2020-09-05 - At Her Feet Was Her Footloose Man

It was the same day that Halisey had been released from custody. Esme had just gotten off her overnight shift and had been cornered in the Waffle Shoppe, listening to information about the potential cult-related, pagan god serial killer that seems to have cropped up in Gray Harbor. As if she didn't have enough things going on. And then one of the people at the precinct called her and told her that Halisey was being released. Now, rationally, Esme understood they didn't have anything to hold him on but she knew, she could feel in her bones, that he was connected to this shit.

And so it was that Esme sped back over to the precinct, running on zero sleep and half a pot of coffee to storm the Chief's office.

She doesn't even knock.

She barges right in and all but slams the door behind her. "What. the . FUCK De la Vega?!" Her rant starts off with. "I was this close to getting him to crack!" She wasn't, not really. But damn if she hadn't been trying. She trails of in some weird mix of Mandarin and Spanish because sometimes it was just easier to express your anger and frustrations in a different language. The detective is just venting at this point. Not truly expressly direct at Ruiz himself, just the situation.

Finally, she switches back to English. Getting back to the heart of the matter. "Why did you let him go?!"

If Esme chances to look up, she'll find the captain standing there and in the midst of watering his sole plant. It's a cactus, probably someone's idea of a practical joke (probably the only thing you can't kill, sir). Sitting on his tiny window ledge overlooking the police impound lot, the little guy's seen better days. But then again, so has he. De la Vega's in a button-down shirt tucked into dark pants, sleeves turned up to his elbows, top two buttons undone. The air conditioning's been on the fritz today, and he looks a little flush from the heat, like most everyone on the second floor does.

Once Esme's finished her little rant, he pauses, eyes the detective, then the watering can, then sets it on his desk with a dull thump. "Are you done?"

Esme stared at Ruiz with narrowed eyes for a longer few seconds. Then seems to register the plant and the water can. Then looks back to him with a bit of a noisy exhale. "For now." She mumbled, rubbing at her eyes briefly with her pointer finger and thumb. She probably should have come back after she'd had time to cool off and get some sleep but, well. Hindsight is 20/20! She doesn't say anything else yet, just looks back up at Ruiz expectantly. Like he still better have a damn good reason for letting the one solid connection she had to all this walk.

The for now gains a raise of one brow, but his expression otherwise doesn't change. He doesn't appear amused, or particularly irritated, or much of anything really except tired. There's a brief sigh, and he reaches for the cup of lukewarm coffee on his desk, and takes a sip of what little remains. "We had nothing to keep him on. You know that as well as I do." Thump as the cup's set back down again, and he moves toward his filing cabinet and unlocks the second drawer, and starts rifling through it. His badge and gun are clearly visible, meaning he's still on duty; the latter's that nasty looking Sig he favours, loaded and shoved into a shoulder holster today, like he planned on pulling a jacket over top.

"You also know that if he's guilty, the next twenty-four hours are going to be critical in terms of gathering any incriminating evidence on him and whoever he's working for." He tugs out a folder, and tosses it atop the desk. It's all the information they've amassed so far on Halissey. "You think you can bring him in on something solid, if I can get you a search warrant on his place?"

Esme can relate to feeling tired, but she just mentally works on pulling herself together. "Yeah I know we didn't." Still doesn't make it suck any less. She watches him rifle through the filing cabinet. "He guilty of something." She sounds confident of that much. She picks up the folder than he had tossed down, doing a brief skim through of it. There's a brief look of uncertainty that crosses her features as she skims the folder. Trying to do some calculations. It was all bits and pieces, fragments that amounted to something it was just impossible to see what. But she nods, uncertainty gone when she looks back up to him. "I think so. He's too twitchy to be careful. There's gotta be something lying around. I don't suppose you've got a tail on him to see where he went first when he left here?"

This time, there is a twitch of a smile from the captain. He tugs out another folder from the cabinet, removes a collection what looks like photographs, and sets those on the desk as well. Three or four of them are turned around and lined up for Esme to peruse; they're all shots of Halissey going about what looks like errands around town. Pictures taken covertly and sent over since this morning, given the timestamps on them. He turns one over, slides a pen out of his desk drawer and scrawls some information down. A cell phone number and name, probably of the officer she should get in touch with to coordinate things.

"How's the rest of your caseload?" he wonders in a low murmur. "Anything you need reassigned?"

"Perfect." Esme relaxed just a little. At least they had eyes on him. She made a mental note to call the officer just to touch base when she left here. And then probably a more proper conversation after she'd rested. She carefully set the case folder down so she could peer a little closer at some of the pictures. When he asks about her caseload, she's quiet for a few moments as she sets the pictures down and then looked back up at him.

"I don't even know." She admits with a humorless chuckle. "This is my primary case. I've got a bunch of cold cases on my desk," Because she hated to actually close any cases out that had loose ends. "A few minor things. Pretty sure someone tried to pawn off the case with that woman found in the dumpster the other day on to me but I passed that right back." A beat of pause before adding, "And then before I came over here I got cornered about the weird serial killer running around. People wanting me to look into it because of the special stuff." Glimmer probably. "And you know I'm going to look into it anyway. So if you can get my minor cases reassigned so I can focus on Halissey and this other one...I think I won't go absolutely insane."

He knows, probably, about the cold cases. He knows how stubborn she is, how like a dog at an old bit of rawhide, refusing to let it go even when she probably should, by all rights. There's a flicker of something across his face; it's almost melancholic. Then it's gone, and he tosses the pen aside and pushes up to his full height, a breath blown out his nose. "I'll make sure the dumpster case is reassigned. And any other visual noise. Send me a list, and I'll clear it out for you, yeah?" He ticks his eyes up to hers, narrows his slightly. "How's that other case coming along, the, uh. Serial killer? Heard someone was found down by the beach, in a bonfire?"

What if it was her daughter? Her husband? Her best friend? Every time Esme put herself in the shoes of the people she was trying to find closure for, she knew she'd want the office in charge to keep trying. To not give up even if the case seems completely dried up. Cold cases being closed felt so...final. Esme didn't want them to give up hope of justice being served. She didn't want to give up hope on justice being served. And that's why the cases stayed open and stayed on her desk. Sometimes brought home with her to look over again.

"Thanks." Esme nodded when he said he'd get the cases reassigned. "I'll send you an email later today." When he asked about the serial killer she just shrugged. "I don't have a full picture yet since I just had an info dump on me with no time to process it. But it sounds like a clusterfuck. Body on the beach. Body in the forest. Both with their heads replaced by an animal head. Sacrifices to some old pagan gods or something. Missing person I'm going to follow up on that might be related..." Esme trailed off and shook her head. "Weirder than anything I've ever dealt with before."

When she mentions old pagan gods, the captain makes a bit of a face. Like, great, more Gray Harbour nuttery. The younger woman's watched for a long moment, and then the potted cactus sitting on his windowsill. "Well, you let me know once you're ready to make a move on a suspect, yeah? I'll back you up." He moves to collect his coffee cup, probably intending to go and get a refill. He's going to need it, to dig his way out of all the paperwork on his desk. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry about Halissey. That it couldn't have gone the way you'd like. Might still be a win for us, yet, if you play your cards right, though." He tries to catch her eyes there, for a moment.

They should change the slogan from Everything's fine to Good luck.

Esme nodded. "There's the usual suspects who are poking their noses into it already so I'm using them to help gather intel. I'm getting a bigger picture I think I'll be able to get something solid soon." She studies Ruiz for a longer moment, meeting his gaze when he spoke about playing her cards right. She makes a thoughtful noise and nods. "I'm sorry I came in raving like a lunatic." She offers with a bit of a sheepish smile. Moving towards the door so she could open it for both of them. "I'll figure it out the cards in my hand and decide the best play to make. " She assures him. A brief look crosses over her features, she might not even be aware of it. But it's one the captain has probably seen many times. On his own face, or in the faces of others.

Esme needed a win.

"I'm sure I'll be talk to you soon." She offered up another bit of a smile before heading out of his office.