Relationships and Secrets

Chapter 99

Maura walks into BRIC.

Maura: Techs finished in the basement. They didn't find any other bullets or any traces of blood, so, hopefully, our witness survived.

Korsak: Could be she got herself locked in the basement long enough she was able to get away from him.

Frost: We're checking to see if any cameras picked her up on the other side of the building. Nothing so far.

Maura: What about an I.D.?

Nina: Not yet. The textbook is used throughout the Boston public school system.

Frost: The good news is, only three schools are offering the class for the summer session. And we have calls in to all of them.

Nina: And I've got a bot searching FBI wiretaps looking for the names of local guys who might have done the hit. It's a long shot, but-

Maura: Well, I don't know what "a bot" is, but I appreciate the effort.

Korsak: What do you think of her?

Maura: Who? Nina?

Korsak: Yeah.

Maura: She seems all right-helpful. Least likely to leave cheeto crumbs on the keyboard. Why?

Korsak: She's our new homicide hire.

Maura: What?

Korsak: Yeah. I got wind of a chicago P.D. uniform that was transferring in the department.

Maura: So, why isn't she on the streets?

Korsak: She wanted to make a change. Didn't think it'd be received well back home.

Maura: There's got to be more to it than that.

Korsak: Probably, but what I cared about she has a perfect service record, a clean psych eval, and B.P.D. bought my argument that for now. We'd be better off with a dedicated bric homicide analyst than another detective.

Maura: What about Frost?

Korsak: Same job. He just got a new employee.

Maura walks into the bullpen.

Maura: Who's that?

Korsak: Nina's bot found five guys who could have done the hit. Of those, one's dead, two are in jail, leaving these two handsome fellows as our most likely local suspects.

Maura: Judson's business partner said he was from the rough side of Philadelphia. We should check to see if he contacted anyone back home.

Frost walks in.

Frost: Girl named Tasha Williams takes that physics class at Monroe High School. She didn't show up to class today. No one called to say she'd be absent.

Maura: Can you get us directions to the high school?

Frost: I'll send them to you in the car.

Maura's cellphone buzzes.

Korsak: What is it?

Maura: It's directions.

Frost: Nina will send them to you while you're standing right there.

He chuckles.

Jane walks into the house.

Angela&Ali: Hi. What are you doing home in the middle of the day?

Jane: Oh, I was working on a file in the bathtub last night, and I forgot to bring it back to the office.

Angela: Is that relaxing?

Jane: Well, a bath releases stress responses, which is good for my hippocampus. That helps memory and learning, which helps me arrive at new solutions to problems. And since not being able to figure things out sparks a negative response from my sympathetic nervous system, the bath works on all fronts.

Angela: Oh I like a bath, too. I catch up on my People magazines.

At the School

Principal: Tasha is a wonderful young woman. It's remarkable how well she does here, given her circumstances.

Maura: Which are what?

Woman: I'm almost certain she's homeless.

Maura: Almost certain?

Woman: She's guarded about anything personal. Clean but often wears the same outfit one day to the next, and there's no phone number on file. Those are giveaways.

Maura: Any idea where we might find her?

Woman: We have an address on file.
[computer beeps] But I don't think she's there. Even her family is looking for her.

Maura: Her family?

Woman: An uncle was in this morning. He said they hadn't seen her in a couple of days. He came to school to make sure she was okay.

Maura: Is this him?

Woman: He didn't have a beard, the hair was lighter, but there's definitely a similarity.

Korsak: He's shaved his beard. I'll update our BOLO.

Maura: Can you tell me about the uncle?

Woman: He said the family was worried and wanted to know if Tasha had come to school. I asked his name to check if he was one of her responsible parties. He wasn't, so I told him I couldn't give him any information.

Maura: And then he left?

Woman: Not right away. The phone rang, and there was nobody there when I picked it up.

Maura: Okay. Um, can you call us if he comes back? Thank you very much.

She walks to Korsak.

Maura: He got a look at her records. He's got all her information - an address, social security number.

Korsak: How did he get here?

Maura: She was doing homework in the basement. Maybe he saw a backpack, a textbook.

Korsak: Until we catch this guy, everything's by the book. I want you to promise me you'll follow B.P.D. protocols no matter what.

Maura: Yeah, fine, fine.

Korsak: Maybe I'll make lieutenant and you'll get to work with someone new [school bell rings] who doesn't know you as well as I do.

Maura: I hope you do make lieutenant. I'm gonna put superglue on your big, fancy chair.

Korsak: I wouldn't expect anything less.