Bruce put all the files on his table away and decided to have some coffee. He strolled to the coffee area and found a seat.
The room wasn't so large but it could fit up to 27 people at a time. As a result of this, most of the officers on duty had gathered to talk.
Bruce wasn't sure what they were discussing as they kept laughing animatedly as they drank cup after cup of tea or coffee.
Bruce sipped his tea while listening to the conversation.
Not many officers were there at the time; Jason, Bryan, Regina, and Collins were the only ones here.
"...when I arrived there, I shouted, 'you're under arrest for shoplifting!'
The guy put his hands above his head, but when I went closer to hold his arm, he kicked me!"
Jason narrated and the rest laughed so hard. It was how he got beat up by a shoplifter years ago when he was on duty. It was such an embarrassing moment for him.
"Alright, my turn!" Regina sipped more tea, "when I was assigned to a case of a drug dealer, I went undercover so that I could obtain some key information.
"It was so hard for the police to get any evidence about any illegal dealings the guy was involved with, but due to some factors, we believed the drug dealers had a backer from the government.
"I went undercover and infiltrated their gangs. I actually had to lap-dance the gang leader before I was able to get some information..."
Bruce was amused as he watched the others laugh. Regina could be quite comical some time. Bruce shook his head as he mused,
"What you haven't mentioned is that after he told you what you needed, you broke his legs."
"Bryan, your turn. Tell us your most embarrassing moment." Jason urged.
"I don't really have much to tell." Bryan shrugged.
"You're being a party spoiler again!" Collins sounded displeased. He had given the same excuse earlier.
"Then tell us about your experiences in general. Surely a detective with 12 years of experience has a lot to tell.
"I don't have 12 years of experience in the job." Bryan drank more tea. He did have a lot of embarrassing moments but he didn't want to tell them.
Anna had mocked him for weeks when he mistakenly pulled out his shirt from his wardrobe and didn't notice that a bra was hooked to it.
He didn't know how the bra got there, but he actually wore that shirt out in public!
In public!! Bryan almost puked blood as he remembered the experience.
"I only have 5 years of experience working for the police, the rest, I worked for myself." He explained.
"You never worked with the police for 12 years? But your file says you do." Regina asked finding it quite strange.
"I was forced by the police to work for them. It was a good thing at that time; otherwise, I would have been arrested for the damages I caused in Wakeville."
"So, in order to cover up your past misconduct, they bought you and your past over?" Everyone laughed at Bruce's remark.
"Yeah. Back then I angered two gangsters each with a squad of gangs, two drug dealers and a very rich tycoon.
While trying to capture me, they ended up fighting and causing lots of trouble. It took the intervention of the police to save me and stop the violent gun fight.
After the case was resolved, I was given an ultimatum;
Either I worked for the police, or I go to jail; which, of course, I chose the better one."
"That's even more amazing! You're like the villain turned good!" Regina laughed.
Bryan felt that if Bernadette were here, she'd have said the same thing.
"It was a good thing they still decided to pay me.
I was made or should I say, given a detective title. I was an "illegal" detective, according to them, so they took me in and 'bought over my past'" Bryan concluded mimicking the tone of the chief.
Bryan could remember this case very vividly. It was on this case that he lost someone very important to him- Anna.
He had purposefully set up that huge commotion which could have wiped out over a hundred residents. He was fuelled by revenge. Yet up to this day, the one thing he wanted kept eluding him. That man who took his mother kept walking around, free. No matter what dirt he found on him, it always turned out to affect other rich people and not him. He was invincible...
As the rest continued talking, Bruce didn't pay any more attention. He found this detective to be even more capable than he thought.
He remembered that case very well. Back then it was rumoured that a young "investigator" with unknown origins had single handedly taken down two gangs, a group of drug dealers and a whole empire of a rich business man.
The police later claimed that the "unknown" man was their agent who had been undercover for 7 years.
Apparently the police had forced him to join them.
That was a rather cheap and underhanded method Wakeville used to rope him in. They would have never sent him to jail if he had refused to work for them. The major reason, Bruce thought, that they simply kept him showed that he was the best.
Sigh!
Let's hope he brings his expert level skills to help crack this case. Bruce discovered he no longer saw Bryan as a replacement but an officer he could learn a lot from.