April showers bring May Murders.

Chapter 2

When Carrie began talking to the witnesses, she found that there was little information. When she got back to Ryder, her lips were pursed in a thin line and she was rather irritable. One, it was her half brother she was investigating, two, the witnesses, A Chinese man who could speak little English, and a blonde bombshell who was showing just a little too much cleavage for her liking.

 She hadn't gotten anything from the man after fifteen minutes, resolving to find a translator later. From the girl, she had gotten a statement, saying she was taking selfies when she heard a shout, and a sickening "splat". After filling Ryder in, she grabbed a dozen of doughnuts from the local pastry shop and headed to the station.(Yes, the common perception of cops liking doughnuts is true) At her desk, she sketched up a rough plan. She and Ryder were partners in the tightest sense. Yes, they occasionally drove separately to crime scenes, but they were together for everything else. Because she spent so much time with him, she tried her best to be away from him when not on call. After sketching out a diagram of how she was going to tackle this case, she smiled ruefully. Her mother had once said she was very levelheaded, and it was true. She allowed herself to be swept away by a rush of sweet memories of her sitting on her mom's lap when she was little as she read her bedtime stories, her half brother by her side like something out of a cliche family movie. 

She jolted out of it when a hand was placed on her shoulder and a voice murmured, "You alright, Carrie?" She glanced up at Ryder's face, which was knit in concern. She hurriedly looked down to her papers. There were a few drops that she presumed were tears. She brushed her wet face as he said in the same tone, "You looked a million miles away, and I figured you wouldn't want anyone to see you cry." He bent down to her level. "You know I'm here if you need anything, right?" She frowned but mumbled a "thanks" as she saw the other set of detectives, Allison and Elizabeth, waiting at the white board impatiently. She sighed heavily.

 Allison and Elizabeth, also known as Alli and Liz, were vaguely annoying to her. The two had jumped on the age limit for joining the force, and were both 18. Unfortunately for Carrie, since she and Ryder were reliable cops, they had been assigned to mentor the two girls. They bounced up and down excitedly as Carrie approached. "Carrie! Ryder! " they said happily. "what." She frowned " nothing. just excited probably." Ryder mumbled, yawning and running a hand through his hair. "alright you two, quiet down. What do you have on the victim?" She asked.

 "Well, the M.E's office says that there were traces of some kind of material along the neck, and several bruises. " Liz said while pinning up a few pictures of the body up, her long, blonde hair swishing as she moved. Ryder's eyes followed her movements and then she realized that she was the blonde he was flirting with earlier. She rolled her eyes, smacking him lightly without a word. He rubbed his wrist a little, smirking. "Here are the bruises. They look like fingerprints to me, but I'm not sure." Alli said slightly loudly. "You're yelling again, Alli." Ryder said under his breath.

 She looked embarrassed. "Right, sorry. " She repeated it quieter and Carrie stepped up to the board, examining  them. " pretty sure they're not fingerprints."She said softly, tracing the rounded bruises with her er fingers. "They look like hickeys. " She decided, stepping back. "And how would you know, detective? I doubt you've had one." Ryder smirked, shooting her a teasing glance. "If I had ever had one, Matthews, I sure as hell wouldn't tell you." She said, a faint blush across her cheeks unwillingly  "You're blushinnngggg.." He sing songed. 

 She indeed had never had one before, and had only seen them in pictures. "Whatever." She snapped. The girls were watching them with interest, giggling a bit at her reaction to his teasing. "Maybe he had a jealous lover.." She muttered, writing the possibility down. "Hey, Liz? You speak fluent Chinese, right?" Ryder said, glancing at Carrie. She stopped writing and turned around, staring at her. She nodded. "Carrie had a Chinese man as a witness, who worked at the restaurant over by the crime scene. You two want to go talk to him?" "Yeah, we will." Alli stepped in, covering for her shell- shocked friend. Liz nodded weakly and they headed off. "Now that, I didn't know." Carrie commented,stepping away from the board. "You're welcome." He smiled. "Yeah, Yeah." She scoffed, heading to her desk to do the paperwork before heading home for the night.