Background
Serial Killer - missing people - a big whodunnit
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Terry sits outside in her car. It isn't often she feels nervous, but today she does. She decided to leave both Warren and the evidentiary files at home. She wants to gauge the captains' responses first, before giving everything away. Never show all of your cards at once. Keep the aces up your sleeve.
With a big sigh, she opens the car door, lifts her chin and walks into the precinct.
"Hey Smythe, how are you?" Says Anderson as she passes by him.
She didn't answer him, her focus on getting to her goal keeping her feet moving and her mind strong. She knows he will run straight away over to Hayes and tell him she is there. So, she quickens her step in order to get inside the captains' office before that could happen.
The captains' office was upstairs and away from most of the precinct and certainly far from the sergeant and the pit. The pit being the name for the large room with all of the daily officers' desks in it, and where Terry's desk was situated.
"Terry? How nice to see you." Said the captain with a smile from behind his desk. Captain Dennis Jensen, in his 50's with bright friendly eyes and fuzzy grey and blonde hair. Despite his best-efforts tufts of his hair would always escape his daily hair routine to stick straight up and out, making him look like he rolled out of bed and into his uniform. Captain Jensen was well liked and congenial. He was easy going and straight forward. He had a way of dressing you down and making you feel good about it. But don't mistake his intelligence. He has an incredible attention to detail. His educational specialty was in lie detection. He was so good at it; that he was more accurate than an actual lie detector test.
Terry always liked him. It was his helpful persuasion that convinced Terry to take the job in Bozeman in the first place. However, if she had known about or even met Sergeant Hayes in advance, she probably would have declined. She was somewhat under the impression that the captain would be more involved.
Water under the bridge. Terry always took responsibility for her decisions, good or bad. She had an integrity that included a strong follow through. Never a quitter, she would fight to the end. To finish whatever task or job handed to her, and do a damn good job at it as well.
"Hi Captain Jensen. It's good to see you." She put her strong hand forward to the one he offered out to her as she took the seat in front of his desk.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? Are you settling in, ok?" His answer told her part of the truth she was looking for. If he didn't know about her suspension then Sargeant Hayes didn't forward anything 'upstairs'.
"Captain. I have had some difficulties downstairs. I haven't been given all of the investigative opportunities I was assured of when I took this position. I have also had some interpersonal issues as well. I, of course, take responsibility for my lack of patience with some of the staff and I am taking my time off as an opportunity to reflect on that right now." Terry, always extra careful about her wording was counting on the captain figuring out that she was suspended.
"Let me understand you clearly. You are off duty right now? Whatever for? Did you take this time off of your own accord or is there something else I am not aware of?" His focus was intently on her face. His training and ability to detect lies, was in full force at the moment. It was mostly instinctual.
Downstairs, true to Terry's suspicion, Anderson hightailed it into Sargant Hayes office. Hayes was immediately in a panic. He had some answering to do, and he wasn't prepared. More reason to hate that bitch. All she does is cause problems and doesn't respect the chain of command.
"Yes. Well, from the beginning here, I was mostly assigned to filing and rechecking 'phsyc evaluations and, on occasion, I would be allowed to attend crime scenes as a monitor and not an officer. The Sargeant told me that I needed time off to re-evaluate my training. It seems that he felt I was overstepping my investigative boundaries when I didn't give Anderson the ability to complete a crime scene investigation before I stepped in and suggested things that he may have overlooked." Terry was careful how she worded her conversation. She got her point across effectively without embellishment.
Jensen could see no deception in Terry and his demeanor changed from cordial to serious.
"When were you suspended?" he asked.
He would never be unsupportive of his staff without an opportunity to hear all sides. But he wasn't surprised. There hadn't anyone who pressed for more than just a conversation about it. No one before had been suspended or asked for a transfer out of Hayes department. It was important to note, that Terry was the first woman assigned to the department as well. He had heard from others that there was misogynistic side to Hayes.
"Last Tuesday mid-shift" She replied.
"Terry, thank you for coming to see me. I will have a conversation with Sargeant Hayes. Can you wait outside my office until I am done with him? Then we can straighten this all out." With that Terry stepped out and took the opportunity to visit the rest room. She stood in front of the mirror and applied bright red lipstick. That will get a rise out of Hayes for sure.
Jensen was always calm and cool, even when he was mad. Whenever he was angry, the only way to tell, was that his words and conversation would be concise and short. The playful look on his face would disappear and he would hold an almost stiffness to his physique. There would be no doubt he was in charge.
Hayes' report to Jensen included his doubts on Terry's ability to defend herself if needed. Her 'messing up his files' when she was organizing them. Her insubordination towards her slightly superior co-worker, Anderson and her disrespect of himself and his authority.
"If things were going so badly, explain why there were no reports sent to my office? Why wasn't HR involved? What happened to proper procedure, Hayes?" Serious and to the point.
"Well, we have a code, Sir. We take care of our own. You know, keep it inside before we let it out. I thought we could straighten her out and then restart her training. And I didn't want it on her record." Hayes was reaching and Jensen knew it.
"She came with high recommendations. She graduated top of her class in everything she trained in. Her last commander didn't want to let her go. And I quote, 'Detective Smythe has a unique eye for detail rarely seen in one so young. Despite her inexperience, she was able to solve crimes that seasoned vets were going to cold case'."
He was reading from her file that he had on his desk.
"Perhaps the issue with Detective Smythe is more interpersonal rather than investigative." His cold stare into Hayes obviously made the man nervous. Hayes was struggling.
"I was trying to help the girl. She's just a little thing. Could you count on her in a squeeze?" He just buried himself with that line.
"Sargeant. She has had the same physical training you had. She passed all the same requirements for detective that everyone in your department had to pass. Explain to me how such a highly recommended officer suddenly declines under your guidance? Perhaps the suspension was issued to the wrong person. Get her back on the team immediately. And next time you decide to 'help' anyone else, you had better follow proper procedures. In fact, from now on, I want regular reports from you on everyone in your department, including yourself. I wouldn't want to have to shuffle the staff around and make changes now, would I?"
Jensen was damn good at his job and also damn good at figuring people out. His rise to Captain was no surprise.
Hayes got to his feet, red faced and quickly exited the captains' office. On his way out, he saw Terry in the hall, wearing bright red lipstick. Through gritted teeth, "Smythe", was all he would say.
Terry entered the captains' office one more time.
"Terry. I want to you do your best to buckle down, do your job and not get in the way of Hayes. Get back to work, we will see you here in the morning."
"Yes Sir, thank you." And with that Terry was gone. Jensen, behind his desk, had a huge smile on his face. He noticed the red lipstick and along with it, Hayes' response. She was going to give that man a run for his money and Jensen was along for the ride.
