Maura has a restless night's sleep. The events of earlier that night keep creeping into her dreams. She hadn't really been able to help the police with a description of the man who had tried to abduct Rosie Darren. He was dressed in dark clothing and had his head fully covered in a ski type mask. She thought he seemed tall but in truth he was hunched over the woman whilst they struggled so she wasn't confident of giving an accurate assessment of his height.
Maura has to drag herself out of bed, she's not sure she's ready or in the mood to face the day ahead. This is further compounded when she's showered and dressed but despite her best efforts she can't hide the blue, green, yellow and purple hues that have formed on her orbicularis oculi. She gives up, wipes the off the excessive eye makeup and makes up her eyes as she would on any other day. When she enters her kitchen for breakfast, Angela is waiting for her.
"Good morning Maura, how are you this morning" Angela frowns when she sees Maura's face.
"I've tried everything Angela and no matter what, I look terrible. How can I go out in public like this" Maura pouts.
"Maura you saved a woman from being attacked; hold you head high sweetheart" Angela says encouragingly. "Here I have fresh coffee for you."
"Thank you."
When they've finished breakfast Angela sets off to the hospital to visit Jane. Maura decides to call by the office and see what's come in. When she arrives she starts to go over things on her desk. She reads a report that's come in on the Jane Doe found floating in the Charles River Basin. Dental records show the deceased is Shannon Margaret O'Reilly. She is thirty-six years old. The victim was dead before entering the water and had died of asphyxiation. She picks up the phone and dials Detective Frost. When he answers she's gives him the victim's identity. She can hear Frost tapping away on his computer before she even completes her sentence. "Oh Detective Frost will you be taking Sergeant Detective Korsack's statement today" Maura asks.
Maura can hear Frost's typing stop before he responds. "No Doctor Isles, the Lieutenant is doing it, I think he's heading over to see Korsack at 11:00am."
Maura thanks Frost and continues to go over reports and messages on her desk. She looks at the toxicology reports that have come back for Lilly Romano and Maria Montenegro. There's a list of unusual chemicals along with the Ibuprofen present in both women's stomachs. Studying them Maura realises she is going to have to do some detailed referencing and chemical analysis to see what each could mean. She starts on this and is working away when she's interrupted by a young courier with the ballistics report. Maura is conscious of him staring at her eye as she signs for the file.
After glancing over the report, Maura checks her watch and decides to head to the hospital. She wants to sit in on Korsack's interview. She's curious to know what he remembers. She slips the relevant pages from the ballistics report into her hand bag.
Maura goes straight to Korsack's room. Cavanaugh is already there when Maura arrives. She knocks and enters. Both men look at Maura and register the nasty bruising around her eye. "Hello Doctor Isles" Cavanaugh welcomes Maura. "I heard about last night, it was a brave thing to do."
"I didn't really have time to think about it Lieutenant." Maura changes the topic, "I was hoping I could sit in on your interview?"
"Hey Doctor Isles" Korsack asks in a strained voice. "What happened?'
Cavanaugh realises Maura's uncomfortable or embarrassed about the black eye so he answers for her. "Doctor Isles stepped in and helped defend a nurse from an assailant last night Vince. From what I hear Rizzoli would be proud!"
"Hey good for you Doc, your first black eye in the line of duty, that's an honour." Korsack smiles as he too senses that Maura is not comfortable being seen with the less than glamorous feature on her face.
Cavanaugh gets back to work, "I was just starting Doc and you're welcome to sit in." He clicks record on the voice tracer. "So Vince what do you recall about the events that led to Shepherd's death and you and Rizzoli being shot?"
"Me and Jane were probably guilty of taking it a bit easy when we approached Shepherd's house. Nothing about the house, the neighborhood or Shepherd's criminal record suggested what he was about to do."
"So you didn't have your guns drawn when you knocked on his door" Cavanaugh continues.
"No."
"So" Cavanaugh pushes. Maura sits quietly although she's anxious.
"I knocked; I was standing on the left of Jane and slightly in front of her. When he opened the door I didn't even see the gun at first. I just felt Rizzoli shoulder charge me and the shot that knocked me off my feet."
"Rizzoli reacted faster than you Vince" Cavanaugh leads.
"Oh yeah, that bullet would have gone straight through my heart if she hadn't tried to push me out of the way. I'd be dead Lieutenant."
"But you drew your gun?"
"I did but Jane had already shot Shepherd. Unfortunately he got a second shot away as he was hit. It was unlucky that it hit Jane."
"Vince I have to ask; Jane's been sick." Maura goes pale when she hears where Cavanaugh goes with the next question. "She'd had a day off, and then she'd gone home early the day before the incident. Are you sure she was in the form to do what you say she did?"
"I know Jane's been sick but I'm telling you Sean, she was amazing. I'd hate to see how fast she wields a gun when she's fully fit."
Maura has to test Korsack; she needs to know he's not covering for Jane. "That's funny Sergeant Detective Korsack because I have the ballistics and the bullet that killed Shepherd came from your gun."
"No way Doc, there's been a mistake!"
"Sergeant, Jane can't remember anything after approaching the house. She has no recollection of the shootings. She is however feeling enormous guilt that her being sick endangered you both" Maura explains. "Is it possible that you would cover for her?"
"You know what Doc, if Jane had stuffed up; yes I would probably cover for her. I'm telling you I don't have to. Double check your findings; please! Jane might be feeling guilt for being sick and not being able to remember what happened but I'm telling you categorically she saved my life. You need to re run your tests because Jane and I both fired a single shot and I did not hit Shepherd."
"Is there any chance that you're protecting Jane and that you in fact fired her weapon?" Cavanaugh watches Maura with curiosity as she takes over the interview. He's interested to see where she's going.
Korsack pulls away the shoulder of his hospital gown and his left shoulder shows heavy bruising. "This is how hard Jane pushed me into the door frame Doc. As I fell from the shot that hit me I pulled my gun and fired, but I'm telling you Jane had already shot him by then. He fired another shot while falling backwards. That's the shot that clipped Jane's head. Honest!"
"Thank you Sergeant Detective Korsack, I'm sorry, I needed to be sure you were telling the truth; for Jane's sake." Maura turns to Cavanaugh, "Jane is very sick Lieutenant and probably should not have been working this case." She looks at Korsack and smiles. "The bullet that killed Shepherd came from Jane's gun. For Jane's sake I needed absolute certainty it was Jane that pulled the trigger. I'm satisfied, I hope you are." She takes the ballistic report out of her handbag and gives it to Cavanaugh.
"Doc, tell Jane she saved my life" Korsack looks at Maura; he now understands why she had pushed him so hard. "I'm not covering for her. If she wasn't as good a cop as she is, even when she's sick, we'd probably both be dead."
Maura smiles at Korsack, she nods at him and the Lieutenant as she leaves. She heads straight to see Jane. She's expecting to see Angela as well when she walks in but Jane's alone. She is sitting up and has a hospital meal in front of her. "Well, look at you" Maura smiles, "where's Angela?"
"She's gone to wor… Holy crap Maura, what the hell happened" Jane can't hide the concern in her voice.
"Didn't Angela tell you?"
"Tell me what; all she wanted to talk about was some guy name Jack. What happened, are you alright?"
"Ah Jack, yes your mother was quite excited about the handsome gentlemen caller you nearly had last night" Maura smiles.
"Maura" Jane growls at her friend.
Maura sits on Jane's bed and goes to take one of the hospital sandwiches; after she takes a closer look she changes her mind. "Actually Jane, I'll tell you everything because I need your help but first I want to tell you about what happened to you and Korsack."
Jane leans back with a look of dread on her face. "Do I want to know?"
Maura smiles, "yes, yes you do! You were apparently unbelievable. You were behind Korsack when you saw the gun. You pushed him out of the way and shot Shepherd. As Shepherd recoiled from being shot by you he got the shot away that hit your forehead."
"Are you sure Korsack's not just saying that Maura?"
"I'm ninety-nine point nine percent certain. May I?" Maura peals the dressing back from Jane's forehead. She takes a close look at the wound. She can see that the bullet tracked across her skin. It's why it didn't pierce her skull and penetrate her brain. "I'm now one hundred percent certain Jane. Your wound is consistent with Shepherd falling backwards with his weapon moving in an upwards direction as he fired at you."
"How does that prove anything, Korsack could have still fired the shot and is covering for me" Jane's not convinced.
"The bullet that killed Shepherd is from your gun. Korsack has the bruises on his good side to show you pushed him out of the way with amazing force. He asked me to thank you for saving his life. Oh and his interview has been recorded and you can listen to it later if you still need convincing."
Jane smiles "so my hands didn't fail me?"
Maura gets serious "not this time Jane, but we still have to find out what's going on and get them fixed. OK?"
Jane nods. "So Maura I can't stand seeing you with a nasty black eye without knowing what happened. Talk girlfriend!"
Maura gets sheepish, "you're going to laugh at me."
Jane smiles "really?"
"When I left the hospital last night I saw a woman being abducted by a man. I didn't even think Jane. I screamed for help as loud as I could and ran over and hit him over the head with my Birkin Bag." Jane coughs to mask her laughter.
Maura gets animated "see I told you you'd laugh at me. Remember you once said they only way I could ever protect anyone was to hit them over the head with my Birkin Bag; well you were right."
"I'm sorry Maura I shouldn't have laughed, it's just I can so picture you doing that. Did he hit you?"
"Yes, thank heavens some hospital staff came to our aid when I screamed or who knows what might have happened. He knocked me off my feet when he hit me Jane."
"Is the other lady OK" Jane asks. Maura nods. "Well then I would say you're a hero Maura. It takes a lot of guts to do what you did and you just might have saved that woman's life."
"I actually feel rather silly and as for the bruising on my orbicularis oculi, I've never been so embarrassed."
"No come on Maura don't be so hard on yourself."
"Jane I need your help" Maura asks.
"What's up" Jane looks at Maura waiting for more information.
"Jane, Rosie Darren, the woman who was nearly abducted last night was mid thirties, tall and lean with brown eyes and long dark hair."
"So" Jane looks at Maura waiting for further clarification.
"Jane that bullet must have bruised your temporal lobe because your memory is terrible. Our case; the rape murderer, he's targeting women who fit the description of Rosie Darren."
"Oh" Jane catches on. "My God Maura, you think the attacker was our man?"
"Yes Jane I do; what do I do now? I didn't say anything to the police that interviewed me last night. I don't want this case handed over to another team."
"I see what you mean" Jane knows the other teams don't like involving Maura in the police work. Jane thinks they're idiots. "But Maura with Korsack and me in hospital do you really think Frost and Cooper are up to the job?"
"I thought you could help me help them. What should I get them to do next?"
"Oh OK. The hospital car park has to have video surveillance. Get Frost to subpoena the tapes for yesterday. You and he will need to scan the video to see if you can pick him out. Remember he probably got their well before the attack so get Frost to go back a good couple of hours from when you show up on their tapes."
"Good idea Jane let me call Frost." When Maura has Frost on the task she looks back at Jane. "I also have the victim's stomach analysis. There are a number of very unusual chemical substances. I need to look at whether any of the various combinations could act together as a poison strong enough to have killed our victims without showing up in the toxicology reports."
"Sounds heavy Maura, better you than me" Jane looks at her friend. Jane can see the terrible strain Maura's been under. She's impressed with how well she is holding up and handling everything.
"You're looking a lot better Jane" Maura reaches out and touches Jane's forehead.
Jane pulls back "Maura what are you doing?"
"Oh you are feeling better" Maura smiles "I'm sorry I didn't mean to invade your space Jane I was just checking your fever."
"Oh, oh I'm sorry Maura. Yeah I think the fever's broken. The Dr. is talking about letting me go home tonight. He just wants to run one more test." Jane smiles and claps her hands together. "Hopefully I'll be back on the case tomorrow."
Maura frowns at Jane. She might be able to go home tonight but Maura doesn't expect she'll be given medical clearance to work any time soon. What's more, until Maura knows what's going on with her hands she doesn't want Jane in any situation like she and Korsack just faced. However she decides to leave that conversation alone for now. "So Jane do you know who it was that was talking to your mother last night? Is there a new flame on the horizon you haven't told me about" Maura smiles.
"No, Ma's got me stumped. Tall, fair-haired and handsome. She says he has a drop dead gorgeous smile and his name is Jack; I have no idea who it could be!"
Maura finds that disconcerting "hmm; well whoever it is Jane he's been inside your apartment. He says that's how he recognised Angela; from a photo you had there."
"Hmm" Jane also gets pensive. "Yeah that's a little weird isn't it?"