Author's Note: Up until now the characters in this fanfic have not been mine or created by me. This changes as of now with this chapter. In this chapter you will be introduced to Laura Andrews- she is my character- I created her. I feel so happy- I made my own person! :)
OFFICE OF EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY JACK McCOY
WEDNESDAY, 7:33pm
After hours at the offices of the New York County District Attorney was an eerie experience. Unfortunately, it was an experience Jack McCoy was getting used to. Adam had made him promise to have his paper work caught up by tomorrow morning. If the paper work wasn't done by then Adam couldn't grantee Jack would have a job after tomorrow. Jack suspected these were more idle threats but decided not to test his luck. So here he was, slaving away at a task he wouldn't wish upon his worst enemy. Well...then again there were some enemies Jack had made over the years he would gladly inflict this punishment on.
Jack smiled at the thought of some of the most loathsome people he had ever met doing this work. His pleasure was brought to an end when he came back to the reality that this was his burden to bare alone. Alone because Jamie had seemingly ditched him. She had made a deal with him that she would help him out and in return he would own her big time- an IOU. But she had gone down to the 27th Precinct to drop off some paper work to Van Buren and she had never come back.
"See if I ever help you out again," he grumbled as he thought about her abandoning of the ship.
The office is dead silent. Jack stops his work for another moment and takes it all in. The halls that usually bustled with life and people were empty and soundless. Not a footstep nor a whisper could be heard. It was a very surreal feeling of utter and complete aloneness.
"RINNNNGGGG!"
Jack practically jumps a foot as the sharp call of the telephone on his desk breaks the stillness. He takes a moment to regain his composure before he answers the phone.
"Who the Hell would be calling here at this time of the night?" he thinks as he finally reaches to answer the shriek of the annoying phone.
He picks up the phone, "McCoy."
"Jack. We need you down at the 2-7."
"Oh really? As I recall I needed you over here. I seem to remember you saying you'd help me with this paper work."
"I'm sorry, Jack. I forgot."
"Nice to know I'm memorable."
"I got side-tracked by this case- the Richard Cummings case."
"Ah yes, the most famous rear in all of New York."
"Yeah, that's the case. Listen, we've got a person with information here but no one knows whether or not to believe her. The detectives are saying we shouldn't pay the woman any attention but these two F.B.I. Agents think there might be something to what she's saying."
"I'd take Briscoe and Logan's opinions over that of those agents."
"Usually I would but-"
"But what?"
"But I think the Feds might be on to something. I mean, this woman has seen or heard something. We just need to get her to stop embellishing the truth."
"What a nice way to say we have to stop her from lying."
"Jack, please. This wouldn't be the first time we had to remind a witness of the truth."
"So what's this woman's story?"
"Okay, she says she saw a man matching Richard Cummings description with a woman around 2am Saturday morning."
"Well that seems fairly straight forward. She's a witness."
"That's not the end of her story, though."
"Oh really."
"Yeah, she says that she had a good view of the ally in which we found Cummings' body from her street corner."
"So she's a working girl as well as a witness."
"She says she saw Cummings and the woman go in the ally. She had never seen the woman around before so she was watching, trying to figure where she had come from. She observed to transaction go down and she assumed they were going to head off for the nearest hotel but."
"But?" repeated Jack, sounding more than a little irritated by this long drawn out story.
"Before they could even leave the ally there was a bright flash of light and Cummings was lifted up off the ground and heaved into the bottom of the fire escape by some invisible force," Jamie hurriedly blurted out.
"What?"
"That's what I thought you'd say."
"I can't believe you actually called me to ask whether or not to believe this garbage!"
"Usually I'd tell the woman to get lost."
"I sense another ‘but' coming."
"Jack, Briscoe and Logan have been questioning this woman for over three hours. She hasn't changed her story. Hell, she hasn't even made a mistake each time she's re-told us her story. Every time it's the same. We ask her to explain something, she gives us an answer, and it ends up corroborating the rest of her story. Nothing disagrees with anything else she's told us. It all seems to make sense, in a weird and twisted sort of way."
"I commend her ability to lie. I think we should nominate her for an Academy Award for her performance. But if you are telling me that you think what she's saying is even REMOTELY near the truth, then Jamie I'm reserving a room at Belview for you."
"But even if she's lying, you'd think that after three hours of questioning she would have lost track of her lies and started making mistakes- contradicting lies. She hasn't."
"That's what you call a damn good liar, not a witness."
Jamie lets out an audible sigh. She was getting frustrated with her superior and his bull-headedness, "Jack, please- just come down here and listen to her tell the story. After that, if you still think we should forget this woman I'll be more than willing to agree with you."
"Jamie, perhaps your memory is going along with your sanity because you seemed to have forgotten one small detail in your plans."
"Dammit, your paperwork..."
"Correct, give that lady a cigar."
Silence.
"What if I came over there and finished your paperwork while you came down here and listened to what this woman has to say?" Jamie, at last, suggests.
Jack thinks this over. It might work out, but then again it might not and then what would he do? He didn't care for the idea of letting someone else hold his future in their hands, no matter who they were. He thought over his options and all the possible out-comes several times. The ‘stuck between a rock and a hard place' phrase came to mind more than once during his figuring. Finally, he decided to do the only thing he could do, "Jamie, you still there?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, I'll come hear her story if you work on my paperwork until I get back."
"Great. I'll tell Van Buren."
"Jamie, I'm sticking around my office until you get here. I'd hate to get locked out by the cleaning crew or something."
"Alright. I'll see you in a few."
Click.
Jamie hangs up the phone and turns her attention to Van Buren.
"Sounds like McCoy needed some convincing," the Lieutenant comments.
"Yeah, you could say that. He's going to come down here and listen to this woman and I get to go and work on his paperwork."
"This ought to be good," grumbles Van Buren at the prospect of having to play the part of referee between her own officers, the two nut job agents, and the disgruntled lawyer.
27TH PRECINCT
WEDNESDAY, 8:14pm
Agent Scully left the interrogation area. She couldn't stand any more of her partner's embarrassing behavior. He was out there trying to say that some invisible force lifted a 200 pound man up into the bottom of a fire escape. It was pure fantasy and the idea that any F.B.I. Agent could stand and straight-faced contend that it was the truth, was, beyond Scully's understanding.
And how would this whole fiasco sound to an Executive Assistant District Attorney? That Jamie Ross had thought that she and Mulder were insane. How would her partner, some starch-collared, uptown A.D.A. who was next in line for the position of District Attorney of New York County, receive them? Scully cringed at the thought of the likely possibilities.
She walked out into the area of the precinct that served as the detective desk room. Here was where most of the 27th's detectives had their desks- their offices of sorts. The room was alive with energy during the day but now it was quiet and still. In the distance she could hear the bustling about of the night shift officers in other parts of the building. Scully leaned on Det. Logan's desk and stared at the floor as she tried to think of how to improve her current situation. Not many ideas came to mind, unfortunately.
Scully was deep in thought when she became aware of footsteps in the nearby hallway. She looked up and was surprised to see a man turning from the hallway into the detective area. He was an older man, perhaps in his late 50's, with grayish-brown hair. He was in blue jeans, a wrinkled blue dress shirt, and was wearing a tattered brown-green coat. In his left hand he carried a briefcase and in his right he carried, what appeared to be, a motorcycle helmet. He seemed just as surprised to see her as she was to see him. His brisk steps slowed as he came closer to her.
"Excuse me Sir, but who are you and what is your business here?" demanded Scully as the man prepared to just walk by her.
The stranger looked at her and smiled. She didn't know why he smiled. She certainly didn't think trespassing was anything to be happy about. He started to try and walk by her again but Scully would not be put off so easily. She blocks his path and once again demands, "Who are you and what is your business here?"
"I thought at first you were just being territorial. Now I can see it's just pure ignorance," the stranger remarks.
"I'm sorry if you think I'm wasting your time, Sir, but you have to admit it's odd. You came in here after hours like you owned the place. I seriously doubt you belong here. For all I know you're a bum off the street."
"That's what this is all about, huh? You think I'm a bum. Well, I'm sure there are some people in New York who would agree with you," the man extends his right hand to Scully, "John J. McCoy, Executive Assistant District Attorney for New York County."
Scully couldn't believe her ears. This...this bum, was the E.A.D.A. she had heard so much about? This was the man who had matched wits with ‘Klan lawyer' Roy Payne? This was the man who had prosecuted a mob boss and who had taken on the legal system more times than anyone could remember? It didn't seem possible.
"Counselor?" Scully and McCoy look up and see Lennie standing at the other end of the room, "Is this a private party or can anyone join?"
Jack brushes past Scully and follows his old friend back to the interrogation room. Scully can only stand and stare. She knew her face must be bright crimson by now. Only a few moments earlier she had been considering what an embarrassment Mulder was at times. Now she realized she was the pot calling the kettle black. She had just made of herself as big an ass as Mulder had ever done of himself. How disgraceful! She had the nerve to call an E.A.D.A. a bum! Mulder would never let her live this down.
A few minutes later Jack is standing with Logan, Briscoe, Van Buren, and Mulder outside the interrogation room. He looked through the room's window and saw a short, skinny woman with yellow hair, dressed in a tight red shirt and a short black skirt. She has ridiculously long finger nails which are painted red, of course. She is sitting, tipping her nails nervously on the table, only breaking every once in a while to glance in the direction of the window.
"Now there's a creditable witness if I ever saw one," McCoy moodily comments.
"And I take it you're qualified to make that observation," Mulder incredulously remarks.
"Tell me Agent, does the F.B.I. not inform it's agents of anything or are you just trying to be a smart ass?" Jack had just about had it with the Feds and their apparently misinformed idea of what an A.D.A. should act and look like.
Lennie realizes the mistake he and Logan have made by not keeping the two agents in the loop and goes about trying to clear things up, "Agent Mulder, this is the Executive A.D.A., Jack McCoy."
"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. McCoy. I didn't realize you were-"
"Yeah, I know. The woman I assume is your partner made the same mistake when I was coming in."
"Sorry bout' that. It's just we were expecting someone who was more like Ms. Ross, just not a woman."
Jack glares at the fumbling, bumbling, stammering agent with a look coming close to disgust.
"Counselor, you want to talk to our witness?" interrupts Van Buren, attempting to alleviate some of the mounting hostility between the A.D.A. and the Feds.
"Oh of course," McCoy answered sweetly.
"Okay, then. But I'll warn you- Ross didn't get very far with her. All she got out of the woman is her story. Wouldn't even tell us her name. We told her we didn't care about her prostitution- we're homicide not Vice but she still wouldn't tell us anything beyond her story."
"Maybe I can do a little better than Ms. Ross, seeing as how I don't look like a D.A. and all. Perhaps our witness will talk better to a bum," McCoy aims this thought at Scully as she walks through the doorway from the detective area into the interrogation area.
Scully immediately knows who he is talking to and begins to turn red again. Mulder notices this and guesses that Scully has not had any better luck dealing with this difficult A.D.A.
Jack has had enough of all this and decides to say the Hell with it all. A talk with the working girl was looking more and more like intelligent conversation. With that he ducks into the interrogation room.
The young prostitute looks up from her nail tapping to see a disheveled man entering the room. He didn't look like a cop. She looks a little harder. She knows she has seen this man before. Then it comes to her- the 6pm news. This was that A.D.A. McCoy. She becomes even more tense. Now she really wished she'd never come forward.
"They did advise you that you could have a lawyer present, didn't they?"
"Yeah, but why would I need a lawyer if I'm not under arrest?"
"Well, you might want one present. Some people think having a lawyer present keeps details from getting mixed up. Me, I just think they cause more trouble than they're worth."
"Well, that doesn't say much for your standards, seeing as how you became one."
"Young lady, you are not in the position to be pointing out flaws in others standards."
"Oh, and you are?"
"You know, I never wanted to be a lawyer. I wanted to be a cop like my Dad. But things didn't work out the way I wanted and so here I am today- a lawyer."
"How'd you end up from wanting to be a cop to becoming a lawyer?"
"Call it fate. Some of us are just destined to be back-stabbing, heartless, money hungry, leeches."
The woman cracks a small smile in spite of herself. Jack notices this and knows he has succeed at putting this ‘witness' at ease. Now perhaps she'd be a little more truthful.
"Now young lady, you claim to have some information that might help us in our investigation into the murder of Richard Cummings, am I correct?"
"Yeah...I wasn't even gonna come forward at first. I mean, do you have any idea how crazy my story sounds to some people?"
"I understand why you were hesitant...my associate, A.D.A. Ross gave me a brief summary of what you have reported to have witnessed. I must say it sounds a little..."
"Crazy?"
"Yes, I guess you could say that."
"Your Ms. Ross looked at me like I had three eyes when I told her my story the first time. She thinks I'm nuts. Heck, for all I know you could just be humoring the nut job while you're waiting for the men with the white coats to come."
"Let me assure you, miss, I'm not calling the looney bin on you."
"I wanna believe you but my dad says never trust a lawyer. He says they go to school to learn how to lie and they do it damn well."
"I'm not going to deny your father's astute observation but I will say this- I'm not trying to jerk you around. I just want to hear the truth about what you saw last Saturday morning. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Okay, I'll tell ya."
"Good."
"So what do ya wanna know?"
"How about we start off with a fairly simple question- what is your name?"
"Promise me you're not gonna get me in trouble with Vice?"
"Yes, I do."
"Alright- my name is Laura."
"Laura?"
Laura looks anxiously at McCoy. She was hoping her first name would be enough but apparently it would not.
"Laura Andrews."
Jack stares at Laura. Then, without a word he gets up and leaves the room.
"What? What happened? What did she say?" Mulder blurts out as Jack steps into the hallway outside the room. Jack doesn't even waste his time looking toward Mulder but instead looks at the group as a whole and then casts a glance at Laura, still sitting in the interrogation room, wondering what is going on as well.
"Ya know, I thought this case couldn't get any worse."
"Yeah...?" Lennie sighs- he knows what's coming.
"Well, it just got worse."
OFFICE OF EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY JACK McCOY
THURSDAY, 9:11am
Jack McCoy sat at his desk, looking over the statement made by Laura Andrews the night before. He still can't believe it. Jack sets down the statement and gazes at his desk. It's remarkably clean and neat.
"Jamie must have finished that paperwork last night and sent it off already," he thinks to himself.
Jack had been at the 27th until around midnight the day before, questioning Laura. The girl had begged Jack not to contact her family about her statement unless it was absolutely necessary. He would do the best he could but he couldn't promise her anything. Once the whole thing leaked to the press everyone would know about how the youngest daughter of New York's wealthiest family was a nut case. Jack shook his head sadly.
"Poor kid," he mumbles.
Jack turns in his chair so he can look out the window at the New York City skyline. He leans back a bit in his chair and folds his hands behind his head. This was definitely one of those times he wished he wasn't a District Attorney. He would have to watch as a young girl's life was torn apart even more than it already was and he couldn't do anything about it.
Jack felt sorry for Laura. She was the youngest in her family and she was the black sheep of the family. To be imperfect in a family where perfection was expected by the family as well as the general public was a terrible burden to bare. The Andrews Family had always covered the short-comings and problems of their youngest child. They had always been there when Laura got in trouble at school; when she had been caught shop-lifting; when she had been caught drunk driving; and for numerous other incidences. They had always saved her and babied her. They had never let Laura suffer the consequences of her actions so Laura thought she could get away with anything she wanted because her family would always be there to bail her out. Unfortunately, Laura had been wrong- her family would not save her forever. When Laura had reached the age of 18 her family kicked her out and then proceed to distance themselves as far from her as possible. They cut her off- no money; no protection from her actions; nothing. She now sold her body in order to support herself and her family refused to recognize her as a member.
Jack closes his eyes and continues to think about the whole Andrews situation. They never gave that poor girl a chance to survive in the real world. They had never taught her about life and how to make good decisions. They had spoiled her rotten and now poor Laura was paying the price for their bad parenting. It wasn't fair but neither he nor anyone else could do anything about it.
"Jack?"
Jack turned his chair and saw Jamie standing in front of him, "Yeah?"
"Did you see I got that paperwork out?"
"Yes, thanks Jamie. I wasn't expecting you to get it all done. It was a lot of work and I'm sorry about that."
"Don't mention it. At least me doing that stuff got you to listen to that woman."
"Have you read the statement she gave me last night?"
"Yeah. It's pretty much what she told me except she told you got her name- Laura Andrews. Dare I even hope this isn't Laura Andrews of the New York Andrews?"
"Don't waste your time, Jamie."
"I figured it was too much to hope for."
Abbie sinks heavily into a nearby chair, "Well...what do we do now?"
"Would it surprise you if I told you that I have no idea?"
"No."
"Good, because I'd hate to surprise you."
Jack was about to ask Jamie another question when the phone on his desk once again demanded his attention.
"How much you wanna bet this is the police saying they've caught the Boogy Man and are holding him for questioning on the Richard Cummings murder?"
"At this point I don't think anything would shock me."
Jack flashes Jamie a ‘Heaven help us look' and picks up the phone.
"McCoy. Yes....What? They're here? Well, who the heck....Yes....yes....okay....send them in."
"Who was that?"
"We've got company Jamie."
"Who?"
Jamie's question is answered by Agents Mulder and Scully entering the office. She and Jack stand up upon the agents entry.
"Agent Scully, Agent Mulder- I didn't expect to be hearing from you two this early in the game."
"Mr. McCoy, we have a problem," Mulder immediately states.
"Well have a seat and lets talk."
Mulder and Scully take seats in front of Jack's desk. Mulder gets right to the point- a first for him.
"Mr. McCoy, I get the feeling you're not taking this Laura Andrews seriously nor are you taking this whole case very seriously."
"What gives you that feeling, Agent Mulder?"
"You and your cops seem to enjoy treating this like a joke- a farce. You just say no comment to the press and keep on going. I do not enjoy being shoved on the back burner."
Scully tilts back her head and begins to stare at the ceiling. She didn't want to be here this morning but Mulder had convinced her that these New York people needed some reminding that this Richard Cummings case means something to someone. So of course they had to come down to the District Attorney's office today and pick a fight with people who made their living arguing and fighting. Of course. Why not? A fitting end to a wild goose chase.
In her dismay, Scully begins to drift into her own world. She looks around McCoy's office. It's a pretty nice place. Law books line the shelves everywhere she casts her gaze. What an interesting profession- the practicing of law, that is. Her gaze finally comes to rest on the Executive A.D.A. What she sees is in stark contrast from what she saw the night before- Jack is now dressed in a spotless, pressed suit and tie. Now he appears to be an District Attorney and not a bum.
"I will try my best Agent Mulder, but I can't move forward with this case until the police find some more evidence. Witness testimony given by a questionable witness is not evidence in my book and I certainly won't go to a Grand Jury with it."
"Just don't forget about this case or us, for that matter. That's all I ask."
"And I will be more than happy to fulfill that request, Agent Mulder."
"Good, glad to hear it. Also, I'd like to apologize for how Agent Scully and myself acted toward you last night. Simple little mistake- a mix up. We don't want to be enemies- we want to work together to solve this case."
"All is forgiven. The District Attorney's office is more than willing to cooperate with the F.B.I. in it's investigation of this murder."
"Alright then. Agent Scully and myself will continue our inquires with the NYPD. We'll see if we can get some evidence to take to court and win with."
Jack stands to bid the two-some good bye, "Sounds like a good plan."
The two agents leave.
"That has to be the shortest meeting you've held in recent history," remarks Jamie after Mulder and Scully are gone.
"It was short because I didn't hold it- the Feds did. Anything to save a buck to send out to the energy starved Californians."
OUTSIDE THE NEW YORK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE BUILDING
THURSDAY, 9:36am
"Well, Scully, I think that went well."
"Mulder, we don't need to immediately go on the defensive every time someone does something without consulting us. We aren't their bosses- they don't have to report to us."
"Scully, we have jurisdiction in this case- this is OUR case. This sharing is just a courtesy. I could ask that this case be handed over to us all together and we would get it."
"We could doesn't always mean we should."
"Point taken and I agree but if these people don't start treating us with some respect like keeping us in the loop of information, things are going to get nasty."
"Oh yeah- nasty. Mulder, I can just see you laying the smack down on those A.D.A.'s. Sure."
"Com'on Scully, I'm not that bad of a fighter."
"You fight like a girl. Hell, I could kick your ass without even breaking a sweat."
"You ever think I could engage in a battle of wits with them? Huh? You ever think about that?"
"Mulder, you're smart but you have to think like a leech to beat them."
"Scully, I've had my fill of bad lawyer jokes and remarks for this lifetime, okay?"
"Okay, okay, but I gotta tell you this one last one-"
"Scully-"
"What does the Easter Bunny and an honest lawyer have in common?"
"I don't know Scully. Please, do reveal this great mystery to me."
"Neither one of them exist."