By the time Eric arrived at the scene of the crime his coworkers were already at the end of the alley peering at the victim's corpse without the slightest concern for the possibility of contaminating evidence.  He'd taken a taxi from the station after being left behind, which was most likely exactly as Marion intended -- it wasn't unusual at all for her to behave that way, even when she had no reason to, and he'd most definitely given her every reason for resentment.  Guilt didn't lessen his indignation at having to pay cab fare for a trek halfway across the city, but now wasn't the time to argue about it.  They had work to do.<br/><br/>While their heart seemed to be in the right place, Marion and her coworkers sometimes did a better job of covering up for the criminals they were pursuing than the guilty party themselves.  Despite her overzealous attitude she was the least of his concerns, her fellow detective Officer Gonzales had a habit of voiding fingerprints with smudges from his own hands, dropping cigarette butts on the scene which were inevitably admitted into evidence for pointless tests, and moving bodies from their original position without laying down a chalk line.  As far as Eric was concerned, his talents would've been better utilized in the basement at headquarters keeping the dust from piling up.<br/><br/>And<em>of course</em>, Gonzales had to be there right besides Marion, "Sorry I'm late, I guess I got left behind."<br/><br/>"Mar toldja we was leavin'.  We waited five minutes, we don't have time to dick around, ya know."  Officer Gonzales was the embodiment of the stereotypical middle-aged Mexican cop, complete with a thick, disgusting mustache that seemed to leak motor oil periodically.  He was at least two-hundred pounds, pushing two-fifty, but not quite disturbingly fat yet -- Eric gave him a few years for that at least.  Living exclusively on a diet of doughnuts and candy-coffee, Gonzales adopted a New York accent to complete the ensemble.<br/><br/>"Right, sorry."<em>Figures...</em>"The captain was telling me he's taking a leave for a year, you two hear about that...?"<br/><br/>"Yeah, heard 'bout that, also heard a rumor some people was gettin' promoted."<br/><br/>"Yeah -- we can talk about that later; this doesn't look like a Preston case."<br/><br/>"How yous figure?"<br/><br/>"It doesn't fit the M.O. at all -- dirty location, too public, gunshot wound... up close, I'm not a spatter analyst, but that's what I get from it.  Looks more intimate.  Not Preston style at all.  What do you think Marion?  I know one thing's for sure, I'm so glad they didn't call the Queens Precinct nearby to come check this out, would've been<em>a real slap to the face</em>."  Eric couldn't help but grind despite himself.  He wasn't usually one to gloat or show any signs of overconfidence, but today was a day of unusual circumstances.