Push Me - Chapter 3
Apr. 18th, 2007 09:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seren_ccdTitle: Push Me
Genre: Romance/Drama
Spoilers: Post-Episode 3.19 A Daze of Wine and Roaches
Rating: T
AN: The Angelika is an actual theatre in New York, it is very, very cool and I definitely recommend a visit and no infringement on the establishment is intended. Again, any scientific stuff was found via Google. But again, please let me know if I’m off the mark completely.
Thank you so, so much to everyone who has reviewed here and at the Messermontana community on Livejournal. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. It really encourages me to keep going.
***
Lindsay began to lay out the clothes the young man found in Central Park had been wearing onto the table. She carefully placed his shoes on their sides mentally telling herself to be sure to check the soles for any kind of debris. She had just stretched the jeans out when she heard voices in the corridor. Lindsay turned around to face Danny and Mac.
“We’re waiting on Flack to get us some id on the kid and the ME has scheduled the preliminary exam for this afternoon,” Danny told Mac. "We'll try to wait for a positive id before the full autopsy."
Mac nodded and looked at Lindsay. “Are these his clothes?”
“Yes,” she said. “I know we can’t do much without a positive id, but we may find something to narrow down the search. I was about to check the pockets and shoes. We may get lucky and find a print somewhere.”
“Alright, I’ll leave you two to it,” their boss said. “I’ll be at the courthouse for most of the day. But, keep me posted about any identification that comes up.”
Danny and Lindsay assured him they would and Mac left the room. Lindsay turned back to the evidence and Danny went to put his lab coat on and then joined her at the table. He leaned over slightly to look at the clothes. Lindsay could feel the natural warmth his body exuded and something in her stomach curled and then relaxed. Danny smiled a little to himself.
“How’s your tongue?” Danny asked nonchalantly.
Lindsay glared at him. “Just fine, thanks very much.”
“It was just a question,” Danny said raising his hands in a show of innocence.
Lindsay hmphed and said, “Do you want pockets or shoes?”
“I’ll take shoes for $600 Alex,” Danny said picking up a black Converse. They began to process, their movements precise and thoughtful.
She carefully reached into each jeans pocket. She found a ticket stub in the back pocket. It was a movie pass from the Angelika theatre with previous day’s date and a time stamp of 8:15 p.m.
“Well, I think we know what our vic was up to last night,” she said.
Danny looked up from the shoe he was examining and she held up the ticket.
“What theatre?” Danny asked.
“The Angelika,” she said. “It’s in SoHo, mainly art and indie films. Sometimes they do revivals, cult classics, that sort of thing.”
“How do you know?” Danny asked slightly bewildered.
Lindsay blushed and said, “I’ve been a few times with my neighbour.”
“Huh,” Danny said. “Didn’t really peg you for an indie film kinda girl Montana.”
“I’m open to lots of things,” she shrugged.
“That right?” Danny said staring at her.
Lindsay stared back at him. Her mouth went slightly dry at the look in his eye. How did the subject keep changing like this?
“Yeah,” she said softly. “That’s right.”
Danny raised his eyebrows and a corner of his mouth quirked a bit.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he told her. And the moment was gone and Lindsay didn’t know if she was relieved or disappointed.
“I’m going to see if I can get any prints off of this,” she said.
“Yeah, I think I may have found some kind of grit in the bottom of his shoes,” Danny said. "Check this out."
He held out the shoe, Lindsay picked up a magnifying glass and looked at what he was indicating. In the creases of the sole was a shiny, gritty, black substance.
“Looks a bit like sand. I’ll keep on this and run an analysis. Hopefully, Sid will have something for us in a couple of hours,” Danny said.
Lindsay nodded and they headed in their separate directions.
***
Around lunchtime Lindsay found herself with a pounding head in the break room glaring at the coffee pot. To clarify, glaring at the empty coffee pot. And the empty coffee can next to it. The harder she glared the more her head hurt. She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes even more. It was this position that Stella found her in.
“Hey Lindsay,” she said. Then she noticed the look on Lindsay’s face. “Um, what did the coffee pot do?”
Lindsay looked over at her and then pointedly back at the coffee pot. Stella walked over and stood next to her and looked at the empty coffee pot. And then the empty can.
“Oh,” Stella said. “Well, that’s not good.”
“We work in a building full of police officers,” Lindsay said. “How does the NYPD run out of coffee? Isn’t that against the law somewhere?”
“Yes, it is,” Stella said. “And if it isn’t it damn well should be. How did this happen?”
The two women continued to stare at the empty coffee pot.
“I have a headache,” Lindsay stated.
“So do I,” Stella said.
They stared even harder.
“Hey Montana,” Danny called. “I found out what that stuff was in the bottom of our vic’s shoes…”
He trailed off when he noticed the glares directed in his direction. His eyes widened when he saw Lindsay’s eyes narrow and focus on his right hand.
“What is that?” she asked.
“Um, coffee?” he said uncertainly.
“From where exactly?” Stella demanded.
Danny swallowed. “Third floor, we’re uh, out on this floor, so, I uh, went down there…?”
The women glared at him.
“And it didn’t occur to you to bring back some coffee grounds to refill our supply?” Stella asked quietly.
“Um, no,” he said. “They didn’t have much left. They said that more would be here soon, something was up with the cleaning staff and that’s why they ran out…”
He trailed off again. The women just kept staring at him. He cleared his throat.
“I figured you might want some, so I brought you a cup Mont... uh Lindsay,” he said. “It’s, uh, on your desk. I’m sorry I didn’t get you any Stella, I didn’t know you were back and if I had known I’m sure I would have brought you some, but they only had enough for two cups and…I think I’ll just be quiet now.”
Lindsay’s face relaxed into a smile at Danny's rambling and glanced at Stella who was by this time trying not to laugh.
“Danny, it’s okay,” Stella reassured him as she headed out the door. “I’ll find some somewhere. Lindsay, enjoy your coffee. I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Bye Stella,” Lindsay said following her to the door. She looked over at Danny. “Did you really bring me a cup?”
Danny still looked nervous but followed her to their office. “Ah, yeah, little milk, little sugar, right?”
Lindsay sat down at her desk and picked up the cup that was still steaming. She held it under her nose and inhaled. She took a sip and hummed happily.
“Was it good for you too?” Danny’s voice cut into her caffeine bliss. Lindsay looked over at him expecting a smirk. She wasn’t prepared for the intense look on his face.
“Oh, uh, yeah,” she said feeling a blush creep over her face. “It’s great.”
She watched him raise his own cup of coffee to his lips and take a sip. And for the second time that day, her mouth went dry.
“Say something,” she thought to herself. “Say something. Anything. Talk about results. Or baseball. Stop staring at his lips. Oh for the love of God, say something!”
Danny just stared right back at her and continued to drink his coffee. No one said anything. Lindsay sipped at her coffee her eyes never leaving Danny's face. She could feel the air around them charge and swirl with energy. And something deep inside of her settled. For once, it wasn't the usual sexual tension that surrounded them. It was something else. Something calmer and gentler. Lindsay felt...content. Relaxed. Her head ceased pounding and she began to smile. Danny smiled slowly in response.
"This is why," Lindsay thought. "This is why I want to know him. Why I want him near. No one has ever made me feel this--"
“Hey detectives!” Flack said coming into their office. “We got…”
Don stopped and looked at Danny and Lindsay who both blushed and frantically tried to look busy.
“Did I interrupt something here?” he asked with a grin.
Lindsay flushed and Danny glared at him and asked, “What do you got?”
“I got a name and an address,” he said still grinning.
The CSI's looked at him.
"Well?" Lindsay demanded. "Do we have to guess?"
"Matthew Roberts," Flack told them handing the file to Danny. "17 years old, a senior at Kennedy High School. Only child, parents are Gary and Jessica Roberts. That's his transcript and home information. You were right about the t-shirt Linds, he belonged to the Math Club, Latin Club, National Honor Society, Science Bowl, Brain Bowl, the list just goes on. I've put in a call to the parent's and they'll be here soon to id the body."
"Good work," Lindsay said getting out of her chair to stand behind Danny and read over his shoulder. She unconsciously placed her hand on the back of the chair and her fingers just barely grazed Danny's back.
“Wow,” she said. “All advanced placement classes. Even his electives are serious academic subjects.”
“Yeah, no band or sports or anything,” Danny noticed. “And look at all those extracurriculars. Damn! How many clubs are there?”
“According to the school he was in the top of the top of the class,” Flack said. “Even in the running with a few other kids for valedictorian.”
Danny laid the file on his desk and leaned back in his chair, effectively trapping Lindsay's fingers between his back and the chair. Lindsay swallowed at the rush of blood that seemed to pool in her cheeks.
“We get anything off his clothes?” Flack asked. “I’d like to be able to tell his parents we have a lead.”
“Oh, um, I found a movie ticket stub from the Angelika theatre dated for yesterday,” Lindsay said trying to concentrate and not run her fingers over Danny’s shoulders. “The film started at 8:15 last night. We can confirm that with his parents hopefully.”
“Oh, yeah and I got some trace from the bottom of his shoes,” Danny said leaning forward to grab the file. Lindsay quickly pulled her fingers from his chair. “That dark grit is actually silica aggregates coated in resin.”
He looked up at Lindsay and Flack, “It was fish tank gravel.”
“How did our vic end up stepping in fish tank gravel?” Flack asked. “Where did that come from?”
His cell phone rang and he turned away to answer.
Danny swung his chair around to look at Lindsay. She was standing with a confused look on her face. He watched as the thoughts swirled around her head.
“So, essentially we have a kid that went to the movies last night around 8:00 p.m., and then was killed sometime between then and at least 5:00 a.m. this morning. But not in the place where his body was found,” Lindsay thought out loud. “And in between those times, he managed to step in fish tank gravel and get a blow against the face.”
She met Danny’s eyes. “What did he get up to last night?”
Danny opened his mouth to say something, but closed it when Flack closed his phone with a snap.
“That was the ME’s office,” he said. “Kid’s parents are here. Who wants to come with?”
Danny automatically started to get up.
“No, its okay Danny,” Lindsay said. “I’ll go.”
He looked at her. “Are you sure Montana? I don’t mind.”
Lindsay smiled at him. “I know. I want to go.”
Something in her eyes seemed to reassure him and he just nodded.
“I’ll be here and see if I can track down dealers for this kind of gravel,” he said.
“After you,” Flack said to Lindsay as they headed out of the office.
***
Matthew Roberts’ parents looked uncomfortable and out of place in the hallway outside the exam room. The first thing Lindsay noticed about them was the fact that they were immaculately dressed and had a polished look about them. Mr. Roberts had on a dark suit and his wife complimented him with a navy blue pantsuit. All in all, their combined suits were probably worth at least three of Lindsay’s paychecks. The next thing she noticed was that even though they looked uncomfortable, she didn’t sense any of the overwhelming sadness that usually accompanied families as they came to identify a loved one. She shook it off and stood back a little as Flack approached the Roberts.
“Mr. and Mrs. Roberts?” he asked gently. “I’m Detective Don Flack, this is Detective Lindsay Monroe. We’re very sorry to put you through this, but we believe we found your son Matthew’s body this morning.”
He paused as Mrs. Roberts sucked in a breath.
“We need you to identify the body,” he continued. “But please, take your time.”
Mr. Roberts mechanically put an arm around his wife. “Let’s go Jessica; we need to see if it’s Matthew.”
Jessica Roberts nodded stiffly and pursed her lips. She allowed her husband to steer her into the exam room Flack indicated. Lindsay followed quietly. The body was lying on the exam table covered with a white sheet. The medical examiner, Sid Hammerback was standing next to it. He nodded to Flack and Lindsay and then focused his attention to the Roberts.
“Whenever you are ready,” Sid said quietly.
“Go ahead,” Mrs. Roberts said in a firm voice.
Sid pulled the sheet back. The Roberts looked over the body and both seemed to deflate.
Mr. Roberts nodded. “Yes,” he said in a clear voice. “That’s our son.”
Sid nodded. “I’m very sorry.”
Mrs. Roberts shook her head. “He was going to go to Yale,” she said in the same firm voice. “Yale.”
Flack cleared his throat.
“Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, when was the last time you saw Matt?” he asked.
“Oh,” Mr. Roberts said. “He was supposed to be studying. I came in late last night, as did my wife. Our jobs are quite demanding. I knocked on his door around 9, but he didn’t answer.” He stopped and his shoulders slumped. “I figured he had those headphones on.”
“I saw him yesterday morning before he left for school,” Mrs. Roberts said. “We chatted about his visit to Europe this summer. He was looking forward to Rome.”
She looked straight at Lindsay.
“Why does he have a bruise on his face? Was he mugged? They said his wallet was missing. His watch is gone too. Is that how he died?” her voice rose with each question.
The nausea that had been present in Lindsay’s stomach ever since she saw the parents in the hallway threatened to boil over. Lindsay took a deep breath, looked Matthew’s mother in the eyes and answered.
“We aren’t sure at this point,” she said. “It does look like your son was struck by something, however to be completely honest, we don’t know how he died.”
Lindsay took another breath. “We do know that he may have been at the movies last night, we found a ticket stub in one of his pockets. Can you tell me if he had any plans for last night?”
“What do you mean you don’t know how he died?” Mr. Roberts asked Lindsay, his eyes flashing with emotion for the first time. “How can you not know?”
“What we mean is that this may have been a mugging, but we won’t know for sure until we examine him further,” Lindsay replied calmly.
The brief flash of feeling in Mr. Roberts died and he turned back to the body on the table.
“Do you know of any plans he may have had?” Flack asked.
Mrs. Roberts sighed heavily.
“I think he may have said something about meeting up with his girlfriend last night,” she said. She waved her hand in the air a little. “No, not girlfriend. Just a girl, who was a friend. He was always correcting me about that.”
“What is her name?” Flack asked opening his notebook.
“Abby. Abby Stephens,” Mrs. Roberts said softly. “Such a nice girl. Accepted to Sarah Lawrence I think.”
Flack looked over at Lindsay and closed his notebook. She nodded at him, letting him take this part.
“We’ll need to hold onto your son’s body to examine him,” he said apologetically. “Dr. Hammerback will have some papers for you to sign. We may need to talk to you again.”
Mr. Roberts nodded. “We understand.”
“He was going to go to Yale,” Mrs. Roberts repeated.
Flack and Lindsay nodded to Sid and left the parents to grieve.
They headed towards the elevator and when the doors closed Lindsay let out a long sigh. Flack shuffled his feet.
“Something about that seem weird to you?” he asked. Lindsay furrowed her brow.
“Well, people handle grief in all sorts of ways,” she said. “But she did seem preoccupied with colleges.”
“Yeah, like I said kinda weird. Look, you update Messer. I’ll see if we can get hold of this ‘girl friend’” Flack said with air quotes.
“Cute,” Lindsay said with a slight grin. “Talk to you later.”
The elevator doors opened and Lindsay headed down the hallway to her office. Before she reached the door she veered sharply to the right and headed into the ladies’ room and into one of the stalls where she swiftly threw up.
Genre: Romance/Drama
Spoilers: Post-Episode 3.19 A Daze of Wine and Roaches
Rating: T
AN: The Angelika is an actual theatre in New York, it is very, very cool and I definitely recommend a visit and no infringement on the establishment is intended. Again, any scientific stuff was found via Google. But again, please let me know if I’m off the mark completely.
Thank you so, so much to everyone who has reviewed here and at the Messermontana community on Livejournal. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. It really encourages me to keep going.
***
Lindsay began to lay out the clothes the young man found in Central Park had been wearing onto the table. She carefully placed his shoes on their sides mentally telling herself to be sure to check the soles for any kind of debris. She had just stretched the jeans out when she heard voices in the corridor. Lindsay turned around to face Danny and Mac.
“We’re waiting on Flack to get us some id on the kid and the ME has scheduled the preliminary exam for this afternoon,” Danny told Mac. "We'll try to wait for a positive id before the full autopsy."
Mac nodded and looked at Lindsay. “Are these his clothes?”
“Yes,” she said. “I know we can’t do much without a positive id, but we may find something to narrow down the search. I was about to check the pockets and shoes. We may get lucky and find a print somewhere.”
“Alright, I’ll leave you two to it,” their boss said. “I’ll be at the courthouse for most of the day. But, keep me posted about any identification that comes up.”
Danny and Lindsay assured him they would and Mac left the room. Lindsay turned back to the evidence and Danny went to put his lab coat on and then joined her at the table. He leaned over slightly to look at the clothes. Lindsay could feel the natural warmth his body exuded and something in her stomach curled and then relaxed. Danny smiled a little to himself.
“How’s your tongue?” Danny asked nonchalantly.
Lindsay glared at him. “Just fine, thanks very much.”
“It was just a question,” Danny said raising his hands in a show of innocence.
Lindsay hmphed and said, “Do you want pockets or shoes?”
“I’ll take shoes for $600 Alex,” Danny said picking up a black Converse. They began to process, their movements precise and thoughtful.
She carefully reached into each jeans pocket. She found a ticket stub in the back pocket. It was a movie pass from the Angelika theatre with previous day’s date and a time stamp of 8:15 p.m.
“Well, I think we know what our vic was up to last night,” she said.
Danny looked up from the shoe he was examining and she held up the ticket.
“What theatre?” Danny asked.
“The Angelika,” she said. “It’s in SoHo, mainly art and indie films. Sometimes they do revivals, cult classics, that sort of thing.”
“How do you know?” Danny asked slightly bewildered.
Lindsay blushed and said, “I’ve been a few times with my neighbour.”
“Huh,” Danny said. “Didn’t really peg you for an indie film kinda girl Montana.”
“I’m open to lots of things,” she shrugged.
“That right?” Danny said staring at her.
Lindsay stared back at him. Her mouth went slightly dry at the look in his eye. How did the subject keep changing like this?
“Yeah,” she said softly. “That’s right.”
Danny raised his eyebrows and a corner of his mouth quirked a bit.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he told her. And the moment was gone and Lindsay didn’t know if she was relieved or disappointed.
“I’m going to see if I can get any prints off of this,” she said.
“Yeah, I think I may have found some kind of grit in the bottom of his shoes,” Danny said. "Check this out."
He held out the shoe, Lindsay picked up a magnifying glass and looked at what he was indicating. In the creases of the sole was a shiny, gritty, black substance.
“Looks a bit like sand. I’ll keep on this and run an analysis. Hopefully, Sid will have something for us in a couple of hours,” Danny said.
Lindsay nodded and they headed in their separate directions.
***
Around lunchtime Lindsay found herself with a pounding head in the break room glaring at the coffee pot. To clarify, glaring at the empty coffee pot. And the empty coffee can next to it. The harder she glared the more her head hurt. She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes even more. It was this position that Stella found her in.
“Hey Lindsay,” she said. Then she noticed the look on Lindsay’s face. “Um, what did the coffee pot do?”
Lindsay looked over at her and then pointedly back at the coffee pot. Stella walked over and stood next to her and looked at the empty coffee pot. And then the empty can.
“Oh,” Stella said. “Well, that’s not good.”
“We work in a building full of police officers,” Lindsay said. “How does the NYPD run out of coffee? Isn’t that against the law somewhere?”
“Yes, it is,” Stella said. “And if it isn’t it damn well should be. How did this happen?”
The two women continued to stare at the empty coffee pot.
“I have a headache,” Lindsay stated.
“So do I,” Stella said.
They stared even harder.
“Hey Montana,” Danny called. “I found out what that stuff was in the bottom of our vic’s shoes…”
He trailed off when he noticed the glares directed in his direction. His eyes widened when he saw Lindsay’s eyes narrow and focus on his right hand.
“What is that?” she asked.
“Um, coffee?” he said uncertainly.
“From where exactly?” Stella demanded.
Danny swallowed. “Third floor, we’re uh, out on this floor, so, I uh, went down there…?”
The women glared at him.
“And it didn’t occur to you to bring back some coffee grounds to refill our supply?” Stella asked quietly.
“Um, no,” he said. “They didn’t have much left. They said that more would be here soon, something was up with the cleaning staff and that’s why they ran out…”
He trailed off again. The women just kept staring at him. He cleared his throat.
“I figured you might want some, so I brought you a cup Mont... uh Lindsay,” he said. “It’s, uh, on your desk. I’m sorry I didn’t get you any Stella, I didn’t know you were back and if I had known I’m sure I would have brought you some, but they only had enough for two cups and…I think I’ll just be quiet now.”
Lindsay’s face relaxed into a smile at Danny's rambling and glanced at Stella who was by this time trying not to laugh.
“Danny, it’s okay,” Stella reassured him as she headed out the door. “I’ll find some somewhere. Lindsay, enjoy your coffee. I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Bye Stella,” Lindsay said following her to the door. She looked over at Danny. “Did you really bring me a cup?”
Danny still looked nervous but followed her to their office. “Ah, yeah, little milk, little sugar, right?”
Lindsay sat down at her desk and picked up the cup that was still steaming. She held it under her nose and inhaled. She took a sip and hummed happily.
“Was it good for you too?” Danny’s voice cut into her caffeine bliss. Lindsay looked over at him expecting a smirk. She wasn’t prepared for the intense look on his face.
“Oh, uh, yeah,” she said feeling a blush creep over her face. “It’s great.”
She watched him raise his own cup of coffee to his lips and take a sip. And for the second time that day, her mouth went dry.
“Say something,” she thought to herself. “Say something. Anything. Talk about results. Or baseball. Stop staring at his lips. Oh for the love of God, say something!”
Danny just stared right back at her and continued to drink his coffee. No one said anything. Lindsay sipped at her coffee her eyes never leaving Danny's face. She could feel the air around them charge and swirl with energy. And something deep inside of her settled. For once, it wasn't the usual sexual tension that surrounded them. It was something else. Something calmer and gentler. Lindsay felt...content. Relaxed. Her head ceased pounding and she began to smile. Danny smiled slowly in response.
"This is why," Lindsay thought. "This is why I want to know him. Why I want him near. No one has ever made me feel this--"
“Hey detectives!” Flack said coming into their office. “We got…”
Don stopped and looked at Danny and Lindsay who both blushed and frantically tried to look busy.
“Did I interrupt something here?” he asked with a grin.
Lindsay flushed and Danny glared at him and asked, “What do you got?”
“I got a name and an address,” he said still grinning.
The CSI's looked at him.
"Well?" Lindsay demanded. "Do we have to guess?"
"Matthew Roberts," Flack told them handing the file to Danny. "17 years old, a senior at Kennedy High School. Only child, parents are Gary and Jessica Roberts. That's his transcript and home information. You were right about the t-shirt Linds, he belonged to the Math Club, Latin Club, National Honor Society, Science Bowl, Brain Bowl, the list just goes on. I've put in a call to the parent's and they'll be here soon to id the body."
"Good work," Lindsay said getting out of her chair to stand behind Danny and read over his shoulder. She unconsciously placed her hand on the back of the chair and her fingers just barely grazed Danny's back.
“Wow,” she said. “All advanced placement classes. Even his electives are serious academic subjects.”
“Yeah, no band or sports or anything,” Danny noticed. “And look at all those extracurriculars. Damn! How many clubs are there?”
“According to the school he was in the top of the top of the class,” Flack said. “Even in the running with a few other kids for valedictorian.”
Danny laid the file on his desk and leaned back in his chair, effectively trapping Lindsay's fingers between his back and the chair. Lindsay swallowed at the rush of blood that seemed to pool in her cheeks.
“We get anything off his clothes?” Flack asked. “I’d like to be able to tell his parents we have a lead.”
“Oh, um, I found a movie ticket stub from the Angelika theatre dated for yesterday,” Lindsay said trying to concentrate and not run her fingers over Danny’s shoulders. “The film started at 8:15 last night. We can confirm that with his parents hopefully.”
“Oh, yeah and I got some trace from the bottom of his shoes,” Danny said leaning forward to grab the file. Lindsay quickly pulled her fingers from his chair. “That dark grit is actually silica aggregates coated in resin.”
He looked up at Lindsay and Flack, “It was fish tank gravel.”
“How did our vic end up stepping in fish tank gravel?” Flack asked. “Where did that come from?”
His cell phone rang and he turned away to answer.
Danny swung his chair around to look at Lindsay. She was standing with a confused look on her face. He watched as the thoughts swirled around her head.
“So, essentially we have a kid that went to the movies last night around 8:00 p.m., and then was killed sometime between then and at least 5:00 a.m. this morning. But not in the place where his body was found,” Lindsay thought out loud. “And in between those times, he managed to step in fish tank gravel and get a blow against the face.”
She met Danny’s eyes. “What did he get up to last night?”
Danny opened his mouth to say something, but closed it when Flack closed his phone with a snap.
“That was the ME’s office,” he said. “Kid’s parents are here. Who wants to come with?”
Danny automatically started to get up.
“No, its okay Danny,” Lindsay said. “I’ll go.”
He looked at her. “Are you sure Montana? I don’t mind.”
Lindsay smiled at him. “I know. I want to go.”
Something in her eyes seemed to reassure him and he just nodded.
“I’ll be here and see if I can track down dealers for this kind of gravel,” he said.
“After you,” Flack said to Lindsay as they headed out of the office.
***
Matthew Roberts’ parents looked uncomfortable and out of place in the hallway outside the exam room. The first thing Lindsay noticed about them was the fact that they were immaculately dressed and had a polished look about them. Mr. Roberts had on a dark suit and his wife complimented him with a navy blue pantsuit. All in all, their combined suits were probably worth at least three of Lindsay’s paychecks. The next thing she noticed was that even though they looked uncomfortable, she didn’t sense any of the overwhelming sadness that usually accompanied families as they came to identify a loved one. She shook it off and stood back a little as Flack approached the Roberts.
“Mr. and Mrs. Roberts?” he asked gently. “I’m Detective Don Flack, this is Detective Lindsay Monroe. We’re very sorry to put you through this, but we believe we found your son Matthew’s body this morning.”
He paused as Mrs. Roberts sucked in a breath.
“We need you to identify the body,” he continued. “But please, take your time.”
Mr. Roberts mechanically put an arm around his wife. “Let’s go Jessica; we need to see if it’s Matthew.”
Jessica Roberts nodded stiffly and pursed her lips. She allowed her husband to steer her into the exam room Flack indicated. Lindsay followed quietly. The body was lying on the exam table covered with a white sheet. The medical examiner, Sid Hammerback was standing next to it. He nodded to Flack and Lindsay and then focused his attention to the Roberts.
“Whenever you are ready,” Sid said quietly.
“Go ahead,” Mrs. Roberts said in a firm voice.
Sid pulled the sheet back. The Roberts looked over the body and both seemed to deflate.
Mr. Roberts nodded. “Yes,” he said in a clear voice. “That’s our son.”
Sid nodded. “I’m very sorry.”
Mrs. Roberts shook her head. “He was going to go to Yale,” she said in the same firm voice. “Yale.”
Flack cleared his throat.
“Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, when was the last time you saw Matt?” he asked.
“Oh,” Mr. Roberts said. “He was supposed to be studying. I came in late last night, as did my wife. Our jobs are quite demanding. I knocked on his door around 9, but he didn’t answer.” He stopped and his shoulders slumped. “I figured he had those headphones on.”
“I saw him yesterday morning before he left for school,” Mrs. Roberts said. “We chatted about his visit to Europe this summer. He was looking forward to Rome.”
She looked straight at Lindsay.
“Why does he have a bruise on his face? Was he mugged? They said his wallet was missing. His watch is gone too. Is that how he died?” her voice rose with each question.
The nausea that had been present in Lindsay’s stomach ever since she saw the parents in the hallway threatened to boil over. Lindsay took a deep breath, looked Matthew’s mother in the eyes and answered.
“We aren’t sure at this point,” she said. “It does look like your son was struck by something, however to be completely honest, we don’t know how he died.”
Lindsay took another breath. “We do know that he may have been at the movies last night, we found a ticket stub in one of his pockets. Can you tell me if he had any plans for last night?”
“What do you mean you don’t know how he died?” Mr. Roberts asked Lindsay, his eyes flashing with emotion for the first time. “How can you not know?”
“What we mean is that this may have been a mugging, but we won’t know for sure until we examine him further,” Lindsay replied calmly.
The brief flash of feeling in Mr. Roberts died and he turned back to the body on the table.
“Do you know of any plans he may have had?” Flack asked.
Mrs. Roberts sighed heavily.
“I think he may have said something about meeting up with his girlfriend last night,” she said. She waved her hand in the air a little. “No, not girlfriend. Just a girl, who was a friend. He was always correcting me about that.”
“What is her name?” Flack asked opening his notebook.
“Abby. Abby Stephens,” Mrs. Roberts said softly. “Such a nice girl. Accepted to Sarah Lawrence I think.”
Flack looked over at Lindsay and closed his notebook. She nodded at him, letting him take this part.
“We’ll need to hold onto your son’s body to examine him,” he said apologetically. “Dr. Hammerback will have some papers for you to sign. We may need to talk to you again.”
Mr. Roberts nodded. “We understand.”
“He was going to go to Yale,” Mrs. Roberts repeated.
Flack and Lindsay nodded to Sid and left the parents to grieve.
They headed towards the elevator and when the doors closed Lindsay let out a long sigh. Flack shuffled his feet.
“Something about that seem weird to you?” he asked. Lindsay furrowed her brow.
“Well, people handle grief in all sorts of ways,” she said. “But she did seem preoccupied with colleges.”
“Yeah, like I said kinda weird. Look, you update Messer. I’ll see if we can get hold of this ‘girl friend’” Flack said with air quotes.
“Cute,” Lindsay said with a slight grin. “Talk to you later.”
The elevator doors opened and Lindsay headed down the hallway to her office. Before she reached the door she veered sharply to the right and headed into the ladies’ room and into one of the stalls where she swiftly threw up.
