Caution: Crime Scene (Andre/Liam)

[Deleted]

"Can you believe this? He wants money!"

That was what Greg had said. Rhean looked up from her pictures that she was analyzing. "What was that?"

"Our mystery killer wants money. He says 'my dearest Detective Grayson. I was saddened to read the news this morning only to find that you have notyet given me a name. Might I remind you that it is of the utmost importance that my game be played the way I want it to. The fine for this negligence is one hundred dollars. Deposit it at the crime scene and do not attempt to stay and watch, or to put on surveillance. Remember, I am watching you; not the other way around."

Rhean folded her arms. "Well, maybe you should do it."

"Excuse me?" he said, stunned.

"Well, come on. He's good. We've been chasing this guy for the past two months and what have we got to show for it? A bunch of letters that don't make any sense. He kills one person and think he's Hannibal Lector. I don't want to be Clarice, anymore. Just give him his money and a nickname, and maybe we'll figure out why the hell he keeps writing."

Greg paused. "You're not Clarice."

Rhean had turned to finish what she was doing. When she heard the statement she looked over. "What?"

"You're not Clarice. He isn't writing you, he's writing me. I'm Clarice. Me!" he raised his voice.

"Fine, you're Clarice," she rolled her eyes.

"And since I am Clarice, this is my decision to make. Not yours. He's not getting a name, and he is most certainly not getting one god-damned dime!"

The following Monday, when Rhean went inside, she was informed that her partner was dead. He had beheaded, and a letter was typed up and left with the head in a box. "To whom it may concern. I don't think Detective Grayson is fit for this case. He lost his head over private matters whilst dealing with it."

The scene ran through Rhean's head over and over. Why couldn't he have listened? She didn't especially care for the jackass, but he was her partner. She didn't want to see him dead. She didn't want to see anyone dead. Well, except for th writer.

Rhean had taken the week off, and was promised a new partner when she returned. Rhean had visited the church, confessed her sins to the new father, and prayed for a partner who would listen this time. When she returned, she was told that her new partner was Andre Simpson, from Malibu. She hadn't met the man yet. The reason? Her boss had gotten a letter while she was away, requesting that the new detective on the case be the only one investigating the body in the woods, It was really creepy to her that a criminal was the one controlling how an investigation was run. But Rhean was scared. She had lost her partner; who was to say that he couldn't and wouldn't kill her too? So, she took another week off.

She had read the news while she was off work. She read all about her partner, and how he figured out it was a serial case. Rhean almost spat out her coffee when she read that.She had thought so too. Why else would he be writing? But no, Grayson insisted it was just a jackass playing around. It seemed like they were on the same page already, even if they had not met in person.

But now she was back. And rumor had it that her partner already had received his first letter. Instead of going to the PD that morning, she headed straight to a crime scene. She figured she'd meet her partner there. Apparently, the body had been delivered to the Catholic church--the very church that Rhean attended--with a typed up note saying "forgive me father, for I have sinned."

Rhean didn't know if it was a coincidence that the church was the one she belonged to or not. God, she hoped so. She strided up the steps, entering teh church and showing her id. Today, she was wearing a white turtleneck under a black business jacket, and slacks. Crossing over the caution tape carefull, she approached Grace, who was writing up the report. "What do we got?"

Grace looked up and down at the body, which was covered up. "Victim's name is Cody Adams. Seven years old. So far, the family hasn't been able to be reached." Grace reported as Rhean reached down and uncovered the head. She shook her head. "Poor kid," she muttered. She had a daughter a little bit older than this kid was. She couldn't imagine the parents' reaction/

Rhean stood up. "Who reported it?" she asked and Grace gestured to the confession booth. "the priest." Rhean bit her lip and sighed, She decided to wait and let the good father come out on his own. After all, he was younger than she was and may need some time to process what had happened.

Rhean looked around "blood trail?" she questioned and looked over at Grace, who shook her head.

"That's the thing. This kid has open wounds all over his body. But whoever it was cleaned it off from the ground."Rhean put her hands on her hips, thinking about it, processing it before she pulled out a pair of gloves and slipped them on. It was then that she heard a male voice. must be the new partner, she thought as she turned to face him.

[Andre Simpson]

"You ever see one of 'em? 6 metres, give or take. They can swallow up an alligator, mate. An alligator. I'unno 'bout you, but that's some terrifying feat." The two had entered from one of the doors leading around the main worship area. The church was huge and beyond that there were several rooms, corridors and Liam had to guess secret passageways all over the old building. It was one of those beautifully old fashioned architectural wonders. Something out of an old book, or out of Rome itself. Laughing, the twenty-nine year old priest with him (also second youngest, Liam being the youngest) laughed, shaking his head."And where are they?" He asked the Irishman, stepping past the communion rail to the alter.

"Africa, I think." Liam said, walking down the aisle of pews, checking for lost items actually. He'd return them, of course, and in the short time he'd been there, he found quite a few interesting little things. He was told it happened often, and there were a lot of entertaining stories of items picked up.

"Then what do we have to be afraid of?"

"Maybe I was thinking of getting one, but was insurin' you didn't have an alligator around." He joked, slipping down one of the pews to pick up an iPod that was left on the seat.

"Oh, that's rich, I can see the headlines now. Catholic clergyman purchases a serpent, Evangelicals claim satanism." The older priest said out loud, spreading his hands out as if running over the headline of a newspaper. Laughter fell from both of them.

"Told you them Catholics weren't any good." Liam mocked a think southern American accent, botching it terribly with his own brogue and leaving his friend laughing harder at the front of the church.

"Sad, but true—"

"Oh hell!" The yell echoed off the walls after Liam had rounded the last pew only to find the body of a girl there. His stomach churned and he felt all of the blood drain out of him. He took a step back, immediately marking himself with the sign of the cross and whispering a prayer. The exclamation brought the other male to and he glanced confusedly, muttering a what, before rushing over realizing the seriousness of the situation. And when he saw it, his reaction was no different. They didn't know how long they stood there before one of them finally mentioned the cops and Liam quickly called them. Once the crime scene units showed up, he and the other male quickly disappeared into an office amongst other religious officials and the dean.

Kids were tough. The hardest, if Andre had to choose a victim that pulled at him. It was easy to focus on the job, knowing that getting the bastard that did it was more important than getting all weepy over a little kid. It still had an effect, no matter how many child bodies he had witnessed over the years. He pulled up outside, shutting off the car, and the music that roared from it. And at a church... of all places. Like most Italians, Andre was raised Catholic, although wasn't necessarily practising anymore. He didn't even bother to attend church, let alone think too much on it. Still, there was something about tarnished sanctity that bugged him. Walking into the church, he quickly found what he was looking for, and the woman that he was supposed to be working with. He hadn't met her yet, but had been given her information and even a picture of her so that he could identify her was there no one else to introduce him. Sipping on the caffeine rich coffee in his hand, the man approached and peered over her shoulder at the body. He frowned down at the boy, but just took another drink and looked at his new partner.

"Any assumed cause of death?" He asked, since he was there last, he figured someone might have an opinion on it. He looked to the new partner and over to Grace and nodded to her. "Bed rest too much?" He asked jokingly. He wasn't one to be necessarily serious at a crime scene, not to the point of brooding despair. It was sad enough being there, and he didn't need to overshadow it with depressing poor kid mentions. It was good just to look at the body, deal with the feelings, but act business as usual. It was his way of coping with that line of work and you had to have some kind of coping mechanism, or else you'd bury yourself. It was just too much sometimes.

[Deleted]

Grace smirked. "Bed rest is boring," she answered him as she walked around to stand beside the man. "Good morning, sir." she added with a smile. She was just about done at the scene of the crime, since pictures had been taken and statements had been recorded. She looked down at Rhean, who was carefully figuring out what killed the little boy. "You might want to look behind his ear," she whispered to Andre. She had already checked the kid out, for her own curiousity. She knew there would be the same scar.

Rhean completely uncovered the kid and whistled "wow." she shook her head. "You want a cause of death? Pick one. I see stab wounds, burns, electrocution...chances are, any number of them, or something entirely different killed him." she stood up. "On that note, I'm supposed to say welcome to Toronto, but from what I hear, someone else beat me to it." news definitely traveled fast when it came to the letters. Rhean's voice was far from pleasant. She walked past him to get an evidence bag.

"So what happened, not used to the time difference yet?" She asked, since he had gotten there last. As she asked, she went back to the body and picked up the note with a pair of tweezers, carefully putting it in the bag. She didn't like the guy, even though she didn't know him. His joking at the scene of a crime said it all. The chief never said she had to like him. He just said she had to work with him. Part of her was wondering how long he would last before his head came in a box. It was a morbid thought, but Rhean couldn't help it. If they were going to catch the guy, they would have to survive the stupid game first.

[Andre Simpson]

"It doesn't have to be, I'd take advantage," he teased, though in all honesty, he wouldn't It always sounded good in theory, but the detective couldn't actually keep still that long if there was something more important to deal with. It was a nice idea until he was stuck in bed because of some stupid injury. "You look like you're holding up though." He added with a smirk, though at the mention of looking behind the kid's ear, Andre gave her a curious look before he walked a little closer to the body. As it was uncovered, he gave it a look over. "Damn, guess we'll need the body brigade." He said, though they were going to need a coroner to look at the body before anything was determined anyway. It was just nice to have an idea right off and some body's were easy to do that with. Not this one, however. He wasn't a scientist, but he had looked at enough corpses to make an educated guess (that was sometimes completely off). Oh, he could tell that the woman wasn't thrilled to see him and it wasn't exactly making him any more excited to get to know her. But, he had to suck it up. The partner he wanted to have was an impossible wish, given that he was long dead now.

"Oh yeah, Toronto has some pretty welcoming murderers. It was nice." His voice was sarcastic, because he assumed that she was referring to the letter. Surely, she knew about it. And it wasn't as if he wanted to talk about it either. Not now, anyway. He would rather focus on the body. Kneeling down by the body, the brunette slowly bent the little boy's ear forward slightly to look behind it and there was the mark... "Damn." He mumbled under his breath, before standing to his feet again. Her comment about the time zones, however, made him roll his eyes. "Nah, I just decided to see the sights on my way. You know, new place and all." He explained, obviously not being serious about it. But, he wasn't going to explain why he was there after the rest of them. There wasn't much of a reason except for that he hadn't gotten the call too long before, and it took him a little while to actually find them.

[Deleted]

Grace stuck around long enough to see his reaction to the scar. Hearing him swear, she patted him on the back. "good luck." She nodded to Rhean and left. She had to get the police report filed so she could get back to her beat.

Rhean watched the cop leave and sighed. Now she was alone with him. Great. When he mentioned the body brigade, she rolled her eyes. "Someone obviously didn't brief you on this guy enough." She was getting used to seeing the bodies. This one was number seven. She looked around, hands on her hips. "How are you watching us?" she whispered. After all, he said in his last letter to her partner that he was watching them.

He kept on with the sarcasm! Rhean's eyes narrowed and she slapped a pair of gloves against your chest. "I know you're from Malibu with all the parties and the drinking. But you're in Toronto. You need to use your head before you wind up losing it. We have a murder to solve. I suggest you work, since that's what I'm doing."

[Andre Simpson]

"Thanks," he mentioned to Grace, and he meant it not only to her encouragement of luck, but to her pointing out to look behind the ear. He knew the seriousness of the case and while he hadn't had time to completely sift through the file, he was getting a feel for it quick. Not everyone managed to get used to his sense of humour, especially not around bodies. But, it was his way of coping with it. He was just as sharp as he was when he was serious, though when something really pulled his attention in, there was a complete turn in him. Right now, they were studying the scene and Andre wasn't going to become all forehead and scowly because of it. That was the best way to run himself into the ground. Habitually, he glanced around, choosing not to answer her question about how the guy was watching them. It unnerved him that somebody was, but it wasn't as if he was the first criminal that kept close tabs on his case. He was looking down at the body again when he felt the gloves hit his chest and grabbed them.

"Gee, thanks." Andre wasn't stupid, and he knew how he was coming across to her. But honestly, he didn't care. This was one of the problems he'd had with every partner since the one he had first died. He didn't think about how to better get along with people. He acted the way he wanted to and if they had a problem with it, he shrugged it off or laughed it off. He was told it was a bad way of dealing, but Andre couldn't fathom how he was supposed to work with someone new. It took so much time to get to know someone and he wasn't sure he had it in him. When she mentioned he was from Malibu, however, the detective chuckled without humour at all. "Oh right, sometimes I forget that I got this far through wild parties and scantily clad blonde women. I think I'm already having alcohol and implant withdrawals." He retorted, fully sarcastic, before continuing on a more serious note. "I know how to do my job, but thanks for your concern." He put the gloves on before he crouched down by the body again, looking over him. He was so young...

[Deleted]

Rhean's jaw clenched when he kept on. "You think so? So did Gregory Grayson." She snapped at him when he said he knew how to do his job. "You've heard of him, right? He's my partner; the man you're replacing. Did they tell you what happened to him?" She didn't even wait for a reply. "He was victim number six. Lost his head, quite literally. He was beheaded and his head was delivered to the Chief's office. He failed to take this case seriously and he failed to do what the letter said. So knock off with the jokes and you better damned well do what he tells you to do because you may think you know how to do your job but what you're really doing is putting both of us in danger."

With that being said, she turned and walked down the aisle. "Father Sullivan?" she called to Liam, pulling out a pad and pencil to take notes. She figured that was enough interaction with the jackass for the day. She was going to be incredibly lucky if she got out of this alive.

[Liam Sullivan]

For the first time since Andre arrived, he quieted when Rhean brought up her former partner. Silence settled over him, but he didn't remove his gaze. He never really asked what happened to her former partner. Andre didn't think to, and apparently the captain didn't think to inform him either. It might have been good information to know, so that he didn't say the wrong thing. Which, it looked like he had done just that. He knew what it was like to lose a partner, but not in that context. His partner had died in a shoot out. It was a dangerous situation that Andre knew they could have died in, but they had done so many raids like that one that he didn't expect it to be the one that killed one of them. Nothing really prepared you for witnessing your partner's last breath though. It was an image he'd have forever. The type that woke him up some nights, thinking he was still yelling at the man to stay alive and to keep going. "I've dealt with serial killers before," he growled; okay, so he hadn't dealt extensively with them before and nothing that seemed to amount to this, but he knew his way around a case and how to behave. "Don't underestimate me." There were no apologies, and no remorse for how he behaved. Although, he did feel a little bad for not having known beforehand.

"We're not dying." So far, the requests in the letter meant little to him. They were simple, and he'd follow it. It was the best way to keep that contact open too. And what better way to get into someone's head? Andre looked back down at the body, since Rhean was gone, he was going to busy himself studying the body and the surrounding area. She could go do the questioning if she liked, he would get his done eventually. But for now, he just peered over the body, assessing what he could. Kids were always difficult. It wasn't something he got used to, despite the joking.

The old man was talking again. Liam wasn't sure what he was saying either. He had been staring at the floor for several minutes. He fiddled with the corner of an oak desk, listening to the chatter around him. In his opinion, it sounded like the group was talking at him—or was it to him? Perhaps about him? Or maybe they weren't saying anything to him at all. The image of the body was still playing over in his mind and he swallowed hard, trying to push it back. Not even prayers were vanishing it, though, he didn't expect them to. He heard his name being called, and finally in a stern voice before he looked up, blinking slowly to try to focus again. "Sorry, father, what?" He asked, getting an eye roll from several of the older men in the room. Oh, great, that was just brilliant. "You're being called." The deacon informed him and Liam stood up. "Right, yeah. Wish me luck, mate." He mumbled the priest that was only a few years older than him, and in response, he mumbled a prayer and Liam walked out.

"Sorry," He felt like fidgeting walking back out there. There was a body out there! He'd never seen an actual dead body before, and it was shaking. "How can I help you?" The question was forced. He knew she'd have questions and he was willing to answer anything she had to ask. He was just out of his element.

[Deleted]

Rhean pushed hair behind her ears and rested a hand on his shoulder. "I know this is very hard for you. I just need to ask you some questions, ok?" her voice had softened immensely. She gave his shoulder a squeeze and looked in his eyes with a small smile. Knowing him helped her to be compassionate. Since the Father came from Ireland, she had only come to confession when he was there to listen. She loved the priest, and felt bad that he had to witness this.

"Is there somewhere we can sit down? Where you don't have to look at the crime scene?" she asked gently. She found that being sympathetic and accommodating really helped in this line of work. As for Andre, she ignored his comments, having nothing else to say to him.

[Liam Sullivan]

Liam's gaze kept getting cast towards the crime scene—towards the units working around the body. The image of the boy wasn't going to leave his head, no matter what he did. And even though he couldn't see him from where he was standing, he knew was there and could imagine it. He couldn't stop imagining it! He tried to focus in on Rhean. He knew who she was, remembered her, but there was very little clicking fully right then. His brain was a jumbled mess, with thoughts scattered all over and images that he couldn't pick up and organize. "Yeah, of course. I understand." He didn't have anything against questioning and he knew it had to be done, although there was very little that he knew he could tell. It wasn't as if he saw much at all, except for the body itself. He wasn't sure when it was put there, but he'd give what he could. And according to the church, he was free to say anything. It always looked suspicious when the church closed up. "I'm fine, just a little thrown off. Last body I saw was on TV, y'know? Big difference."

"This way," He shook it off again and led Rhean out of the worship hall and across a corridor into a sort of lounge room, mostly used for meetings. The building was huge, and there were all sorts of places to sit, and that particular room had enough chairs and seats scattered about. One of older priests had said something about a test of faith in the office before, but Liam didn't consider that a problem. His faith wasn't swayed by what he saw. Not his faith in God, at least. It was his faith in humanity that felt weak. It was silly, because he understood the concept of humanity. They were all sinners. Not a one of them was exempt, but this wasn't sin, this was something worse than that. It faced him with something that scared him, and not because he was religious or because of anything faith related really. It was a very human, and very typical reaction for someone; especially a twenty-six year old that hadn't been exposed to anything like that before. "Have a seat."

[Deleted]

Rhean followed him quietly and looked around. She smiled at the priest when he led her into a room. "Father, were you here yesterday at all?" she asked as soon as she sat down. She wanted to get right to it. She had her questions mapped out in her brain. She needed to know what the hours were that the area was alone, so she could develop a timeline. She needed to figure out why the body was placed in the church. After that, she would go by her instinct.

As she waited for his answer, Rhean wrote down his name and the date on her pad. Her mind was on Andre, though. Was it really safe to leave him alone? After all, Greg had gotten killed. She didn't like Andre. But it had nothing to do with his personality. She was afraid, and Rhean never did deal with fear well.

[Deleted]

"I don't like field work."

That was Cameron's main complaint when asked to go to the Catholic Church and analyze any forensics there. The twenty-nine year old had a chief purpose in life, and that was to stay in his lab and be invisible to the rest of the world. Actually, he was quite good at managing his translucence. Most of the time, people didn't even know who he was. That would change, of course, once he was done with his dissertation. But for now, he liked it when people looked at him and said 'who are you again?'

But Isabelle, his supervisor, didn't exactly see it that way. With her arms crossed over her chest, she asked, "Are you busy with another case?" That was the only excuse she would ever accept for not following instructions. If Cameron was busy analyzing evidence for another detective, she wouldn't mind at all that he stay in his lab.

Unfortunately for Cameron, the answer he gave her was not the one he wanted to give. "No," he said begrudgingly. He knew what was going to come out of her mouth next. He was going to have to pack up his equipment and head for the scene of the crime. He saw it in her eyes before she even responded.

"Then I expect you there within the next hour."

Cameron groaned, but did as he was told. He parked in the church parking lot next to Rhean's and got out. He slipped on his gloves before he even went inside the church. He hated being at the crime scene. There were far too many things that could go wrong. He could accidentally tamper with evidence and lose his job. Protocol and procedure were so much easier to remember when he was in the lab--in his domain. Now he had to step into the cops' domain. As much as he adored Detective Garrett, he didn't like being on her domain.

His gaze was down at his watch when he stepped into the church. "I'm sorry I'm late, I-" he looked up and around, Rhean wasn't in sight. The only person he could see was a large man that he had never seen before. Cameron swallowed and took a half step back. "Where's Detective Garrett?" The question came out accusatory, but only because he was terrified of the man. He was so...so big!