[ussgeorgetown] Persuing Evidence by Tawa Pax & Calista DeAngelo
- From: TKilyle@xxxxxxx
- To: ussgeorgetown@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 05:35:07 EDT
***approved by DEb
The sincerity of the Trill petty officer who, to Tawa, smelled like warm
honey, and the overwhelming dead skunk smell of fear from the sergeant major
were going to make things hard for Tawa. His sense of smell was as good as
any
Human's intuition but he damned well knew that and his olfactory abilities
were not going to be enough for T'Leara. Proof, he told himself, I need proof
and I know it's somewhere in those pics and vids. I know it is. He blew out
a frustrated breath as he entered the Security office but his mood
lightened almost immediately when he saw else was there.
"Oh, good! You're here," he said to Calista as he dropped into a chair at
the desk next to her.
"There aren't too many places I can be on light duty, Tawa," Calista
grumbled. "What's the matter?"
Tawa moved his chair closer to her, taking his work PADD with him. "I'm
sorry about the light duty part but it's for a good reason," he told her,
smiling shyly.HE liked her and he seriously respected the doc, which was
something
of a change for him, that being able to trust people and have such
friendships or partnerships. He was genuinely pleased at their good news.
"Besides,
that means you can help me. Something about this assignment just smells wrong
and I know the lieutenant's not going to settle any case based on just my
nose."
"Show me what you have?" Calista asked. She was pleased to be able to help
him and actually be able to do some work.
"Alright but don't get upset. It's pretty bad," Tawa began as he attached
the PADD to the viewer on the desk.
"Tawa, I'm not made of glass, you know...Oh my..." Her green eyes widened
as they caught sight of the stills. "That's the librarian, Tawa. What
happened?"
Keeping a careful eye on her, he explained the entire story. When he was
finally finished, his blue eyes regarded her carefully. "You okay?"
She seemed to listen to something deep inside herself, her hand resting on
her belly, then she smiled slightly. "We're fine."
"Good, just checking. Here's the thing, Calista. The sergeant major
admitted to striking her. Once. I believe him about that but the injuries
that
Mrs. Aigremont has weren't from a simple smack upside the head. Something
stinks in more ways than one. The sergeant major reeked of anger and fear,
genuinely upset that he'd even be accused and pissed that somebody actually
caused
those injuries. His wife...y'know, I hate when people lie to me. It stinks
like dead fish," Tawa said, his nose wrinkling in disgust at the thought.
"Let's look at the pics and then the camera shots. Maybe we can catch
something if we both look."
~~~~~~~
Again and again, they reviewed the still shots. The idea tickled the back
of Tawa's head on the first pass and, by the third or fourth pass, it was
fairly solid. He got up to get himself a cup of coffee and a cup of herbal
tea
for Calista then finally voiced his thoughts.
"Calista, I have hit enough people in my life, and I've been hit enough, to
know what the results look like. The marks on Mrs. Aigremont's face
certainly look like they could've come from a smack from the sergeant major
but the
others..."
"Look self inflicted," Calista finished as she came to the same conclusion,
her mouth thinning in disapproval.
Tawa blinked. "Yeah, I suppose so. I just know it doesn't look like
another person did it. Well, damn it, there're two problems now, aren't
there?"
"At least two any way," Calista pointed out. "She refused medical
attention?"
"Right--kept insisting that I go check on Ms. Kost who, I might add, said
Mrs, Aigremont has been stirring up the pot since her husband moved out," Tawa
said. "Rumor has it that their getting a divorce."
Calista's eyes darkened. She knew from experience how ugly divorce could
get. She forcefully diverted her thoughts from the ugliness that existed
between her parents. That way laid madness and there was no way that she was
going to expose her babies to that again. Instead, she pictured Pas' gentle,
steadfast warmth. ~~No,little ones, your daddy loves us.~~
"I have to tell Lieutenant McKay about this then I have to talk to Ms. Kost
again," Tawa continued, listing his options out loud. "And go back and
question Mrs. Aigremont a little further."
"Do you want me to do any of that for you?"
For the first time since he entered the office, Tawa genuinely grinned. He
draped a rather muscular arm around her shoulders and said, "Thank you very
kindly, partner, but I don't think you want to subject yourself to that woman
right now but I do know for a fact that you're better at writing decent,
intelligent reports than I am."
"You could have just asked, Tawa," she replied, smiling at his attempt at
charm despite getting stuck with paperwork.
Tawa gave her a quick one armed hug then stood to leave. "Thanks, you're
the best but don't think I'm just getting you to do my dirty work. I may ask
you to talk to Ms. Kost for me. She's a lot more stable than either of the
Aigremonts and she may tell you things that she won't tell me. After all,
you're a woman," he reasoned. Then he smiled again. "I owe you a decent
non-alcoholic drink. I think I'll have Dove show me where to get you good hot
chocolate. Ice cream, too."
"Now that kind of bribery I can deal with, Tawa."
"Thanks again. I'll be back."
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