Picture Story: Law & Disorder Pt. 2

Another woman had fallen prey to the Sculptor.

This time, a jogger had stumbled upon the statue of the Sculptor's latest victim on one of the many walking paths that wound their way through Central Park. The victim, identified as one Medea Martin from the driver's license left at the statue's feet, was herself a runner. In fact, she often ran along the very path where the statue was found, according to her friends and family. Medea normally took her morning run between 6:00 and 7:00 AM.

Had the Sculptor abducted her on that path, while she was out on her run? No one had seen her since she left work at 6:00 PM the day before, so she could have been taken at any time between then and 7:15 AM the next day, when the jogger found the statue. So far, the Sculptor had never left a statue until after the victim had been abducted.

After CSU had finished working the scene, they shipped the statue to the forensics lab along with the rest of the evidence they had collected in the vicinity. UVU (Unconventional Victims Unit) Detectives Benton and Gabler went there to follow up with the forensic technicians after they finished interviewing Medea Martin's coworkers. To their surprise, they found that the statue was being studied by Melissa Warnier, one of the city's medical examiners.

"Why is a medical examiner examining a... hunk of rock?" Ellen asked bemusedly.

"It's pleasure to see you, too, Ellen," Melissa quipped sardonically. Then she smiled and gestured at the statue. "The forensics team wanted someone with a background in human anatomy to take a closer look at this 'hunk of rock.' They were confused by certain... peculiarities."

Cynthia raised an eyebrow. "What sort of peculiarities?"

Warnier's brow furrowed. "Namely, the anatomically-accurate level of detail right down to the microscopic level. The skin of the statue has wrinkles, pores, and even fingerprints. And before you ask; they were able to lift a print from the statue's left pinky finger, and it does match the prints on file for Medea Martin."

Ellen scowled. "How could the Sculptor cut stone so precisely?"

Warnier shrugged. "That's outside my area of expertise, I'm afraid. Maybe ask the other CSU specialists if they have any ideas?"

Ellen nodded. "Anything else?"

"Yes," Warnier affirmed. "They were able to get a DNA sample from saliva on that cigarette butt you found at the last statue."

"Any hits in CODIS?" Cynthia asked.

"Unfortunately, no, but the forensics team did make an interesting discovery about the tobacco in the cigarette. It's not tobacco."

Ellen cocked her head to one side. "Marijuana?"

Warnier smiled and shook her head. "Nope. It is the rind of a fruit, dried and chopped up fine. Specifically, the fruit of the Ziziphus lotus, a deciduous shrub native to the Mediterrean..."