meadowlarklogs | (no subject)

WHO: NPC detective (Riko Satou), Heine Rammsteiner, Hei, and Jake Muller
WHERE: New Amsterdam's 12th Precinct Jail
WHEN: January 3rd
WHAT: Arrests and interrogations. No motive, still murder, etc.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Loss of autonomy, consent, references to nonconsensual surgery. Any additional warnings will be added.

[ It isn't difficult for the officers to bring in the three men, what with two of them doing exactly as they're hold with little argument. The weird part is that two of them just don't exist. It was clear as day to the officers when they first encountered them. It's even clearer now that they're sitting inside of the station waiting for processing. There are no fingerprints on record, and no damn clue as to who they are or where they came from. The third man – Heine – isn't unique in any way. There is no record on him. But the other two? It's strange. Impossible.

Murder is a hefty charge, but it's hard to charge someone who doesn't exist. It's especially hard to investigate a murder when someone doesn't have a life to look at. Motives. Anything like that.

Riko's assignment on this is a headache. To say the least.

It's time to question the men involved. See what happened. Figure it out.

So much weird ... everything has happened lately. This is just one big steaming crap to add to it all.

They give it a few hours before they start the interrogations. They make sure the two men don't exist. Scour records. Do facial recognition over and over. But nada. Nothing. Hell, they don't even come up on anything recently in the city. It's strange.

By then, the drugs would have worn off for Hei and Jake. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ there's tightness between his shoulderblades like a knife sliding in between bones and muscles, and Heine fixes his eyes on the minute scratches on the surface of the desk, feeling rather than hearing the rattle of chain as he shifts his weight a little in the rickety, uncomfortable chair.

after the initial surprise, it is a little easier to handle her presence here; he'd been startled, that's all.

still, Heine doesn't meet her eyes when she raises hers. does that make him look guilty? probably. is this helping his case at all? nope. ]

Never seen 'em before.

Just some bad luck, then. [ She sounds sympathetic. And the thing is? Riko is. The last thing she wants to do is make anyone's life miserable. He got brought in because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Even in 2511 ... cameras aren't big on sound. Dialogue. ]

Look, I have one guy who was seen at two murders. The darker of the two. Can you go ahead and recount what happened there? Sooner we have that, the better.

[ wrong place at the wrong time is the story of his life. ]

Didn't see anything.

[ the answer is too quick, abrupt, and Heine drums his fingers against the top of the table, making the chains rattle. it's not like he's an accomplice to whatever crime, or anything like that - and he didn't even get to see who the other guy was. trust him to get involved in some gang related drama ... is what he's thinking. ]

Thought I already told your friends that when they picked me up.

Sorry, it's been a long day. I thought it was obvious that I wanted to hear it myself.

[ Riko had expected to be on her way home by now. Too bad. ]

So, spin me a story.

[ and heine was planning on having a quiet night in. guess their plans just don't work out. ]

Not that obvious. [ now he's just being.... deliberately obtuse. ]

Can't blame a guy for wanting to walk down the back way after spending a fucking long day at work, can you?

I didn't see shit.

Come on. Between you and me, you know those guys are in trouble. I just want to make sure their stories stand up when I ask them about it, you know? And we know you chatted. Maybe not a lot. But it's not like we swept in outta nowhere before anyone could get a little chummy.

[ ugh...... she's so put together. ]

How does me telling you help with any of that?

[ this really sucked. he has no idea who the other guy was, but one of them was definitely the one he'd encountered in the alley - and judging from the scrubs he recall him in, they were both on the same fucking boat here in this city. ]

Maybe the dead guy deserved it.

Do you think he deserved it? [ It's the first hint of something. Riko doesn't care if the guy did or didn't deserve it. That doesn't mean that it's just fine to take things that far. It isn't. They'll look into that other guy, see what there is about him. See what they can dig up and find.

But in the meantime: eyewitness testimony. Even here and now, it holds up. It matters. ]

Maybe, maybe not.

[ he picks at his cuffed wrist, frowning a little. ]

I mean, he must have done something, right?

Why do you think that? [ If it were always that simple. Sometimes someone looks at someone funny. Does that count? She has her doubts.

(No, it doesn't count.) ]

[ it totally counts. ]

People don't just casually look like dropped mincemeat for no reason, that's why.

Sometimes. You see some fucked up shit around this city. [ Riko says that a little too lightly, but ... it's the truth. New Amsterdam isn't as bad as it could be, but her job doesn't let her pull the veil over her eyes. ]

I need you to tell me whether this is conjecture or the real deal here.

I told you already, I didn't see anything.

[ a pause ]

I mean, except for the whole dead guy thing.

Fine. [ She breathes out. ] You and I both know I've got nothing to hold you on, but I'm not letting you go until I have to. Don't worry. We won't make it too hard on you.

Shouldn't there be a lawyer or something?

[ now he's just being a little shit. he's never held much faith in judicial systems as a whole... ]

You know I didn't do anything. What can you even do?

Hence the whole twenty four hour period. It's just a few hours more at this point. [ Any longer would be against the law, without just cause. ] What, do you want to pay a lawyer?

[ it feels like he's been here forever... ]

Guess not.

Didn't think so. I'll make sure you have a nice, cool bottle of water to sit with. And hey, at least we're well air conditioned. [ "Go to jail, at least they have AC!" ]

[ that will make a great selling point on a PR poster ]

And do I just hope that one of you're telepathic if I gotta go to the can?

Say the word, and you'll be able to go where you need. We're not inhumane.

[ It's said like she assumes most people would think that, so it's not exactly surprising. ]