Chapter Two: Beginnings

I never doubted for a second that Eames would do well heading up an investigation. She's got the personality for it – sharp, organised, focused – and she doesn't take any crap from anyone. Within five minutes of my announcement, she had Endicott and Matthieson chasing down a list of witnesses, and McFredies and Millen researching Medusa. She and Goren headed off to the crime scene, and she did a damn good job of ignoring Matthieson as she passed him.

I retreated to my office to talk to our media guys about how we were going to handle the publicity explosion that was headed our way, then to take a handful of aspirin for the headache that started building behind my eyes. The next thing I knew, my office door burst open and Matthieson burst in.

I looked at my watch. Two hours, which was about one and a half hours longer than I expected it to take.

'I want to lodge a formal complaint,' he announced, standing stiffly in front of my desk. 'Detective Eames is unfit - '

I stood up. 'Didn't Detective Eames assign you and your partner to running down witness statements.'

'Yes, but - '

I cut him off. 'And you've finished already. That's impressive, detective. There were at least twenty names on that list.'

'Twenty-three,' he said, through his teeth. 'That's not the point. I - '

I walked around my desk, staring him right in the eyes. 'I hope you're not trying to tell me that you ignored Detective Eames' instructions, Matthieson. I hope you're not trying to tell me you haven't finished with the witness statements yet.'

He took a step backwards. Cowardly bastard. If it had been Goren, at least he would have had the balls to get in my face when he made a complaint about someone. 'Captain, a beat cop could be taking witness statements. It's a waste of my time, and a misuse of department resources to have me out there doing grunt work while Goren crawls around sniffing the goddamn crime scene!'

Aha. There we were. The real reason for his complaint. 'I suggest you worry less about how Goren is handling his assignment and more about completing your own,' I told him.

'Sir - '

I walked slowly forward, and he backed up so far he was nearly out my office door. 'Get back to work, detective. That's an order.'

He went. He didn't want to, but he didn't have the guts to argue. I shut my door behind him, sat back down at my desk, and wondered what I had thrown Eames in the middle of. Matthieson was a bastard at the best of times, and he hated Goren with a passion that always surprised me. I never could figure out whether it was because he was frightened of Goren's unpredictability or jealous of his genius, or some combination of the two. Saddling Eames with the pair of them seemed a bit unfair.

I needn't have worried.

I spent most of that day dealing with paperwork and red tape. Media relations. Tap dancing my way through FBI channels to reach someone who could potentially offer some background on Medusa in general and McCormack in particular. Hell, I even had to put through the paperwork for the overtime my hastily assembled team was due, and justify the fact that I had six detectives working through the weekend instead of waiting for Monday to roll around.

Eames and Goren returned a few hours after leaving, closely followed by Matthieson and Endicott. I stood in my doorway and watched to see what would happen. Goren dropped calmly into his chair and sat staring at his fingertips. Eames gathered the rest of her team into the conference room.

Matthieson looked at Goren and started to speak, but Eames cut him off. 'You can share your findings with us in the conference room. For security reasons, we won't be discussing anything related to Medusa in the squad room or in any other public space.'

And before Matthieson could complain, she'd swept him and the rest into the room and shut the door. I found that decidedly…interesting and couldn't resist finding out more.

I walked over to Goren and sat on the edge of his desk. 'Any progess?'

He tipped back in his chair and looked at me. 'Let's just say I'm not inclined to believe Miranda's version of what happened.'

'When is she coming in?' I asked.

Goren looked vaguely baffled – practicalities sometimes did that to him – and shuffled one-handed through the papers on his desk. 'Matthieson, uh, spoke to her already but didn't get much out of her except what the beat cop already did. We're, uh, we're wondering if she'll be more forthcoming speaking to a woman.' He stopped shuffling and looked directly at me. 'Eames wants to leave her until Monday, then hit her with any inconsistencies we find in the meantime.'

That made sense. 'Do you agree?' I asked, though I was fairly sure he'd say 'Yes' regardless of what he truly thought. It's generally considered bad form to rat on your partner to someone in authority. Still, Goren was Goren and anything was possible.

He fidgeted in his chair. 'I think it's a very good idea. We've got surveillance on her in case she decides to run, but I don't think she will.' He looked back down at his desk and started shuffling papers again.

I couldn't help myself. 'Lost something?'

He flipped open his organiser and began paging through it. 'The ADA had a business card in his pocket when he was found,' he said, distractedly. 'The original's been taken for fingerprinting, but I wrote down the web address that was on the back.' He seized a slip of paper and set it aside triumphantly.

I looked at it. 'This doesn't look like it's got anything to do with Medusa,' I said.

'I don't think it does, but we still have to investigate the possibility that Miranda is telling the truth. She's not the only one who might have wanted to kill Puglisi.'

It was a good point, and I didn't argue with it. I do remember wondering why Goren was still out here while the rest of the team talked in the conference room, but I held my tongue and returned to my office.

Nobody knew Goren like Eames did, and if she saw fit to keep him separate from the rest of the team, I wasn't going to argue.