Chapter 4 – Make Me Up
Previously – Christian Thomas was found murdered in his apartment in Brooklyn, on the same night Evan Jacobs was found in the East River. The third murder of Aiden James, Erica's ex-boyfriend, renders her useless on the crime scene leaving Stu and Bailey to oversee things.
Opening the door, Bailey left the shooting range room and set off down the corridor, back in the direction of the lab.
"Bailey?" glancing over her shoulder, Bailey saw John approach her, a serious expression etched on his face "Feeling stressed kid?"
"Whatever gave you that idea?" she breathed out harshly.
John pointed in the direction of the shooting range door "You just..."
"Bailey!" Stu's booming voice reached her ears as he emerged from the shooting range behind her, approaching both John and her.
John stared between Stu and Bailey, a thoughtful expression on his face "Did you just...and he just?" he shook his head as he pointed between the two, a sigh leaving his mouth "Never mind. I need the two of you to go to Stephen's apartment and help with the clean-up. That evidence needs processed ASAP!"
The car drew up alongside Stephen's apartment building. Bailey stared out from the passenger seat as Stu shifted the car into park. She swallowed thickly as she watched the nosy bystanders who had gathered nearby, hoping to get a glimpse of anything. A cordon had been set up, manned by officers of the NYPD whom Stu ranked over.
"Bailey?" she turned to glance at Stu, raising an eyebrow.
"Hmmm?"
"Are you sure you're alright?"
"Oh yeah, I'm fine. We should get this done," she pushed the door open, placing one heeled shoe onto the sidewalk. Sliding out, Bailey retrieved her case from the back seat and turned around as she shut the door. A gasp fell from her lips as she found Stu directly behind her, his large frame almost pressing her back into the car.
"Just stay calm and get through this. You have to. For Erica. C'mon," he placed one large palm against Bailey's back and ushered her towards the apartment building and under the cordon "Go ahead," he pointed to the door of the building. Bailey nodded, for once allowing herself to swallow any retort she might have had and followed his instructions, turning and walking inside the apartment. From behind her she heard Stu's voice "I don't want any unwanted traffic in my crime scene. Make sure no one goes through without my approval. And get rid of these people!"
Bailey took the stairs, following the path of officers already questioning some of the other residents and made her way to Stephen's floor. She spotted the area where Aiden's body had been; now cleared and cordoned off with evidence markers. The floor had been cleared of everybody except police and CSI's which was a good thing; the officers could do their job without having to worry about anyone getting in the way and trampling over evidence.
Spotting a blonde haired man further down the hall, Bailey made her way in that direction. He lifted his head at the sound of her heels on the wooden floor and smiled.
"Darren," Bailey grinned at him "I didn't know you'd be here."
He shrugged "John mentioned the case and said he needed some help. When I heard your name, I couldn't refuse," he winked at her as he put a swab into the case for processing.
"Bailey?" looking over her shoulder, she saw Stu there. She nodded and he moved down the hall towards her and Darren "You guys need to work fast on this. No time wasting," he glared in Darren's direction.
"Sure thing boss," Darren smirked at him and turned back to Bailey. Bailey heard the sound of Stu grinding his teeth behind her. She smiled at him and he tipped his head in acknowledgement before disappearing back down the hall "What's up with sasquatch?"
"Nothing. Let's get to work," Bailey grabbed her camera and hooked the strap around her neck.
They started at opposite sides of the corridor, working towards each other to meet in the middle, Bailey photographing and collecting anything she came across; including bullet fragments and impressions of two bullet holes she found in the walls of the corridor. She took snaps of the evidence Darren was collecting as well, enjoying the little flirtatious comments he dropped into the stilted conversation they shared.
"Does the apartment still need to be checked?" Bailey asked him as they stood in the middle of the corridor, surrounded by yellow evidence markers.
"I think so. It's been checked by NYPD but I don't think any evidence has been lifted."
She nodded and they both lifted their kits. They entered the apartment, both on guard even though it had been checked. Bailey kept one hand covering her gun which was still holstered on her hip.
They set to work, pulling on fresh pairs of clinical gloves and thoroughly searching the apartment from top to bottom. There was very little evidence to pick up on; a broken cup in the kitchen, a smashed photo frame in the living room but nothing groundbreaking.
Bailey moved into the bathroom. She glanced about, everything seemed fairly ordinary. Pulling open the mirrored cabinet above the sink, she rooted through the products inside: toothpaste, soap, shaving gel, prescription pills for sleeping and a skin infection - again nothing out of the ordinary. The sink was clean and tidy except for a tube of red lipstick, pushed up to the max. It had been used vigorously and was worn down. She took a picture of it and then picked it up, placing it in an evidence bag.
Turning to leave the bathroom, a flash of the same red caught her eye. She stepped over the bathroom rug and whipped the shower curtain back.
"Darren. Come and take a look at this!" she hollered.
He stepped into bathroom a mere few seconds later. She moved aside to show him what she had found "What the hell is that?" he asked as he came closer, holding the curtain back as Bailey took several snaps of it.
"It's lipstick," she smirked a little when he furrowed his eyebrows at her "Not that I couldn't tell anyway but this pretty much confirmed my suspicions," she held up the evidence bag with the ruined tube inside.
"Unfaithful?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her "Any idea?" he queried as she stuck an evidence marker to the wall.
"I might have one. I'll need to check some stuff though," she mused. Taking a swab from her kit, she took a sample of it so she could be 100% sure it matched the tube in the bag.
Both of them left the bathroom, Bailey making her way into the bedroom. Darren returned to whatever he'd been doing before she called on him.
The bedroom was fairly tidy but small. The main feature was the double bed - the sheets flipped back and ruffled lazily. Bailey stepped up to the chest of drawers, lifting the numerous sheets of paper and bottles lying there. She examined them, taking swabs and dusting them for finger prints.
A sudden gust of wind whooshed through the room, disturbing the papers and blowing them off of the top of the chest of drawers and scattering them over the floor. Huffing, she rushed to the window, trying to tug it closed.
It seemed to be stuck. She tugged harder, groaning slightly. Leaning into the open frame, she pushed at the slats that held the window open "C'mon!" she groaned, pushing her palms against the runners. A yelp sounded from her mouth when a small flock pigeons flew up from the fire escape, startling her and making her jump back, smacking her head hard on the window "Ouch!"
Placing a hand to the back of her head, she stumbled back.
"Are you okay?" Darren asked from behind her. She nodded which sent a wave of pain shooting through her head. Hearing footsteps from behind, both Bailey and Darren turned to see Stu running in.
"I heard you scream. What happened? What the hell did you do?" he addressed Darren, his hand reaching for his gun.
"I didn't do anything man!" he protested immediately "She..."
But Stu cut him off "Bailey? Are you alright?"
He approached her, placing his strong hands onto her shoulders. She looked up at him, wincing even more. Bringing her hand away from her head, she opened her palm, showing him her glove which was now speckled with light droplets of blood "I hit my head," her speech was slower than normal "Stupid birds," she pointed lazily to the window "Gave me a fright."
"Okay. C'mon sweetheart let's get you out of here," he swung his arm around her and she fell into him, gripping the back of his suit jacket for support, tugging on the material with her hand.
"Wait! You can't just..."
"Get out of my way mate! She's bleeding and I'm taking her back to the lab!" Stu glared at Darren with everything he could muster. He moved, taking Bailey with him. Closing her kit, he scooped it up before returning his attention to Bailey "Let's get you out of here."
"Need a hand?" Erica asked, a smile on her face and hope in her eyes.
"Lass, yeh know yeh not allowed to work on this case." A sigh escaped her lips and Stephen spun around on his chair. "Don't yeh have anything to look at with Bailey?"
"She's with Stu, I'm waiting for her to come back and I'm waiting for some DNA samples. This is my lunch break."
"Then why aren't yeh having lunch?" Stephen asked and Erica knew that tone that was hidden within his strong Irish accent. Concern and worry.
"I'm not hungry." She merely stated, knowing full well Stephen would list all the reasons why her diet should be precise.
"Erica!" John stood by the door eyeing her up and the evidence that Stephen was sifting through. "You're not on that case, don't make me put you on paperwork. I know how much you hate your desk."
"Yes Sir." Erica mumbled.
"Almost as much as you love Stephens." Erica's eyes widened and John smirked. He shook his head at the pair before carrying on down the corridor. "Back to work." He shouted just as he disappeared out of sight.
"I hate not being able to help you." Erica pursed her lips, the thought of actually going for her lunch disappearing with Stephens next words.
"Yeh might actually." Stephen gestured for her to come closer as he spun back around on his chair. "Take a look at this."
Erica watched the security tape from the apartment of the Christian Thomas case. "Wait, I thought this tape was tampered with?"
"Ah worked me magic." Stephen grinned as Erica looked down at him for split second before turning her attention back to what was playing.
"Whoa, whoa. Go back." Erica stared at the screen. Eyes trained to detect anything out of place. "The wife goes up to the apartment, but doesn't leave the same way. There she is." Erica pointed to the screen and the blurry image of the wife walking past the complex's glass doors outside the building.
"And the only other way out-"
"Fire exits." Erica grinned, pulling Stephen up from his chair. "You're coming with me."
1pm - Midwood, Brooklyn
Stephen's heavy footsteps echoed in the small alleyway beside the apartment complex. Erica followed behind him, glancing upwards at the eight storey apartment complex.
"Yeh fancy going up there?" Erica turned to Stephen who had stopped walking and parked himself in the middle of the alleyway.
"Oh I see, you're scared of heights." Stephen shook his head at her ludicrous comment. "Have fun rummaging through the dumpsters."
"Wait a minute, lass..." Stephen frowned as Erica made her way towards the fire exit. He eyed the three large dumpsters lining the side of the building; just his luck.
Erica only had to go up the first three flights of the fire escape, though it was quite a task with her kit. She left it on the first floor and looked over the railing to see Stephen skirting around the dumpster. A couple of uniformed officers were making sure that no one interfered with their work.
Pulling out a pair of latex gloves, Erica slipped them on and began scanning the area for any evidence. The first two flights on the fire escape held nothing of importance; however the third was a little more interesting.
Erica inspected the handrail, kneeling down to get a better look at the substance on the cold metal. Erica immediately knew it was lipstick, and she only hoped it would match the lipstick that had been scrawled across the bathroom in the murdered man's apartment. Satisfied with finding some fingerprints too, Erica carefully made her way back down to the ground.
"I found lipstick and a some fingerprints." Erica sighed as she set her kit down. She'd had a mini workout getting up and down those ladders. She brushed her jeans off and glanced upwards, a gun being dangled in her line of sight.
"Ah found a gun." Erica glanced upwards to see Stephen smirking. "Ah win."
"Fine, you win this round." Erica eyed the gun then took it from Stephen. "Where the hell is she?"
Stephen knew she was referring to Jennifer Thomas, the wife of Christian Thomas and their first suspect. Neighbours had been happy to give out the information they knew on her, which unfortunately for the crime lab was nothing. She'd gone AWOL since they'd found her husband's body. "We'll get her lass."
"This whole thing with the lipstick though, two people worked on this together. The time of death of Evan is before the time of death of Christian. If we find out who killed Evan, maybe that will lead us to Jennifer?" Erica was thinking out loud, but she really wanted Stephen to give her some answers.
"Let's see if we get anything from these first." Stephen took the gun back, slipping it into an evidence package. "Bailey might have found somethin' too."
A/N – Thank you ResplendentAnarchist, wades wife, peeps8705, ThatGirl54 and DeansTrueGirl for the lovely reviews. We are SO sorry it's taken so long to finally update this. You probably don't even remember what had happened, oops :P! We won't leave it as long next time! Lou and Karen x