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Dinah could feel the pressure building behind her eyes. And as much as she didn’t want to yell at the rookie in front of her, she wouldn’t last long if the kid kept rambling on and on like this. The jewel theft was the most high profile thing the precinct had case wise in quite a few months. And she knew that Officer Martin was likely just excited to be working the case. But she still needed him to get to the point.
“Officer Martin,” she cut him off as she tried her best not to glare at him. “What about the witnesses?”
“They should be here soon Captain.”
“That’s all I needed to know,” she nodded as she moved past him. “I’ll be in my office, come get me when the first one arrives.”
She didn’t wait for him to respond as she walked away. Sometimes she had to do that, just remove herself from a situation and let the guys work things out for themselves. She called it management. But really it was the only way to save herself from a migraine. She needed to go to her office and decompress before the first of her witness interviews came in.
When she rounded the corner into the open area and she couldn’t help but groan. Not only would she not be decompressing in her office, it looked like the first of her interviews had already arrived.
She eyed the man carefully, with his head down and his fingers playing with his phone, she couldn’t help but wonder where she had seen him before. Something familiar tugged at the back of her mind. But she didn’t have time to focus on that at the moment.
“Sorry you’ve been kept waiting,” she said as she walked towards him. “None of my officers told me you were here already.”
He gave her a confused look, but it quickly morphed into a grin. “That’s okay. I haven’t been waiting long.”
“Would you feel better in an interview room or my office?”
“I am a great fan of offices,” he replied, pocketing his phone. “After you.”
“Okay?” Something felt off about this interview, and if her head wasn’t on the verge of splitting open, maybe she could focus long enough to figure out why. When she rounded her desk she motioned to one of the seats in front of her. “Your cooperation on this is really appreciated sir.”
“Oh civic duty is practically my middle name,” he said, his smile never leaving his face. “Anything I can do to help, I’m here for.”
“Alright,” Dinah nodded, grabbing a pen and flipping open her notebook. “Let’s start with your recount of the events at the bank.”
“My recount?” he scratched at the back of his head, as he leaned back. “That’s a little tough. Everything kind of jumbled. I mean everything happened so fast.”
Dinah took a breath, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose. “That’s okay. We can move on for now. How about a description of the thieves?”
“The thieves?” he nodded along like he was thinking hard. “Well there was definitely more than one.”
“Yes we are aware of that,” she said meeting his eye. “But we at the SCPD were hoping for some details about their appearance. Any tattoos, a certain accent perhaps, anyone with a distinct gait? Did you notice anything along those lines?”
“I wish I could help,” he replied as he sucked in a breath. “I mean jewelry heists are a little on the high profile side, but I have a confession to make.”
“You’re not about to tell me you’re one of my perps are you?” she joked.
He let out a nervous laugh and shook his head. “No, but I’m also not--”
Dinah’s office door pushed open, and she broke eye contact long enough with her witness to see Oliver standing there, annoyance covering his face.
“Are you kidding me Tommy?”
“Tommy?” Dinah threw her gaze back to the man in front of her. His features became more defined when she looked at him, the beard had thrown her off at first, but now that she was really seeing him she knew exactly who he was. “Tommy Merlyn?”
“Guilty,” he said with a wink.
“What the hell are you doing in here?” Oliver asked.
“Oh, me?” Tommy smiled again as he stood. “I was trying to help Detective Drake here solve her case.”
“It’s Captain now,” Dinah glared at him, as she closed her notes. “And you’re wasting my time, Merlyn.”
“Hey I thought you knew it was me at first.” Tommy added with a shrug. “And then of course I may have taken advantage of things for a second or two.”
“Oliver get him the hell out of my office before I do it myself.”
“Okay,” he took Tommy my the arm and pulled him away.
But Tommy stopped at the door long enough to add one thing before being dragged off. “Best of luck on your case, Captain Drake.”
She rolled her eyes as both men walked away from her office. Normally Dinah would have been beyond annoyed at anyone for not only interrupting her day, but also anyone who kept her from an actual current case. But for some reason as she thought about Tommy’s stupid grinning face, she couldn’t help but smile herself.
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