2021-12-31 - Police Calling

Kimberly takes the time to read through the whole McNeely file before she decides to reach out to Alexander Clayton. She'd gotten the file sometime that morning and by now had had time to digest the contents. The strange suicide note from one of the officers. The DNA evidence that had been thrown out. The whole strange state of a body being found twenty years after the fact in an area that had already been searched. The mysterious death of the prime suspect shortly after he had been released. She still wasn't quite sure why she was supposed to keep Mister Clayton in the loop, but she'd do as she was asked. She picked up her phone and dialed the number she'd been given, waited for someone to answer.

"Hello? Mister Clayton?"

Despite the time of day, the man who answers the phone seems groggy, like the phone woke him up. "Hello? This is Alexander Clayton." A pause and a couple of suspicious thump sounds and then quiet cursing, not quite muffled by a hasty hand placed over the receiver. After a moment, he asks, gruffly, "Who is this?" There's the sound of a cat miaowing imperiously in the background as Alexander makes his way down the hall to his home office and throws himself into the chair, which creaks a little under his weight.

"Thanks for taking my call," Kimi says while keeping her voice as precisely polite and even as she knows how. Comes with the job, she guesses. She manages not to giggle at the sound of the cat. Instead, she clears her throat a little.

"I'm Detective Kimberly Makimura, Gray Harbor Police Department. Chief de la Vega asked me to keep in touch with you about the McNeely case."

"I don't know a Makimura," Alexander replies, suspicion sharpening his tone. His words are slightly slurred as he runs his hand over his face, peers at the wall clock. "You're not local." It sounds like an accusation. "New?" Sounds of the chair squeaking, a file cabinet opening with a rattle. "The McNeely case. Yes. Trying to exhume the girl. Addison. No autopsy was done. Request of the family. Someone needs to get them to change their mind, or get a court order. Um. New M.E. can do the autopsy. Dr. Young. Have you talked to Benedict Addington?" The questions and statements are fired out in rapid succession, not loud, but fast.

"No, I just moved to town for the job. It's actually my first day," Kimi says with a touch of exasperation leaking into her voice. "I haven't spoken to Mister Addington yet, but he's on my list of people to call. I'm still settling in, but the chief seemed very interested in this so I figured I'd start with you and work my way down the list. Do you know the McNeely's? What do you think the chances of them changing their minds on the autopsy are?" She settles into her chair with a soft creak and there's the sound of pen on paper as she begins to scribble down notes into her notepad.

"They're town," Alexander mumbles. "When she went missing, they spent a lot of money trying to find her. There were organized searches, all of that. It's odd that when she shows up, they didn't want an autopsy done. I don't know them personally. But since her half-brother was the main suspect, maybe they didn't want to incriminate him." The chair squeaks again as he slumps in the chair, stares up at the ceiling while he talks. "Maybe with him dead, they'll change their mind. Or maybe they're still hiding something. Are you gonna talk with them?"

"I was planning on it," Kimi replies. She sounds a little hesitant. Perhaps she wonders if she can really trust this guy with the details of her own ongoing double-murder investigation. But then... Chief wouldn't have sent her to him if she couldn't, right? "At the very least, they need to know that we're going to be doing everything we can to track down whoever killed these two. I understand, though, that there might be reluctance to expose the family to further trauma or scandal if he really was the killer."

"I'd recommend you take Addington, if you can catch up with him and he's available," Alexander says, after a moment. "Addingtons are important in the town; might get them to open up more than a badge. Town politics. Um." There's a pause and the sound of shuffling papers. "There's an attached suicide of an officer. Don't think the house has been thoroughly searched. Addington and I were gonna go over there when he got a search warrant. If he's busy, maybe you'd be willing to file for one and let me tag along?" Although his voice is still thick with grogginess, there's a hopeful note in it, as well.

"I'll have to reach out to him," Kimi concedes thoughtfully. She listens then as Alexander shuffles his papers, nods though he can't see her. "Yes, I saw that. It's turning into something... big? Big might be the wrong word. It's something strange, though." She pauses. "I'll file for the search warrant and let you know when I'm going. Just make sure you follow crime scene procedure--not that I expect you not to, but I like to cover my bases. Is that okay?"

"Yes," Alexander mumbles. "It's strange. Some of the forensic evidence is odd, according to the initial reports. Autopsies would tell us more. And I don't intend to fuck up your crime scene, Detective." There's the barest hint of a smile in his voice. "I'll be good. Probably." The cat begins miaowing again, clearly somewhere close, and Alexander's muffled voice comes, "Sweetheart, I can't hold you right now. Gimme a few minutes." He uncovers the receiver to say, "Um. Do you have any specific questions? If you want a full rundown, we should meet somewhere. With Addington, maybe."

"I think a full rundown and meeting with Addington is going to be the best thing, yes. I'll contact him and let you know when? Is there a day or time that works best for you?" She pauses a moment, then asks with a smile in her voice: "I don't want to deprive your poor cat of your time, though."

"I'm flexible. Benefits of being self-employed," Alexander mumbles. There's a surprised silence at the investigator's end at the last, and then he laughs, brief and low. "Uh. Sorry. She's--feeling a little clingy right now. Someone stole her. It'll be fine. Just tell me when and where, Detective." There's a longer, more tentative pause. "Er. You said it was your first day? I'm sorry. Probably a little irritating having to talk to some outsider on your case. I'm sorry."

"No wonder she's clingy! Glad she's back safe and sound," Kimi replies. She leans back in her chair and listens for the next comment. "It's fine. I won't say that it doesn't get under my skin, but if it lets us find out the truth and figure out what happened to these people, then I'm willing to share and play nice with the other kids." She laughs, then: "I'll let you know when I get in touch with Addington. We'll do lunch or something, yeah?"

"Me too," Alexander says, although he doesn't sound particularly glad. More tired than anything. "Mm. Okay. Lunch. Just let me know where. Not the cafeteria in the department, Detective. It's horrifying. Eat anywhere else." He clears his throat. "Talk...to you later. Nice to meet you, Detective." He sounds like he's reading the polite farewell off of a cue card, possibly in a foreign language.

"I will, Mister Clayton. Thanks for your time and the advice on lunch. Take care now." And with that, she hangs up the phone. She has more calls to make after all.