Title: Five on a Platter

Disclaimers: Not mine, except for Laura.

Author's Note: I beta my own stuff, so the errors are mine.

Chapter 1 - Day One

The call came just as I was settling in for a quiet night of mindless television. It was my first call out as the forensic anthropologist for the Medical Examiner's Office. Normally, my consulting activities are confined to laboratory examinations but occasionally I'm asked to examine remains in situ.

The old warehouse was marked by squad cars and the ME's van. As I exited my vehicle a station wagon emblazoned with the logo of the ME's office stopped beside me. I waited for Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers to emerge from her car.

"Hi Laura," she said with a wry grin. "I see we didn't waste any time putting you to work."

"You know me I get bored easily."

I've known Liz for well over fifteen years. We had met at a forensic conference and kept in touch through the years. When I finally decided to quit wandering the world's hot spots, she kindly put in a word with her boss. I had family and friends scattered around the State, and I had consulted for quite a few of the Medical Examiners along the eastern seaboard, so New York seemed like a good place for me to settle down. It also helped that Hudson University was looking to add a new professor to its Anthropology Department, and fortunately for me, they liked my credentials and the high profile nature of some my previous work.

I clipped my newly minted ID to my coat and followed her into the building along with the two ME technicians. They were old hands at this. I'd been introduced before, but couldn't remember their names. We followed the sound of voices to the right rear corner and joined a small knot of people standing in front of a gaping hole.

"DiNovi" Rodgers stopped in front of an older detective. "Is this one yours?"

"No thank god," he said. "Major Case is on the way."

"Who?" Rodgers asked.

"Eames and Goren." DiNovi smirked at her.

"Oh lord..." Rodgers sighed and rolled her eyes. To me she said, "You're in for a treat."

"Why?" I asked.

"Goren's a pai...interesting character. I'll warn you, he likes to examine the crime scene...in minute detail, but he knows his stuff. " She turned to look at me thoughtfully. "Actually, you're a lot alike."

"Gee, thanks Liz." I said acerbically. "How often have you described me as being a 'pain in the ass'?"

Rodgers pushed her way through the hole instead of answering my question. The space was narrow, only about four feet wide, and twenty feet long. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to construct the narrow tomb. The floor was scattered with construction debris; old timbers, bricks, empty bags that had once contained mortar, and sand, lots and lots of sand.

Rodgers' cell rang, so while she answered her call, I approached the bodies and examined the scene. There were five bodies that had decayed until only bits of cloth, dried flesh and bones remained. The bones were articulated in their anatomical position. That told me that the bodies had been intact when they were placed here. I started at the feet, and worked my way up the leg bones to the pelvis, through the vertebrae and ribs to the clavicle and scapulas, down the arms to the hands. They were intact...if you didn't count the four that were missing their skulls.

Goren was waiting in the lobby when Eames pulled to the curb. He dashed through the cold wet night and into the warmth of the SUV. He was his usually scruffy self; unshaven, and baggy-eyed. He was wearing a heavy raincoat, and his watch cap was pulled down over his ears.

"Hey," He said as he settled into his seat and stretched his jean clad legs.

"There's coffee," Eames pointed at the steaming cup in the holder on his side of the vehicle.

"Thanks, Eames."

She nodded, and put the vehicle in motion. "Did you find out anything else?"

"Not much," He flipped open his portfolio. "Demolition crew found the bodies behind a false wall. ME should already be there."

"And, how did we get so lucky?"

"Site is owned by..." He glanced down at the information he'd written. "Sydney Robertson Developments. Robertson is the Deputy Mayor's brother-in-law."

"Oh crap," Eames snorted. Eames hated the Deputy Mayor. He was an officious little twirp that had an unusual attachment to the Chief of Detectives. "And I bet he won't have a clue as to how five bodies ended up hidden in the building."

"They never do."

The rest of the drive passed in silence. Goren stared out the window watching the city pass while Eames piloted the big SUV through the streets.

Rodgers finished her phone call and now stood beside me, doing the exact same visual scan I had just completed. "No skulls..." she made a small surprised sound. "Well," she continued rather cheerily. "Doesn't look like much for me..."

"Excuse me?"

"We're shorthanded tonight, otherwise I wouldn't be here, and I've got a triple homicide with actual bleeding bodies on the other side of town. I think you can handle this one on your own. I"ll leave Phil & Gene with you."

"Liz!" I couldn't believe she was throwing me in the deep end of the pool.

She paused, and turned to me. "You sure as hell don't need me to tell you how to recover skeletal remains. Just remember the bodies are ours and don't let anyone tell you different." And then she turned and marched away.

For several minutes, I stood there with my hands on my hips contemplating the tips of my booted feet until a commotion at the doorway drew my attention. Four other people had crowded through the hole and were milling around. They all wore jackets with Crime Scene Unit stencilled across the back.

"Freeze, right there." I snapped. "Who's in charge?"

"I am." He was young, confident. "Bill Watson. Who are you?"

"I'm Laura Westfall, the forensic anthropologist." I folded my arms and stared him down. "I need another fifteen minutes with the bodies before you can bring your team in."

"Look, Dr Westfall..." he began in a patronizing tone, "we need to start processing..."

"You can process when I release the bodies. And until I do, I'd like you and your team to wait outside."

"I'm sorry Dr..." he began again but I cut him off.

"Actually, I prefer Professor. I'm a PhD not an MD. And the longer you stand here arguing with me the longer you'll be here."

He stared me up and down, pursed his lips, thought about it for a few more seconds, and determined that I wasn't giving in. I also knew that Rodgers had probably ordered him to give me some space before she'd left the building and it wouldn't do to piss off a senior Medical Examiner. She could, and would, make his life hell at every crime scene he worked if he didn't obey. He turned and walked back out and the other members of his team followed.

Phil and Gene exchanged amused looks and Phil gave me the thumbs up. I winked back at them. "Let me know when my fifteen minutes are up."

"Sure thing, Professor."

I returned to the bones. I was looking to see if I could determine sex, race, height and cause of death. Height was fairly obvious, you just had to adjust for the four missing heads. The easiest way to determine sex is by examining the pelvis. The pubic arch in males, where the two halves of the pelvis join at the front of the body, is like an inverted V and very narrow; in females the junction is wider and shallower, more U-shaped. Females also have a broader, shallower pelvic cavity. Fortunately, I had all five pelvises to work with and for the most part they were devoid of flesh. I quickly determined that I had four males and one female.

I also determined that the smallest skeleton was a male juvenile. The epiphysis of long bones of the arms and legs hadn't fused indicating to me that he was younger than 14 or 15. Given his small size I judged him to be no more than 12. The other skeletons belonged to adults. The female may have been as young as mid-twenties, but the males were all older individuals. I would confirm and refine the age estimates in the lab when I had more time to examine all the bones under a microscope.

Race was going to be a tricker proposition. Generally, I would start with examining the morphology of the skull but as four of them were missing I would have to rely on examining the other bones of the body and that would take longer. Fortunately, I thought the remains were preserved enough to provide us with material for DNA testing that could give us a racial profile, but that could take weeks.

When Eames pulled up to the crime scene, she parked amongst the other assorted vehicles; a couple of squad cars with their lights lazily rotating, the Crime Scene Unit's van, the ME's van and a small red 4X4.

"Nice truck" Eames nodded with her chin. "Any idea who it belongs to?"

Goren pouted and shook his head. He pulled his badge from his pocket and clipped it to his coat. "Detectives Eames and Goren." He gave their names to the patrolman guarding the door. "Where are we?"

"Back and to the right," The patrolman pointed over his shoulder. "You can't miss it Detective. There'll be a crowd standing around watching some else do all the work."

The building had been stripped. Most of the walls were gone, flooring had been ripped away, and only a few lighting fixtures remained. In its heyday, way back when, the four storey brick building had housed a furniture manufacturer. Then it had become a warehouse. Now it was slated for demolition to make way for a high rise condominium.

Eames and Goren rounded a corner and came upon a knot of technicians and a couple of uniformed officers hovering outside a huge hole ripped in the end wall.

"What's going on?" Goren asked.

CSU Tech Watson turned to face him. "Dr. Rodgers got called away to a triple homicide, so she left the Forensic Anthropologist in charge. She won't let us touch anything until she's finished poking around."

"How long have you been waiting out here," Eames asked.

"About fifteen minutes," He checked his watch and shrugged.

"Well, I'm not waiting." Eames said flatly. She stepped through the hole and Goren followed along. When Eames stepped into the room, one of the ME's technicians spoke up. "Professor, the Detectives are here."

The bodies were at the far end of the room. A woman knelt among the bare bones, gently probing them with gloved hands. She glanced up and then reluctantly stood and waved them in. "Watch where you step."

"Gee," Eames' voice dripped sarcasm. "I never would've thought of that." She glanced at Goren to see what his reaction was but, typical of him, he was busy studying the woman. Thank god some things hadn't changed, she thought.

The other woman gave a slight shrug. "Sorry, I've been instructing students for the past four months and I forget that some people actually know what they're doing."

Eames grunted apologizing for her sarcasm.

"Laura Westfall," She carefully stepped carefully over the remains, pulling off one glove as she approached them. "I'm the new forensic anthropologist." She stuck her hand out for Eames to take.

"Alex Eames." Eames briefly clasped the other woman's hand.

"Robert Goren." He captured the woman's hand in his big paw. She was a pretty little thing, not much taller than Eames. Her short red hair was held back by the glasses perched on her head. Her battered oilcloth coat was open revealing a green t-shirt and faded denims. It was similar to the outfit Eames was wearing, except Eames wore a short stylish trench coat that was more uptown...and she wasn't wearing cowboy boots. Goren held the anthropologist's hand, a second more than was necessary, and then released her.

As he snapped on latex gloves and stepped towards the nearest body, the anthropologist turned her green eyes on him. "Hands on type, are we?"

"Uh...yeah."

Behind him he heard Eames mutter, "You have no idea." The comment was no doubt accompanied by her rolling her eyes.

"Go ahead," Westfall waved a hand over the remains as an invitation to examine the evidence.

He lowered himself to one knee and observed the body. The bones lay buried in a shallow layer of sand. Those he could see were in their anatomical position. There was still scraps of rotten clothing clinging to the body. He gently lifted one corner of the shirt to peer underneath. There was still tissue under the protective layer, but it was so dry it looked like old leather. And, the most telling piece of information was the missing skull.

"What do you think?" she finally asked.

Goren looked up at her. Was she testing him or was it a dare?

"Adult male, no obvious signs of trauma. Some tissue remaining but its desiccated. Skull is missing. Been here maybe two or three years but no more than five."

"How did you come up with that time line?" she asked surprised.

"Building was in regular use up until five years ago. I think someone would've noticed the smell."

"Ah," she smiled at him. "Someone who does his homework."

"I don't suppose you found the skull," he peered around the area.

"Nope," she said. "We've got four adults, three male and one female. The fifth is a male juvenile and he's the only one that still has his head." Westfall pointed at each body in turn as she spoke. "I'll narrow down the ages and confirm race when I get them back to the lab.

"And the only skull belongs to the child." He propped his elbow on his knee and rested his chin on his fist. "Interesting."

"I thought so," She turned slightly so she could see the other bodies. "John the Baptist on a platter?"

He looked up startled. She'd just given voice to his own thought. "They took the heads to provide proof of death. That's...excessive."

"Why take the adult's heads but not the child's," Eames asked.

"Maybe they didn't think he was important," Goren shrugged. "Maybe they didn't think he could be tied back to the murders."

"What about cause of death?" Eames asked.

Westfall had folded her arms across her chest and was staring at the remains at her feet. Her thoughts were a million miles away, she was obviously contemplating something and she hadn't heard Eames' question.

"Professor?" Goren rose to his feet. He leaned over trying to catch her attention and then gently touched her arm. "Professor Westfall."

She startled and shook her head to shake off the daze. "Sorry...what was the question?"

"Cause of death?" Eames asked again.

"I didn't find any obvious signs of trauma." She shrugged. "But I'll have to clean the bones up to get a good look at them. I'll know in a day or two."

"Can we get a facial reconstruction on the juvenile?" Goren asked. "We might be able to identify him through a school photo. That might lead us back to the adults. The woman could be his mother."

Westfall lifted one shoulder. "I've got a grad student who should be able to get you something. He's working with some new software that's quite good."

"What about DNA?" Eames asked.

Westfall nodded. "Shouldn't be a problem, but it'll take time. If we can't get samples from the remaining tissue, we should be able to pull some from the bone marrow and we can use tooth pulp for the boy."

"Sorry, but I better let the troops in," she said as she stepped back towards the ragged doorway, "otherwise I'll have a mutiny on my hands." She disappeared through the hole and they could hear her giving instructions.

"What do you think?" Eames asked.

"She seems to know what she's doing," Goren answered as he walked cautiously around the bodies for another look.

Eames ducked her head, letting her hair hide the smile on her face. That wasn't what she meant at all, but she thought it was really interesting that's what he thought.

Goren and Eames hung around while we excavated the first of the bodies. Eames wandered off to interview the demolition crew leaving Goren to watch over the forensics unit and me. And, he was damn hard to ignore.

He was a big man; six foot three or four, so I could have tucked myself neatly under his chin with room to spare. He had removed his knit cap to reveal greying short hair, but I could tell if he let it grow it would be a mass of unruly curls.

He radiated a sense of weariness, not a physical tiredness, but a fatigue of the soul. I only noticed because it was the same sense of exhaustion that had plagued me not too long ago.

There was steel there too and I'd bet money that he could be a stubborn son-of-a-bitch. And, if he was anything like the other police officers I knew, he could be ruthless too.

I watched him interact with the forensic people as he pointed out things he wanted photographed, or items that needed collecting. He was unfailingly polite. They were use to him invading their turf, and they took his instructions with good humour.

As Phil and Gene placed the final few bones of the juvenile victim in the body bag, Goren cautiously stepped over to where I was teasing the remains of the another victim from the sand, and dropped to one knee. "Can I ask a question?" he said quietly.

"Sure." I looked up. He had a round face, big brown eyes, and a nose that was slightly too small for his face. It gave him a boyish appearance. He needed a shave, but he struck me as the type who had a five o'clock shadow that showed up sometime around two, so it was probably his natural state.

"When you...zoned out back there where did you go?" he asked.

I lowered my eyes, just for a second, and then returned them to his face. He just waited, and I knew he would wait for as long as it took for him to get an answer out of me. I sighed. "We worked a mass grave in Rwanda...ten bodies, men and women, and no skulls. There were rumours...we never found solid proof...about this Warlord who would give his soldiers lists of people to kill. The soldiers would decapitate them and return the heads to him as proof that they had completed the job."

His eyes flicked down, to the headless corpse I was excavating, and then back up to me.

"Deja vu?"

"Something like that." I gave him a weak smile. "Some days this job really sucks."

He observed me with compassionate eyes. He didn't answer but his eyes said, 'I've been there too'.

"I'm done," Eames suddenly called from the doorway. "Are you ready to go?"

"Uhm...just a second." He took a business card from his portfolio and held it between two outstretched fingers. "Professor, here's my card. Call me as soon as you have anything."

"Of course." I removed the card and stuck it in my back pocket.

"And...uhm...thanks for your help." He smiled slightly, showing white teeth.

"No problem."

He rose and rejoined his partner. Only after he'd disappeared through the hole in the wall did I go back to work.