A/N: Trying to upload as quickly as possible before I overdose on Christmas cookies… Try "Cold Water" by Damien Rice with this chapter.
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Chapter 5 – Day 2 (cont'd)
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Just a few miles away, in front of the former supermarket that had been turned into a makeshift morgue, Maura stood in the drizzling November rain with her phone held to her ear. Even though she was dressed rather lightly — in her black scrubs with only a jacket hanging loosely over her shoulders —, it wasn't the cold outside that kept sending chills down her spine but the cold she had felt in Jane's apartment the night before. She had tried to forget about the detective's outburst, to shrug it off as one of those illogical acts borne out of grief and frustration, but now that she was about to face the bodies of those who had died in the attack, Maura was yearning for just a glimmer of warmth, for words of support, or for a comforting embrace. And thus, she anxiously pressed her phone to her ear, waiting for an answer at the other end of the line, hoping for the sound of that one voice that would pull her through. In vain.
Eventually, she hung up and let her hand sink down. Dejected. Alone.
She probably would have turned away and left everything behind if it hadn't been for Sergeant Korsak emerging from around the corner.
"Hey, Doc!" he greeted her with a warm smile — his first since he had been informed of the attack.
"Sergeant Korsak…," was all that Maura could tiredly muster in response.
"It's good to see you," Korsak beamed with relief and gave her a fatherly pat on the arm. However, as he stepped closer, he couldn't help but notice the medical examiner's fragile appearance, her pale and still scratched skin, the dark circles under her eyes. "You look exhausted though. Are you sure you wanna do this?"
"Yes. I want to help the families of the victims find closure as soon as possible," Maura declared and headed towards the building's entrance. "The only thing worse than knowing your loved ones have died is not knowing."
"True…," Korsak sighed and followed her inside. "How's Jane?"
The sergeant's innocent question was answered with nothing but silence from the medical examiner as she worriedly glanced at Jane's number on her phone's display, her thumb itching to press the call button again.
"Doc?" Korsak pulled her from her thoughts.
"I'm sorry… what?" Maura absentmindedly looked at him, barely a shadow of her usual lively and inquisitive self.
"Something wrong with Jane?" the sergeant wondered with worry.
"No… it's…," the blonde hesitated and averted her eyes. "I haven't talked to her this morning." She checked her watch and quickened her pace.
Arching his eyebrows in curiosity, Korsak tried to keep up with the medical examiner and decided to postpone any further questions. He'd find out sooner or later anyway. He always did.
Once the two of them had passed several racks with carefully labeled pieces of debris and other evidence from the scene, they reached a large storage area of the former supermarket and entered the makeshift morgue that already held about a dozen black body bags on simple wooden tables that were once used to present carefully arranged fruits, and bargains, and seasonal specialties. But in the cold light of the fluorescent lamps, numerous empty tables still awaiting their load now served as a grim reminder of the devastating scope of the attack.
At the sight of her grisly task ahead, Maura stopped dead in her tracks and swallowed hard. It wasn't the first time that she was confronted with a large number of bodies at once, but the thought that one of her colleagues and friends was among them, that she herself could have been lying right on one of these tables, made her knees buckle and left a bitter taste in her mouth.
Before she could ponder the thought further, Sergeant Korsak had caught up with her and supportively rested his hand on her shoulder. "Frost has already been identified through his badge," he said quietly. "You won't have to do that."
"Okay," the blonde whispered as she fished a pair of nitrile gloves out of her jacket's pocket and put them on.
"Doctor Isles!" the familiar voice of Senior Criminalist Susie Chang called out from behind, prompting Maura and Korsak to turn around. "I'm so glad you're well and alive," the young scientist blurted out.
"Thank you, Susie," Maura quickly appeased her. "I'd like to get the identification process underway as soon as possible to—"
"Yes, we're ready," Susie eagerly cut her off — maybe a little too eagerly, given the circumstances, but it was her special way to tackle whatever challenge life threw in her way. She pointed at a door in the back of the hall leading to another storage area. "We've set up a lab in a large office space back there. Some equipment is still missing, but we have thermal cyclers and electron microscopes, and we've set up desks and computers to access our databases — it's enough to get started."
"There's a smaller office section next door," Korsak added. "We'll use that one to talk to the victims' relatives, collect samples, do cheek swabs for comparison testing… We'll make sure you can work uninterrupted in here…"
Maura nodded quietly and contemplatively studied the grid of tables and body bags in front of her. A handful of pathologists in black scrubs were already busy organizing and preparing the burned remains contained in those bags.
"They're categorizing the bodies based on their condition," the sergeant explained and pointed at the tables on the left that currently held the largest number of body bags. "The ones that are easiest to identify go over here. Those that will probably require some effort are put in the middle section." He nodded towards the right section of tables, some of which were already filled with bone fragments. "And over there, they'll put fragments and remains that will make it difficult to extract any DNA or other clues to help identify the victim."
"We're also expecting some colleagues from Western Mass to support us," Susie announced. "They should be arriving soon…"
"Alright," Maura tried to focus and concentrate on her task, even though her thoughts repeatedly drifted back to the previous night. "Can you—"
Before she could finish her question, Doctor Pike burst into the hall, coat hung over his shoulder, briefcase in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other. "Good morning!" he exclaimed with his utterly unique lack of sensitivity. When he spotted Maura, Korsak, and Susie, he marched towards them and confidently took another sip of his coffee.
"Sergeant…," he nodded to Korsak. "I've been told my expertise is needed to help with this rather unpleasant case. Where do I get started?"
Korsak exchanged an uncertain glance with Maura, but before they could decide how to get rid of their not-so-favorite colleague, Pike raised his eyebrow and studied the blonde's tired features. "You look terrible, Doctor. I suggest you stand back and let those with the required mental capacity handle this."
Maura might have been able to successfully block out Jane's absence up to this point, but when faced with the elder pathologist's narcissism, she couldn't deny any longer that she was sorely missing the detective by her side. Whenever Pike was around and made her peek at her scalpels or any other weapon nearby that could shut him up, Jane would step in with a sarcastic retort and make sure that the old knucklehead got his come-uppance. But not today.
Noticing the medical examiner's sorrowful eyes, Sergeant Korsak tried to fill the void. "Why don't you get started with the bodies in the left section over here?" he suggested to Pike, a subtle smirk playing on his lips. "We haven't been able to figure out how to identify them yet, but it should be child's play for someone with your level of expertise…"
"Very well then…," Pike agreed, clearly and visibly flattered. With a self-satisfied grin on his face, he strolled to a small break area with a coffee machine, several chairs, and a TV that would keep everybody up-to-date on the latest developments regarding the Il Camino bombing.
Once he was out of earshot, Korsak leaned towards Maura. "I figured he can't do much damage to the bodies we've pretty much identified already…"
"I wouldn't be so sure about that…," the blonde replied indignantly.
The sergeant chuckled in agreement and gently led Maura towards the adjacent office section. "Come on, there's another coffee machine next door."
Remaining behind all by herself, Susie scratched her head and looked around. After a moment, she shrugged and trudged back to the ad-hoc crime lab in the back of the building.
A few hours later, Maura stood bent over one of the tables in the right section of the makeshift morgue and was carefully examining various fragmented and heavily burned bones for scars, implants, or anything else that would simplify the identification of the victim, whose likely proximity to the bomb and the extreme heat of the explosion had made the extraction of DNA almost impossible.
When several crime lab assistants and pathologists gathered in front of the TV in the break area and turned up its volume, Maura looked up in irritation, wondering what would be more important than their current task. The answer to her question presented itself right away as a close-up of the mysterious cyclist appeared on the television screen, accompanied by a bold headline at the bottom: IDENTITY OF BOMBING SUSPECT REVEALED.
Maura frowned and let her tools sink down, then quietly walked over to the gathering and followed along as a gray-haired news anchor provided another update on the attack.
"According to Boston Police, the cyclist's sister has identified him as Frederico Buccitelli, a 27-year-old unemployed Boston native currently registered in Roxbury," the anchor explained. "Police have also confirmed that the brown briefcase he is seen carrying did indeed contain the bomb that has killed at least seventeen people and left many more injured."
A slideshow of images related to the attack filled the screen — stills of Buccitelli getting off his bicycle in front of the Il Camino restaurant, of him getting the briefcase out of his bag, of the explosion, and of the ruins the blast had left behind.
"As of now, investigators don't know whether Buccitelli has managed to leave the restaurant before the explosion or whether this was a deliberate suicide mission," the anchor continued. "But while his motive is unclear, we do know that he has a long criminal record, including several arrests for assault and robbery, as well as ties to the Irish mob and its now imprisoned former boss Paddy Doyle."
At the mention of the suspect's connection to Doyle and his mob, several pairs of eyes subtly peeked at the Chief Medical Examiner, but no one dared to say out loud what everybody was thinking. Almost no one.
"Paddy Doyle — isn't he your father, Doctor Isles?" Pike asked with feigned innocence.
When Maura ignored both his question and the lump forming in her throat and instead kept her eyes fixed on the TV, Pike squinted and was barely able to contain his resentment at the fact that he had been assigned to the less challenging human remains in the left section near the TV, whereas Maura was handling the more difficult fragmented bones at the other end of the hall. "I think it is time for you to step back and allow the proper completion of this investigation," he added sardonically just as Sergeant Korsak joined the group.
"Oh, you mean like when you once examined a body on my table and almost sent important evidence to the crematory?" Maura reminded her irksome colleague of his faux-pas during a murder case at the docks a few years ago. "You single-handedly jeopardized the conviction of the actual murderer, who, despite your wild assumptions, turned out to be somebody other than Paddy Doyle."
"Well, are we sure about that?" Pike sniffed a chance to finally gain the upper hand in this ongoing feud. "You went to great lengths to conceal your relationship to that butcher, so who knows? Maybe you are on Paddy Doyle's payroll, too?"
"Just shut it, Pike!" Korsak cut him off and sent him a stare at least as explosive as the fatal Il Camino bomb.
While Pike grudgingly turned away with his tail between his legs and the sergeant made sure that everybody else was getting back to work as well, Maura silently withdrew and staggered back towards the grid of tables and body bags.
When her eyes caught an odd shiny object attached to one of the bags, she stepped closer to inspect it — and instantly wished she had not. A doleful sigh escaped Maura's mouth as she felt Detective Frost's golden badge in her hand.
"Are you alright?" Korsak stepped closer and worriedly studied the blonde at his side.
Maura nodded and tried to repress the gloomy images that the bag with Frost's remains conjured up in her mind, but it was a feeble attempt at best. Feeling bile rise up in her throat, she let go of Frost's badge and turned away.
"Excuse me…," she uttered agitatedly before bolting out of the hall.
For a few moments, Korsak remained behind in silence and let his fingers slide over Frost's badge. His eyelids as heavy as his heart, he heaved a sigh and gently patted the body bag. Once he had regained his composure, he straightened up and left the makeshift morgue to look after Maura.
When he couldn't find the medical examiner in any of the adjacent offices, Korsak eventually headed towards the last place he hadn't checked. As soon as he reached the restrooms, he firmly knocked on the door to announce his presence.
"Anybody in here?"
Assured by the silence he got in response that there wouldn't be any embarrassing encounters, Korsak carefully pushed the door open and peeked inside.
"Doctor Isles?"
Following his investigative instincts, the sergeant entered the restrooms and quickly found his hunch confirmed when he spotted the medical examiner in the third stall, crouched down on the floor and leaning against the open door. Judging from her red eyes, the beads of sweat glinting on her forehead, and the swoosh of the toilet flushing, Maura's sparse lunch had just made its way down the drain.
Korsak quickly grabbed some tissues from the dispenser near the sinks and knelt down next to the blonde.
"I can send for an officer to take you home…" he suggested as he nudged her and handed her the tissues.
"No, I'm fine," Maura objected weakly as she dabbed her face. "I just need a minute…"
"Or two…," Korsak tried to sound as cheerful as possible but quickly switched back to honest concern at the sight of the fragile woman in front of him. "No one would blame you if you took some time off…"
"I'm the Chief Medical Examiner," Maura pointed out. "I can't just take off during a case like this."
Still not convinced, the sergeant resorted to his go-to solution for situations of this kind. "Do you want me to call Jane?"
But while the question would usually draw a happy yes, or a smile of relief, or at least a nod of approval, it only elicited a suppressed sob from the blonde this time.
"What's wrong?" Korsak frowned.
After another sob, Maura helplessly rested her head against the stall's wall. "I think Jane's blaming me…"
The sergeant wrinkled his forehead in confusion. "For what?"
"If I… if I had picked a different route to the restaurant last night, we wouldn't have been late for our meeting with Detective Frost," the medical examiner explained quietly. "And maybe… I don't know… Maybe he'd still be alive…"
"Jane would never blame you for something like that," Korsak objected resolutely.
"Well, she does…," Maura declared.
The sergeant shook his head in disbelief. "Did she say that?"
"She didn't have to," the blonde sighed.
After a moment of silence, Maura's sobs finally subsided and she took a deep breath, though Korsak couldn't tell whether it was out of resignation or out of newly gained determination to go back to work. Either way, he knew this wasn't over. He knew he would probably have to intervene. But he also knew that it would have to wait. Thus, he simply helped her up and insecurely watched as she stumbled to the sink, sprinkled her face with cold water, and shook off her worries. At least on the surface.
"So… what are we going to do about Pike?" he wondered and smirked at the medical examiner. "I don't think anybody would mind if his body suddenly ended up in one of those bags out there…"
"Don't tempt me…," Maura warned, a faint smile playing on her lips as she headed towards Korsak waiting at the door and followed him back outside.
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