The Murder Show

CHAPTER 29

Carina blinks against the sunlight coming through the crack in the blinds illuminating the bedroom as she registers her surroundings, the warmth of Maya's arms still wrapped around her. She lifts her head from its resting place on Maya's chest glancing up to see Maya awake looking down at her with a smile. "Hi." The detective whispers.

Carina smiles back at her. "Hi... How long have you been awake?" She asks, moving to lie next to Maya, turning on her side to face her fully, as Maya twists on to her side mirroring Carina's position.

"Not long." She says quietly. "How are you feeling?" Maya asks her.

Carina's smile drops slightly. "Um, honestly, I'm not sure... I-I think maybe you were right. About therapy..." She says even more quietly like she is sharing a secret. "Maybe I should look into finding a therapist." She says.

Maya nods. "I can give you some PD vetted recommendations... not department use but therapists we recommend to vic-" She stops herself realising what she was about to say.

"It's ok, you can say it. I was, I AM a victim...It doesn't make me weak nor is it shameful." Carina says with a tone to her voice Maya can't place.

"I know. I'm sorry." Maya starts. "I just... I thought maybe I could recommend someone who specialises in this kind of trauma, that you could be more comfortable with someone that knew how to deal with this kind of thing." Maya says.

Carina nods. "I know... thank you." She says leaning forward before pausing, giving Maya a chance to say no. When she doesn't, Carina closes the gap kissing Maya softly. Maya hums contently into the kiss before Carina pulls away, with a shy smile.

"I'll go and make us some coffee..." She says pulling herself out of bed before she does something she definitely shouldn't.

"Ok." Maya smiles at her watching her go.

As Carina is finishing up with the coffee Maya emerges from the bedroom fully dressed. "I have to go to work, but I need to swing by my apartment to shower and change first." She explains in answer to the question Carina had yet to voice.

"Oh. Sure. Of course...Can you at least stay for a cup of coffee?" She asks.

Maya smiles, taking the mug. "I think I can make the time for that... For the coffee." She winks as Carina laughs at her silliness.

____

"Ok people listen up..." Comes the voice of Captain Ross. "The arraignment is at 3pm tomorrow, that gives us little over 29 hours to ensure we have everything in order." She tells the room.

Maya, Andy, Vic, Travis, and Sullivan, were all sitting around the conference room table with Agent Yang and Agent Torres on a large screen, sitting in remotely, as Ross talks. "Now, given he has confessed we expect he will enter a guilty plea which would mean no need for a preliminary hearing. That said, rarely has this guy done the expected so I would like to ensure we are fully prepared in case he doesn't." Ross tells the team.

"Hughes, Montgomery, run us through the evidence for the Seattle victims." Ross asks.

Vic and Travis stand and move over to the large monitor that isn't showing the FBI agents, connecting a laptop. "Ok, so we have the ribbon lengths..." Travis starts as the screen displays the picture of the 6 pieces in two lines of three.

"Each of the ends and cut sides of the strips matches perfectly under the microscope, leaving no room for doubt on them being one full length." Vic says as they flick through shots of the microscope shots showing the matches.

"We also have the murder weapon." Travis says displaying the picture. "We noticed the knife has a strange but distinctive pattern on the butt of the handle." He tells them. "We were able to match this to the item used to draw the snake patterns on the victims torso's thanks to the pattern transfers." He says again displaying the images.