*N Sync. Dead people make interesting conversation pieces.
Title: Dead people make interesting conversation pieces.
Fandom: Popslash.
Characters: Chris Kirkpatrick / JC Chasez
Word Count:2,763
Rating: PG-13 for violence
Summary: Sometimes love appears in the weirdest places.
Author's Notes: Prompt 20 of the SparklyGlee Challenge. Pairing: Chris/JC. Physical location: any big city. Any major plot points: the detective (Chris)/pathologist (JC) AU. What's to squee about: JC's spaciness but his brilliancy when it comes to doing his job. This is going to end up being a larger fic, but unfortunately, my recent arm problems prevented me from doing the whole planned plot. Don’t worry, though, this one is still a one shot. Many thanks to bellamyrose for her fast beta.
The smell of the morgue was enough to make Chris want to throw up. It was the smell of decaying corpses and menthol, smells of hospitals and disease.
It didn´t help that the morgue was empty. Chris was supposed to meet with the chief pathologist there, but the only ones inside the small and cluttered room were the bodies waiting to be examined.
"Hey there! Is anybody here?" Chris asked, feeling foolish and nervous. It reminded him of a zombie movie, making him feel that at any time one of those bodies could try to latch on his brains.
To Chris´ surprise, suddenly one of the sheets that covered the bodies started to move, and before he could do anything, the body underneath seemed to wake up. Chris barely had time to think he had gone crazy when the not exactly dead body started to walk towards him.
"If the next word out of your mouth is brains, say goodbye to the top of your head!" Chris yelled, feeling a little stupid.
"Sorry, man," the obviously not so dead zombie said. “I didn´t mean to scare you. I was just taking a nap."
“Do you usually sleep here?" Chris asked, looking surprised at the doctor in front of him. He looked a couple of years younger than Chris himself, and had wavy brown hair that looked completely out of place in the morgue. In fact, he looked more like a student doing his practice than an actual doctor. “Never mind. I´m looking for Doctor Chasez, Doctor MacLean told me he was in charge of the Dumpster John Doe."
“I´m Dr.Chasez,’ the weird looking guy said. “You´re the detective in charge of the case?"
“Detective Kirkpatrick, at your service," Chris smiled. He decided not to judge him for his appearance. After all he hated to be judged by his quirks. “What do you have for me?"
“A dead body." Probably the worst part was that doctor Chasez was being serious. There was no sign of him joking. “I´d say he had been in that dumpster for at least a week, maybe a bit more although you can´t really judge by the odor. At least this time they didn´t dump him in a bath of perfume, now that stinks up the morgue for days."
“A bath of perfume?" Chris frowned. “Who did that?"
“A kid who had watched too much CSI, and thought it would help to hide the odor," Dr. Chasez said, guiding Chris to one of the tables, where a dead and bloated body was open wide. “It was an interesting case. Alcohol fixed most of the evidence. Not like this one, which has enough life forms to be considered a colony. I already picked up samples of the bugs I found in his ocular cavities, and inside his mouth and sent them to Doctor Aguilera, and she´ll have a good estimate of the time when John Doe was dumped. Did you know that his eyes weren´t eaten? They were gouged out. That´s quite unusual, so I think you can strike out accidental death. Unless of course, this guy jumped into a pitchfork. But that would make it difficult to explain the nasty wound he had on his back."
“So you are saying this was a murder?" Chris placed a handkerchief over his mouth, to try and keep the odor at bay. It was useless. He didn´t understood how doctor Chasez could be so cheerful in there, while Chris was trying not to puke, as he had done the first time he had seen a dead body.
“Pretty much, yeah," Doctor Chasez turned on a monitor, showing it to Chris. The screen showed the radiography of Mr. Doe´s ribs, where a clean break on the second rib could be seen. It looked too clean to be caused by an accident. “Although if it was a suicide, it was easily the most complicated one I´ve ever seen."
“Anything to identify our John Doe?" Chris asked, trying to follow everything Doctor Chasez was saying. The guy talked really fast, casually. Despite the gruesome subject, the doctor sounded as if he was at a bar or in a restaurant, and not surrounded by dead bodies.
“Sorry, no." Doctor Chasez shook his head. “He was naked, no tattoos, or any distinguishing marks. And whoever dumped him took the time to extract his teeth and try to burn his fingertips. So I´m afraid we won´t be able to get more information from him. Although, we´re trying to reconstruct his fingerprints. Give us a couple of days for that."
“Cause of death?" Chris asked, although for him it was obvious it had been the back wound.
“Oh, you won´t believe this one, its pretty rare,’ Doctor Chasez said, putting a glove and taking out a lung from a tray, squishing it slightly to Chris´ horror. “Our friend here drowned. Then, they used some sort of concave object to gouge out his eyes. Probably a small spoon, like a dessert spoon, you know, like for ice cream. Although I wouldn´t want to use the same spoon on ice cream after getting this guy´s eyes out. Even if bleach got out most of the traces of fluid out, which is pretty good for hiding evidence, it would totally ruin the ice cream. Anyway then they cleaned him pretty roughly, used boric acid on his fingers, pulled out all his teeth, and they stabbed him five times in the back until they broke his ribs. He also has some scarring on his back, but I´m not positive it´s from the attack."
“Not an accidental killing either then. Damn," Chris said, trying not to look at the dead body.
“No way, this was too deliberate. In fact there´s something I really don´t like about it," Doctor Chasez pointed to the ocular cavities. "In cases like this, the abuse is usually attributed to an attempt to erase all possible identification. But if that was the case here, why not simply lop off the head? Or his hands? No. I think our perp here wants us to know who the stiff is, but not too soon. Any ideas of why that might be?“
“No, I was hoping you could save me some time, had a fingerprint, or maybe a name of a suspect." Chris tried to sound nonchalant, but was failing miserably.
“Sorry, forensics isn´t the miracle science you see on TV." Doctor Chasez was still playing with the squishy lung. “But I´ll do my best to find something else."
“You do that," Chris said, pulling a card out from his coat. “If you have anything, call me up"
And that was how detective Kirkpatrick met Doctor Joshua “Spacey" Chasez for the first time .
* * *
“Got the file on the closet body?" Detective Richardson; Kevin to his wife and very few friends, partner to Detective Christopher Kirkpatrick and pain in the ass to anyone unlucky enough to get in his way when he was angry, asked as he sat on his desk. He and Chris were usually given the hardest cases, since none of them rested until they could close them. An example was the dumpster body, that was going on a month with no lead, but both men still gave it time as if it had fresh clues.
“I thought you were going to get it," Chris said, not looking up from his notes. They had all the witnesses´ statements, and nothing useful. They had seen someone open a door, and a body had fell from it. That was about it.
“They told me the pathologist assigned was Spacey Chasez. I can´t deal with him," Kevin admitted. That was a new one for Chris. Usually, his partner could handle any kind of man. He could handle Chris. “Last time I went to see him, I ended up with an intestine in my hands. You came back more or less unscathed."
“He squished a lung in front of me," Chris grinned, remembering the moment. “Is he always like that?"
“As far as office rumors go, yeah," Kevin chuckled. It was a low, rumbling sound that made a nearby officer turn around, worried. Homicide detective Kevin Richardson never laughed, and if he did, it was a good idea to hide. “I heard Tuttuola had to sit through a whole explanation of why violin arcs aren´t a good instrument for anal rape."
“Ouch," Chris grimaced in pained sympathy. Although he couldn´t say if it was for the SVU detective or for the victim who had prompted such lecture from the ME. “So, you want me to go down there to see what the body has to say? What´s in it for me?"
“If you go and face the space man, I´ll invite you to dinner tonight," Kevin offered, earnestly.
“I´m not sure about that, your cooking sucks," Chris shook his head, trying not to laugh. If Kevin was inviting him to dinner, there was more to the story about him and Dr. Chasez than just an intestine in his hands.
“Kristen is cooking. She said she would make lasagna today," Kevin smiled, looking like a shark who had just seen a tasty prey. Kristen Richardson´s lasagna was legendary at the station. Even detectives from other departments would come down when Kevin brought leftovers to share.
“Call her and tell her to make double portions. If I end up too grossed out to eat, I want some takeout!" Chris grinned, grasping his partner´s hand.
And that was how Chris ended up being the one who always was in charge to go and speak with Dr. Chasez.
* * *
“So, what´s on today´s menu?" Chris asked, getting a very distinctive happy feeling when he actually managed to surprise Joshua. They had been working together for almost three months now, and even though the dumpster John Doe case remained unsolved, there were betting pools about how many other crimes the two of them would solve. Kevin even was starting to say he had become superfluous.
Chris sighed remembering that. It had been one case, just one case that he and Joshua had solved together because Kevin had been visiting his pregnant wife in the hospital, and Joshua had a free day so it had all been for the best. Chris had realized sometime between Dumpster John Doe and Dead Body in the Sewers that Joshua didn´t do his gross talk just to scare newcomers at the morgue, he just didn´t see it as a gross subject. It was his life, it was what he knew, and just like Chris and Kevin talked shop at the dinner table, to Kristen´s exasperation, Joshua just said whatever came to his mind.
And most of the time, what he said could be important. Like on that one case that had Kevin so riled, where Joshua had been the one to point out that the expensive nail polish on the dead body´s nails was too fresh to have been applied long before her untimely death, which had led Chris to do some investigation on the girl´s fiancée and found out that he had killed her to get the insurance money.
“Lou Pearlman, bankrupt banker. 57, way overweight. Suicide," Joshua answered, smiling brightly. The smile that made Chris´ heart go wild. Bright and beautiful, and that hurt Chris a lot because while the NYPD didn´t have a particular don´t ask, don´t tell policy, he had seen what happened to gay officers. And he also had no idea if Joshua Chasez was gay or not. “Or so the ME on the scene said. Found the body hung from the ceiling, purple skin, tongue hanging out of the mouth, no apparent defense wounds. Pretty normal for a hanging suicide. Cause of death, cerebral ischemia caused by closing the carotid arteries."
“But you´re not convinced it´s a suicide," Chris prompted, knowing how Joshua´s brain worked now. It was an interesting thing. The more he babbled, the more information he gave. It was another of the reasons why he had been working up the courage to invite Joshua to have a beer after work that day. A social beer. Not a date. That was a very important distinction in his mind.
“Hell, no." Joshua shook his head, grabbing the fat dead body´s wrist and showing it to Chris. The police detective sighed with relief. At least this time, it wasn´t dripping liquid, or pulsating. Joshua had once handed him a heart filled with larva, and Chris still hadn´t forgiven him for that. “See this? The ME said the discoloration was caused by his watch that was found in a drawer next to his bed. But it looks more like he had his hands tied shortly before he died. If you ask me, someone tied him up, and forced him to stand while he was hanged."
“Had to be a very big man to force this one to do anything," Chris muttered, looking closely at the marks. They didn´t really seem like a watch mark, now that Joshua had mentioned it.
“No, but I could bet that there is something more in his bloodwork. His eyes weren´t bloodshot and that´s not consistent with strangulation. Usually they get all red and puffy, like big grapes. They´re also very squishy to the touch, but that´s because they´re mostly water." Joshua marked his words by touching lightly the man´s eyelids. By now, Chris was quite used to those antics. “There´s also the matter of the henna tattoo."
“What henna tattoo?" Chris frowned.
“Well, it was on his buttocks, and he was dressed so I can see why your guys missed it," Joshua grinned, and Chris had to stop himself from kissing him right there, never mind the odor and the dead decomposing body next to him. But the doctor turned around to search for something on his desk, so the moment was lost. Finally, Joshua produced a Polaroid photograph.
Chris made a disgusted sound when he realized he was looking at Pearlman´s buttocks, across which someone had written “Karma is a bitch’.
“Sure that´s henna?" Chris asked, thoroughly grossed out.
“Already tested it. One would think they could get the same result with as marker, right?" Joshua asked, frowning a little. “Although, it´s a good thing they didn´t. Marker ink wouldn´t give us any clues as to the murderer´s identity."
“And henna ink does?" Chris asked, amazed.
“Well, there´s a difference in each batch, so yeah. This one seems pretty permanent, so I can investigate it a bit." Joshua seemed enthusiastic about the subject. One more thing for Chris to love...
“How do you know that?" Chris asked again. Usually, Joshua was a font of weird knowledge, but this was a bit too much.
“I love body art," Joshua grinned, a bit embarrassed. “But have a huge fear of needles in my body. So sometimes, I go and get some henna stuff done. They´re amazing artists."
Chris nodded, managing to bite back the ‘I´ve got five tattoos´ comment that was on the tip of his tongue. “So you could find out who sold the ink that is currently on our stiff´s butt?"
“Theoretically, yeah. But don´t bet on it. I´m good, not miraculous." Joshua finally stopped fussing with the corpse´s eyelid, to Chris´s relief.
“Well then, I´ll leave you to your magic," Chris said, taking the file. He would go and tell the chief that their suicide was now a murder, and then get with Kevin to start doing the interrogations. His moment to ask Joshua for that beer had passed.
“Hey, Detective Kirkpatrick?" Joshua called to him when Chris was at the door. “I mean, Chris? This might sound forward to you but I was thinking… and you can tell me if I´m being totally off base, though I hope you won´t want to hit me because you don´t seem the type to punch guys out just because of an innocent question, but… well, would you want to go and have a coffee with me? A date, so to speak?"
Chris blinked, twice, shocked. “A date?"
“I´ll understand it I´m not your type, but I honestly had to try," Joshua smiled, looking uncomfortable. Chris realized that he hadn´t moved from the spot where he stood, something unusual for the young forensic scientist. “So… did I just ruin our friendship?"
Wickedly, Chris smiled. “No, you just made it a lot more interesting."
And that was how Detective Chris Kirkpatrick and Doctor Joshua Chasez found each other, among at least twelve dead bodies, and a couple of extra body parts.
Fandom: Popslash.
Characters: Chris Kirkpatrick / JC Chasez
Word Count:2,763
Rating: PG-13 for violence
Summary: Sometimes love appears in the weirdest places.
Author's Notes: Prompt 20 of the SparklyGlee Challenge. Pairing: Chris/JC. Physical location: any big city. Any major plot points: the detective (Chris)/pathologist (JC) AU. What's to squee about: JC's spaciness but his brilliancy when it comes to doing his job. This is going to end up being a larger fic, but unfortunately, my recent arm problems prevented me from doing the whole planned plot. Don’t worry, though, this one is still a one shot. Many thanks to bellamyrose for her fast beta.
The smell of the morgue was enough to make Chris want to throw up. It was the smell of decaying corpses and menthol, smells of hospitals and disease.
It didn´t help that the morgue was empty. Chris was supposed to meet with the chief pathologist there, but the only ones inside the small and cluttered room were the bodies waiting to be examined.
"Hey there! Is anybody here?" Chris asked, feeling foolish and nervous. It reminded him of a zombie movie, making him feel that at any time one of those bodies could try to latch on his brains.
To Chris´ surprise, suddenly one of the sheets that covered the bodies started to move, and before he could do anything, the body underneath seemed to wake up. Chris barely had time to think he had gone crazy when the not exactly dead body started to walk towards him.
"If the next word out of your mouth is brains, say goodbye to the top of your head!" Chris yelled, feeling a little stupid.
"Sorry, man," the obviously not so dead zombie said. “I didn´t mean to scare you. I was just taking a nap."
“Do you usually sleep here?" Chris asked, looking surprised at the doctor in front of him. He looked a couple of years younger than Chris himself, and had wavy brown hair that looked completely out of place in the morgue. In fact, he looked more like a student doing his practice than an actual doctor. “Never mind. I´m looking for Doctor Chasez, Doctor MacLean told me he was in charge of the Dumpster John Doe."
“I´m Dr.Chasez,’ the weird looking guy said. “You´re the detective in charge of the case?"
“Detective Kirkpatrick, at your service," Chris smiled. He decided not to judge him for his appearance. After all he hated to be judged by his quirks. “What do you have for me?"
“A dead body." Probably the worst part was that doctor Chasez was being serious. There was no sign of him joking. “I´d say he had been in that dumpster for at least a week, maybe a bit more although you can´t really judge by the odor. At least this time they didn´t dump him in a bath of perfume, now that stinks up the morgue for days."
“A bath of perfume?" Chris frowned. “Who did that?"
“A kid who had watched too much CSI, and thought it would help to hide the odor," Dr. Chasez said, guiding Chris to one of the tables, where a dead and bloated body was open wide. “It was an interesting case. Alcohol fixed most of the evidence. Not like this one, which has enough life forms to be considered a colony. I already picked up samples of the bugs I found in his ocular cavities, and inside his mouth and sent them to Doctor Aguilera, and she´ll have a good estimate of the time when John Doe was dumped. Did you know that his eyes weren´t eaten? They were gouged out. That´s quite unusual, so I think you can strike out accidental death. Unless of course, this guy jumped into a pitchfork. But that would make it difficult to explain the nasty wound he had on his back."
“So you are saying this was a murder?" Chris placed a handkerchief over his mouth, to try and keep the odor at bay. It was useless. He didn´t understood how doctor Chasez could be so cheerful in there, while Chris was trying not to puke, as he had done the first time he had seen a dead body.
“Pretty much, yeah," Doctor Chasez turned on a monitor, showing it to Chris. The screen showed the radiography of Mr. Doe´s ribs, where a clean break on the second rib could be seen. It looked too clean to be caused by an accident. “Although if it was a suicide, it was easily the most complicated one I´ve ever seen."
“Anything to identify our John Doe?" Chris asked, trying to follow everything Doctor Chasez was saying. The guy talked really fast, casually. Despite the gruesome subject, the doctor sounded as if he was at a bar or in a restaurant, and not surrounded by dead bodies.
“Sorry, no." Doctor Chasez shook his head. “He was naked, no tattoos, or any distinguishing marks. And whoever dumped him took the time to extract his teeth and try to burn his fingertips. So I´m afraid we won´t be able to get more information from him. Although, we´re trying to reconstruct his fingerprints. Give us a couple of days for that."
“Cause of death?" Chris asked, although for him it was obvious it had been the back wound.
“Oh, you won´t believe this one, its pretty rare,’ Doctor Chasez said, putting a glove and taking out a lung from a tray, squishing it slightly to Chris´ horror. “Our friend here drowned. Then, they used some sort of concave object to gouge out his eyes. Probably a small spoon, like a dessert spoon, you know, like for ice cream. Although I wouldn´t want to use the same spoon on ice cream after getting this guy´s eyes out. Even if bleach got out most of the traces of fluid out, which is pretty good for hiding evidence, it would totally ruin the ice cream. Anyway then they cleaned him pretty roughly, used boric acid on his fingers, pulled out all his teeth, and they stabbed him five times in the back until they broke his ribs. He also has some scarring on his back, but I´m not positive it´s from the attack."
“Not an accidental killing either then. Damn," Chris said, trying not to look at the dead body.
“No way, this was too deliberate. In fact there´s something I really don´t like about it," Doctor Chasez pointed to the ocular cavities. "In cases like this, the abuse is usually attributed to an attempt to erase all possible identification. But if that was the case here, why not simply lop off the head? Or his hands? No. I think our perp here wants us to know who the stiff is, but not too soon. Any ideas of why that might be?“
“No, I was hoping you could save me some time, had a fingerprint, or maybe a name of a suspect." Chris tried to sound nonchalant, but was failing miserably.
“Sorry, forensics isn´t the miracle science you see on TV." Doctor Chasez was still playing with the squishy lung. “But I´ll do my best to find something else."
“You do that," Chris said, pulling a card out from his coat. “If you have anything, call me up"
And that was how detective Kirkpatrick met Doctor Joshua “Spacey" Chasez for the first time .
* * *
“Got the file on the closet body?" Detective Richardson; Kevin to his wife and very few friends, partner to Detective Christopher Kirkpatrick and pain in the ass to anyone unlucky enough to get in his way when he was angry, asked as he sat on his desk. He and Chris were usually given the hardest cases, since none of them rested until they could close them. An example was the dumpster body, that was going on a month with no lead, but both men still gave it time as if it had fresh clues.
“I thought you were going to get it," Chris said, not looking up from his notes. They had all the witnesses´ statements, and nothing useful. They had seen someone open a door, and a body had fell from it. That was about it.
“They told me the pathologist assigned was Spacey Chasez. I can´t deal with him," Kevin admitted. That was a new one for Chris. Usually, his partner could handle any kind of man. He could handle Chris. “Last time I went to see him, I ended up with an intestine in my hands. You came back more or less unscathed."
“He squished a lung in front of me," Chris grinned, remembering the moment. “Is he always like that?"
“As far as office rumors go, yeah," Kevin chuckled. It was a low, rumbling sound that made a nearby officer turn around, worried. Homicide detective Kevin Richardson never laughed, and if he did, it was a good idea to hide. “I heard Tuttuola had to sit through a whole explanation of why violin arcs aren´t a good instrument for anal rape."
“Ouch," Chris grimaced in pained sympathy. Although he couldn´t say if it was for the SVU detective or for the victim who had prompted such lecture from the ME. “So, you want me to go down there to see what the body has to say? What´s in it for me?"
“If you go and face the space man, I´ll invite you to dinner tonight," Kevin offered, earnestly.
“I´m not sure about that, your cooking sucks," Chris shook his head, trying not to laugh. If Kevin was inviting him to dinner, there was more to the story about him and Dr. Chasez than just an intestine in his hands.
“Kristen is cooking. She said she would make lasagna today," Kevin smiled, looking like a shark who had just seen a tasty prey. Kristen Richardson´s lasagna was legendary at the station. Even detectives from other departments would come down when Kevin brought leftovers to share.
“Call her and tell her to make double portions. If I end up too grossed out to eat, I want some takeout!" Chris grinned, grasping his partner´s hand.
And that was how Chris ended up being the one who always was in charge to go and speak with Dr. Chasez.
* * *
“So, what´s on today´s menu?" Chris asked, getting a very distinctive happy feeling when he actually managed to surprise Joshua. They had been working together for almost three months now, and even though the dumpster John Doe case remained unsolved, there were betting pools about how many other crimes the two of them would solve. Kevin even was starting to say he had become superfluous.
Chris sighed remembering that. It had been one case, just one case that he and Joshua had solved together because Kevin had been visiting his pregnant wife in the hospital, and Joshua had a free day so it had all been for the best. Chris had realized sometime between Dumpster John Doe and Dead Body in the Sewers that Joshua didn´t do his gross talk just to scare newcomers at the morgue, he just didn´t see it as a gross subject. It was his life, it was what he knew, and just like Chris and Kevin talked shop at the dinner table, to Kristen´s exasperation, Joshua just said whatever came to his mind.
And most of the time, what he said could be important. Like on that one case that had Kevin so riled, where Joshua had been the one to point out that the expensive nail polish on the dead body´s nails was too fresh to have been applied long before her untimely death, which had led Chris to do some investigation on the girl´s fiancée and found out that he had killed her to get the insurance money.
“Lou Pearlman, bankrupt banker. 57, way overweight. Suicide," Joshua answered, smiling brightly. The smile that made Chris´ heart go wild. Bright and beautiful, and that hurt Chris a lot because while the NYPD didn´t have a particular don´t ask, don´t tell policy, he had seen what happened to gay officers. And he also had no idea if Joshua Chasez was gay or not. “Or so the ME on the scene said. Found the body hung from the ceiling, purple skin, tongue hanging out of the mouth, no apparent defense wounds. Pretty normal for a hanging suicide. Cause of death, cerebral ischemia caused by closing the carotid arteries."
“But you´re not convinced it´s a suicide," Chris prompted, knowing how Joshua´s brain worked now. It was an interesting thing. The more he babbled, the more information he gave. It was another of the reasons why he had been working up the courage to invite Joshua to have a beer after work that day. A social beer. Not a date. That was a very important distinction in his mind.
“Hell, no." Joshua shook his head, grabbing the fat dead body´s wrist and showing it to Chris. The police detective sighed with relief. At least this time, it wasn´t dripping liquid, or pulsating. Joshua had once handed him a heart filled with larva, and Chris still hadn´t forgiven him for that. “See this? The ME said the discoloration was caused by his watch that was found in a drawer next to his bed. But it looks more like he had his hands tied shortly before he died. If you ask me, someone tied him up, and forced him to stand while he was hanged."
“Had to be a very big man to force this one to do anything," Chris muttered, looking closely at the marks. They didn´t really seem like a watch mark, now that Joshua had mentioned it.
“No, but I could bet that there is something more in his bloodwork. His eyes weren´t bloodshot and that´s not consistent with strangulation. Usually they get all red and puffy, like big grapes. They´re also very squishy to the touch, but that´s because they´re mostly water." Joshua marked his words by touching lightly the man´s eyelids. By now, Chris was quite used to those antics. “There´s also the matter of the henna tattoo."
“What henna tattoo?" Chris frowned.
“Well, it was on his buttocks, and he was dressed so I can see why your guys missed it," Joshua grinned, and Chris had to stop himself from kissing him right there, never mind the odor and the dead decomposing body next to him. But the doctor turned around to search for something on his desk, so the moment was lost. Finally, Joshua produced a Polaroid photograph.
Chris made a disgusted sound when he realized he was looking at Pearlman´s buttocks, across which someone had written “Karma is a bitch’.
“Sure that´s henna?" Chris asked, thoroughly grossed out.
“Already tested it. One would think they could get the same result with as marker, right?" Joshua asked, frowning a little. “Although, it´s a good thing they didn´t. Marker ink wouldn´t give us any clues as to the murderer´s identity."
“And henna ink does?" Chris asked, amazed.
“Well, there´s a difference in each batch, so yeah. This one seems pretty permanent, so I can investigate it a bit." Joshua seemed enthusiastic about the subject. One more thing for Chris to love...
“How do you know that?" Chris asked again. Usually, Joshua was a font of weird knowledge, but this was a bit too much.
“I love body art," Joshua grinned, a bit embarrassed. “But have a huge fear of needles in my body. So sometimes, I go and get some henna stuff done. They´re amazing artists."
Chris nodded, managing to bite back the ‘I´ve got five tattoos´ comment that was on the tip of his tongue. “So you could find out who sold the ink that is currently on our stiff´s butt?"
“Theoretically, yeah. But don´t bet on it. I´m good, not miraculous." Joshua finally stopped fussing with the corpse´s eyelid, to Chris´s relief.
“Well then, I´ll leave you to your magic," Chris said, taking the file. He would go and tell the chief that their suicide was now a murder, and then get with Kevin to start doing the interrogations. His moment to ask Joshua for that beer had passed.
“Hey, Detective Kirkpatrick?" Joshua called to him when Chris was at the door. “I mean, Chris? This might sound forward to you but I was thinking… and you can tell me if I´m being totally off base, though I hope you won´t want to hit me because you don´t seem the type to punch guys out just because of an innocent question, but… well, would you want to go and have a coffee with me? A date, so to speak?"
Chris blinked, twice, shocked. “A date?"
“I´ll understand it I´m not your type, but I honestly had to try," Joshua smiled, looking uncomfortable. Chris realized that he hadn´t moved from the spot where he stood, something unusual for the young forensic scientist. “So… did I just ruin our friendship?"
Wickedly, Chris smiled. “No, you just made it a lot more interesting."
And that was how Detective Chris Kirkpatrick and Doctor Joshua Chasez found each other, among at least twelve dead bodies, and a couple of extra body parts.