"What do you think?" Arlen asked and Ravi looked at him. He was talking to him, asking what he thought about the case. He was not smiling though, his voice was neither as soft nor encouraging as it had been with Lisa.
It was the same cadence as they had been yesterday, as if there was a straight line drawn between the two of them.
He did not mind the line, Ravi said to himself as he looked down on his paper, feeling the burning gaze of those blue eyes on him. Expectant.
Arlen had beautiful blue eyes but right now, Ravi did not like the emotion that was swimming in those orbs.
Ravi moistened his throat, blinking several times as he focused on the question. He looked at the white paper in his hand containing the woman's financial intimates and stared so deeply, wishing the lines would rearrange themselves and some clues would spring out from somewhere and fill his brain.
It would be like those movies that he watches on the Weekend, the high IQ protagonist would paint a mental picture of the who, the why, and the how of the crime. Everyone would hoo and ahh and clap.
Nothing that had not already been said came to mind.
"What do you think about the case? How do you propose we do next?" Arlen asked again, there was a bit of steel in his voice, forcing him back. He was not usually like this with his subordinates but this Officer West and his lackadaisical attitude for some reason got under his skin. He was always so calm, so indifferent, as if he was at a pizza shop and not at the police station, he met those blank eyes and he could not help pushing.
There was nothing but clouds in Ravi's head, the more those blue eyes pressed him down like a mountain, the pressure, the expectation in the gaze was so familiar and so frightening.
"What do you think about the case?" The single question seemed to form wings, multiplying in its thousands, the voices pressed against Ravi's head, asking without any intention to stop.
The cloud in his head spread, numbing and painful.
It was almost similar to the effects of a heavy bottle of wine, large patches flickered before his eyes, ringing echoed in his ears, and for a second, everything in his mind was chaotic. He could feel a memory at the top of his mind, making his temple throb. Please, not here.
Ravi let out a shuddering breath and took a step backward "What do you want me to do?" Give me an order. Ravi's hands clenched and unclenched.
Arlen hesitated, looking at him. It was as if an arrow had been pulled from the quiver and into the bow. A light stroke and the arrow would erupt, leaving a painful attack in its wake. Officer West had the same calm, everyone owes me look on his face but his body was tense from neck to shoulders, and upon closer inspection, one could see that his waist was bent forward a bit, he had seen such things in soldiers, it was an instinctive gesture of self-protection for someone who had spent a long time in danger.
Arlen darted his eyes left before focusing on the man and simultaneously taking a step back. Fine. He had been the one at fault this time. He mentally noted Ravi's name under PTSD maybe? Before he tried to bring him out of the gaze that he was in, his voice softened as he called him, " Officer West, It is frustration, right? We do not have a cyber department or any analytical professionals. We have to go basic, interrogating, interrogating, interrogating over and over again. We should ask for a Cyber team at least from the Headquarters."
A woman with red hair was talking to Ravi, she was saying something, a million raindrops fell from the sky and the whole world was a deafening roar. He strained his ears to listen to her, his body leaning a bit forward when he stopped…
Ravi was confused and he was pulled out of his thoughts, tilting his head in confusion. This Crazy person, what was he talking about this time? Cyberteam, how many people were in Davenport that they needed a Cyber unit? Analytical professionals? They should have a forensic doctor first.
"Not just a Cyber unit, a trace analysis unit as well."
"What is that?" Ravi asked before he could help himself.
Arlen gestured with his hand, "Those people who analyze the physical evidence found at the crime scene, fingerprints, DNA, ballistics. They are really awesome."
"Isn't that the job of the police?"
"Not at all. We need them. We also need a forensic anthropology unit and a toxicology unit. Rapid response team, special victim unit, narcotics." He gestured around as if saying that the entire Davenport Police Bureau was empty.
Ravi rolled his eyes, "Captain, I am not even sure that the Headquarters in the Capital has all these units."
Arlen placed his hands in his pockets and leaned in, "What did you say?"
His scent. There were these soft notes of vanilla, amber, and a hint of detergent. Ravi had never liked vanilla ice cream, it was too basic but he could not help taking another deep breath of the comforting scent before he realized what he was doing and instantly frowned, taking another step backward.
"Captain." His stomach lurched at the confused expression on Arlen's face, his tone must have been very cold.
"We probably should go and interrogate the boss of the gambling room, he had been stewing for quite a while."
"We can hold him for twenty-four hours." Arlen reminded him but he rubbed his hand, a little excitement in his gaze as he led the way to the interrogation unit.
"Captain."
Sarah Adams greeted from where she sat and walked forward to discuss something with him.
The walls on all sides were stark white, with a small iron window in the ceiling. There was a single chair and a table, with a bulb directly above it. Its light was neither yellow nor green, casting a faint glow on the plump face of a man in his late forties.