Had Tyler been a little younger, and a little less hot-headed, he might've heeded her advice.
"Maybe in a little bit," he says, already gripping his backpack a little tighter. "Is everything okay? Things sounded kind of... tense."
Or maybe that was his preternatural hearing at work, already deciphering that Laurel couldn't connect the evidence to the case at hand. If it was a meta, he or she had covered their tracks well. Who better than an actual werewolf to sniff 'em down?
She takes a deep breath before nodding and making his way over to his desk. "Sometimes I delude myself into thinking Central City is above the corruptions and abuses of the law that I used to see back in Star City, but then a case like this one comes along and I know what's happening. I just can't prove it."
Which was always the frustrating thing about Star City too. She never had enough evidence to really drive the point home.
"Ah." Worst part is, Tyler's had experience on the opposite end. He's spent far too much time hiding or erasing evidence - and he'd wager someone similar had gone to the effort in Central. "I'm going to take a wild guess based on -" and he pauses. "Based on how thin the walls are, but we're talking about a murder, right?"
Wild guess, he says, as if he hadn't overheard the mysterious circumstances, let alone the supposed missing murder weapon. Tyler's got a feeling that either the weapon is hidden in plain sight; the weapon was purposefully burned or dismantled elsewhere; or it's some tricky third option he can't uncover.
Either way, he's gonna need a few more details before he can confirm what he conveniently overheard.
Laurel nods, before she gives a small sigh. "On the less affluent side of Central City, there's this guy who's basically operating as a slum lord. And they're a bit of a sore spot for me because I used to deal with them all the time back in Star City. But I had one of his employees who was ready to come forward with actual evidence that I could take to court and get this guy out, but ... he went missing and then they found his body a few days later."
One of her hands curls into a fist as she rests it against his desk. "I know this guy is responsible, I just can't prove it."
He would've suggested the obvious: what did the crime scene look like? What was the state of the guy's body? What did the CSI think the murder weapon was?
Except he thinks she's tried all that and then some. So he taps his fingers against his desk for a couple of seconds.
“Sorry, uh – I thought a fresh set of eyes could help.”
"No, it's fine." She moves and takes the seat next to his desk, because clearly she's going to be staying here a while. "The murder weapon. The body was dumped, so we don't actually know what killed him beyond a few pieces of particulate evidence. Bigger than a bullet but not slim and sleek like a knife."
"So the crime scene wasn't also where the murder happened." He's stating the obvious, but also he's trying to get a grasp on what they've uncovered. A body dumped, presumably in a river or some unsuspecting location. No murder weapon. Also, possibly no witnesses.
Laurel hesitates for a moment, because it's late, and she probably should be sending this intern home, but this case is important to her. She takes a deep breath, before nodding and getting to her feet.
"Sure. It's over at the crime lab though, so we'd have to head over there."
“Thanks.” He means it too as he follows suit, grabbing his things to go. Tyler knows he'll be late – and that's gonna be a problem for future Tyler. “Just lead the way.”
Leading is more likely. After a quick stop in her office to grab her coat she'll lead the way out of the DA's office and ... right down the stairs and across the street to the police station. They were actually smart in building things in Central City - they wanted to keep everything close and compact.
After that it's up some more stairs to knock on Barry's door. "Knock knock."
Barry glances up at them and grins. "Hey, Laurel."
"Hey, Barry." She pauses and jerks a thumb over her shoulder. "This is my new intern, Tyler Lockwood."
"Hey, Barry." Tyler gives him a polite wave. The guy doesn't look that much older than Tyler (if any). Must be a pretty smart guy to be a CSI already. "I'm here to look at the evidence regarding case KL-9."
He hopes he got that abbreviation right, anyway, and he glances over to Laurel for guidance. Just in case he didn't.
Barry pauses for a moment, before raising his eyebrows at Laurel, with his "be careful" expression, and Laurel nods that she understood. Over zealous ADAs were something she fought against in Star City all the time - she isn't looking to become one here.
"It's just a fresh set of eyes. I know we still don't have much."
Barry glances back to Tyler before nodding again. "I'll go get the file."
As he watches Barry leave, Tyler can't help letting out a low whistle. It's not like he didn't expect resistance - but also, he can't help giving Laurel an apologetic, almost sheepish, "Maybe I should've told him it was my idea."
"Oh, no, it's not you at all." She waves her hand a bit as she turns to face him more, trying to be more reassuring than anything else. "Barry is worried about me more than you. I have been known to take things with cases a little ... too far, and pushing the line a bit."
"Ah." Tyler may not know Laurel well enough to know what lines she's toed, let alone what cases she's spent too much time on, but he can sense the passion in her work. In that one instant, his expression softens.
"We'll just have to show him that you're taking things as they're meant to, this time.'
Laurel nods in agreement as Barry returns with the evidence in hand, placing them out in front of him in their sealed evidence bags. "To be honest, I feel like there's enough that matches with MO and the way the body was dumped to indicate that this was a hit. The only problem is, we don't have enough evidence to indicate a - who did the deed and b - who hired them, beyond Laurel's gut." He pauses for a moment. "Not to say she doesn't have a good gut, because she's usually right, it's just that ... the evidence isn't stacking up."
"And while I also appreciate my gut, my gut isn't necessarily going to hold up in a court of law." Laurel gives a small shrug. "But we work with what we've got."
Barry and Laurel were right: there wasn't enough to connect a murder to the scene of the crime, let alone what could've murdered the guy. With those seals in place, Tyler can't take a whiff of what else might be on them. (A blessing and a curse. Probably.)
How would someone back home have murdered their witnesses and former employees? The Salvatore brothers would've drained their victims of blood. The Sirens would've also probably ditched their victims in a river, and well - werewolves were bloodier and more obvious.
The wounds from the photographs weren't vampire or werewolf bites. But those guys would've killed in the safety of their home. Somewhere where they could purposefully erase all evidence and feign ignorance.
Which gives him an idea, based on how the body had been unceremoniously dumped -
"We don't know where it really happened, right?" Tyler presses his lips together. "Were there any keys or - " He reaches for an envelope, presumably with their victim's wallet inside, "Or a key card? Anything to indicate where he might've last been?"
Barry shakes his head. "He was under police protection and wasn't supposed to leave his apartment. But the apartment itself was clean - no blood pools."
"So what we're thinking is that he either snuck out and lost his tail, or he was kidnapped out of it, which is ... bold, to say the least." Laurel sighs heavily. "They learned from their Star City brethren."
Okay, so ruling out a kidnapping, their victim was killed in his apartment complex.
Tyler goes through the files again, looking for a map of the apartment. It's a typical second-story apartment, with a balcony and metal fence (with steel pickets, to preserve some aesthetic of the complex) at the end of the plan.
"How easy would it be to kidnap someone through the balcony?" It's a genuine question. With his speed, Tyler would be in and out - but he's gotta play mortal here. "Police were patrolling outside too, yeah?"
"In a pre-metahuman world? Difficult. But given the kinds of powers that could be wandering around this city - less and less complicated by the day."
"It's true," Barry nods with a sigh. "I mean, there have been invisible metas, metas that can fly or travel long distances by moving through the weather, or using the weather to take people - I wouldn't even rule out flight at this point."
It makes their job as law enforcement a whole lot more difficult when they also have to consider the impossible.
Just when he thinks he's heard of everything, something new pops out of (or flies through?) thin air. Tyler sighs, rubbing his forehead. Can't rule that out, then.
"Okay, thinking back to the wound..." Laurel had said it was bigger than a bullet hole, but smaller than a knife. Not many sharp and/or point-y things that fit that description.
So instead of thinking of how someone could be killed in their own apartment without leaving a trace of blood - what if he thinks about how someone could be killed with that kind of wound? Tyler glances back at the floor plan.
Apartment was clean, according to Barry. If the guy was killed, he must've either been on the balcony or kidnapped out of it. So if the guy was then kidnapped out of his own balcony, wouldn't he have struggled? Tyler would have - and he sure would've thrown the guy over the fence. The - the fence? Hold up.
He glances again at the plan, and at the descriptions gathered. The fence wasn't the typical wooden picket, or even wood to begin with. Those pickets were steel, and steel hurt. (He knew from experience.)
"Barry," Tyler's voice is low. "Has anyone checked the area around the fence? For signs of blood, I mean?"
Barry turns and squints at him for a moment, the wheels in his brain turning as he tries to remember if they'd checked the fence, and then reaches for the lab report. "Probably not, because the body was dumped elsewhere. We checked the apartment to see if it had been cleaned, but ... I don't think the techs would have checked the fence unless there was some kind of indication that he had swan dived from somewhere."
Laurel frowns for a moment, before moving around to look at the report over Barry's shoulder. "Will that help us find the person responsible?"
Barry glances back at her and shrugs. "Definitely can't hurt."
Makes sense. Tyler feels like he’s grasping at straws here, but the fence would explain the lack of the murder weapon. Who would suspect the architecture killed someone (or rather, had the ability to kill someone)?
“Thanks, man.” It’ll be extra effort, but hopefully not a fruitless one. “I don’t know if that’s what did him in, but I’m just thinking... I would’ve struggled if someone tried to kidnap me out of my place.”
So it’s extra weird that the apartment itself is clean, unless that fight happened outside or elsewhere. Given the metas, he’s really, really hoping the latter isn’t the case.
Laurel nods in agreement, before tipping her head to the side for a moment. "That's a good point, but it's also entirely possible they had someone around to clean up and put things back where they belonged. While Barry's processing the fence, maybe I can get a look at the security footage from that night."
"You guys can probably go talk to Joe for that," Barry nods. "I'm pretty sure he had the footage pulled when they started the investigation."
By Joe, Tyler's guessing he means Detective West. Not that he's had a ton of experience with the law enforcement here in Central City (or that he ever plans to).
"Sounds good." Tyler turns towards the door, like the eager puppy he is sometimes. "Thanks, Barry. I appreciate you looking into it."
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sheridan2017-10-14 10:59 pm
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"Maybe in a little bit," he says, already gripping his backpack a little tighter. "Is everything okay? Things sounded kind of... tense."
Or maybe that was his preternatural hearing at work, already deciphering that Laurel couldn't connect the evidence to the case at hand. If it was a meta, he or she had covered their tracks well. Who better than an actual werewolf to sniff 'em down?
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Which was always the frustrating thing about Star City too. She never had enough evidence to really drive the point home.
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Wild guess, he says, as if he hadn't overheard the mysterious circumstances, let alone the supposed missing murder weapon. Tyler's got a feeling that either the weapon is hidden in plain sight; the weapon was purposefully burned or dismantled elsewhere; or it's some tricky third option he can't uncover.
Either way, he's gonna need a few more details before he can confirm what he conveniently overheard.
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One of her hands curls into a fist as she rests it against his desk. "I know this guy is responsible, I just can't prove it."
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He would've suggested the obvious: what did the crime scene look like? What was the state of the guy's body? What did the CSI think the murder weapon was?
Except he thinks she's tried all that and then some. So he taps his fingers against his desk for a couple of seconds.
“Sorry, uh – I thought a fresh set of eyes could help.”
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(How... pragmatic.)
"Can I look at the evidence?"
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"Sure. It's over at the crime lab though, so we'd have to head over there."
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Or give him the GPS coordinates, as it may be.
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After that it's up some more stairs to knock on Barry's door. "Knock knock."
Barry glances up at them and grins. "Hey, Laurel."
"Hey, Barry." She pauses and jerks a thumb over her shoulder. "This is my new intern, Tyler Lockwood."
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He hopes he got that abbreviation right, anyway, and he glances over to Laurel for guidance. Just in case he didn't.
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"It's just a fresh set of eyes. I know we still don't have much."
Barry glances back to Tyler before nodding again. "I'll go get the file."
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As he watches Barry leave, Tyler can't help letting out a low whistle. It's not like he didn't expect resistance - but also, he can't help giving Laurel an apologetic, almost sheepish, "Maybe I should've told him it was my idea."
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"We'll just have to show him that you're taking things as they're meant to, this time.'
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"And while I also appreciate my gut, my gut isn't necessarily going to hold up in a court of law." Laurel gives a small shrug. "But we work with what we've got."
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How would someone back home have murdered their witnesses and former employees? The Salvatore brothers would've drained their victims of blood. The Sirens would've also probably ditched their victims in a river, and well - werewolves were bloodier and more obvious.
The wounds from the photographs weren't vampire or werewolf bites. But those guys would've killed in the safety of their home. Somewhere where they could purposefully erase all evidence and feign ignorance.
Which gives him an idea, based on how the body had been unceremoniously dumped -
"We don't know where it really happened, right?" Tyler presses his lips together. "Were there any keys or - " He reaches for an envelope, presumably with their victim's wallet inside, "Or a key card? Anything to indicate where he might've last been?"
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"So what we're thinking is that he either snuck out and lost his tail, or he was kidnapped out of it, which is ... bold, to say the least." Laurel sighs heavily. "They learned from their Star City brethren."
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Tyler goes through the files again, looking for a map of the apartment. It's a typical second-story apartment, with a balcony and metal fence (with steel pickets, to preserve some aesthetic of the complex) at the end of the plan.
"How easy would it be to kidnap someone through the balcony?" It's a genuine question. With his speed, Tyler would be in and out - but he's gotta play mortal here. "Police were patrolling outside too, yeah?"
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"It's true," Barry nods with a sigh. "I mean, there have been invisible metas, metas that can fly or travel long distances by moving through the weather, or using the weather to take people - I wouldn't even rule out flight at this point."
It makes their job as law enforcement a whole lot more difficult when they also have to consider the impossible.
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"Okay, thinking back to the wound..." Laurel had said it was bigger than a bullet hole, but smaller than a knife. Not many sharp and/or point-y things that fit that description.
So instead of thinking of how someone could be killed in their own apartment without leaving a trace of blood - what if he thinks about how someone could be killed with that kind of wound? Tyler glances back at the floor plan.
Apartment was clean, according to Barry. If the guy was killed, he must've either been on the balcony or kidnapped out of it. So if the guy was then kidnapped out of his own balcony, wouldn't he have struggled? Tyler would have - and he sure would've thrown the guy over the fence. The - the fence? Hold up.
He glances again at the plan, and at the descriptions gathered. The fence wasn't the typical wooden picket, or even wood to begin with. Those pickets were steel, and steel hurt. (He knew from experience.)
"Barry," Tyler's voice is low. "Has anyone checked the area around the fence? For signs of blood, I mean?"
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Laurel frowns for a moment, before moving around to look at the report over Barry's shoulder. "Will that help us find the person responsible?"
Barry glances back at her and shrugs. "Definitely can't hurt."
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“Thanks, man.” It’ll be extra effort, but hopefully not a fruitless one. “I don’t know if that’s what did him in, but I’m just thinking... I would’ve struggled if someone tried to kidnap me out of my place.”
So it’s extra weird that the apartment itself is clean, unless that fight happened outside or elsewhere. Given the metas, he’s really, really hoping the latter isn’t the case.
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"You guys can probably go talk to Joe for that," Barry nods. "I'm pretty sure he had the footage pulled when they started the investigation."
"I'll run downstairs and ask him."
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"Sounds good." Tyler turns towards the door, like the eager puppy he is sometimes. "Thanks, Barry. I appreciate you looking into it."
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/and scene?