Andy and Chloe were cruising by High Park and into Swansea when they got a call for a mysterious odor coming from a residence. They could smell it as soon as they got out of the car. They both knew the dead body smell and this was it. They scouted the house hoping for windows to try to get a view. Chloe went around back and climbed on top of a garbage can to see through what turned out to be a bedroom window. Inside she could make out a body in the bed. She banged on the window a few times and got no response from the body.
"Andy, I see a body in the bedroom," Chloe said over the radio.
"Okay, I'm going to kick the door."
"On my way."
When they were both ready Andy kicked in the door and they cleared the house before checking the body. The person was an elderly male. Eighty, at least. He had been dead awhile by the looks of it. But he would still need to be examined to rule out foul play. Andy called it in and soon Sam and Dov, both wearing aviator shades, showed up as well as an M.E.'s crew. Andy went out to the front yard to greet them. The techs brushed past into the house while the two detectives stood outside looking over the house.
"I don't think you guys are going to be needed on this one." she said. "Old guy just died."
"Let's see what there is to see anyway, just in case," Sam said.
Andy led them into the hose and pointed to the bedroom. "He's back there. Rest of the house is clear."
Sam tracked two fingers across a dusty mantle. "Doesn't look like anybody has been moving around in here too much lately. Dov went to the fridge to look at the dates on some of the dairy products. "He's got yogurt in here, most of it's expired."
Sam went to the answering machine, only three messages. He hit the play button. 2 of them were automated messages from a pharmacy. The third was a telemarketer about discounted Caribbean cruises. "Nobody called to check in on him. Guess he's not the social kind." Sam found no mail in the mail box. "Maybe a P.O. box guy." The three of them walked back to the bedroom. Chloe was outside watching the coroner and his team work.
"Hey Marv," Sam said, "Got anything that interesting?"
"The guy is Henry Jenkins. We found a wallet in the drawer with $46 dollars in cash. Driver's license says he's 84. You find anything?"
"The usual that comes with a dead guy. Nothing strange."
"I'll have to do an autopsy to confirm, but it's looking like natural causes."
With that the 4 officers left the house. Chloe went back to the car to start the paperwork and Sam went to call Oliver and update him.
Dov and Andy were standing on the front lawn again when Dov asked her if she was ready to be road sergeant.
"Why does everyone keep assuming I'm gonna get the post?"
"You're kidding, right? Andy, you scored in the 98th percentile and the guy making the decision is Shaw. You're practically a little sister to him. You got it in the bag."
"I don't want that way. If somebody else has worked harder or better, then so be it. I want it because, and only if, I've truly earned it."
"That's what the test score proves. You're clearly the most qualified of those that applied in the division."
"So, you've got it all figured out, huh?"
"We all do. Everyone knows it's a formality."
"Well, I'm not celebrating until Oliver says so."
"In that case, it's a good thing we'll all know tomorrow."
Sam had ended his phone call and walked back to them. "Oliver says to wrap it up here. McNally, you and Price wait for the coroner to finish off and then seal it up. Epstein, we can head back."
Dov wandered down to Andy and Chloe's car to talk with her before they left leaving Sam and Andy alone. "So," Sam began, "Dov clued you in on what everyone thinks will happen?"
"You heard that?"
"Just the tail end of it."
"Yeah, well now I'm even more worried."
"Why's that?"
"Sam if everyone expects me to get it, what happens if I don't? I become the elephant in the room. I don't want that. I never thought of myself as the favorite, definitely not a sure thing."
"Andy, don't stress about this. Either way it goes tomorrow, we'll all be just fine. We'll go to the party for a bit and then take off for Niagara. We'll have fun, relax, and just enjoy ourselves. I love you McNally." They kissed for a few seconds.
"I love you too, Sam." They kissed again and Sam said he would catch her later. Andy watched him collect Dov and head back to 15.
Andy walked back to the car and got in. Chloe had gotten a start on the paperwork but it was clear that all that stopped when Dov came over. They split up the rest and started working while they waited for the M.E. crew to pull out.
Back at 15, Sam and Dov went back to the paperwork they were drudging through before the trip to Swansea. Or, more accurately, Dov was doing paperwork. Sam chipped in here and there but Epstein took the load for a few reasons. The first being, Sam had never liked paper work, pushing it off on McNally when in uniform and bargaining with Nash as much as he could when they were partnered. Secondly, Epstein was good at it. Working with Marlo in intelligence on the Ted McDonald case made him very detailed oriented and gave him a knack for sifting through endless information to find the critical links. And lastly, Epstein was still a detective in training on a probationary rotation. Sam knew Dov would so be made permanent but would milk Epstein's "probie" phase as long as he could.
They had just wrapped up a case involving vandalized cars and stolen airbags. They had been coming up dry until one of the two delinquents got popped in the face by an airbag mid-extraction. Needless to say, DNA was everywhere and their crime spree was over soon after.
Sam decided to go see what Oliver was up to, he'd been in his office on the phone for a while now. That only happened when something was wrong. Oliver preferred to talk to people face-to-face when he could. But judging from his best friend's frequent smiling and general air of happiness around him, Sam was curious.
"I'm going to stop in Oliver's office for a minute," Sam stood up and walked across the catwalk around the squad room to Shaw's office
"Yeah, don't worry about me, I've got plenty to keep me busy," Dov said sarcastically to himself. Dov didn't mind though. This was the job he wanted and this was part of the job.
Sam knocked on the door frame and Oliver motioned him to come in. "Yeah, that sounds good," Oliver was wrapping up the call. "We'll see you in a few weeks. Yep, can't wait. It'll be great." Oliver set the phone back in its cradle. "Hey Sammy, what's up?"
"That sounded like an unusually pleasant phone call."
"It was. How's our girl doing?", Oliver quickly changed the subject.
Sam considered pressing for more info on the call but figured if he needed to know Oliver would tell him. "She's good."
"Not nervous?"
"Not for the reasons you'd expect. She'd been feeling fine about it, even seemed okay with the fact that she may not get it. But now she finds out that everybody expects her to get it because of her score and relationship with you and that pressure is weighing on her. She wants to be picked because she earned it, not take it from someone more deserving.
"Brother, then it's a good thing she's going to get it. And she deserves it, her score put her on top of the pile. Her record kept her there."
"Her record that you help keep clean in the Moore fiasco."
"And a record that has a splotch for conduct unbecoming, do you remember who the other guy in that mess was? The name is escaping me right now," Oliver teased. "Look, every cop has something from somewhere in their career they regret. She made amends for it, you both did. You followed the terms of the suspension and have worked impeccably since. Lives saved, really bad guys put away. If anybody brings grief because of it I'm prepared to defend her with everything I got. Besides, and this is what I told Jarvis, you hired me to do this job so let me do it. Brother, everything is going to be okay. She's going to get the post and this scheme, an unnecessary one as it turns out, will stay a secret."
Sam nodded. "I'm taking her to Niagara tomorrow night for the weekend for some relaxation before she starts the new post. It'll be good for her and nice for me too."
"That sounds like a plan. Just don't miss the party," Oliver smiled at him.
"Oh, I suppose we'll make an appearance. See ya later Oliver." Sam walked out back to his desk to see if Epstein was close to finished with the paper work yet. He'd completely forgotten about the call that brought him to Oliver's office in the first place.