Anderson wedged the piece of wood underneath the desk, ending its constant wobble. He got up, brushed his knees off and adjusted his desk mat, making sure it was centered. The detective's office here in Manchester didn't have the office supplies that the London office had, so Anderson would make do. The pencils weren't up to his liking, but that was for another day—probably Wednesday.
Rachel would have done it for him, made a stink and even found him a sharpener, one of those fancy electric ones.
He sat down and returned to his assigned task, pushing down that memory. The Manchester office was woefully behind on keeping records up to date, and even though he wasn't the newest person, he was assigned the task since he'd transferred in from London. Anderson hated every minute of it—he had been on the force for twelve years. This was Academy intern work, but he tried to make the best of it. Rachel would have made it fun—like she always did. Rachel who laughed all the time until she didn’t.
"New guy! Chief wants you!" a detective yelled with a mouth full of doughnut.
Anderson was grateful for the reprieve; he nodded and made his way through the maze of desks, of detectives having a chat or telling a loud story with each other. He quickly missed his desk in the corner, behind one of the numerous pillars, alone in the quiet.
Before he could knock on the door, the Chief yelled, "Come in, Anderson."
Anderson came in and saw the Chief, eating his lunch at the table, fish and chips. The Chief gestured to a chair and Anderson had a seat.
The Chief wiped his hands with a pile of napkins. "Getting settled in, Anderson?"
"Yes, sir." Anderson said.
"Looks like that little task of yours is taking some time."
"Yes, well, I'm just making sure everything is buttoned up, sir."
The Chief swept the remains of lunch in his garbage can and said, "Yes, an eye for order and such. That's what your previous Chief said anyways."
Anderson nodded and his face felt red. He didn't realize they had talked. And then he admonished himself for being foolish.
"Well, when you're done with that, I have a bit of a task for you, a cold case I want you to look into."
Anderson leaned forward.
"A girl died four years ago in Castleton? Ever heard of it?"
Anderson shook his head.
"Blink and you miss it sort of village." The Chief said. "The girl got abducted from her bedroom and was found four days later in the local forest. Messy incident. Family wants us to look into it again. Parents are good people. So I wanted you to give it a go."
"Forensics? Photos? Files?" Anderson tried to keep the thrill out of his voice.
"All of it in the evidence locker." The Chief said.
Anderson's heart thumped. He loved cold case. A fresh puzzle. He could always find something that people missed. "I'll leave straight away sir, once I'm done with my little task." That task felt like a dead weight on his shoulders, a waste of his talents. A reprieve had arrived.
"Excellent. Your new partner will be joining you." The Chief checked a piece of paper. "A Ms. Guthrie. She's transferring in tomorrow."
Anderson felt adrift. "A partner, sir. I don't need a partner—this sounds—." It sounds like a mistake, a dangerous mistake, Anderson wanted to say.
"Yes, your Chief said you didn't really have partners, since Detective Rachel Corrin, but that's not how we do things in Manchester. Everyone has a partner or didn't you notice that?" The Chief nodded towards the outside and Anderson realized that each detective was talking to their own partner.
The Chief continued, "You'll like her, Anderson. A bit of a firecracker. Top marks at the Academy. She studied—" he lifted the paper again. "Abnormal and criminal psychology. Fair enough." Rachel would have called her a nerd, but then probably gave her the tour.
Anderson lifted a finger, and said with a respectable protest, "I just think that—"
The Chief folded his arms and said, "Well, the only task we have here that doesn't require a partner is data entry." The Chief then leaned back in this chair. .
Anderson let out a large exhale and said through nearly gritted teeth, "I look forward to meeting her."
The Chief clapped his hands and said, "Excellent. Off you go then! Be ready to leave in the morning as soon as she arrives."
The Chief turned to his computer and Anderson moped his way back to his desk. He opened the next folder, and overlooked the different color inks as well as the different typefaces on the report as best as he could.
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