"This room stayed clean for less than a month, and now you're firing up the grill again?"
"What are you talking about? I've been very restrained lately." Bob blew a smoke ring, flipped through the thick stack of documents in front of him, and pulled out a sheaf.
"The recruits' files?" He skimmed the scores and comments. "Quite the... gathering of talent, huh? Wait... Bushnell. This guy's pretty good..."
"Yeah, I'm surprised Gordon didn't pick him." Li Jie spoke indistinctly around a mouthful of hamburger.
"Probably because he only looked at the guys with high overall scores." Bob glanced up as he spoke. "Hey! Don't get crumbs all over my couch!"
"OK, OK!"
Li Jie scooted forward. "I think he could handle things on his own someday, with the right training."
"Yeah, you'd better train him yourself. Hearn Hunt. This one's pretty good too... Legal statutes? Heh, the East End doesn't care about those."
He set Hunt's file aside as well. "Have that bastard Wilson teach him how to steer clear of lawyers and reporters. As for this one... McNaught... A bit of a problem?"
"Yeah, figuring out where to put him is my biggest headache." Li Jie nodded. "You wouldn't want a Gordon watching you all day either."
"Hmm. A good cop, but not suited to our precinct." Bob thought for a moment. "Leave him to me. I'll find a chance to tell Sarah about him. Jim will like him, and then those two can keep an eye on each other."
"All right, boss. There's something else... Um..."
He gave a rough account of what had happened in Gotham over the past few weeks, the warrants for Tony Zucco and Jason Woodrue, and Harleen's wish to join the police.
"You're saying that monster chick can make dead trees sprout?"