Disclaimer: I do not own CSI:NY nor any of its characters.

A/N: Hope you enjoy.

December the 16th

Danny had left, just turned around and left the lab, without looking back.

Long after the printer had stopped Lindsay finally noticed the silence. Danny's voice echoing in her mind made her hesitate, giving her an ominous feeling of dread. After another minute she managed to pull herself together, went over to the printer, quickly grabbed the piece of paper and stared at the two words printed in bold, red, clear-cut letters. Her quivering hands convulsively held the sheet, and she chuckled, surprised at the gurgling, queer sound that left her throat.

At the same time she noticed a vapid taste in her mouth and for a moment she was sure either the revulsion would make her vomit or she would have to scream. There was a constant pulsing somewhere in her ear and only after a while did she realize it was her heart she heard pounding.

No match, she read silently.

The fingerprints from the file from Texas they had sent this morning and the fingerprints Sid had taken from Parker's dead body simply didn't match.

She repeated the two words to herself, well aware of the unspeakable menace they implied, and suddenly it was all clear to her, as though someone had unveiled the simple answer, the demure obvious answer that she saw now openly displayed in her minds eye. There was no decision she had to take, no option, no alternative. Now there she was again. But life had taught her a lesson and this time she wasn't going to ignore it.

The air in the lab was stuffy and only a few bright sunrays served as witnesses when Lindsay Monroe broke a rule for the first time in her life. Furtively she took a look around, making sure she was all alone and that there was no one about to enter. She deliberately took another glance at the sheet, then rashly tore it apart and threw the crumpled pieces into the trash can.

-------

There was another meeting in Mac's office, another occasion that forced the team to face the fact that they had literally nothing they could call a theory or even an idea about the motive of the crime.

'So you talked to his parents?,' Mac finally started off in a more than weary tone.

'Yeah, just an hour ago. Two very polite and friendly folks, willingly answered all our questions,' Flack replied, then gave Jessica a sign to go on.

'Well, just not to keep you in suspense, we got nothing,' she uttered briskly. 'As Flack has already mentioned, they seemed both real nice, they told us a lot about their son, the charge, his death,' at that point she stopped for a moment, and then continued adding a distinctly fierce tone to her voice. 'They were absolutely convinced he was innocent, and obviously Jason himself claimed his innocence up to his death.'

Though Jess tried to stay as impassive as possible her indignation couldn't be overheard. Yet ignoring her anger Mac straightened up in his seat and asked the one decisive question left on their to-do-list.

'You guys got the impression they'd be able to commit such a crime? Disgrace their own son's body in the way it happened to Jason Parker?'

'Well, at least they'd have a motive, right? I mean..,' Flack said but was interrupted by Jess who had turned towards him, her arms folded, a flash of rage flaring in her eyes.

'You can't be serious, can you? Do you honestly think they'd be capable of doing it? Seriously?,' she snapped at him while gesturing furiously.

'I didn't say that! I just … I just assume that as they emphasized that they were convinced of his innocence that might be a motive, that's all I say. Maybe they wanted to draw people's attention to the unfair verdict, maybe all this is just an act of helplessness, maybe ...'

All eyes were focussed on Jess, who was panting for air. 'Come on! You saw them, you talked to them! I don't believe it.'

'I just think they might have a motive.'

'Do you have any knowledge of human nature at all?'

'I'm sorry, Jess, but looking at the facts it's obvious that …'

Mac deliberately cleared his throat. 'Alibi?,' he roared. Stella smirked sheepishly.

After another defiant look in Flack's direction Jessica sighed heavily and then informed the others about the Parker's habit of spending every other night at their local Country Club since their son's death.

'So, why not check that?'

'Sure, Mac, first thing,' Flack affirmed.

At that moment Lindsay entered the office, atypically late. 'Sorry guys. What have I missed?'

'Absolutely nothing. What about that file from Texas?,' Mac asked hopefully.

'Either it got lost on the way or it's still on the desk of some incapable secretary down there,' Lindsay replied impassively, stealing a glance of Danny who yet refused returning her look, unremittingly staring at the bare glass desk in front of him.

'Now that's what I call progress,' Mac hissed flashing a frown at his co-workers. 'We're doing all we can and still we got nothing. No motive, no suspects, no evidence, no nothing.'

Stella gave him a pat on the back. They all hated it, that tense feeling, the growing pressure, those question marks swinging above their heads, intoxicating the air. There was someone out their derisively playing tricks on them, always one step ahead, arbitrarily moving counters in a board-game they didn't know.

The following silence gave Lindsay the opportunity to observe the indifferent, aimless expression in Danny's face, his empty view. Then she let her gaze wander on to Flack, Jess, Mac. How well she knew this phase that every investigation headed up to under compulsion, after you had worked through one or two nights, all your thoughts circling around that one unknown face your were chasing, and all your work had led up to nothing. However, she was aware of her co-workers' strong will and determination, and apart from that she knew Stella's ability to motivate anyone to do anything, to awaken a sense of energy and spirit where there was nothing but weariness.

Eventually, Stella got up. 'No, come on guys, as long as there's no other murder we're all gonna fix our eyes on exactly this case. It's not even murder, it's worse, cause it's a sign we haven't managed to decode yet. Someone wants to tell us something, and the truth is that we don't have the faintest idea what it is. But there's something behind all this, there's something …' She stopped, sighed, unable to put into words that muffled uneasiness each of them sensed.

And so did Lindsay, yet did she know so much more about the fountain of that certain uneasiness, although she couldn't quite grasp it yet. She knew that Jason Parker had been innocent, she knew that the sign Stella had mentioned was meant for her, she knew that she had to work this out on her own if she wanted to prevent any harm. Any further harm to someone she loved.

She couldn't help looking at him again, the blond hair, the prominent tendon on the back of his right hand, a clenched fist.

----

Hidden in the twilight he sat, huddled in his armchair like a little kid, his gaze focussed on her photo. Maybe he should finally hit the road, or did he have the force to fight the savage impatience for another minute?