"Morning Katie!" Natalia greeted as the other detective walked into the briefing room. Katie, this time, is earlier today since she learned her lesson about punctuality, put her things to her seat beside Natalia and stretched. "Hello, Natalia," The human replied to her. "How was your day yesterday?" She asked.
"Oh, it's just the usual. I had to collect evidence and get witness testimony," Natalia would change the subject. "Speaking of which, Captain Blackwood seemed to be in a good mood last night when I reported! Did you get to his good side that quickly?" She asked with a playful smirk.
Well, if it's anyone other than Captain Blackwood, Katie wouldn't like to just lie that she did all the work. That is because a policewoman named Jamie came and then helped her out instead of dumping another file to the mess. She hasn't known Natalia for a long time, but it's just better to make sure she could trust her. "Um, well, sort of." She started. "You see, I didn't do it all on my own. I have a- uh, another police officer came and decided to help me, you know?"
"Uh, she goes by the name of uh... Jamie... Henson?" Katie would mutter. See, she was NOT the best at remembering names, but Natalia looked as though uttering her name seems like a death sentence. "Jamie Henson? You mean the one with short blond hair and silver eyes?"
"What's wrong with her?"
"Nothing! It's just that... a lot of us detectives thought she's a very moody girl, you know?" She explained. "Last time, she went too harsh on a former detective that he quit his job at the end of this year. I mean, He would have done better than then, but he looked like he was about to drop dead."
Yikes... That explains why the woman said she hates newbies. Hopefully she'll put better experience in her job before she gets her as some sort of assistant soon.
"Get into your seats, ladies and gentlemen," The voice of Captain Blackwood overpowered the chatter across the room, making everyone including Katie scramble for their seats. The captain brought quite a number of papers to his side, a sign that this precinct might be busy today. "It's a good day today, because we have a lot of work to do."
Thankfully Katie realizes that this precinct is not filled with workaholics, because she could hear some of them groan as a response. "Stop complaining, people. We would not exist if the world was a fully peaceful place!" The captain responded, before handing out everyone's work. Great, Katie thought, still waiting for her name to be called-
"Aiken, I finally have a job for you." Captain Blackwood announced, with the rookie almost jumping out of her seat just to receive her first true assignment. "Yes Sir?!" Katie asked, almost shouting at her own captain. The reaction from her senior is to frown, as if he expected her to be more modest when it comes to handing out her first assignment. But it doesn't matter.
"Listen, this is your first job, and I chose this for you because I believe this is an easy task." Captain Blackwood mentioned. "There's been a forced entry and robbery at 500 Mallie Way. My job for you is to gather all possible evidence and investigate the scene. There are police on the scene already, so don't hesitate to ask them about anything."
Her first ACTUAL job. Katie's dad would be proud of her for this! "Yes, Sir!" She responded. "I won't let you down."
"Good." He said, handing her the paper of the assignment. "Oh, just make sure to make a report once you're done for today. I won't let you leave until you make the report."
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500 Mallie Way. This place turned out to be a jewelry shop, named Magna Lavalier. It would have looked like a well-put together place if not for the broken glass that represents the front window. This place is going to be Katie's first job. "Alright, just- take deep breaths, Katie. You're going to do well."
Well- the first thing she saw were two policemen, whose job is to ward off any curious passers-by, and as she entered the broken shop...
"Are you sure that this here in the list is all that you noticed?" A familiar voice mentioned. "Yeah, I believe so!... I can't believe that this place had to be robbed, man..."
"Thank you for your time." She said, turning towards Katie, a shocked look present in her face. "... You're the rookie. They sent you here?" Jamie asked the detective. "Huh, yeah! I-is something wrong?" Katie asked.
"Gimme your assignment." The Police Corporal commanded, taking the paper Katie was holding before she even said anything. Everything was right, she was the one assigned in this case. Man... Why does it have to be a rookie of all things?
"... Fine. I'll work with you, but I hope that you know what you are doing." She responded after she read through the whole thing. "I-I know what I'm doing!" Katie protested, hands in the air as if she's warding off the corporal if she ever decided to punch her. "Look, we don't need to fight! I just... Need a rundown of things before we go find some evidence."
Jamie raised her eyebrow out of suspicion about Katie raising her hands, before fixing her throat. She's right; Now's not the time to quarrel about being paired up by a rookie. "Alright. So, we have a forced entry and theft here at Magna Lavalier, 500 Mallie Way. The shopkeeper here told us that they lost a few gold necklaces and rings. They believe that they also stole their most expensive piece, a 24 karat sapphire ring." She explained, not knowing that Katie was already trying to survey the surroundings.
"The glass scattered here inside, so of course they broke this from the outside..." She explained. "Do you have any sort of footage in here?" She asked, turning towards Jamie and the shopkeeper.
Jamie turned to the other person in the room. "Oh, right! Here- um- Come this way, Miss." She said, opening a way for Katie to follow her behind the stall. "Sorry for not introducing myself. My name is Katie Aiken, Detective for the 23rd Police department-"
"It should be fine, I heard the Corporal talk to you so I thought you would be one of them." The woman replied. "Here, look at this." She muttered.
It was a monitor for the surveillance cameras, and Katie felt assured that there was at least some proof (hopefully) that someone broke into the shop. The storekeeper helped Katie navigate through the controls, as they both find anything interesting-
"There!" Katie exclaimed the moment she spotted a figure in the footage. They stopped fast forwarding, in fact rewinding for a few minutes, before she took note of what happened.
It was around 3:00 AM, and a hooded man appeared at the front of the store with a baseball bat in hand. Katie could tell what he is, since judging by the muscular build and teeth popping up from below the mouth, It might be an orc.
The orc took its baseball bat and swung as best as he could onto the glass, making Katie assume that this was the moment the glass window shattered into pieces into the shop.
And that's where the orc took whatever Jamie had listed down today. "We have proof now that someone broke into this place and stole some stuff, but how do we know the identity of that orc?" Jamie mentioned, leaning on the wall with arms crossed. "Look, orcs are plentiful in this city. It's not just something we could-"
"Fingerprints, Jamie- I mean, Ma'am!" Katie mentioned a spark in her eyes that even Jamie could admit that she has a brilliant idea. "Sure, it could be anyone, but... if the orc even tried to make it as clean as possible, there's something he must have left behind. And fingerprints are the best way to identify him, because no one has the same fingerprints, not even twins! Plus I know we have sme sort of identification system in Mahika City! I saw that the orc didn't wear gloves, so..."
This is the fun part, the best part that Katie learned as a student of Forensic Magic and Science. She took out a singular glove, put it on, and placed her hand on the stall. For the four years that she studied, the professors have taught her to use some magic to help with investigations.
"Idem." She mustered, and a green light spread across the room from her hand as it it was a radar of some sort. She let go of the stall, looking around to find that one glowing spot. And she did, finding a group of fingerprints near the glass where the reported items were missing.
Maybe it was because Jamie's former partner was too incompetent, or she has never heard of this type of procedure before. She heard that Katie was among the first batch of graduates regarding Forensic Magic, So... is it true? That even magic can help bring justice to everyone? Man... Then Jamie would think that Katie Aiken is a competent detective in her craft. She's still a rookie in her eyes, but... I guess she only has to see in time.
She cleared her throat, not allowing herself to be distracted with the magic that Katie just used. "Let me handle that, rookie." She raised her voice, preparing the process of transferring the glowing fingerprints for further investigation. "If you're right about this guy and the fingerprints match, then you're no rookie at all." Jamie mentioned, not looking at her. "You're not bad, but you still need some more experience."
"Hey!" Someone shouted from outside. It was a police officer. "Someone said they might have something that would help." Said the other.
"Go handle that, Rookie. I'm taking care of this." Jamie simply mentioned. Katie would nod before she walked outside the establishment.
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It was a small woman, someone who looked like a halfling, and Katie could tell that she looked concerned for the damage of the shop. "Hello, Miss. Can you give me your name?" Said Katie, taking out her pen and notepad. "Uh, Lara, Ma'am." She replied. "Look, I can't help but feel sorry for the woman running this place... It's been hard for her to get by with the shop recently."
Katie nodded in agreement. She knew how businesses can be tough depending on the industry, and this? No exception. "So, What seems to be the concern here?" She asked.
"Ah, About that... Look, miss, I might be wrong, but I saw an Orc on the way who had a bunch of golf necklaces and rings on his hand..." She explained. "I might be wrong, miss, but... The moment I saw this mess, I thought- I thought that that guy is up to no good! I think he's headed for the pawn shop over there!" She added, pointing towards said pawnshop, that just so happened to be a few streets across. While Katie was a bit short-sighted, She could vaguely make out a figure of a muscular org from her sight. "Oh, golly, Thank you!" She mentioned, rushing back in for a moment. "I think we found our suspect!" she shouted, startling Jamie. She couldn't make out her next move, though, because Katie already bolted towards the Pawn shop.
"You!" Katie said, focusing on the orc once she entered the shop. "What are you pawning?"
The orc audibly gulped before turning to her. "Uh, um... This is from my wife, Ma'am... She didn't want this anymore..." He said, sweating profusely. Katie could tell that this man was still an amateur of his craft. Stealing a couple of jewelry without trying to hide his identity, and now this?
"Jesus, you sure can run fast," Jamie said with a pant when she entered, putting a gun up to point to the orc. "You, You're under arrest under suspicion of theft of jewelry. Slick move trying to make money out of it." She added. Katie could tell that the orc was panicking when he dropped all the jewelry and put his hands up. Jamie took her cuff then put it on the guy's wrists. "Look, We have evidence that you broke in. We're going to make sure if it's you or not.
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What a day. Katie's first job was done in one day, and again, Captain Blackwood seemed pleased that it worked well with Jamie, after verifying that the one who broke in from the footage and the fingerprints was the orc they arrested, named Mudrakk. Man... Jamie also seems a bit competent in her craft too. As Katie ate some takeout in her place... She could not wonder what's in store for her.