A/N: I had slightly more fun writing this one than those investigation scenes.. hm, I wonder why.. Well, I hope reading it will also be a bit fun. And if you actually paid attention and understand the killer's message, you'll get a special price. Oh, and sorrynotsorry to the somewhat popular photographer whom I based a character in this chapter on. I couldn't resist. Bonus points to you if you actually recognize his name despite the spelling variation. :-)
In the early afternoon, while Korsak was still in the BRIC browsing through the surveillance material and Frost was out and about interviewing friends and colleagues of the killer's first victim, Jane had sat down at her desk in the homicide squad's bullpen again. She was burying her head in her hands and repeatedly squinting through her fingers at her computer screen. Maura had once told her that a literal change of perspective would very often result in a figurative change as well, and given the lack of other options or fresh ideas, Jane had decided to give it a try. After all, the medical examiner's random bits of wisdom had proved to be right more often than not, even though Jane would hesitate to admit it. Unfortunately, her current attempt to follow Maura's advice and refresh her mind with a game of peek-a-boo resulted in nothing but amused looks from the other detectives nearby. The e-mail on her screen, however, still didn't make much sense. With an annoyed groan, Jane leaned back and stared at the killer's new message.
The e-mail included another two photos of Brenda Williams crouched in that dark corner, her blood trickling from her body to the floor, her skin several degrees paler than before. And the photos' brief but poignant caption was exactly the same as in the second set of photos of Karen Newman: TICK-TOCK. Below, the killer had added another teaser: A PERFECT PICTURE, DON'T YOU THINK? YOU'D BETTER HURRY UP, DETECTIVE RIZZOLI.
Even though Jane had intentionally signed her previous e-mail to the killer with her name, hoping to establish a personal connection and to gain his trust, she still felt shivers crawl up her spine when she read his message addressed directly to her. Not only did the killer now know who she was, but reading her name attached to the gruesome images of Brenda Williams also re-enforced her lingering fear of failure and her belief that she herself would be responsible for the woman's death if she didn't save her in time. She's counting on me. I can't let her down. I have to find Brenda Williams before it's too late.
Frustrated by having to deal with all those scattered clues instead of being able to look the killer in the eyes and fight him face-to-face, Jane got up and stretched her tired bones before heading to the white board behind Frost's desk. It was filled with all the photos they had received, with brief profiles of Karen Newman and Brenda Williams, and with a map of Chestnut Hill and its surrounding districts. Two red pins marked the locations where the two women had been kidnapped, two green ones marked their respective homes, and a black one near the Neponset River Reservation served as a sad reminder of the scene where Karen Newman's body had been found. Printouts of the killer's e-mails were stapled together and clipped to the board. A handwritten table beneath them listed all the arrival times of the individual messages.
Jane reached for a pen and stared at the assortment of clues in front of her. She was about to draw a circle defining the possible radius within which the killer might be hiding, but when she realized that the lack of data made any reliable estimation impossible, she let her arm sink down, heaved a sigh, and scratched her head. I bet Maura would know what to do. She always knows everything. How the hell does she do that? Maybe she is a cyborg after all… Jane grinned at the memory of their conversation from a few years ago when Charles Hoyt had escaped from prison and made her seek refuge at Maura's house.
"Can I help?" The voice of the medical examiner pulled her out of her thoughts, and Jane spun around to face Maura.
"Did you just read my mind?" the detective asked and felt her cheeks blush.
"I would have to dissect your brain in order to do that," Maura stated a tad too factually but then let the thought linger a little longer. "I wonder what your prefrontal lobe looks like. Research suggests that it's associated with the ability to understand sarcasm, so I would expect yours to be slightly enlarged."
Jane raised her eyebrow. "Thank you for the insightful analysis, Dr. Isles."
"See? That's your prefrontal lobe talking right there," Maura said with a wink and a smile. "Nonetheless, I'd be willing to join you for a late lunch. You really need to take a break, Jane."
The detective walked back to her desk, plopped down, and shook her head. "I can't. We've just received another message, and time's running out, Maura."
Seeing the desperation in Jane's eyes, Maura sat down next to her and looked at the message on the computer screen. "A perfect picture?" she read aloud and frowned.
"Yeah, tell me what it means and I'll join you for lunch," Jane sighed.
Maura reached for Jane's mouse and enlarged one of the attached photos of Brenda Williams' tired frame huddled in a dark corner in a house probably not very far away. "Well, if the killer is trying to reference da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, which is considered a picture of a perfectly proportioned human body, I'm afraid he's got it all wrong," Maura explained but then noticed the detective's blank stare. "You know, that drawing of a naked man with his arms spread out and—"
"I know, Maura, but that's not it," Jane stopped the medical examiner's attempts to imitate da Vinci's famous illustration. "I don't think our killer is sending us on a scavenger hunt ripped out of some Dan Brown novel."
They both studied the photos of Brenda Williams again, hoping for another insight that would help them find the kidnapped woman. But given the lack of information, Jane's thoughts eventually drifted off and she re-considered Maura's invitation for a late lunch. Maybe this would finally help her clear her mind and look at this case from a fresh perspective. She sheepishly glanced at the medical examiner. "Where did you want to go for lunch?"
A delighted smile lit up the blonde's face. "There's this new Mexican restaurant I've been meaning to try for a while. They're said to serve the best chiles en nogada in town."
"Do I want to know what that is?" Jane asked with the expression of a child faced with a plate full of spinach.
"It's basically chili peppers filled with meat and topped with a walnut-based cream and pomegranate seeds," Maura explained and stood up. "I'm sure you'll like it."
"That's what you said about that quinoa stuff, too," Jane teased.
"Yes, and you have been eating it ever since, haven't you?"
Jane smiled for an answer. Indeed, she had been eating those pseudocereals for a while now, but not because she particularly liked them. She only liked the way the medical examiner's eyes would sparkle when Jane actually heeded Maura's rather unique culinary advice. And given how often Maura put up with Jane's sarcasm and morning grumpiness, it was the least she could do in return. "Fine, let's go," Jane gave in and followed the blonde towards the hallway. "But I'll have fries with that!"
Just when they passed Lieutenant Cavanaugh's office, a woman's aroused giggling was heard through the door and prompted them to freeze in their tracks.
The medical examiner frowned. "Was that—"
"My mother? Yes," Jane finished Maura's thought.
Inconspicuously, the two women approached the door and leaned in as close as possible without attracting any unnecessary attention.
"Geez, why can't she make out with the milk man like any other woman in her mid-50s?" Jane groaned.
"Because the introduction of refrigerators in private homes has made the need for milk men obsolete and too expensive," Maura explained. "Although recent years have seen a resurgence of the concept because of the shift to locally sourced food… Do you want me to hire a milk man for your mother?" she asked with a smirk.
"Yes, please," Jane begged with a strong dose of sarcasm filling her voice as another round of laughter from her mother was heard through the door. When a patrol officer walked by the lieutenant's office and curiously eyed the two women glued to the door, Jane casually turned around and smiled him off.
"Okay, enough of this," she whispered to Maura, then straightened up and briskly knocked at the door.
"Wait! What if they—" Maura tried to stop her, but Jane had already opened the door without waiting for permission to enter. Maura barely managed not to stumble into the office behind Jane and instead glanced over the brunette's shoulder to find Angela Rizzoli and Lieutenant Sean Cavanaugh standing a tad too close near his desk.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were… busy," Jane excused her sudden entrance and secretly enjoyed the embarrassment spreading over both the lieutenant's and her mother's face.
The older Rizzoli woman innocently withdrew from the desk. "I was just dropping off the lieutenant's lunch."
"Of course," Jane smirked at her mother and then turned to her boss. "I… uh, just wanted to let you know that we'll be heading out to interview a few more people about that murder case we're working on… You probably haven't had the time yet to look into this…," she said with not so subtle subtlety.
"Yes, the case with the abducted women…," Cavanaugh interjected while trying to hold Jane's piercing stare. With limited success. "Do we know how to stop this guy?"
Jane shook her head. "Not yet, but we're working on it."
Seizing her chance, Angela casually snuck past Jane and shyly smiled at Maura before disappearing through the door.
The lieutenant absentmindedly watched his love interest leave, oblivious to Jane's annoyed eye-rolling at his behavior. "Well, you keep working the case, Rizzoli. Could you close the door behind you, please?"
Jane cleared her throat and waited for the lieutenant to look up before pointing at the rather prominent lipstick print on his collar. "You might want to get rid of that, sir…"
Without waiting for an answer from her blushing boss, Jane turned around, exchanged a silent chuckle with Maura, and closed the door behind them. When she spotted Angela waiting for the elevator, she sprinted towards her mother, determined not to let her get away.
"For God's sake, Ma," Jane complained. "Isn't it enough that you're… doing whatever it is you're doing with my boss every night? Now, you have to do it at work, too?!"
"I just brought him his lunch. He's a busy man, Jane…," the Rizzoli matriarch defended herself and glanced towards Maura for support.
"Oh, I see," Jane gnarled. "And do you serve your other customers the Rizzoli Lipstick Special, too?"
Before Angela could protest, Jane's phone rang and she unambiguously shushed her mother. "Hey, Frost," she said into her phone and turned away to focus on the call. "Tell me you've got something."
While Jane was intently listening to her partner bringing her up to speed, the elevator finally arrived and Angela seized her chance to escape. She quickly slipped inside and silently begged Maura to remain quiet. The medical examiner gave her an understanding smile and let her get away.
A few seconds later, Jane hung up and turned to the elevator where her mother had been standing just a moment ago. Hoping to give Angela a sufficient head start, Maura quickly distracted her best friend. "Anything new from Detective Frost?"
"Yes, actually," Jane said, her face brightening up with a shimmer of hope that they could maybe catch the killer in time and save Brenda Williams. "Both our victims took part in a photo walk just a few days ago. Maybe that's how they knew each other, and maybe someone laid eyes on them there." She pressed the elevator's down button and nervously tapped her foot. "I'm gonna meet Frost at the office of one of the organizers… uh, which means we'll have to cancel lunch." She sheepishly grinned at Maura.
The medical examiner rolled her eyes, knowing from past experiences that it would probably take half a dozen attempts to finally get Jane to join her at that Mexican restaurant. "Okay, but I'm coming with you. We can stop for some food on our way, and I might be able to help you. I know a thing or two about photography."
"Of course, you do," Jane said and didn't even bother to talk Maura out of it. When the elevator finally arrived, they stepped inside and smiled.
Half an hour later, Jane and Maura got out of the detective's sedan and walked towards a trendy complex of apartments and offices on the site of a former factory building in East Boston. Detective Frost was already waiting outside and signaled them to follow him towards one of the entrances leading to Kelley's Photography Studio.
As the three of them entered the spacious ground-floor office, they were greeted by a tall, middle-aged man wearing casual jeans and a wide shirt that didn't really help his slightly overweight appearance. "Hi, I'm Scott Kelley. I believe we've just spoken on the phone?"
"Yes," Jane nodded as they shook hands. "I'm Detective Rizzoli, and these are my colleagues Detective Frost and Dr. Isles." She briefly let her eyes wander around to admire the large, light-filled studio with its floor-to-ceiling windows on one side and a wall adorned with numerous framed photos on the other. "Business is going well, huh?"
"Can't complain," Kelley said with a smirk and led them towards a desk and some chairs in the middle of the office. "So, how can I help you?"
While Jane and Frost sat down, Maura strolled towards the wall to study some of the photos, which earned her repeated glances from Kelley and brought a proud smile to his face.
Frost subtly cleared his throat and revealed two pictures of Karen Newman and Brenda Williams. "These two women participated in your photo walk last week. Do you recognize them?"
Kelley shook his head. "Nah, but we had hundreds of participants. The event consisted of several individual walks, and I only led one of them. Maybe they joined one of the other meet-ups."
"Do you have a list of all participants?" Jane asked. "Or of the other guides?"
"We do have a website where people can register for our walks, but it's not mandatory," the studio owner explained. "A lot of people decide to join at the very last minute. Did something happen to these two women?"
Jane nodded and tried to conceal her frustration about this latest dead end. "Unfortunately, yes. And so far, the only connection between them is your photo walk."
Kelley heaved a sigh. "Are they… are they dead?"
"At least one of them is," Frost confirmed.
"Man, that is… not good," the photographer leaned back and searched for the right words. "So, you're saying someone at our event is… is a killer?"
Jane shrugged. "That's what we're trying to find out."
"Well, I can print you a list of the other official guides," Kelley said and turned to his computer. "And I'll send you the names of all registered participants. I wish I could help you more…"
"It's better than nothing," Jane said and waited for him to hand her the printout of the names of all guides at the photo walk. "Thank you."
When they all got up and Jane studied the list of names with Frost peeking over her shoulder, Kelley walked over to Maura, whose attention was captured by a series of sepia-toned nude portraits that left most details to the viewer's imagination.
"I love the interplay between lights and shadows in those," the medical examiner declared as she noticed Kelley expectantly approaching her. "You manage to capture the different shades of their personalities within just one picture. It's very… intriguing."
"Thank you. That's exactly what I was aiming for." Kelley beamed at her praise and then shamelessly let his eyes wander over Maura's perfectly formed body. "Maybe I could interest you in a portrait session? You'd make an excellent subject, if I may say so…"
The blonde blushed and clearly considered the idea, but before she could answer, Jane stepped in and gently dragged her away. "Uh, too bad, but we're rather busy with work and all those murders, you know."
The photographer didn't seem to care and eyed the detective's slender frame. "You're quite photogenic, too… I mean, look at you!"
"Well, we have your number, so, don't call us — we'll call you," Jane warded him off and pushed Maura towards the door, where Frost was already waiting for them while trying not to burst into laughter.
Kelley cocked his head and watched the two women leave. "My camera would love you!" he tried one last time.
"Yeah, not just his camera…," Jane whispered to Maura as they left the studio.
