Love and Other Crimes

[FloatingAroundSpace]

A private RP between

@FloatingAroundSpace and @crybaby

New York City is chock full of interesting people, from budding artists to the crafty minds that make up Wall Street.

Not everyone who is interesting is good, however.

Sometimes, serial killers worm their way into the city and dig their talons in...​

 

[FloatingAroundSpace]

@crybaby


Nataxie Primordial did not despise the feds.


Her own aunt and uncle were very high up in the bureaucratic latter of the CIA and therefore Nataxie had only had good experiences with members of law enforcement from that organization created to aid in keeping the country safe and free for all that entered. However, that did not diminish Nataxie's intense dislike to be brushed aside whenever the higher ups decided that a case could be ripped from her hands or she needed "help". In her opinion, the people who worked day in and day out in the region were the most informed. No amount of statistical analysis could ever get the agents that passed by with haughty airs any advantage over an officer who knew the layout of the city and where the usual suspects were and how to get to them, through both force and words.


She was, however, aware that the federal agents were usually more successful at high-level tasks, which was to be expected. While the station she worked out wasn't underfunded (Nataxie's skin sometimes crawled with the idea of where some of the money come from, search and seizure never something she wholly agreed with) they still lacked in plenty of technology that federal agents had at the tips of their fingers. Contrary to the TV shows that grossly over-represented what happened in a station, they had no way to create DNA scans as quickly as the actors did, nor did they have the ability to magically zoom and clear a video or photo.


Nataxie doubted the federal agents had the technology to magically zoom and clear up photos or videos either, which was why she was severely irritated to learn that one such agent was to appear to her that morning, to "aid" in her case.


"Remind me again, why do these guys show up?" Nataxie asked one of the officers she worked with, a lovely woman named Gaia that she had once dated. They were both seated at their desks, drinking coffee and glaring at the buzzing screens that told them of the arrival of a federal agent.


"Because it's high profile and they want to give people the illusion that the government cares," Gaia replied, continuing her own work of filing in various reports.


"Right," Nataxie responded, glancing around the station that was full of officers, both young and old, milling about with badges glinting on their hips. "Just what we needed; another puffed up agent here to prove their worth."


Gaia snorted into her coffee.

 

[crybaby]

Evelyn was late. That was a problem.


She was never late to anything, preferring instead to be at the very least five minutes early to any engagement, and at the utter latest perfectly punctual. But because her flight had been delayed, all the used minutes kept piling up, until she was just past twenty-five minutes behind schedule. The perfectly calibrated watch clasped tightly around her left wrist could attest to this fact very well, serving as an ever present example of her utter failure as a human being.


Stopping quickly by her hotel room to drop the necessaries off, she took a Valium to calm her nerves and departed at a frantic pace towards the department, never feeling more than a slight drowsiness materialize at the edge of her vision. Looking slightly windblown and puffy-eyed as she finally reached her goal, Evelyn walked into the building with a sigh, walking at a clipped measure through the crowded lobby.


Finally, after what seemed like practically hours of waiting, a young secretary who babbled on about the 'chilly weather we've been having recently' and how utterly 'busy the station was right now' escorted her to to the offices, pointing to a young woman conversing with the officer next to her. Still feeling slightly flustered, she approached the duo with faux confidence.


"Excuse me, but do either of you happen be..." She glanced at the name smudged name written on her hand, most likely a hold over from last night, "Nataxie Primordial?"

 

[FloatingAroundSpace]

Nataxie glanced up at the person that had appeared by her desk, actually a few minutes late. Nataxie wouldn't doubt that their new secretary had kept her by the war, but it was somewhat irritating to have been kept waiting. If it had been a regular officer or an eyewitness, Nataxie would have been more forgiving.


Since the agent was neither and her already irritated mood towards the idea of an agent infringing on her case, Nataxie found herself with substantially less pity.


"That's me," Nataxie said in a bored tone. "Heading the investigation over the serial killer the media have dubbed 'the Magdalene'."


Nataxie gestured to Gaia, who glanced up at the agent as well. "This is my usual patrol partner, Gaia."


Gaia smiled up at the agent. "So you're the agent that's supposed to be helping us?" She asked.


Nataxie shot her a glare for being amiable towards the other woman. Gaia always seemed to think that everyone was sweet at first glance.

 

[crybaby]

"Yes?" Evelyn cast a wayward glance at Gaia, a skeptical expression briefly flashing across her face. They both looked fairly capable, she did give them that much, but experience told her that one 'patrol partner' was usually little more than a glorified assistant. Besides, Nataxie would hopefully be the only officer she would be required to actually interact with. She wasn't looking to create any lasting friendships.


"Evelyn Cafarella." She stuck her hand out, tone rather dull. "Sorry, forgot myself a little back there."


Fiddling with the band of her watch, she scrutinized the duo lightly, wondering if they would be as utterly useless as seemingly everybody else running around the room. For now, they looked utterly stagnant, which could end up being either a good or bad thing.


"So." This conversation was already awkward. "Has the case been updated since you last contacted us?"

 

[FloatingAroundSpace]

"Nice to meet you agent Cafarella," Nataxie said in a level tone, turning back to her computer and opening up the document. "So far, we've managed to find a few things in common between all the victims. All were students at universities or colleges and had relatively wealthy parents. Think 200K plus a year. We also managed to notice a few other similarities that are a bit more interesting."


Nataxie pulled up a screen and angled it at the agent. "Toxicology reports tell us that someone had given them sedatives. The level of these drugs in their system is different, suggesting that the dosages were different so that the culprit might have been able to gain access to their files, at leas the ones that told of weight and height and whatnot. We suspect that the culprit knew the person beforehand.


"At the crime scenes, we haven't found much evidence and asking around at the colleges have revealed nothing, as most of the victims left late at night or early in the morning and therefore were alone and had not spoken to someone beforehand. However," Nataxie stood up then, "there has been a call-in that another victim was found. Only last night, in fact. I'm headed over to the lab today to check out the toxicology report and see if we can't identify the individual."


She shrugged on her jacket that was behind her on her chair and grabbed her keys. "I suppose you're supposed to come with."

 

[crybaby]

"I mean, obviously." Evelyn retorted in a needlessly sharp tone, casting one last glance at the screen Nataxie had angled towards her, the words making as little sense as they always did, just an incomprehensible hodge-podge of letters. Not unlike a boring alphabet soup.


Still idly tugging at the band around her wrist, she leaned away from the desk, making a motion to follow the other policewoman out of the building. Half of her mind was already completly preoccupied with the case, and she offered Gaia little more than a hand wave as they left the premises. Already her name had been forgotten. "Nice to meet you."

 

[FloatingAroundSpace]

Gaia waved cautiously back at the agent, sipping on her coffee slowly, frowning slightly. She didn't like the air of the federal agent nor the look on her face. It felt like she was being judged and Gaia had spent enough of her life being judged.


"So," Nataxie said, heading out to her squad car, "what brings you here to New York City?"


She knew that she should at least attempt to be polite to the other woman. If she was truly going to be stuck with the agent for the duration of the case, then Nataxie needed to at least feign getting along with her, or they would both end up in body bags. Her mother had always chided her for being quick to judge, though Nataxie claimed that that was part of her job and she wasn't going to stick to first-impressions forever.


She buckled herself in and pressed the gas, zipping onto the busy New York streets.

 

[crybaby]

"Work." Evelyn answered apathetically, raising an eyebrow in a rather prerogative manner. "Obviously. I mean, why else would I be here?"


With a sigh of contention, she followed the other woman to the squad car, sliding into the passenger side. Silently, she wondered just how soon this would be all over. Already it was shaping up to be a rather boring case. Her introspection was cut short as Nataxie pressed the gas pedal, accelerating through the city streets. Stifling a whine, Evelyn curled her fingers into a white-knuckled fist.


"Is there anything unusual about this site? As in, opposed to the others?"

 

[FloatingAroundSpace]

Nataxie stifled the urge to glare at the other woman in the car just barely, instead yanking on the wheel a bit too hard when it came to a turn. She had always been told that she was a reckless driver (though she had never gotten a ticket before). Apparently, that would come in handy for this disaster.


"Nothing unusual," Nataxie said calmly as she made her way through the streets. "It's a back alley, out of the way, and the body has been slashed as usual. There's nothing particularly new about it, but we're combing over things right now, trying to find any sort of identification. We haven't been able to find the identity of the victim until we circulate a picture."


She finally managed to slow the car to a stop at the mouth of an alleyway, where a few other police officers were shooing away reports and newscasters, waving cameras and microphones.


Nataxie glared at the various people trying to make a story out of a tragedy. She supposed it was their job but she would appreciate it if they let her do hers first.


She made her way to the crime scene, taking a pair of gloves offered to her and ducking under the caution tape held up for her to make her way through.


"What'd we got?" she asked a man bent over and examining the body.


"Something new," he said, offering her a wallet. It was black and appeared made of leather. Opening it, there was nothing much but a bus card with a name on it. "Better than what we've gotten off of the other bodies."


"Did the killer miss this somehow?" Nataxie asked.


"We found it," the man explained, "lying down next to the body."


Nataxie turned her head to examine the body. The head was cut cleanly off, leaving behind a stump. Nataxie could see that the blood was mostly dried and that the wound appeared similar to the ones on the previous bodies.


She turned around as someone muttered an apology and appeared with a body bag, beginning to move the corpse into the container to be taken elsewhere to be more in-depthly examined.

 

[crybaby]

The rest of the car ride was utter torture, complete with car honks, a few angry shouts, and a near miss with a pedestrian. Taking a few moments to collect herself once parked, Evelyn followed Nataxie to the crime scene, pinching her cheeks to bring back some of their former redness.


Taking a pair of gloves as well, she regarded the body with some curiosity, cringing a little as her eyes lingered over the stump that used to be a neck. Eventually she made her way over to the officers, face once more drained of color.


"Well, this is disgusting." She thrust her hands into her jacket pockets miserably, wishing she could be anywhere but here. "Do we have a head?"


It was mostly a rhetorical question, but an answer would've been appreciated. Glancing down at the wallet in Nataxie's hands, she posed another.


"Is this the only form of ID on the body?"

 

[FloatingAroundSpace]

Nataxie looked up as the other woman approached. One of the officers cast her a glance, clearly confused at who was shadowing her. "This is Agent Cafarella," Nataxie said, gesturing to the other woman. "Apparently, the feds decided that we might need more manpower on this case."


The officer frowned slightly. Many officers prided themselves in being able to hold and handle their own. It was a sort of pride that came with being an officer; capturing someone and setting right all the wrongs was something that everyone wanted to do in the world, sort of like a hero. She knew that some federal agents looked down on the normal police officers for crude conduct and more than a few flaws but she also knew that not all the federal agents were squeaky clean, either. A few officers often made fun of the FBI and the CIA and their failure to communicate or hunt down important and infamous people. Nataxie would have joined in if it didn't mean that their country was in danger, but let the officers have their shots at the people that never seemed to truly respect them.


"We're looking for the head," one officer said, by the dumpster.


"They aren't usually far away," Nataxie told the federal agent, heading over to the dumpster as she placed the wallet in an evidence bag to be brought back to the station. "Thrown in a trashcan nearby or stuffed under garbage. I guess they assume its easier to miss a pile of clothes and what one might assume is a hobo just lying in an alleyway than a head staring back at someone. Or they hope it will get dirty enough to the point where we can't identify them."


A few officers were rooting around in the trash, pulling out bags and tearing them open to look inside. Nataxie got a hand to heft herself up and root around.


"Yes," another officer told Evelyn in response to her second question. "Usually, we hardly find anything on the bodies. They must have never found the wallet."


"Found something," Nataxie said, though her face was pinched as if she would have rather not have found the item. A few other officers came over and helped her remove a severed head, the mouth half-agape and they eyes closed. The head was dirty but it was clear that the hair was some light color before it was tossed into the garbage and that the skin of the victim was pale.

 

[crybaby]

"Uhg." Evelyn wrinkled her nose at the sight of the head, a strong sense of self pity washing over her, despite the fact she felt far less empathetic to the plight of the worker who had discovered it. Quickly, she assessed the skull's damage, doing her best to avoid making contact with what would have been the eyes. "This is disgusting." She finally concluded with a sigh, standing back up from her crouched position. "Probably a party girl, though."


Regaining her posture for a moment, she spoke again, almost as if to herself. "If possible, we should test the body for sexual assault, make sure the killer isn't just somebody taking advantage of young college students."


"What does the card say?" She asked Natxie directly, shooting off a series of rapid fire questions as her gaze was drawn to the body bag being packed into the back of an ambulance. "Any signs of how the victim was sedated prior to their murder? In previous cases, was the head severed pre- or post-mortum?"

 

[FloatingAroundSpace]

Nataxie gingerly passed the severed head to another officer, who wrapped it up to be taken away with the body to be more thoroughly examined.


"We usually do that," Nataxie said, eyeing the other agent. "So far, however, there has been no sign of sexual assault on any of the victims. I doubt that the killer might break their code on this person."


She walked over to the detectives with the evidence, peeling off her gloves and disposing of them before taking the bag with the wallet in it, putting on a new pair of gloves to pull out the only source of identification they had. She opened it and examined its contents.


There was some money and a few gift cards to various shops that one might expect a college student would frequent. There were a few Starbucks ones, some to ritzy restaurants, and a few credit cards tossed in the mix. "This person will be easy to track down," Nataxie muttered, pulling out a VISA card and examining the code on it. A call to a company might be able to garner them some information.


"The head appears to have been severed postmortem," Nataxie told the agent, placing the card back where it belonged. "There have been traces of drugs in all of the victims bloodstreams, including a general anesthetic. It makes me suspect that the victim might have been technically alive when the head was severed, but was essentially dead due to low heart rate and breathing."


She put the wallet back in the bag. "I'm headed back off to the station, since this wallet might be able to get us an identity pretty quickly," she told agent Cafarella. "If you want to stay longer, get someone else to give you a ride."

 

[crybaby]

Evelyn felt a flash of sympathy for the dismembered body currently being carted away. Being beheaded- no matter what state of conscience one was in- did not sound like a pleasant way to go. Still, the commiseration was short lived, and she took some solace in the fact that at least she didn't have to stare at the head any longer than necessary. Peeling off her gloves, she joined Nataxie in her perusal of the wallet, giving a slight nod of affirmation whenever the officer made a comment.


"I'm sure the toxicology reports for this...victim will be just the same." She muttered to herself, fumbling a little on the wording as Nataxie interrupted her. Evie glanced around at the other police, all of which looked as if they'd give her no less of a smoother drive than the first one. With a sigh, she shrugged, and followed the other woman back to the police cruiser.


"Let's not go so fast this time."

 

[FloatingAroundSpace]

Nataxie slipped into the car and glanced at Evelyn before heading off towards the station at a slightly lower speed. She was eager to see what they could find out about from the wallet. It was rare that they would find anything useful at all at the crime scenes; to have something that could potentially solidly identify someone felt like a miracle.


Pulling into the station, Nataxie didn't give a second thought about Evelyn before entering the station, a bit unused to waiting for other people. On patrols and on cases, she had always felt like the officers knew their places. There was no need to wait for one another. She knew they were in line next to her without a second glance and if they had anything, they would tell her without being prompted.


She made it back to her desk and opened up a new browser, calling the credit card company and waiting for the person on the other end to pick-up. Gaia was gone from her desk, possibly on another case.

 

[crybaby]

Evelyn had been told she could set up shop in some unused office space, but for now she quietly stole Gaia's chair, waiting to see if Nataxie would get the results in a timely manner. Besides, the officer was acting like she barely existed, something she was definitely not used to in her line of work. In fact, the only display of recognition from her so far had been the slightly lower speeds at which she had driven back from the crime scene.


"Are you on hold?" She slumped down in her seat, bored, idly fiddling with the chain of her watch once more as she waited for a response. "We're probably gonna need a warrant, unless this company really sucks at customer security."

 

[FloatingAroundSpace]

Nataxie rolled her eyes and glanced at Evelyn. "It's called legwork and it's long and grueling," Nataxie offered, tapping her fingers while she waited for someone to pick up. After a few minutes, someone did.


A woman that sounded like she was trying too hard to be friendly chirped through the phone, "Hi, my name is Mallory how may I help you today?"


"Hello Mallory," Nataxie said, "I am officer Nataxie Primordial of the NYPD. I was wondering if you could help me look up a cardholder and tell me what their name is. It is part of a high-profile investigation so your cooperation is imperative."


The woman stammered on the phone for a few seconds before Nataxie heard the sound of fumbling hands and muffled voices. She tapped her fingers on the desk a little harder as she was once again put on hold, the excuse a breathy, "I have to talk to my manager."


A few moments later, however, a man picked up. "Hello officer Primordial," he said, "my name is Hank. How may I help you today?"


"I need you to tell me who owns this card," Nataxie said before reading off the numbers. There was the sound of fingers on a keyboard and a pause as she assumed a screen booted up.


"It belonged to one Lindsey Kelsey Gram," the man said.


"Thank you for your cooperation," Nataxie said, already putting the name into the search bar of her own web browser. "Do you have any information on her that might help us identify her? Like what the last payment was from?"


"Last payment was from a bookstore on a campus of a college," the man told her. "She might have been a college student."


"What campus?" Nataxie asked.


"Reed University," the man responded and Nataxie thanked him before hanging up, instead pulling up a tab for Reed University and locating their office number.


After a moment of waiting, someone picked up on the other side, the same false cheery voice greeting Nataxie. "Hello, this is Reed University's Office of Undergraduate Assistance, my name is Angela. How may I help you?"


"My name is officer Nataxie Primordial. I have recently acquired a piece of evidence that may link one of your students with a recent crime. Do you happen to have someone named Lindsey Kelsey Gram going to your school?"


There was a slight silence on the other end, a beat of hesitation that caused Nataxie to narrow her eyes.


"I'm-- I'm sorry," the woman stammered, "I don't think I'm authorized to give out that information."


"Ma'am," Nataxie said sharply, unwilling to play the waiting game, "this is a criminal case and currently, you are delaying justice. I would appreciate it if you could inform me whether or not we have the right college."


The woman was silent for a second longer. Nataxie was about to speak again when she heard the sound of clattering keys and relaxed slightly.


"Yes," the other woman said in a low tone, "we have a student named Lindsey Kelsey Gram."


"Thank you for your cooperation," Nataxie said smoothly before hanging up, standing up and glancing at Evelyn.


"Victim name was probably Lindsey Kelsey Gram, went to Reed University if you didn't hear," Nataxie said before turning on her heel and heading towards the open floor where all the officers were. She was a lieutenant and had spearheaded the investigation for months, before it was even a serial killing. She was used to being the one in charge, the one to call the shots. She listened to others of course and didn't make them run amok while she just sat around, but she never had to answer to anyone higher up than her besides when she had to give the captain updates.


"Alright listen up," she shouted. "We've got the potential identity of the most recent victim of the local serial killer. She possibly went to Reed University. I need someone to call up the president of that college and get us an audience with them. Keep the media on the down-low as best as possible so we don't have the serial killer thinking we're too close on their tail. I also want you to see if you can't get a hold of the college bookstore and the security feed. Apparently, she had last used her credit card there and there is a possibility that we might find some evidence on the feed."


((Sorry if this was too god-moddy for you... Also have no actual idea how investigations work.))

 

[crybaby]

((Nah, it's fine. I don't really know how they work either, but I'm fine doing stuff like this to move the plot along))


"Well, just get someone else to do it for you." Evelyn handwaved with a sigh, rolling her eye's in response to Nataxie's statement, and giving a half-hearted shrug when the other woman actually managed to do her job. After a few moments of silence, she followed her, slightly stunned that somebody would actually ignore her like that. "In that case, if I were Miss Kelsey Gram's parents, I'd sue the school."


"Where are you going?" Evie finally questioned, exasperated at the lack of communication between the two of them. Finally, she ceased all pretenses of formality, and allowed herself a small grumble. "See, this is the reason I had to come in. Because you can't do your job."

 

[FloatingAroundSpace]

Nataxie resisted the urge to snap back at the woman, knowing that doing so would accomplish nothing. She would take the high road on this argument, at least for the time being. She could do her job and she could do it well. The problem was that she wasn't used to someone like Evelyn around, trying to shove aside her own authority and talking down to her in a condescending manner.


"I'm going to head over to the school," Nataxie said. Even though they wouldn't know if they could get an audience with the president of the college, Nataxie only saw that as a formality. It was a top-priority investigation, after all, and hauling along a federal agent just might make a few lips looser.


Nataxie headed back out to her patrol car, glancing at Evelyn behind her. "Do try to keep up as it seems like you're unclear on what your own job is."