Insanity-Sparia

Officer Toby

     Spencer noticed Aria's distracted silence as they sat on her couch going over the evidence to corroborate their story. She put down Ezra's book manuscript and looked her up and down worried. "Aria...you said we would talk, but you haven't really been talking." She said. Aria sighed and refused to meet Spencer's eyes. "I...I didn't know how to tell you this morning." Spencer prepared for what Aria might say. The shorter woman sighed again. "Marco... Detective Furey told me that they searched Noel's car at the scene... There was no gun in the car." Spencer furrowed her brows. "He threw the gun out of the window." She proposed. "There was no gun residue on him or inside the car." "He got out of the car to shoot her, then took off his jacket." Spencer tried any way to not accept what Aria was telling her.

"Marco said Alex told him someone drove up and rolled down their window. When she turned to run, that's when she felt the shot, ran into the park, and heard them drive away. They didn't get out of the car Spence." The tall brunette stood up and walked away from the couch. She thought about what Aria said earlier about Alex not being safe despite their main problem's demise; was she really saying that there was another problem they have to deal with before going to Tanner about Noel? Spencer was lost in thought, names and faces ran through her mind, but none of them made sense. "Did they find out the driver that hit Alex? Maybe Noel wasn't acting alone." She asked. "Yeah, her name is Jenna Marshall, Toby's step sister." Aria answered. Spencer looked at her confused. "Right. Toby; he's my co-worker, who you saw in the office."

The tall brunette thought for a moment. This Toby became more and more interesting to her. "Jenna's not connected to Noel, at all." Aria said. She had to lie; she wanted to believe that Jenna wasn't a part of this, as she didn't want her friendship with her colleague to change. Spencer sat back down and sunk into the cushions. Her eyes shifted back and forth between all the things on the coffee table. The manuscript, the pile of paper clips, the two coffee cups. She suddenly snapped back into reality. "You know what? Take the day off tomorrow." "N-no Spence, I can't take off for this-" "Forget about this." Spencer took the stack of papers out of her hand and tossed them on the coffee table. "I want to take you out tomorrow, like a real date." She grabbed the other woman's hands. "Take the day to relax and get ready, then I'll pick you up at 7?" Aria giggled as Spencer's surprisingly soft hands held hers; her thumbs traced Aria's knuckles as she spoke.

"At 7? On the dot?" Aria teased, leaning forward slightly. "I will be on your doorstep at 7. Not 7:01, not 6:59, 7." Spencer closed the gap between them, pulling Aria closer to herself and shoving the remaining papers onto the floor. This was a pretty good distraction from all the things going on in her head. She would need to pay a visit to someone tomorrow, but tonight, Aria had all of her attention.

Toby walked into his shared office with his colleagues Aria Montgomery (who called into sick today) and Mona Vanderwaal (who would be starting work again next week). He strolled to his desk and took off his backpack, setting it under his desk before removing his jacket and put it on the back of his chair. He sat down and stretched; he was never much of a morning person and he barely got sleep last night with Jenna texting him non-stop, freaking out about possibly going to jail even though he assured her that Alex Drake wasn't pressing charges. He leaned down and unzipped a small pocket on his bag, taking out a hard drive. He logged into the computer and stuck the drive in. After the discovery of a twin and Aria's sudden accusal of their old classmate Noel Kahn, Toby started to do his own research on Spencer Hastings and what his friend was getting herself into.

     He had connections in Radley from his mother's case, providing him Spencer's file as well as Mary Drake's. With the obvious resemblance to Alison Dilaurentis' mother Jessica, he wondered why no one looked into her history and found out she was also a patient at Radley, perhaps where she and Spencer met? Toby knew he didn't have enough credibility to bring his theory to Lieutenant Tanner's attention, so he'd have to put together a convincing case on his own. His informant, Eddie Lamb, sent a file late last night, which Toby copied onto the hard drive to print out at the office. He opened the file and hit print, then leaned down to open the bottom right drawer, fishing through folders until he came across one labeled "S.H."

     He sat up, startled as Spencer Hastings stood on the other side of his desk. Toby put the folder in his hand down and stood up. "Spencer, right?" He addressed. The tall brunette raised her brows in response. "Aria's not here; she called out sick." Toby stated. "I know. I didn't come to see her." The officer stared into her brown eyes, fearing she'd kill him if he took his gaze off of her for a moment. "Do you need me to get Lieutenant Tanner?" He asked. "I came to talk to you." Spencer spoke coldly. Toby held his breath. At that moment he forgot he was an officer; he was utterly terrified. "Aria told me about Jenna." "She's really sorry." Toby said. "I believe you... I don't know how close you and Aria are, but we thought it was Noel Kahn who hit Alex."

     Toby nodded. "She told me, but she didn't tell me why or what was going on between them." "Well," Spencer started, "Now that I know Noel didn't do it... I wondered if whoever did hit Alex was working with him." She crossed her arms over her chest, never breaking eye contact. "N-no." Toby stammered. "They may have dated in high school but Jenna hasn't spoken to Noel in years." Spencer tilted her head slightly in confusion. Aria had told her that Jenna and Noel had no connection. The officer picked up on this cue. "Aria didn't tell you that." He stated. Spencer stayed silent. The sound of the printer broke their gaze as they both looked at the sheets of paper coming out of the machine. Toby watched as Spencer stared at the printer; paper after paper of details about her past. When the last sheet came out, the tall brunette moved towards the printer, taking out the stack of papers. She skimmed over the first page as she approached Toby's desk.

     She placed the papers in front of him, glancing at the folder beside it. "I hope you find what you're looking for." Spencer said, stepping back. She twitched a smile before walking out of the room. Toby let go of the breath he was holding and threw himself back into the chair. He grabbed the stack of papers and started to look over them. A smile crept across his face. Yes, he did find what he was looking for.