North American Detective: I am Proficient in All Kinds of Gun Quick Draws Chapter 16: Joining the Company, The Slack Atmosphere1

Soone entered the office. Lawrence and Harry would then introduce Dean to each newcor. These people were all good at sizing others up.

Nine o’clock sharp. Besides the captain who hadn’t shown up yet, Dean had already t everyone in the Fourth Squad. It might have been because he brought breakfast that everyone’s first impression of Dean was pretty good. Regardless of whether they ate it or not, at least the newbie showed he was willing to try and fit in. Next, it would be up to his capabilities.

Nine twenty. Everyone was skillfully slacking off at their desks.

Dean was a new recruit. He needed the captain to arrange an interview and walk him through the procedures before he could go with logistics to collect his detective badge, firearm, and so on. But the captain hadn’t arrived yet.

With nothing to do, Dean sat next to Harry. "Harry, don’t we need to have a eting?"

Harry expertly launched a computer ga. Without turning his head, he said, "Buddy, etings are just a formality. You’ll get used to it. Besides, we generally only have etings when there’s an unsolved case, and we haven’t had a new case in half a month."

"They’re all solved?"

"They all flopped..." Harry sighed and tossed a file folder to Dean. "I ca here three months before you and went through three cases. One was a wife-murder case. By the ti we arrived, we just helped collect the body of the murderer, who’d killed himself. Another was a headless male corpse in a motel. The body was specially sealed and hidden under the mattress. So much ti had passed that we couldn’t even figure out the man’s identity, let alone solve the case. Then there was a break-in rape-murder case. We investigated the whole scene and didn’t find a single useful trace. We looked into the victim’s relationships and couldn’t find anyone with an alibi. In my experience, this case is very likely to end up gathering dust in the archives."

"Is solving cases that difficult?" Dean was sowhat surprised.

"It’s all about luck," Harry said, offering Dean a cigarette. "If there are clues, the chances of solving the case are decent. But many are cris of passion between strangers. If there’s surveillance, that helps. Without surveillance or witnesses, it’s hard for us to find the culprit in the vast sea of people. Even if we do find them, there’s a high probability we won’t have enough evidence to convict them."

"Yeah, many murder cases actually end up as cold cases," Lawrence chid in from the side, also scrounging a cigarette. "They just wait for so idiot to get caught for sothing else and confess to their past cris."

This doesn’t sound good, Dean murmured. I ca here to solve cases and get stronger, not to slack off... although slacking off is quite comfortable. But if I stay in the Robbery-Homicide Division’s Fourth Squad and every day is like this, I’d rather be a beat cop. At least beat cops deal with many minor issues daily and can gain so experience. Every little bit helps, I guess. Better than nothing.

Lawrence blew out a smoke ring, looking content. "Dean, you seem eager to solve cases?"

Hearing this, Harry was the first to show his discontent. "Hey, Lawrence, who doesn’t want to solve cases and get promoted with a raise? It’s only you old-tirs who like to laze around all day. I’m really worried that if we keep on like this, our entire Fourth Squad will get fired."

Their salaries were paid by the Los Angeles city governnt. If they continued to underperform, getting axed wasn’t out of the question.

"Being a detective is just a job. Why worry about these things? With any job, there’s a chance of being fired," Lawrence said, not at all worried.

"That’s true," Harry shrugged. "If it cos to that, I’ll just go drive a truck. The pay’s much better than this..."

Dean was silent. He no longer had the desire to speak, just taking a deep drag from his cigarette. This isn’t good.

All morning, the three of them huddled in the corner, puffing away and slacking off.

「At noon.」

Deputy Captain Hunter, representing the Robbery-Homicide Division’s Fourth Squad, invited Dean to lunch at a restaurant to formally welco him. This was a fifty-three-year-old African Arican man who spoke unhurriedly, exuding an air of composure and serenity.

"Thank you for the hospitality, Deputy." Dean transford his sorrow into appetite, devouring three servings of steak in one go, and now felt very satisfied.

"It seems you’re getting used to our pace here."

"Not bad," Dean said aningfully. "Living a fifty-year-old’s life in my twenties ans I’ve skipped about thirty years of detours."

"Hahaha." Old Hunter understood Dean’s implication and laughed heartily. He could sense a hidden drive within Dean. The Fourth Squad needed a young man like that. He stood up and said reassuringly, "Dean, the Fourth Squad was only established six months ago. Many suitable cases simply don’t reach us. We need to wait for an opportunity, understand?"

"Alright," Dean nodded. I’m prepared to wait and see. If it continues like this here, I’ll have Eve transfer back.

「In the afternoon.」

Old Hunter assigned Dean a desk right behind Harry’s. He also had Daisy from Logistics take Dean to process his detective badge, collect a service pistol, and a set of heavy-duty body armor. If needed, Dean could also purchase his own gun for reimbursent or request additional firepower like tactical shotguns, M4s, or MP5s. Ever since an incident where several dozen police officers were pinned down by a few robbers with heavy weapons, the police force’s firearm regulations had beco much more lenient.

Dean tossed the body armor underneath his desk and played with the pistol he had received. He’d received an M1911. It was a .45 caliber, used 11.43mm bullets. While its effective range wasn’t great, its reliability and power suited Dean perfectly.

Harry turned around. "Buddy, I thought you’d go for a revolver, like this one." He showed his own revolver tucked at his waist. "Like a cowboy, drawing and shooting in an instant... just the thought of it is cool."

"Perhaps, but revolvers have too few bullets." As he spoke, Dean gave his wrist a light flick. The pistol in his hand seed to dissolve like falling sand, its parts landing gently on the desk as if they’d been separate entities all along.

"Wow, cool~," Harry said, utterly amazed by the sight.

Dean smiled but said nothing more, instead focusing on ticulously maintaining the firearm. Besides the pistol, he also received a shoulder holster, gun oil, a cleaning cloth, and four standard-issue magazines. There was supposed to be a uniform too, but they didn’t have his size, so Dean would have to wait for notification. However, as detectives, apart from so important occasions, they didn’t need to wear uniforms and were free to dress as they pleased, essentially as plainclothes officers.

Harry greatly envied Dean’s gun-dismantling skills. "Dean, my dear buddy, I think we should go to the shooting range after work. Our detective bureau has an affiliated range. It’s cheap, and we can shoot to our heart’s content."

Hearing this, Dean was intrigued. That’s a good idea. He hadn’t yet tested his Pistol Proficiency since acquiring it. Dean agreed.

Just when everyone thought they were about to leave work happily for the day, right at quitting ti, the captain of the Fourth Squad finally arrived at the office. He also brought so unfortunate news: overti!