Disclaimer: Law & Order: Criminal Intent isn't mine.

A/N: Takes place between their first case in Kind of Like Evil and the first episode of the show, "One."

Vade Mecum

Chapter 1: The Case

The morning sun cast long shadows across the rooftop. The recent rain left the air crisp and clear. Sounds of morning traffic drifted languidly from the streets far below. The scene could almost be described as peaceful if it weren't for the corpse in the middle of it.

Detective Alex Eames sniffed her hot coffee to cover the cloying scent of decomp as she and her partner approached the body.

"His name was Kirk Magda," said Officer Banik, who was showing them to the scene. "His wife reported him missing yesterday. He worked in this building, but nobody thought to look up here until they noticed the smell. It looks like he was beaten with a blunt object, but we haven't figured out what. Magda was a security analyst for the TelAcumen Corporation, which has been under investigation by the SEC off and on for years."

Ignoring the stench, Detective Bobby Goren leaned over the body. "The United States Securities and Exchange Commission...his murder could have something to do with what he knew about the company's business practices."

"Which is why it's a Major Case," Eames surmised.

Goren suddenly laughed.

"What's so funny?" Eames asked in a flat voice.

"Well, look where he is." He gestured to the edge of the roof, only a few meters away. "Look at the way his clothes are...trailing behind him. Someone was trying to drag him to the edge, probably to make it look like a suicide, and then gave up."

"Maybe realized not even a fall off a ten-story building could hide that this guy was beaten to death," Eames noted, looking at the bruises on the victim's face.

"No, he changed his mind," Goren stated.

"How do you know it's a 'he'?"

"Just...probably...from the beating. Someone strong." He quickly added, "Not that a woman wouldn't be strong enough to do this; she'd probably just find an easier way."

Eames resisted the urge to roll her eye. One more case, she thought. That's what Captain Deakins said to her when she submitted her request for a new partner a few days ago. It wasn't that she disliked Goren, it was more that the way his mind worked seemed to cut everyone else out. He was a genius, that was obvious; his mind raced ahead of everyone, and he rarely bothered to let other people in on his thought process. And then there was the way he related to suspects, the way he got during interrogations: intense, focused, unpredictable. He scared her a little. And for Alex Eames, who prided herself on never being intimidated by anyone, that was intolerable.

"So tell me, Sherlock," she said, "why would someone change his mind about staging a suicide?"

Goren looked up at her. "That I don't know yet."

Eames looked around the roof for any evidence the killer might have left behind. "The rain Friday night probably washed away anything useful."

"We should look at his office," Goren said. "I don't think he was killed up here."

The office door was unlocked. The room seemed clean and organized. On the desk was a stack of papers, family photos, and a large white computer pushed almost resentfully to the side. There were various photos and knickknacks on his bookshelf.

"Doesn't look like a crime scene," Eames observed.

Goren thumbed through the stack of papers, then looked around. He leaned over and squinted at the desk. "It's been cleaned up, but this is where the attack happened."

"What'd you find?"

"Well...look at this." He slid out a few sheets of paper, one of which had smeared ink, the others had impressions in the shape of water droplets. "It was raining. The killer was wet. There are water spots on the desk, and on the wall." He walked around the desk and faced the door. "Magda would have been standing here. The killer was...here." He took a couple of steps back and lifted his arms like he was holding something, then brought them down over the empty air where the victim would have been standing.

"There was no blood. What did he use to hit him?"

Goren turned around slowly. "Judging by the bruises, something large, but not very heavy. The killer wouldn't have brought it. That would have looked too suspicious."

"It doesn't look like anything's missing. The murder weapon could still be here." She began walking around the office while Goren instructed the photographer to document the water spots. "I'm not sure this was about his work. If someone from his company wanted him dead, they probably would have hired a professional," she speculated. "The beating the guy took looks personal."

"As you once said, some people take money very personally." He noticed something on the floor and stooped down. "Red hair..."

Eames paused from pulling a book off the shelf and peered at him as he picked up a single, short auburn hair and placed it in an evidence bag. "The vic's hair is brown. That could be from our killer," she said.

"Maybe."

"Speaking of the victim's hair, I might've found the murder weapon."

Goren stood up and looked at what Eames held: a thick book entitled The Ethics of Capitalism that had strands of dark brown hair stuck to its spine.

"It's the right shape and size. But who would beat someone to death with a book?"

"Probably less painful than forcing him to actually read it," Eames deadpanned as she slipped the murder weapon into an evidence bag.