Chapter 2

Flynn rode with Provenza, and Mike rode with Amy, Julio and Buzz. Mike soon wished he'd ridden with Provenza and Flynn or even by himself. Grumping was less unnerving that Amy's wild driving, as if Julio were any better. Sometimes he wondered if Sykes had picked up her bad driving habits in Kabul, avoiding roadside IEDs, or had acquired it while working with Lt Cooper at SIS. Wherever she had learned, she made him unsettled. Mike Tao did not like being unsettled.

Flynn still had a big goofy grin plastered across his face as Provenza gave him the once then twice over.

"Flynn," he started, "Flynn, what the hell's wrong with you?"

Shocked, Flynn turned to his partner, "What are you talking about?"

"You're grinning like the cat that ate the canary. You haven't stopped grinning since we left the Commander's office. Come to think of it, you had that stupid grin across you face then, too," groused Provenza.

"Louie," Andy began, "Sharon is having our baby. I'm going to be a Dad. A real Dad this time!"

"Aren't you two too old for that?"

"I guess not," laughed Andy. "We..."

"Stop. Don't want to hear it!" snapped Provenza quickly. "What is heard cannot be unheard!"

They drove in silence for only a few blocks. Flynn went back to grinning at the thought of his lover carrying his child.

"When's the baby due?" Provenza inquired.

"Don't know. Sharon only found out about the baby this morning at her annual physical for the department. She thinks maybe the honeymoon, you know." Andy followed up, "She's got an appointment with the OB later this week. We might know more then. I'm guessing they are going to follow her really closely because of her age and all that could go wrong."

"You know all this mess started with you calling her 'Sharon.' If you had just called her 'Captain,' we would not be in this fix," Provenza continued to complain.

Andy started talking with his hands, "Mess? What mess? Louie, this is the best day of my life!"

"When the kid gets here, who's going to stay up all night? You, my friend. The Commander, my friend. That's who!" Provenza started his rant. "Then when you both come into work dragging ass, I'm going to have to cover for you both. You know how I hate that and making excuses! At least it's Fritz not somebody else. Oh, and, THEN, what happens when the kid gets sick? Oh, I can see it now. And you thought she was bad when she first took on Rusty...oh, no, no, just you wait!"

"Geez," Andy shoved in edgewise. "No, no, no! Yourself. You are not going to kill my joy. Not this time, you grumpy old, emphasis on old, man! I'm happy. Sharon's happy. We'll figure out the details as we go. We both have ample experience. I know how NOT to do it, and she knows how TO do it. Only this time, she won't have to do it single-handed. We'll manage. You'll see."

They pulled up to the crime scene. A patrolman lifted the tape for the car to travel under. Amy and her car load of detectives were right behind them. Provenza took note of the journalists.

"Keep those reporters back, well back, from the crime scene!" he ordered the lead patrolman as the reporters shouted questions at the Captain.

Julio noted softly, "Kendall is here already. He just got out of the van."

"Good, we'll get a prelim before sending the Commander the bodies," Amy added.

"You might not want to do that so quickly," Provenza muttered.

Mike looked at him funny, "Why not?"

"Flynn got the Commander..." Provenza started to share the news then thought better of it, "Oh, never mind," he muttered as he threw his hands up then down.

The others gave Flynn a quizzical look and checked in with the patrolman who held the date-time-department log roster of the comings and goings of officials. Kendall was examining the mother first. She was seated in a chair in the living room. The team looked around carefully. Buzz began to memorialize the scene and the victims.

Flynn was the first to speak, "No blood. Kendall, why no blood?"

Kendall twisted around to look at the team, "Not shot, not stabbed. Maybe asphyxiated or poisoned See, the typical cherry red blotches that accompany CO poisoning."

Amy's ears perked up, "Poisoning? Are you thinking they were poisoned?"

Flynn felt a little lightheaded, "Mike, you see any open windows. It smells funny in here."

Tao stood up and also weaved a bit, shook his head, "No. If it's CO, it's still in here."

Amy began to gag. Julio moved her toward the door and outside.

Flynn and Toa shouted together, "Everybody out of here! Now!"

Once outside, they called the Fire Department to air out the house out before going back inside. Provenza pulled Kendall into the middle of the team "huddle," he nodded, "Go on Kendall. Tell us what you observed before we had to get out."

"Not sure about COD or TOD. I had only just arrived as you guys were pulling up. There was no vomit or indication that she had gagged on anything. No ligature marks. She was kind of red, so maybe carbon monoxide? I had not yet gotten a good look for petechial hemorrhages in the eyes though. Dr. Morales will be able to tell on tox-screens back at the morgue," Kendall analyzed for the team. "I had not gotten to the bedrooms where the children were."

"Man, am I doubly glad Sharon did not come out now," remarked Flynn casually even as Provenza glared at him. "What?!" was his rejoinder to his partner.

After ventilation, SID continued tagging and bagging the personal effects of the dead. Julio and Amy went into the bedrooms while Mike and Andy looked around the living room and dining room. Julio and Amy found the children tucked into their beds as if put down by the mother before she sat down in the living room last night and departed this life. Her bed had remained made.

Provenza looked through the kitchen, under the sink, in the fridge and cabinets, on the counters. No one found anything that remotely looked out of place or looked like poison. Andy took Mike into the garage to see what we out there. Tao checked the car. To his dismay, the family car was out of gas with the keys in the ignition.

"Andy, this puppy is out of gas," he remarked as he got out of the driver's seat. "The ignition is engaged."

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Andy mused.

Mike nodded, "That funny smell could have been what was left from the fumes from this. It's a Flex-Fuel car and wouldn't smell like a conventional gasoline internal combustion engine."

Andy nodded in agreement, "Yeah. it's why we didn't recognize the smell when we went inside."

Provenza joined them, his anger was beginning to swell, "Then we could be looking at a murder-suicide. Mother decides life's no good, wants to take the kids out with her, turns on the car, pumps the house full of fumes. With the door between the kitchen and garage was open, all of life's little problems are all solved."

Amy, finally got her head cleared, added, "What happened to 'It's always the husband'?"

All eyes turned to her.

Julio ventured, "I'll look for husband or boyfriend once we get back."

"I'll drag her financials," Mike offered.

"Let's see who this vehicle is registered to," Andy spoke up as he pulled out his phone.

"Okay, people," Provenza ordered, "if there is nothing left for us to see here, back to the Murder Room. I'll call the Commander with an update. Buzz, did you get everything filmed?"

"Of course, Captain," Buzz said authoritatively.

Amy made immediately for the Murder Board and began to put the victims' photos up. Next up went theories and an empty column for "Persons of Interest" and "Suspects." The rest of the team began the various computer searches related to the case. Under "Murder Weapon" was a photo of the car they found in the garage. Next to it was a question mark since the COD had yet to be determined.

Andy went to the board and wrote by the vehicle's photo the registration information: Alicia Greene, age 34. It was registered to the victim. Nothing suspicious so far.

Ms Greene, Julio discovered, was a recent transplant from Indianapolis. There was no husband in the picture at the moment. The husband turned out to be a wife-beating petty criminal and in prison in Indiana. Next, Julio started to investigate her parents who were also back in Indiana.

Commander Raydor was at the morgue when the first of the bodies arrived from the crime scene. Two bags were brought in on a gurney and transferred to the table. Sharon gave the edge of the table a death-grip as Dr. Morales unzipped the first bag. Even through the nitrile gloves, Dr. Morales could hear her ring make the distinctive "tink" sound of metal on metal as her fingers wrapped tightly around the edge. A 4-year old girl lay inside. Next was the body of an infant boy. Dr. Morales laid them at opposite ends of the table.

He looked at Sharon whose eyes were already filled with tears, "You sure you want to go through this?"

Letting go of the table, she wrapped her body tightly with her own arms and gave a little nod, "If not me, then who?"

"Just remember, the sink is over there," he reminded her. "Pregnancy can upset even the strongest stomach. And, Sharon," he spoke ever so gently, "I know how the deaths of kids affect you in particular, especially now, but I have to ask you not to vomit on my dead bodies."

Quietly she thought, "He'd be funny if this were not so sad." She closed her eyes tightly, drew in her breath, steeled herself, and nodded before opening them again. He drew blood for a tox-panel from each child. By that time, Kendall had brought in the older child and then the mother. Blood was also drawn.

"I'm not going to open them up, at least not the kids, unless something other than carbon monoxide poisoning comes back on tox. I'll look over the X-Rays for any prior history of physical abuse. I'll speak with their pediatrician, school nurse, the usual. If nothing pops, they will go to the 'burrito room' until claimed by next of kin," Dr. Morales spoke softly. "For now, I can't see anything on the bodies, no needle marks, no bruising, nothing out of the ordinary."

He turned to the mother's body and began "an eyeball" exam, "No needle marks here either. I don't see anything other external injuries. No recently broken bones. I'll look at X-Rays and tox panel to see what's what. Liver temp puts death about five hours ago."

He looked up into Sharon's eyes, "Hey. How are you doing?"

She shuddered a sigh, "Been better and will be again."

Dr. Morales removed his gloves and pulled down the protective gear he wore. He ambled over to where she stood and looked at her with a smile.

"Congratulations to you and Andy. I'm really happy for you. And that baby, well, he or she is going to be one lucky kid," he pulled her into a gentle hug.

She turned away from the table and returned the hug with a soft genuine smile, "Thanks so much."

The X-Rays came in and Morales snapped them into place. He studied the children's then turned his attention to the mother's, "Well, now. Look what we have here," he said as he leaned into the X-Ray.

Sharon joined him, "What's that? It looks out of place."

"Because it is," Dr. Morales turned to her. "It looks like a tumor of some kind. It could account for bizarre behavior like killing yourself and your kids. I will have to crack the skull and examine the tumor to know more. You might want to go back to the PAB since this is going to take some time. And, I can assure you that you really, really don't want to be here for that. I'll call you when I find out anything."