The Carver Café [Edward/Jacob]

Introduction

A/N: I'm not even thinking about what's canon.

There's a dead body on a table at the Carver Cafe. It's one of the tables at the back where couples would usually dine for some privacy. The corpse is situated on top of what looks like a dinner of steak and wedges and some form of salad. Their drinks have been tipped over and are slowly dripping onto Jacob's favorite pair of shoes. The arms and legs of the victim are splayed out in an 'x' formation, their eyes and mouth wide open. 

"Shock..." Jacob mutters, leaning closer to get a better look.

"What?" A voice whispers, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as breath tickles the skin. He snaps his head to the left to see Mike standing way too close, body bent at the waist to match Jacob's posture.

"Back up and what have you been eating?" He presses his wrist to his nose, more for comedic effect than anything, and turns his head away. He was used to the odd smell or two wafting from the boys back at the station. A little post-nap breath was nothing, but it got Mike to stumble back a couple of feet.

Jacob can see him blowing his breath into the palm of his hand out of his peripheral as he straightens up. 

"She was caught by surprise," Jacob clarifies, ignoring the face Mike makes as he catches a whiff of the scent in his palm, "but she must've known the person who did this to her."

"Right." Mike pulls out a couple of tic-tacs and a pad and pencil and starts scribbling something down.

Angela steps around them with her camera in hand, sitting her bag down on one of the vacant chairs. 

"Back up, boys. I need to document the crime scene and then you can get your evidence." She shoos them away while positioning her camera to take in the scene before them.

Jessica wasn't far behind, evidence bags in hand, as she maneuvered around Angela to stand next to Mike.

"That must suck. Imagine that being your first date and he slams you into your dinner." Her eyes find Mike who is chewing on the end of his pencil thoughtfully and Jacob pretends not to see the glint in her eye and the way she looks to him for approval. The man might as well have nothing in between his ears when it comes to love. 

"Wasn't their first date." Jacob comments, nodding towards where they could see a visible ring glistening on her finger.

"Ouch." Jessica whispered. 

When Angela was done taking pictures, Jessica moved in to collect evidence. 

Jacob took the time to get closer, eyes scanning slowly over what was before him. It was not neat, almost as if it was a rushed decision to kill her. It definitely wasn't some kind of quiet robbery, the ring looked worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. They didn't take anything of monetary value.

"A brunette with brown eyes, maybe, we'll have to check with the ME." Jessica called over her shoulder to Mike who was still jotting down notes, "Somewhere between 5'4 and 5'6."

It was clearly supposed to be a special night if the woman's pedicure and manicure were anything to go by. She was wearing makeup, earrings, a necklace. Her jewelry looked expensive. Though, she didn't seem well-off. The dress she was wearing wasn't made out of anything expensive nor did it have a luxury label attached to it.

"Do you see a cellphone or a wallet?" Jacob called over to Jessica who was slowly sleuthing around the body to try to get some food that'd had bites taken out of it before starting on trying to get DNA off of the cups.

"No." 

A Jane Doe.

"So, a couple comes in and orders dinner for what's clearly a special occasion. The ring looks new enough, maybe it was an engagement dinner. Yet, the partner is nowhere to be found even though his fiancee is dead." Jacob finally speaks and watches as the gears start to turn in Mike's head.

"Maybe he did it." The gears were a bit rusty.

"Do you leave an expensive ring on the dead body of someone you decided to murder?" Jacob asks and watches as Mike realizes the improbability.

"Maybe he owed someone money." Mike tries again.

Jessica chips in.

"They clearly didn't have it like that. That rock looks like it costs a good amount, but I own that exact dress." She says, looking down at the piece of fabric kind of somberly. 

"Okay, so maybe he, or they, owed someone money." Angela pitched in from where she was zipping up her camera, "but why wouldn't they take the jewelry, anyway?"

Finally, someone who he can bounce ideas off of. 

"Jealous lover?" Jessica tries again.

The amount of violence in the attack, the lack of stolen jewelry, the shock on her face...

It's a working theory.

Mike takes another step towards the body, looking as if he was going to touch something and Jacob can't help the grip he puts on his shoulder as he tugs him back with enough force to make him topple into the table behind them.

"You get your DNA on that body and you're going to be the one answering to him." He hisses, head tilting towards the medical examiner who'd just stepped into the restaurant. Jacob watched his eyes scan the place before they finally land on the group huddled in the corner. 

Mike almost knocks over all of the chairs at the table as he rushes to stand behind Jacob after finally catching sight of the man gliding through the door.

Edward Cullen quickly makes his way over, only bothering to nod at Jacob with a quiet "Detective" as he paved the way through Jacob's group for his assistant. 

Jacob gave a nod of his own.

 "Doctor."