In all her years of working as a Medical Examiner for Miami-Dade Country, Alexx Woods had seen many gruesome things; stabbings, gunshots, dog attacks, everything anyone could imagine, and even some even she couldn't imagine. But this was by far one of the most violent stabbing victims she'd ever seen to.

"Poor baby girl. Whatever life you had, you didn't deserve this." Alexx said, gently stroking the victims cheek.

"I'm sure Maggie would agree with you Alexx." Horatio said, entering the morgue.

"Is that her name?" Alexx asked.

"Margret Johnson. She's originally from New Jersey." Horatio said. "She's also seventeen."

"Seventeen and working at a strip club? How in the world did she manage to get a job at a strip club?" Alexx asked.

"I intend to ask the owner." Horatio answered. "Cause of death?"

"Exsanguination, just as I thought. The blade entered her upper chest cavity and nicked the pulmonary artery. The killer also hit the splenic artery. There was much this guy didn't hit. Lungs, intestines, liver, the guy hit it all. Death was within minutes." Alexx explained. "I put time of death between four and five this morning. Bruising on her wrists confirm she was tied to the pole when the stabbing took place. Combination of nicked arteries and gravity."

Horatio nodded. "That corresponds with our witnesses' statement."

"Eric's sister, right?" Alexx asked.

"Yes. Have you run a sex kit yet?" Horatio replied.

"Sure did." Alexx turned from the exam table to her notes. "I found vaginal bruising and semen in poor Maggie. It's already on its way back to DNA."

"Did you find any trace?" Horatio asked.

"Surprisingly not in her fingernails. This girl has the cleanest fingernails I've ever seen." Alexx answered. She held up Maggie's right hand, showing the clean nail beds. "Course with her job I'm not surprised. But I did find some in her hair."

"It also means the ropes probably kept her from fighting back." Horatio said.

"This guys a piece of work Horatio. Eight stab wounds to this poor girl." Alexx said. "How's Marisol doing?"

"She's shaken up." Horatio said.

Alexx titled her head, watching Horatio. "Horatio? Is something wrong?"

"What do you mean?" Horatio asked.

"Well don't get me wrong, finding a seventeen year old girl stabbed to death is definitely mood changer, but you a little more cheerful before you talked to Marisol this morning." Alexx explained.

Horatio smiled to himself. Alexx always had a keen eye for details, even the tiniest ones. "I met Marisol at a coffee shop yesterday."

Alexx's brows rose. "Really?"

"I asked her to dinner." Horatio explained.

"And now with the case she could be a suspect." Alexx finished.

Horatio shook his head. "Is isn't that, Alexx."

"What is it then? Don't tell me it's because she works at a strip club." Alexx said.

"I honestly don't know."

Natalia was shut up in DNA, bent over the computer. Her brown hair was pulled up into a loose braid behind her head. Her fingers worked double time against the keyboard. This didn't make any sense. Natalia shook her head.

"This is unbelievable." Eric said entering the lab.

"You can say that again." Natalia replied, still typing.

"How could she do that? Her firm is closing down and she starts working at a strip club. Why wouldn't she tell us?" Eric asked.

"The semen Alexx pulled form out victims isn't just one sample. There are two DNA profiles in our victim." Natalia explained.

"I mean, I'm her brother. Why wouldn't she let me know she was in trouble?" Eric raved, pacing through the lab.

"The problem is that the two samples combines so it's going to take forever to separate the samples to get a correct profile on them." Natalia continued.

"What the hell was she thinking?" Eric asked.

"She was probably thinking how her family would react." Natalia answered, looking up from the computer.

Eric turned. "What do you mean?"

"Think about how you're acting right now, Eric. This is probably why she didn't tell you." Natalia explained. "Do you have any idea how much stress is on her, being your older sister. She has to set the example, even now. What kind of example is she setting by letting her family know she's losing one job and working at a sleazy one until she can find something else? God knows I wouldn't let my family find out."

Eric thought for a moment.

"Believe it or not, Eric, she was thinking about you guys when she decided not to tell you. Take it easy on her." Natalia said.

Eric sighed and nodded. "You're probably right. So, what's with the DNA?"

"We have two contributors. Problem is, I can't get a complete profile until both contributions are separate through the system. It's gonna put DNA back at least an hour." Natalia explained.

"But that does give us at least two count of statutory rape charges ready." Eric replied.

Natalia nodded. "Thank god for that. I still can't believe out victim was seventeen. I mean, how did her boss not know her age?"

"Fake I.D. maybe." Eric said. "What about the blood on Marisol's dress? Anything that might be from the killers?"

"No. I ran all the samples from her dress. It's all the vics blood." Natalia answered.

"Well it's a start. I'm gonna go interview the owner with Tripp. Get some answers about our vic." Eric explained.

"Oh, let me know how that goes." Natalia joked.

Eric smirked as he walked out of the lab.

thought eric having a little breakdown about marisol was called for.