Acting Out

Participants:

elisabeth_icon.gif cassidy2_icon.gif leland_icon.gif

Featuring NPCs by

azrael_icon.gif

Also Featuring

coren2_icon.gif felix_icon.gif

Scene Title Acting Out
Synopsis Morgan Delany comes to NYPD Headquarters to report the disappearance of her daughter Jessy. Her dramatic antics are cut short by the arrival of her son, who seems perfectly placid the entire interview with Cassidy and Elisabeth. Leland eats crappy deli pasta salad and makes coffee, and Felix arrives in time to get sucked into looking into things with Elisabeth. Coren is stuck at his desk.
Date July 3, 2009

NYPD Headquarters

The New York Police Department Head Quarters is an old stone building, renovated many times over the years. The plaster walls are not as cracked and in need of repair as the various Precinct buildings around the city. The fluorescent lights give the room a rather sterile glow. Old posters, civic reminders, duty rosters and newspaper clippings are tacked up on the walls, rustling every time one of the doors opens. A high, wooden desk sits on the north wall, manned by two clerks, who records all visitors and arrests.

The way out to the street lies to the south, while doors to the offices of the Head Quarters lie to the northwest.


Morgan Delany didn't want to turn to the police. She never favoured them much in general, but when her daughter went missing, she felt she didn't have much of a choice. And so she's found herself coming to report Jessy missing, and getting the usual brick wall that is having a case handed off to Missing Persons — a division with an unfavourable success rate. She knew she shouldn't have trusted the police to help find her daughter.

"Why won't you listen to me?" she cries out. Her voice, being one of those middle-pitched ones and twisted by the building grief and panic, can be easily heard from anywhere on the main level. Her blond hair is in shabby condition, all messed up as though she'd been living on the streets for a few days — that or she's been too busy to shampoo.

"Ma'am, we need to file a report and a detective from Missing Persons will be assigned to the case. Beyond that, I'm afraid we can't do anything more."

"She could be shot and bleeding, or dead!" And with the mere thought, the woman breaks down and starts sobbing, falling down to her knees on the cold marble floor in front of the desk sergeant.

Coren doesn't hear any of the commotion coming from the main level, being on the second level at his desk, but the woman's commotion has already started whispering in the hallways. Office gossip. Naturally, he sits across from Cassidy, finishing up the last of the paperwork to which he was assigned. He looks forward to desk duty being over in week and a half. He and Cassidy have reached a further understanding in recent talks, but he's still aware of her continued emotional difficulties adjusting to their predicament. Oh the drama. Not that he doesn't find the occasional or even frequent problem with their situation, but he's dealt with deeper relationships — marriage — before and has that added experience to soften things for him.

The slow and tedious paperwork completed and stuffed into his deep outbox, Coren can't help but look around at the suddenly-chattering officers and detectives. He lets out a sigh and shakes his head. "You know, I've never quite understood gossip," he says, though he hardly has to verbalize the thought for Cassidy. She already knows.

Bent over some much needed paperwork, Cassidy gives her own sigh that just about echo's her partners. With him behind the desk, the younger detective has been getting a lot of the simple cases. It was frustrating, so not too hard to imagine that she's ready for him to get out from behind the desk. She glances at the door and shrugs. "Human nature." She states blandly, climbing to her feet. "Course you know what they say about us." Moving to the door, she leans out to try and catch what's being said. Shaking her head, she glances back at her partner. "I gotta go down there.. Supposedly some woman is sprawled on the floor having a fit and threating to commit…. or Haden over there is saying…. harakiri"

Leland is at his desk towards the rear of the floor, his view partially blocked by those moveable cubicle walls. He's trying to get some damn work done, but some woman is wailing. He's not listening to the content of said wailing, so he's not inclined to give her much sympathy. Hey lady. We all got problems. He can't find a decent pasta within walking distance.

The detective spears a few pieces of penne with a plastic fork, sniffs at it, adds pepper to the whole mix and takes a bite. Ngh. Inferior.

Slipping in from the back hallway, Elisabeth has paperwork in her hands and isn't really listening to the sounds of wailing from downstairs. Someone's almost always shouting or screeching or whatever down at the main foyer — hell, half the time there's even someone spitting. She glances up as the stops at Leland's cubicle to drop a case file on his desk with a cheeky grin. "Dunno why you even eat that crap instead of just bringing your own," she comments mildly. "What's this about Hari Krishnas?" she calls over the cubicle wall, since she can see over it toward Cass and Coren.

Oh for God's sake. Cory Delany rushes into the building to see his mother crumpled in front of the main desk. Why does she have to be so dramatic? "Mother," he says in the tone most parents use to get their child's attention, coming up close and resting a hand on her shoulder. "Let me talk to them. Go wait in my car." There's a bit of an resistance to the idea. "I'm not letting you drive home like this."

"They don't care that she's missing! They don't care about our Jessy."

"Mother, they know how to do their jobs, you just have to let them." Clearly he doesn't share his mother's dismal view of the police. "At least go have a seat," he says to her, and she complies after he helps her off the floor and to a chair. The woman continues to wring her hands as Cory returns to the main desk, straightening his sightly tousled black hair.

"I'm really sorry about that," he says to the desk sergeant. "She has a tendency to be a bit dramatic." As opposed to his stoicism.

"Yeah," the officer at the desk comments, "We get that a lot."

"If I could maybe talk to someone, to explain why she thinks Jessy was taken or God knows what else she's thinking?"

"Harakiri indeed," Coren snorts with a shake of his head. No, he's not particularly fond of dramatics, himself, having been involved in more than enough for his liking already. Hell, his life alone is drama enough. "Do make sure they don't eat her alive?"

"Coward." Cassidy accuses her partner with a smirk, before slipping out of the office with a pat to the frame. Her life is just as dramatic and you don't see her hiding in the office. Course, she's been the source of much of the recent dramatics in his life. "Hey, Liz.. Supposedly there is a hysterical woman.." She gives a shrug and a grin before passing both of them, moving to slip her arm through Liz's "Come with me and leave the poor man to his crappy pasta."

"Felix ate all the leftovers," Leland grumbles to Liz and chucks the fork into the bowl. "Guy falls asleep during the movie. I go to bed, wake up in the morning and he's been in to the container I packed for lunch." If Liz didn't know him better, she'd think he was actually upset. That sour look on his face is his good natured grumbling.

He peers down the way, towards the commotion. "I have no damn idea. I'm on break." He picks up his mug of coffee and sips from it pointedly. When Cassidy comes by, he just eyes her, but doesn't say anything. All she gets is a patented Daubrey grunt.

With a cheeky grin at his good-natured whining, Liz merely comments, "Poor baby." When Cassidy threads her arm through Liz's, she snickers and rolls her eyes. "Yeah, sure, whatever. C'mon…. can't be more fun than harassing Daubrey, but maybe a close second." She falls into step with the other woman and lets herself be tugged through the precinct toward the main lobby.

When they arrive, the theatrics have mostly come to an end, although Morgan can be seen sitting in her chair some ways away from the desk still sobbing in silence. Cory, on the other hand is at the desk, and it's only a moment before Dobson notices Elisabeth and Cassidy and calls them over, "Harrison, O'Shea, I've got a present for you." He pulls up a clipboard with some customary forms on it and sets it up on the top of the desk for Cory to take — which he does. "Meet Cory Delany. Apparently his sister's gone missing. It's been more than seventy-two hours, so help the lad fill out the form and take his statement. Probably get passed off to Missing Persons, but you never know, right?" Then maybe his mother will leave. Not that Dobson says the last part.

Cassidy gives a small sigh, giving Liz an apologetic look. "And of course.. Curiosity killed that cat.. or in this matter, gets the cop more paperwork." Letting go of the other detective, Cassidy takes the clipboard. "Thanks.." she tells the Desk Sergeant flatly, before waving the guy and his mother along. "Come on.. let's talk." She hands the clipboard to Harrison and moves to help the mother to her feet. The woman's sorrow is almost overwhelming for her. "Let's get you to an interview room and get you some tea… or something."

Leland occasionally peers down towards the front to see what's going on. But he would have happily stayed at his desk were it not for the fact that his coffee cup is suddenly empty. He heaves a big dramatic sigh and pushes his chair back, then wanders down the aisle towards the coffeemaker. Various grumbling follows as he discovers there's none left. That's a high crime in a police station. He sets about making a fresh pot.

Elisabeth is too good a cop — and too nice a person — to grimace at the desk sergeant. At least where the people can see it. She gives him a hairy eyeball though… payback, man! But then she looks at the young man, carrying the clipboard with her, and says, "C'mon, we'll take care of as much of this as we can. I'm Detective Harrison. Why don't you start by telling my why you think your sister is missing, as opposed to just off doing her own thing? Did you bring a picture with you?"

"I always carry a picture of my baby sister with me," Cory says, pulling out his wallet and slipping the little 2x3 photo of his sister — her high school graduation photo, blond hair pinned beneath her cap — from its plastic sleeve and handing it over. "I can grab another from the pack, so you can keep that one for the file," he says. He's remarkably calm throughout all of this. "To say that my sister is the opposite of spontaneous is an understatement. She pretty much doesn't do anything unless she's told to," he says, rubbing his black stubble just a bit. "She's taking spring and summer courses at NYU and hasn't been seen since Monday. One of her classmates called my mother and I asking if she'd left her phone off or something, but we haven't been able to reach her since we saw her last weekend. She usually comes home on the weekends, but otherwise stays in her dorm studying. I'm sure her room mate would let you look around."

With the mother in tow, Cassidy cranes her neck to try and get a look at the photo. "Have her friends mentioned any boyfriends.. suspicious people?" Glancing at the brother and then past him at Liz and presses her lips together. If one thing Cassidy's come across is that sometimes good girls take a trip on the wild side. But she doesn't say that out loud just directs people toward an interview room.

Leland continues to fiddle with the coffeemaker. He keeps half an ear on the conversation, more just to be aware than out of any real interest. It's good to know what's going down, even if it's not his immediate concern, or the kind of case he deals with. He glances Liz's way, but doesn't try to get her attention. Now, where are the damn sugar cubes?

Elisabeth takes the picture as they walk toward an interview room, briefly sharing that glance with Cassidy. Walkin' on the wild side indeed. Then she studies the picture as she listens to the man's information. Nodding to his assertion that they can look around her dorm room, Elisabeth lets him answer Cassidy's question about boyfriends and adds a couple of her own. "Has she been having any trouble at school that you know of? Has she spoken of breaking off any friendships or anything like that recently?" The description of 'doesn't do anything unless she's told to' really disturbs the blonde detective, though. Submissive on that level can bode really ill for young women on their own for the first time.

"Not that I've heard, but I'm usually working the whole time she's at home. My mother … she doesn't really get along well with people," Cory says as he takes a seat in the interview room. "I suppose just because I haven't heard of any friendships or relationships doesn't mean she hasn't had any. It just wouldn't fit the Jessy I know." Which he's admitted may not be an accurate picture.

"Well, we'll need to have any phone numbers of anyone that knew her." Cassidy comments, while helping the mother into a chair. SHe then puts distance between her and the mother, though it doesn't seem to help shut out some of those emotions. Glancing at both Cory and his mother. "Can I get you coffee? Tea? Soda?"

While they get settled, Elisabeth sets the clipboard in front of Cory and says, "Fill this in while we talk, please?" And then she moves to lean against the end of the table. "We're not going to just dismiss this case, but usually young girls who go missing turn up within a week. While you're filling in everything you know about her friends, her roommate, anyone that she sees on a regular basis, and anything you know about what her normal routine would be, let me ask you this: Is there anyone that you can think who didn't like her? Who had problems with …. I don't know. The fact that she's the smartest girl in class? That she dated their boyfriend or girlfriend? Anything like that? And though I hate to make this a part of the investigation, it has to be asked… is she Evolved that you know of?" And if she were and just discovered it, would it be cause for her to run away? is a question Elisabeth leaves out.

Morgan shakes her head, lips tight together, a distinct 'screw off, you incompetent child' sign stamped on her forehead. Of course, that's a sign that's likely permanently affixed.

"Of course," Cory says as he takes the pen and begins filling out the form. "I'm fine, thanks," he says in response to Cassidy's question. "As I said, I really didn't keep up with her personal life outside of the home. She never really talked much, you know? It's not exactly a long list." In fact, aside from his own information and his mother's — both of which are nearly identical — all he's written is 'Jackie' and a phone number. The roommate. "She doesn't talk much, I don't know. You should talk to her roommate. She sees her five days a week, usually." The question about her being evolved though, that makes him pause. "No," he says. "Well, I suppose it's possible, but she never mentioned it to me."

Cassidy takes a deep breath and lets it out, she sidles up to Harrison. "You got this?" She murmurs softly in her ear. "I need to get some distance." She glances at the others in a meaningful way, then back to Liz with a slightly pleading look. The think about her power is some stuff comes through.. some stuff misses, but sometimes… it overwhelms. "I can grab someone else if you need it."

There's a quick nod to Cassidy — she knows the woman's got to be getting a migraine from the emotions roiling in this room. "I got it," she says quietly. Then she looks back to the mother and brother. "Write down her address for me, as well, please. I'll go by and talk to her roommate first thing tomorrow." Along with a visit to the registrar to verify what classes the girl takes and a trip through campus to visit each class that Jessy's supposed to be in right now to see if anyone's got any contact with her. "It's going to take a little time to follow up on whatever leads her school may yield, so be patient, okay? But I won't let it fall through the cracks, and I'll get back with you as soon as possible. If she contacts you or you hear anything, here's my number," she tells them, pulling a card out of the inner pocket of her blazer. "If I'm not at my desk, the voice mail automatically comes to my cell and I'll get back with you as soon as possible."

Fel the useless wanders in, mug of coffee in hand. He looks tired and abstracted, those two familiar lines graven between his brows. "Missing person?" he enquires, casually.

Cory nods as he takes the card and starts to write down Jessy's usual contact information, including her room at Brittany Hall and repeating his and his mother's address, which is Jessy's weekend home away from school. "I'll call you if I think of anything else," he says. At the sound of someone new, he shrinks a little bit in his seat, clearly expecting something from his mother, as his gaze quickly moves to her.

His mother, on the other hand, doesn't say a single word. Pff. Police. What do they know? She'll probably have to find Jessy herself. With the appearance of this new man and his cup of coffee, Morgan's attention is on him, those dark, scrutinizing eyes glaring harshly at the man. She clearly has a dislike for law enforcement, but remains silent for her son's sake. Apparently she has decided to spare him the agony of another outburst.

Cassidy gives Harrison a relieved look and mouths a thank you, before heading to the door. A pause to let Felix walk in, "Yeah. Young NYU student." That said she makes a hasty retreat from the interview room, disappearing into the office her and Coren share and shutting the door… though that doesn't help really, but the distance does help.

Elisabeth glances up at Felix and offers her sometime-partner a nod as Cassidy clears out. She offers the girl's high school graduation picture to him. "I'm sure between us we can do some canvasing and come up with something to reassure her mother and brother." She smiles at them, offering gently, "I hope that I'll be able to tell you she just slipped away for a wild party. But no matter what we find tomorrow, I'll call you personally."

Felix takes the photo, looks it over gravely, hands it back. Doesn't ring a bell. He offers the unfortunate mother his best reassuring smile.

"Thank you," Cory says, standing up from his chair and setting the pen aside after circling his cellphone number. "You can call my cell phone," he says quietly to Elisabeth before going to help his mother up, although it's more to hold her back than anything. "Thank you, Detective Harrison." On that note, he takes his mother out of the interview room and heads back the way they came, offering Felix an "Excuse me," as they pass him.

Elisabeth watches them go and glances at Felix, encasing just the two of them so her comment can't be heard. "NYU student whose brother and mother don't know any of her friends, can't give me any contacts for her from high school or college except her roommate, and describe her as 'not spontaneous' and 'doesn't do anything at all unless she's told to'. Honestly, Fel, it wouldn't shock me to find out the girl just up and ran away." She doesn't sound entirely sure that's the case, though, because one never knows.

The Fed's lip curls unhappily. "No boyfriend?" Well, it's the logical assumption, isn't it?

"Not so that they know about it, no," Liz replies. "The mother's got some issues. The brother ….. the read I got on him is that he's only here because his mother went apeshit and insisted."

Felix says, in his driest voice, "What sort of issues?" As in 'is this just crazy mom firing off?'

Elisabeth shakes her head. "Not sure — looks like anti-cop issues, based on the way she was harassing the hell outta Dobson." She shrugs. "Wanna hit NYU with me in the morning? I want to get hold of someone at the registrar's before we go over there — make sure we know what her class schedule looks like so we can hit some of her classes and not just her roommate."

"Works for me," Fel says. He doesn't protest the number of cases he has. Always more work for a cop.


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