Disclaimer: I don't own CSI: NY.
Series: None.
Spoilers: City of the Dolls. Dialogue in bold was taken straight from the episode.

Chapter Eleven – City of the Dolls

It was sod's law, really, that Jess's car would fail to start on the one night it started snowing, and that Don didn't work late, and that her only hopes for a ride home were men who would take it as an invitation.

But there was little she could do about it except do her jacket up tightly and start walking. It wasn't that bad, actually; she always loved the way the city looked when it snowed and, given the late hour, the snow was relatively undisturbed in the street she was walking.

She could have called Don and asked for a ride, but the weather wasn't that harsh and she didn't live that far away, so she kept going, her breath condensing into smoky patterns in front of her.

Jess had only been walking about ten minutes when a teenage boy emerged from a nearby store with a yell, almost colliding with her. In the split-second it took her to catch her balance, she noticed the shimmering red on his hands and caught his arm. "Hey! NYPD!"

"I didn't do it!" He babbled. "I swear, I just went in to hide … we were throwing snowballs … this guy started chasing me … the door was open, I swear …"

"Calm down." Jess guided him back towards the door, but he resisted.

"No! I can't go back in there … I think he's dead!"

"Alright." Jess soothed, pulling out her notepad and a pen. "Wait here then. I want you to write down everything that happened and your name, address and phone number. Then you can go home, okay?"

He nodded shakily. "Okay."

Pushing the door to the dingy store open, Jess pulled her sidearm from its holster. "Hello? NYPD!"

There was silence. Everywhere she looked, dolls hung from the ceiling and on shelves. Jess pulled out her flashlight as well and scanned the floor, finding what the boy had discovered; a man lying dead in a pile of dolls, his eyes wide and unseeing. Carefully, not wanting to disturb the scene any more, she checked the man's pulse and then shone her light into his eyes.

Nothing.

She looked around, but there was no sign of life, no indication of anyone else. The beam of light moved up over the walls and to the windows at the top of the stairs and she smirked triumphantly, finding what she'd expected to; two sills of undisturbed snow and one with a gap.

Someone climbed through that window.

She ducked back out into the street and took her notepad back. "You see anyone leaving?"

He shook his head. "No. I was looking behind me."

"Okay, thanks. Oh, and quit putting rocks in the middle of snowballs." She added, not waiting around to see the shock on his face.

As soon as he'd left, Jess pulled her radio out, peering up at the store sign. "Central, this is Detective Angell. I got a DOA at NYC Premiere Doll Hospital. White male, approximately 35 years old. I need the coroner and Crime Scene Unit."

"Copy that, Detective."

Jess sighed, turning her radio off, flipping to the next page of her notepad, jotting down her observations about the window and the snow. She could remember it easily, but she had to follow protocol.

As sirens neared, she moved over to the office, keeping a hand on her weapon just in case. It didn't take her long to find a photo ID, by which time two uniformed officers had joined her and roped off the crime scene.

By the time the CSIs got there, Jess was ready for them.

"Now this is spooky." Danny commented, looking around. "I lived here my whole life; never knew a place like this existed."

"Never broke an arm off your GI Joe?" Jess teased

Danny chuckled. "Yeah, but I did it on purpose. Casualty of war." He grinned at her. "What about you?"

Jess rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Messer; I seem like the doll type?"

"Now that you mention it …" Danny began.

Mac interrupted him. "Who's our vic?"

"Russell McCauley." Jess answered. "He owns all of this. Kid literally stumbled onto him and ran into me. I took his statement and sent him home."

Danny crouched beside the body, examining the injury. "Somebody sliced his hand good."

Mac joined him. "Sliced right through the radial artery."

"Got something here." Danny pulled out a pair of tweezers and gently tugged something from the wound.

"Arterial spray." Mac commented, now shining his flashlight on the wall. "He was cut there. Direction of the blood pattern says he stumbled back to here, grabbed for the shelves and it all came tumbling down. More than likely died of shock before he completely bled out."

Danny straightened up. "Why kill this guy?"

"Doesn't appear to be a robbery." Jess told them. "Cash is still in the register. None of the dolls are missing, as far as we can tell. But check this out." She pointed up to the window. "See it?"

"Middle window." Mac nodded. "The snow's disturbed. Someone climbed in."

"How?" Danny asked. "Unless there's a fire escape."

"It'll come to me." Jess assured him. "Lindsay told me about this case, but it's late; just give me time to work it through."

Mac turned his attention back to the body. "Left hand is clenched, holding on tight."

"Cadaveric spasm." Danny concluded. "Quick and extreme rigor."

Mac carefully pried Russell's fingers open, pulling the doll away. "Something about this little doll was worth dying for."

"Secret Sophie." Jess concluded.

"Excuse me?" Danny asked.

"I got one for my niece." Jess explained.

"How old is she?" Mac asked.

"Well, she's one right now." Jess admitted. "I got her one for her fourth birthday. What's special about this particular doll is that it records a secret. Hence the name."

"So maybe the secret Sophie was keeping was enough to kill over." Danny suggested.

"Here." Jess took Sophie and pressed her hand. The doll's mouth moved but nothing happened. "She's broken."

"Oh God!" A distraught female voice cried from the door and all three looked up to see a young brunette woman in a nurse's uniform standing in the doorway.

One of the uniforms caught her as her knees buckled and Jess hurried to her side, leading her into the office and out of sight of the body.

"Virginia Felton?" Jess guessed.

She nodded shakily, sinking onto one of the stairs leading up to the mezzanine. "When the officer told me something had happened … I had no idea …"

Jess handed her a tissue, smiling gratefully at Lindsay who had arrived with cups of coffee, one of which she set on a filing cabinet for her.

"Miss Felton, when did you last see Mr. McCauley?" Jess asked.

"Six o'clock." Virginia answered. "That's when we close. Dr. McCauley usually stays after hours. Mostly to catch up on paperwork."

Jess raised an eyebrow. "Doctor?"

"We try to make it like a real hospital." Virginia explained. "We have admission and release forms … visiting hours … it's for the kids. When we drop off their broken dolls, we want them to feel like we'll take good care of them."

"Was there anything special about the Secret Sophie doll?" Danny asked, gesturing to the doll Mac was slipping into an evidence bag.

"She was admitted yesterday afternoon. I believe the doctor repaired her." Virginia told them, causing Jess and Danny to exchange a loaded glance. "I can get you the paperwork, Detective."

Jess stopped her. "Miss Felton, can you think of any reason why someone would wanna kill Dr. McCauley."

Virginia shook her head. "No."

"Any disgruntled customers?" Danny prompted. "Former employees? Maybe he was having problems at home with the family? The smallest thing could help."

Virginia thought for a minute. "One lady returned her antique doll several times; said she was unsatisfied with the work. But that was months ago. More recently the doctor filed a complained with WorldSend."

"The parcel delivery service?" Jess asked, suddenly remembering something else.

"Some of the dolls we repair come from out of state." Virginia explained. "We carefully package them and send them back, but … lately we've been getting calls that items inside were broken."

Jess nodded. "Was Mr. McCauley married or in a relationship?"

"Hopelessly single." Virginia answered. "Although there were a lot of women in his life."

"Were you one of them?" Jess asked sympathetically.

"No." Virginia smiled sadly. "I wasn't that lucky. Excuse me."

"We need to find that WorldSend driver." Jess stated as she left.

"You think it was them?" Danny asked.

"No." Jess admitted. "But I think the van's important."

"Are we sure the doll was repaired?" Lindsay asked.

Jess flicked through the paperwork. "Uh huh. And, according the phone records, Mr. McCauley called Monica Drake – the woman who admitted her – last night, presumably to tell her the doll was ready."

"Are you assuming or do you know?" Danny asked.

Jess smiled. "Come on, Danny; I can't lead you. I can guide you, but not lead you. Work with me."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Alright, if you're gonna be awkward about it."

"I'll see if I can fix this." Lindsay decided. "Jess, Aiden's waving at you."

"Thanks." Jess jogged over. "What's up?"

"Cancer." Aiden stated, earning a slightly worried look in return. "Not me." She added hastily. "Our vic. She had terminal cancer and someone killed her."

"Next door neighbour." Jess murmured, remembering Don's anger-fuelled explanation after the death of a young man had been put down to natural causes and she'd commented that they probably should have known. "Wanted a nursery."

Aiden made a soft noise of disgust. "Some people will do anything."

"I know." Jess agreed, as her phone went off. "Angell. Have you?" She pulled her notepad out and took the pen Aiden offered her. "Rhonda Chavez, got it. Have her meet us outside the Doll Hospital. Thanks, Turner." She hung up and hooked her phone back onto her belt. "Hey, Messer! We gotta go!"

"This is where I park." Rhonda told them. "Enough room for unloading and reloading."

"What are you thinking, Angell?" Danny asked.

"I'm thinking …" Jess put her foot on the top of the truck's front wheel and pulled herself up, using the dumpster for leverage. "I'm thinking it's possible. And …" She jumped down again. "I see trace."

Danny peered up. "So do I." He handed her an evidence bag. "Since you're so good at this, why don't you go get it?"

Jess rolled her eyes and climbed back up. "I think you're doing this just to stare at my ass."

"You got me." Danny grinned. "Don't tell Flack."

"You …" Jess managed to brush the trace into the bag "… are unbelievable."

"True." Danny agreed, taking the bag. "What is this?"

"Looks like powder from a cast." Jess commented.

"We know anyone who's got a broken arm?" Danny asked. "Couldn't be a leg if they climbed up there."

"No." Jess checked her notes. "But we might wanna have a chat with Monica Drake."

"Okay." Danny agreed, taking a careful look around to make sure they hadn't missed anything, before thanking Rhonda for letting them borrow her van.

"We can pick up Lindsay on the way." Jess suggested, leading the way back to the squad car.

"Will it really take three of us to interview this woman?" Danny asked sceptically.

"Probably not." Jess admitted. "Alright, then drop me off at the lab and pick Lindsay up." She shrugged. "She told me about this case; I got the impression she really enjoyed it."

Danny turned to her and stared at her for a few minutes, arms folded across his chest. "You know what, Angell? I think you've got an ulterior motive."

Jess rolled her eyes. "And to think I once wondered how you became a CSI."

AN: No, I didn't rewrite the whole episode. Because once they saw the student helping Monica Drake with a cast on his arm, it was all over. Also, I know there's no Flack/Angell interaction here, but it'll be back, I promise! As always, review please, and I need ideas for Jamalot!

Oh, and I've got a little plot bunny brewing so I'll ask you lot: At some point, if Jess were to make a mistake and Don were to get hurt (I'm thinking specifically COTP), would you prefer:

a) They work through it,

b) He wakes up with the same knowledge she has,

or c) He wakes up having fallen back in time from Vacation Getaway and has spent the last year thinking she's dead.

Obviously with the last two, there'd need to be a lot of artistic license and a few plot-holes because otherwise I'd end up confusing myself as well as you lot. So I'm leaving this one up to you.