As Jane walked through the doors to the morgue she was focusing on her phone; texting her Ma to check on Maura's status.
"Ah Detective Rizzoli, glad you could join us."
Jane internally rolled her eyes but forced a smile on her face "Doctor Pike! I didn't realise you had been called in!"
"Yes, hardly surprising as Doctor Isles failed to perform her duty, as per usual."
Jane fought back the punch that she was itching to throw. "So what can you tell me?"
"Well in my vast number of years experience I have discovered that when you are dealing with work such as this; vital and often stressful on the mind, it is apparent that men can deal with these types of pressures more than the weaker female." He paused to smile at Jane "Apart from less feminine types like yourself detective."
Jane fought between punching his lights out and throwing up on his shoes, she eventually managed to swallow her urges and smiled as sweetly as she could manage. "About the victim."
"Right, yes well the victim died from asphyxiation-"
"From hanging?"
Dr Pike huffed impatiently at the brunette "I see where Doctor Isles gets her love of guess work from!"
Jane bit back the ready retort about Maura never guessing anything and simply gestured for him to continue, Now is not the time to piss him off, we need this info.
"He was asphyxiated before being strung up. The object lodged down his throat appears to have been put there post mortem, along with these." He reached to one side nod held up a Petri dish full of crushed fuchsia/purple petals."
Jane took it and examined it carefully "The same plant..."
"Yes, the Amorphophallus titanum. Usually located in Indonesia. The locals often refer to it as the cor-"
"Corpse flower." Dr Pike frowned in irritation at her. "Maura told me."
His irritation peaked at the mention of the other ME. "Well was Doctor Isles able to date the plant?" He smiled at Jane's silence "No, I didn't think so! This particular specimen is 2 days old."
He carried on blabbering about how superior he was and how he had figured it out but Jane was no longer listening, she had the memory of what Susie had said circling her mind; The Bunga Bangkai, the corpse flower, it only blooms for three days a year. She turned to Pike "Were did it come from?"
"Well as I previously mentioned it originates from Indonesia, it is highly uncommon to find one here." Jane huffed at him "But if I am correct there was an exotic plant exhibition at the Boston Flower and Garden Show recently."
"By the docks in South Boston?" He nodded. Her mind began to race as she got out her phone and dialled "Frost? The docks near the world trade centre...by the flower and garden show...I don't know exactly...okay." She smiled as she hung up from her partner, not many people would follow her hunches but he always trusted her. She turned back to Pike "What else can you tell me?"
Frost pulled up alongside the docks and frowned. He had called the people in charge of the flower and garden show, they had no trouble during the show, no thefts or anything. He was stumped as to what to do but he began to try and fit the jigsaw clues together in his mind. A specimen of this unique plant was located around here, the first victim was a suspected associate of Doyle's... He started to wander toward the old fish docks when a thought stopped him in his tracks. Guinness and sausages...he quickly got out his phone and searched for the nearest Irish pub; M. J. O'Connor's. he began making his way there.
Pike went about his slow winded way of telling Jane all other important (and some not so important) details for the case, she headed up to the bull pen to thrash some ideas about. Everything pointed to Doyle but how did it all connect? Looking at what they had do far Doyle would be prime suspect for all the facts but he was in critical condition. Has Doyle passed the torch? Who was the message for? Remember what? Remember who? Jane was chewing her bottom lip in thought when Korsak pulled up an image and displayed it on the big screen. Jane frowned "Who is that?"
Walking into the traditional Irish pub Frost felt the air around him turn chilly and tense, though you couldn't see any eyes focused on him he was definitely being watched, her could feel it prickling the back of his neck. He wandered to the bar where the silver haired bartender pretended not to see him, he picked up a menu and a dish caught his eye. "Galtee sausages and colcannon with Guinness onion gravy." Frost ordered to no one in particular. Suddenly a chill ran down his spine as he felt someone stood incredibly close behind him.
"Hear that boys? The pig wants pig for dinner." The gruff voice tutted "A man what eats his own species? Ain't welcome here."
Frost considered his actions and possibilities but decided it was better to be safe than sorry, the last thing he wanted was to spook whoever was behind this. "My mistake." He said quietly and shuffled his way out of the door.
"James Joseph Bulger Jnr." Korsak's voice snapped Jane out of her daze looking at the man in the mug shot.
Jane turned and frowned at him "Bulger? Name rings a bell..."
"Boston Irish mobster, pretty much ran Boston back in the day, caught just a couple of months ago in California."
"Right, right yeah I remember that! Why didn't I get that straight away?"
"You probably know him by his nickname." Jane frowned and waited for Korsak to continue. "Whitey Bulger."
Jane stared at him "Whitey?" Korsak nodded and she rushed over to him and shoved him off his keyboard. "Korsak do you know what the English slang 'whitey' means?" Korsak shook his head. Jane brought it up on his computer screen and smiled grimly.
"An undesirable reaction to smoking cannabis. Symptoms include dizzyness, clammy skin, nausea and vomiting. It gets its name from the paleness of the sufferer as the blood drains out the capillaries under the skin due to a decrease in blood pressure. Often associated with first time tokers or when mixed with alcohol." Korsak read off the screen. They both exchanged a look as Jane got out her phone.
"Hey Jane!" Frost answered the phone excitedly "Listen I have a hunch as to where our first victim may have eaten lunch, if you're right and it all connects down here!...What? Yeah I'm still here...What? Why?" The heavy blow to the back of Frost's head answered his questions as to why Jane told him to get out of there.
Jane held the phone close to her ear yelling out Frost's name as Korsak jumped up, grabbing his gun and badge.
"Detective." The voice was unrecognisable and dangerous. Jane froze and gestured for Korsak to come and listen, they both crowded around her phone.
"Yeah. Who's this?"
The strange voice tutted "Some Detective...I left you plenty of clues to follow, guess I'm gonna have to speed up our little game a little more than I had originally wanted."
"I know you want us to remember Whitey Bulger. You got my attention now, tell me where to meet and you can tell me what you want."
The voice simply laughed at her down the phone. "What makes you think I'm doing all of this for you Detective?"
The line went dead and Korsak and Jane exchanged a worried look.
Angela was dozing off on the couch downstairs at Maura's when she heard a bloodcurdling scream. She leapt off the couch and her heart was hammering in her chest so hard it almost hurt. Angela raced into the kitchen and picked up the largest knife she could find, she crept up the stairs whilst typing in Janie's number as fast as she could. Angela made it to just outside Maura's bedroom where she could hear strangled sobs and cries, Janie's phone cut to voicemail and Angela left a message with a shaky voice as she approached the door. As she reached for the door handle it began to open and Angela dropped the phone.
dun dun dun! ha! sorry i do love my cliffhangers a little too much but I need to plan out exactly what happens next, i feel this chapter was a bit mismash and confused so i want the next to be clearer. x sorry for the delay
also im not from Boston, never been so all my research is internet based so if its all wrong im sorry!
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follow me on twitter, find me on fb, tumblr, my blog etc - j. d. roxburgh