Detective Alex Eames is detective Goren's senior partner and according to Goren, has "complimentary skills" that match with him.
She comes from a family of police officers and her father John was stationed at the 40th precinct. When he left the force he went to work in security but was discovered to be "double dipping" so he had to pay back the city what he took from them.
Eames married a fellow police officer, Joe Dutton in 1993. However, this happy marriage was tragically cut short when he was murdered on a sting operation in 1998 and after his death she became an outcast amongst her colleagues, since they didn't know how to react around her. Eames sort solice in a friendship with D.A Mulrooney and probably would of taken the relationship further had the case they were working on not soured their judgement of each other.
Prior to being assigned to Major Case, Eames worked for 4 years in the Vice Squad and worked on many undercover sting operations involving prostitution. When she arrived at Major Case in 2000 and was partnered with Goren, she felt uneasy about him and his behaviour so she asked her superior officer for a transfer. However, over time as she got to know Goren she gradually became fond, respected and understood him more and retracted her request. This event only came to light during a heavy case in late 2005 when she had to give evidence in court, Goren remarked afterwards that he was lucky that she hadn't gone through with it.
In 2003, Eames decided to become a surrogate mother*** for her sister who couldn't have children. The baby was a boy and she visits him often ( there are hints here and there that Eames may regret giving the child up).
Eames drives because she likes to, we only see Goren in the drivers seat at the wake in the "Amends" episode, this is possibly because Eames had just spoken to the mans' widow who was also a close friend and Goren offered to drive her since it would of been clear she was upset at the encounter and wasn't in the mood to drive the car.
In 2006, Eames was kidnapped during a case by Declan Gages daughter, Jo in retaliation for her father's interest in Goren and the case more than her. In 2007 Eames was forced into re-investigating and re-living the pain of her husbands murder when Goren found inconsistancies in the evidence, this created tension in their friendship briefly.
However, after Goren's suspension over his solo undercover work, her friendship with him was again tested when he was trying to regain his badge on an undercover job of which she wasn't informed about. For a time her friendship with him was strained but was regained during the year and she stated to the re-surficed Gage that she no longer harboured any anger towards Goren. Recently this year, Eames met up with Mulrooney again and was unsettled by his re-appearance especially since Goren was relentless in finding out the truth at what happened between them. However, Goren's concern for her about Mulrooney and the fact that he maybe unhinged and a killer made her confess the truth to him.
Due to the absence of Detective Wheeler, Eames has recently worked with her partner, Zach Nichols as well as Goren and they appeared to work just as well together.
Since her kidnapping, Eames has moved house and now lives in Forest Hills, New York.
***Actress Kathryn Erbe was also pregnant at the end of season 2, the writers of the show wrote into the plot that Eames would also be pregnant, co-incedently Kathryn also had a baby boy with her then husband, actor Terry Kinney in October of that year.
Detective Eames will also leave our screens in the Season 9 two parter, due to actor Vincent D'Onofrio's departure as Detective Goren, actress Kathryn Erbe will also be leaving the series.
Update: Detective Eames is offered a promotion to Captain, however, on the condition that she must fire Goren. Eames and Goren have a heart to heart in the Captain's office and she tells him that she believes that firing him will save him from going through dismissal hearings and a court injunction set up by the FBI and Goren says to her that its been a long time coming and that he doesn't mind being fired, which Eames says tearfully isn't making it better for her. Tearfully she says to him that he is the best and always will be, and the two of them share an emotional goodbye with a kiss and hug, he says that he hopes to see her around and leaves the office. Eames goes to the desk and places her gun and badge on the top, then phones and says to the chief that she is declining the offer of Captaincy since her loyalty and friendship towards Goren are more important to her than Major Case and Major Case without Goren is a Major Case without her.
Trivia and Statistics:
*Full Name: Alexandra Eames
*Height: 5ft 2in
*Rank: Senior Detective
*Status: Single (Widowed)
*Eames appears to be a hard drinker and partial to Martini's that have more Vodka in them than Vermouth, and Bourbon Whiskey.
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