A/N – I have absolutely zero medical knowledge or training so please bear in mind when reading. I have tried to do research as best as possible.
Chapter Two
"Yo, Sid!" greeted Hawkes enthusiastically as he made his way over to the body Sid was standing next to.
"Sheldon," Sid nodded as he smirked at the younger man's enthusiasm.
"What have you got for me then?" Hawkes asked, clapping his hands together and rubbing them in excitement.
"We're waiting for Mac, I'm afraid. He's just rung down now to say he's on his way."
"Boss, eh? Why's he wanting to be down here?" asked Hawkes in puzzlement.
"Well, I've discovered some truly fascinating things on this body. I rang him earlier to say he should be present for my findings."
"You've got me itching in anticipation, Sid," grinned Hawkes as he glanced over the naked form of the John Doe from the alley."
"Well, I'm glad I can bring a little joy to your life," replied Sid. "There's certainly not much of it down here. Although I must admit, sometimes when I'm alone I do enjoy the odd conversation or two with the folks here. Their silent answers always amuse me in ways that a living soul simply cannot..."
"Sid!" Hawkes chuckled as he interrupted the older doctor.
Sid blinked and then his eyes refocused on Hawkes.
"Creepy place..." Hawkes grinned.
"Oh, my apologies," Sid replied, grinning back at Hawkes.
"If ever there was a man more suited to his profession..." Hawkes laughed.
"Gentlemen," Mac said quietly as he approached the two laughing doctors.
"Ah, Mac. Good to see you," Sid said, looking up and straightening his face.
"Is there a point to you calling me down here?" Mac asked patiently.
"Yes. Still a John Doe I'm afraid, no match with the fingerprints but COD was a direct result of this." Sid pulled the body toward him revealing a long cut that ran down the victim's spine that had been neatly stitched up.
"What is that?" Hawkes asked in interest, snapping on a pair of gloves and leaning in closer to examine it. "Some sort of surgery."
"Correct!" Sid affirmed, beaming as though he was a teacher and they were his pupils.
"Why's it there?" Mac asked seriously.
Sid's face fell immediately and Mac had a feeling he wasn't going to like what was coming next.
"I had to undo the original stitching to perform the autopsy but I took photos of it before I opened him up."
Sid walked to his desk and retrieved the photos he had taken and handed them to Mac.
"This stitching looks professional," Mac stated as he looked at the photos. He handed them to Hawkes.
"My thoughts exactly, Mac. Someone who was medically trained did this to him."
"Why?" asked Hawkes, placing the photos on the bench behind him and looking back at the older doctor in curiosity.
"Experimentation," Sid replied. "But that is still conjecture."
The two other men looked at Sid in shock and Hawkes let out a small gasp.
"I found two sets of DNA in his spine, one that matches the rest of his body and another one. It looks like somebody performed surgery on him to replace his spine with that of another man, including bone, muscle and nerve transplantation."
"No," Hawkes whispered in horror. Out of the two men listening, he alone understood the enormity of what that meant.
"Human experimentation?" Mac asked gravely.
"It would seem likely. His body gave no other clues as to a reason this might have been done to him. He wasn't ill and I found no cancerous cells."
"And this resulted in his death?" Mac asked.
"Yes. The wound and stitching were fresh. I believe the transplantation took place over a significant number of months, most recently only a day or two ago. However there was an internal rupture and the bleeding caused him to die. He would have been in absolute agony before he lost consciousness."
Mac shook his head in despair at the horror of the situation. He was glad he'd taken the scene and autopsy findings and not Jo. She wouldn't have wanted to see this.
"So if what we believe, that he was running prior to his death, is correct then that could have caused the rupture that killed him?" Hawkes suggested thinking it out logically.
Sid nodded in agreement. "There are however a few other interesting things. I pulled this out of a wound in his hand," he held out the small petri dish with a dark piece of trace in it to Hawkes who took it.
"You have any idea what caused those wounds?" Mac asked.
"None. They look more like deep scratches than anything else. Hopefully that trace will be able to give you some idea."
"Hawkes, I want you on that," Mac ordered, turning to look at the younger doctor. "Find out what that trace is and what caused these wounds."
"Sure thing, Mac," Hawkes replied.
"And there is also this," the older doctor said as he once again pulled the body towards him and showed them the back of the vic's neck. A three figure number was tattooed there. 359.
"Is that a tattoo?" asked Hawkes.
"Yes," Sid replied.
"Photos?" Mac asked.
"Over there on my desk," Sid nodded.
Hawkes went to collect them and gathered them up along with the ones of the surgery.
"What did you make of the marks on his head?" asked Mac, looking at the symmetrical black marks on either side of the vic's head.
"Ah yes. I have to agree with your initial assessment there, Mac. They would certainly match burn marks resulting from an archaic form of electroconvulsive therapy. These marks wouldn't be left nowadays, methods have been much more updated," Sid explained.
"This is looking more and more like some sort of medical experimentation, isn't it?" Hawkes sighed his enthusiasm gone. He couldn't stand cases where people with medical training abused their power. The Hippocratic Oath wasn't just words on a page, he truly believed in it, as should all those in his profession.
Mac grimaced but didn't reply and Sid simply nodded his head snapping his glasses apart and placing them around his neck.
"I fear we still have a lot to learn yet," Mac commented as he turned and walked from the room, a frown of concern etched on his face.
"What you doing there?" Danny grinned as he approached his wife in the trace lab.
"Working the case. What you doing?" she replied, mimicking his New York Italian accent.
"Looking at my beautiful wife," he replied.
"Ooo what a charmer," she laughed but gave him a smile all the same before returning her gaze to the items laid out in front of her. "So which do you want?"
"Hmm, what are the choices?" Danny asked suddenly becoming serious as he changed into work mode.
"Well there are the vic's clothes," Lindsay said, gesturing to the ragged top and trousers. "Or the sample of mud that Mac scraped off his feet," she added, pointing to the clear dish containing brown dirt.
"Oh, the choices," mused Danny. "Dirty feet or dirty clothes."
"Just decide," Lindsay sighed. "Or I'll decide for you."
"Funny," Danny mumbled, tilting his head to one side as he looked at the two items.
"What's funny?" Lindsay asked.
Danny shrugged casually. "Doesn't sound like you, making decisions for me."
"Shut up," she laughed, whacking him playfully on the arm.
Danny grinned and looked at her. "I'll take the feet," he replied, snatching up the clear dish.
"Typical. Leave me with the hard work."
"Hard work?" scoffed Danny. "Who knows what revealing clues there might be on those garments. I gotta dig through EDNA now finding some compound that matches the exact composition of this dirt and then where in the world you can find that."
"Any excuse to spend time alone with EDNA!" Lindsay laughed.
"Ahhh, stop you're moaning," Danny chuckled. "The quicker we're done here the better excuse I have to spend time with my wife."
He turned and strode from the room as Lindsay smiled to herself.
"She's a lucky woman," she shouted after him.
Through the glass she saw him turn and blow a kiss to her. She quickly turned back; hoping no-one saw the blush that rose in her cheeks.
"Hey, Adam," Jo greeted as she made her way into the A/V lab.
"Oh, hey, Jo. What's up?" Adam said nervously as he swivelled on his chair to look at her.
"Well I've come to find out just that exact thing from you," she smiled and took a seat next to him.
"From me?" squeaked Adam.
"From you," she confirmed.
"Well...I...I was just checking over this footage," he stammered.
"From Flack?" Jo asked as she turned her gaze towards the screen.
"Yeah. All the stuff he got from the shops nearby to the alley where the vic was found. It's not much, no good view of the alley but it could be some help."
"Well what are you waiting for?" Jo laughed. "Hit play."
Adam pressed forward again and the two of them sat and watched the dullness that was city life.
"Hey Jo, can I asked you something?" Adam said after a while.
"Sure," she smiled. "What can I help you with?"
"Well...it's just..." he paused and sighed. "You're a girl right?"
Jo exhaled in amusement. "Glad you noticed."
Adam smiled nervously. "Well...if a girl says she likes you...like, does she mean it? Or is she just having a bit of a joke? Cos it's cool if it's a joke... but I'd just rather be informed, if you know what I mean? Cos, I guess, you've probably said that to loads of guys and I just wondered..."
"Loads of guys?" Jo interrupted, a bemused look on her face at Adam's ramblings.
"Oh, God. I am so sorry, Jo, I totally didn't mean..."
"Adam."
Adam calmed at that one word spoken in her soft, Southern tones and he looked up at her in anticipation.
"I'm sure if a girl says she likes you then she does," Jo said kindly.
Adam let out a breath that he felt he'd been holding in for at least ten minutes. "Thanks Jo."
Jo smiled and gently squeezed his shoulder before returning her gaze to the screen. Adam watched her for a second and then he too looked back at the screen.
"And if she doesn't," Jo suddenly said. "It's like my Mama always said, plenty more cows in the pasture."
Adam frowned in confusion. "Cows? I don't...hey, there he is!"
He quickly paused the tape and stared at the man on the screen, collapsed in the street.
"Where'd he come from?" asked Jo.
Adam rewound the tape and played it again.
"It's impossible to tell from this angle, we just see him crawl into view from the road."
"Do you have the tape from that bakery across the road? Maybe they caught it."
"Yeah, I got it here," Adam said as he pressed a few buttons and brought up a different view of the street.
"Set it to the same time, 12.56am," Jo said as she stared intently at the screen.
"Done," muttered Adam and pressed play.
They watched as a trucked swerved to the side of the street, paused for a moment and then drove away, leaving in its wake a crumpled body on the ground.
"Did you catch a registration number?" asked Jo excitedly.
"I'll play it again," Adam replied.
They watched the sequence again and as the truck pulled away from the curb the front bumper turned directly towards the camera and they caught a glimpse of the plate.
"What is that? D..." Jo frowned as she squinted at the blurred image.
"I'll see if I can clean it up" Adam said immediately.
Jo waited patiently, excitement gnawing at her as it always did when a lead appeared in a case.
"There," Adam said proudly as the picture sharpened.
"Adam, you're amazing," Jo grinned as she slapped his arm and stood up. "Find me whose truck that is while I find Mr Messer. Time for some interrogation I think," she laughed as she exited the lab.
Adam blushed terribly, nobody ever called him amazing.
"Well, I'm sure if you just went up to the attic...no, no I don't know how far it is...well maybe if you kept your records someplace nearer...no I'm not insulting your organisation skills...well if you might just take a moment to look it's quite important...yes, I understand that...I'm sure what you're doing right now is very important...yes, yes...I understand you're busy and spare moments don't come easily...yes, no...no...no...well perhaps you could get back to me...of course I'll appreciate it...no I'm pretty certain it doesn't qualify you for some sort of reward...this is a murder investigation, Mam...okay then...yes...goodbye.
Flack slammed his phone down and groaned loudly as he leant back in his chair and rubbed his hands over his face.
"Trouble with the ladies there, Flack?" a voice commented from next to him.
Flack removed his hands and looked grouchily over at the owner of the voice.
"I never have trouble with the ladies, Gracie, and that's a fact," Flack informed the other detective.
Grace Connor was a pretty detective with a thick Irish accent, pale skin, bright green eyes and long, jet black hair. She'd been working in homicide with him for five years now and every day Flack had hit on her and every day she'd rejected him. It had almost become an ongoing joke in the precinct now, even the more so after she got engaged to another detective and one of Flack's good friends, Benito Ramirez.
"And they say ignorance is bliss," laughed Grace as she took a seat at her desk opposite Flack's.
Flack frowned and then leant forward as an idea sprung to mind. "Gracie..." he whined. "What you doing now?"
She was immediately suspicious. "It might come as a bit of a surprise to you, Flack, but I'm actually trying to solve some crimes. What about yourself there?"
"No need for the sarcasm," Flack grumped to her.
"You're a fine one to talk there," she laughed.
Flack ignored the jibe and proceeded to ask what he wanted. "I'm in the process of calling all the state mental institutions and psychiatric hospitals to see if any of their patients have gone missing. I don't suppose you'd be willing to help me out with it?" he asked, attempting his best puppy-dog eyes.
Grace mused it over for a moment before leaning forward. "And what might be in it for me, Flack?" she asked. "And just so you know, that doesn't work on me."
Flack immediately went back to his grumpy face. "I dunno. I thought maybe you'd just be willing to help out a fellow detective out of the goodness of your heart?"
Grace burst out laughing. "Oh, you're such a joker."
"Wasn't supposed to be funny," grumbled Flack.
"I'll tell you what? You cover my night shift on Wednesday and I'll do you this favour. You can't say fairer than that, can you now?"
"Urgh... a night shift!" Flack moaned. "Fine."
"That'll be great. Now come on, you'll be handing over the numbers then," she smiled as she held out her hand.
Flack handed over a list of numbers and then sighed, preparing himself for the next moaning administrator that answered the phone. He got five more calls in when he received a sharp kick on the leg from Grace and yelled in pain.
"What?" he shot at her.
"I've just spoken to the Thorn Everidge Mental Institution; they said a few of their patients have gone missing in the last few years."
"What?" Flack shouted, jumping up from his chair.
"I've got the address here," Grace replied, handing it over to him. "It's about an hour north from the city, for sure."
"Grace, this is great. How can I ever thank you?" Flack grinned.
"Night shift, Wednesday...Benny and I wanted to go to the opera."
"Anything," Flack said gratefully. "I need to call Mac and get on up there."
"I'll finish checking the rest of these for you as well," she smiled.
"I owe you big time," Flack grinned as he grabbed his jacket and hurried past her desk, cellphone already in his hand to call Mac.
"I'll remember that," she called after him.
The man leant casually against his car, reading a newspaper which he immediately lowered when the tall, dark haired detective exited from the precinct. He had spent the morning following him around dozens of stores and then over to the Crime Lab before getting to the precinct. He saw he was on the phone now and edged nearer, trying to hear the conversation. Thorn Everidge Mental Institution? The man frowned and took out his phone, sending the picture he'd taken earlier in the day and then placing a call to the same number. It was answered immediately.
"You get the picture?... Yeah, that's them...What have you got?..."
He waited patiently for a few moments.
"Detectives Mac Taylor and Don Flack?... Send me over the details...There may well be others, I haven't seen them yet...I'll let you know...yes, Thorn Everidge Mental Institution...Yes, I'm prepared to do what is necessary... Just say the word and it's done...Fine."
He shut off his phone and got into his car, starting the engine up and pulling out into the street behind the tall cop's car as he drove towards the Crime Lab. It seemed he'd be following the two cops for a bit longer than expected.