2020-07-25 - Picking Over Ashes

The Control Pad was still a scorched pile of rubble. Hallisey still wasn't talking and Esme was ready to strangle the rookie cop. Unfortunately, such things were frowned upon and so instead she came back to the Control Pad to try and find any kind of damning evidence that would give the bastard no choice but to give up who he was working for. She was wearing a pair of slacks and a white button down, gun and badge visible. Her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail. Latex gloves on her fingers as she carefully picked through the wreckage.

Someone else had the same idea. Well, maybe not about the cop. But Alexander has finally made his way down to the burnt down shop - maybe hoping that the police tape would be down, and he could do some quiet investigation without running into anyone who might get in his way. But Alexander has terrible luck, and so he notices Esme already in the wreckage as he approaches. He recognizes her; both vaguely from high school in that small town everybody-knows-everybody sort of way, and also because he totally creeps on the police roster when he can persuade someone to let him look at it.

He's dressed in a shabby t-shirt and faded black jeans. A bandage peeks out from under a sleeve, and he stands at the edge of the debris, watching her with a flat, reptilian expression. This would be a good time for a greeting, or something to let the armed detective know he was there. Instead, he just watches.

If she shoots him, no jury in the world would convict her.

Esme felt the eyes on her but she didn't look up right away. Maybe she was lucky and it was one of the people connected to this and she could somehow get them. Finally, somewhat cautiously she lifted her head and looked over. Oh it was just, "Clayon." She said, rising up her feet. Not that they'd run in any of the same circles growing up but everyone knew about him and, of course, she had seen him coming into the station more than once to poke around. "Don't suppose you've got any light to shed on this mess?" She wasn't necessarily opposed to him and, well, she wasn't sure who else on the force might be knee deep in with the wanna be Monoghan who had to be behind this ridiculousness.

"Detective," Alexander says, tonelessly. He seems to take her question as permission to tromp all over her crime scene, because he steps carefully into the blackened rubble, and starts looking around, pulling out a pair of black leather gloves of his own. "Mm. Maybe," he finally answers her. "There's a lot going on. I understand the shop owner had run into a bit of harassment before the fire?" A sidelong look at her, and he adds, "You know Yule. He mentioned you."

Esme watches him carefully as he comes in to the crime scene. Mostly making sure that he doesn't step on anything important. "She was, though I didn't handle that first hand so I'm not entirely familiar with the situation." She cast another glance around the rubble. "It was most certainly arson though. I'm just trying to find anything else that might lend a clue to further identifying the situation and who all is involved." She explains vaguely enough. "Anything out of place." There's a bit of a smile at the mention of the medical examiner and she nods. "Yes, we're familiar with each other." Turning to inspect a new area. "Have you had any suspicious run ins around town?"

At least it seems like Alexander knows how to move in a crime scene. He's careful about not changing anything, even though photos have already been taken, and even when he squats down to investigate something, he's careful to use the gloves and not disrupt anything. "Any clue on the accelerate or the origin point of the fire? It was a game store, right? If I were trying to hide it, I'd fake an electrical fire. But I doubt these guys wanted to hide it that badly. Chemical accelerates are most common. This burned pretty fucking thoroughly, though." He sounds vaguely impressed. A hesitation at her last question, and then bobs his head. "Yeah. Got jumped by a group while looking into some other incidents around town."

"I don't suppose one of them was a sniveling blonde kid?" Esme asked first when he mentioned getting jumped, giving a very brief description of Office Hallisey. "There was a gas can I found on my last walk through. So they definitely didn't take the time to fake anything." She agreed. "The gas can is in for prints to see if they were stupid enough not to wear gloves." She muses. "Pretty sure it was at least a two man job."

Alexander shakes his head. "No. None of the men who jumped me could be described as sniveling." He smiles, briefly. "All gang affiliated, judging by their tattoos. Red Scorpions," he adds, naming one of the nastier large criminal organizations north of the border, although it does reach down to places like Seattle. "Why? Do you have a suspect?" His eyes settle on her again, sharp with interest.

Esme made a note of that. "Red Scorpions. I've come across a few them when I worked in Seattle. Interesting that they've decided to come to a little place like Gray Harbor." She finally looked back over to Alexander when he asked about a suspect. "Possibly. But, of course, I'm not at liberty to talk about that." She mused.

"Possibly means yes," Alexander says, with a hint of satisfaction. Then looks at the wreckage around him. "But the fact that you're here? You suspect a specific accomplice, and your suspect isn't talking. Do you even have enough evidence to take it to trial, or are you just hoping like hell something comes up before the DA loses patience and cuts them loose?" A slanted, sideways sort of smile towards her. "Or maybe you're just not finding a lot of help and support from your fellow police. For some reason."

Esme frowned a moment as Alexander spouted off his assessment. Not that he was entirely incorrect. "Something like that." She says finally. "I have a gas can and a sniveling blonde that definitely knows something. I'm about ready to sic de la Vega on him myself." She dead pans and then sighed again. "Let's just say the majority of the precinct doesn't currently have my trust." She conceded. Guilty until proven otherwise. "Which is why I was hoping there might be something other than a gas can that may or may not have any prints on it lying around the wreckage." A beat of pause. "What were you looking into when you got jumped?"

"Bringing out the scary guns? Bold choice," Alexander murmurs. Then, after a moment, says, "I wouldn't. If I were you. If he says to let him try, that's one thing. But if you go to him, it'll hurt your rep at the station. 'Girl detective can't hack a suspect on her own', and that sort of shit. Lot of assholes, there." A shrug. He looks around. "You aren't likely to find any further usable evidence in the wreckage. Not that you could take to court. Fire's great at that." He reaches down to touch a burnt timber, makes a noise. "Trade you, Detective. Tell me about your suspect, and why he's your suspect. I'll tell you what I was looking into, and why it probably irritated some people."

Esme shrugged. "I'm beyond caring what the rest of them think. I just want answers." She gave a wry smile. "I'm going to keep trying of course but...it's not such an easy situation." She sighed and shook her head. Eyeing Clayton for a longer moment, she relented. "It's a rookie cop. He was with me when I found the gas can and he was squirrelly. Nervous. Basically admitted to doing it but like, in that way that isn't admissible in court. So I cuffed him and brought him in. But I know he's gotta be working for someone. Your turn."

Alexander raises an eyebrow. "That is a commendable attitude. You're probably going to die." Nothing in his posture or tone suggests it's a threat; just an observation. But he moves closer as she eyes him, and waits. He listens, nods. "Not a lot to go on. It's not actually illegal to be suspicious-looking. Or I'd be in jail all the time," he deadpans. Then looks down, scuffs his shoe. "Mm. You're probably right, though. That he's working for someone. I was looking into reports of someone who might be connected with Thatchery's murder. Guy who, at the time, was going by the name of Lopez. Not his real name. Found some connections to a series of minor crimes that appear to be testing response times. Seeing how fast cops - or, uh, criminals - show up when things happen, and probably who shows up. Spread out over patrol areas, lost in the noise that is Gray Harbor's generally high criminality. Got jumped by a few guys, managed to run them off and knock one out. Found something that suggested might be looking for a guy named Reyes as one of the leaders. No idea where he or his guys are based out of, right now."

Esme couldn't help but chuckle at Alexanders blunt observation. "Eventually, yes I'm sure." She agreed about dying. "No...no it isn't. But I trust my gut and my gut was telling me he was guilty as sin." She nodded and then listened closely as he shared. "Reyes. I'll keep that in mind...maybe I can reach out to my contacts in Seattle and see if anyone knows of a Reyes that might have a red scorpion tattoo." She bit on her lower lip for a brief moment and then offered up a bit of a smile. "If I learn anything, I'll pass it on. So...what brought you over here? Trying to see if it was connected to your guys?"

Alexander snorts. "Guts are not reliable investigative equipment," he says, with a frown. Either they're an observation taking place on a subconscious level, in which case you need to learn to recognize it consciously, or they're prejudice." There are many reasons Alexander isn't popular among the local cops. A complete lack of humility or tact when it comes to investigations is part of it. Even so, when she smiles, he tries to return it; it sits odd and unsettling on his face. "Thanks. I'll give you my number. And thought there might be something I could...examine. For context." He gives her a sidelong look; she's got Glimmer, so it's not hard to see how it burns in him. "Would like to find actual evidence tying things together. Right now - testimony, observation, conjecture."

"Sometimes it is." Esme countered simply. She'd been at this a long time, she was fairly set in a lot of her ways. Trusting her gut was one of those things. "Sounds good. And you let me know if there's anything else you come across." She does have Glimmer, but it's faint and she has noticed Alexander's but...well...she's still not totally comfortable with the whole thing. "Context would be nice."She agreed. "Some reason...because burning down a game store seems like a shitty sort of tactic. Unless the owner really pissed someone off." She shrugged. "The answers somewhere. We just have to connect the dots."

Alexander's head tilts. He makes a noise, one of those noncommital noises that is supposed to stand in for agreement when you don't really want to agree, but you want the other person to think you're agreeing. "I don't see anything here I can use," he admits, with a shrug. "Your gas can, maybe. What did the store owner say when you interviewed her?"

"Yeah, me either." Esme sighed. "I wasn't the one that interviewed her. Haven't been able to get in touch with her to set anything up yet." She explained. "I'm going to try though, maybe it'll shed some insight." She nodded. "If there's any prints well...that'll help a lot but until then." The detective shrugs. "Anything else going on you think might somehow be tied up in all this?"

Alexander studies her for a long moment, then bobs his head. "I think that's a good idea. My understanding is that someone attempted to bully her into committing credit card fraud right before the incident, and she refused. If she recognizes your sniveling blond, might be something you can use to lean on him." He shrugs. "But I haven't talked to her, myself." He shuffles his feet, quietly, then says, "Yeah. I think you're looking at an organized takeover attempt of the local criminal underground, Detective." He turns to look around, scanning the area. His voice is kept quiet. "Heading towards a full-fledged gang war, probably." His eyes flick towards her. "Be careful. Neither side is the friend of an honest cop."

Esme listened quietly, drawing in a soft breath and summoning up a smile towards Alexander. "No, no it isn't. I've got a sinking feeling I'm going to be getting my hands dirty in more ways than one." She murmured. "But, we'll see how it plays out." She looked around another moment. "Well, since neither of us have anything to find here, want to grab a cup of coffee?"

"Try not to. Too much. Doesn't come out easily, those stains," Alexander says, quietly. But at the offer, his eyes widen and he looks visibly startled. "Coffee? With me?" Another look around, but then he smiles, slight but more real than previous attempts. "Sure. All right."

And coffee is had!