We Need You
Previously: Some online chatter…
8:03 AM - Wednesday, November 5, 2014
US Park Police Office, Ft Winfield Scott, The Presidio
Andrew BarringtonAlexa’s school lockerAlexa’s room/laptopRyan DominguezVin & Angela Parisi
Tyler Shea
Reconfirm Talbot Briggs timeline
Discipline reports from XP - Hartmans
Jeannie took in a large gulp of coffee and considered the to-do list from Monday morning, crossing out the things that had been accomplished. Nearly everything had been touched on but other questions had opened up. She stared at the whiteboard for a few quiet minutes, listening to Fergus’ quiet huffs from the corner. It was another spontaneous decision to bring him along today, but he was laying across the hallway when Jeannie emerged from her room that morning, giving her his saddest pout with his big golden eyes. Now at least he’d get multiple runs in during the day and some social time hanging around while the team worked. Wolfhounds were giant babies and loved being around people which didn’t happen often enough during Fergus’ long days at home. Now, the wiry, greyish-blonde legs stuck straight out from where he’d heaped himself into a contented morning nap. Jeannie wanted to curl up and join him, or better yet, go home and crawl back into bed next to Chris and press her lips against the warm bare skin of his neck. But he’d left while it was still dark — kissing her goodbye before heading to the gym. It was an unspoken rule that he’d leave before her father woke up in the morning, which they both knew was ridiculous since they were adults and used to live together, but something about having her boyfriend stay over in her father’s house didn’t feel entirely correct either. Neither did having sex in her bedroom in her father’s house. At the Park Lane, Jeannie’s bedroom had once been the guest room and still felt like it. Maybe it was because the guest room that didn’t feel like home, maybe it was a latent Catholic thing, or maybe it was just respect — her parents insisted on a “no boys/girls” rule about bedrooms growing up and although it was long past validity, it didn’t feel like the time to break it. Well, she and Chris were already breaking it…to a point. Either way it was yet another thing to navigate with Chris that she didn’t have time to think about.
Sighing deeply, she picked up a pen, changing from black to blue to distinguish new notes.
Vin & Angela Parisi - Vin? Do we think he knows anything? Need Angela statement.
Tyler Shea - Admission to wolf pack - follow up? Pr3pSF activity?
Reconfirm Talbot Briggs timeline - what else do we need to ask Tally?
Discipline reports from XP - Hartmans - received?
To these she added:
Alexa boyfriend? “Feo”? Who has overseas phone?
Why would Alexa leave the party with Jen?
Who has Alexa’s Pr3pSF login/who posted Lake Tahoe video & how did they get it?
ppl in room: Alexa, Seb, Dash, Tripp, Jen - one of these
Who is the Admin/hacker?
Why was Alexa being bullied? Who disliked her?
Why a wolf pack? Motivation?
Hartman/Con Sullivan - why? where is the Hartman money?
is this even pertinent to Alexa’s case?
Jeannie reviewed the list and thought about how to proceed. Smiling slightly, she sat down and opened a blank spreadsheet.
Paco arrived about ten minutes before 9, toting bags from Whole Foods.
“Hey Jean - you’re here early.”
“Yeah, trying to get my brain together. It’s been nice having some quiet.” She leaned back in her chair. “What’s in the bag?”
“Oh, I got a few breakfast burritos to go, and some juices, some fruit — I figured we couldn’t just eat donuts and sandwiches all the time.” Paco grinned.
“Good idea, do you have a green drink I can have?” He plucked one from the bag and tossed it to Jeannie who snatched it out of the air. “Nice.” She said, reading the label.
“I’m putting them in the kitchen. Where is everyone?”
“No idea. I’m going to text Steph and Owen about how to find us though. Are we doing evidence today?”
“As soon as everyone’s here.”
“Hey Jeannie.” It was Raj, quietly creeping into the conference room. His eyes were round and soft — he looked like a human for a change instead of a droid. He dropped his backpack and headphones at his seat and moved around the table to Jeannie, taking the chair next to her. “Can - can I talk to you a sec?”
“Of course.” Jeannie turned her chair to him and took a swig of her green drink.
“Oh - okay, I- I wanted to apologize to you about last night. I was very unprofessional and I didn’t mean to be so disrespectful.” Raj licked his lips. “I’m — I’m not the best with people, and I tend to say whatever comes into my head and I don’t realize I’m being a jerk when I do it, but I’m trying to be better about it.”
“I know that.” Jeannie gave him a slight smile. “You’re very talented, Raj, and you’ve done so much for this case, and for me, personally. I don’t know what would have happened if we hadn’t figured out the hacking. So, I appreciate you taking care of it.” She swallowed, knowing this was a moment to discourage the bad and encourage the good — Orla called it “sandwiching”. “I can see how you get caught up in the moment and your work is very fast and intense — I definitely couldn’t do it.” Raj nodded slightly. “So, (and I’m sure Mark has probably said something similar to you,) my piece of advice for you would be to remember why you’re doing what you’re doing: you’re in law enforcement which is a kind of service. You’re here to help people. So, I’d say keep that in mind, and pace yourself. If you can slow down and be present with the people you’re working with — not just your team, but those involved in a case —your contributions will be heard more.” Raj’s brows knitted as he looked at the floor. “Your brain moves at the speed of light, I think. Hardly anyone you ever meet is going to keep up with you, but it doesn’t mean we can’t get there. I think — “ Jeannie paused, “I think you may just need to learn some patience with the rest of us. And maybe, some patience with yourself?” Raj looked at her. “That’s a hard one. I try to be patient with myself every day and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but I try to keep it in mind.” She gave him another slight smile. “You’re really brilliant, Raj, but you still have things to learn. And that’s okay, we all do. I mean, I’m a rookie — there’s no reason at all why I’m on this case, and there are days when I can’t even fathom how I came to be a cop, but here I am.”
“You’re really good at it.” Raj said, barely above a whisper.
“Thanks. So are you.” Jeannie sighed and looked out the window. “Thanks for the apology. I hope you aren’t in too much trouble with Mark.” Raj shook his head slightly.
“Um — we talked. He’s giving me another chance.”
“Okay good.” Jeannie’s eyebrow raised. “And you’re going to do better.” It was a weighted statement, almost a question. Raj looked at her and nodded. “Good, because we need you.”
“What are you doing?” Raj gestured to her laptop with the spreadsheet.
“Oh, it’s just my way of organizing things. My first job was at the Brookings Institute, which then got me a job with the Obama campaign.” Raj’s eyes got huge. “But that’s where the glamour ends. All I did was input data and analyze it. It’s the boring side of sociology: demographics, polling, all that. It helps me to get a handle on things if I can just look at a bunch of data points…so I’m inputting the data points. Maybe it won’t work for a criminal case, but there’s a lot to keep track of so I thought I’d try it.” Raj stared at her screen with a slight smile of admiration.
“Once you’re done we could maybe do some probability modeling with it all — run an algorithm.”
“I thought of that, but I’d have to assign numerical values to things and that would be pretty biased and arbitrary. Maybe we won’t need it, but I’ll see.”
“I’ll help you.” Raj offered.
“That would be great. But, check out the Pr3pSF site and see if anything is happening there, first. Oh and Owen will be here soon — I was thinking he could start on the photos. See who was with who and when. Track the time stamps?” Raj nodded. “I’m sure Mark gave you a list.”
“He said the same thing, actually.” Raj sighed and stood.
“Good - Paco brought some breakfast stuff. It’s in the kitchen.”
“Is this where you work now?” Steph’s boisterous voice came through the door just after 9, followed closely by Owen Dunne’s big smile. Jeannie almost screamed with delight. Fergus gave a shout of a bark instead, loping over to give a wiggle to the new arrivals.
“I’m so glad you’re here — It’s been weird not to see you both every day.” She gave them both a big hug. “This isn’t fun, but it has its moments.” Jeannie motioned to the case boards at the side of the room. “There’s coffee and breakfast stuff in the kitchen, but take some time to look these over. We’re going to have an evidence briefing today too, so you’ll get caught up. And did you meet Raj on Sunday? He’s a hacker, but he’s on our side.” Raj actually took his headphones off and said hello.
“Owen, you’re going to be working on the iPhone photos, so Raj will get you set up. Steph, you’re going to be on the tip line, but I don’t think it’s ready yet. We’ll figure something out — there’s plenty to do.” Both of them looked from Jeannie back to the case boards, moving closer to examine them. Steph stared at the photos of Alexa Thomas at El Polin Spring, comparing them with her school photo at the center of the board.
“This is — this is what you saw on Saturday morning?” Steph asked quietly, eyes wide. “When the Captain reassigned you?” Her eyes roved over the images of Alexa’s face, her hazel eyes open under her yellow-blonde wig, water droplets pink with blood dotting her skin.
“Yes.” Jeannie almost whispered. Steph turned to look at her, examining her face with a serious expression. It wasn’t like Steph to be so solemn. She looked back at the board, reviewing the faces of the students, peering over everything closely. Owen started from the other end, reviewing the to-do list and bagged evidence pinned to the board.
Fergus made slow circles around them all, tail moving in a gentle wag until he finally wound himself into a large loop on the floor under the big table. He panted in anticipation.
“The pictures — “ Owen began. “It’s weird. They all seemed older in person on Sunday morning.”