for sure"
"Make sure you get as much as you can." His eyes traveled the length of the young man's body, which had slumped along the door and to the floor. "He was stabbed in the back?"
"Yeah. Likely got him right in the kidneys, then again farther forward, counted five wounds so far. Probably didn't take him long to bleed out. Perp knew where to get him."
Goren nodded and stood, taking a closer look at the heavy wooden door. "Scratch marks on the door…somebody sure was clawing to get it open."
"The vic," the technician gestured downward, "he didn't have much for fingernails to begin with, but his nails are broke. Door's locked though, heavy lock, no way he could've opened it without a key."
Goren's brow crinkled again. "So he broke the window?"
The technician shook his head. "Most of the glass is on this side and blown inward. It was broken from the outside."
Goren nodded. "Thanks." He turned again to the officer who had originally led him inside. "Upstairs?"
The officer turned and led him two thirds of the way back the way they had came before starting up the stairs. He stopped at the top. "Go forward through that doorway, you go straight to the arboretum, which is usually locked up until late spring, but kids bust the locks, go out there and smoke. The other doorway there is the student lounge."
"Thanks," Goren nodded and headed for the arboretum, noting through the large glass walls that there were multiple CSU technicians going over the student lounge.
There were fewer technicians on the balcony, and those there were mostly gathering what looked like leftover party trash. He strode slowly to the edge and looked over.
"They say you shouldn't look down," Eames joked from behind him, as she walked closer.
"There is a pretty clear view of that dumpster from here."
"So, Campbell saw something happening to Emily, ran down and tried to help?"
He shrugged. "Maybe." He turned away from the edge and faced her. "What did you find out?"
Eames took a breath and flipped open her notebook. "Campbell's roommate, Lucas Jordanais, and two lady friends. They said the professor, Dr. Frazier, broke up the party around 12, and he negotiated with him that if they cleaned up, they wouldn't get turned in." She held back a smirk. "Around one, everyone was heading out. He said he remembered Emily taking out a load of trash down the stairs, but doesn't remember where Campbell was. He did admit having too much to drink. Between that, and his obvious grief, it was a chore to get much out of him. Uniform is taking him and the girls he's with to 1PP."
Goren frowned and shook his head. "Kids…pretty sure I was never that young."
Eames smirked at him, "And I'm sure you were always an angel too."
Goren smirked back and followed her out of arboretum.