"Eames, Ich sprach gerade mit dem Violinenhersteller, er gab -."
"Bobby; English."
"Oh, sorry. I just spoke to the luthier, he gave me the history on the Steinman violin."
"And?"
Bobby told her all about the luthier, the banker, and Karaka. "I think it's interesting that a nobody brings in a violin, and then a few weeks later someone comes looking for it- even to the point of stealing to find out where it is."
"That is interesting."
"Anything new turned up since last night?"
"Nothing yet, but I'll let you know if anything happens. It totally sucks not having you here. It's like-" She hesitated. It would sound so cliché to say 'I'm lost without you', but that wasn't exactly what she was trying to articulate either. "I don't know, it just sucks."
"Don't say that, Eames. I think we were just in a rut. It's probably good for us to stretch our legs a little so we can come back fresh. You'll figure it out, I'm sure. Your personality type is strong enough that you'll know what to go for and how-"
"Bobby, don't analyze me, just… get your shit done and come home…I miss you," she added quietly.
Bobby turned and glanced at Carolyn for a brief moment. "You too."
"Well, I'd better get back to digging through records. If it turns out Karaka had anything to do with this, then I should check to see if he has any history with the Steinmans."
"That's a good idea. I'll run his name through the system here, could you do the same there?"
"Yah, sure."
"Well, I've got to drive or I'll never get us back to the hotel in one piece."
Eames chuckled pathetically. "Ok, I'll talk to you later…"
"Bye."
"Bye."
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Eames pulled up to Richard Steinman's house, got out, and knocked on the front door.
A tall man with graying hair answered it. "Hi, Mr. Steinman."
"Hi Detective, come on in." He stepped aside and closed the door behind her. "What can I do for you? Have you found anything new?"
"I came to ask you if you had ever heard of a man named James Karaka."
"Karaka…Karaka… I don't think so, why?"
"Had anyone ever asked your wife about her violin? Perhaps shortly after she bought it?"
"Not really… well, there was a gentleman came up to her at one of her concerts about a year or so ago and asked her about it- where she had gotten it, how old it was, things of that nature."
"And she told him?"
"That's what she told me. She loved that violin… she bragged about it every chance she got. It was her baby," he said, tears welling in his eyes.
"Do you remember what the man looked like? The one who was asking her about her violin."
"I wasn't there, she just told me about it when she got home, she was so excited that someone was so interested in her. Apparently he was very complimentary. She was glowing," he said smiling as he sniffled.
Alex smiled slightly. She owed it to him to sum up what was going on. "My partner is in Stuttgart right now were he interviewed the luthier your wife bought her violin from. Apparently there was a man there who claimed that the violin had been stolen from him and he…"
"He killed my wife to get it back?" he asked, horror struck.
"We don't know. Only one violin has been recovered so far, and it isn't your wife's. It may be an isolated incident unrelated to the crime, but we're just checking all of our bases. Your information today is very helpful. Thank you." She got up to leave.
"Thank you, Detective," he said, sniffing again before opening the door for her.
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Bobby inserted the electronic key into the lock and opened his hotel room door. Oh man, it had been such a long day, and it was only dinner- well, it was only dinner in Germany. It was more like lunch according to his body, which had been up since 2am, not the cozy 9am the German clocks had so earnestly tried to convince him of.
He shook his fist at the alarm clock on the night stand. "I've a mind to reset you to show what time it really is- that'll show 'em…" Yep, he definitely needed a nap. He fell onto his bed, and just as his eyes closed he heard a soft tap tap tap.
"Damnit…" he mumbled. He dragged himself to his feet (that had still been hanging off the side of the bed until that point), and walked to the door to look through the peephole; it was Barek. He opened the door.
"Hi, Robert- oh, sorry," she said upon seeing the look of oncoming sleep in his eyes. "Did I wake you up?"
"Not really; haven't been back long enough to fall asleep yet."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just gonna ask if you wanted to go down to the lobby to get some coffee, but-" she turned to leave.
"Wait," he said, touching her arm to get her to turn around. She turned and looked at is outstretched hand. "Uhm, let me make some up here in the pot- you want to come in-?"
"That's ok,' she said, quickly cutting him off. "You go back to sleep, I'll see you later." And she turned quickly and walked back down the hallway to her room.
Bobby shook out his tired head, closed the door with a slightly confused look, and then fell back on his bed again.
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Carolyn Barek sat in an armchair in her hotel room, staring out the window at the street below. She was tired, but very much awake.
Of all the things she could have been thinking about, why bobby? Why now? He seemed so perfect. Just as smart, but in his own weird way. They had similar pasts, similar styles, hell, even similar personalities. They'd be perfect partners! If… Logan hadn't needed a partner… and Goren hadn't already been with Eames… Where have I been for the past 5 years? she thought to herself. But then again, it's probably better this way. Look what happened last time a female was partnered with Goren… oh wait, that was Eames, and they're still together… together together…I'm such a child…
She continued to stare blankly out of the window, bits of her hair hanging in her face, until she was surprised out of her stupor by a knock at the door. She knew who it was (who else could it have been?).
"Come on in, it's open," she said, not lifting her gaze off of a couple walking down the street.
"Hey," said a timid Bobby, "Deakins just called, wanted an update."
"You told him about the Steinman violin?"
"Yah, Eames knows more than I do, she can connect the dots for him." He slowly stepped through the door, tracing the pattern of the carpet with his eyes (it was starting to get on his nerves- the colors were all wrong and it wasn't symmetrical…). "He still wants to talk to you, though." He looked up at her. There was obviously something on her mind but he really didn't know her that well and, unlike suspects and perps, he had a respect for her personal boundaries.
"Ok, I'll call him, she said, finally breaking her stare from the street. She got up and turned to face Bobby.
"You alright?" he asked.
"Yah, fine," she said, regaining herself. "Just tired."
"You and me both- well, I'm going to call the PD to get them to run Karaka's name through their system; see if they know anything."
"Sounds good."
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Deakins hung up the phone. Twenty minutes ago he had talked to Goren, 10 ago to Barek, and just now to IAB to give them 'the business' for infecting 4 of his best detectives (among which were his best two- naturally) with the lethargy that IAB seemed to have by the bucket-full. Barek sounded unhappy, Logan was bored, and Bobby sounded (only mildly) unstimulated, but Deakins had a notion of why- He looked through the window for Goren's partner…
He looked across the squad room to where Eames was sitting at her desk, talking animatedly on the phone. She dropped her arm on the table with a loud thump and began sifting through a pile of papers.
"Must be Bobby," he mumbled. He walked out of his office and up behind her, though she didn't turn around. She must not have noticed him.
"Yah, here it is," she said, holding up what appeared to be her notes on Lawrence. "…Yah, he is," she said, appearing to scan the paper. "Ok… No, Bobby, you don't need to be tested…"
"Tested for what?" spoke up Deakins.
Alex turned around with surprise, putting her hand over the receiver, almost rolling over Deakins' shoe. "Oh, sorry captain, didn't know you were-"
"Yah right," he smiled. "What gave me away?"
"Saw your shadow," she grinned.
"Aha. You seem happy; anything good I should know about?"
"Well, only 3 more days till Bobby comes home-"
"I meant with the case," he said, still smiling.
"Yah, Germany's got a file for Karaka; they're faxing it over soon. Other than that, nothing since when you last talked to Bobby." She looked at her watch. "Which was only about 20 minutes ago I believe. Uhm, they leave for Paris tomorrow morning… their time…"
Deakins watched as she trailed off and the giddy smile disappeared from her face. "Eames, I'm sorry you're stuck here. I just got off the phone with the Commissioner and IAB won't be pulling a stunt like that again."
She smiled again. "Thanks, Captain."
"Don't mention it," he said, patted her back, and then walked back to his office. Eames directed her attention to the phone again.