the sun. the moon. the truth.

TJ Bang. 34. Crime Scene Investigator with the PHPD.

[tj-bang]

aurorablck​:

I don’t have a seat at the table, so activism or no activism, I can’t do anything about it. Sorry.

[ PRIVATE ]

Why would a guy make them take drugs and shoot Enzo for anything other than money? I don’t think anyone was playing for poker chips. I have no idea who that guy was, so I wouldn’t know, but people like that don’t frequent the Royale. The strippers at the Bare Minimum are always hanging out with dangerous people. The biggest scumbags in the city go there to get their five minutes of grab ass, and I don’t say that to criticize the girls, but I’m pretty sure one of them is or was that drug lord’s girlfriend, the guy you guys put in jail a few months ago. I don’t make time to hang out with people like that.

[ PRIVATE ]

Pride makes you do stupid things. Or he could have had a grudge against Enzo, or an unreturned infatuation with one of the girls. But my working assumption is that cash was present. No one knows who he was, except someone does, or he wouldn’t have been there.

Well I can’t think of anyone stupid enough to mess with ‘Delgado’s girl’, but I run into new levels of stupid constantly. Thank you for sparing some time, Miss Black. I’m not heading up the case, but - if you think of anything else.

[tj-bang]

aurorablck​:

You’re welcome to pass along the message yourself. 

[ PRIVATE ]

I don’t know him well, well but I do know he’s friends with the strippers at that cub. I wouldn’t really look much into that though, Enzo’s friendly with literally everyone. He has friends at the hospital, the fire station, even patrons at the Royale. He’s charming and everyone likes him. I don’t know how much money they were gambling anyway, I’m nosey but not that nosey. I’ve never seen him take drugs either.

I’m sure she’s more likely to listen to her daughter. Especially given that daughter is clearly very unhappy with the lack of positive momentum in the city. ACAB, right? You’re into activism. Do something with your seat at the table.

[ PRIVATE ]

So they definitely were playing for money, to your knowledge? I’ve pieced together a pretty good idea of that night, but a few details still have people pretty tight lipped. I think it’s fair to look into it, actually. Not hanging out with strippers, to each their own. But hanging out with the sort of strippers that tangle with large sums of money, drugs, and dangerous men. See the thing is, these sort of games don’t take a risk on an unknown player. Heard a rumor he might have been a regular at the Bare Minimum. You heard any rumors? Maybe he frequented the Crystal Lizard? The Royale?

[tj-bang]

aurorablck​:

So, not to be nosey, but have the police actually done any progress with catching that guy who shot Enzo at that obviously illegal poker game like, weeks ago? I’m the first one to criticize awful social and political reforms, but I have to hop on the boat with my mother on this one. Its like nothing even happened. Enzo’s a good person, you know? And this city just keeps getting progressively more dangerous. 

Your mother is welcome to encourage more police training and reduced spending in weapons. Or better funding overall. I’m happy to admit the PHPD can have a nasty habit of moving on when a lead isn’t obvious, too quickly and too soon. 

[PRIVATE]

Off the record? It’s hard to sit idle in a lab and wait for things to come to me when all but two people seem to have forgotten about major crimes in the city. So level with me. You know Enzo well. No one will outright admit to money being present, which makes it not so obviously illegal. Does he typically hang out with strippers and hydrocodone combination products? Is he a big gambler?

[tj-bang]

aidenweber​:

[ PRIVATE ]

Thanks. I definitely prefer it. Metalhead. Rebel. Anarchist. An all around little shit. You ask those thing like you didn’t have a similar phase yourself which would be heartbreaking to hear. Yeah, I’ve… got something fun that’s not a button up or gym top. I’ll just wear that… thing.

[ PRIVATE ]

How in the world does one go from wanting all systems of power to burn to becoming a cop? A phase, sure, but there are levels. Dying your hair purple and becoming the bad girl of the speech and debate team doesn’t score high marks for rebellion. Yes I would like to dress you, thank you for volunteering. There’s a chance no one will even know we’re cops at first glance so - it’s a sports bar, just wear a jersey. Good thing my ex had a thing for the Celtics and their season started already.

[tj-bang]

aidenweber​:

[ PRIVATE ]

I shouldn’t have stopped dying my hair black. Teenager me had a much more terrifying scary face. I’ll make it work. And miss out on making a bunch of people extremely uncomfortable? I wouldn’t miss it. 

[ PRIVATE ]

Blonde suits you. Were you a baby goth? An art freak? Did you drive a truck? Cool. It’s nice to have backup. Wear something fun.

[tj-bang]

aidenweber​:

[ PRIVATE ]

If we can’t convince a kid, then we know who must’ve gotten to him first. A distributor, a safehouse, a name, a place, a time… anything counts as a step forward at this rate. We could also press to get a warrant to search his phone. If he’s had any communication with the distributor on there, we can use it. 

Triple shot latte, extra foam, sprinkle of cinnamon, right?

[ PRIVATE ]

Okay all you, put your scary face on. Speaking of that scary face, I’m planning on drinking at the Crystal Lizard a couple nights in a row. See if Delgado gets antsy or just pissed at cops camping out. That print tracing back to there means it’s at least an occasional drinking spot for criminals. Wanna come?

You spoil me.

[tj-bang]

aidenweber​:

[ PRIVATE ]

So it’s definitely still out there. And active. We could’ve had another death if that had gotten out. Shit. Do you know how his questioning went? Does he already have a record?

[ PRIVATE ]

Not very cooperative, no previous arrests. He’s just a kid. We could try to talk him into meeting his distributor. Or maybe they have a safehouse?

[tj-bang]

aidenweber​:

[ PRIVATE ]

Jesus, how long have you been sitting there with that look on your face? What happened? What did you find?

[ PRIVATE ]

I had to find you, and your chair is the one place I’m positive you’ll return. The supervillains are onto something, that swivel adds a lot of flair. So I’ve been testing everything that comes into the station after the Nicolai overdose, just to check. That common street dealer that got busted selling heroine down by the docks? It was cut with fentanyl.

[tj-bang]

[ PRIVATE ] @aidenweber​

Do I get a coffee every time I point in you the right direction? We should make that an unofficial, official rule. It’ll quell the urge to ditch the station and start turning stones over when I should be in the lab.

[tj-bang]

lucia-delgado​:

Food for thought: when you look for a place to live, don’t move into an apartment complex next to a sport’s bar if you’re a white woman who uses noise complaints liberally. It’s sport’s season, lady. 

She’s mostly harmless. Anyway. I think your place has the real potential to turn into a cop bar - I’ve always had fun.

[tj-bang]

aidenweber​:

[ PRIVATE ]

Well ‘I carry the team’ sure is a drastic transition from ‘buy my coffee, maybe?’. I’ll hand it to you though, the sense of direction is a damn welcome change. But if I end up having to spend hours matching the victims’ descriptions of the guy to every single patron who ordered a Modelo in a two day range, it’ll be my turn to accept regular coffee donations. You’re the best, sometimes. I’ll let you know if I find anything. 

[ PRIVATE ]

Perhaps I was playing it cool until I got my bounty locked down. Which one more time, just to lock into your short term memory: triple shot latte, extra foam, sprinkle of cinnamon. Did any of the victim’s statements have them fighting back? I wonder if anyone got me a good under the fingernail scraping. I think it’s going to be very telling how much resistance you get from the owner of the Crystal Lizard with that security footage. If they even have a security system. Best of luck.

[tj-bang]

aidenweber​:

[ PRIVATE ]

You know what? That is coffee-worthy. I don’t know when you became a wizard, but I’ll take that technically legal magic. It’s a better lead than what I’ve been running up against. Which is zilch. It could be worth it to see if your favorite bartender’s memory could be jogged or if someone else at the bar would know the guy. Please tell me you know what kind of beer it was and that it’s a super obscure brand with a label that’s easily identifiable on, say, security footage, should the bar be willing to lend out the tapes for a police investigation? Please?

[ PRIVATE ]

No label on the beer - one of those peel it off soggy types. If you manage to get footage, that might make him easy to spot. But the bottle is a pretty distinctive shape, so same thing. I did some research against the menu and Modelo is the only thing they serve at the Crystal Lizard that would match. God, I really carry the team sometimes.

[tj-bang]

aidenweber​:

[ PRIVATE ]

Judging by your smug… everything, I’m guessing that someone’s going to be me. You’re telling me you have the guy’s prints? Shit, maybe you do deserve that coffee. As soon as you explain what ‘a kind of match’ is. 

[ PRIVATE ]

Yes, I was kind of hoping to trick you into it before you realized how small of a lead it is. But you were doing that pacy thing again, and it’s at least a direction to go in. Some unrelated case a few weeks back, technically legal forensic work and little bit of dumpster diving, and anyway....long story short, I matched your guy to a print on a beer bottle from the Crystal Lizard. I can give you a two day range, and one location. No name, no description. And you probably shouldn’t tell anyone how you know he was there. I already ruled out the others in the room, it’s definitely his print. You’re welcome?

[tj-bang]

[PRIVATE] @aidenweber​

Someone has to buy my coffee today. Triple shot, extra foam, sprinkle of cinnamon. I did one last sweep before we released the crime scene, and got a partial print off the top of the doorframe. Tall people, insufferable. Here’s the part where you can’t ask too many questions. I have a....kind of match.

[tj-bang]

aidenweber​:

[ PRIVATE ]

Briefly before she got scooped up by the Bureau. Of course the other cops hate her. She wanted to actually help people and do some honest work. Exactly. That’s why I’m figuring we have a tight time limit. Guy has a death wish on multiple fronts. Either he doesn’t know the massive mistake he just made and someone’s going to get to him before us, or he knows exactly what he did and he’s mere hours away from being wheels down in another country. Sudoku is still a puzzle. Just not a puzzle worthy of your itchy brain.

[ PRIVATE ]

That doesn’t seem like enough of a reason, but I’ll take your word for it. And my best bet is he skipped town as soon as he could - possibly drugged them to buy himself escaping time, or knew the bartender was sober and had a personal vendetta. Whoever they assigned to interview victims better thread the needle carefully, no way we get the whole story. You make my brain itch.

[tj-bang]

aidenweber​:

[ PRIVATE ]

They’ve been poking their noses in anything and everything without formally taking a single case. I don’t see that changing here. I mean, look at the victims: Xavier’s girlfriend, the other two strippers from the Bare Minimum, Enzo from the Hotel Royale, and the bartender from the Crystal Lizard. The perp fucked with a table populated by members of every shady business attached to a fabled ghost story in town. That’s a mess of a Venn diagram of loyalties. So unless the FBI is here to defeat the global forces of evil in Port Henry once and for all, I don’t think this is exactly what they’re looking for. But it’s a great time to ask questions while everyone’s hovering around the hospital. You, with that much power at your fingertips? But then where would the puzzle be?

[ PRIVATE ]

Were you around when Cross was PHPD? A cop tagged her car when she first got here. Whatever they’re investigating, it seems like it’s going to be a mixed bag on interdepartmental cooperation. Yeah, who was stupid enough to mess with the girlfriend? That seems like a death wish. Everyone knows he can still do damage behind bars. I don’t need a puzzle, I could.... get really into Sudoku and retire without wrinkles.

[tj-bang]

aidenweber​:

[ PRIVATE ]

I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say ‘nothing’ in all my time working here. You sure it’s just the caffeine? Cute. The same bartender who was accused of murder? Sucky week for her if it’s all just a coincidence, but I won’t hold my breath. My thoughts are we have a tight time limit to find the perp before they’re gone for good. And anyone who had access to all of those drugs, a gun, and the audacity to steal away with twenty five grand allegedly by themselves is someone I want to see cuffed in the interrogation room. Any news from ballistics? Or information about that gunshot wound? Getting the guy’s height is a better place to start than nowhere.

[ PRIVATE ]

Yeah, definitely jitters. Do you think the FBI is going to steal this one? It seems so low level, but one of them was asking around. I hate having to drop everything.  No casing found, it’s possible the guy had enough foresight to take it with him. They had to wait for the only bullet he fired to come out of Enzo, so delay on the ballistics. Spatter puts him at about 6″1′, though. I need to move to Germany - they passed a law saying DNA could be actively used to hunt suspects. One tiny hair with the follicle still attached and I could be giving you guys eye, skin, and hair color, as well as approximate age, instead of just playing ‘does this match’. Alas.