2021-12-12 - Attempted Bribery

It's Christmas season, and Gray Harbor businesses are determined to make the downtown look festive and joyful even if it kills them. There's tinsel wrapped around lamp-posts, and tinned Christmas carols blaring from every speaker. Harried shoppers run from one place to the other, trying to find the seasons' Best Gifts (tm) before they're gone. Alexander at least isn't participating in this sort of rat race. He has a modest group of bags, and is skirting the crowds as best he can, staying as far out of reach of people. Luckily, many of them avoid him, too. Still, he's actually singing Deck the Halls under his breath along with the speakers, and for an Alexander, looks pretty pleased with himself.

Christmas slander will never be tolerated around Cassidy Bennet. Today's ugly sweater of a reindeer with sunglasses and a santa hat proves that. She is outside the City Hall, but off to the side, where smokers have decided the unofficial "spot" is.

Alexander spots the ADA off to one side. Surely he wasn't looking for her, but he definitely heads in that direction as soon as he sees her. It's not stealthy. He stops just outside of arm's length, and studies her sweater for a moment. "...I like that." His own sweater is equally ugly, in a violent green with a terrible Santa cross-stitch front. He roots around in one of his bags, and then carefully extends a small, shiny bag professionally wrapped with a silver ribbon. "Here. Merry Christmas, ADA Bennet."

If she accepts it and opens it, she will find that it has a small holiday assortment of chocolates of various types.

Cassidy blows out a stream of smoke Alexander approaches. She appraises him with caution. She calls his ugly sweater "cute". As for the gift? She upnods toward it and says, "What is it? Open it up." She's not about to uncross her arm, where hand is tucked and being kept warm, nor is she about to discard her cigarette.

Alexander sort of stands there awkwardly, hand extended, before deciding to follow orders. "Chocolates. They're gift packs. I don't know what you like, but statistically, most people like some sort of chocolate." He undoes the ribbon, carefully, and opens the bag so she can see the chocolates inside as he tilts the bag towards her again. "And my sweater is cute."

"Awww so sweet..." Cassidy says in that way women say it as a nice thing to say. She takes another drag of her cigarette. "You can leave jt at the front desk and I'll grab it on my way out." She smiles and bats her lashes in a way that might make all of this worth it, "But /thank/ you."

"Oh." Alexander stares at her for a moment longer, then ducks his head, and ties the little bag back up, and slips it back into his shopping bags. "All right," he says, quietly. He eyes the smile and batting of eyelashes with some degree of wariness. Now would be a good time for him to...move along, after such a clear dismissal. But nope, here he is, just standing there. Staring. Thinking. Eventually, he says, "I am curious about the McNeely case and associated deaths. I wasn't in town when the original girl disappeared. I remember people mentioning it when I came back. Why was the brother arrested?"

There it is. Cassidy looks amused as if she knew the chocolates were a prelude to something. "Okay, but if I tell you I'm going to need two bags of chocolate..." She is eyeing those shopping bags. Knows the investigator got a bunch of little knick knacks meant to butter people up in there.

Alexander looks down at his bags. The soles of his sneakers scuff against the ground as he thinks it over. Then nods. "Okay. I'll give you Javier's bag, and find something else for him." For some reason, that seems to strike him as a reasonable trade. His head comes up again, and he stares expectantly at her. Although there's a flicker of his eyes to the cigarette. "When did you start smoking?"

"Some time near the end of law school." Cassidy answers with a frown at the randomness of that question.

"Addison McNeely's disappearance is a Gray Harbor cold case for going on 20 years now. Her body was found just a few months ago and initial DNA evidence suggested her brother, Benjamin, committed the murder." She lifts her brows and smiles. Worth two bags of chocolate, that.

The answer is accepted with a nod, and a brief, blank expression like Alexander is updating some mental file on the ADA. "Stress reaction? A lot of people take up smoking to relieve stress." But random interrogation about Cassidy's personal habits aside, he's considering the actual, pertinent answer. "What happened, then? DNA evidence is usually enough to indict if the circumstantials are good, but charges were dropped. The article was vague, and suggested impropriety on De la Cruz's part, but he has no reason to interfere with a twenty year old case. Few alibis can be airtight after 20 years. People forget. New evidence? Tampered evidence?"

"Maybe I just enjoy it." Cassidy replies casually before taking a long drag, inhaling deeply, and then expressing the smoke out in a slow, steady stream to show just how much she enjoys it.

"It is, and we had a plea on the table, but then the evidence went missing." She frowns at that - still a mystery. "And the officer in charge of the locker killed himself."

Alexander's eyes narrow. He does a quick recollection of reported suicides (he has a file at home, and looks at it more than he should), and hazards, "Officer Higgins? Stole the evidence and gave it to...someone else? Actual killer? Not Benjamin, because he was free and clear but killed himself, or was cleaned up as a loose end. Not De la Vega. No motive. But was suspected anyway. What was used to cast suspicion on him?"

"Easy there Encyclopedia Brown," Cassidy laughs. "You couldn't have gotten it more wrong."

"Higgins removed the evidence saying it was planted fallaciously in the first place. And indicated he'd done that more than once on several ocassions at the insistence of others - who he named." And no she won't say who was named, but Alex probably already knows who at least one of them was.

Cassidy says, "His alleged suicide was fueled by personal guilt."

Alexander's head cocks to one side. "Just because someone said it, doesn't mean it was true. Any supporting evidence for that version of events outside of his confession conveniently before allegedly killing himself?" Another pause, before he adds, "I liked Encyclopedia Brown. They were good books, for fiction. Encouraged an evidence-based view of the world."

"Okay Nancy Drew," Cassidy continues. "Are you just thinking out loud or do you think you're talking to someone who investigates these things?" She snuffs out the butt of her cigarette and reaches for another. "If so, I might have to explain to you how the criminal justice system works."

"Those aren't my names. My name is Alexander Clayton." But he's not as agitated as he usually is, with so much of his attention caught up in Mystery. He adds, "Also good books, for fiction," Alexander mutters. "And mostly the former. I'm sorry. I'll stop." A pause. "For a third bag of chocolate, can I have access to the original cold case file?"

"Ok Alec..." Cassidy says with an indifferent tone. "I don't have case files. I am an attorney for the state." She raises a brow. It's really not Alexander's fault. Cassidy was just born too good for this town.

Alexander huffs. "I'm Alexander. Not what you said. Alexander Clayton. And I know you don't have the fucking case file in your hands," he mutters, "but you could allow me permission to access it. I would ask Javier, but if he was under suspicion, it will seem weird to let me have access. It'd just take a phone call." He scowls and kicks at the grass, adding, "I don't mess up your name. Or your title."

The outburst leaves Cassidy with an expression that somehow mixes 'what the hell?' and 'did that just happen?' into one look. Her brows are lifted and she lets out a scoff. "Yeah... I'm going to go make /that/ phone call /right now/." she says with full-on sarcasm in her voice.

There's a moment when Alexander looks honestly hopeful. Then his expression crumples. "Sarcasm. That's a no, isn't it." He looks down. "Fine. Thank you for the information." Another of those long pauses. "What do you like?"

"What do you mean?" the attorney asks cautiously.

"You're a person." Alexander says. "Probably. People like things. Hobbies, enjoyment. I was wondering what you like." He frowns at her. "You're difficult to talk to and I would like to know more about you." Which is definitely her fault and not because Alexander has somehow discovered how to have negative social skills.

Cassidy definitely has the 'is he asking me on a date?' look of confusion about her. She's sorting through all the signals she gave that might have contributed to this. She finally says, "No. That's alright... See you around Alex." And she walks off.

But over her shoulder, "Leave the chocolate at the front desk, ok?" She smiles and finger waggles as she makes her escape.

Alexander stares, baffled, when she walks off. Then he kicks an innocent blade of grass and stomps off towards the City Hall main door. To leave two bags of chocolate at the front desk for the ADA. Which is likely to confuse the poor receptionist, especially when he then stomps off without a word.