“How is it, being back in East 3?”
Gil found it awkward to work with a man who said next to nothing. Most of the older guys he’d had the occasion of working with, at the very least liked to gossip about this or that, or tell stories. Matt was just a few years older than Gil, but acted almost more the jaded officer than a few of the near-retirement guys Gil had talked to.
“It’s not too bad.”
The two were sitting in the car with coffee at the moment, on a break after driving across the district to look into a case. Gil tried not to sigh at the effective grunt of an answer. He knew a few things about Matt: the guy had a well-respected judge for an uncle, he’d been married and divorced once. Gil actually didn’t know that much about Matt’s ‘issues’. The guy had been removed from the regular force for some sort of excessive use of force to go on that ‘special’ squad, and while they’d solved some cases (there were four detectives after all), they also managed to pull off some sort of accusations against a popular Catholic priest that ultimately dissolved the squad.
Gil doubted Matt had personally made the accusations simply because the guy tended not to say much until he had to. He was fairly routine and methodical as a detective, was rather conservative, but Gil was pretty sure he had a nasty streak somewhere there below the surface – a slow brewing resentment. It didn’t surprise Gil that Matt could fly off the handle in the right situation.
After the prolonged silence, Gil tried again, because he was not big on awkward silence. “So.. what do you do in your spare time? Like.. do you have any hobbies? Any special training?”
Matt shrugged his shoulders. “I like to stop at the firing range when I can.”
“Yeah? I should get out there more. Could always use the practice.”
***
Some time after work, Gil found himself in a gun range owned by some officer that had retired long before Gil himself had joined the force. It was a decent quality place but still had a slightly older, personal feel to it, and it was clear Gil’s new partner felt comfortable here: Matt’s demeanor had shifted from that reserved, almost defensive air to something considerably more comfortable and at home.
Matt had stopped to chat with the owner and introduced Gil, before turning his attention to what was clearly more than a bit of a hobby to him. And initially, Gil just observed – because the younger detective was well aware that seeing Matt slightly more ‘in his element’ was a bit of insight into the other detective.
Matt was clearly at ease with firearms, taking on a slightly squared Weaver stance, and going quickly for close targets at a rapid pace. Seems this is what he was focused on at the moment, close range precision while not neglecting his speed. And the man was focused as if he fully expected that some day he would have to use this.
It struck Gil then that Matt was not a beat cop or your archetypal detective. Matt should have been SWAT and would probably have been happier busting down doors on a regular basis. It made sense now to Gil that Matt preferred to drive, and liked to get out and do things, and hated sitting in the office if he could at all avoid it. The clues toward Matt’s personality were becoming more clear..
And just while he was returning from his introspection, it occurred to Gil that it was his turn to shoot, and that he was not on par with his new partner in this one area.. ..and that he’d just have to take advice as it was handed to him.