4338.209 · July 28, 2018 AD
Steam and Authority
Karl Jenkins seeks redemption in scalding water, hiding from colleagues in the station's showers after his promotion celebration went catastrophically wrong. Sarah Lahey storms through protocol to drag him into the case—but Glen Crosswell's leering presence and Sergeant Claiborne's commanding intervention transform a private moment into a power struggle. In steam and fluorescent light, three detectives navigate authority, vulnerability, and the case that won't wait.
Karl Jenkins arrived at the station with two minutes to spare, bypassing the main entrance to avoid scrutiny. In the basement showers, beneath scalding water, he attempts to wash away the previous night's mistakes before facing whatever case Sarah deemed urgent enough to summon him.
But privacy is a luxury Karl doesn't have today.
Sarah bursts into the men's changing room with singular purpose—find Karl, brief him, get him into Interview Room Three where Louise Jeffries waits. She's done this before, navigated these spaces with the kind of authority that overrules protocol. Glen Crosswell intercepts her first, his smirking presence a reminder of debts paid and secrets kept. When she finally reaches Karl's shower cubicle, their moment of professional urgency is contaminated by Glen's crude commentary and deliberate exposure.
Then Sergeant Claiborne arrives—crisp, composed, commanding. His intervention silences Glen with surgical precision, his words to Karl carrying weight beyond mere orders: "You're going to want to hear what this woman has to say." The case becomes real. The urgency crystallises. And Karl, still dripping and scrambling for composure, must transform from wreckage into detective before the water even dries.
