"Hey, how's Fletcher?" Remy asked in concern once Sherman reached their desk, having just came back from his kid brother's school.
He heaved a sigh. "He got suspended for a week. And that wasn't the worse part. I had to get Penelope to babysit him until I get home."
"Wait. Penelope as in your creepy and totally-obsess-with-you landlord, Penelope?" Remy burst into laughter as soon as Sherman nodded. He tried silencing her with a glare, but to no avail. She continued to laugh uncontrollably, holding her stomach.
"Laugh all you want, since I assume your visit to Dr. Cameron didn't go very well." He had a self-satisfied smirk on his face when the laughter from the other side of the desk died out.
What Sherman didn't expect however, was for the mirth to turn into an adoring smile. "Actually, it went very well." The tables were now turned, with Remy spotting a self-satisfied smirk.
"Seriously?" He asked incredulously.
"Oh yeah. We made peace." Remy replied contentedly. She smiled as she thought back to the encounter. She could still remember the feel of Allison's soft delicate skin when she took her outstretched hand. The tidal wave of emotions that surged throughout her from that mere touch was absolutely exhilarating.
"Seriously?" Sherman asked again, doubling the disbelief in his voice. "Wow, this is unexpected. I never thought I'd live to see the day."
"Well, you did. Let's go. We're going banking." Remy said in mock excitement, standing up and gathering her belongings together.
"Can't you at least wait till my sweat dries up?" Sherman let out a tired breath.
"I could. But what torture would that be for you?" Remy smiled mischievously at him before walking towards the door with a skip in her steps.
They stepped into the lobby of a corporate building in Financial District and approached the reception counter.
"Excuse me, we're looking for Ter-" The redheaded receptionist held out an index finger, silencing Remy while she spoke into the microphone of the headset she was wearing.
Remy turned to the side to look at Sherman with an annoyed expression, drumming her fingers on the marble counter impatiently. When the redhead continued to ramble on about some designer shoes, Remy played her triumph card by flashing her badge. She arched an eyebrow as if daring the redhead to carry on with her brainless conversation.
"I am so sorry. How can I help you, Detective?" The redhead asked after disconnecting her phone call, smiling pretentiously.
"We're looking for Terrence Lunsford." Remy answered in a monotone.
"Mr. Lunsford is on the thirty-first floor. The elevators are this way." The redhead extended her hand to indicate to the direction.
"Thanks." Remy replied, smiling pretentiously.
"Bitch." She said under her breath after the two of them had turned and walked away, heading for the elevators. Sherman bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing out loud.
"Hi Detectives, I'm Terrence Lunsford, CEO of West Coast Investment Bank." The white-haired, square-jawed man in a no doubt expensive suit greeted. "This is Josephine Kaufman, our new Managing Executive." He gestured to the dark-haired woman beside him.
"Managing Executive? Isn't that the position Devin was just promoted to?" Sherman questioned.
"Yes. Mr. Nolan was supposed to be our new Managing Executive but because of that unfortunate accident..." Mr. Lunsford sighed.
"Where were you yesterday around midnight, Ms. Kaufman?" Remy probed. The woman was currently leading her mental list of prime suspects.
"I was at home alone, reading and relaxing. It's a very stressful job." She answered placidly. Remy unknowingly entered into a staring contest with Josephine. She slowly broke away her gaze when Sherman spoke.
"Did Devin had any close friends who would know where he went before the incident?" He asked.
"Yes, he had a few good friends. Fellow bankers. I can bring you to them, if you want." Josephine smiled in a way that made Remy shivered.
"Sure. That'll be great." Sherman replied, seemingly unaware of the creepy vibes which his partner had sensed coming from her.
They took the elevator down to the thirteenth floor. Compared to the environment upstairs, the two of them were like chalk and cheese. The hustle and bustle in this office level was unmistakable. Josephine led them through rows of desks, all the way to the other side of the floor.
"Gentlemen, this is Detective Hadley and Detective Marshall." Josephine introduced to a group of well-dressed men, who were talking amongst themselves by the water cooler.
"Are you here to investigate Devin's death?" One of the men asked. His colleague next to him checked Remy out rather unsubtly, sending her his version of a smouldering look. Remy grimaced in both annoyance and disgust before looking away, totally unsparing of his feelings.
"Yes. We'd like to know where he went before he was killed." Sherman replied.
"Well, actually we were with him at a club down in North Beach. We were celebrating his promotion." The same man answered with a sheepish expression. "But we were all drunk. We passed out in a hotel nearby. All we know is Devin wasn't with us when we woke up."
"Which club?" Remy queried. "And we also need to know the name of the hotel."
"We went to Jugs and then checked into Hotel 1984." The man said as Sherman wrote down the information on his notepad.
"Thanks, gentlemen. That'll be all for now." Sherman closed the notepad and put it into the pocket located at the inside of his blazer.
"I'll walk you out." Josephine led the way and the two detectives followed a few steps behind.
They took the elevator down to the lobby, escorted by Josephine to the exit. "Good luck for your investigation, Detectives." She said when they stopped at the door. Remy thought she heard a trace of challenge in the tone and frowned slightly.
"Thank you, Ms. Kaufman. Have a good day." Sherman smiled politely, watching Josephine walked away. He couldn't deny that he was at least a little smitten by the dark-haired woman.
Remy slapped his face lightly from the side, jolting him out of his trance. "Hey! Why did you do that?" He exclaimed, rubbing his cheek with his hand.
"You were ogling." She replied flatly as she turned to the door. Sherman twisted his mouth to a side in response.
They got into the black BMW coupe parked on the side of the road. "Let's head down to the hotel. See if the men's alibis check out." Remy proposed, buckling the seatbelt in the passenger seat.
"Yeah. Then we can check out Jugs." Sherman said with an animated expression. "Maybe we can ask Cameron to come along since, you know, the two of you have already made nice." He shrugged.
"To a topless bar?" Remy snapped her head to the side to look at Sherman. As soon as the question left her mouth, Remy's mind went into a standstill with an image of a half-naked Allison. The product of Cameron + topless, when her mind did the math. That is a really bad idea.
Hit my first milestone, it's the tenth chapter! :D Please pardon my silly excitement.
Anyway, the character Josephine Kaufman is loosely based on Valerie, the psychopath patient from the episode Remorse in the sixth season of House, played by Beau Garrett.