Part 2: Experience

"It's Monday, for Christ's sake!" Officer Rankin slams the table with both hands, looking at me with pure disappointment and probably annoyance in his eyes. 

I nodded softly and look around, only to see that everyone's been staring at me for five minutes now. Straight. 

"I know," I gently replied. "I'm sorry. I just... didn't mean what happened. I was stupid last night." 

Then total silence finally embraces the room. Brenna keeps giving me an apologetic look and gestured me to come towards her now. Officer Rankin is always like this. Not only to me but to everyone. And I understand that he wants to discipline us the right way. I'm not going to argue with that. 

"You need to keep up, Officer Culkin." He pointed at me. "This isn't some sort of an internship. You're a professional detective, for crying out loud." 

I tried to keep those words inside my head for the next few hours. I've been arranging all the case I'm handling by grouping them into folders. And now I can't help but think about the idea of not having beer for the entire month. 

I guess this is the sort of punishment I need to give to myself so I could get my priorities straight. I was too caught up with my emotions last night. I allowed it to get the better of me. 

"Hey," A tap from my window came. 

I look up to see Wilson smiling. He's holding a bunch of papers but manages to hand me a cup of coffee. 

"Hey, Wil." I smiled back. 

"I'm sorry 'bout Dad." he said. 

I took the coffee from him and gently placed it on the top of my desk. I quickly shake my head in disapproval. 

"No," I laughed. "It's your father's job. And... well, it was my fault anyway. Getting drunk and sleeping too much." 

"Well," He quickly glanced at my computer screen. "I hope you'll be finished in time." 

"Yep," 

"Then maybe we can grab a cup of coffee outside, one of these days." 

I turn to look at him again to study his face. He's looking all too serious. I replied with a slight nod and thanked him for the treat. He went on to his desk and gestured me to continue working. 

It's really fortunate of Wilson to work without having to deal with so much pressure here. He's been here for as long as Brenna and I can remember. He was immediately accepted to work full-time the moment he finished college and passed the exams. 

It's his advantage for being Officer Rankin's son, after all. 

I glance at my wrist watch and noticed that it's been three hours that I've been studying this new case. Apparently, three robbers stole a bunch of money from a small bank near a countryside. It's most likely that there are no cameras around. So it'd be much harder to track them down. 

I've been working on so many cases at once. Most of them aren't as deadly or as difficult. In fact, I haven't handled a single case of murder or even an attempted one. I was only asked to handle cases that are easy to somehow track and solve. Which is probably why my job seems to be getting a bit dead for quite a while. 

"I need to prove to you that I can do it." I said, my eyes entirely focused on the floor. 

I heard Officer Douglas let out a deep sigh. He's as good as Office Rankin is, but a bit kinder and less stressful to deal with. 

"I know it sounds absurd." I added. "I mean... I got here late and there are still a lot of cases I need to get my hands on but---" 

"Where are you going with this, Officer Culkin?" He crosses his arms. 

I quickly stare at the glass door of his office to see if anyone from outside is listening. I turn to look at him again. 

"It's for proof." I said. 

"A proof? What proof?" 

"Officer Rankin believes I'm incompetent, okay?" I sighed. "Give me a good case---an interesting one---that I can deal with. If I solve it easily, maybe then he'd actually believe in my capabilities." 

He leans in forward and tap his pen repeatedly, looking at the side, surely thinking how silly my idea is. 

"You've only been working as a detective for three years." He looks at me. 

"And?" I asked. 

"Samara, you need to gain experiences to handle huge cases." 

"Which is exactly the point," I said. "I need a big case to gain experience." I tried my best to emphasize the last word to somehow convince him better. 

It took a lot of silence, awkward stares, and minutes as I wait for his response. I can see from his face that he's clearly thinking about it, but he isn't sure if it's his call at all. 

I've seen Officer Douglas assign real cases to so many amateur detectives before. Why wouldn't I if I once worked as his intern when I was in college? He knows who to trust. And I know he trusts me. I'm just not sure if he's ready enough to agree to my plead. 

"Fine," 

My heart jumped. 

"Fine, Sam." He looks around him again. "But let's keep this low. I wouldn't want anyone to know about this yet." 

"Oh, my God." I replied. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone." 

He raises an eyebrow. 

"Okay. Maybe I'll let Brenna know. But that's it." 

Finally, he gives off a small nod. He took out a pile of folders from one of the drawers under his desk and slams it on the table. My eyes widened. 

"But don't think I'll go easy on you." He lowers down his glasses. "We've been looking at this case for a long time and there are no leading suspects... Even now." 

I blinked a couple of times. "What case?" 

"This," He handed me a thick brown folder. 

I was about to open it when he suddenly gestured me to stop. 

"Open and study the case with your partner." He removes his glasses and place it down the desk. 

I gulped and put the folder down my lap. "Excuse me?" 

"What?" 

"Officer, what did you say?" I smiled awkwardly. 

Not replying a word, Officer Douglas points at the door, gesturing me to go back to my desk. 

"No, wait." I raised my hand. "A partner? What partner?" 

"I told you I won't go easy on you," he replied. "I can't let you go out there and let you do things yourself." 

"A-And? What do you mean by that?" 

"I'll be assigning someone to solve the case with you." 

I bite my lower lip hard, trying not to say anything stupid. 

"Who?" I questioned. 

"Easy," he said. "The officer who recently got the promotion you've been so desperate about."