Day 8

[from Murder by Pixels]

"Reassigned?"

Lieutenant Matthew Hawke repeated the word with a puzzled expression on his face. The police commissioner  remained his usual stoic self. "That's right," he said. "I'm putting you in charge of a special new division of sorts, here at headquarters."

"My own division?" repeated Lt. Hawke. "With all due respect, sir, isn't that a little above my pay grade?"

"Perhaps," said the commissioner. "But I've seen your record, Hawke. You're the youngest lieutenant in your precinct's history, and one of the youngest in JVPD history. Play your cards right and you might be sitting in my chair one day. I'm sure you can handle this."

Lt. Hawke nodded. "I'll do my best," he said. "So, what is this special new division?"

"I take it you've heard of Harry Payne and Sapphire Keating?" asked the commissioner.

"I have, yes," said Lt. Hawke, looking slightly bemused. "They're those two kids who solved that guy's murder online."

"Well, from now on they're working for the JVPD, helping us solve homicides on a consultancy basis," said the commissioner. "You're going to be in charge of them."

Whatever Lt. Hawke had been expecting, it hadn't been this. "Wait, you're serious?" he blurted out. "We're hiring a pair of kids to work for us?"

The commissioner didn't take too kindly to backchat. "Considering these kids solved in twenty-four hours, a murder your precinct couldn't solve in three weeks, you're lucky I'm hiring them as your subordinates and not as your replacements. They'd be cheaper, for a start."

"I'm sorry, sir," said Lt. Hawke, realizing his mistake, "that was rude of me. But still, with all due respect, they've solved one murder. Can we be sure that they're reliable?"

"No," said the police commissioner bluntly, "which is why they're only consultants and not full-time employees. I've already spoken to them, and told them what I expect of them as members of the Jacksonville Police Department. That being said, since they'll be under your control, it'll be your responsibility to make sure that they do their jobs properly. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," said Lt. Hawke.

"Alright then," said the commissioner, suddenly getting to his feet. "As I said, I've already spoken to them about this; in fact, they're here right now. Would you like to meet them?"

"Certainly," said Lt. Hawke, getting to his feet.

"Of course," said the commissioner. "Right this way." He and Lt. Hawke left the office, heading  through the building. Soon Hawke found himself standing outside the entrance to what looked like a meeting room. The commissioner opened the door and stuck his head in. "Everything okay in here?" he asked.

"Yeah, we're fine," said a male voice from inside, no doubt belonging to Harry Payne, apparently the self-appointed leader of the pair. "Thank you, sir."

"Alright, good to hear," said the commissioner. "I brought your supervisor over to say hello."

On cue, Lt. Hawke stepped into the room. His eyes were immediately drawn to the two figures sat at the table in the centre of the room; both stood up as he approached. They looked slightly older than Hawke had been imagining, but they still had to have been only around eighteen or nineteen. Dressed in their casual outfits, they looked rather out-of-place as law enforcement officials.

Harry very much looked the leader of the two; his body posture was much more confident than Sapphire's. He also, by Lt. Hawke's estimation, looked like a bit of a nerd. He had scruffy brown hair, thin black glasses, and was dressed in a plain black T-shirt and jeans, possibly in a token attempt to look smart. It didn't really work.

Sapphire, by contrast, looked rather nervous; understandable, given it was her first day on the job, probably the first job she'd ever had. Her appearance, however, was more colourful than Harry's; pink streaks permeated the fringe of her short, jet-black hair. She had piercing green eyes, which clashed a little with her dark blue hooded jacket, jeans and studded earrings - sapphires, Hawke realized, to match her name. He thought he could see the long sleeves of her shirt poking through her jacket sleeves, before he realized she was wearing black fingerless gloves, which struck him as a rather odd choice of attire. Perhaps they were for a medical condition of some kind.

"This is Lieutenant Matthew Hawke," said the commissioner. "From now on, you answer to him. Hawke, this is Harry Payne and Sapphire Keating."

"It's nice to meet you both," said Lt. Hawke, extending his arm.

"Nice to meet you too, sir," said Harry, shaking the lieutenant's hand. His grip was firm, but his arm barely moved.

Hawke moved on, offering his hand to Sapphire. She hesitated for a moment, as though unsure of herself, then gently took it. She said nothing as the lieutenant shook her hand, only a faint "Mmh" of acknowledgement and a nod of the head. Perhaps she wasn't nervous after all, thought Hawke; just shy.

"They've gotten the grand tour already," said the commissioner, as the trio sat down, "so you three just get to know each other for now. They can show you to your new desk whenever you're ready. I gotta go make some calls, so I'll leave you to it. Good luck to the three of you," he added as he turned to leave. "I'm expecting good things." With that, he left the room and closed the door behind him.

Silence fell, as the three people left in the room tried to think of some kind of conversation topic. The longer the silence went on for, the louder it grew, and the more awkward the atmosphere in the room became. Finally, Harry cleared his throat and said, "So, you're gonna be our new boss?"

"Uhh…I guess so," said Lt. Hawke. "I mean, I was only told about this, like, five minutes ago, so-"

"Really?" Harry smiled, as though this amused him. "Well…anyway, I look forward to working with you, Lieutenant. So is Sapphire, even if she seems a bit shy about it." Sapphire quickly nodded in affirmation.

"I look forward to working with the two of you as well," said Lt. Hawke. "Though hopefully, not for a little while yet."

Harry got the meaning pretty quickly. "Yeah," he replied, "this is kinda the one line of work where you don't want work."

"I guess so," said Lt. Hawke. "Sadly, we can't stop every murder from happening; we just have to make sure we solve the ones that do happen. That's what it's all about."