Participants:
| Scene Title | Got You Now, You Wascally Motherfucker |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Elisabeth takes Tracy Strauss's statement. |
| Date | Oct 6, 2009 |
St. Luke's Hospital
Even in a hospital gown, Tracy Strauss' body is killer. But really, that's the only thing about her that is now. She has an O2 mask over her face, helping her lungs after all that lovely smoke inhilation. Her arm is in a sling, but at least she's come out of most of her drugged state. Most of it. She's comfortable enough to be sitting up on the bed, the news on showing a smoldering Dorchester Apartments. She watches, her blue eyes icy as she remembers how she was in there, trapped in the bathroom as the bedroom floor completely melted away. They had to use a ladder to get her down.
There's a gentle knock on the door as Elisabeth is allowed past the guards outside due to the flash of a badge. "Ms. Strauss?" she says as she steps into the room, "I'm Detective Harrison." She doesn't expect the woman to remember her — they've only met once. She stops at the edge of the bed, blue eyes skimming the patient for a long moment. "How're you feeling this morning?"
No, Tracy doesn't remember her - but since it's expected, very little harm is really done. She reaches up, pulling her mask away from her face. "I suppose I'm alright," she answers, her voice scratchier than usual. Hoarse, too. She holds the O2 mask just to the side of her face, allowing some of the air to continue to flow into her lungs. "Did you find him, Detective Harrison, is that why you're here?" She realy hopes so.
Considering the sketchy reports that anyone got from Tracy last night due to the chaos, Elisabeth is surprised the woman would assume it happened that quickly. "No, ma'am, they haven't. I'm here to take a full statement from you, since last night was so chaotic deling with the fire and making sure no one was trapped that we only got the jist." She pulls a chair over. "That sounds like you got a good look at the man who started all this. Why don't you start at the beginning and tell me what you remember about last night?"
"Just one man, short and fuzzy." That more or less sums him up. "Almost bald, but not quite. Old, and his nose was kind of long." She coughs a moment, taking a few seconds to press the oxygen mask over her nose and moth, breathing deeply before she moves it aside to continue again. "He said he was coming after me because I was evolved. I was getting ready to take…to take a bath and I heard something in the bedroom. So I came out and saw him, and just as he shot me I fell back into the bathroom and locked the door. He fired a few more shots, set that fire and left…" She coughs again, her face falling. "He must have been in the room when I was getting undressed…" Ew!
Elisabeth grimaces sympathetically. "I'm sorry to make you relive it… and for that to occur to you." She tilts her head and pulls from the pocket of her blazer a small stack of photos and holds them up with their backs to Tracy. "Do you feel up to attempting a sequential photo array for me? I don't know if anyone in here might be the person, but there've been some other incidents with similar descriptions so I'd like to at least try. Can you tell me what else he said to you, if anything?"
Tenatively, Tracy reaches out to take the photographs, turning them over in her hand and setting them on her lap for a moment. "He said, ummm…" she glances away, trying to remeber. "He thanked me for registering so he could find me. He said he wasn't a politician or a diplomat, that he didn't want to change any minds, he just wanted me dead." Tears start to stain the woman's eyes and her voice becomes a shade higher as nerves kick in. "And right before he set the fire he said, 'There's always tomorrow.' Does that mean he's going to come back?"
With her tone very gentle, Elisabeth says in a quiet, serious way, "I know you're aware of the kinds of things happening in this city, Ms. Strauss. It sounds like the possibility exists, which is why there's a set of guards on your door. You won't be able to return to your apartment for quite some time — probably several months, at least — so I strongly suggest that when you're ready to be discharged, it's to a more secure locale with a bodyguard. I would definitely take the threat seriously in light of the actions of Humanis First in the past weeks. On the surface, there seems the likelihood of a connection."
Tracy looks down at the photos incrudelously. "But if you find him," she murmers softly. "Then you can just arrest him and that will be that? I've delt with Humanis First before, I'd been getting threats before I was evolved due to my work with the President. I've had mobs swarm me and had guns pointed at me but this….this is….so much different." She looks down, taking a deep breath. Her fingers begin to shuffle through the images.
Liz waits silently, letting Tracy look through the photos. There are eight of them, all similar descriptions to the ones that Tracy offered. One of them is, in fact, Emile Danko — the sixth one in the pile. None of the images offers any clues one way or the other, a perfectly proper sequential array line-up. She's actually carrying three separate stacks, each containing a known Humanis First member and similar-looking people. The likelihood that HF was involved considering Tracy's announcement was pretty big. "I can't tell you that it's going to be that simple, ma'am," Elisabeth says perfectly honestly. "If we can identify the man in question, and if we can then locate him, and if he doesn't have a lawyer who manages to get him off on some technicality somewhere…." She trails off. "It's never quite as simple as we would like it to be. And being a victim… is always so much harder than we ever imagined." There is real sympathy in her tone and her expression. Not pity, but she empathizes.
"This one," Tracy says without hesitation, lifting the photo of Danko and handing it over to Elisabeth. "The light from the bathroom was bouncing off his scalp, I remember perfectly." She hands it over, laying back once more. "I can't think of a technicality in the world that would get a man off for shooting me and setting a building on fire the way he did. And I work with lawyers all day, Detective." Surely she knows how hard that is.
Reaching into her pocket for a pen, Elisabeth says quietly, "Sign and date the back of the photo that you've chosen, please?" She keeps her expression entirely neutral throughout. "I don't put anything past lawyers, ma'am. But with your ID, we at least have a lead to work on." After Tracy's written on the back of the photo, Elisabeth takes the entire stack back and tucks them back into her blazer pocket. "Ms. Strauss… I cannot begin to tell you how lucky I think you were." She smiles just a little. "I live in that building myself. And I know exactly how frightened you've got to be. They don't like me much either — I'm a known Evo cop." And they blew her brains out not too long ago, which she doesn't volunteer. "Some good security is a must here. And if you need to talk to someone…. I can make some recommendations, if you like. As can your doctor here. Is there anything else that you can tell me that might be relevant to the investigation?"
Tracy shakes her head slowly. "No, I don't think so." She pauses, looking down, staring away as her mind shuffles through mages and thoughts. "But I have a question." Once she's decided she's going to ask, she turns her head to look up at Elisabeth. "Is there any way he could have found out what I do? Bringing that molten fire like that….it was exactly the sort of thing I couldn't protect myself from. Was he just…lucky?"
Elisabeth draws in a breath and lets it out slowly. "There have been…. rumors… that leaks at various levels of law enforcement and other agencies are happening, Ms. Strauss. A friend of mine who used to be a healer and has subsequently lost her ability Registered and was kidnapped by a group out on Staten who claimed they'd gotten her information from a cop. So it's not out of the realm of possibility." She hesitates and says quietly, "The man that you've picked out of the lineup is ex-US military and may have contacts higher up the chain who could have access to the Registry. It's a possibility that we will be investigating thoroughly, I promise you. It's also entirely possible that he's just a whack-job who has access to thermite, which is what the fire inspectors tell me he used. It's a military-grade weapon but it's available on the black market if you know where to look. It's also a great way of making sure that all your tracks are covered, so… my initial guess is that it's just stupid luck," she says gently. "But that's purely conjecture on my part at this time."
"I understand," Tracy says, pressing her mask back over her face. "I…think there's something else I should tell you. I locked myself in the bathroom - the bathroom door is not that strong. If I had enouhg will, I could have broken it through. But he…didn't even try. He fired a few bullets but mostly he just stayed outside. For someone who wanted to kill me - thermite aside - he didn't try…very hardy."Tracy knows this for a fact because she'd wanted him to break that door down. But he never did.
Elisabeth considers that information and nods slowly. "I'll keep that in mind as I investigate the situation, Ms. Strauss." She watches the other blonde quietly. "Is there anyone that I can call for you? Someone who can come be with you? I know this is a terrible time; I hate the idea of leaving you here with just the guards."
The President? No, that doesn't work. Mortimer? Hah, a killer with guards, that wouldn't work either. "No, I'm fine, thank you. I'll be able to get some more rest by myself," she nods, reassuringly to Elisabeth. "Thank you so much for all of your help. I'm very sorry about your apartment."
There's a roll of her eyes and a quick smile that relieves the lines of stress in the detective's face. "I'm thinking my apartment is the least of your worries, ma'am. But thank you for the thought." Personally, she wishes Parkman had been home to mindzorch the bastard permanently, but ah well. If wishes were nickels, she'd be rich. Elisabeth moves to stand and pulls out a business card. "If you need anything, if you think of anything… my cell number's on the card, Ms. Strauss. And let me know where I can find you in case I have any more questions, all right? Other than that, don't advertise where you are. I'd rather not be scraping you off a cross in front of a burning church." Like her most recent partner. "I'll be available to you if you need me."