Note: I wrote this all in one long burst. It's not very good, and frankly, most of it is not that relevant. If you don't want to bother reading the whole thing but still want to get the gist of the story, read only Chapters 1, 2, 10, and 11. (But there are some cute bits if you do read the whole things.)
This takes place after the end of S6, which I actually didn't see, so please excuse any inconsistancies with what happened, just take it as poetic license.
A young woman walked nervously through the door of the homicide squadroom and didn't go very far into the room. She seemed transfixed by the people, the sounds, the smells, the energy. Finally, after she had been there for a few moments, Kay Howard noticed her.
"Miss, is there something I can help you with?" Kay asked. "Are you sure you're in the right place?"
"Yes," the young woman said, her voice hoarse and low. She cleared her throat and started again. "Yes, thank you. I need to speak to someone about the death of Luther Mahoney."
Kay gave the woman the once over but wasn't sure what to make of her. "If you're a reporter, you should go to the fourth floor and speak to someone in public relations. Nobody here is going to give you a statement."
The young woman's face lit up. "Oh, I'm not a reporter! I mean, I was in college—for the student newspaper—but I'm not one now! No, I'm a witness!"
"A witness, huh?" Kay was beginning to think that this girl was some kind of nut. She'd humor her for about one more minute before showing her the door. "That's not possible. There were four people in that room when Luther Mahoney was killed. He's dead, the other three are cops. You aren't an eyewitness, so why don't you go—"
"I never said I was in the room," the girl interrupted. She rummaged around in her knapsack, pulled out a pair of binoculars, and held them up in triumph. "I live across the street from Luther Mahoney and I saw the whole thing." She paused. "I saw how it went down."
Now Kay didn't know what to believe. The girl could still be a nut. After all, it was nearly a year after Mahoney's death—why did she take so long to come forward? And what really was the likelihood that she saw anything? On the other hand, this girl didn't bear any of the usual markings of a nut—she was clean and well groomed, in fact, her clothes looked expensive. Well, they'd have to if she claimed to be living in Mahoney's upscale neighborhood. She didn't seem overly nervous; didn't talk too much or too little; made eye contact; was college educated.
"Here's what I'm going to do," Kay said. "You wait right here, and I'm going to see who's available."
She walked briskly to the interrogation room thinking, I may be the sergeant, but this is not my problem, not my case. Let Pembleton decide if this girl is a nut or not.