RP LOG with thinbluegee | When the shit hits the fan
[Follows THIS and THIS]
It wasn't really a huge surprise when the case got passed over to Major Investigations and landed in Matt and Ronnie's lap. Of course, Matt actually knew nothing about it until he got the call in the very early hours of that morning, and it did make him wonder if Gee even knew. Tom was of high status in the city, and news of his accident had already leaked through the London's a-list, even if the details behind it hadn't. It was only a matter of time before his link to the paralegal murder came to light, though. Matt and Ronnie could invesitage the case, but they weren't miracle workers. They couldn't stop info getting out, even if they would try their hardest to conceal what they found so it didn't impede the investigation. Now they had a murder and a suspicious accident surrounding it. Matt was loathe to settle that the accident had nothing to do with anything and was just a coincidence. Talking to Thomas' driver was the first step, and Matt was already suspicious about why he would even have gotten behind the wheel of his employer's car drunk, and their questioning of him did nothing but make the shit
hit the fan of an already extremely messy case.
Before they even managed to get access to the guy's room, though, tox screens showed he had herione in his system, as if already having a blood alcohol content of 0.2 wasn't enough. Miraculously, he suffered nothing more than a minor bump to the head, but was being kept in hospital for observation and now under police guard. Whether the guy was involved in the case or not, he was going down on driving under the influence occasioning in grievous bodily harm. That was going to be a given, but Matt and Ronnie wanted answers as to why the guy was so drunk and off his face on the trip home from Thomas being questioned about his link to the murder victim. And the guy was more than ready to spill his guts.
According to the driver, Thomas M. Hunt was a murderer. Not only that, but apparently the guy drove Thomas to a part not far from where the body was found in the early hours of the morning in question but then bribed the guy - in cash - not to say anything to police if he was asked. Thomas coaxed the guy to drink after being at the police station and they shared the drugs, and the guy apparently did as was requested because he 'feared for his life' knowing 'Hunt was a murderer'. It was a good thing Ronnie mostly led the questioning, because it wasn't hard for Matt to slip right into bad cop mode. He wanted to smack the guy. Everything coming out of his mouth was in complete contrast to what Gee had said about Thomas. Matt knew for the sake of the case he had to remain impartial, but something wasn't sitting right in his guy. There had been no evidence whatsoever linking Hunt to the crime scene, only two people pointing their finger in accusation of him. He wondered if the driver knew the other woman who had come to the station spouting hearsay about Thomas, but it was going to take some more digging. He also said Tom had sex with the victim in the back of the car that night while he told the driver to stand outside; the same car that had been wrapped around a van at high speed. But the guy's trump card was an alleged motive for Thomas to have killed the guy. According to the driver, who knew the victim in the wake of him working for Thomas, Thomas had sexually assaulted the victim in the workplace and then paid him off to keep quiet and part of the deal was he leave the job. The victim had plans to go to the media about it so Thomas wouldn't do it to anymore people. By the time the interview was over, Matt was reeling, and had to take a few minutes of pacing back and forth in the corridor to just try and get his head around it all. Admittedly, there seemed to be a case to be built against Hunt, but without evidence, it was all hearsay and accusations. Matt didn't know what to think, and they needed to get their hands on that car.
While Ronnie went to get a court order to access the wreckage for an evidence search, Matt arrived at The London Bridge Hospital at around seven am. He already had access to Thomas' medical records and staff had to cooperate with his questioning on any change in his condition during the night. There was none. It was still touch and go. Police were standing on guard of the Critical Care room also with suspicions arising that Thomas could be a victim of framing just as much as he could be the murderer. There wasn't enough evidence of the latter to rule out the former. He was a hot shot lawyer, any number of witnesses on opposing sides to cases he had won could want his blood. Seeing someone go down falsely for murder and stripping them of everything could be more satisfying than just getting blood, though, especially if the guilty party were vindictive enough.
Matt found Gee sitting outside Thomas' room on a row of plastic seats along the wall. She had a prime view into the room, and she was sitting watching her partner like a protective guard dog, who was in the room sitting vigil at the bedside. As a new detective, although she had been technically taken off running the case, she was going to be working alongside Matt and Ronnie to gain experience in a major investigation case. Right now, Matt was just relieved both she and Evans had been spared questioning the driver. That sort of information would be just slightly easier to swallow secondhand when they were so linked to one of the witnesses. He came up beside her, looking into the room for at few moments at Evans sitting slumped beside the bed. Standing a little distance away from the door were man and woman Matt had been told by nursing staff were Thomas' best friend and his wife. Matt was going to have to talk to them, too, at some point. He held out a second-rate cup of vending machine coffee to Gee, all he could offer at that time of morning, and took a sip from his own cup. "We've got a problem," he told her quietly.
Gee looked up, surprised when she saw it had been Matt coming down the hall. She'd noticed someone out of the corner of her eye, but hadn't looked away from Stuart and Tom long enough. She'd missed everything that had been going on, no calls placed to her cell, and Gee hadn't left the hospital since she'd arrived. Any thoughts of investigating had gone out the window for the moment when she realised Stuart could have used some silent support, even if it was a few hours. Tom's best friend, and wife were here, but it wasn't the same. Even if they seemed nice enough, and seemed to want to help her partner.
Gee accepted the coffee gratefully, no matter how second-rate it would be. She glanced at the couple across from her, then back up at Matt before she stood, and ushered him a little way back up the corridor. She needed to stretch her legs, and she also didn't need them to hear anything. "'We'? Wait, the case did go to you? What's the problem?"
Matt cleared his throat as he nodded. "We got it. Emphasis on the 'we'. Corinne wants you to tag along with us for experience in major investigations. I don't think she had the heart to turf you off it just because Evans isn't going to be able to continue with it. I don't even know how much you know. Evans went to her and told her about Hunt after the questioning, apparently, but before the accident, so everyone can have a clear conscience, at least on our side of the fence. She was going to let him continue the case, but that was before Hunt nearly got wrapped around a traffic light pole. One more metre, and he'd be dead." He shook his head slowly, still not believing the turn of events that had happened in the last twenty four hours.
"Ronnie and I have just spent the last three hours questioning the driver back at the Royal. It's not good. He's pointing the finger firmly at Hunt. Says he drove him to a park near the crime scene that night, and that Hunt made him wait outside the car while he had sex with the victim. He also said that Hunt made him booze up and take heroine in the car after the questioning at the station, and he did it because he feared for his life knowing Hunt was a murderer. Which just seems odd to me. Hunt's smart, very smart. Legally, he's a genius, and his tox screen and blood alcohol were completely clean. If he did this, he wouldn't be doping up a potential witness, especially not on heroine. I don't think the bloke realised Hunt was even dating Evans, so that puts the khyber up something because someone is lying. It's either Hunt and Evans, or the driver and the victim's friend. It also makes Evans' as a witness more shaky than anticipated. He says he was with Hunt, but was asleep for a long period of time. There's also a possible motive. The driver says the victim was going to go to the media about Hunt sexually assaulting him when he worked for him. Says Hunt got wind of that, so he did him in to save his reputation. The problem? It's impossible to interrogate someone in a coma. Other than what you got from him in your questioning, which was very little, we have no statement from Hunt. This whole thing could hang until we talk to him, or we get firm evidence that he's innocent. Ronnie's getting a court order and search warrant for the car wreck as we speak, and he's going to try and push his luck for a search warrant on Hunt's home. So, make sure that coffee does it's job, because you'll be coming with us. Hopefully we don't find the victim's DNA in that back seat. How serious are things with Evans and Hunt?" he asked her, nodding his head in the direction of Thomas' room.
Gee's eyebrows went up. "She does? That's... yeah, I'll definitely give it everything. Lots of coffee, trust me. Thank you. I'm not sure Stuart would cope if he knew we were both off the case. I had no idea he'd told the boss about him and Tom. Last I knew he was in two minds about it, and we were trying to work out how to keep it safe."
She quickly fell quiet though as Matt continued, feeling suddenly alert when he started talking about the driver. Something about this whole thing just set her insides off, and Gee just knew there was something wrong with the whole picture, but she couldn't figure out what. Besides the driver being a lying wanker. "Twat," she said out loud, and her lip curled back in a sneer. "He's a lying little two-faced fucker. If he was pissed, and doped up to the eyeballs that was his decision, not Tom's. Tom and Stuart talked, and Evans believes right down to his core that Tom didn't do it. And I believe him. I asked him straight out. If Stuart was wavering, he'd tell me. Hunt's clean, the driver isn't. There's just something about that guy... And the story he's trying to spin. Tom's always been open about his sexual relationship with the victim. Especially to Evans. He wouldn't be bothered killing him, he would have gone after him in a courtroom for defamation, or something. He's not that stupid. It's all too convenient, Sarge. I don't like it." She took a sip of the coffee, and tried not to wince at the taste. "They've fallen in love, and were planning on moving in together. And planning a cruise. Which is apparently huge for Hunt considering he's always been incredibly set about casual sex, and no attachments."
Matt was silent for a few moments, sipping his coffee as he thought. He continued to watch the scene in the hospital room as some sort of fuel to get his mind on a few different directions at one, his line of sight only breaking briefly to glance at Thomas' friend with his wife. "That might not go in our favour. It could be suspected Hunt offed the ex so he didn't cause problems in the current relationship. I'm not saying anyone is guilty, I'm just saying there are about ten different dimensions to this case. Right now, you're soley looking in from Evans' window. Stop it. Yeah? Don't let your heart rule the case. Let it fuel you to get the job done, but if you don't keep an open mind, you're going to miss vital pieces of information. Bottom line here is not you, not Evans, none of us have known Hunt as long as his driver has. We can't, as much as we hate to admit it, rule out that there is a chance he might have done it. Even if it's all lies and fabrication, he had motive and means. Until he talks or until we find evidence, he's a suspect, Gee. That's just the way the cards have fallen."
Gee's nose scrunched up, but she couldn't fault Matt. He was right. Of course he was right. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to push back most of what she was feeling about her partner, and Tom. "So we start with the car, right? I just... It's not just the Stuart connection. Hearing what that guy was saying... It's rubbing me wrong. Don't you ever just get feelings? Tom can have sex with anyone he wants... He doesn't need to force it. He can even pay someone off not to talk, why kill them?"
Matt held his hand up and shook his head. "No one said he forced it. The driver said it was a willing sexual act in the car. The alleged sexual harrassment in the work place doesn't automatically mean rape. It could mean anything from inappropriate looks to brushing up against someone at the photocopier. No one has accused Hunt of rape. Why? Because he worried the guy might approach Evans, maybe? Because money can't completely shut someone up? Because this city has eyes and ears everywhere we turn? The list goes on. In this sort of case, it's always messy. There are always conflicting stories and takes on things. I emphasise again that none of us know Hunt very well. He might get a thrill out of dominating people, he might like rough sex, he might like roleplay. Wasn't it you who told me he wanted Evans to go to an orgy with him? This isn't cut and dry. Sure, I get feelings, hunches. Something isn't playing out right with the driver. It's obvious. But all he we know he is guilty of in fact right now is driving under the influence. We start at the car, but it's going to come up all but clean. Whether Hunt or the driver was involved here, they aren't going to leave evidence. It's all too neatly constructed. We need to talk to people further afield. People who know Hunt," he added with a glance at the friends again, "and people who knew the victim."
"I'm sorry, I must have misunderstood. I still don't... No. Tom's too smart for any of this. How do you get to be a lawyer at his level, and not suffer through something like this before? He was all that into control, and power games he'd have slipped up somewhere else. Not just with a paralegal that he was fucking. Yeah, that was me, but that still doesn't mean anything. Just means he likes a lot of sex. Everyone likes sex, but that doesn't make them killers." Gee held her hand up. "But alright, open mind, it could mean he's a killer. We don't actually know what kind of shit goes on at that sort of an orgy. Could be like some really rough stuff. If Hunt's darkside, then I'm thinking he would be saving that side of him for when it really needs to come out and play." Gee followed his look, and nodded. "Agreed. We might have to think about chasing up someone that does know what goes on in the orgies. Doubt Hunt would restrain himself in that environment, so if there's a hint of evil they would have seen it."
"All I'm saying is there could be more to this than meets the eye. I hope for Evans' sake it's not, because it means Hunt has been lying to him too. I'm hoping it's all just a fabricated attempt to frame Hunt, and we find evidence to support that soon. From what you've told me, the guy seems to be a straight shooter, and hopefully has been completely open with Evans. If that's the case, this is a huge mess and we need to explore the bad to discount it and find the good." Matt paused and let out a small sigh. "And hope in the meantime that Hunt actually lives through the night."
Gee nodded, and cradled her coffee against her chest. She looked in on her partner and Tom, and her mind wandered to Euan. She actually wanted to call to check up on him, but she quickly quashed the thought. He didn't need her being clingy. It was just because of the case, and watching Stuart distraught over his lover. Euan wasn't her lover, he wasn't anything but a house guest at the moment. Just one that she couldn't seem to control herself around, even when he had pneumonia. "We need to go see the car," she murmured. "The sooner we start, hopefully the sooner we'll have some answers."
Matt gave a slight nod. "But for now, we wait. Ronnie's going to call me when he gets the court order." He pointed with his cup to the couple nearby. "I think we should talk to the BFF. Have you met them? I know they've probably been here all night and they're upset, but the sooner we start getting some character witnesses in favour of Hunt, the better."
"Sure, if you think it's a good start. And only enough to explain to them who I was when I first arrived. I thought they were going to accuse me of coming to arrest them, or something. But Stuart was relieved to see me even if he went right back to Tom's side, so they relaxed after that." Gee held out her coffee cup for Matt to take so she could try and make her hair neater by pulling it back into a poinytail, and clipping it. She'd put the band, and clips into her pocket when she'd left home but had yet to use them. She also brought out a notepad, and pen before taking her coffee back off Matt and finishing the rest of it off. "Maybe they'll be glad to get it over with. They've probably been expecting it."
Matt took another sip of the coffee, but realised he couldn't stomach the rest of it. It tasted like it had been scraped off the bottom of an ashtray, and he discarded it into a nearby bin with a scrunch of his nose in disgust. "Think we should go at them separately or together? Apparently the bloke arranged Hunt's lawyer, but they don't seem to know anything else about the case, so I doubt they're concealing anything. How did they respond to Evans? It could be telling if they were weird with him."
Gee shrugged her shoulder. "Maybe together. I don't think they're concealing anything, and the husband seems reluctant to let his wife out of his sight. It's nothing suspicious, just think that Hunt's accident has shaken him to his core. He seems quite protective of her right now. As for Stuart, they've seemed to have really welcomed him. He mentioned that they've actually been really good. Said something about a hug."
Matt analysed the guy from a distance for a few moments, eyes narrowing just a little. "Ethan Williamson... wait. His father is Sir Clifford Williamson, a Lord Justice with the Court of Appeal. He's one of England's youngest millionaires. Jesus... bloody hell," he cursed softly, shaking his head. "This just got a whole lot more interesting. Sophie Williamson nee... I can't remember. She's a court liaison for kids. We need to tread carefully, the media are going to want to crawl all over this."
"Bingo," Gee said quietly as she pointed at Matt. "So far there hasn't been any media, but then this is a pretty private hospital. I'm waiting for body guards to appear out of thin air, and kick someone out. And it's Johns. I remember dealing with her a couple times as a uniform. I guess they do have the money to try and hide anything they want, though."
Matt nodded a little. "True, but on the same token, I'm not sure the guy would risk his father's standing and title for the sake of paying off someone for a mate's stupid mistake, no matter how good friends they are. Blood is thicker than water. I'd be more worried if he was absent, but he's not. This isn't just playing with fire, it's throwing fuel on it and fanning it. Too much is at risk here, and Hunt would need to be more than a smooth-talking hot shot lawyer for them to conceal anything like the murder of a lowly paralegal on his part. But someone else could be trying to hurt him to get to the bigger guns he's connected with... so to speak. The more that comes to light, the more it looks like a framing. It's why someone would do that to him that I want to know."
"So we tackle them together?" Gee asked as she tapped her pen against her notepad. "I think this has got to be the first time I'm hoping a lawyer isn't as slimy as I've always thought them to be. I'm guessing in this scenario we can both just be the good cop if it's simple questioning?"
Matt shrugged. "Unless they give us reason not to be. I don't think they're going to be. This is going to be the easy part, but if it ends up in court, we could need them both to testify as to his character, so it needs to be done now before opinions and views get skewed the more info comes to light." He paused and glanced down at her. "Are you alright? I know things have been tough, and you've got Euan to deal with too."
Gee gave him a thumbs up as she smiled. "I'm fine, Sarge. I've already had my mental breakdown, and Euan actually helped out with that, so I'm good to go. Promise. I won't go mental, or break apart in a ball of tears."
Matt raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. The bloody bastard," he said with a small smirk, but didn't elaborate. "Alright, ready to roll, then?"
Gee frowned, not sure she had completely understood Matt's comment, but shrugged it off. "Ready to roll," she confirmed with a small salute.
Word Count | 3,977
It wasn't really a huge surprise when the case got passed over to Major Investigations and landed in Matt and Ronnie's lap. Of course, Matt actually knew nothing about it until he got the call in the very early hours of that morning, and it did make him wonder if Gee even knew. Tom was of high status in the city, and news of his accident had already leaked through the London's a-list, even if the details behind it hadn't. It was only a matter of time before his link to the paralegal murder came to light, though. Matt and Ronnie could invesitage the case, but they weren't miracle workers. They couldn't stop info getting out, even if they would try their hardest to conceal what they found so it didn't impede the investigation. Now they had a murder and a suspicious accident surrounding it. Matt was loathe to settle that the accident had nothing to do with anything and was just a coincidence. Talking to Thomas' driver was the first step, and Matt was already suspicious about why he would even have gotten behind the wheel of his employer's car drunk, and their questioning of him did nothing but make the shit
hit the fan of an already extremely messy case.
Before they even managed to get access to the guy's room, though, tox screens showed he had herione in his system, as if already having a blood alcohol content of 0.2 wasn't enough. Miraculously, he suffered nothing more than a minor bump to the head, but was being kept in hospital for observation and now under police guard. Whether the guy was involved in the case or not, he was going down on driving under the influence occasioning in grievous bodily harm. That was going to be a given, but Matt and Ronnie wanted answers as to why the guy was so drunk and off his face on the trip home from Thomas being questioned about his link to the murder victim. And the guy was more than ready to spill his guts.
According to the driver, Thomas M. Hunt was a murderer. Not only that, but apparently the guy drove Thomas to a part not far from where the body was found in the early hours of the morning in question but then bribed the guy - in cash - not to say anything to police if he was asked. Thomas coaxed the guy to drink after being at the police station and they shared the drugs, and the guy apparently did as was requested because he 'feared for his life' knowing 'Hunt was a murderer'. It was a good thing Ronnie mostly led the questioning, because it wasn't hard for Matt to slip right into bad cop mode. He wanted to smack the guy. Everything coming out of his mouth was in complete contrast to what Gee had said about Thomas. Matt knew for the sake of the case he had to remain impartial, but something wasn't sitting right in his guy. There had been no evidence whatsoever linking Hunt to the crime scene, only two people pointing their finger in accusation of him. He wondered if the driver knew the other woman who had come to the station spouting hearsay about Thomas, but it was going to take some more digging. He also said Tom had sex with the victim in the back of the car that night while he told the driver to stand outside; the same car that had been wrapped around a van at high speed. But the guy's trump card was an alleged motive for Thomas to have killed the guy. According to the driver, who knew the victim in the wake of him working for Thomas, Thomas had sexually assaulted the victim in the workplace and then paid him off to keep quiet and part of the deal was he leave the job. The victim had plans to go to the media about it so Thomas wouldn't do it to anymore people. By the time the interview was over, Matt was reeling, and had to take a few minutes of pacing back and forth in the corridor to just try and get his head around it all. Admittedly, there seemed to be a case to be built against Hunt, but without evidence, it was all hearsay and accusations. Matt didn't know what to think, and they needed to get their hands on that car.
While Ronnie went to get a court order to access the wreckage for an evidence search, Matt arrived at The London Bridge Hospital at around seven am. He already had access to Thomas' medical records and staff had to cooperate with his questioning on any change in his condition during the night. There was none. It was still touch and go. Police were standing on guard of the Critical Care room also with suspicions arising that Thomas could be a victim of framing just as much as he could be the murderer. There wasn't enough evidence of the latter to rule out the former. He was a hot shot lawyer, any number of witnesses on opposing sides to cases he had won could want his blood. Seeing someone go down falsely for murder and stripping them of everything could be more satisfying than just getting blood, though, especially if the guilty party were vindictive enough.
Matt found Gee sitting outside Thomas' room on a row of plastic seats along the wall. She had a prime view into the room, and she was sitting watching her partner like a protective guard dog, who was in the room sitting vigil at the bedside. As a new detective, although she had been technically taken off running the case, she was going to be working alongside Matt and Ronnie to gain experience in a major investigation case. Right now, Matt was just relieved both she and Evans had been spared questioning the driver. That sort of information would be just slightly easier to swallow secondhand when they were so linked to one of the witnesses. He came up beside her, looking into the room for at few moments at Evans sitting slumped beside the bed. Standing a little distance away from the door were man and woman Matt had been told by nursing staff were Thomas' best friend and his wife. Matt was going to have to talk to them, too, at some point. He held out a second-rate cup of vending machine coffee to Gee, all he could offer at that time of morning, and took a sip from his own cup. "We've got a problem," he told her quietly.
Gee looked up, surprised when she saw it had been Matt coming down the hall. She'd noticed someone out of the corner of her eye, but hadn't looked away from Stuart and Tom long enough. She'd missed everything that had been going on, no calls placed to her cell, and Gee hadn't left the hospital since she'd arrived. Any thoughts of investigating had gone out the window for the moment when she realised Stuart could have used some silent support, even if it was a few hours. Tom's best friend, and wife were here, but it wasn't the same. Even if they seemed nice enough, and seemed to want to help her partner.
Gee accepted the coffee gratefully, no matter how second-rate it would be. She glanced at the couple across from her, then back up at Matt before she stood, and ushered him a little way back up the corridor. She needed to stretch her legs, and she also didn't need them to hear anything. "'We'? Wait, the case did go to you? What's the problem?"
Matt cleared his throat as he nodded. "We got it. Emphasis on the 'we'. Corinne wants you to tag along with us for experience in major investigations. I don't think she had the heart to turf you off it just because Evans isn't going to be able to continue with it. I don't even know how much you know. Evans went to her and told her about Hunt after the questioning, apparently, but before the accident, so everyone can have a clear conscience, at least on our side of the fence. She was going to let him continue the case, but that was before Hunt nearly got wrapped around a traffic light pole. One more metre, and he'd be dead." He shook his head slowly, still not believing the turn of events that had happened in the last twenty four hours.
"Ronnie and I have just spent the last three hours questioning the driver back at the Royal. It's not good. He's pointing the finger firmly at Hunt. Says he drove him to a park near the crime scene that night, and that Hunt made him wait outside the car while he had sex with the victim. He also said that Hunt made him booze up and take heroine in the car after the questioning at the station, and he did it because he feared for his life knowing Hunt was a murderer. Which just seems odd to me. Hunt's smart, very smart. Legally, he's a genius, and his tox screen and blood alcohol were completely clean. If he did this, he wouldn't be doping up a potential witness, especially not on heroine. I don't think the bloke realised Hunt was even dating Evans, so that puts the khyber up something because someone is lying. It's either Hunt and Evans, or the driver and the victim's friend. It also makes Evans' as a witness more shaky than anticipated. He says he was with Hunt, but was asleep for a long period of time. There's also a possible motive. The driver says the victim was going to go to the media about Hunt sexually assaulting him when he worked for him. Says Hunt got wind of that, so he did him in to save his reputation. The problem? It's impossible to interrogate someone in a coma. Other than what you got from him in your questioning, which was very little, we have no statement from Hunt. This whole thing could hang until we talk to him, or we get firm evidence that he's innocent. Ronnie's getting a court order and search warrant for the car wreck as we speak, and he's going to try and push his luck for a search warrant on Hunt's home. So, make sure that coffee does it's job, because you'll be coming with us. Hopefully we don't find the victim's DNA in that back seat. How serious are things with Evans and Hunt?" he asked her, nodding his head in the direction of Thomas' room.
Gee's eyebrows went up. "She does? That's... yeah, I'll definitely give it everything. Lots of coffee, trust me. Thank you. I'm not sure Stuart would cope if he knew we were both off the case. I had no idea he'd told the boss about him and Tom. Last I knew he was in two minds about it, and we were trying to work out how to keep it safe."
She quickly fell quiet though as Matt continued, feeling suddenly alert when he started talking about the driver. Something about this whole thing just set her insides off, and Gee just knew there was something wrong with the whole picture, but she couldn't figure out what. Besides the driver being a lying wanker. "Twat," she said out loud, and her lip curled back in a sneer. "He's a lying little two-faced fucker. If he was pissed, and doped up to the eyeballs that was his decision, not Tom's. Tom and Stuart talked, and Evans believes right down to his core that Tom didn't do it. And I believe him. I asked him straight out. If Stuart was wavering, he'd tell me. Hunt's clean, the driver isn't. There's just something about that guy... And the story he's trying to spin. Tom's always been open about his sexual relationship with the victim. Especially to Evans. He wouldn't be bothered killing him, he would have gone after him in a courtroom for defamation, or something. He's not that stupid. It's all too convenient, Sarge. I don't like it." She took a sip of the coffee, and tried not to wince at the taste. "They've fallen in love, and were planning on moving in together. And planning a cruise. Which is apparently huge for Hunt considering he's always been incredibly set about casual sex, and no attachments."
Matt was silent for a few moments, sipping his coffee as he thought. He continued to watch the scene in the hospital room as some sort of fuel to get his mind on a few different directions at one, his line of sight only breaking briefly to glance at Thomas' friend with his wife. "That might not go in our favour. It could be suspected Hunt offed the ex so he didn't cause problems in the current relationship. I'm not saying anyone is guilty, I'm just saying there are about ten different dimensions to this case. Right now, you're soley looking in from Evans' window. Stop it. Yeah? Don't let your heart rule the case. Let it fuel you to get the job done, but if you don't keep an open mind, you're going to miss vital pieces of information. Bottom line here is not you, not Evans, none of us have known Hunt as long as his driver has. We can't, as much as we hate to admit it, rule out that there is a chance he might have done it. Even if it's all lies and fabrication, he had motive and means. Until he talks or until we find evidence, he's a suspect, Gee. That's just the way the cards have fallen."
Gee's nose scrunched up, but she couldn't fault Matt. He was right. Of course he was right. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to push back most of what she was feeling about her partner, and Tom. "So we start with the car, right? I just... It's not just the Stuart connection. Hearing what that guy was saying... It's rubbing me wrong. Don't you ever just get feelings? Tom can have sex with anyone he wants... He doesn't need to force it. He can even pay someone off not to talk, why kill them?"
Matt held his hand up and shook his head. "No one said he forced it. The driver said it was a willing sexual act in the car. The alleged sexual harrassment in the work place doesn't automatically mean rape. It could mean anything from inappropriate looks to brushing up against someone at the photocopier. No one has accused Hunt of rape. Why? Because he worried the guy might approach Evans, maybe? Because money can't completely shut someone up? Because this city has eyes and ears everywhere we turn? The list goes on. In this sort of case, it's always messy. There are always conflicting stories and takes on things. I emphasise again that none of us know Hunt very well. He might get a thrill out of dominating people, he might like rough sex, he might like roleplay. Wasn't it you who told me he wanted Evans to go to an orgy with him? This isn't cut and dry. Sure, I get feelings, hunches. Something isn't playing out right with the driver. It's obvious. But all he we know he is guilty of in fact right now is driving under the influence. We start at the car, but it's going to come up all but clean. Whether Hunt or the driver was involved here, they aren't going to leave evidence. It's all too neatly constructed. We need to talk to people further afield. People who know Hunt," he added with a glance at the friends again, "and people who knew the victim."
"I'm sorry, I must have misunderstood. I still don't... No. Tom's too smart for any of this. How do you get to be a lawyer at his level, and not suffer through something like this before? He was all that into control, and power games he'd have slipped up somewhere else. Not just with a paralegal that he was fucking. Yeah, that was me, but that still doesn't mean anything. Just means he likes a lot of sex. Everyone likes sex, but that doesn't make them killers." Gee held her hand up. "But alright, open mind, it could mean he's a killer. We don't actually know what kind of shit goes on at that sort of an orgy. Could be like some really rough stuff. If Hunt's darkside, then I'm thinking he would be saving that side of him for when it really needs to come out and play." Gee followed his look, and nodded. "Agreed. We might have to think about chasing up someone that does know what goes on in the orgies. Doubt Hunt would restrain himself in that environment, so if there's a hint of evil they would have seen it."
"All I'm saying is there could be more to this than meets the eye. I hope for Evans' sake it's not, because it means Hunt has been lying to him too. I'm hoping it's all just a fabricated attempt to frame Hunt, and we find evidence to support that soon. From what you've told me, the guy seems to be a straight shooter, and hopefully has been completely open with Evans. If that's the case, this is a huge mess and we need to explore the bad to discount it and find the good." Matt paused and let out a small sigh. "And hope in the meantime that Hunt actually lives through the night."
Gee nodded, and cradled her coffee against her chest. She looked in on her partner and Tom, and her mind wandered to Euan. She actually wanted to call to check up on him, but she quickly quashed the thought. He didn't need her being clingy. It was just because of the case, and watching Stuart distraught over his lover. Euan wasn't her lover, he wasn't anything but a house guest at the moment. Just one that she couldn't seem to control herself around, even when he had pneumonia. "We need to go see the car," she murmured. "The sooner we start, hopefully the sooner we'll have some answers."
Matt gave a slight nod. "But for now, we wait. Ronnie's going to call me when he gets the court order." He pointed with his cup to the couple nearby. "I think we should talk to the BFF. Have you met them? I know they've probably been here all night and they're upset, but the sooner we start getting some character witnesses in favour of Hunt, the better."
"Sure, if you think it's a good start. And only enough to explain to them who I was when I first arrived. I thought they were going to accuse me of coming to arrest them, or something. But Stuart was relieved to see me even if he went right back to Tom's side, so they relaxed after that." Gee held out her coffee cup for Matt to take so she could try and make her hair neater by pulling it back into a poinytail, and clipping it. She'd put the band, and clips into her pocket when she'd left home but had yet to use them. She also brought out a notepad, and pen before taking her coffee back off Matt and finishing the rest of it off. "Maybe they'll be glad to get it over with. They've probably been expecting it."
Matt took another sip of the coffee, but realised he couldn't stomach the rest of it. It tasted like it had been scraped off the bottom of an ashtray, and he discarded it into a nearby bin with a scrunch of his nose in disgust. "Think we should go at them separately or together? Apparently the bloke arranged Hunt's lawyer, but they don't seem to know anything else about the case, so I doubt they're concealing anything. How did they respond to Evans? It could be telling if they were weird with him."
Gee shrugged her shoulder. "Maybe together. I don't think they're concealing anything, and the husband seems reluctant to let his wife out of his sight. It's nothing suspicious, just think that Hunt's accident has shaken him to his core. He seems quite protective of her right now. As for Stuart, they've seemed to have really welcomed him. He mentioned that they've actually been really good. Said something about a hug."
Matt analysed the guy from a distance for a few moments, eyes narrowing just a little. "Ethan Williamson... wait. His father is Sir Clifford Williamson, a Lord Justice with the Court of Appeal. He's one of England's youngest millionaires. Jesus... bloody hell," he cursed softly, shaking his head. "This just got a whole lot more interesting. Sophie Williamson nee... I can't remember. She's a court liaison for kids. We need to tread carefully, the media are going to want to crawl all over this."
"Bingo," Gee said quietly as she pointed at Matt. "So far there hasn't been any media, but then this is a pretty private hospital. I'm waiting for body guards to appear out of thin air, and kick someone out. And it's Johns. I remember dealing with her a couple times as a uniform. I guess they do have the money to try and hide anything they want, though."
Matt nodded a little. "True, but on the same token, I'm not sure the guy would risk his father's standing and title for the sake of paying off someone for a mate's stupid mistake, no matter how good friends they are. Blood is thicker than water. I'd be more worried if he was absent, but he's not. This isn't just playing with fire, it's throwing fuel on it and fanning it. Too much is at risk here, and Hunt would need to be more than a smooth-talking hot shot lawyer for them to conceal anything like the murder of a lowly paralegal on his part. But someone else could be trying to hurt him to get to the bigger guns he's connected with... so to speak. The more that comes to light, the more it looks like a framing. It's why someone would do that to him that I want to know."
"So we tackle them together?" Gee asked as she tapped her pen against her notepad. "I think this has got to be the first time I'm hoping a lawyer isn't as slimy as I've always thought them to be. I'm guessing in this scenario we can both just be the good cop if it's simple questioning?"
Matt shrugged. "Unless they give us reason not to be. I don't think they're going to be. This is going to be the easy part, but if it ends up in court, we could need them both to testify as to his character, so it needs to be done now before opinions and views get skewed the more info comes to light." He paused and glanced down at her. "Are you alright? I know things have been tough, and you've got Euan to deal with too."
Gee gave him a thumbs up as she smiled. "I'm fine, Sarge. I've already had my mental breakdown, and Euan actually helped out with that, so I'm good to go. Promise. I won't go mental, or break apart in a ball of tears."
Matt raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. The bloody bastard," he said with a small smirk, but didn't elaborate. "Alright, ready to roll, then?"
Gee frowned, not sure she had completely understood Matt's comment, but shrugged it off. "Ready to roll," she confirmed with a small salute.
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