Chapter 5

Jane felt her cheeks burn as she sat up, her eyes still heavy from sleep, and pulled on her boots. Maura looked very dishevelled: her hair stuck up in various locations, her designer blouse was creased, and she'd somehow managed to ladder her flesh-coloured tights.

Poole stood looking at them. He was clearly trying his best not to laugh, but his raised eyebrows and his smirk just radiated smugness and I-know-what-you've-been-up-to.

The way she figured, Jane would never live this one down. She'd have detective Crowe pulling stunts for the next month, not to mention rumours and whispers, and the more Jane denied it, the more they'd disbelieve her. She could not win. First, it was homicide detective and chief medical examiner catfights, now it'd be homicide detective and chief medical examiner 'sexual relations.' When there hadn't even been any. Jane could see that she was just going to get frustrated. Very quickly.

"Guess we fell asleep..." Maura said, looking very surprised at the outcome.

"No kidding," Jane replied sarcastically.

Poole still did not say anything, and this worried Jane. "What, no jokes to crack? I thought all jerks like you made fun of whatever you saw. Last I heard, the full story doesn't matter," she tried to get him to ask for the full story. Hoped she could persuade him she was straight. She already knew he wouldn't buy it, though.

"Oh, I think I have the full story," he said at last, fighting laughter so hard his Adam 's apple bobbed.

"Yeah, you would, wouldn't you? I'm not sleeping with my best friend – that's what you think, isn't it?" Jane ground her teeth together. Why did he have to find them? Frost wouldn't have made a big deal out of it. Hell, even Korsak would probably let them off the hook after a few meaningless jokes.

I will never hear the end of this, Jane thought.

"Jane," Maura said quietly. When Jane looked up, Maura tipped her head towards the door. Time for a quick escape. Jane agreed.

They marched out of Maura's office, Jane sending Poole a look of poison the whole way. Maura went to push open the bathroom door, but Jane pulled on her elbow and just steered her to the loading bay, knowing that her unmarked was closer because Frost had parked in front of her. She thanked him silently.

Jane definitely hit a few traffic violations on the way and Maura looked scared out of her skin by the time they finally reached Jane's apartment. "No, I'm not wearing your clothes," Maura said unapologetically, remembering the blandness of Jane's closet.

"Relax, you left some dress here last time we met for a run, remember?"

"Yes! The Donna Karan! Oh, that's good," Maura sounded very relieved.

Jane looked at Maura. "Really?"

Maura smiled as they entered the building. Maura showered first while Jane whipped up some eggs, hoping not to spend too long here as Poole had only found them half an hour before Jane's shift, but she had worked late last night, so she had a feeling Cavanaugh would let her off. As she thought once again about falling asleep beside Maura, she dropped her forehead into her hand and rubbed her brow bones. And Poole? Really? Already she felt stuck in a rut, hating the same aspects of it. Mostly hating Poole.

"Is that for me?" Maura said, emerging from the hall looking ready for a photo shoot. She seemed unfazed by everything. "Good job I left this here," she said.

"Sure is," Jane said without inflection.

"Jane, are you okay?" Maura asked, though her tone suggested that she knew how much Jane was going to suffer for this.

"This is going to be a bitch," Jane said, already resigned to the fact.

"I'm sorry, Jane."

"No, it's okay. How much worse could it possibly be?"

Maura pressed her lips together. She really didn't want to answer that question.

Jane showered and let the hot water unknot her muscles, aching from Maura's awful couch. She stood there for a little while, just soaking in water and steam and the scent of lavender soap before she climbed out and dressed in a turquoise T-Shirt and grey pants. The sun seemed less shy today, so she stuffed her jacket into her bag, knowing it would probably just sit under her desk unworn.

"Are you ready?" Jane asked as she stepped into the living room and started for her boots.

"Sure," Maura said, leaving her plate in the sink. "Do you mind if I leave my other dress here? It seems to me a good idea. Just wash it at eighty, please; I don't want it to shrink."

"Yes, mother, can we go now?" Jane complained and Maura smiled and shook her head.

They arrived back at the precinct just twenty minutes into Jane's working day, and Jane's stomach churned when she thought about what Poole could have said by now. She could predict that he and Crowe would probably have hit it off anyway, and now they'd have something to join forces over.

Maura headed straight to the basement and Jane climbed the stairs to the homicide office, where Frost and Korsak were looking at credit reports. They each had a coffee and had put one out for her, too. "Thanks, guys," she said in greeting. She hoped to determine what they'd heard from their initial reaction to her.

"Hey, Jane, look at this," Korsak said and pointed over Frost's shoulder at the computer screen. Numbers scrolled up in a long list of various transactions over the last twelve months. "What am I supposed to be looking at?" Jane asked, seeing nothing anomalous.

Frost clicked on a row and highlighted it. "Bingo," Frost said.

"Yahtzee," Jane responded. Frost shook his head with a look of disappointment and Korsak laughed. Jane smiled.

The transaction showed an influx of cash, nine-thousand five-hundred dollars. "That seems pretty specific," Frost said.

"Sure, they only have to report it if it's over ten grand. Do the others have it?"

"Boop, boop," Frost indicated two other windows triumphantly and pointed out the same figures entering two accounts on the same day.

"Wait, you identified John Doe?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Korsak said. "It was Frost's idea."

"I'm just on a roll today," Frost said with his joke narcissism. Jane elbowed him so he would explain. "We e-mailed all the banks in a ten-mile radius from where John Doe was found and asked them if they had any ninety-five hundred cash payments. Five got back to us with footage, and here he is, in a bank not ten minutes from where his body was found."

"Huh," Jane said, thinking that that seemed kind of lucky. "Did you see the others?"

"No, but remember they were found in different areas," Korsak said.

Jane suddenly realised what was missing. "Where's Poole, shouldn't he be butting in?" she asked bitterly.

"Last I saw he was headed down to see Maura, before shift," Frost said.

"Why were you here early?"

"I was just awake. Figured I'd contact the banks early."

Jane sat at her desk and reviewed the camera footage that had been sent to them, spotting John Doe – or Will Robinson – in a bland, grey lobby. All the transactions had been made in cash on the same day for the same amount, and it was clear to Jane that it all had to be connected. The three men had been working together. Some illegal business: racketeering, or maybe drug distribution. But then that did not fir the character profile. An esteemed professor, a high-earning lawyer and a storage-wharf worker – what could they possibly be into together? Each must have something the other needed, or things wouldn't work out. Perhaps there was a fourth party, and he killed his partners. Or maybe there was an unhappy customer who lashed out, or a stranger who'd been conned.

"We need something else – we can't even confirm a motive at this point," Jane said.

"Maybe we could subpoena their mail, or something?" Frost suggested.

"Naw, no-one sends letters anymore," Korsak shot down the idea.

"Well, phone records, at least," Jane said.

"Yeah, we're just waiting on Robinson's at the moment, we only filed for it a half hour ago."

Jane sat quietly a little while longer, rubbing her hands.

"Stop that," Korsak said and very gently pulled her right hand away from the other one.

Jane smiled sadly up at him, his face very stoic. She put her hands palm-down on the desk to show she wouldn't do it again. The skin around her scars had gone a little pink.

"Okay, then, I'll..." Jane thought about how she could occupy her mind. At last, she sighed. "I guess I'll go see Maura," she decided.

She prayed that Poole was gone already.