toxicbaes | I don't believe in modern love

he said himself he was too high to remember last night and he's threatened to off horton a couple times

u tell me how that looks

tally thought he did it so jons fired him

also that new policy horton proposed wouldve cut scholarship funding, mightve messed with wee holden

Doesn't feel right though. In my gut.

He cares about his family, like you said, but he knows he has to be there so he's always careful. I know, I heard it from Barty.

If it is true then it's a damn shame. The community will suffer a lot without him.

So what - are you remanding him to custody?

holding cell

hes being a princess who wont talk until my fairy is on the case

so flutter into work, samantha, we need ur magic touch

On my way already.

I feel like shit still so you better tell Ray to keep his smart comments to himself. I'm really not in the mood for it.

Don't call me a fairy.

its a loving nickname

i believe in u, i do

Dickhead.

At the station now, where are you?

"Oi! Princess!" Gene called out from his office, smirking when Sam looked his way. Ha. Made him look. He grinned and got his feet off the desk, getting the file ready for Sam and holding it out to him. "There, have a look. If that stubborn paddy still doesn't talk, we're about to have a whole traveller convention in here. Maybe he has a granny that wants to give him an alibi."

"Did you pull all the travellers in?" Oh God. That was what they needed, to backslide in relations with the travellers and Jonathan. That wouldn't end terribly for all of them. He looked through the file curiously and tried his best to ready himself for how insane this was about to be. "I hope you haven't pulled the lads in. Holden and Axel are minors, they would need a parent or guardian present."

And that was Jonathan so he had no idea what would even be done with that. Maybe they could get Tally back. He flipped through the case and then frowned. "Seems pretty solid so far. Maybe you have finally gotten him."

"Relax. So far I've only called in his lover and the big brother. I just need to hear what they gotta say." Gene shrugged, looking at Sam. "You really do look like shit, by the way. What's that all about, other folk have been working since yesterday here and you're all fresh."

He shook his head and then gestured to the file. "I know I got him, that's why I hate this so much. Can't ignore that feeling, can I? That he didn't do it."

Much as he wanted that smug asshole in jail.

"I've been sick. I don't know how many times and ways I have to bloody say it but I got a stomach bug, I've had a fever, I'm barely recovered." Why was it that every time he took a sick day, they were all baffled and acted like he was a wuss but when Ray had a cold for three weeks, that was just fine. Fuck all of them.

Sam looked at the file and then looked at Gene. It was true. It just didn't add up, it didn't feel right at all.

"Jonathan isn't an idiot. Even when high, he's strangely together. I can't see him doing this. It's out of character but... we have to go by evidence, don't we?" People did out of character things all the time.

"Yeah, we've fucking gotta go by evidence. Maybe we can find some other suspects at least. Think we can rule out suicide." Multiple shots from far away made that one a bit of an impossibility. "That was Chris's theory, in case you're wondering. Wondering why he has a bruise forming."

That lump deserved it.

"You could try and talk to the fast talker. Edward. I'll deal with big bro, he understands my accent better." Alfie responded a lot better to the old-fashioned ways.

"So I get Edward because Alfie likes you better, is that it? Not because you find Edward annoying or anything, nah. Couldn't be that." Sam sighed but he knew it was probably better if he interviewed Edward. He was a Dublin boy, not a traveller and somewhat outside the community so he was a bit less hostile to talk to. Though he was -- he would say Jonathan's boyfriend but he had no idea.

"Fine, I'll go see Edward and you go poke Alfie."

Jonathan would be detained until they had any reason to let him go so if they both felt off about this, now was the time to try and get evidence.

"Fine. You get Edward because if I get him, you'll be on my case about why he's been knocked about. Some urges can't be reined in, Sam, some faces just need to be smacked around." And he was very convinced that Edward had one such face.

Gene gestured to the file. "Take it with you and tell me if you make any headway. Alibi would be good. Anyone who'd have a motive to frame Jon. Whatever info you can get out of that computer boy."

"Right, on it."

Sam went towards the interrogation room Edward was in and paused outside, getting out his phone so he could send a quick text to Barty.

Jonathan is in a lot of trouble.
Suspected murder.
He fired Taliesin

Putting his phone in his pocket, he reluctantly headed into the room and set his file down and the USB recording device. "Hello, Edward. Back again?"

"Yea, fancy that." Edward wasn't aware of having committed any misdemeanour, but that didn't have to mean much. Gene Hunt might not be as corrupt as he could be, but he had his ways of making up for the lack of IT training on his team, so deciding to accuse Edward of something he didn't do or blow up something he might have done just to get the tech assistance wasn't unheard of.

He leaned back, looking at Sam. "What can I do for you, detective? You look tired."

"I've been sick." Sick, drugged with crystal meth and raped - same thing to him. A minor issue that would go away if he just rested a few days and then ignored it from that point on. "I'm doing just fine though."

Sam set the file down and then looked at Edward, wondering if he knew yet. "I want to ask you some questions regarding Jonathan O'Shea. He is suspected of murdering Andrew Horton last night. Witnesses say he threatened the man with death and then he was spotted in the area later than night before the victim was killed." He opened the file and spread out the papers for Edward to see. He was a clever boy, maybe he would also ping what was off. Maybe he could put a name to it where he and Gene couldn't. "Jonathan fired his lawyer and is refusing to talk to us so we have no alibi. He will be going to jail tonight to be held for his trial if we can't get any evidence in the contrary. So, can you help us?"

Edward wet his lips as he looked at the file, eyes scanning the pages as he thought. He could give Jon a fake alibi, of course. Gladly would, certainly had many times before. But this looked bad already and a fake alibi might not hold up, especially since he had no time to coordinate with Jonathan. Still, he couldn't let him go to jail and, no, he didn't think he'd done this. He wouldn't. Not with Holden and Axel at risk. Not with so much uncertainty all around.

"I wasn't with him last night. We had an argument and then I left around six thirty." There, he was being very honest. "Jonny's not a killer. He doesn't like doing any of the dirty work, not really. He's a businessman. Horses, he likes horses. I ain't saying he's never used a gun, but he's never used one to kill."

He was certain of that. "If it looks like he did this, someone's setting him up." He assumed Sam had to know that. "He doesn't discuss the business with me much. Politics. Bores me, honestly. I know the finance end of things. IT stuff." Which was apparently less boring. "But he's got a lot of enemies."

"You see how bad it looks though, we can't just let Jonathan off because it doesn't seem like something he'd do. People do things out of character all the time. Murder is impulsive, it's often emotional. He had a falling out with you, he was offended by remarks of a right wing politician and maybe he reacted badly." It was possible but he agreed with Edward. Jonathan wasn't a murderer by his own hands. If he wanted someone dead, he usually hired someone.

"I need names of enemies. Other suspects. People that could be fitting him up." Sam grabbed a notepad and slid it along to Edward with a pen. "I need another lead because right now, Jonathan is looking quite guilty. It doesn't help that he won't talk to us. He just called DCI Hunt a fucking idiot and went to a holding cell."

Same old Jonathan, honestly, but with a lot more at stake.

"I don't reckon you could let me talk to him, could you?" Probably not. Not officially a spouse or anything other than a business partner. Employee, technically. That was annoying and that was what he got for being so great at commitment. "Look, detective, when I say argument, I really just mean that he was pissing me off. He called me needy and was a condescending bastard and that wasn't what I was looking for yesterday. I don't think he was angry over it. I was."

Something like that, anyway. Angry. Sad. Feeling a sinking awareness of how Jonathan couldn't possibly care for him in any tangible way and otherwise spiralling. Nothing too unusual. He started writing some names that he could think of, then looked at Sam again. "Barty would know. He's open with Barty."

In a very different way from how he was with him.

"I can't let you talk to him, I'm afraid. Sorry." He did feel bad for Edward, he wished he could have granted that, it might have been a game changer but it might also just give those two time to solidify a fake alibi together and he couldn't be that reckless. So he supposed his next port of call was Barty. "I'll talk to Barty about it."

He looked at the file again and then put the papers back in and closed it. "Did Jonathan talk about Mr Horton that day or mention recently anything that would be worth mentioning now?"

Edward reviewed the conversation they'd had, which was kind of painfully humbling. He remembered it word for word, naturally, and he honestly felt he might have come out a bit worse in the exchange overall. Perhaps slightly pathetic. Ah, yes. Not the time for self-reflection. "He was concerned over those policy changes. Especially with the scholarships. Holden O'Shea, he's qualified for them. It's a big thing for Jon that Holden's not reliant on any--"

Edward ran a hand through his hair. "He wants Holden to be all legit. Holden and Axel. Nothing illegal. That's what he wants for his family. So, yeah, he wasn't happy with Horton. But he wanted to resolve it in a legit way. Legally. That matters to him. He's got a lot of pride, that's why he's being stubborn now. He's done nothing wrong so he won't do anything to defend himself."

"Unfortunately not the best tactic. I can't let a man off from murder because of reputation or intent. I need proof it wasn't him. I need people who might have set him up." And hopefully Barty had some ideas because right now, he had nothing. And he was concerned, of course he was. The community would riot without their leader, the kids were in Alfie's custody and that wasn't even worth considering.

He turned off the recording device and then leaned back in his chair, looking at Edward. "I believe you when you say that Jonathan didn't do it, I really do. I hope I can help him but it's hard when he doesn't co-operate." And that was the biggest issue right now. "I hope I can find a solution. For the communities sake. Try to keep them calm for us, yeah?"

"I'll try. It'd be best if they don't find out for as long as possible." Which was obviously difficult in case of Holden and Axel. Fuck. Edward breathed out as he tried to think. "Detailed ballistics might reveal something. Jonathan doesn't use his gun much, if it's from his, the bullets would have probably been from an older batch. Slight changes in manufacturing."

Not a lot to go on, he knew. "If you talk to Jonathan, fucking tell him that he needs Tally. We hired him because he can get any crook off. He doesn't have to think Jon's innocent to defend him." Stubborn prick.

"Your Jonathan is stubborn. I will advise him to consider rehiring his lawyer." Jonathan was impulsive, he probably regretted doing it. He was such a prideful man and now that he knew how much he wanted Holden and Axel to not be tainted by anything illegal, it made a lot of sense. If their brother was a killer, by rumour or by truth, it added a blotch to the record.

"Come back to the station tomorrow, okay? We can talk again. Maybe I can talk DCI Hunt into a supervised talk." Sam suggested as he looked at Edward, knowing exactly why he felt compelled to help Edward out right now. Because he wasn't an idiot. He knew who Barty would have needed to get that footage from Cheon and it was the only man any of them knew that could erase every trace from the internet. And now it should be gone. Thanks to Edward. "Thank you for your time."

"No worries." Edward felt on edge, almost missing what Sam was actually talking about. Jonathan didn't do well in confinement, he was meant for freedom. He didn't do well around people either, especially not when he was agitated. He was worried for him, of course he was. In his own way, he was as protective over Jonathan as he could be. "Don't mention it."

He got up and ran all ten fingers through his hair, trying to think of whether there was anything else he could think to say. "Solitary confinement would be better for Jonathan. He rubs people the wrong way."

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manonmars - 2024-01-08 22:33 (UTC) - Expand