Captain Brickman's disposition was both low key and solemn as he stacked a series of papers all in a row while sitting quietly at his desk.

From left to right, reports of the incident from the night before, along with a prostitution ring that was busted up around three a.m. were all gathered into his stiff hands and neatly placed to the side.

Staying busy was never a challenge for the besieged man; it was a natural way of life. But that morning lay heavy and hard upon him, like carrying a three hundred pound man on top of his shoulders for hours.

Purposely, he had managed to keep away from Linus so far that morning, even though seven o' clock hadn't even arrived yet. There was so much he wanted to say to his colleague and friend, but it wasn't the right time, not with the investigation underway. Instead, he chose to keep to himself, secluded to the safe confines of his office.

Every so often he would answer his phone to take angry complaints from those who found wrong with the police department, or he would come out to ask for another cup of coffee from one of the female officers, but all in all, the unobtrusive man remained stationery and out of the way.

A sudden knock at the door startled the captain to where he lost complete track of the filing detail that he was right in the middle of.

Exasperated, he dropped the papers that were in his hands and looked up to see a silhouette stand on the other end of the stained glass door.

"Come in." He gently grimaced.

From behind the door appeared Fitzpatrick, who himself looked as if he hadn't slept a wink in two nights.

"Uh, sir, Mr. Mercer is here." Alan unenthusiastically stated.

Without saying a word, the captain groaned, gathered his papers and raised himself up and out of his creaky old wooden chair. The man sailed past Alan on his way out of his office and through the main work area where phones were ringing off the hook every other second and officers were handing him the proverbial stare downs.

"He's downstairs in interrogation." Alan said while following right in behind Brickman.

Without stopping, Brickman replied, "I'm fully aware of where the gentleman is, Detective."

the interrogation room. The captain was already an over boiling pot of unhinged nerves, having someone biting at his heels, at that time in the morning no less,

Once they reached the correct floor Alan hurriedly and boldly stepped in front of Brickman and

start with me,

Alan pressed on. "You know just as well as I do that guy is gonna grill him like a

"What do you want me to do?" Brickman shrugged. "Run upstairs,

if we could just get

"Look, I know O'Dea is a fucking prick of a guy. I also know that just a few doors down I have to explain to a father why

this Mercer fellow. He looks like he's about

I were you I wouldn't be concerned about my well-being as you are, because the question of why you left your piece in the trunk of that cruiser is gonna come up before the day is done, Detective. So what I suggest you do is head

sidestepped Alan on his way past the interrogation room and

The captain stopped, looked up at the officer and simply said, "Washington, we need you

Without blinking, the officer looked down at the captain and

The captain stood and watched as the towering officer marched down the empty hallway before turning around and stepping just ten feet back to the interrogation room. With an overwhelming sense of trepidation, the captain approached the

fact that the early morning was already chock full of unbridled controversy and pain stricken calamity, Brickman had a pre-planned statement stored away in the furthest recesses of his brain, ready to send out at a moment's

sat Mr. Mercer with his hands folded and his eyes closed to the world. The second Brickman shut the door behind him Mercer opened his red, sullen eyes and pointed them directly down

an end to police brutality. They had been out there for the

"Uh, Mr. Mercer, my name is Captain Roy Brickman. Good morning." Brickman modestly broadcasted before sitting himself down on the

never parted from the table. It almost appeared as if he

"Sir, I, uh...I don't quite know what to say at this point." Brickman discreetly stammered as though he were trying to cough. "At this very moment, the department is conducting an extensive investigation into Detective Bruin's actions from last night. All

hoped that Mercer would at least make eye to eye contact

suspended, without

slowly uttered, "Captain, can you imagine what it's like to look down upon your son and see his entire body

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