GIRL WITH THE DENIM JACKET | R.DIAZ

THREE

'C'mon, we've been at this for hours, Mr Clarke. If you just tell us what happened, we can go from there?' Amy tried once more in talking to the laptop thief, this would be her last try before his 48 hour hold was up.

He sat silent, shifting in his chair slightly.

Isla was stood behind the glass once again, Terry beside her, hoping for a breakthrough.

'Do you work for this man? Or is there someone else?' Amy placed a photo from the CCTV footage showing the two men in a corridor, and his eyes shot up.

'I owe someone a lot of money.' He finally spoke, his voice cracking. Suddenly everyone became a lot more invested.

'Can you elaborate?'

'I needed money, fast, and I was in a bar one night and he overheard me talking about my problems, he offered me a way out, said his boss could give me a loan.' Nolan began, losing eye contact and staring at his hands.

'So in return you delivered drugs for them?' Amy furrowed her brows, leaning forward in her chair.

'It was just supposed to be a couple of jobs, but when I tried to throw in the towel once I had paid off my debt, that guy in the photo, his name is something like Ivory, told me they weren't done with me. I tried to back away, but a few weeks ago they sent people to my apartment, roughed me up.' He explained, pointing to his face. 'I have no idea how they got my address, they even threatened my ma! I had no choice. So, every Friday, we meet up somewhere, it changes, and I deliver and bring back the money.'

'Why are you telling us this now?' Amy pressed on to him, taking in the fear on his face.

'At first I thought I could wait it out, but Ivory told me that his boss had people in the NYPD, but I figured if I help you guys, you can lock them up, keep me and my family safe?' He looked hopeful, and Amy returned the smile.

'Of course, we can put you in witness protection, as long as you provide us with information.' Amy reassured. 'So you say Ivory isn't the boss?'

'No, he's sort of a corporal, does all the dirty work like supplying us, I have no idea who his boss is.' Nolan explained candidly.

'Ivory is a pretty unusual name, are you certain?'

'Absolutely, that's all he introduced himself to me as, but it could be a codename. I've heard him talk to someone called Stone. But a couple of other guys that do deliveries for these people, they say they've never met a stone, it's always Ivory.' The man shifted in his chair constantly.

The conversation lasted a while longer, the group figuring out that there were at least 15 other delivery guys, and it was always the same set of spots to meet, except it rotated every week. Nolan was to continue on as normal, but police would be around to take photos and evidence.

'It'd be easier to this quietly, gather intel from the inside.' Holt suggested as Amy and Isla stood in his office, reviewing the case. 'Take it slow, this could be big, get as much information from these drop offs as possible, find out who this Ivory is. Then we could potentially find a way for someone to work their way up the ranks, find out who else is involved.'

———

A few hours later, Isla was back in the bullpen, near Gina's desk getting some files, though Gina was nowhere to be seen. Isla looked up slightly from her reading, seeing the same guy from questioning, Nolan, sat at Amy's desk filing a report. He was fiddling with his hands, tapping his foot nervously.

Amy closed the file she had open, and the pair stood up.

'We're working hard on this case, Mr Clarke, you're safe.' Amy reassured, rubbing his arm and then shaking his hand before her left.