A Bloody Grim Payne

The Dockyard Killer (Part 2)

"What."

The Chief, Louise, and newly promoted Deputy Chief all turned to a confused Payne, who couldn't help but question what she was seeing.

"Oh, Nicola, no need to worry!" her aunt tried to reassure her, but the younger Payne was staring in horror.

"Uh, Dep-, uh, Louise? What's happening?" Jones was also very confused.

"I thought you weren't retiring for a bit longer? What the hell is happening?" Payne rubbed her temples as Polaris whined.

The Chief and new Deputy Chief chuckled. The Deputy Chief had curly brown hair, a few shades darker than her skin. Her skin was lighter than Nathan's, and her eyes were a dark brown shade, almost black. The woman wore large gold hoop earrings, the same colour as her eyeshadow. Her lips were painted red, and she wore a black blazer which had the Deputy Chief badge pinned to it over a light teal blouse. Her trousers were yellow, and she wore black flats. Around her neck was a gold and green necklace, and she had a gold ring on her left ring finger.

"Nicola, Jones, this is Deputy Chief Diane Parker. She's like an assistant to me. I'm getting old, and my knee is getting worse. You know I didn't protect it in time, and honestly, I'm being stubborn and using it more than I should. I'm not being replaced. We're going through a system change!" the brown-eyed Brit explained.

"It's wonderful to meet you both. Under Unit Chief Payne's guidance, I'll help the Homicide Unit run a tight ship, you'll see!" Deputy Chief Parker smiled.

Jones still looked confused, but before anyone could explain it to him, "So... It's just that your title's changed from Deputy Chief to Unit Chief, and if the Unit Chief has an assistant, they're called the Deputy Chief. Am I right?"

"Correct, Detective Payne!" Chief King smiled, "Parker's been helping your aunt for some time now, so in thanks Unit Chief Payne suggested this, as well as changing the name from Homicide Department, Missing Persons Department, etc. to Units. It makes things easier to type, and there's less confusion, seeing as we're the Grimsborough Police DEPARTMENT. I'll now be emailing, so everyone will understand..."

As he sent it, Deputy Chief Parker shook the hands of both detectives. Nicola had calmed down, though she was shooting her aunt a glare for scaring her. Jones looked like he was slowly understanding, and smiled at Parker as she left for the Homicide Department - no, UNIT Chief's office. The two women would share it. Parker would get a desk of her own soon.

Louise now wore a bigger badge than before, being a gold colour rather than silver. Of course, it wasn't as impressive as Chief King's badge. He was the Chief, after all.

"Now, Nicola, Jones, how is your case going?" the older woman asked the detectives.

"It's... A slow start, Unit Chief Payne. We've found Dan's girlfriend, Sally Stone, and we know that the killer's left-handed."

"The killer is also a red-head, which could've made Miss Stone's superintendent a big suspect, but watching her confirmed to me that she's right-handed," said the younger Payne.

"Not that she was a likely suspect, anyway..." her partner scoffed.

"Likely suspect or not, a good detective follows every lead. Not that I need to remind YOU of that, Detective Payne!" the Chief smiled at her.

"Hey, I know that, too, Chief!" Jones retorted, miffed.

"Now, we'd like for you two to have another look at the container next to where your victim's body was found. There could be more clues!" the Unit Chief commanded.

The detectives saluted her, though Nicola glared a little. Louise was expecting a rant from her niece later that day.

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