Enrique followed Rhiannon into the BMW outside, comparing it in his head to his old crummy car. For one second, he felt envy but the seriousness of the task at hand brought him back to focus. [b]"That's just Officer Pavlov, a bureaucrat of sorts. I don't know if he even ever worked on the field, but I would be surprised if that man didn't hate everyone in the station. Including you, in a couple of days. That's just the way he is, don't mind him."[/b] The temperature in the car was considerably warmer compared to the outside, almost as if they were in a beach. [b]"Nevermind that, I am glad to meet you too, Miss Jones."[/b] His hand started searching for a lever to roll down the window slightly, given his discomfort due to the heat, finding himself with only a small button; Enrique immediatly pressed it and thanked the cold air coming into the car.

As the outside was clearer through the open window, Enrique spotted the exit ramp into the central highway of New Bath. Albeit the traffic from twenty minutes ago had cleared, the artery of the city kept flowing through it to lead further into Canada. [b]"Take a right here, straight until we get to the 15th Street ramp."[/b] The engine of the car roared as the woman behind the wheel followed Enrique's instructions, joining the swift river of various cars streaming below bridges and between high-rise buildings that seemed to close on the vehicles. [b]"I'm glad we have someone with experience in homicides and what-not in this division, let me tell you, it was more than late for this thing's creation. I don't know what kind of political hoops Guerra had to jump through to make this happen but it's not like homicides weren't happening here before. It was long due."[/b] The car ventured into the maws of a tunnel and the lights on the ceiling started flashing on the officer's faces every couple of meters they drove by. The grafitti on the walls, written under the guise of the night seemed fleeting before the spinning wheels. [i]Dumb kids. Can't see the shit they tagged here.[/i] 

[b]"It is my first day on the division too but as I said before, been working here for a long time. The move was a little sudden but I guess they need all the hands they can get, right? I can think of at least three better choices for the spot but I ain't telling the Chief to move me from here."[/b] said Enrique, priding himself in not revealing anything compromising as to why he was really moved. He glanced out of the window, remaining silent as they drove past the tunnel, into a new landscape of identical houses. The bustling city center faded in the rear view mirror as the suburbs now surrounded the highway; some sections were projects were the poor and the vagrants spent their days, others were the perfect model of the 50s dream neighborhood, down to the trimmed identical grass and the smiling repressed housewives. The folks with enough money to get something above one floor, three rooms usually lived in Hillsbury Heights, far away from the noise and violence that could be found in the central areas of New Bath. 

[b]"Okay, this is the exit. Just a bit further."[/b] The screech of the tires suddenly finding themselves thrown into the narrow exit surprised Enrique; she had fast reactions. A secondary road opened towards the duo inside the vehicle, as a row of houses with perfect gardens stretched far into the horizon; the withering cedars decorated the road with an unusually eerie feeling, accompanied by the lack of people on the street at this hour. The only car on the road was the BMW. [b]"Y'know, when I heard you were foreign I expected an American. Coming from across the ocean is a really long way. Why'd you move to this place? I know Canada's pretty but this city can get real ugly, real fast. I mean, it's no-... Ah, wait, we missed 13 Queen's."[/b] Enrique looked to the back of the car; the police cruiser parked on the corner behind them indicated the location of the Division's first crime scene. For one moment, he chastised himself for not paying enough attention to his job. It would be a waste of time to drive around the block. [b]"Take a left, Ms. Jones, we'll just drive around."[/b] But the body would not run away, unlike a normal perp. [i]There might be some things I like about this. Kind of wrong to like someone not moving for this reason, though.[/i]

As the car pulled up, the flashing lights above the two cruisers parked in front of the house shined on the otherwise usual neighborhood's windows. The house that now faced the task of being examinated, at least twice as big as the ones surrounding it, was closed off from all its sides by police tape. Aside from that, it didn't seem very out of the ordinary. It was a one story house, several windows on the front and sides and a single front entrance decorated by a small porch; the white paint that coated its wooden walls seemed to have worn off a bit, perhaps with the pass of time and weather but the sturdy tiled roof looked as good as new. A fence separated the open front yard from the back one, which had an entrance of its own, a wooden shed and patio furniture that decorated the otherwise empty piece of land. The front yard had a few dying potted flowers in front, possibly due to yesterday's tremendous rain. Albeit the street was deathly silent apart from the radios and chatter that came from the cruisers, a few old women could be seen peeking from behind the curtains of their own houses; curiosity that would turn to gossip for years to come in the neighborhood, perhaps.

Enrique climbed out of the car, feeling the usual New Bath cold hit his face like the scene and situation that now faced him. He had always been the man in the cruiser, that secured the area; the men who would come after that were always tired cops, clearly not up to the task. Now he was supposed to be up to the task. He recognized one of the men inside the police cars: a short Asian man who had been around 3 years patrolling in the streets, divorced and with one girl, rowdy drunk and avid fan of hockey; Officer Lewis. The man sat silently in the driver's seat, with his head looking directly at the pedals below him. Enrique briskly walked towards him, with the air feeling heavier by each step he advanced. [i]Something's wrong.[/i] His fears were confirmed as he saw the vomit formerly hidden by the door of the patrol car, dripping off Lewis' pants into the cold pavement. The smell of breakfast in the morning coming back in the afternoon was not a pleasant one. Enrique's steps stopped as he directed his eyes to the house yet to be explored, his heartbeat rate increasing; he continued onwards towards Lewis. [b]"Lewi-"[/b] [b]"This is going to be one bad first day for you guys."[/b] said Lewis, as soon as he recognized Enrique's raspy voice. [b]"A couple of witnesses are in the other car with Lieutenant Harper... It's a mess in there, man."[/b]

Enrique took a deep breath. [b]"Alright. You rest, man."[/b] Lewis just moved his wrist to motion his desire for Enrique's retreat. Enrique spun on his heels, passing past Harper's car, not looking up to the windows as he already tried to piece together a plan to initiate the investigation, with a somewhat shaken resolve. [i]Usually an officer sees and deals with some pretty messed up shit in the day to day. It's not like you can choose to ignore what is fucked up. Either the crime was repulsive or brutal; or Lewis hadn't responded to a murder yet... but I doubt that. Maybe we could split? One interviews, one searches the house... I don't know that much about forensics. Agh, fuck.[/i] Enrique brought his hand up to his head, the cold sweat from his forehead sticking to the palm. He finally reached Rhiannon, who had stood besides the car for the couple of minutes Enrique had traveled to Lewis. [b]"Okay. The house is secure, the guys have already checked it. There's two witnesses in Lt. Harper's patrol car, four if we count the two responding officers themselves... Ms. Jones, I don't know what you've dealt with before but this one don't seem too nice. It messed up one man and that ain't very normal in this parts."[/b] Enrique wiped the sweat from his forehead and attempted to regain some of the compposure he had lost, standing up straight once again. [b]"What's the procedure to follow, Jones?"[/b]