The Harashima quintuplet gathered in the same room they had only a few hours prior. Josh had gotten off a call with Jenn and taken it upon himself to alert the rest of the team into the office. It was unusual for them to gather like this more than once within the same day, but Jenn’s update had contained enough new information to warrant an auxiliary meeting.

Josh took his usual place by the whiteboard while every-one else sat down on whatever chair looked available.

“Let’s cut right to the chase,” Josh announced. “We have some—”

The sound of a throat clear cut through the space. It was Shinji, reminding Josh of his presence.

Josh nodded apologetically, only half-realizing he’d opened in English, and switched to Jangl as he continued: “So, we – meaning Officer Walters and myself – have some more info on Miss Harady that felt rather pertinent to the case. Sorry to surprise you all with a second meeting today, but this really couldn’t wait.”

Turning his gaze to Jenn, he asked her: “Would you like to share your info first?”

“Nah, you go ahead,” Jenn replied.

Josh nodded and proceeded to share his portion of the fresh intel. “I came across something in Miss Harady’s criminal record. Two incidents from two years ago, back during her prostitution stint, where she stabbed a client. With intention to kill. The victim…” Dramatic pause, paired with Josh’s finger pointing at another image on the whiteboard. “Our main guy, Yosuke Harashima.”

The two officers that didn’t already know about the turn of events paused their breathing for a second.

Josh continued: “Naturally, that means she’s become a suspect. And while we know she’s not our murderer, the bigger implication is that witness protection for her is out of the question.”

Goro interjected with a suggestion: “Unless we bend the rules.” Which Josh immediately dismissed with a sharp “No”.

Throwing his arms up in response, Goro commented further: “Just saying it’s an option.”

“Gotta admit, I’m not opposed to the idea,” came a com-ment from Devin. “It’s risky but doable. We’d just have to be stealthy about it.”

“And what if we get caught?” Josh fired back in his ‘I can’t believe we’re talking about this’ voice. “I’ve been in this force long enough to prefer not to get fired for breaking proto-col.”

“Both completely valid perspectives,” Shinji interjected diplomatically. “But I’m on Josh’s side, so I vote no.” Then he turned his gaze to Jenn. “Deciding vote’s yours, Jenn.”

Jenn looked to Josh with a careful intensity she never had before, as if looking for approval – Josh could tell she was uncomfortable with the position Shinji had put her in. The glare Josh shot back at her conveyed something along the lines of “If you vote yes, I’m kicking you off the case”. Which Josh would have hated to have to do.

“In the interest of being a responsible police officer…” Jenn began. She didn’t have to finish. The rest of the team knew what she was going to vote. Devin and Goro sighed in dis-appointment.

“Well, with that decided,” Josh continued, satisfied with the outcome of the vote, “over to you, Officer Walters.”

Jenn nodded, sharing what she had learned: “On the topic of Miss Harady, she claims to have evidence against Hara-shima. Recordings, articles, spoken testimonies from her co-workers. But we all know the risks her info going public carries, and I for one feel like adding her evidence into the mix would add extra weight we don’t need. My question is, what do the rest of you think?”

“Definitely agree,” said Shinji without a shred of hesi-tation. “Protect public interest and all that. Besides, we’ve got enough on our hands as it is.”

“Can’t disagree… with the second half,” Devin replied.

“You saying you want the country to fall into a civil war?” Shinji asked Devin.

“Of course I don’t! I’m just thinking about it more from the perspective of justice. If Miss Harady truly has the evidence, I’d say have her bring it. Sure, the risk on a public scale is high, but the way I see it, the truth about Harashima deserves to be known.”

“Interesting perspective,” Shinji admitted. “Valid, though.”

Now it was Goro’s turn to provide his thoughts: “I do see where Devin’s coming from, but I also agree with Shinji. Protecting public interest is part of our job description when you think about it.”

“I don’t know if I agree entirely,” Devin interjected.

Trying to keep the meeting from turning into an argu-ment, Josh piped up at that point: “All good points, but I agree with Jenn and Shinji. Miss Harady’s evidence would just be extra weight on the case. And we do have enough to work with.”

“So we’re really putting public interest before the truth?” Devin hollered, the disappointment in his voice thick enough to cut like bread.

“A truth,” Josh replied sharply. And Devin knew he was right – nothing was objective as long as an investigation was ongoing. “Either way, it’s four against one. Sorry.”

“All good,” Devin muttered with a sigh that conveyed the total opposite.

“So…” Josh hollered with the intention of moving the meeting towards its conclusion. “We keep Miss Harady on the suspect list, we protect public interest, we follow protocol, no one gets fired. Awesome.”

“What about Miss Harady’s follow-up interrogation?” Jenn inquired, reminding Josh there was still one thing that hadn’t been discussed or decided upon.

He stalled for a second while he synchronized his memory with Jenn’s. “That can wait until tomorrow. Give her some time to sit with the knowledge that she’s a suspect.” Then he moved his hands behind his back and nodded subtly with his whole torso. “Thank you all for your time. And sorry again for the short notice. Dismissed.”

With that, the other officers got off their seats and started proceeding towards the exit. Josh stayed behind for no reason he could convince himself of.

He thought he caught the shape of someone leaving beyond the window on the other side, as if they’d been eaves-dropping.