The Death of Me (Rizzles)

Chapter 1: The Call

"Isles."

Maura double-checks for wrinkles on her red velvet, silk woven blouse while she holds her phone to her ears.

"Okay. I'll be there in approximately 15 minutes. Leave the body where it is. Yes... thank you."  

 She ends the call, then checks to see that there are no unread messages before tucking the smartphone into the little compartment inside her black Louis Vuitton.

       A new day marks the discovery of another dead body found on the streets of Boston. And for Maura, it means heading to the lab to disect, analyze, and observe all the gruesome details of rotting flesh, and tragic death. Not the most upbeat job, but as Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Dr. Maura Isles loves speaking with the dead to bring justice to the living.

        Thus, she arrives at the crime scene, a narrow ally between two small buildings, 14 minutes later looking like she has gotten out of a photoshoot for a fashion magazine. Maura's best friend, Detective Jane Rizzoli, notices.

        "Have you ever thought about taking up modeling as a second job?"

        "Excuse me?" Maura says politely.

        "Don't 'excuse me' me, I mean, look at you. You look like you're ready to head off to a... photoshoot. Do you even wear an outfit twice?"

        Maura laughs, hiding how flattered she is. Since she was never socially adept, she forgets how to reply to the compliment. Instead, she's left shaking her head while smiling...

         Feeling a little awkward and the need to avoid Jane's accusing glare, she walks up to the dead body and changes the subject.

 "What do we have here?" Maura questions, bending down to observe the body for a cause of death.

"'23 years old caucasian male, Jeremy Hayes, body was found this morning around 8 by store owner Michael Fuentes." Jane points at a small bakery to the left of the crime scene. "Said he smelled the horrible odor while he was opening up his shop. No reports of a witness." She shakes her head at the dead body.

"Quite a shame," Maura agrees. "Based on the condition of his nails and hair, I'd say he was a healthy young man." She picks at the victim's nails. "Hmm... no visible signs of being drugged, nor of struggle. Whoever did this, did it quick and with expertise."

"Probably not a random killing, we're looking for motive," Jane concludes. "You got a cause of death?" 

        Maura hates how Jane always urges her to make an assumption on the cause of death; she can't be sure until she has taken the body back to the lab to test and evaluate. She hates guessing, and potentially missing very important small details. But because Jane is Jane, her best friend and a very stubborn but devoted detective, Maura will "theorize" at what might have ended Jeremy Hayes' life.

        "My theory is that the victim died from blood loss after suffering a stab wound that passed through the rhomboideus major muscle and into the thoracic division of the spinal cord. The impact to the spinal cord would explain vomitting of blood,"--Maura rotates the head to reveal the dried blood splattered on the chin downwards towards the shirt of the victim--"and inability to react or struggle due to parylsis from spinal trauma. But of course, nothing is proven until we can test it at the lab." Maura smiles. She hopes that Jane will be satisfied with her ability to theorize, but instead she sees a disgusted look on Jane's face.

        "Okay... so he was stabbed to death," Jane says, bluntly. Still staring at her weirdly.

        Maura resists the urge to launch into a lengthy explanation on the importance of small details. That is what she was raise to do, to teach, but somehow just the thought of making Jane more annoyed stops her from doing what her mind feels is only the right thing to do. Before she can think more about the effects that Jane is having on her, Jane breaks the short silence.

        "You know what the weapon may have been?"

'        "I can't tell for sure until I examine the wound at the lab, but it's definitely something very sharp and precise, like a high quality knife. It takes skills and the right equipment to puncture the spinal cord so severely to cause paralysis." This, Maura can identify easily for Jane.

            "Okay, thanks. I'm gonna go talk to the others, see what they got. Hopefully we find good leads or motives on people who were close to Jeremy. I'll meet you back at the lab?" Jane suggests, already heading towards her car.

        "Okay!" Maura calls out. Jane turns around for a second to smile, acknowledging her response. Then she's in her car, driving off.

         Maura is left with the clean up crew to clear out the crime scene. As she directs what to do with the body, she can't help but look forward to meeting Jane in the morgue. There's something exciting about explaining scientific phenomenons to people like Jane, who are so naive to the wonders of science and all knowledge.

        Maura smiles.

        Or maybe it's just Jane.

       Right, Maura concludes. Just Jane who is so naive to the beauty of history and the perfection of science.