Brenda came out of her office, it was time to update the case they'd been working on. As she positioned herself in front of the whiteboard, waiting for her team to pay attention, she had a small smile on her face. Keeping an eye on Flynn, she set into the briefing.
Flynn, for his part, settled back in his chair, feet up, his usual position when she did these. He reached into his drawer where he kept a bowl and a bag of peanuts. Peanuts were his favorite snack, and as the Chief could get very detailed in things, this could drag on for awhile. Snacking helped him get through it. He retrieved the bowl and reached back in for his peanuts. His hand met empty space. He sat up, shocked. He'd put a new bag in there yesterday, had restocked his supplies. He didn't make a pretence of listening to his Chief, he had more important things on his mind. His nuts were missing.
As he searched through his drawer, Brenda kept an eye on him, finally speaking.
"Am I disturbing you with talk of this case, Lieutenant? You look like you're very busy right now." Brenda said, all fake charm and sincerity.
"Chief, my nuts are missing. Somebody took my nuts!" Flynn said angrily.
"While I'm sure that this is a very serious matter, so is this case. We need to find a murderer, not missing nuts." Brenda said, playing it very straight.
Flynn paid her no mind. He started moving from desk to desk, searching his teammates drawers. They watched him, more amused than offended, cause they did not have his nuts. They knew better than to mess with them. When he got to Provenza's desk, however, the man was having none of it. He swatted Flynn's hand away from his drawer and slammed it shut.
"I do not have your damn nuts, Flynn! Stay out of my drawers!" Provenza barked.
"Maybe if you told us what kind of nuts they were, we could help find them, Lieutenant. Were they barbecue? Honey-roasted? Plain? Salted?" Brenda asked in as helpful a way as possible.
"They were salted. I like my nuts salty." Flynn said, distracted, not realizing the way he said it made it seem even funnier to his teammates.
"Hm, yes, I seem to remember that. Tell me, when was the last time you seen said nuts?" she asked.
"Yesterday, when I put them in my drawer. I just restocked. I can't believe one of you would take a man's nuts. That's just not right." Flynn grumbled.
"Have you done anything to anyone in the last bit that might make them want a bit of revenge on you? Payback for something you did, perhaps?" Brenda questioned, looking as innocent as could be.
Flynn's head shot up. Yes, he had, he'd stolen her sandwich two weeks ago. But he'd covered and managed to lie his way out of that one and into a lunch outside the office with the Chief. If he admitted he'd done this, he'd be caught in his lie. So, he lied to her now.
"No, I haven't done anything to anyone, that's the God's honest truth, Chief. I swear." Flynn hoped God wouldn't strike him down for the lie.
God's honest truth, my ass, Brenda thought to herself. Instead, Brenda arched an eyebrow in his direction, showing him her disbelief and proceeded towards his desk.
"Perhaps we should dust for prints." she said sarcastically.
Flynn gave her a funny look. He had a feeling she was the culprit behind the missing nuts, but he couldn't accuse her without her accusing him about the sandwich again. He was caught between a rock and a hard place.
"No, no, I don't think that's necessary. I'm sure they'll turn up, somehow. But I think it's not a nice thing for someone to steal one's nuts." Flynn said.
Brenda couldn't even tell anymore whether Flynn was purposely doing the double entendres, but she could barely keep from laughing.
"Well, I think we should get back to work, perhaps. Provenza, you take Flynn and go interview the neighbour." Brenda took back charge of the room, handing out assignments. "Oh, and Lieutenant Provenza? Make sure you stop off wherever Flynn buys his nuts from, make sure he has a chance to restock. Wouldn't want him to be deprived next time I give a briefing.
Flynn gave a sheepish smile, grabbed his suit jacket and got ready to go. Provenza just smirked at him. As the two Lieutenants left, Brenda heard Flynn muttering about "getting back at whoever took his nuts."
Once out of her earshot, Flynn said "I think the Chief is the one who took my nuts."
Provenza gave him a funny look , then a typical Provenza answer. "She took your nuts the day she walked into this office." It earned him a smack from Flynn.
As Brenda walked to her office, she suppressed a huge smile. She entered her office, locking the doors and closing her blinds. She settled down at her desk, propped her feet up and reached into her chocolate drawer. From it, she took a bag of salted peanuts. Not just any peanuts, but the missing bag of Flynn's. As she popped a few into her mouth, all she thought was "That'll teach him to steal my sandwich. Payback's a bitch."