She had a feeling this case was going to get complicated.
God, she hated when she was right.
It had been so simple in the beginning. A string of missing person reports all circling around the same quiet little suburb bordering some dense woodland. The woodland in question seemed to be the epicenter of all the activity and a stakeout over the course of a few weeks had confirmed suspicious figures moving in and out of the trees with a consistency that matched new incoming reports. It should have been easy enough: go in, grab the perps, get out. There was just one small problem.
The woods were city property. She had no jurisdiction to be doing anything in the area. Even if she caught the suspects red-handed, she'd be in the dog house and the real villains would walk, free to disappear and continue their operations elsewhere. And she really didn't need to give Winters the satisfaction of having any reason to nail her on a cross.
Then there was the other issue; whispers from her contacts said that the company responsible for gentrifying the neighborhood had just put in some permit requests to expand the neighborhood. The only obstacle was that they were trying to expand into the park territory. Not much, granted - but enough that if they succeeded in getting the all clear, it would be mean alerting the suspects with the construction and risking them disappearing. She couldn't let that happen.
Luckily, she just might know someone who can put a pause on the whole operation.
The file lands on his desk with a sharp, satisfying flutter of paper and card stock. On the other side of his desk, her shadow looms in a manner bordering on menacing without her meaning it to. She didn't bother taking off her coat or her hat, which certainly doesn't help the situation. But she intends for this to be a quick visit after all.
"I've got something for you. Real estate company looking to gentrify some local suburbs. Problem is, the zoning permits they applied for cut into land owned by the city."
She pauses, going to reach into her coat pocket for her cigarette case before stopping herself. She's indoors. Better yet, in his space. It would probably be impolite.
"Ordinarily, I wouldn't be bothered but according to my sources, the company's CEO is buddy-buddy with several members of the committee overseeing approval process which. They've got significant investments riding on the project and have not been all that discrete in voicing a willingness to cut costs. By any means possible."
The words are pointed. She doesn't need to remind someone like Peck what cutting corners means for the people in the surrounding area or the environment at large.
"Given the details I figured I would refer it to you with regards as to how to proceed. This does seem like a case in your jurisdiction after all."
She presents the argument directly, matter-of-factly, and with a strong sense of sincerity. She's not above admitting when she's out of her depth with regards to certain aspects of her cases. Investigation was her forte, not legality. Yet even still, she hesitates to mention her own interest of the case. She figures it's not as important to him as his role and the environmental protection aspect.
