Hard Sell, Chapter 11; T
Title: Hard Sell, Chapter 11
Author: Zelda Ophelia (zeldaophelia)
Fandom/Character: CSI:NY; girl!Flack (Dawn Flack), Stella, Mac
General info: Genderbender; Not mine; T
Notes: A huge thank you to eternal_sadist, significantowl, avidbeader, and the wonderful ladies at postonthursday who helped make this fic happen.
Summary: Pre-series. Dawn Flack (not a junior, though everyone wants to add that on) is finally getting her first solo case, without her training partner to tag along. But when one death becomes three with little evidence, she's needs all the help Mac and Stella can give her to find this guy.
Dawn looked up from her paperwork when the chair next to her desk moved, Stella greeting her as she sat down. "There wasn't a body this morning," she continued softly.
"I know," Dawn said. "Trust me, I've checked. He seems to be on a schedule, so where is last night's victim? Not that I mind there being one less dead woman out there, but-"
"We, unfortunately, don't have enough evidence to stop this guy without another body," Stella finished for her. "If there's something I hate about this job, it's that sometimes you have to wait for a second crime to solve the first."
"Or, in this case, the fourth to solve the first three," Dawn said morosely.
"But you made the connection between those three, Dawn." Stella leaned forward, lowering her voice as she continued, "and that connection is what's keeping Sinclair off your back. Trust me, he's been pushing both Gerrard and Mac to have the case reassigned. You figured out what three women who seemingly had nothing in common had in common. That has been a huge break."
"I just wish it felt more like a break," Dawn muttered. "At this point we can't even narrow it down to possibly a member of one subdivision. Of the three locations in question, they weren't all in use by the same group."
"But it was just two groups between them, correct?"
"The North Atlantic and South Atlantic each had their business meetings match up, and the joint meeting between the two also matched the locations."
"It is likely that someone could be interested in or a member of both. Especially if they were from the Mid-Atlantic region - unless that was a separate subdivision?"
"No Mid-Atlantic Subdivision as far as I can tell," Dawn said as she flipped to the listing at the back, "but I got the membership lists yesterday." She gestured to a large stack of fan fold paper at the edge of her desk. "No electronic copy yet, though he said yesterday that he'd have it to me by morning. They just happened to have these already printed off; if Gagnon hadn't thought of them we wouldn't even have this much."
"You're not planning to go through those by hand, are you?" Stella asked.
"Actually, I'm hoping the electronic copy arrives soon and your computer people can go through it. Otherwise I'll be camping out in the lab drafting people as they walk by to help with this." Dawn winked at her as she joked. "I flipped through it a bit when it arrived, and there are too many names on this to make any headway on my own. I have another meeting with Gagnon later today; I'll try to get the electronic copies then." She wrinkled her nose at the thought.
"You don't seem too excited about that."
"You know, he's a salesman." She shrugged as she groped for the words to explain what she meant. "You know how used car salesmen seem to trigger that, oh, I don't know-"
"'Spidey sense'?" Stella offered.
Dawn snorted. "Something like that. How they just bug you? It's like that with him."
"You don't think he's a potential suspect, do you?"
"Nah." Dawn shook her head, dismissing that thought. "According to his boss, the conference couldn't go on without him. She gave me a list of all the things he was responsible for. He was too busy with his job duties to be our guy."
"Then we're looking at someone in one or both of those subdivisions. Good luck with that list."
"I'm thrilled, I'm sure you can tell," Dawn joked sarcastically before sighing and pushing the papers she had been dealing with out of the way. "The other pro about there not being another body is that I can get some of this paperwork out of the way. Sinclair may be backing off, but I still have Gerrard breathing down my neck. And if he stepped up to bat for me, then he's going to expect progress, which means I'm going to need to have a good, plausible reason that our guy broke his pattern."
"My guess is that he's probably scared," Stella offered. "Think about it: his perfect crime spree isn't so perfect any longer. We have DNA evidence from him. From hereon out, he either needs to rein in his impulse to kill, or find some way to ensure that he doesn't leave any evidence behind again."
"Not to mention finding a way to avoid the investigation and any potential court orders for DNA swabs that might come if he catches our attention."
"Right. He's likely regrouping," Stella said, shaking her head. "I don't think he's finished killing. I don't think he'll be finished killing until we catch him."
"So once he starts feeling comfortable again, or just starts feeling the urge again, he's going to attack another woman." Dawn pushed her hair back from her face with a contemplative look. "That could be tomorrow or next week."
"If it is next week and he is here with the conference, then his next kill might be somewhere else. We could lose him if he moves to kill elsewhere but doesn't leave any DNA to link the cases."
"We have until Monday. That's when the conference is over and he'll be going home."
::
Gagnon was waiting for her in the AAS lobby when Dawn arrived, quickly showing her into the conference room where they had worked the day before. He started by handing her a CD.
"I was finally able to get the master membership lists for the North and South Atlantic subdivisions."
"Thank you," she said, slipping the disc into one of her suit's pockets as she took a seat across the table from him. She stifled the urge to rub her hand down her pants leg after brushing against his sweaty skin.
"I also did some more checking on tonight's schedule," he said eagerly. He set his briefcase between them, opening it just enough to pull a stack of file folders out. "The meet and greet tonight does require reservations, though that was really just to get a head count for the food and drinks that will be provided. But I have a list - paper only, I'm afraid - of the people who RSVPed for it. Obviously there'll be some who don't show, and, of course," he said, waving his hands about, "there will be people who show up without reservations as well."
"This is at The W, correct?"
"Yes, oh-" He pulled out his briefcase again. "-I almost forgot." He produced a different folder, one like those she'd seen people at the conference carrying when they had gone around to the different hotels the day before. "I figured that since you're a detective, you'll want to detect things."
"It's a conference packet," she said as she took it and looked inside. There was a name badge like other conference goers wore, with her name on it stating that she was an employee of Maxway Department Store.
"I was going to make you an AAS employee, but then I realized people might not talk so openly around you if they thought you were reporting back to the conference team. So I went with a member of Maxway's marketing team. Since they're based out of Baltimore, I also added you to the North Atlantic Subdivision's membership list."
"So I can go to the meet and greet tonight." She was actually rather impressed. "Thank you."
"I nearly put you with Macy's, based here in New York, but figured maybe you'd want to be somewhere that it looked like you actually travelled here. Not that some of our members in the city don't end up staying in our hotels, as well - I mean, I live out on Staten Island, but it's just easier to get a room at the Marriott for the conference and not deal with the extra travel time. Especially because some of the nights get so late."
"No, this was good thinking." She flipped through the packet, recognizing most of it from the stuff he'd given her the day before. He watched her closely as she looked through it, the hairs on the back of her neck prickled from his attention. "If our murderer is there tonight, I might be able to get some information about him."
"Do you really think he'll be there?"
"It would make sense. Even if he isn't selecting victims from the conference attendees, the places where he's finding them are always nearby events held by one of these two groups. He's going to the meeting and then going to a nearby bar when it is finished."
"So that's how he's doing it!" Gagnon said quickly. He flushed when she turned and looked at him with a frown. "You have no idea how exciting this is. I watch all those cop shows and am an avid mystery reader. It's so interesting being a part of a murder mystery myself and helping you out. Figuring out whodunit and all of that."
"But this isn't fiction," she reminded him softly, disgusted by his delight in being a part of the case. Some things about people she never understood. "Three women have already died. And more will die if we can't find and stop him. He's a serial killer, he can't stop on his own."
"But he hasn't killed anyone else yet. Doesn't that mean he can? Stop, that is?" he said defensively, flushing darkly. "Because you said three, not four, and the news didn't say anything about another death."
"He may try to stop, but I don't think he can. There'll be another death soon, unless we find him before then." Dawn shook her head. "If we don't stop him before he leaves New York, then he'll just continue killing when he returns home."
"Oh. Well I hope that going to the meet and greet tonight will help."
"So do I."
::
The precinct was fairly quiet when she returned. Marks nodded to her as she entered, tipping his head towards the back offices. She didn't need anything else, understanding that Gerrard wanted another update from her.
Gerrard waved her in when she knocked, motioning for her to take a seat across from him. He was straight to the point when he began speaking. "Have you made any more headway on the case?"
"We're currently going through the membership rosters of two groups that had events taking place near the bars where our women were last seen. The Association of American Sales is working with us to help identify people who may be able to assist with the case."
"How solid is this connection to the conference?"
Dawn paused. It wasn't like she hadn't had a few doubts over the connection herself, but they didn't have anything else to go on. "It's too much to be a coincidence, sir. Having conference events taking place at the hotel next to one or even two of the bars is one thing. Even if the events at hotels next to the bars were sponsored by different groups, it'd still be a stretch. But all of the linked events were sponsored by one of two subdivisions that are connected geographically. Too much is falling into place for it to not be someone involved in the conference or one, if not both, of those subdivisions."
"And this conference ends on Monday."
"We'll find him by then."
"There wasn't another murder last night," he pointed out, reminding her that they didn't have much to go on to find their murderer.
"We think he was spooked. The last time he raped and killed his victim, he left DNA behind. For someone who has been meticulous about cleaning up after himself, that had to have been a huge setback."
"Add in the fact that you've shown up at the conference asking questions and you may have a murderer who has decided to wait until he goes home to kill again."
"Monday is four days from now, sir." She leaned forward, speaking in earnest. "That means he would be going nearly a week between murders when he'd only been going forty-eight hours before now. He's a serial killer, they usually speed up; not slow down. I'm not certain he can wait that long. I'm not certain he could last until the weekend."
"Are either of those subdivisions meeting tonight?" He asked the obvious question, which she already had an answer to.
"They're holding a joint meet and greet at The W," she said. "I've already made arrangements to be there myself. Gagnon has set me up with a conference packet and badge. It'll look like I'm just another member of the North Atlantic Subdivision attending the meet and greet."
"Going undercover then?" He gave her a reproving look: this was the first she'd mentioned her plan to anyone, having only made it before coming in.
"It has been a bit of a last-minute plan, sir," she said, wincing. "I was going to call and tell you about it, but since I was coming back to the precinct I thought it'd be best to tell you in person."
"I want you to take someone with you, Flack."
"Sir, I don't need a babysitter-"
"Do I need to remind you that you fit our victims' profiles?" Gerrard pointed out harshly. "Call your contact and make arrangements for someone else to go with you as backup. I don't want to find out in the morning that one of my promising new detectives got in over her head with something she thought she could handle on her own and ended up the next victim instead."
"I'll speak with Detective Bonasera about going with me."
Gerrard frowned. He wasn't old school enough to completely hold the crime lab in disdain, unlike some other brass she knew of, but he didn't exactly hold them in high regard, either. He grudgingly appreciated the jobs they did, but that was about it, considering that half the department knew what he really thought of Mac.
"I'd prefer you take Vicaro."
"Sir, if we're discussing the possibility of our murderer approaching me, he most certainly won't if I have Vicaro or any other man with me. Every woman he approached has either been alone or with a group of mostly female friends. If it is just me and a man, he'll assume that I am with that man and not approachable. He'll target someone else."
"Then take Maka. Take one of our people. I want you to have someone who'll watch your back."
She nodded, not bothering to point out that she completely trusted Stella to watch her back. It was beside the point and would only lead to an argument with someone who could pull this case from her if he wanted. She trusted Maka to watch her back, too. Dawn continued with her report, changing the subject back to the case.
"I've followed up on the knife, and while she is can't be certain, the sister doesn't believe that Kelli Rowe had any other brand of knives that she used."
"This is the knife that doesn't match the set? But it is a fairly common brand?"
"Yes," she said, nodding, "although Detective Bonasera did some follow-up on the knife itself. The company only started making santoku-style chefs knives a year-and-a-half ago, with the initial test taking place in the northeast. They've expanded sales through the rest of the country in the past six months. If the knife belonged to our murderer instead of our victim, then it holds up the theory that he's a member of the North Atlantic subdivision of the AAS."
"Unless he bought it in the last six months."
"The CSIs believe the blade has too much wear to only be a few months old."
Gerrard rolled his eyes but didn't comment on that, instead saying, "You're running out of time, Flack. I know that you've had a lot thrown at you in this case with very little to go on. There are seasoned detectives I wouldn't wish this case on, much less as any rookie's first case--" He held up his hand when she started to protest, continuing on. "You made a connection that no one else noticed. That's bought you time, but I need results."
"You'll get them."
"You make sure of that. Sinclair wants this case reassigned. I've managed to convince him it'd be detrimental to take the detective who has been working it from the start off the case. But he's still pushing."
"How soon should I expect to have a partner assigned on this?" Dawn asked, mentally steeling herself for bad news.
"Do you need a partner?"
"I need more evidence."
He looked at her closely, his expression unreadable, before he nodded. "Don't make me regret this, Flack."
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Author: Zelda Ophelia (zeldaophelia)
Fandom/Character: CSI:NY; girl!Flack (Dawn Flack), Stella, Mac
General info: Genderbender; Not mine; T
Notes: A huge thank you to eternal_sadist, significantowl, avidbeader, and the wonderful ladies at postonthursday who helped make this fic happen.
Summary: Pre-series. Dawn Flack (not a junior, though everyone wants to add that on) is finally getting her first solo case, without her training partner to tag along. But when one death becomes three with little evidence, she's needs all the help Mac and Stella can give her to find this guy.
Dawn looked up from her paperwork when the chair next to her desk moved, Stella greeting her as she sat down. "There wasn't a body this morning," she continued softly.
"I know," Dawn said. "Trust me, I've checked. He seems to be on a schedule, so where is last night's victim? Not that I mind there being one less dead woman out there, but-"
"We, unfortunately, don't have enough evidence to stop this guy without another body," Stella finished for her. "If there's something I hate about this job, it's that sometimes you have to wait for a second crime to solve the first."
"Or, in this case, the fourth to solve the first three," Dawn said morosely.
"But you made the connection between those three, Dawn." Stella leaned forward, lowering her voice as she continued, "and that connection is what's keeping Sinclair off your back. Trust me, he's been pushing both Gerrard and Mac to have the case reassigned. You figured out what three women who seemingly had nothing in common had in common. That has been a huge break."
"I just wish it felt more like a break," Dawn muttered. "At this point we can't even narrow it down to possibly a member of one subdivision. Of the three locations in question, they weren't all in use by the same group."
"But it was just two groups between them, correct?"
"The North Atlantic and South Atlantic each had their business meetings match up, and the joint meeting between the two also matched the locations."
"It is likely that someone could be interested in or a member of both. Especially if they were from the Mid-Atlantic region - unless that was a separate subdivision?"
"No Mid-Atlantic Subdivision as far as I can tell," Dawn said as she flipped to the listing at the back, "but I got the membership lists yesterday." She gestured to a large stack of fan fold paper at the edge of her desk. "No electronic copy yet, though he said yesterday that he'd have it to me by morning. They just happened to have these already printed off; if Gagnon hadn't thought of them we wouldn't even have this much."
"You're not planning to go through those by hand, are you?" Stella asked.
"Actually, I'm hoping the electronic copy arrives soon and your computer people can go through it. Otherwise I'll be camping out in the lab drafting people as they walk by to help with this." Dawn winked at her as she joked. "I flipped through it a bit when it arrived, and there are too many names on this to make any headway on my own. I have another meeting with Gagnon later today; I'll try to get the electronic copies then." She wrinkled her nose at the thought.
"You don't seem too excited about that."
"You know, he's a salesman." She shrugged as she groped for the words to explain what she meant. "You know how used car salesmen seem to trigger that, oh, I don't know-"
"'Spidey sense'?" Stella offered.
Dawn snorted. "Something like that. How they just bug you? It's like that with him."
"You don't think he's a potential suspect, do you?"
"Nah." Dawn shook her head, dismissing that thought. "According to his boss, the conference couldn't go on without him. She gave me a list of all the things he was responsible for. He was too busy with his job duties to be our guy."
"Then we're looking at someone in one or both of those subdivisions. Good luck with that list."
"I'm thrilled, I'm sure you can tell," Dawn joked sarcastically before sighing and pushing the papers she had been dealing with out of the way. "The other pro about there not being another body is that I can get some of this paperwork out of the way. Sinclair may be backing off, but I still have Gerrard breathing down my neck. And if he stepped up to bat for me, then he's going to expect progress, which means I'm going to need to have a good, plausible reason that our guy broke his pattern."
"My guess is that he's probably scared," Stella offered. "Think about it: his perfect crime spree isn't so perfect any longer. We have DNA evidence from him. From hereon out, he either needs to rein in his impulse to kill, or find some way to ensure that he doesn't leave any evidence behind again."
"Not to mention finding a way to avoid the investigation and any potential court orders for DNA swabs that might come if he catches our attention."
"Right. He's likely regrouping," Stella said, shaking her head. "I don't think he's finished killing. I don't think he'll be finished killing until we catch him."
"So once he starts feeling comfortable again, or just starts feeling the urge again, he's going to attack another woman." Dawn pushed her hair back from her face with a contemplative look. "That could be tomorrow or next week."
"If it is next week and he is here with the conference, then his next kill might be somewhere else. We could lose him if he moves to kill elsewhere but doesn't leave any DNA to link the cases."
"We have until Monday. That's when the conference is over and he'll be going home."
::
Gagnon was waiting for her in the AAS lobby when Dawn arrived, quickly showing her into the conference room where they had worked the day before. He started by handing her a CD.
"I was finally able to get the master membership lists for the North and South Atlantic subdivisions."
"Thank you," she said, slipping the disc into one of her suit's pockets as she took a seat across the table from him. She stifled the urge to rub her hand down her pants leg after brushing against his sweaty skin.
"I also did some more checking on tonight's schedule," he said eagerly. He set his briefcase between them, opening it just enough to pull a stack of file folders out. "The meet and greet tonight does require reservations, though that was really just to get a head count for the food and drinks that will be provided. But I have a list - paper only, I'm afraid - of the people who RSVPed for it. Obviously there'll be some who don't show, and, of course," he said, waving his hands about, "there will be people who show up without reservations as well."
"This is at The W, correct?"
"Yes, oh-" He pulled out his briefcase again. "-I almost forgot." He produced a different folder, one like those she'd seen people at the conference carrying when they had gone around to the different hotels the day before. "I figured that since you're a detective, you'll want to detect things."
"It's a conference packet," she said as she took it and looked inside. There was a name badge like other conference goers wore, with her name on it stating that she was an employee of Maxway Department Store.
"I was going to make you an AAS employee, but then I realized people might not talk so openly around you if they thought you were reporting back to the conference team. So I went with a member of Maxway's marketing team. Since they're based out of Baltimore, I also added you to the North Atlantic Subdivision's membership list."
"So I can go to the meet and greet tonight." She was actually rather impressed. "Thank you."
"I nearly put you with Macy's, based here in New York, but figured maybe you'd want to be somewhere that it looked like you actually travelled here. Not that some of our members in the city don't end up staying in our hotels, as well - I mean, I live out on Staten Island, but it's just easier to get a room at the Marriott for the conference and not deal with the extra travel time. Especially because some of the nights get so late."
"No, this was good thinking." She flipped through the packet, recognizing most of it from the stuff he'd given her the day before. He watched her closely as she looked through it, the hairs on the back of her neck prickled from his attention. "If our murderer is there tonight, I might be able to get some information about him."
"Do you really think he'll be there?"
"It would make sense. Even if he isn't selecting victims from the conference attendees, the places where he's finding them are always nearby events held by one of these two groups. He's going to the meeting and then going to a nearby bar when it is finished."
"So that's how he's doing it!" Gagnon said quickly. He flushed when she turned and looked at him with a frown. "You have no idea how exciting this is. I watch all those cop shows and am an avid mystery reader. It's so interesting being a part of a murder mystery myself and helping you out. Figuring out whodunit and all of that."
"But this isn't fiction," she reminded him softly, disgusted by his delight in being a part of the case. Some things about people she never understood. "Three women have already died. And more will die if we can't find and stop him. He's a serial killer, he can't stop on his own."
"But he hasn't killed anyone else yet. Doesn't that mean he can? Stop, that is?" he said defensively, flushing darkly. "Because you said three, not four, and the news didn't say anything about another death."
"He may try to stop, but I don't think he can. There'll be another death soon, unless we find him before then." Dawn shook her head. "If we don't stop him before he leaves New York, then he'll just continue killing when he returns home."
"Oh. Well I hope that going to the meet and greet tonight will help."
"So do I."
::
The precinct was fairly quiet when she returned. Marks nodded to her as she entered, tipping his head towards the back offices. She didn't need anything else, understanding that Gerrard wanted another update from her.
Gerrard waved her in when she knocked, motioning for her to take a seat across from him. He was straight to the point when he began speaking. "Have you made any more headway on the case?"
"We're currently going through the membership rosters of two groups that had events taking place near the bars where our women were last seen. The Association of American Sales is working with us to help identify people who may be able to assist with the case."
"How solid is this connection to the conference?"
Dawn paused. It wasn't like she hadn't had a few doubts over the connection herself, but they didn't have anything else to go on. "It's too much to be a coincidence, sir. Having conference events taking place at the hotel next to one or even two of the bars is one thing. Even if the events at hotels next to the bars were sponsored by different groups, it'd still be a stretch. But all of the linked events were sponsored by one of two subdivisions that are connected geographically. Too much is falling into place for it to not be someone involved in the conference or one, if not both, of those subdivisions."
"And this conference ends on Monday."
"We'll find him by then."
"There wasn't another murder last night," he pointed out, reminding her that they didn't have much to go on to find their murderer.
"We think he was spooked. The last time he raped and killed his victim, he left DNA behind. For someone who has been meticulous about cleaning up after himself, that had to have been a huge setback."
"Add in the fact that you've shown up at the conference asking questions and you may have a murderer who has decided to wait until he goes home to kill again."
"Monday is four days from now, sir." She leaned forward, speaking in earnest. "That means he would be going nearly a week between murders when he'd only been going forty-eight hours before now. He's a serial killer, they usually speed up; not slow down. I'm not certain he can wait that long. I'm not certain he could last until the weekend."
"Are either of those subdivisions meeting tonight?" He asked the obvious question, which she already had an answer to.
"They're holding a joint meet and greet at The W," she said. "I've already made arrangements to be there myself. Gagnon has set me up with a conference packet and badge. It'll look like I'm just another member of the North Atlantic Subdivision attending the meet and greet."
"Going undercover then?" He gave her a reproving look: this was the first she'd mentioned her plan to anyone, having only made it before coming in.
"It has been a bit of a last-minute plan, sir," she said, wincing. "I was going to call and tell you about it, but since I was coming back to the precinct I thought it'd be best to tell you in person."
"I want you to take someone with you, Flack."
"Sir, I don't need a babysitter-"
"Do I need to remind you that you fit our victims' profiles?" Gerrard pointed out harshly. "Call your contact and make arrangements for someone else to go with you as backup. I don't want to find out in the morning that one of my promising new detectives got in over her head with something she thought she could handle on her own and ended up the next victim instead."
"I'll speak with Detective Bonasera about going with me."
Gerrard frowned. He wasn't old school enough to completely hold the crime lab in disdain, unlike some other brass she knew of, but he didn't exactly hold them in high regard, either. He grudgingly appreciated the jobs they did, but that was about it, considering that half the department knew what he really thought of Mac.
"I'd prefer you take Vicaro."
"Sir, if we're discussing the possibility of our murderer approaching me, he most certainly won't if I have Vicaro or any other man with me. Every woman he approached has either been alone or with a group of mostly female friends. If it is just me and a man, he'll assume that I am with that man and not approachable. He'll target someone else."
"Then take Maka. Take one of our people. I want you to have someone who'll watch your back."
She nodded, not bothering to point out that she completely trusted Stella to watch her back. It was beside the point and would only lead to an argument with someone who could pull this case from her if he wanted. She trusted Maka to watch her back, too. Dawn continued with her report, changing the subject back to the case.
"I've followed up on the knife, and while she is can't be certain, the sister doesn't believe that Kelli Rowe had any other brand of knives that she used."
"This is the knife that doesn't match the set? But it is a fairly common brand?"
"Yes," she said, nodding, "although Detective Bonasera did some follow-up on the knife itself. The company only started making santoku-style chefs knives a year-and-a-half ago, with the initial test taking place in the northeast. They've expanded sales through the rest of the country in the past six months. If the knife belonged to our murderer instead of our victim, then it holds up the theory that he's a member of the North Atlantic subdivision of the AAS."
"Unless he bought it in the last six months."
"The CSIs believe the blade has too much wear to only be a few months old."
Gerrard rolled his eyes but didn't comment on that, instead saying, "You're running out of time, Flack. I know that you've had a lot thrown at you in this case with very little to go on. There are seasoned detectives I wouldn't wish this case on, much less as any rookie's first case--" He held up his hand when she started to protest, continuing on. "You made a connection that no one else noticed. That's bought you time, but I need results."
"You'll get them."
"You make sure of that. Sinclair wants this case reassigned. I've managed to convince him it'd be detrimental to take the detective who has been working it from the start off the case. But he's still pushing."
"How soon should I expect to have a partner assigned on this?" Dawn asked, mentally steeling herself for bad news.
"Do you need a partner?"
"I need more evidence."
He looked at her closely, his expression unreadable, before he nodded. "Don't make me regret this, Flack."
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