She did her best to advanced farther inside without seeming rude. The place was quaint in an almost authoritarian way. The entire left side of the building was comprised of what looked like a large lobby. The floors were made of hardwood, and a series of offices lined the wall. The remainder of the open-floored space was made up of several desks. Some of them were positioned end to end so that two officers were stationed at what looked like one, single large desk. Further off to the right was a wide, but small hallway with more rooms and offices.
Ava headed to the left, toward the larger officers. She assumed she’d need to speak with the captain in order to figure out where she needed to go. She seriously doubted the Seventeenth Precinct had its own Women’s Division, so this should be interesting.
As she started looking at the doors along the wall, she noticed that most of them were open—a completely different approach to how things were done in the much busier headquarters she was accustomed to.
“Need some help?” a pleasant, chipper voice asked from behind her.
She turned around to see a young, dapper man in police blues. He was tall, clean-shaven, and looked slightly nervous to be speaking with her.
“I think I might,” she said. “I’m looking for the captain. I don’t even know his name, but I think he’s probably expecting me.”
“Gold, right?” the young officer said. “Ava Gold?”
“That’s right.” She wasn’t sure how she felt about the fact that this man knew who she was.
“Don’t look too surprised,” he said with a smile. “Everyone knew you were coming today. It’s been whispered all around the building.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
The officer smiled and offered her a shrug. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out.” He then pointed to the second door furthest away from them. “Captain Miller’s office is right there.”
She opened her mouth to thank him, but he was already gone. She wondered if there was some sort of stigma around talking to her or if he was just uneasy speaking to women. Was she going to have to go through the whole sexism thing here, too?
Suddenly nervous, she approached the door the officer had pointed to and knocked. It, like the others along the wall, was partially open and the voice that answered was loud and unhindered.
“Come on in!”
Ave stepped into the room and found what appeared to be the exact opposite of Minard’s office. It was bigger, for starters, and much tidier—including the man sitting behind the desk. Captain Miller looked to be in his sixties, but carried the age well. His completely bald head gleamed under the electric lights. A well-maintained moustache covered his upper lip and his eyes seemed to shine a bit as he studied her.
“Detective Ava Gold!” he exclaimed. He got up from his chair and walked over to her. Like Freemantle the day before, he seemed to make a very big production of shaking her hand. Shesupposed it might be his way of letting her know that he saw her as an equal, or close to it.
“Good to meet you, Captain Miller.”
“Oh, likewise. I was quite excited when Chief Freemantle told me he was sending you over to us for a while.”
“And I’m excited for the opportunity.”
“Have a seat,” he said, gesturing to one of the empty chairs on the opposite side of his desk. As she settled in, Miller continued talking with a bit of excitement in his tone. “I do have to admit,” he said, “that I’d heard of your father long before I heard of you. I grew up with a bit of an obsession with boxing. Even had a few dummy matches. But it wasn’t for me. But I do remember seeing your father, the fabled Roosevelt Gold, in several matches. I was there when he knocked out Sonny O’Toole in under thirty seconds.”
“I’ll be sure to let him know he has a fan,” Ava said.
“Okay, so let me get past that,” Miller said with a chuckle. “I won’t waste your time, as I already have a case for you. I’ve got you set up with a desk out in the bullpen. There, you’ll find the small bit of paperwork that you’ll need to fill out and complete. Your partner, Officer Pawlowski, is already out there, waiting for your arrival. Pawlowski has the notes and details on the case, so I won’t spout it out now and have you listen to it twice. I know what you’re capable of, so I’m not going to shadow your every move. Does that sound okay with you?”
“That sounds perfect,” she said. But really, this had been the opposite of what she’d expected. She’d thought there would be a lot of training and supervisory hoops to jump through in a new precinct before she saw any time on the street. “But just to make sure I’m understanding you perfectly, you want me to meet with my new partner and head out to work a case today?”
“That’s right,” Miller said. “As soon as you can. Before I send you out to Pawlowski, do you have any questions for me?”
“None that I can think of right now, sir.”
“Well, if any do come up, my door is always open. And truly, detective Gold…I am so very excited to have you here.”
“Thank you, sir. Now… Pawlowski, you said?”
“Yes. You two have the pair of desks all the way out on the far right side of the bullpen.”
Ava left the office, a bit astounded that she had been given a desk in the central area of the building, right in the bullpen with all of male officers. There was apparently no hiding of the women in the basement at the Seventeenth Precinct. Maybe this was going to be a great change after all.
She made her way back across the lobby and to the bullpen. She gathered numerous stares as she went, but they were subtle—the sort that were quick and fleeting as people worked at things from their desks. None of them seemed judgmental, more like everyone just trying to get a peek at the new detective.