nice cop, mean cop?
Series Title: On Keeping Secrets
Title: Nice Cop, Mean Cop?
Challenge: 024 - Anger (50scenes)
Character: Edogawa Conan (PoV character), Juliet O'Hara
Notes: Spoken Japanese. Spoken English. Japanese words should only be found in suffixes and titles.
Keiji - police detective
Keibu - police inspector
These don't work well with American police roles (keiji is also an officer, depending on your translation), but will be how Conan thinks of the detectives he runs into.
--
There are two detectives; the man is taller, older, pretty clearly a by-the-books kind of guy. Conan hates to think it, because he likes to think the best of the police, but his first impression of the man is that he's very mad at...well, everything. Though, given how he talks to the two strange men from before, Conan could be wrong. He might just be mad at them. The other detective is young, a pretty woman. In almost direct contrast with her partner, she's very cheerful and bright. The classic American good cop, bad cop routine? Conan isn't sure. No proper detective, male or female, is quite so gullible as the woman appears at first glance. It's more likely that she intentionally plays the good cop when her partner's in a bad mood.
And boy, does Conan hope he's in a bad mood. He snaps at his partner as they get out of the car, snaps at the smoothie-holding man (who smiles and encourages the anger, oddly enough), and snaps at the late-arriving police officers. If this isn't a bad mood, Conan feels sorry for his partner.
She talks to the two men, more rationally than her partner had, then approaches Conan when the dark-skinned man points her their way. She pulls out her badge, shows it to the four of them.
"My name is Juliet O'Hara. I'm a detective with the SBPD," she says. Then, hesitantly, "Do any of you speak English?"
Kogoro blinks at the badge, reading the 'Santa Barbara Police Department' emblazoned on the metal, and looks at Ran. "A police officer?"
Ran nods. "I think so. she said she's a detective." She frowns. "My English grades haven't been very good since Jodie-sensei left. I don't know how well I can talk to her. Sonoko?"
Sonoko shakes her head. "Mine have always been worse than yours, Ran. I could probably find an interpretor for us, if we need one."
"Why would we need one? All you did was find that arm..." Kogoro winces as he says it, because Ran and Sonoko look queasy remembering it.
Conan pipes up, the convenient voice of reason as always. "Because Sonoko-neechan and Ran-neechan found the arm, they're witnesses to a crime. O'Hara-keiji and her partner came really quickly; I bet this is a repeat crime."
"A repeat crime? Wait, you aren't saying they suspect Ran and me...?" Sonoko asks warily.
Conan nods. "If it's an ongoing case, they're likely to suspect anyone who gets involved. The only reason we've never been suspects in Japan is because the police know Ojisan. They don't suspect private detectives..." As Ran and Sonoko puzzle over that, Conan comes to a conclusion. Those two over there (one still exchanging words with the detective, the other making noticably more polite conversation with an officer blocking off the scene) hadn't gotten more than a minute's interrogation, which makes it all the more likely that they're in the same line of work as Kogoro.
But O'Hara-keiji is starting to look impatient as they talk amongst themselves, so it's time to step forward. "I can speak English pretty well, Ran-neechan! I still know a lot from when my family lived in America." Not waiting for her to encourage him, Conan clears his throat to draw the detective's attention. "Detective O'Hara? My name is Conan Edogawa. I can speak English."
She seems surprised by his lack of accent, which he can hardly blame her for; living in California, her only exposure to Japanese people is likely through the rich sort of tourist that only knows the English they were taught in school, and only enough to hold short conversations without using a phrasebook. She recovers and leans down. "I can see that! What about your friends here? Do they speak English too?"
...and she's going to treat him like he's six, isn't she. Conan's been spoiled by the police back in Tokyo, who mostly don't give him any special treatment. Conan hides his disappointment easily, and gestures as he makes his introductions. "Uncle Kogoro here can't speak any english. Ran and Sonoko know a bit, but not very much. I used to live in America, though, so I know more."
O'Hara-keiji starts to take notes as she asks more questions. Kogoro is his uncle? No, but we live together and I feel like his nephew. And Ran and Sonoko are? Kogoro is Ran's father, Sonoko is Ran's friend. Why are you in town? Sonoko rented a beachfront for our vacation. How long have you been here? We got here yesterday. We'll be here for the whole week. And on and on.
Kogoro, Ran, and Sonoko are left staring somewhat bewilderly as Conan answers smoothly. He doesn't think they've ever seen him speak English before; his last opportunity was in Osaka, and he'd been decidedly out of character when berating his idol.
As they finish up, O'Hara-keiji's partner walks up, still in a bitter mood. With a short "excuse us," he pulls O'Hara-keiji off to the side and holds a hushed conversation with her. He wants to know why O'Hara is interviewing a kindergartner instead of his father. If they don't speak English, she should get an interpretor to translate their statements. He doesn't care if no one on staff speaks Japanese, they can call somebody in. Get them to the station, wait for the interpretor to arrive. With that order, he storms off, ignoring the upset look on his partner's face.
Conan winces sympathetically; even if this isn't the detective's normal mood, O'Hara-keiji has seen it frequently enough that her expression is less mad and more resigned. This is an opportunity to figure out how this police department works, though, and if he wants to solve this case with time left for their vacation, he'd better take advantage of it. In a loud voice, Conan comments, "That man wasn't very nice."
O'Hara-keiji muffles a giggle at the blunt opinion coming from a small boy, and says, in a conspiratory tone, "No, I suppose he wasn't. That's Head Detective Lassiter. He's in charge of this case, and right now he's got a few reasons to not be very nice. The chief of the department is really on his case, making sure he gets this one solved fast."
"Really?" Conan cocks his head to one side in a way he knows Ran thinks is adorable. "What's so special about this case?"
O'Hara-keiji doesn't say anything for a moment, but her eyes soften, and the corner of her mouth twitches up. She's a good cop; she knows she shouldn't tell a possible suspect anything about the case, even a grade schooler, but Conan is just cute enough to make her unable to resist. He hopes.
"...well, this isn't the first severed limb that's been found recently. It's actually the third one."
Success! Conan makes a surprised sound and leans forward, asking, "From the same person?"
"We can't be sure. We only started finding them yesterday, and the labwork hasn't gotten back yet. Even if it's just one person rather than several, this is one of the more gruesome cases the department's had in some time. It's gotten a lot of media attention, mostly bad press for the department."
Lassiter-keibu's behavior is starting to make sense now. "Is that why the police chief is mad at Detective Lassiter? And why he's mad at you?"
O'Hara-keiji muffles a giggle again. "Maybe. Conan, could you do me a big favor?" When he nods, she continues, "I can't really take all your friends' statements with you as the translator, you know. We'll have a Japanese interpretor at the police station soon, but I need you to come with me to wait for him there. Could you tell your friends that for me while I get us a car?"
Conan obligingly explains the situation to Kogoro; Ran and Sonoko understand English well enough, especially when it's being spoken slowly and with the kind of small words adults use towards children. Really, if it wasn't for that, Conan would like O'Hara-keiji a lot. She's quite likeable as it is: pretty, nice, and willing to put up with difficult people to get the job done.
He edits his opinion as he watches her order an officer to give up his car for her use. The officer opens his mouth to complain, but the look O'Hara-keiji gives him is enough to make him shut up and hand over the keys without any protest.
So, she's pretty, nice, and willing to put up with difficult superiors.
Maybe.
--
Title: Nice Cop, Mean Cop?
Challenge: 024 - Anger (50scenes)
Character: Edogawa Conan (PoV character), Juliet O'Hara
Notes: Spoken Japanese. Spoken English. Japanese words should only be found in suffixes and titles.
Keiji - police detective
Keibu - police inspector
These don't work well with American police roles (keiji is also an officer, depending on your translation), but will be how Conan thinks of the detectives he runs into.
--
There are two detectives; the man is taller, older, pretty clearly a by-the-books kind of guy. Conan hates to think it, because he likes to think the best of the police, but his first impression of the man is that he's very mad at...well, everything. Though, given how he talks to the two strange men from before, Conan could be wrong. He might just be mad at them. The other detective is young, a pretty woman. In almost direct contrast with her partner, she's very cheerful and bright. The classic American good cop, bad cop routine? Conan isn't sure. No proper detective, male or female, is quite so gullible as the woman appears at first glance. It's more likely that she intentionally plays the good cop when her partner's in a bad mood.
And boy, does Conan hope he's in a bad mood. He snaps at his partner as they get out of the car, snaps at the smoothie-holding man (who smiles and encourages the anger, oddly enough), and snaps at the late-arriving police officers. If this isn't a bad mood, Conan feels sorry for his partner.
She talks to the two men, more rationally than her partner had, then approaches Conan when the dark-skinned man points her their way. She pulls out her badge, shows it to the four of them.
"My name is Juliet O'Hara. I'm a detective with the SBPD," she says. Then, hesitantly, "Do any of you speak English?"
Kogoro blinks at the badge, reading the 'Santa Barbara Police Department' emblazoned on the metal, and looks at Ran. "A police officer?"
Ran nods. "I think so. she said she's a detective." She frowns. "My English grades haven't been very good since Jodie-sensei left. I don't know how well I can talk to her. Sonoko?"
Sonoko shakes her head. "Mine have always been worse than yours, Ran. I could probably find an interpretor for us, if we need one."
"Why would we need one? All you did was find that arm..." Kogoro winces as he says it, because Ran and Sonoko look queasy remembering it.
Conan pipes up, the convenient voice of reason as always. "Because Sonoko-neechan and Ran-neechan found the arm, they're witnesses to a crime. O'Hara-keiji and her partner came really quickly; I bet this is a repeat crime."
"A repeat crime? Wait, you aren't saying they suspect Ran and me...?" Sonoko asks warily.
Conan nods. "If it's an ongoing case, they're likely to suspect anyone who gets involved. The only reason we've never been suspects in Japan is because the police know Ojisan. They don't suspect private detectives..." As Ran and Sonoko puzzle over that, Conan comes to a conclusion. Those two over there (one still exchanging words with the detective, the other making noticably more polite conversation with an officer blocking off the scene) hadn't gotten more than a minute's interrogation, which makes it all the more likely that they're in the same line of work as Kogoro.
But O'Hara-keiji is starting to look impatient as they talk amongst themselves, so it's time to step forward. "I can speak English pretty well, Ran-neechan! I still know a lot from when my family lived in America." Not waiting for her to encourage him, Conan clears his throat to draw the detective's attention. "Detective O'Hara? My name is Conan Edogawa. I can speak English."
She seems surprised by his lack of accent, which he can hardly blame her for; living in California, her only exposure to Japanese people is likely through the rich sort of tourist that only knows the English they were taught in school, and only enough to hold short conversations without using a phrasebook. She recovers and leans down. "I can see that! What about your friends here? Do they speak English too?"
...and she's going to treat him like he's six, isn't she. Conan's been spoiled by the police back in Tokyo, who mostly don't give him any special treatment. Conan hides his disappointment easily, and gestures as he makes his introductions. "Uncle Kogoro here can't speak any english. Ran and Sonoko know a bit, but not very much. I used to live in America, though, so I know more."
O'Hara-keiji starts to take notes as she asks more questions. Kogoro is his uncle? No, but we live together and I feel like his nephew. And Ran and Sonoko are? Kogoro is Ran's father, Sonoko is Ran's friend. Why are you in town? Sonoko rented a beachfront for our vacation. How long have you been here? We got here yesterday. We'll be here for the whole week. And on and on.
Kogoro, Ran, and Sonoko are left staring somewhat bewilderly as Conan answers smoothly. He doesn't think they've ever seen him speak English before; his last opportunity was in Osaka, and he'd been decidedly out of character when berating his idol.
As they finish up, O'Hara-keiji's partner walks up, still in a bitter mood. With a short "excuse us," he pulls O'Hara-keiji off to the side and holds a hushed conversation with her. He wants to know why O'Hara is interviewing a kindergartner instead of his father. If they don't speak English, she should get an interpretor to translate their statements. He doesn't care if no one on staff speaks Japanese, they can call somebody in. Get them to the station, wait for the interpretor to arrive. With that order, he storms off, ignoring the upset look on his partner's face.
Conan winces sympathetically; even if this isn't the detective's normal mood, O'Hara-keiji has seen it frequently enough that her expression is less mad and more resigned. This is an opportunity to figure out how this police department works, though, and if he wants to solve this case with time left for their vacation, he'd better take advantage of it. In a loud voice, Conan comments, "That man wasn't very nice."
O'Hara-keiji muffles a giggle at the blunt opinion coming from a small boy, and says, in a conspiratory tone, "No, I suppose he wasn't. That's Head Detective Lassiter. He's in charge of this case, and right now he's got a few reasons to not be very nice. The chief of the department is really on his case, making sure he gets this one solved fast."
"Really?" Conan cocks his head to one side in a way he knows Ran thinks is adorable. "What's so special about this case?"
O'Hara-keiji doesn't say anything for a moment, but her eyes soften, and the corner of her mouth twitches up. She's a good cop; she knows she shouldn't tell a possible suspect anything about the case, even a grade schooler, but Conan is just cute enough to make her unable to resist. He hopes.
"...well, this isn't the first severed limb that's been found recently. It's actually the third one."
Success! Conan makes a surprised sound and leans forward, asking, "From the same person?"
"We can't be sure. We only started finding them yesterday, and the labwork hasn't gotten back yet. Even if it's just one person rather than several, this is one of the more gruesome cases the department's had in some time. It's gotten a lot of media attention, mostly bad press for the department."
Lassiter-keibu's behavior is starting to make sense now. "Is that why the police chief is mad at Detective Lassiter? And why he's mad at you?"
O'Hara-keiji muffles a giggle again. "Maybe. Conan, could you do me a big favor?" When he nods, she continues, "I can't really take all your friends' statements with you as the translator, you know. We'll have a Japanese interpretor at the police station soon, but I need you to come with me to wait for him there. Could you tell your friends that for me while I get us a car?"
Conan obligingly explains the situation to Kogoro; Ran and Sonoko understand English well enough, especially when it's being spoken slowly and with the kind of small words adults use towards children. Really, if it wasn't for that, Conan would like O'Hara-keiji a lot. She's quite likeable as it is: pretty, nice, and willing to put up with difficult people to get the job done.
He edits his opinion as he watches her order an officer to give up his car for her use. The officer opens his mouth to complain, but the look O'Hara-keiji gives him is enough to make him shut up and hand over the keys without any protest.
So, she's pretty, nice, and willing to put up with difficult superiors.
Maybe.
--