Who Stole The Captain's Notebook?

It was a sad day at the precinct when Captain Holt discovered his work journal had gone missing. He was furious. His anger and disappointment showed on his face in a calm and collected way. He had to, of course, maintain his composure around his team even in this dire situation. He was still their Captain and fearless leader. But he was shaken from this blatant act of betrayal.

Debrief from the Captain

Thankfully, he had faith in one of his staff, Detective G, who had been with him in meetings all morning and couldn't be the thief. He had been in his office at 9:30am between meetings and at this time, the journal was still there. When he returned at 11:15 it was gone, leaving a span of just under two hours for the crime to have happened. He sent Detective G off to solve this heinous crime, equipped with a list of possible suspects.

Any of these people could have the motive to steal or "borrow" the Captain's journal. There was a lot of gossip around the office regarding what information the journal held. Rumors said the Captain had recorded pre-evaluation evaluations of the entire team, and if that wasn't enough motivation for anybody on the team, it was rumored to hold even more precious secrets.

Jake Paralta

As the self proclaimed joker and prankster of the group, Jake was an obvious suspect and was at the top of the list. Even just the thrill of acquiring such a craved item would be enough to spring Jake into action, and the entire office knew it. The Halloween tradition was enough proof of that.

There was a rumor of some juicy information within the journal that made Jake an even stronger suspect. This information regarded his girlfriend, Detective Amy Santiago, another suspect on the list. It was said that Captain Holt's pre-evaluation evaluation of Amy included information regarding a promotion or significant raise, something Amy had been waiting to hear for a long time. With the actual evaluations still months away, having a hint as to what was in her future would greatly reduce her stress. Jake was head over heels for her, it wasn't out of the question that he would take the journal to help Amy out.

Amy Santiago

Amy was the Captain's pet of the precinct, constantly craving his approval and praise. Knowing his thoughts on her performance would allow her to focus on areas he found to be her weaknesses, allowing her to rise up in his eyes even quicker. However, she was one of the detectives more bound by the rules and one thing she would want even more than the Captain's praise, was his respect. She wouldn't have possibly risked that just to read his pre-evaluation evaluation.....would she?

There was another possibility that quickly arose. Amy and Jake could have worked together, planning this scheme in order to retrieve the journal, but also keep Amy in good standing. Everyone expected these things of Jake, and at the end of the day, not much would change if he was the culprit. But if Amy did it? Oh, how her reputation would drop. Amy wouldn't let that happen, and neither would Jake. The possibility of this being a team job was becoming more likely.

One more thing to add to the pile, she had an alibi. Between 9am and 11am both she and coworker Rosa Diaz were on a call, meaning they were both out of the office. Jake, however, had no alibi.

Gina Linetti

Gina was also high-up on the suspect list. She was the sole possessor of a key to the Captain's office other than the Captain himself. The captain had locked the door and always did when he went to meetings for large parts of the day, meaning Gina must have had a hand in this theft in one way or another.

It could have gone a few ways. Perhaps Gina was an accomplice, her motivations for knowing specific pieces of the journal forcing her to team up with someone else in the precinct. Or, she could have gone in solo, not wanting to risk another person knowing she was involved.

If she had gone in on her own, what was her motivation? Power in the knowledge of what the Captain had written, power to then dangle over the rest of the team (as she so often enjoyed doing)? Would desire for leverage drive Gina to abuse her key-holder responsibilities and betray the Captain?

There was one more possibility. Perhaps two thefts happened that morning, first the spare key to the office and then the journal itself. More information was needed to accurately determine who could be behind this.

Gina informed Detective G that she had gone out for a large part of the morning for coffee, and had proof of her whereabouts with multiple receipts - she purchased a coffee and later a croissant, blocking her out of the office between 9:45am (coffee receipt) to 11am (croissant receipt). The coffee shop she was at was at least a 20 minute walk away, meaning she had an alibi for the time of the crime. This did mean, however, that it was quite possible someone else stole the spare key.

Rosa Diaz

Rosa was lower on the list, neither the Captain nor Detective G suspected she would be one to steal the journal, however she had to dot her I's and cross her T's.

Rosa was the most straightforward and blunt in the group, and the one who cared the least about something as trivial as a pre-evaluation evaluation. She was, however, very secretive as well.

But Rosa was on the call with Amy during the time of the crime, meaning she neither had opportunity nor further information that could help pin-point who stole the journal.

Perhaps Rosa and Amy planned the heist together, thus nullifying their alibis? Could they have sneaked into the precinct without being noticed? Detective G wondered if that were possible, but was unable to determine a possible motive.

Charles Boyle

One would think that Charles would be low on the list as well. Rumors told, however, of a single page within the journal that held information of Captain Holt's favourite dish, something Boyle had been trying to pull out of him for over a year. Boyle had planned to discover his favourite dish and make it for him for his birthday, which was quickly approaching. It was something he believed in, eating your favourite dish on your birthday, and did this selfless act for everyone else on the team over the past year. The Captain, being private about his life as he was, was the only one who didn't comply. Would a tease of such knowledge push honest and kind Boyle over the edge so far that he would resort to thievery? He had done worse things before, so although it wasn't the most likely explanation it was, certainly, possible.

Charles Boyle did have a partial alibi, claiming he was in the evidence room logging evidence between 9:45 - 10:30am. After checking the evidence room logs, it seemed he was being truthful.

Terry Jeffords

Sergeant Terry Jeffords was probably the only one on the team that was on the list simply because he was in the office. Nobody really believed that he would have stolen the Captain's notebook. Aside from the Captain, Terry was the lead of the team and needed to stay professional and respectable, which he was always aware of.

Being a more credible source, he gave more information about what the team was during over the two hours.

Terry confirmed that Rosa and Amy had left on a call just before 9am and hadn't returned until just past 11am - just about the entire span of time that the crime was possible.

He said that Jake hadn't left the precinct all morning, and was working through the pile of overdue paperwork the Captain told him to get done by the end of the week. He thus had motive and opportunity. He did, however, drink some spoiled milk earlier that day and thus was also in the men's room on-and-off throughout the morning.

Jake may have never left the office due to the paperwork and the shits, however Scully and Hitchcock didn't even leave their desks. Sure, they had opportunity but no motive, and were also preoccupied with a double order of pizza that had arrived early in the morning.

Charles, Terry confirmed, was in the evidence room from 9:45 - 10:30am, because Terry was also in there with him. Terry was logging evidence between 10 to 10:15am. This gave Boyle a partial alibi, but it didn't cross him off the list as he still had the opportunity to commit the crime.

Terry also confirmed Gina's absence throughout the day.

Terry himself was mostly at his desk as well, aside from the fifteen minutes logging evidence and once checking to make sure Jake was alright in a particularly long vacancy from his desk.