2019-10-06 - The Weirdest Lunatic in Town

The wind coming off the ocean is cool, even chilly with that hint of sea salt moisture. The beach doesn't have a lot of people out and about at this time of the day; it's in that lull between lunch and the end of the working day. The sounds are mostly the cry of seagulls over head, looking for anything that might be edible, and the crash of the sea on the rocks. Alexander is still recovering from the effects of the Flu From Hell, and his features are gaunt from having lost a fair amount of weight. He's sitting at the usual picnic table and he's actually reached out to Tessa, rather than to Sarah, by text message, asking her to meet him here at this time, to talk about something.

So, here he is. There's a paper shopping bag under the table by his knee, and he's slumped forward a bit, chin on his crossed forearms, watching the sea like some sort of depressed poet. He's dressed in sweats, though, so not nearly as tortured and cool as a depressed poet.

Tessa doesn't text. She may get them, but the best anyone can ever hope to get from her is a very dry 'K.' She doesn't understand texting, and she kind of hates people who go on and on about their lives or who are all about the memes. She can feel the headache build with every single cat video she gets.

Those are the worst.

But Alexander wants to talk without Sarah being present. Weird, but not all that strange for the Texan. She debates with herself whether or not she should even go, still not all on board on this 'lets outsource this investigation' deal, but what can she do? If she wants to save lives in Gray Harbor she will need to bend a little. She can exchange a bit of pride for actual information, if that will lead to good things.

And so there she is, jacket, jeans, boots, belt + belt buckle, and a gray shirt. Tessa is all practical, aside from a few small details, and when she arrives, she already does it with a frown. "You look like you caught the devil's allergies, Alexander." She eyes the man, and stands before him, hands on her pockets. "Heard you had somethin' for me?"

Alexander raises his head when he hears the sound of footsteps on the rocks - and he's kinda paranoid, so he hears them pretty quickly. He turns so he can watch her approach, his expression flat and featureless. "The flu has been going around. It is miserable." His voice has mostly recovered, though, back to a soft, pleasant sort of baritone that sits oddly with his overall air of creepiness. He gestures at the bench across from him. "Please sit down, Detective Chen. And I do."

He reaches down to bring up the bag. He doesn't give it to her until she sits down, but once she has, he'll slide it over. And looking inside, there's a fairly large, but otherwise ordinary box. With a handprint on it in what is very likely dried blood of some sort.

Tessa has 'I rather stand' written all over her face, so when she doesn't sit, and Alexander doesn't proceed, there is that stalemate that has Tessa wondering if he is really going to insist. Muttering a 'for fucks sake' she sits down, mouth closed in a thin line, as she takes the bag. She eyes it, and that eyebrow goes up.

"This... looks like somethin' I would like to have, but what am I lookin' at? This... has to do with our case, I hope?" She is still staring at it, not touching for the time being. Tessa doesn't open the box, and instead stares at Alexander. "So, what I am goin' to find when I open this?"

Alexander does, indeed, look like he's going to just sit there, holding that bag, patiently until she sits down. The only bright side is that he doesn't seem gleeful at having 'won' the standoff; he doesn't really seem to have noticed there was a standoff going at all. But, at the same time, he watches her expression carefully. A shake of his head at her questions. "Not that I know of. An incidental acquisition. I did receive new information on that, and I updated Detectives Morgan and Quintanilla, who I understand have also been assigned. It's looking like that particular pair of murders might be related to some sort of land development scheme. Looking further into it."

He frowns at the bag. "You'll find a bottle of Adderal. Stolen from a pharmaceutical supply company. The label is on the bottle. There's somewhere around a thousand pills in there. Substantial street value if sold individually." His lips twitch upwards. "It's not any sort of body parts. Promise."

Tessa frowns at the mention of the other detectives, but then again, when doesn't she frown? It is her go-to emotion. Leaning forward, she exhales and takes a deep breath. Land development scheme. Just great. Of all the things to kill for. Tessa, being bad at controlling herself, slams a fist on the table, cursing on some foreign tongue. She recoups soon, getting some measure of control back.

"Okay. So what is your workin' theory, Alexander? I thought this was not a smart move from Monaghan, that it would draw too much attention to him, but I don't know a lick of land development here in Gray Harbor. Is this his work or someone else's?" Tessa frowns, shaking her head. For all the WEIRD SHIT she has been exposed lately, she wasn't quite ready to get involved in something as mundane as drug dealing and speculation.

"Do you know whose blood is it?" Time to stop bemoaning and get to working!

There's a twitch, a visible recoil when Tessa's hand hits the table, and he watches her with careful, dark eyes. Like she might try something more. "If I were the sort of asshole who wagered money on murders, I would put my money on 'someone else'," Alexander says, with a shrug. "The Krugers had an appointment to meet with a few corporate lawyers, including an environmental lawyer, the day after they were murdered. If they were getting in Monaghan's way, he would have just told them to stop. He has too much leverage on them to need to kill them over it. And if they planned to defy him, I suspect they would have tried to warn their daughter." It's all recited rather tonelessly. "So, assumption: Not Monaghan."

Then he offers a faint, sharp smile, and nods at the bag. "That, on the other hand, is probably Monaghan. Or, at least, his people. I don't have the equipment to run tests on the blood, so I couldn't say for certain." He opens his mouth, as if to say something more, then studies her for a long moment, before closing it with a shrug.

Tessa stares at the box and sighs. She seems nervous, but that is par for the course. The woman thinks long and hard about a few things, nodding at what the Alexander has been saying. In the end of it, the Chinese-American smiles (!!!) and nods to herself.

"Very well, so it is all workin' well so far. Monaghan is a drug dealer, no surprise there." She taps on top of the box, "And this might be my key to his door. If he won't cooperate because it is in his interest we catch whoever is comin' after him, he will listen if we start sniffin' around this belle of an operation they got here."

She taps on the box. "I will check the blood. I am goin' to get the answers I need from that sunovabitch. I am going to make him talk." Tessa seems ready to go DO IT right now. Not one from the 'yesterday you said tomorrow' club, this one.

"What else, Alexander? Give me all the details because now I am going to give this a push."

Alexander just stares at her as she talks. He doesn't say anything, although his eyes grow a bit wide. When he does speak, it's somewhat simple:

"No."

His hand twitches, like he's seriously thinking of taking his box back. Well. Not his box. Anyway, he puts his hand down under the surface of the table to restrain the urge. "He's not gonna listen if you go in with guns, metaphorical or otherwise, blazing. He's going to kill you." He breathes out. "Detective Chen. That," a nod towards the box, "is not enough to build a case in this town against Monaghan, and if he knows you have it, then you will find that it is gone before you can use it for anything greater than that. You might be able to use it to start the process of cracking open something that might have a real effect. But you have to be careful. And cautious. And it will take time."

He frowns at her. "Can you do those things, or is the other Detective going to shoot me because I got you killed?"

Tessa sighs, and shakes her head. "I am not tryin' to build a case against Monaghan. That is somethin' this town can't afford right now. But now I have somethin' to offer if he helps. He helps, I look the other way, for now. Quid quo pro. That is how I get past his defense row of lawyers and hopefully get enough information to keep this from happening. He ain't goin' to be killin' me for asking for information on people disturbing his business, Alexander."

Tessa folds her arms, now, eyeing the man and taking a deep breath. "I don't like workin' with the man, but I will for a while if that means savin' lives now. That is what I got to make go through that thick skull of his. And as I do that, we build our case. Slow and steady, mm?" She arches her brows, as if asking if her explanation satifies the world's most well-connected muderhobo.

"I don't have all the fancy mind powers y'all have. I also know corruption is rampant in the police department. I need to make somethin' happen."

"You don't have any evidence that links that box to Monaghan," Alexander says, rubbing at his face. "Not a single bit. You won't have it after you test the blood, either. At most, you might have a link to someone who maybe works for him - and who is likely to be told to take the fall for him, and it'll go no higher than that. This isn't leverage, Detective Chen. Not like what you want it to be. If you had ten other pieces of evidence that went up the chain? Maybe. Maybe. But all it is at the moment is something that's going to tell him there are loose ends that need to be cleaned up. Which he will do, while he stalls you. Figure out who it's actually leverage on, and start there. Slowly."

His expression twists at the mention of the corruption in the police department. "Then you should know that you have to be very careful, because no one is gonna have your back if you start playing games. Do not fuck with Felix Monaghan, Detective, unless you are damned sure that you have something rock solid and people on your side. Do you have that?"

"Oh my Lord, I am not tryin' to go after him to threaten any legal action. I don't have a case and I know damn well I don't. I probably will never. Not on this town." Tessa eyes the box, once more, and groans. "I am sure this Felix Monaghan feellow isn't even human. He must be like you, isn't he?"

The Texan ponders over her options, tapping on the table, before she finally stands, "I will keep this and do exactly nothin' with it for the time being. I will keep focusin' on the Krueger murders and as evidence builds on Monaghan, I will add to the pile. That seems to be a favorite past time 'round here."

She stands, frustrated, "For all it's worth, thank you for this. I am sure the whole department comes to you for information, I am flattered you would decide to give me this." It is all stated dryly, but no less true.

"I am not like Felix Monaghan."

In a different mood, without certain current...stressors weighing on Alexander's temper, he'd probably recognize what she meant both by 'not human' and 'like you'. But he's not there. He's here, and what he hears her say washes away everything else in a cold, vicious fury. He also stands, but a detective is going to realize immediately that he's moving in a predatory sort of way. It's not even the fury that had him breaking into her brain and inflicting insects on her. He's sidling around the table like a man with a single, aggressive purpose, his eyes locked on Tessa, his expression blank and intent as his hands curl into fists.

Tessa arches her brow as the growled line comes, and she doesn't think much of it. All in all, very standard stuff, and she could have picked her line a little better, but there is no reason to be this stressed out. As such, the Texan woman just stares but she realizes there is something off. She puts on her defenses, and as Alexander stands, so does she.

"Alexander... you cut that bullshit right about now."

But he doesn't, and Tessa curses under her breath, reaching for her gun."God DAMN it, why do you have to get weird!? Back OFF!" Tessa would never pull a gun on an unarmed civilian, but Alexander is never quite unarmed, as she has come to experience.

Still, she tries to make him back off. "Don't make me do this you lunatic!" And she hopes he can hear her past the whole... being crazy thing!

"I'm not. Like him." Alexander does not cut out the bullshit. His hands are balled into fists. "And I'm not weird. Or a lunatic!"

He is totally both of those things. Maaaybe he's not exactly like Felix, but this is probably not the work of a stable man. When he sees her reaching for her gun, he lifts a hand. There aren't any illusions, this time - or maybe there are. Because for no good reason, suddenly the seagulls over head are diving from the sky towards Tessa like they're auditioning for a Hitchcock remake.

"You are the WEIRDEST LUNATIC IN TOWN!" Tessa is not known for her temper, and she stays angry, always, like the Hulk. And of course, things don't work well for her this time around either, with actual seagulls comming to attack her. She is not going to shoot her gun at birds, so that is out of question, so she might as well attack the man she is ALMOST sure is responsible for those.

Fuck! Her hair! She rubs anywhere they scratch and hopes she doesn't get some seagull disease from these. Still, the woman valiantly tries to tackle Alexander, and ends up falling prone, with seagulls all over her. She does punch one or two because seagulls have no souls, unlike people or dogs, but she cannot shake them off.

Oh, that's hurtful. Alexander recoils when she shouts at him, scowls. He takes another step towards her, then has to dodge out of the way from her tackle. He blinks as she sprawls and the vicious sky-rats swarm her. For a moment, he smiles. Like this is going to be fun.

And in the next moment, he blinks and staggers back from the fallen detective, eyes wide. As abruptly as they descended, the seagulls disperse with squawks and cries like 'why the fuck are we down here, this woman has no food'. "I'm sorry," he says, sounding shocked. "Detective, I'm so sorry. Are you alright?"

"QUACK!"

DO seagulls quack? Doesn't matter. One of them gets punted by a very pissed off detective as she stands up, and ot hers would follow if not ready to scamper the fuck away from her general vicinity. Tessa is livid, her hair is a mess, and she is pretty sure she has some sort of bird flu now.

"I'M SORRY!? IS BEING SORRY AND FINDIN' CLUES ALL YOU DO DAY AND NIGHT!? NO! YOU -WORK- ON THIS BULLSHIT!" She approachs the man, and she...

pokes

him

in

the

chest

Three times. "You work on your shit. This nonsense is over, you hear me? I don't care how helpful you are, the next time you go full Antichrist on me, I am going to open a new hole in your sorry hide!" And Tessa stumbles towards the table to pick HER box, unless stopped, and she leaves in a huff. Now rightfully frowning.

Alexander is absolutely too mortified to insist on the non-touching when she approaches. He just sort of cringes in place, his hands up and facing her, and with each poke in the chest, seems to fold further inward in on himself. "I'm trying," he starts, with a meek protest, but -- let's face it, he just made a spirited attempt at having a police detective eaten alive by seagulls, so saying 'but I'm in therapy' probably isn't going to be a compelling argument. So he just looks guilty and miserable, and definitely doesn't try to stop her from leaving. He doesn't even watch her go.

Instead, he starts walking towards the least populated way around town and back to the woods. He is clearly Not Ready to be around people, no matter what he might have thought.