Participants:
| Scene Title | That Went Well |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Dante and Elle visit a family member of Justin Renner and stumble across a lead. |
| Date | August 18, 2010 |
Blue Star Construction Site
The sign on the plywood that covers the chain link fencing outside the construction area reads Blue Star Construction. White words on a blue star, so very creative. The sound of machinery in use, hammers slamming home, cranes elevating structures into place so they can be welded. Stacks of supplies here and there as construction hatted individuals keep busy and work at getting this high rise completed.
Donald Renner, brother to the deceased Justin Renner, Nephew and cousin to the two deceased Renner's in Florida. With Acton Reed ruled out and no tape of anyone entering vents or accessing them at Hunter Communications, they are down to good old fashioned footwork and are here to try and find Donald who's returned to work after the death of his brother.
And with forewarning, it wasn't hard to find him. A portable trailer, sitting on supports, Site Manager across the door, Donald is inside, his hat hung up and going over some blueprints. Despite the heat, denim pants and shirt, steel toed boots, and no place for anyone but him to sit, except for some crates that have been brought in. "I'm sorry, who are you both?" He inquired. pen tucked behind his ear and baseball cap on.
"Sir, I'm Agent Lupinetti and this is…" Dante glances over to Elle as soon as they both file inside, and a small frown quirks at his lips, like he's about to regret his words. "…Agent Bishop, with Homeland Security." A flash of a badge before it's tucked back into his pocket, and Dante crosses his arms over his chest. He's not going to let the heat bother him. And he's not taking off his black trench-coat. He thinks it makes him look more intimidating. "We'd like to ask you a few questions, about your brother and cousins."
ORDER: It is now your pose.
When Elle Bishop heard she was being sent to a construction sight, she decided to dress accordingly. It's her first day free of her sling, and she's making the most of it. The Vicodin also ran out and her shoulder really doesn't hurt any longer, so she's making the most of that today, too. The petite blonde is dressed to the nines, wearing a short white skirt and a bright red halter top that nicely conceals her stitched up shoulder. Her legs are bare, and her feet are covered by a pair of tall red heels; her makeup has been done, and she looks every bit the lovely pinup girl today.
A charming smile is offered to Donald Renner as they step into his office, the little blonde quite happy to let Dante do the introductions. As she is announced, Elle offers a little wave to go with that smile.
"My cousins?" Donald reaches up to lift his hat enough to scratch at his forehead, re-adjust his ball-cap and glance to Elle. Can't help but notice her, she screams look at me. "Take uhh, take a seat, I got some time to talk. Do you happen to have some ID on you?" He asks, Donalds hand coming out with the presumption that either person will produce it.
Dante's been tense ever since he first saw Elle in that getup, and he's been trying very hard the whole trip over not to look at her. So his pale gaze is fixed directly on Donald. When he offers them a seat, Dante just picks a spot to lean against the wall. The question for ID has him reaching into his pocket and pulling out his badge again, holding it open for Donald to read to his heart's content. No, he's not going to let him hold it. "Your cousins, both murdered in Florida some time ago. As was your brother, more recently. Anything you think we should know about them?"
From her white purse that compliments that horribly short skirt of hers, Elle pulls out her homesec badge, shiny as can be, as she glares a the lack of chairs for but a brief moment. She chooses to lean against the wall near the much taller Dante instead. As he speaks, she quietly clicks her manicured nails against the wall. She's good for doing annoying things like that. Once Dante's question has been asked, the young woman turns those wide blue eyes toward him, her brows raising expectantly as she waits to see what the man has to say.
"I don't talk to my cousins. I knew about my brother" So it's a bit of a surprise when they talk about the murder of his cousin. Another scratch to his temple and a puzzled look on his face. The ID's seem real and a wave for them to be put away. "when did my cousin die? I know they still haven't caught the guy who did in my brother. Hoping they'll get a break and catch him. cops came around his wife, sniffing about folks who might have it out for him, being who he is and all"
"Ah." Dante shifts against the wall, momentarily feeling a little awkward to be the one to bring him the news. "Well… then, my condolences." Aaaaand a moment of silence to let him grieve, should he need it. "Two years ago," he says, settling back into the wall again, a little less severe this time. "We're trying to follow the same leads. I take it you've been talked to as well?"
Elle seems content to allow Dante to do the talking for now, fidgeting a bit at the rather awkward moment of Donald learning only now that his cousin has perished. She was always better at being the muscle. She bites at her lower lip, watching the round-featured man thoughtfully. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Mr. Renner." She turns to peer at Dante for a moment, before turning right back to Donald, inclining her head toward him.
"They've visited, yes. Asking if he had any enemies, if we'd seen anything strange. We've been helping out at the house with his wife and kids. I don't understand how anyone could do anything like that" Donald shakes his head, eye's landing on Elle's eye's when she offers her condolences and a reciprocated nod. A flicker of something, a micro-expression that Dante catches, oblivious to Elle because she is gifted with that of electricity. His fingers tightening around his ring on his left hand he's taken to playing with. Something has occurred to him in his mind.
Dante glances over at Elle right when she looks to him, and he shoots her a quizzical frown before looking back to Donald. What? Dante's face flickers when he looks back to Donald, eyes turning down to that ring and back up to the man's face. Unknowingly, Dante leans forward off the wall, toward Donald, a little eagerly. "Yes? And?"
"Nothing, just thinking about my wife and my kids" Lie. Subtle, but a lie. Maybe he was, but not right at that moment. "Which cousin was it that died?" He picks up a pencil, tapping it against the desk top, a glance down to the blueprints that lay haphazard across it. "You think it's a co-incidence?" He looks nervous now, a glance again to Elle and her quiet.
Dante's frown deepens. Damn, it's not going to be that easy. Pushing off the wall, Dante drags a crate closer, perching on the edge to come down eye-to-eye with Renner. "George Renner, his wife and two children. The other was Marigold Renner." And that's where the details will end, unless he asks for more. "Mr. Renner…" He pauses for effect, glancing back at Elle before lowering his voice, as if he were imparting some very private knowledge, "The more we look into this, the less it seems like a coincidence at all. There's the very real possibility, lacking any other connection between the victims, that whoever is out there is going after the Renner family as a whole for some unknown reason." And he watches Donald's face, waiting for his reaction to that.
Already thin lips thin, turn inwards, the chubby man looking away from Dante when he gets close and lowers his voice, very uncomfortable if the resettling of his shoulders is any indication that even Elle can read from his lean. He chooses to focus on her instead of Lupinette and his closeness.
"Gotta be nothing, the guys in a crazy house. Locked up years ago"
Dante relaxes his posture, sitting up instead when Donald tenses up. His voice stays quiet, but his gaze fixes sharply on Donald's face now, words taking on a slightly urgent edge. "Who?"
Elle offers her best rendition of a soothing smile as Donald turns a glance toward him. Then, Dante begins to speak, and the little blonde's smile disappears the moment Donald's eyes are off of her, though she still watches the man's face. After a moment, she steps closer, briefly setting her hand on Dante's shoulder, before placing both hands on the desk, leaning against it and playing the part as the calming eye candy as best as she can.
"Please, if you can tell us anything, Donald, it would really help us out. Who is this guy in the crazy house you're talking about?"
"He's in a nut house. Eight years ago see, really bad weather, there was an accident. I ran a truck into another car. Just the roads were horrible there was no keeping it from happening right. The people in the other car, they had no chance. Big truck against a little compact? I felt bad for them, for the family. They died and they had a kid. Musta been.. eighteen maybe? The kid went ballistic in court when the case got tossed" The hat comes off, rubbing a hand over smooth pate. "Said he'd kill me, kill my family and see how I'd like it. He spent a few months, just.. kid was crazy with grief. He got tossed into a nut house."
Dante's back gradually goes ramrod straight as this story comes out, and he dips a hand deep into his trench-coat pocket, blindly searching for something as he keeps his eyes fixed on Donald. "What was his name?" he asks, that urgency growing. Yes! A lead! Yes!
The little blonde raises her brows, leaning a bit closer to the man. Luckily, her leaning closer involves a much more pleasant view. Probably for both men in the room, because that's just how Elle Bishop rolls. "Please…give us a name, Donald." She's definitely curious now.
Elle's gratuitous display of cleavage goes unnoticed, likely to irritate her. But there is a wedding ring on his finger. "Finney. Lawson Finney. I don't remember where they sent him. He threatened my family, showed up a few times, things got a little violent. He couldn't take his parents dying and he blamed me"
Dante is a bit too focused on the info he's about to get. Sorry Elle, you'll have to be ogled sometime later. Probably on the way out. Lord knows there were plenty of whistles, catcalls and lewd suggestions on the way in.
Dante mouths the name to himself while he awkwardly extracts a notepad and pen from his pocket, flipping it open to write the name down. "F-i-n-n-e-y?" he asks, quickly scrawling a few extra notes besides.
Eh, she'll happily take what she can get. Doing right by the Company, for now, is good enough for the little blonde. Elle pushes off the desk and stands up straight, glancing to Dante as he writes this down, before nodding to Donald. "Is there anything else you can think of that might help us out?"
A nod for the spelling, a shake of his head to Elle. "Afraid that I didn't keep in contact with him. Not that you can blame me. He's in a nut house though, and he wasn't going to be getting out anytime soon. Kids crazy, just gone in the head. Not that I blame him" And not so much a kid anymore. "Is there… anything else?"
"Nothing else, at the moment. We'll be sure to look into this, Mr. Renner. Thank you for your help." Putting his notepad in his lap, he reaches into his pocket once again to pull out a slightly bent business card, which he offers out to Donald, pinched between clean thumb and forefinger. "If anything comes up, I'll let you know. If you can think of anything else that might help, please leave me a message."
The girl nods slowly, taking a few steps back. "Thank you so much, Mr. Renner. Please, don't hesitate to call him back." She flashes that charming smile to the man, before turning to make her way toward the door after casting a brief glance to Dante.
As soon as the two of them are heading out the door of the office, leaving Donald Renner to his thoughts, Dante pulls out his phone and hits speed-dial. "…Isa?" he greets the other end of the phone as he strides purposefully across the site towards his car, "I need you to pull up all the files you can on Lawson Finney. L-a-w-s-o-n F-i-n-n-e-y. He was connected to the Renner family via an automobile accident that killed his parents, and he's likely been in a mental institution until just recently."
Elle watches as Dante calls in for the information, walking just ahead of him with her hips swaying. Seems she slightly enjoys the whoops and hollers, despite the disgusted look she casts to the construction workers. Once she reaches the car, she slides into the passenger seat, crossing her legs as she waits for Dante to get in and drive. That went well, thank goodness.