“Hi Doc.” Korsak smiled as she laid her hand on his arm in way of greeting as she moved past him. “19 year old, white female, stab wound to the chest.” He began as she slipped into the simple purple gloves and began examining the body. “Looks pretty simple, she was stabbed down there.” Maura was aware he was gesturing towards the darker end of the alleyway. “She stumbled down here before falling there.”

Maura glanced up as the coroners van arrived. Korsak was right, it did look very clear. There was a large stab wound in the young woman chest over her heart and the amount of blood surrounding her indicated that she’d bled out. “Frost has picked up her john, covered in blood.” He continued. “Doc?” she looked up, finally meeting his eyes. “Are you ok?”

Despite the numerous barbaric and gruesome things Vince Korsak had seen in his many years in homicide, the older man always had a soft word and a shoulder should you need to cry. It was the thing she liked the most about him.

“Yes.” Maura’s reply was almost automatic. “I’m just worried about…” she caught herself in time and smiled. “Thank you Vince.” Reaching out to squeeze his arm gently, she nodded towards the men with the trolley who manoeuvred the victim into a body bag before wheeling her back towards the van. “I’ll have my preliminary report for you in a couple of hours.”

Maura smiled weakly and turned back to the mouth of the alley. She froze momentarily at the sight before her. Detectives Parmenti and Summers stood together, laughing. On her first day as M.E for the State of Massachusetts she had encountered both men and taken an instant dislike to them. They were the definition of chauvinist pig, with their belittling comments and sexist attitudes. Both had been suspended at least once while claims of sexual harassment had been investigated and eventually dismissed. Maura walked towards them slowly, missing Jane more in that moment than she had in the last few weeks. Jane made her feel safe and the rumours, and more specifically the comments, very never vocalised to her face. Without her around, she found that some people were more likely to get the odd snipe in here and there.