Participants:
| Scene Title | If You Could Only See |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Elisabeth and Nash are called onto the scene of a jewelry story robbery. |
| Date | November 13, 2009 |
It was one of those nights for Christopher Nash and morning has definitely come too early. He's already hit up the local coffee shop for a large dose of caffiene when his cell phone rings off. He scribbles down the information as it comes to his ear, a plain donut sitting across from him on a napkin. He tears off the sticky note and looks over at his partner. "Seems we have ourselves a good old fashioned jewel heist." Though there's something in Nash's tone that says this might not be as old fashioned as they'd prefer. At least, if it were it would be someone else's phone ringing. "Got the address and I guess it's not too very far from here." He looks longingly at the donut, then snatches it up and heads towards the exit, walking backwards. "Coming?" he asks Liz.
This is why she always gets her coffee in a paper to-go cup. She splurged this morning on a piece of lemon pound cake at the bakery, working on putting back on a bit of the weight she's dropped in the past few months. She takes a large bite of it even as he hangs up the phone and then, picking up her treat and her coffee, Elisabeth follows Nash out of the coffee shop. "They give you any details?" she asks around her mouthful as they head for the car. She's driving today, so that pound cake is only going to get nibbled on from here out probably.
He's not going to complain if she wants to drive. After taking a mouthful, he rattles off the address. Local business district, maybe a dozen blocks away. "One of those chain jewelry stores with low to medium end pieces. No alarms but they said there was some video footage we'd be interested in. Fitzpatrick is on the scene along with that fat tub O'Malley. I better finish this donut before I get ambushed stepping out of the car." Nash's buckling himself in his seat as she takes off, then he takes a bite of his donut, setting the travel mug of coffee in the cup holder. At least the NYPD is sparing no expense for cup holders. All they need now is a pastry shelf in the dashboard and they'd be all set. "Apparently our thief took everything that wasn't nailed down, including the contents of a safe."
The napkin-wrapped piece of cake gets set down on the console between them and Liz hits the lights on the car, though not the siren. There are already cops on the scene, so no need to race. She drives through the morning Manhattan madness, her coffee securely held in the other cup holder. "Wonderful" is all she says about the situation, her tone dry. "Steer clear of O'Malley — he's a bastard. Fitz is good people, though."
"I'm sure they make a wonderful couple." In all honesty, it's not a bad thing for them to be together. Putting an asshole with someone who has a little tact can prevent most problems. Unless of course, the asshole in question is a bully too. One thing Nash learned in his time in Chicago is that you don't always get along with your partners, so you have to know when to play your hand, and then to fold, even if you have a winning hand. There really isn't much for small talk yet. Bit Fitzpatrick seems to be the kind of guy who'd punch O'Malley in the nose if he got out of line. Nash has met Fitz once, and obviously seen the beligerant obese O'Malley.
Being only partnered with Harrison for a few weeks still, it's one of those moments where you know it's far too quiet. If he had a male partner, he'd already be talking about the girl he bedded last night, whether or not he really had bedded one. But she's made her stance clear on the subject, so he adjusts his tie as he sees the flashing lights ahead and takes the last bite of his donut, swallowing it down with good swallow of coffee and he's ready to do this thing.
Slanting the man in the other seat a glance, Elisabeth comments mildly, "You're awfully quiet. That doesn't seem like you. What's up?" There's not too much time to answer before they're pulling up behind a black and white cruiser. She takes the time to have a swallow of her coffee, though, before she gets out. Her hand absently smooths down to check her badge at her waistband she shuts the car door.
Nash's door is opened as he exits the vehicle. He hadn't even considered for a moment that he'd been too quiet. "Eh. Too little sleep, etcetera etcetera." Not that too little sleep has ever kept him quiet before, but he figures at least it'll be a stall from what is really eating at him. He hopes to God, he's not developing a conscience. That would be an annoying pain in the ass. "I'll keep the details to myself," the smirks is given as he falls in stride next to her as they head towards the scene, ducking under the yellow tape that is meant to keep the uninvited out.
There's a faint smirk. "Man… you gotta pace yourself, Nash. So many women, so little time is gonna kill you," Elisabeth quips with a laugh as she ducks the tape herself. "Or give you a dose of the clap. I sure hope you're wearing a raincoat and shit." She scans the scene as they walk, nodding to a couple of uniformed officers who are watching the perimeter. One of them turns his back as they walk by, and Elisabeth seems to ignore it as she points. "There's Fitz."
"Just the raincoat. Could you imagine me spawning offspring?" A grin is given at the response and he nods as the mentions the beat cop. "Hey Fitz, whatcha got for us."
There's a shaking of the head as Fitz thumbs towards O'Malley, "He's still taking names, but we got ourselves a looter. Only problem is that he got in and out without setting off Mr. Ramble's fairly extensive security system. Figure it's gotta be evolved, and I'm certain you'll agree when you see the video footage." It's not easy for Fitzpatrick to finger an evolved, considering he was one himself, so jumping to that conclusion means there's definitely something in the footage that leads to that conclusion.
Elisabeth listens to the report, meeting the man's serious gaze with a carefully neutral expression. There's a sense of an unspoken conversation between the two, and Liz merely nods. "All right, we'll take a look. Try and keep O'Malley off my ass," she tells Fitz. The older man has spent his whole career in uniform and he's anti-female, anti-faggot (his word, not Elisabeth's), anti-Evo, anti-pretty much everyone that's not like him. He bugs the crap out of Liz, and it's only gotten worse since the rumor mill linked her to Ivanov as more than a partner. She walks past Fitz and heads for the back room of the store where the security footage will be being watched by forensics.
Nash glances over at Liz as Fitz speaks about the crime, then as Liz speaks about O'Malley. Nash doesn't seem to be anti-anything, except maybe anti-committment, but that's an entirely different issue altogether. "Let's take a look at the magic. Maybe the perp is a hot female, which is why I would have been called on the case." Someone has to keep the mood light around here.
The door is opened to the back as he allows his partner to step through first, then follows. The office is small. It really is a little family store. They will have to lean against a small table while the tech guy is rewinding the video. "What we have here, is… not going to make your jobs any easier. Though, we might be able to get more out of it once we get it back to the lab." They would know this tech guy as 'Johnny'. As the video plays, there's literally nothing going on. No movement, or anything. Then Johnny lifts his hand and points to one of the views, which shows a ring slowly rising and moving through the glass, hovering into the air, then seemingly dropped and disappearing. "The fuck…?" One by one pieces of jewerly are pulled through the glass and then disappearing after floating across the counter and then dropped. It almost looks as if the jewelry were being dropped onto the floor, but the pieces disappear before they reach the hard tile. "Then over here." Johnny points to another view where small bags and envelopes are literally pulled out of the wall. "Behind that wall is a safe. The wall panel pops out and that's how the safe is accessed."
Peering at the video, Elisabeth is quiet. Until the ring just levitates out of the case and vanishes. "Well, now… that's….. amusing," she says drily. "So… we've got an invisible thief who can carry a bag with him or her, obviously. And can … reach through glass? Seems like unrelated abilities, but who knows?" She shakes her head. "Shit. Did he open the safe, or just levitate shit through the door?" she asks.
"I'm not an expert on the subject, but it looks like either someone is reaching into those places and pulling those items out, or they are using some sort of telekinesis to manipulate those items." Nash's astute observation.
Johnny nods. "That's what we're thinking. There is some blurry movement so I'm hoping we can take this video and get it analyzed and maybe put a body or even a face to it, but it'll take some time."
Nash lets out some air. "Well, if you set this up to welcome me to New York, I'll say that I'm quite impressed. At least you're welcoming me in grand style," he chuckles towards Liz. "This is still more your turf than mine, anything ring a bell for you?"
As she watches the tape again, Elisabeth frowns. "If you're seeing a blur, could also be a speedster. Theoretically, you could vibrate an object quickly enough to pass it through another solid object…. " She trails off, and clears her throat. "Or so I've heard." It doesn't do to look too smart in front of certain people. "And actually, I had heard tell of a speedster thief a few months ago, but nothing on this level. It was a mugger, I think. I'd have to page back through the files to see if I could come up with the reports."
"Wouldn't you see more wind or something with a speedster. I'm thinking more of someone with phasing or invisibility? Maybe?" It's more of a question. Nash has had little experience with evolved. Even being in Chicago, the Evolved movement was not nearly as prominent, so there's plenty for the Chicago native to learn in situations like these. "I'm no science major, but seems logical."
"A phasing ability might explain it too," Elisabeth replies. "Though I wouldn't think that would explain the invisibility. And if the power was just invisibility, they wouldn't be able to get the jewelry through the case. Still, anything's possible." She shakes her head and tells Johnny, "Let us know if you come up with anything more useful. Let's see if the canvas turned up anything. We're going to need lists of employees, ex-employees, and anything that looks like it might be someone casing the place too." She points toward the front of the store. "There are a couple of newspaper stands and a coffee place that might have regulars who notice things like that."
Nash heads for the door, having had his fill of this tiny little room. As he enters the main store area. "Looks like we have ourselves a little mystery on our hands, don't it? And this poor bastard is going to lose everything if we don't find his shit." This is the kind of pressure that Christopher Nash thrives in. "Now that we're away from the others, have any ideas on where to start with this thing?" Nash is not dumb enough to think he knows his way around this city as of yet.
As she walks with him, Elisabeth glances at Nash. "I thought I'd already made it pretty clear where I think we ought to start." She keeps her voice contained to just the two of them as they step outside. "I think we should canvas the street and see if anyone saw someone who was here too often, watching too closely. See if there are ATM cameras or street cams pointed this way. See if there are any employees or ex-employees that can be looked at. Even with an Evo theft, the same basic rules apply to the investigation, Nash. For now, we work on the assumption that either the place was cased or that it was an inside job. Although whoever it was used an Evo power to GET the stuff out of the cases and the safe, how'd they know exactly what was stored where? The stuff in the displays, that's a gimme. But the stuff in the safe? Sure, it could be someone who just made an assumption that there were be stuff in the safe, but somewhere along the way, they had to know exactly where to look for the safe itself. It's not that obvious."
Nash smirks as they walk towards the sidewalk, exiting the door and stepping out into the elements. "Seriously, I know how to conduct an investigation. It seemed like you were being a little guarded in there, so I thought perhaps there was something you wanted to say, but not necessarily in front of the others. And I have no issue with that. Since you've been here, I wasn't sure if perhaps this rang a bell with you. It could just as easily been an inside job. However, if this particular Evo has invisibility as a power, then he or she could easily have sat in that store all day long and just watched how things worked. Watch the store owner get into the safe. Watch as he set the alarm code."
Elisabeth ahs at the comment about being guarded. And then she nods slightly. "I have some…. concerns about the fact that some of the cops on the squad seem to like the idea of searching through the Registry for powers that fit the crime and using that as a starting place," she finally says. "It bothers me on levels I can't begin to articulate…. because a dirty cop found Abigail's information in the Registry back when she did have an ability and he gave it to a bastard named John Logan. Who had Abby kidnapped and held out on Staten Island to minister to other Evos that he chucked into an illegal gladiatorial ring." She looks at him. "So I'm reluctant to even suggest that the Registry might be of benefit."
"Well, I am not entirely certain that would be a benefit since we aren't even sure what sort of ability we're looking for. I wouldn't even start there unless I was absolutely certain. And even then, it would only be to cross reference with some already convicted or suspected for the same type of crime. I wouldn't discount the usefulness of the Registry, but it shouldn't be the sole use of that particular database." Nash glances around to different area and points out three cameras in particular that could give them some idea where to start.
Elisabeth nods slightly and relaxes, glad that they're on the same page. "I was…. biting my tongue in there because I was afraid you might…. suggest it." She grins a little. "I'm sorry." She starts walking toward one of the stores that has an outdoor camera whose footage might give a lead.