Captain Jim Deakins looked out over his squad room. He was a little worried about Detective Goren. Detective Bishop hadn't complained, but Deakins was sure it was just a matter of time. Detective Eames, Goren's partner of three years, had been on maternity leave for a week, and Goren's behavior had become more erratic. As he watched, Goren strode back to his chair, Bishop following. Goren said something to Bishop that made her unhappy—probably reminding her that she wasn't Eames. Like she needed the reminder. To give her credit, she didn't storm off, but visibly controlled herself. She asked him something—probably for instructions regarding the suspect they had in custody--then left to do whatever it was. Deakins watched Goren as he stared at Eames' empty chair. He watched as Goren wadded up a piece of paper and threw it at the chair, and then quickly glanced around to see if anyone had noticed.
Deakins sighed. Goren was a brilliant detective, with the knack of knowing exactly what the criminals were thinking, but he had trouble following procedure and his methods could be a little strange. Deakins felt lucky to have him—he brought up the stats for the whole department, which made Deakins look good too--but dealing with him could be difficult. His partners had all complained about him, and all had requested transfers. After a few months Deakins had partnered him with Alexandra Eames, whose former partner had just retired. Eames was Goren's last chance, as far as Deakins had been concerned. If Goren couldn't work with her, he'd transfer him back to Narcotics.
Even Eames had put in a request for a new partner, he remembered. He'd talked her into waiting a few more days, to finish up the case she and Goren were working on, and she hadn't liked it, but she agreed. And a few days later she retracted the request. He wasn't sure why she'd changed her mind, but he was glad. The two were virtually unstoppable. They worked well together, like Holmes and Watson. Or maybe like Laurel and Hardy. Either way, Eames had started being amused by Goren's behavior, and it had made all the difference. Now it appeared that Goren had forgotten how to work with anyone else. Well, Eames should be back in a couple of weeks. If Bishop couldn't handle it, Deakins would just have to make Goren take some of that leave he was accumulating.