A/N: No beta for this chapter. I hope it'll be still understandable.

Dear readers, starting from tomorrow I'll be on holidays. I'll be back in ten days with a new chapter (hopefully).

See you all!

Chapter 15: Mac' s directives

"So?"

"Easier finding a needle in a haystack", Flack put down the papers Sophia had given him. Adam looked at them with eyes wide open.

"This is the operators' list. All volunteers, no specific competences required. It's enough wanting to do it and lovely Sophia will be there for you."

"We have their addresses."

"But we're talking about 225 names. If we have to check on everybody..."

"... considering this is the only link we have and we are not sure we're heading to the right direction... it could be just a waste of time."

"Wait, we know it's a man!"

The team turned toward Jess, "yes. Don's witness said she saw a medium built man, dressed in black..."

"So, if we see that these people don't match the description we can exclude them."

"I don't think so. What if the eyewitness just saw an accomplice? What if the mind behind it's another person? We know nothing about the way the killer works."

"So, we can't exclude women", Flack passed a hand between his hair.

"There must be a trace. Evidence is everywhere and you know it.", Mac intervened, "let's start with the list. Adam, compare the names with the weapon owners. Start with weapons in general, maybe the Desert Eagle is not registered. Stella, see if you can find a link between the places where the victims have been found. It could mean something for someone on the list. Lindsay, where are you with the covers?"

"Nothing specific at the moment. The first results only told us that they are plain cotton covers; though there is a component which I haven't still identified. I hope the results will arrive soon"

"Good. Angell and Flack, take the volunteers' list and start talking to them. Be careful, calm questions, nothing too specific. We don't want to annoy loyal taxpayers who do volunteering."

Flack smiled, "I see, Sinclair called."

"Of course."

"We can also check their cars. I know we don't have a specific description, but a dark Ford is not a yellow Smart", Jess suggested.

"Good idea. Hawkes and Danny: Go on searching in our victims' life, maybe you'll find a name. Go back to their apartments, look again on the crime scenes. I don't care how much time you'll need, just be over scrupulous, okay? Stella, you have the bullets. Check them with every weapon you can find. Try to find where they come from."

She nodded, her hair bouncing around her shoulders.

"I'll control the fateful question. I'll start by checking the net, maybe looking in the social networks. Adam, I'll need our victims' accounts, I need to see if they chatted and the sites they visited. This being told...", Taylor eyed his watch, "... it's getting late, you can start, but I don't want you to stay overnight if you don't find anything. We still don't know how our killer works so we can't prevent him yet. Staying awake now is quite useless. I'll talk to you all tomorrow morning at seven."

A loud chairs screeching mixed with various okays was heard. As usual, Mac had given a perfect description of their situation. Everybody would like to stay but they also knew they needed to rest for a little while.

After greeting the lab rats the two detectives took the elevator. Jess leaned against the wall closing the eyes. "I'm drained... oh, I almost forgot: is it possible that the baker called me today?"

Flack made a funny face, "she did. We had a little disagreement about the wedding cake."

Angell was immediately more alert: "What-"

"Don't worry, everything is sorted. We'll have the cake we want. By the way, Samantha will follow this things for us."

"God bless her!", Jess fell silent for a minute, "so, what's the plan?", she waved a copy of the list she was holding.

"I'll start looking in our archives. And then I'll narrow down the names. I can't speak with all these people."

Jess agreed, "we could go now to the precinct and insert the names. Considering the speed of our PCs it will took ages to have the first results."

"Excellent."

The precinct was rather calm at that time. The day shift was over and the night shift officers were working quietly. Flack, noticing Smart-Larry dozing on a chair, let out a short chuckle. Jess followed his glance.

"Smart-Larry! I haven't seen him for a while!"

The man, having heard his name, opened the eyes, "hey, my two fav detectives! Come there to have a little chat with your Larry. The wedding, how is going the planning?"

Don eyed him sternly, "how do you know about the wedding?"

"I know, I know... you check on us and we check on you. By the way, congratulations", he winked at Angell.

Flack was about to answer him, but Jess stopped him, putting a hand on his arm, "C'mon, you know he's not worth it. Let's control the names."

The sat at their desk and inserted the names. Then, after collecting their things, they left.