Greased Lightning

As per my usual tradition (since apparently I have one) I will tell you guys about the play I saw yesterday. In case the name of this post didn't give it away, I went and saw my school's production of Grease.
I wasn't planning on going after us going to the Saturday showing didn't work out, but I couldn't resist. It's one of the most popular plays our school has ever put on, everybody's been talking about how great it is, I love seeing plays and as a fan of musicals I felt I should see Grease at least once in my life.
While the timing wasn't that convenient, I must admit the show was fantastic. Our theater director had decided to go with a black and white theme. Most of the costumes stuck to black and white, as did the stage. It added a sort of retro feel to the production. And the show itself was very '50s. That's fine by me, almost any time period in the 1900's interests me (especially the '20s).
The band was great, the singers were fantastic and the dancing was incredible. As always with our school plays, we had some pretty dang good actors in the show. I didn't know how high I was going to rank Grease in my list of favorite plays because I thought it would be an over-rated show. I was wrong. It's not going to be my all-time favorite show, but it's definitely up there. The songs will stay with me for a while, and there were plenty of great quotes for me to use too.
I'm glad I got the chance to see this show. The cast and crew did a great job.
Callie

School

A new semester, full of amazing euphemisms and satires in English class, more math (the most dreaded of all subjects), the Renaissance...kind of, and Rent.
Not even kidding, I've been completely obsessed with that show. I think it's safe to say there's not a day since I first saw it back in November at least one of the songs hasn't been in my head. Even for me that's ridiculous. My friend Miki says it's probably because the show made a strong impact on me, which is probably true. I love the message of "no day but today." Geez, I'm such a Renthead, and I'm probably annoying everybody with it by now.
Anyways, the semester's been the same old same old. Is it just me, or does school get almost boring at times because of the monotony?
I just felt like posting since I won't be able to very often. Hope everything's going well for all you people wasting time on the internet, but now I have to get to work.
Callie

To the Stage!

One love I have discovered over the past few years is going to see plays. There's just something about seeing a live performance that's so...exciting to me. I mean, it's so much more personal than seeing somebody on a screen. I've been know to go see a school play for more than one showing. I just loving being an audience member, swept up in the story.
I loved laughing non-stop when I went to see the hilarious play Changes of Heart at our local performing arts school. I loved the chills I got watching The Island of Doctor Moreau. I loved getting swept up in the music of Rent. And I loved getting to go see these and sharing the experience with friends.
And I'm just waiting for the perfect play to go see with my dad, who loves going to the theater as much as I do. We went to see The Lion King as a family a few years ago, but ever since the idea was first brought up I've been really excited about the thought of just me and him going to see a play together. It didn't work out last time we tried, but we're trying to get it figured out. Best case scenario is if Chicago comes to town. We'd love to see that as a stage show, being big fans of the movie.
But no matter what the case, I'm always an eager audience member. I love nothing more than going to a play with friends and family. There's nothing like it.
Callie

Interrogation Part Two

The second, and final, part of my story for my sister.

Damion Marlev leaned back in his chair, his arms folded across his chest. Kate felt him slowly size her up and tried not to be intimidated. Of course, Marlev was six feet tall and 190 pounds even, which is always intimidating to somebody like Kate who was barely more than 5 feet.

          “At least he’s cuffed,” Kate thought. Then she focused on coming across as confidant and in charge. Like Emily said, this was the detective’s meeting and they had to make sure the prisoner knew it.

          Marlev saw through it. “First time in interrogation?” he asked, a slight Russian burr to his voice. “It would be sad if I had more experience here than the officer.”

          “Detective,” Kate told him. She’d worked hard for the title. “And we’re not here to talk about me. Let’s talk about you. You have quite the record, as you mentioned.” She dropped his file down on the table where it landed with a satisfying thump. “Assault, possession of unregistered firearms, a couple of counts of trespassing on city property.”

          “And I was cleared of all charges,” Marlev pointed out.

          “Not this time,” Kate said. “We’ve got security footage placing you at the scene of Antony Rodriguez’s murder the night he was killed,” she told him, displaying the pictures. “Eyewitnesses placed your car at the warehouse. We tracked a shipment of AK-47’s that left for the Middle East yesterday morning back to you. Good job, by the way, that took our men half the night. The man in charge of the cargo ship was also in the area the night of the murder.”

          “Where are you going with this?” Marlev asked. “This proves nothing. It is a big warehouse.”

          “You were in the middle of finalizing an arms deal two nights ago. Antony Rodriguez, just an innocent security guard, overheard you. You had to shut him up. You killed him and dumped the body to cover your trail.”

          “Pure speculation,” Marlev said, leaning forward. “Detective, you have nothing. My lawyer will have me out of here in 20 minutes.”

          “I have proof,” Kate said evenly. “I’ve placed you at the scene of the crime the night Rodriguez died. You supplied deadly weapons that are now being sent to terrorist groups. You think a jury won’t convict with a record like yours? Think again, because nobody's going to believe you. Now you cooperate and things will be easier for you, if not...” She let the sentence hang threateningly.

          Kate waited a few seconds to let her point sink in. She thought of what Emily’s next move would be, and decided it was the perfect time for a dramatic exit.

          “Have it your way, then,” she told the arms dealer, packing up the security photos. “I’ll see you in 20 to life. But hey, I’m sure you’ll love prison. I hear the food is great.” She headed for the door.

          She was somewhat disappointed when he didn’t speak up. But, just as she put her hand on the doorknob, her scare tactics paid off.

          “Wait,” Marlev called out.

          Kate smiled and turned around. She had him.

***

          Emily met her partner outside the interrogation room, looking mildly proud. “Not bad, rookie.”

          “Not bad,” Kate repeated incredulously. “Come on, that was great. I got a hardened criminal to give a full confession in a matter of minutes!”

          “The guy knows juries well enough by now,” Emily said. “Technically we didn’t have enough to meet burden of proof, but hey, a jury wouldn’t mind too much. He looks way too guilty.”

          “Doesn’t matter anyways if he doesn’t go to trial,” Kate pointed out. “I’m just glad we got the confession for arms dealing too. He deserves a heck of a lot more, but I’d say we did pretty well, don’t you think, partner?”

          “Yeah, at least he’ll be off the streets for quite some time,” Emily agreed. “Come on, let’s celebrate your first bust. We’ll meet the guys for a drink. Zach’s buying.”

          “Does he know he’s buying?”

          “Well...he probably realizes that he is.”

          Kate smiled. “Sounds good to me.”

Interrogation Part One

A story written as a Christmas gift for my sister. Staring the detectives I based off of us. Well, the one based off my sister kind of took on a life of her own.

Detective Kate Mitchell felt a familiar rush of excitement and nervousness as she strapped on her bulletproof vest. She put her shield around her neck, taking comfort in its familiar weight, and loaded her gun. She’d been a detective for five months now, but the rush of a takedown was something she thought she’d never get used to.

          She brushed her bangs out of her eyes and turned to her partner, Emily Moore, who was spreading out a floor plan of the building on the hood of the unmarked. Zach and Brian gathered around the car to listen.

          “Right, this is the warehouse,” Emily started. “We believe that the arms dealer Damion Marlev is using it as a base. He’s our guy. We’re bringing him in for the Rodriguez murder. However, if we’re lucky, we might just get enough evidence to put him away for arms dealing as well.”

          Zach and Brian both studied the picture of Marlev and nodded. They’d been put on a separate case but were only too eager to help with the bust. Emily pulled her brown hair up into a ponytail as she continued. “Right, me and Kate will take the north side, starting from this entrance, here.” Emily pointed to the floor plan. “You guys take the south side, going in through here. We’ve got uniforms around the perimeter in case Marlev makes a break for it. He’s our priority. Get into position, wait 30 seconds so me and Kate can get into place, then go in, we’ll meet in the middle.”

          “You got it, chief,” Zach said. “Are we going in loud and large or aiming for the element of surprise?”

          “Dude, we’re busting down doors,” Brian pointed out. “You don’t think somebody would notice that?”

          “Well, I’m just asking.”

          “Loud and large, Zach,” Emily told him. “Ready when you are.”

          The boys went to the door of the warehouse as Kate followed Emily to the other side. They took up positions on either side of the door. Kate took a deep breath and held her gun steady, waiting for Emily’s order. She counted, one, two, three…then move.

          Emily kicked in the door, swinging her gun around as she moved into the room. Kate followed close behind. They were in a room filled with crates, each one probably filled with guns and ammo. The detectives stuck close together, Kate watching Emily’s back as they made their way through the maze. It was the worst possible scenario for the detectives, unable to see what lay all around them. They separated when they got to the end of the room. There were two doors, one leading to offices the other to packing areas. In synch they kicked down the two doors.

          Kate cleared the offices. It only took a few seconds. She almost shouted “Clear!” out of habit, but remembered that Emily probably wouldn’t be close enough to hear. She started making her way back to her partner. Then there was a large crash from somewhere to her left. Kate took off running back the way she came. Then came a few shots from a handgun. Kate hoped it was from Emily’s weapon.

As Kate reentered the first room a large man ran into her and knocked her to the ground. Her gun fell from her hand and slid across the floor, hopelessly out of reach.

          “Police, freeze!” she heard Emily yell. Sure enough it was Marlev picking himself up off the floor next to her. Kate quickly reached out and grabbed his leg before he could regain his balance, pulling him back down. She scrambled to her feet and got on top of Marlev, yanking his hands behind him, taking full advantage of her speed and what remained of the element of surprise. She quickly cuffed him.

          “Nice work, Kate,” Emily told her.

          “Thanks,” she said. “Damion Marlev, you’re under arrest for the murder of Antony Rodriguez. And you get the honor of being my first arrest,” she told him.

          “Is it just me, or was that too easy?” Emily asked. “Almost…anti-climatic.”

          “He did walk right into it,” Kate said. “Literally.”

          “On the literal level I’d say it was more like he ran right into it,” Emily corrected.

          “Great, I’m stuck with a couple of comedy writers for arresting officers,” Marlev said as the two detectives hauled him to his feet.

***

          Kate walked into the captain’s office a little while later.

          “You wanted to see me sir?” she asked.

          “Yes, have a seat,” the captain said motioning to a chair across the desk from him. “I hear you’re working on a pretty big case. Fill me in on the Rodriguez murder.”

          So Kate gave him the abridged version. Antony Rodriguez was found murdered two days ago, his body riddled with bullet holes. He was a security guard at a warehouse and supposedly over-heard Damion Marlev in the middle of an arms deal. Rodriguez tried calling an anonymous tip line from his cell phone, but was cut-off before the dispatcher received any information from him. Later that night they found the body and after an extensive paper trail they’d finally arrived at the conclusion the dealers killed him to silence him, leading to the day’s bust.

          “Good work, detective,” the captain said, “but for now it’s all circumstantial. What you need is a confession from that scumbag.”

          “We’ve got him in interrogation 1 now, Captain,” Kate told him. “Emily was going to let him sit for a while before going at him.”

          “Tell her to stand down and let you start off the questioning,” the captain said. “Moore’s good, possibly the department’s best, but you need some practice. If it doesn’t look like he’ll crack, she can step in.”

          Kate blinked. “You think I can get him to talk?”

          “I think you need to try,” the captain said. “You’ve been learning from the best.”

          “Yes sir,” Kate said, smiling. This would be fun.