Nora felt at home in the holding cell. There were occupants already sprawled out on the floor- a few rowdy drunks from the bars and clubs a couple blocks over- but she made herself comfortable in her spot, the corner closest to the door. She leaned against the bars and watched the exhausted officers change shifts and waved a pleasant goodbye to Officer Gu as he retired for the night. Daniel glared from his desk, pounding away at the keyboard in front of him and outlining the next course of action for the victims falling asleep in their seats. He called out to her from across the room, too bothered to walk over.
“Hey!”
“Hmm?”
“You better not fall asleep,” he warned, “I’m questioning you again as soon as I’m finished with this.”
“Sure,” Nora didn’t sound too concerned.
The detective frowned, “Is there an attorney I need to call? Or are you gonna talk?
A yawn escaped the girl’s lips. She wiggled into a more comfortable positions on the cold floor.
“It’s two o’clock in the morning, you don’t have to do that to him. Wait until it’s decent.”
Daniel let out a frustrated sigh and went back to work. He made a big show of jerking his arms around and throwing a passive aggressive tantrum that the rest of the station’s occupants did their best to avoid looking at.
Nora ignored him, of course. Her eyes began to close as she listened to the clicks and voices of the substation around her. One of the drunks grunted, but she paid no attention to him. Even when the detective punted the bar she was leaning against as he walked by, she didn’t flinch. She refused to play victim to his petty annoyance. He could throw a tantrum all he wanted, but she wasn’t going down without a fight, especially with everything that she knew. She’d enjoy this night in her corner, watching him wrestle with exhaustion and her unwavering silence.
Ten minutes passed like this. As she let her mind wander, small voices crept into the back of her head. They were muffled, as if wandering around on an AM radio frequency she couldn’t quite tune in to, but Nora navigated herself through the feedback and listened.
“God, I wanna go home—"
“How much longer do I have to sit here-?”
“Did she like her coffee with sugar? I can’t remember—”
“Hmm hmm HMMM—”
“I’m so drunk right now. Can he tell? He probably can’t tell. I’m so good at acting. I should be an actor—”
“She saw it. She definitely saw it.”
“Nora’s eyes opened. She leaned forward to glimpse at the other side of the detective’s desk.
“She must be hiding that memory card somewhere. But where? If I leave without those pictures, I’m screwed.”
Congressman Kim and his secretary weren’t happy. The politician had given up his act of professionalism and was trying to find a comfortable position in his chair. The detective had left minutes before, off to do some menial chore in another part of the substation. It was a break that everyone felt was necessary.
Mitchell remained silent. Calm. Composed. His attitude hasn’t changed much.
But his eyes shifted. He glanced at Nora in her cell, then back at the congressman, then Nora again. Finally, they made eye contact, and the secretary’s eyes narrowed. A finger tapped against his crossed arms, almost like a nervous tick.
“…She knows more than I thought.”
His mouth didn’t move. But it didn’t have to.
Nora was a very good listener.
She watched as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped away. A text message? She leaned closer to the bars and strained her ears, but before she could pick up the message contents—
“I really shouldn’t be giving her coffee…”
Another voice. Nora turned just as Officer Yoon rounded the corner, a paper cup in both of her hands. She smiled when their eyes met and knelt to the floor.
“Thirsty?” the officer asked.
Nora returned the cheeriness, as much as she could muster, “Absolutely not.”
Officer Yoon passed a cup through the bars anyways.
“Sorry. Detective’s orders. He said if he’s not sleeping, you’re not either.”
Nora grumbled but complied. She took a sip out of contempt.
“But why are you drinking? Your shift ended.”
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“Someone had to stay behind,” Yoon replied, “Gu and I were the ones that responded to the alarm, and the detective isn’t finished with his report. I figured Gu could use the sleep.”
“Ah. Sorry.”
“I wish I could say it was okay, but that’s against my work ethics.”
Officer Yoon was the apple of the substation’s eye. A rookie in her first year on the force, she was ambitious and ready to work when work was needed. She had the brains, the beauty, and the skill of a top-level officer, but her experience and performance were usually lacking (especially alongside her partner Gu, who was known for his lax attitude). It was something she was constantly doing her best to make up for, and Nora was appreciative of her efforts, despite usually being a mechanism against them. Her frequent visits to the station had made the two unlikely friends.
Officer Yoon made herself comfortable and leaned against the other side of the holding cell bars, seemingly taking a break. Nora readjusted herself too, and they talked while watching for the detective’s return. Yoon would be evicted from her spot as soon as he showed up.
“He’s cute,” Yoon mumbled. Nora’s eyebrows knit together.
“Hm? Who are we talking about?
“Mr. Secretary over there,” the officer gestured, a small wave of her fingers, to the man fiddling with his phone, “Do you think he’d give me his number if I asked for it?”
Nora thought.
“Honestly?” Nora took a sip of her coffee, “No. I don’t think so.”
Officer Yoon sighed.
“You’re right. He’s not my type. He’s just pretty.”
She grumbled and went back to her coffee, before mumbling again, “There’s always something wrong with the pretty ones.”
A pause. They watched as Mitchell closed his eyes and stretched into the back of his chair. He twisted, something cracked, and he grunted. Another sigh escaped the officer.
“…I’m guessing your date didn’t go well last week?” Nora asked.
“It didn’t,” Yoon replied, more like a breath rather than spoken words.
“Ah.”
Nora wasn’t sure what else to say, so she offered as much of a small, comforting pat on Yoon’s shoulders that the holding cell bars could allow. It was an appreciated gesture, and the officer patted Nora’s hand in response.
“I thought things would be different with a new detective on the team,” Yoon frowned, her free hand finding and twirling the ends to her dark ponytail, “He’s cute. I know someone from the main precinct and got to see his file before anyone else. I went to the salon on the day of his transfer.”
An unnecessary gesture, but Nora let her continue.
“But he’s so short, Nora,” the officer lamented, “He’s tiny. And he’s mean.”
“There’s a reason why lawyers tell you to read the fine print. You should know all the details before you get your hopes up,” Nora said.
“I really should.”
Suddenly, Yoon turned to Nora.
“But did you know? Apparently, he was a big shot. They had him at HQ for forever.”
Nora had recognized the name. Daniel Moon. He was a driving force to multiple stand-out cases from the past decade, but she wasn’t the type to be starstruck. She was more upset by the fact that she never connected his name to his face before today.
“He was involved with that idol fraud case,” Nora remembered the long list of achievement trailing down the detective’s legacy.
Officer Yoon gasped, “No way, that was him?”
“And those serial murders,” she continued, “You know, the one done by that pregnant lady.”
“You know my resume better than I do.”
Officer squeaked and almost toppled over in her spot.
It seemed that the detective in concern had crept behind her at some point during the conversation. He menacingly towered over the two sitting on the floor, as much as his short stature could manage.
Nora wasn’t surprised. She had heard him coming earlier but found herself not caring enough to acknowledge his presence. Officer Yoon’s hands clenched around her coffee cup, and she stared up at her superior with nervous eyes. She couldn’t tell how long he had been standing there, or how much he had heard.
“It comes with the job,” Nora quipped, “According to news, you’ve been around.”
Daniel cocked his head.
“Huh. Funny how you know more than the person who got a hold of my file.”
Officer Yoon’s face flushed. She started mumbling.
“He heard a lot—”
“He did,” Nora said.
“He sounds mad—”
“I am.”
This time, it was Daniel.
“I can’t help being short. But I can be meaner, if you want.”
Officer Yoon scuttled to her feet as quickly as she could.
“Just give her coffee. That’s all you had to do. Someone with your skill set shouldn’t have a problem with such a simple task, but here we are.”
The detective had left words unsaid, but they were heard. An awkward moment. Nora felt curses spilling out of Yoon, but they weren’t spoken aloud.
Finally, the officer muttered, “I’m gonna—”
“Go home,” the detective finished, “I can finish up here.”
“Right. Yes. I’m going.”
“Drive safely,” Nora chimed, waving her off.
“Dammit, Nora. She could have said something! I’m not bringing her coffee next time!”
Nora smiled apologetically as her friend speed-walked to the back of the substation.
A minute passed between the detective and his arrestee. Daniel took Officer Yoon’s spot and leaned against the bars. He tried to figure her out. Nora stared back and sipped her own coffee. Her defiance wouldn’t allow her to break eye contact.
“Where’s she hide the damn thing? I should have asked Officer Yoon to do a body check before she left. Whatever. She can wait. I can’t believe she called me short. 170 centimeters isn’t short… right? It’s an average height. I’m average.”
Nora laughed through her nose.
“What’s funny?” the detective asked.
“I don’t know,” Nora smiled, “You gonna say something, or should we stare at each other a little more? I don’t mind. Now that I’m looking, your eyes are kind of pretty.”
His eyes were pretty- a light gray, almost clear. The flatness of the color was uncomforting, almost alarming, and completely unnatural. The detective didn’t give her another chance to make comments about them.
“Brat.”
He kicked the cell bars, and Nora snickered. Congressman Kim jerked awake at the noise- he had fallen asleep slumped over in his chair. The detective turned back to his desk and waved the file in his hand.
“I’m sorry to keep you two waiting. I’ve got everything taken care of, so you can leave now.”
The detective smacked the file against the bars, motioning to her, “Her attorney won’t be coming until the morning. I’ll update you once we start getting somewhere.”
Nora laughed, “You actually called him?”
“Of course I called him. You obviously don’t pay him enough.”
Nora didn’t pay him at all, but she wasn’t going to say that.
“If you want,” the detective continued, a lightness lilting his voice, “You can save everyone from a headache by complying—”
“I’m good.”
A pause. One smile. An aggravated sigh.
Daniel turned back to Kim, “I’ll be heading over to grab the security footage once I get some sleep. This whole thing should be over by tomorrow.”
The congressman nodded and shot up from his seat eager to finally get home and properly rest. But Mitchell stalled. He slowly stretched, looked around the substation, took his sweet time preparing to leave. What was he waiting for?
“Right,” the secretary said, “Yes. Are you sure things are taken care of? You don’t need anything else from us?”
Kim frowned.
“He just said we could go. What are you talking about?”
Mitchell didn’t want to rile his boss up any more. He pat him on the arm and assured, “I don’t want to make any mistakes, sir. The debate is this weekend. I wouldn’t want anything to happen before we gain some traction.”
He paused and glanced at the clock on the wall.
“If I’m being honest, I would have preferred this to be taken care of by the main precinct. It’s obvious that this girl’s a regular here, and she’s got friends all over the place. What happens to us if they let her go?”
What was he talking about? Nora raised an eyebrow and watched as the atmosphere between the three men changed. The detective crossed his arms, obviously catching the hints that were being lightly tossed into this spiel, but he was too exhausted to make any sound arguments. All he could muster was a smile that couldn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Small station officers are known for slacking off,” Mitchell concluded, a final nail into the proverbial coffin, “If word got out that someone broke into a future senator’s home and wasn’t punished for it…”
Suddenly, Kim clutched a heavy hand onto his secretary’s shoulder. He laughed over him, a hearty boom that shook the walls. Leave it to a politician to defuse the tension.
I can’t be mad at you for thinking of the campaign,” he managed through chuckles, “This is why I hired him. Good choice, amirite?”
Daniel matched his laugh. Sarcastically. He wasn’t amused at all.
“Excuse him, he’s too good at his job. I look forward to hearing from you—”
Kim stretched out a hand for a proper shake that the detective seemed extremely reluctant to return, but before they could say their goodbyes a sudden bang sounded from the other end of the station. A door slammed open, and a frantic man entered. He was older, rat-like, and seemed to be in a rush; he was still in his pajamas and seemed to only have had time to throw on a jacket and boots before leaving the house. In his hands was a storage box filled to the brim with stacks of loose-leaf paper and packets, and he paid no mind as they flew out around him.
His name was Mr. Shin, the head manager of Newsers Tabloid.