Maura sat at her desk and was engrossed in an article she had begun to read as a knock on the door brought her to the here and now. She looked up and frowned confused. "Mrs. Wilson. What brings you here?"
Pamela cleared her throat and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry to disturb you. Can I come in?"
Maura stood up and pointed to her couch. "Of course. Please sit down. Do you want something to drink? Water, coffee, tea?"
Pamela shook her head slowly. "No, thank you. I'm good."
Maura sat next to her and smiled. "What can I do for you?"
Pamela looked at her hands and then with a frown at Maura. "Detective Rizzoli had mentioned earlier that day that we met, that you are the Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."
Maura nodded in agreement. "Yes, I remember."
Pamela pressed her lips together as if she was considering the next question. "That means that in your position you are capable of ordering an exhumation. Right?"
Maura sighed as she understood where this conversation was going and licked her lips. "Technically ... yes. But, Mrs. Wilson, I already told you that the two Medical Examiners didn't missed anything. I ..."
"I read a lot about you since you left my house." Pamela cut her off."I know that you are the best in Massachusetts. I am sure that there is something the others missed."
Maura looked at her sympathized. "I wouldn't find anything either, Mrs. Wilson. I took a look at Leon's autopsy reports, and I am sorry, but I have to agree that your son died by accident. I think it is time to let him rest in peace."
Pamela looked long at her. "Do you have children, Dr. Isles?"
Maura nodded slowly. "Yes. Yes, two daughters and a son."
"And you would like to know if something bad happens to one of them, what happened to your child, right?"
Maura pressed her lips together and nodded in agreement. "Yes."
Pamela closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. "Leon was my only son my only child. And I don't want to have another. I just ... I just want to know what happened. I need peace too. Don't I deserve peace too?"
Maura looked at her and sighed. "I'll make you an offer. I'll go through the autopsy reports with you. Just the reports, no pictures. And I'll try to explain them as well as I can. Okay?"
Pamela nodded slowly and forced herself to smile. "Thank you."
Jane entered her wife's office and stopped dead when she saw the chaos in it. "What happened here?"
Maura looked up as she collected the papers that were spread out on her desk, and sighed. "Leon's Mom was here. She wanted me to exhume the poor boy's body."
Jane took a deep breath and crossed her arms. "And will you exhume Leon?"
"No," Maura said with a sad voice and sat down at the couch. "I convinced her that it was really an accident. At least for now."
Jane frowned deeply. "Do you think that she will begin to believe that her son got killed?"
Maura rubbed her forehead. "I think that she isn't any further from denying that he was killed. Pamela was so ... convinced that her son was killed even after I told her this morning that it was an accident. I needed to go through the autopsy reports with her so she would believe me."
Jane sat down next to her wife. "Pamela is obsessed with her son being killed."
Maura ran her fingers over her mouth and nodded. "Yes. And I think that Aaron misused that obsession. He forced Leon's murder down Pamela's throat. I mean ... I mean she needed a straw ... she needed answers and Aaron misused her vulnerability. It makes me angry ... It makes me ..."
Jane waited patiently and raised her eyebrows when Maura didn't continue. "Sick?"
Maura looked at her wife and nodded. "Yes. And it makes me so angry because people try to find consolation and Aaron misused it. It is almost like a rape. A raping of the families heart and hopes."
Jane looked long in her wife's eyes and drew her eyebrows together not skeptically, angrily or playfully as when she was teasing. But with understanding and sympathy and love. "Maura, are you angry at the victim?"
"Yes.", Maura said, and shook her head and looked at her wife. "No. I mean ... yeah, somehow I am because he cheated the people who trusted him ... And now I hate myself because I shouldn't be angry at a dead man who is lying on my table. I should be objective. But I am not sure if I can be objective anymore."
Jane took Maura's hand and sighed loudly. "You did the autopsy right after Aaron Jones arrived in the morgue, didn't you?"
Maura nodded slowly. "Of course."
"And you didn't know about Pamela or Leon Wilson, right?"
"Right."
Jane nodded slowly and licked her lips. "So ... no judge nor jury nor me nor the Department will question your objectivity. Because you are Dr. Maura Isles. The most trustworthy and most honest person that the world has ever seen. Understand?"
Maura looked unsure at Jane. "But I bend the truth a lot of times, Jane."
"Those are only small things." Jane replied softly."And never when it came to your profession. We would know true because if you lied, you would have slumped to the floor and would have died of a heart attack."
Maura sighed and shook her head before she looked at Jane. "Somehow I can understand this poor woman. Leon was her only child. I also would go crazy if something happened to Alexis or Damian or Sophie."
Jane lifted briefly her eyebrows. "So would I, but they are fine. Now let's stop stewing over it. I came down because I wanted to tell you that Frankie will look after the kids tonight."
Maura looked at her puzzled. "Why would he do that?"
Jane raised a surprised eyebrow. "Now don't tell me that you'd forgot."
Maura furrowed her eyebrows. "Forgot what?"
"I'll have to circle the day in red twice from now on." Jane chuckled."Our anniversary, Maura."
Maura looked with wide eyes at her and her shoulders slumped. "Shoot. I was so busy pondering Pamela's distress that I absolutely forgot about it. I'm so sorry Jane."
Jane stood up and chuckled. "You've complained year after year since we've been together that I always forget it, and now you're the one that forgot it. I can't be mad. And don't worry about it. I've made all the arrangements. You go home after your done here and change."
Maura looked questioningly at her wife. "Tell me where we're going?"
Jane walked toward her. "Would it help you to make a decision?"
Maura watched her wife's movements carefully. "Maybe."
Jane grabbed Maura with a hand on her hip and pulled her close. "I doubt that." she replied before she kissed Maura. She broke away as the kiss turned passionate and smiled. "I think I should go before I can't stop myself anymore."
Maura looked into Jane's eyes and nodded in agreement. "I think ... it's a good idea."
Jane grinned before she turned to leave.
Maura looked after her and had to smile. But then she sobered as she reminded herself that she had forgotten their anniversary. She rolled her eyes.
Susie entered the room and handed her supervisor a folder. "The tox screen is back." she said as Maura opened the folder."It confirms that Aaron Jones was poisoned with potassium cyanide."
Maura furrowed her eyebrows and nodded as she read the report. "I thought so. His mucosa showed signs of a bleeding. But I wonder why there was no foam at his mouth."
Susie crossed her arms over her chest. "Right. The signs of potassium cyanide poising are light red foam."
Maura looked up and nodded. "Exactly."
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Maura entered the bullpen with the manila folder in her hand. "Jane."
Jane looked up and frowned. "Missed me already?"
"No.", she rolled her eyes as she saw the shocked face of her wife. "I mean yes. But the tax screen is back and it confirms that Aaron Jones was poisoned with potassium cyanide."
Jane raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips. "Uh ... okay."
Maura scrutinized her for a moment and narrowed her eyes. "You already knew that and told the guys that I confirmed it as the cause of death, didn't you?"
Jane slowly shook her head and looked innocently at Maura. "No.", she slumped back in her chair as she saw Maura's gaze. "Okay, yeah. I mean, come on. You'd told me that you smelled bitter almond after you inhaled Aaron's breath."
Maura furrowed her eyebrows. "I absolutely did not inhale it, Jane."
Jane lowered her eyebrows. "You were hovering over him and took an extremely deep breath. However, who uses potassium cyanide?"
"Mainly industries." Maura answered.
Jane sighed heavily. "Now the client list can help. Where is Korsak by the way?"
Frankie shrugged. "Still waiting for the warrant, I guess."
"Great.", Jane growled annoyed. She didn't want to wait though she knew that the dead body couldn't run away. But the murderer could. And she wanted to solve this case as quickly as possible because she had had enough of never ending, ongoing investigations.