A Heart of Iron

Chapter 1

November 21, 2009 8:15 a.m.

I sat there at my desk looking at it. I hadn't noticed it when I first walked in but there it was now. It was a glass full of I have no idea what. It looked like a mixture of water and lawn clippings, maybe some crickets too, and not dead ones either. I didn't know whether to touch it or call the CSI guys in to carry it away. In the end I played a hunch. I dialed my partner Danny's extension. He answered before I asked the question.

"So how was it?"

"What is this crap?"

"It's wheat grass. It's good for you."

"It looks like vomit."

"Tastes like it too. But it will add years to your life. Try it. I'm coming over."

I should have just thrown it out. He hung up the phone and walked the 25 feet to my office. Danny had one of the offices directly across from me. Luckily for me there was a maze of 5 feet high grey cubicles between us for the rookie detectives, and I didn't have to look at his face all day long. He walked in my office drinking the same crap he had put on my desk. He sat down and put his feet on my desk like he always does. I pushed them off like I always do. He had what I guess was a wheat grass mustache above his upper lip.

"Try it man you'll like it. It will clean you out."

"I don't need cleaning out. I'm clean already"

"Not just that. It's chock full of vitamins, beta blockers, anti-oxidants, and crap like that."

"Beta blockers? Isn't that medication for heart attacks?"

"Yep, they get that stuff from wheat grass."

"No they don't!"

"Trust me, saw it on the history channel."

I had been getting stuff like this from him all week. Danny had just returned from being off for 6 months after having knee surgery. His knee was obviously better because he kept throwing his feet on my desk every time he came into my office. Apparently he spent the entire 6 months vegetating in front of the TV watching The History Channel, The Discovery Channel, and all other sorts of educational TV. He came back a walking, talking encyclopedia of useless information. This morning he spent 20 minutes in the coffee room telling every body how the coffee we were drinking is responsible for everything from high blood pressure and anxiety, to insulin resistance and spastic colon. It had only been a week and it was already getting on my nerves.

"I don't care where you heard it. Get this crap off my desk."

"Alright, alright. Just worried about my partner's health man. Looking a little pale lately. You need to get some sun or something. Get out once in a while."

"I have a ton of paperwork to do. That means staying in the office. You should do the same."

"Yeah, that's something I wanted to talk to you about. How did I get a stack of cases assigned to me while I was out? I have a hundred messages about them. These people have already complained to the supervisor that I have not worked on the case and he didn't even tell them I was out on sick leave! What the hell is that about?"

"I don't know. That was stupid. The guy is an idiot. How many cases did he give you?"

"I haven't counted them but they are over 50."

"Yeah, that was wrong. I saw him putting cases on your desk. I told him that was a mistake but you know him. He think's he's smarter than everybody."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"Just work them the best you can. Shut down the ones that no one has called you about because now that you are back he will start giving them to you even faster than before"