Bertelli Investigations Volume 1: Noteworthy Mysteries

Chapter 36

Friday, May 5th  |  9:30 am

While Tony had spent the night at Vanessa's house and still wasn't back yet, Tino thought he would start his work day. It was the perfect time to drop off all of the evidence he had in the forensics lab. He knew he would be going to Madalyne's office, so maybe if he had done it without his brother being present it would be less awkward. He didn't need Tony there to constantly try to matchmake him and Madalyne. If that were to happen, Tino would probably never go back to her office. Heck he would probably leave the whole state of New York.

It was Tino's first time being at the forensics lab. Any other time evidence had been taken there it had been done by the local police station. But Tino thought he would check it out himself this time.

The forensics lab was a pretty good-sized building that he found intimidating. He had all of the guns from both Malcom and Hannah's places. While he was sure the ones from Malcom's place wouldn't matter, it was protocol to still have them examined. Tino called the lab to let them know he was coming, feeling awkward about carrying in guns by himself. Then again, it always felt weird to do anything without his brother. They were so used to being there with each other that it didn't feel right to do something without the other.

"NYC crime lab and coroners office. This is Amanda. How many I help you?", asked the receptionist.

"Hey this is Tino Bertelli. I'm with Bertelli investigations. I'm outside and I had some things to drop off for criminal analysis. I've never been here before, so I'm not really sure where to go."

"Give me a few minutes and I'll send someone right out to help you."

"Great. I'm in a black 2017 Jeep Wrangler."

Within a few minutes Madalyne came out. She had on her lab coat and her curly brown hair up in a bun as usual. As Tino seen her walk out of the building he noticed her thinner but slightly curvy form. She looked so elegant but yet seemed to be such a strong woman. Tino hadn't noticed previously, but she was beautiful. Her milk chocolate skin almost sparkled in the sun;It was a very beautiful color. Her eyes lit up as she smiled. And she had the same seriousness about her job as he did his. He could tell. It was all in the way she presented herself and how many hours she devoted to her job.

'No no no', Tino thought to himself. 'I have too much going on. I don't have time for a woman right now. I need to focus on my career.'

As Madalyne approached the car, Tino got out and collected the guns.

"I thought I would drop off all of the evidence we bagged up. They're unloaded guns, along with some bullets that we discharged from one. I wanted to bring them in sooner,but I kind of got busy."

"Oh good. I'm glad you came today. I can't wait to check it all out with the rest of my team. If you follow me I'll show you where my office is so you know where to go the next time." Madalybe grabbed one of the guns and led the way into the building.

"Yes let's do that. It would help", Tino replied, still feeling awkward around her from what Tony had previously said over the phone. "Oh and please ignore everything my brother said over the phone the other day. He really likes to just annoy me."

Madelyn tried not to laugh. "Don't worry about it. He's hilarious anyways."

"Yes,he is. Hilarious is actually putting it mildly."

As Tino and Madalyne passed the doors to the front of the building, they came to a large desk with a red haired woman sitting behind it.  "This is Amanda", Madalyne replied. "If you ever have any questions she can help you."

Tino said a quick hello as they briefly passed the desk. The building seemed to be super clean, as a forensics facility was required to be. Everything, including the floors and elevators, shined almost liked glass. There was a set of probably 4 elevators, one of which they took to get to Madalyne's office. After the elevator, they went down the hallway to the left and her office was located to be the first door on the left. Tino was thankful that it didn't seem too hard to remember to find.

"And we're here", Madalyne said as she unlocked her door with a sensor key that was on a string around her neck. "All the doors are securely locked. We only give keys out to employees.

As they entered her office, it wasn't exactly what Tino pictured. She had all the equipment she needed to examine bodies. But there were no pictures put up or any other kind of decoration. It was strictly professional.

"Here we'll lay these down on this table. I'll get to them in a bit", she said as she guided the way to a small, medal, side table that was bare.

Tino all of a sudden noticed Madalyne's pretty eyes under the artificial light in the room. They were a nice shade of brown. Not too dark and not very light. He wasn't sure what to say next. He was an introvert, especially without his brother. "It's a nice office", Tino said as it was the first thing that came to mind.

"Thank you", Madalyne responded. "I like it a little plane, as you can see. It helps to keep me focused. I don't like distractions when I work."

Tino smiled. It was nice to meet someone that was just as into her work as he was. "I understand that completely. I'm very focused on my career as well."

"I mean there's nothing wrong with some distractions. You have to live. But when I'm here,my career is all I want to think about."

Tino couldn't believe there was someone else that took their work as seriously as he did. Sure,there were people like that in the world, but it was hard to come across."I agree", he replied. He started to think that maybe it was okay to have some of those "few distractions ".

"I usually allow myself a little free time on Sundays, but for me that's all I ever do out of work", Tino said.

"Really? Me too", Madalyne replied. "Sundays are a nice day to do nothing."

"Maybe we can do something together next Sunday?", Tino asked hopefully.

"Yes, I would love that! You will get along great with my husband, Matthew."