Chapter 22

Bobby followed Dr. McKoy into the interview room. His mind wandered into what Alex must have felt like sitting in this chair. He suspected it was something of a cross between anxiousness and aggravation. With the aggravation more present on the surface…

Dr. McKoy sat down and started a new page of notes. "So, Detective Goren, or Bobby as you seem to be known."

Bobby shrugged.

"Indifferent to it?" he asked inquisitively.

"Oui, bof," he replied.

"So, Detective Goren then?"

"Robert's fine."

"Not Bobby."

"Let's move past the name thing. Bobby is not a term of endearment." This was one of those rare occasions that Bobby stood up for his intelligence, though he had a feeling that he would be down a lot of that today, and it made him slightly embarrassed to have to think about it.

"Fair enough," replied McKoy. "Let's talk about your personal life."

"What? Like dating?"

"Sure, dating. Do you have an active social life?"

"I try. Sometimes it doesn't always work out."

"Your busy schedule get in the way."

"Women don't always like the idea of midnight egg rolls with Eames."

"I can understand that. What do you think of Detective Eames."

"What do you mean?"

"As a person."

"She can be a bit bitter at times, but I can see where she's coming from. We see a lot, and it's her was of dealing with the stress."

"And physically?"

"She's good-looking, sure." Bobby wasn't tense, but he certainly wasn't relaxed. He knew why he was here, but that didn't make it any more appealing. No lying was all he had told himself.

"Midnight egg rolls-" began McKoy, but Bobby cut him off.

"Ask Deakins from the menu and the case notes with plum sauce on them," he said laughing.

McKoy nodded then decided to move on. "Let's go back to dealing with stress. How do you deal with the horrific crimes you see everyday as opposed to your partner?"

"Bobby thought long and hard. "By rising above it," he said definitively.

"How so?"

"A Killer's logic is flawed-"

"And yours isn't?" asked McKoy skeptically. Oh great, now Bobby was going to have to stand up for himself again. Here goes…

"I never said that. Trying to convince a killer that their logic is flawed is a waste of time. But," Bobby stopped again. He had never really thought about how he did what he did- he just…did it. "If you can tailor to that logic, 9 times out of 10, they reveal that flaw to themselves."

"And that last 1/10th?"

"Denial. Bury them with evidence and convict them."

"Which do you prefer?"

"It's not about preference. I do what I have to to get the killers locked up. I 'deal with it' by knowing that I've got 'em and they know it to. But I suppose it's more complicated than that."

"How so?" McKoy was listening intently. He was half way between being so caught up in Goren's thoughts and trying to manipulate them…

"I don't know if I can really explain it," he paused, "Properly."

"Cognative dissonance?"

"Perhaps."

"Your job adequate compensation?"

"For telling you what you want to hear? I don't lie." Bobby had that look in his eyes. I'm not stupid, try me.He thought about his explination and McKoy's remark about his job. "And you can't promise that."

"No, I can't," replied McKoy. "Do you drink, Robert?"

"No."

"Eames mentioned you being each others' designated drivers. What was that?"

Bobby thought about it and a smile escaped his lips.

McKoy registered the reaction. Bobby sat up straight from his daydreaming slump. McKoy said, "There are several bar tabs on your credit card- and a 6 pack at the grocery store right after Detective Eames' interview."

"Now you're just burying me with evidence."

"You're in denial."

"About what? The drinking or Eames?"

"You tell me."

"I need compensation."

"Your job?"

Bobby and McKoy were staring each other directly in the eyes. "My partnership."

-------- Well,I hope it lived up to Bobby Goren standards. You can google search Cognative Dissonance to get more information, but hopefully i gave enough clues... also, for those of you who don't know, VDO speaks fluent French- i just had to insert a bit somewhere!