Mending the enemy

With the noise of the city, I find myself being back to the way it was before. The honking of cars, people shouting from left to right, advertisements displayed on billboards, and so much of the street city noises placed me into a head start of this second chance at life. The elevator dings and when the door slowly slides open, my team of three surprises me with their presence. A welcoming flower was given to me and I appreciatively accepted it, “Thanks, Chase.” I said. “Glad to have my partner back.” He said, giving me a pat on the shoulder. “It’s certainly great to be back,” I replied. “I hope I didn’t miss much action here.” “Shala, the only interesting action you’ve missed out on was Benson’s wife beating him up in the office.” Ryan snorted. “Hey, why did you have to tell her that?” Benson said annoyed. “But for the record, that was a misunderstanding.” “Sure, it was. A scandalous misunderstanding.” Ryan winks. “Yeah, wasn’t that the third ‘misunderstanding’?” Chase added. “Or was it the fourth?” “It’ll be the fifth time the doc’s friend will bite.” “Ha. Ha. Funny.” Benson started to get irritated. “Benson, didn’t you already have talked with your father-in-law about Clover?” I said to him. “Was it about the clubs? I thought you'd agreed not to go to those places anymore?” “It’s not my fault I keep getting invited over by the ladies.” “Then, it won’t be hard for you to reject their offer once you show them your ring,” I smirked and the others chuckled. He looked sideways and merely said, “Whatever. I can’t say it’s good to have you back hearing you say that”, and walks away defeatedly. Seeing things didn’t change much at all was great. Chase’s still my partner, Ryan’s still has his expanded knowledge on people especially in the precinct, and Benson –- well -- he’s still having his marital problems. After settling into the precinct and my table, I went to Captain Monterey’s office. “Shala” he greets. “It’s good to see you back.” “Thank you, sir. It’s good to see you, too.” “So, you’ll be with Chase as usual,” he asks. “Copy that, sir.” I nodded. “It’s good to have you back on your feet. However, you should still be careful.” He looked at me casually but a tint of sympathy goes with it. “I will, sir.” I replied. “Good. Chase will brief you in your next case. That’ll be all.” He said dismissing me. Unclear on what he meant by that, I ask, “Next case? What do you mean ‘next case’? Did they find who shot me?” “No.” He sternly said while signing off papers on his desk. “Then, why–“ “Shala, you are a great detective, but you are still human and I’m afraid your state would deteriorate your reasoning in such a case.” Captain explained. “What? Why? I can handle this case. I can handle my own case.” I spoke, stepping forward. “The last time you were in, you got shot.” He replied. “You don’t want to put yourself in harm’s way again.” “I’m a detective. Every day, I’m in harm’s way.” I defended myself. “Well, the case was already given to Detective Esposito and it’s being treated as a cold case because they still have no leads for the past months.” I wanted to say something but he cut me off as he looked at me and said, “Don’t even try to persuade the DA to get you involved. You’ll be getting a new assignment. You can discuss it with your partner about it.” He then went back to his work. Reluctantly, I said, “Yes, sir.” I went back to my table and frustratingly thought about what I should do. Suddenly, compiled papers clashed on my table, and I saw Chase placing them there. “Listen, if you need more time to rest, I can deal with this case--“ “I’m fine, I rested well enough at the hospital.” I said, cutting him off. Sitting upright, I grabbed the files and skimmed through them. “Ok. Whatever you say, boss.” He walks to my right and starts to brief me on the case. “This one happened this morning. A woman was found dead in her car under a bridge.” Chase explains. “Name’s Ivy Gregor. 45 years old. She had a blunt trauma on her head, right side. But the cause of death was strangulation. The murder weapon, the rope, wasn’t found in the car and around the area. So, we think the killer might have thrown it off somewhere else or still has it. Time of death was around 3-4 am.” I nodded as I analyzed the case and thought through it as I glanced at the murder board. “So, there were no witnesses, no cameras, nothing at all. Either our killer knows the place or just got lucky.” I commented. “This murder might be a robbery from her stolen cards and cash.” He places a picture on the board showing the crime scene. “She has no phone on her but we did manage to ID the victim from her driver’s license on the glovebox.” I skeptically look at it and see something odd. “If it was a robbery, it’s possible it was someone she knows. Look, there are no smashed windows, no damaged locks. Seems like he was in the car with her before the murder.” “Yeah, but no fingerprints were found in the car beside hers. But it could be possible the killer got rid of it or used gloves.” “Hmm. So, where’s our victim’s family?” I glanced at the photos. “Our victim only has his husband, who we still can’t reach out to.” He pointed at a picture on the board underneath the word ‘Suspect’. “Name’s Ivan Gregor. The CIs are still tracking him down.” “Our victim’s husband goes missing, huh?” I looked closely at the man, who’s about his fifties, blue eyes, about 180 pounds, with glasses. “Our prime suspect.” We said simultaneously. “Yo,” Benson approached us. “I ran our victim’s financial records and her card had just been used at a gas station just a mile from here.” “Where’s he headed?” I rhetorically ask. “Alright, call units near the area and bring him here.” Minutes of waiting, police officers got the guy and the uniforms are currently taking him to the interrogation room. I’m assuming it’s the guy in baggy clothes with his hands cuffed behind. However, that’s not the victim’s husband. “Are you sure this is the guy?” I asked the police officer as we both looked through the mirrored window. “He had the credit card. This guy was just sitting on the side of the road. He had no IDs or anything. Just his bag of clothes and the credit card.” Strange. “Ok, thank you.” I said and the police left the room. Chase and I were left and we both looked through the mirrored window at the person in the other room. “He’s a homeless man.” I said. “Alright. We can just ask him about the card.” Chase said, then we both went inside the room where the suspect is. “Hello, Mr. Doe.” I walked in. “Doe. I like that name. A bit secretive, isn’t it?” he replied “Sure. But you know how secrets go. They’re bound to be revealed, yeah?” I said back as we took our seats. The guy smiled and leaned on the table. “So, you’re a detective, right? Both of you.” I nodded. “That’s right.” He smiled and started to laugh. “It’s exciting, isn’t it?” “What is?” “Just to be here.” He smiles hysterically. This crazy person is starting with me. “Exciting to be here? Perhaps your excitement comes from something else.” Chase said. “Like this?” He placed the credit card wrapped in a plastic bag on the table and slid it towards him. “Oh, the magic card!” he applauds. “A man said to me it was a card that would get me things I wanted. And he was right!” “A man gave it to you? Who?” I ask. “A nice man. A very, very nice man.” “Can you describe him?” “He was a charming man. In black and white clothes. He seems like the men in black! And from that, I think aliens are real!” He exclaimed. Oh, god. “Mister, I need you to tell me what the man said to you, other than giving you this card. Did he tell you why he gave this?” The man shook his head rapidly and said, “He was just nice saying this was a magic card. He told me to use it and it would buy me food. He was right!” He just gave the card to a stranger, and out of all the people, this homeless man. Why? “This man?” Chase places Ivan Gregor’s picture on the table. “Yes! That’s the one.” “Where did he go after giving you this card?” The old man shrugged. “No clue. I headed straight to get food, of course!” “Ok, we’re done here.” I said. I exited the room as the crazy person continued saying absurd stories. Chase followed leaving the homeless person inside. “That was… something.” Chase comments after closing the door behind. “Hey, Ryan. Run down the tapes at the gas station and see if there was a man in a suit who went there this morning.” I told Ryan who was sitting at his desk. “Got it.” He said. Thinking hard about it, I didn’t notice much of Chase’s staring at me. I only realized it when I looked up. “What?” “Nothing.” “What?” “Nothing really. It’s just great you’re back.” He smiled