Judy Hopps (fluffy_cop) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-02-28 16:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, joe hardy, judy hopps |
Who: Joe & Judy
What: First Meeting
When: WAY backdated to Monday, December 18th
Where: Irvine PD
Rating: Low
Status: Complete!
It was her first day on the job and Judy was BEYOND excited. It was probably a bit more than Nick was able to handle, as he had completely abandoned her in search for some more coffee. She tried not to let Nick’s indifference get to her as she stood by his desk, waiting for him to get back. She tried to look like she knew what she was doing; she picked up a few folders and flipped through them, eager to see what case they might start working on together.
Joe Hardy had become something of a regular at the Irvine Police Department. Granted the first time he’d been there he and his brother had been in an interrogation room attempting to explain why Joe had been masquerading as an orderly so that Frank could gain access to a ask her about the rather strange disappearance of her husband. It had been a simple enough plan, but unfortunately the patient had decided to sneak out just before Joe had arrived. Hence why Joe and Frank had been hauled in to be questioned themselves. In the end it had turned out that the woman and her husband were attempting to duck out on bad debts and were hoping to fake the husband’s suicide, a scheme Frank had managed to exposed, but unfortunately hadn’t gotten any credit for.
The one positive thing that had come out of the ordeal was that Joe had started to make a few contacts within the department. At the time he had no intention of ever having to use them. His days as a private detective were over. He’d left that behind in New York. All he wanted to be was a mechanic. Then someone had been murdered behind his favorite bar and Joe just couldn’t get the scene out of his head. So he started poking around, gathering evidence, if for nothing else to put his own mind at ease.
He was supposed to be meeting one of his contacts that day before heading to the garage to start his actual job, but said contact had apparently been sent out on a call. Joe was told he could wait, if he wanted. As he did, he noticed a new officer he hadn’t seen before flipping through what appeared to be casefiles at one of the desks.
Judy felt her ears perk and she glanced up, catching Joe looking her way. She gave him a sheepish grin, shutting the folder and putting it down. “Hi!” she said, unsure if she had gotten caught looking at something she shouldn’t have or just someone glancing around the department. She even gave him a small wave for good measure. “I’m Judy! I’m new.” Well, that much seemed obvious now. She gave him a once over, noticing he was in civilian clothes.
“Are you a detective here?” He would be the second one she’d meet that day and she felt fairly excited to be branching out to meet so many new people on her first day. She knew how important it was to make connections and she felt like she was off to a good start. Like Leon said, she needed to make good impressions and she wanted to make sure she would do so with anyone she met at the department; you never knew who knew who around here!
Joe smiled. Even before Judy said she was new, Joe had suspected as much. A witness (or perp) never would have been left alone in the office, never mind left with case files lying around she could freely flip through, so she had to have been an officer. Her cheery greeting also indicated that she hadn’t been on the force long enough to get that certain jaded look many officers acquired over time. Her enthusiasm was nice.
“No,” he shook his head with a light chuckle. He easily slid into an empty chair since it looked as though his contact was going to be a while. He may as well get comfortable. “I’m a freelance-” he stopped himself short. It was a little alarming how easily the term freelance private detective had come to mind. He’d almost let it slip out without thinking. He wasn’t a detective anymore. He hadn’t been for two years now. Maybe he really had been working this case too long.
No. Not a case. He was just looking in to it. That was all. Helping out. Nothing more. Joe shook his head and made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “Forget that,” he said. “I’m helping one of the other detectives with a case.” Which was technically true. “It’s nice to meet you, Judy. I’m Joe.”
Judy raised an eyebrow at his halted speech, but held out her hand to him. “Nice to meet you too Joe,” she said, curious to know what it was he did here. She tried to think of what a freelance blank could be...reporter? Detective? If it was the former, she’d have to watch what she said...she didn’t want to do or say anything that could land her in the doghouse so early on, at the start of her career.
“Which detective are you helping?”
“Detective Leon Orcot” he answered as he reached to take Judy’s offered hand. “He’s out on a call now. I was told I could wait.” He sat back in the chair and looked up at Judy. Though she still seemed to have that enthusiastic shine in her eye, she was regarding him a little more wearily then she had before. Shouldn’t have said the word “freelance”, Joe chastised himself.
He gave Judy an easy smile. “I’m not a reporter,” he assured her. Hey, maybe Judy could be of some help as well. A fresh faced cop might have a perspective the veterans lacked. “I used to be a private detective in New York,” he further explained. He did not go into the details of why he was no longer in New York, or why he wasn’t a detective anymore. “I’m helping Orcot on a string of murders happening in Irvine,” he went on, “in kind of a consultant capacity. In exchange, he’s helping me investigate a murder that took place in back of my favorite bar.”
If Judy had been any other regular civilian, she would have taken what Joe said with acceptance. But she picked up on a few phrases and words that made her think what he was doing was strictly legal. He didn’t sound like an official consultant, one licensed and officially working with the police department. But he was working with Leon...from the little she knew of the former detective, he wouldn’t put vital information into the hands of someone that couldn’t be trusted.
“Those are the Sunday murders?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. Leon had mentioned them to her and she couldn’t help her peaked curiosity to know more. “How have things been going? Leon was saying that you have a suspect and are closer than ever before to cracking the cases.”
Joe nodded his head. Word of the serial killings had been going around the department like wildfire, not to mention the press had given some pretty extensive coverage, so it came as no surprise that the rookie had heard about them or the latest news. “Seems that way,” Joe said. “It’s Leon’s case. I’ve been acting more as a sounding board for his theories and findings. Helping him work through them. I don’t have access to everything, but he’s narrowed down the list of potential suspects.” Which, when it came to serial killers, was a miracle in itself.
“We always need that help when we’re processing through something.” Judy nodded her head, the nights of frustration still clear in her mind when she had been studying for her exam. She had gotten into the habit of talking out loud and found she spent a lot of her time in her own room, her voice her only companion. She wondered if Nick would become the kind of partner she could talk things out with...but that would mean he would actually need to talk to her in order for that to happen.
“What have you been able to find?” she asked. He wouldn’t be here if he didn’t have something to talk about; the meeting with Leon had to be about something interesting. Maybe she could get to know more about the case and get a shoe in without really trying.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much in the way of “interesting” Joe could really tell Judy. Truth of the matter was, he hadn’t found much of anything. Not anything that Leon would have found useful. In fact, if anything, Joe had simply succeeded in gaining information that would only have struck off a few of Leon’s subjects of interest. And while that may have been good in narrowing down the list of potential killers, it did nothing to actually indicate who the murderer was. Leon had his suspicions, of course, but that’s all they were.
“What do you think of it?” Joe asked once he was done shrugging and explaining that he had frustratingly little to offer his friend.
Judy could see the frustration that Joe was feeling and gave him a sympathetic smile. “It’s definitely a head scratcher,” she said, folding her arms against her chest. She thought about the pictures Leon had showed her, the hope she heard in his own voice when they talked about the case. “At least you guys are narrowing down the search,” she said, taking the positive spin to it. “Leon seemed like he had certain suspicions that were leading towards one person. I guess the best thing to do is just to follow and track them, see if they’ll slip up enough to catch them.” If Judy had been on the case, she would have dug around in all the files, tracked the person until she could come up with the evidence she needed to put that person behind bars. But Leon and Joe seemed to have it under control, at least enough to keep them going.
“I know you guys have been working on this for awhile, but if you ever need an extra pair of eyes or an extra pair of legs to pound the pavement, I’m around now! Wouldn’t hurt to get some experience on a case like this!” She grinned, knowing most officers wouldn’t think to bring a rookie in on this. But she hoped to prove to them she was determined and ready to help the department; she was ready to get her hands dirty.
“If you’re around here a lot, stop by sometime. I feel like I’ll usually be pushing papers any-” She was cut off by a rather loud “CARROTS” that seemed to echo throughout the station and she rolled her eyes. “And that’s my partner. It was nice to meet you Joe.” She held out her hand to shake his. “I hope to run into you again.”
“Right now that’s about all we can hope for,” Joe agreed with a sigh. If the unsub actually slipped up, that was. It seemed to Joe that this guy knew exactly what it was he was doing. He seemed intelligent and not someone who had a murder itch that needed scratching. There was method happening here, though Joe wasn’t exactly sure what that method was or the reason behind it.
“An extra fresh pair of eyes would probably come in handy,” Joe went on. “I’ll mention it to Leon.” Because when everything was said and done, this was still Leon’s case and Leon seemed to want to go in a certain direction. Still, it was worth mentioning at least.
Joe blinked surprised to hear someone calling across the station. Carrots? Joe’d heard some unusual nicknames in his time, but never anything quite like that. He wondered how the hell Judy’d gotten saddled with it. A conversation for another time, though. Her partner sounded as though he wanted her right then. “Yeah,” he stood up and offered his hand again. “It was good meeting you, Judy. I’ll stop by next time I’m around the station.”