Following a hunch
Jane's viewpoint
Something had been bothering me for a while, tickling at the back of my brain for the last two days. It was my cop instincts telling me I was missing something. I looked across the squad room, staring for the millionth time at the line of six photos across the murder wall.
I stood up and walked across to look at the photos and the names underneath them.
Marianella Chiarino, an actress;
Virginia Tennant, cable television personality;
Crystal Williams, a model;
Shannelle Henning, a dancer;
Iris Park AKA Tiffani Tang, a porn star; and finally
Kelly Connolly, a singer.
I prowled back and forwards along the line, trying to connect the dots, wondering what they had in common. I noticed that several of the guys were watching me pace.
"What're you thinking Rizzoli" It was Provenza, looking at me from where he had spun his chair to watch me.
"Damned if I know. Something ties all of these people together. There must be something"
"You mean besides all being dead?" It sounded callous but it wasn't, we all coped in different ways and Provenza had seen more than most in a very long career.
"Yeah"
"They're all women in their mid-twenties to early-thirties, in the entertainment industry" It was Tao.
"They're all hot" That was Sanchez; it figured.
"So our killer is targeting attractive female entertainers, doesn't mean they knew each other" Flynn was standing in the doorway working on a coffee. "For all we know they're chosen at random" I shook my head.
"No, from what Ana was saying, snipers are methodical types. All these women fit a pattern" As I paced I saw the Chief had wandered out and was leaning in the door of her office as I continued.
"It can't just be the fact that their good looking. It's LA, this place is full of them, it's practically the main industry here; hell, the place is full of plastic surgeons for a reason" There was a snicker of laughter.
"Besides, the sniper had to be waiting for our victims; they had to know where they lived and their phone numbers. They had to wait for them to show up and then stand still long enough to get a shot off" Gabriel nodded from where he had been sitting.
"Rizzoli's right, there has to be something we're not seeing that ties them together"
I heard the clicking of heels approaching and looked up, wondering if it would be Maura, Natalie, Ana or Sharon coming down the hall. Natalie came into view, smiling a little uncertainly as she suddenly realised we were all staring at her.
"Umm. Hello?" I smiled.
"Sorry, we're just thrashing out the victim's links" She smiled back.
"Sorry to interrupt, I was just on my way to chat to the Chief"
"It's ok" Seeing the line of faces she walked up to the board and wandered down the line, looking at each in turn, before turning to face me.
"What have you come up with?" I shrugged.
"Honestly, not much, we still can't seem to find anything that they might have in common"
She turned and waked back up the line, scrutinising each in turn.
"Well, they're all well groomed, attractive women right?' I nodded.
"That takes time and effort to look that good in the first place and stay looking good. Trust me, I speak from experience here. Try beauticians, day spa's, hairdressers, gyms, nail salons, those kinds of services. It's really the only thing that would tie them all together" She shrugged.
"Sorry, it's the best I can do" I nodded, having another close look at each of them. All of them were attractive, good looking, fit and toned, with nice hair and makeup, even their licence pictures looked better than most. Natalie was right, these people all needed to look good; it was part of their lives both professionally and personally.
"No, thanks Natalie, I think that helped" I turned to Tao, our resident computer expert.
"Can you pull up the victim's credit card details and see if you can match either similar amounts or similar vendor numbers?" He looked at me for a moment, before nodding.
"I can try"
"What are you looking for?" It was the Chief, who had moved to stand much closer while I had been busy staring at the murder board.
"Nat's right, all of them are professionally attractive. Look at their photos. How many people look that good for a licence photo, most don't, but they all did" Brenda walked up and looked closely at each image, before standing back, turning to look at Tao.
"It's definitely worth a look. Lieutenant Tao, if you could be so kind as to look for professional services our victim's had in common" He smiled as he peered over his glasses at the Chief.
"It's not a problem Chief, give me a few minutes to set up the search algorithms and we should have some answers"
We all stood around, making small talk for a few minutes as we waited, Natalie and Brenda discussed media requests for interviews with Brenda, which she flatly denied, and some potential additions to the current media strategy, trying to keep the media off our backs.
"Bingo!" It was Tao. "We got multiple hits" We all crowded round, as I wished we were back in Boston with that electronic video wall that Frost loved so much. I made a mental note to suggest it to the Chief later.
"Well don't keep us in suspense Lieutenant, what have you got for us"
"Well Chief; three of the victims went to the same hairdresser, in Beverly Hills; 'Snip Teaze' Two attended the same yoga place, Melrose Bikram , three went to the same gym; Aphrodite's Ladies Health Centre down near Rodeo Drive and two attended the same health and beauty spa, Castle's Day Spa in El Segundo"
"Why thank you Lieutenant, thank you very much" Smiling, she looked around the team.
"We'll split up and check them all. Lieutenant Flynn, would you and Detective Sanchez please check out the hairdresser, Sergeant Gabriel, would you and Detective Rizzoli be good enough to please have a chat to the yoga instructor. Lieutenant Tao, would you and Lieutenant Provenza please investigate the Day Spa"
I looked at the Chief a little curiously.
"Who's going to check the gym Chief?"
"I thought I might check it out myself" Gabriel raised an eyebrow at her,
You can't go without back up" Brenda smiled a very slow, wicked smile.
"I never intended to Detective. Natalie, are you doing anything at the moment or would you like to accompany me to the gym?"
Natalie looked around, a surprised look on her face for a moment, before she schooled it back into her usual calm expression, which I'd come to learn was her 'work face', the one she used in front of the media. She smiled the same calm, reassuring smile she used on camera.
"Sure Chief, I'm always up for some hands on experience"
"Well then, let's go everyone, times a wasting" She paused. "Oh and Jane, good work"